The circular platform once again returned to its ancient stillness.
The three Golden Dragons in the iceberg remained frozen, their golden scales shimmering with a faint light in the gloom.
Yuan Mei pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the cold glint of the Dragon scales and the inner side of the large door that had silently closed again.
He no longer looked in the direction of the passage.
Turning around.
He led his non-human research team into the soft white light.
The door slowly closed behind him, re-locking this space, which contained ancient terrors and modern technological secrets, back into the deepest, coldest, and darkest core of the Antarctic glacier.
......
The biting cold wind, mixed with ice particles, instantly struck the face of the Parasite Te Ye, who had just emerged from the passage, like a thousand tiny knives.
The signal receiver indicator light on his helmet instantly changed from red to green.
“Buzz—”
The drone automatically activated, its propellers churning the cold wind, and re-hovered in front of Te Ye.
The live stream signal instantly recovered!
The live stream screen suddenly brightened!
Te Ye’s big face, showing “fatigue” yet immense “excitement,” instantly filled the screen!
“Holy crap, crap, crap! It’s alive, it’s alive!”
“Te Ye!!! You scared me to death!!!”
“Is the signal good now??? What happened??? ”
“What exactly is inside the iceberg??? Hurry up and tell us, I’m dying of impatience!”
“Where’s that door from earlier? Special effects mechanism? That was amazing!”
“Is the streamer okay? His face is pale!”
The bullet comments instantly flooded the screen like a waterfall, and the server groaned under the overwhelming load.
The Parasite Te Ye, facing the camera, skillfully adjusted his angle, revealing a signature, slightly exaggerated, hearty “survivor” smile.
He brushed off the ice chips from his body, his voice loud and full of performative passion: “Hey! My old pals! Thanks for waiting! The electromagnetic interference in this ghostly place is absolutely insane! The live stream signal just got knocked out, and I was so anxious I almost smashed my equipment!”
He gestured exaggeratedly, then pointed to the massive door behind him, which had already closed again, seamlessly merging back with the iceberg, showing no trace of a seam.
“But it was worth it! It was so damn worth it! That ‘alien base’ entrance that shocked my Soul, that giant door that opened by itself, the high-tech feel of that passage… My old pals, it’s all special effects! It’s a real-life special effects base that our ‘Frozen Era’ crew spent over half a year secretly building here! Isn’t it awesome?! Isn’t it hardcore?! That wave of ‘special effects’ just now, it fooled you, didn’t it? Hahahahaha!”
He laughed loudly, with the smugness of a successful prank.
Then he put on his “professional streamer” expression and pointed towards the more rugged, jagged glacier valley in the distance, filled with ice pinnacles: “But that was just the ‘appetizer’! The real show is yet to come! Next, our ‘expedition team’ is going to take you to conquer the true ‘death forbidden zone’ of this glacier—the ‘Devil’s Throat’ great ice crevasse! It’s said that there’s a strange blue ice cave beneath it that hasn’t melted in ten thousand years, and the scenery is even more fantastical than a sci-fi movie! The excitement level is maxed out! Drone, follow along! Family, send those gifts! Hit that follow button! The real hardcore adventure starts now!”
He vigorously waved his arm.
With Billy, Mike, and others, whose faces also bore “excited” smiles, he trudged through the thick snow, their footsteps deep but unusually firm, heading in the exact opposite direction from the passage that concealed the secret of the frozen Golden Dragon and the three-headed Dragon.
The drone buzzed along, transmitting the energetic backs of the “explorers,” the magnificent ice pinnacles, and the vast white wilderness in real-time to tens of millions of screens worldwide.
The atmosphere in the live stream was lively.
“666”
“Awesome special effects”
“Te Ye is mighty”
“Looking forward to the ice crevasse”
And other bullet comments flew across the screen, as viewers immersed themselves in the “movie promotion” story carefully woven by the streamer and the magnificent high-altitude shots, cheering for this “thrilling and exciting” Antarctic journey.
No one knew that just a few tens of minutes ago.
Beneath this seemingly pure and flawless ice and snow, their familiar streamer, along with his companions, their vibrant Souls and unique “selves,” had been completely erased.
The cold metal passage, the frozen golden giant Dragon, the ruthless Parasite transformation…
All of it was as if it had never happened.
Only that majestic iceberg, like a giant, silent tombstone, stood quietly in the depths of the glacier at the edge of the Weddell Sea.
Beneath the ice, the three golden Dragon heads remained tightly closed.
And within the metal space inside the iceberg, that locked secret awaited its master, or new intruders.
......
Central Texas.
The underground facility of the abandoned “Lone Star” chemical plant.
The air was filled with the smell of engine oil, rust, and a faint hint of ozone.
The interior of the massive warehouse, converted from heavy blast doors, had been transformed into a temporary command center and living area.
Fluorescent lights hummed softly, illuminating Te Ye’s passionately explaining face on the central holographic projector.
Behind him was the endless ice and snow of Antarctica.
The faces of the few people gathered around the projector were even graver than the Antarctic ice.
“Do you see it?”
A deep voice, with a metallic, abrasive quality, broke the oppressive silence.
It was Mark Howard speaking.
He was around forty, built like a bear, wearing a worn work jacket.
His eyes, however, were as sharp as tempered steel, currently fixed on a tiny, unnatural pause Te Ye made while wiping sweat.
“He’s never made that movement before during his live streams. It’s too deliberate.”
Sitting opposite him, unconsciously tapping her fingers on the table, was Sarah Connelly, a former intelligence analyst, the “eyes” of the team.
She pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on her nose.
Her gaze behind the lenses was calm and weary: “Mark, this is the third ‘unusual’ thing you’ve pointed out this month. From that CNN financial anchor inexplicably changing his catchphrase, to that rock superstar suddenly announcing an indefinite hiatus to do charity… Everyone changes, especially under immense exposure and pressure. Te Ye just went through a globally sensational ‘movie promotion,’ pushed into the spotlight, so some change is normal.”
“Normal?”
Mark’s voice suddenly rose, with a hint of undetectable anxiety.
He scanned the faces around the table: Sarah, the former demolition expert “Anvil” Tom, who was as silent as a stone, the tech geek “Mouse” Rick, and Jackson, who was in charge of field liaison and was now looking at him with concern.
These were all his comrades who had faced life and death with him in the blood and fire of the apocalypse before his Rebirth, but now, a crack of trust was silently spreading.