The moment everyone stepped into the darkness, they felt the surroundings spin violently. When their eyes finally adjusted, they were no longer facing pitch-black stone but standing on a long platform of pale metallic alloy. At the platform's far end rested an incredibly magnificent starship!

The vessel was platinum-white, stretching a hundred zhang in length, gleaming with a metallic sheen. It was inscribed with numerous strange, intricate secret markings. On either side, great wings hung down, adorned with patterns resembling feathers, giving it a truly bizarre silhouette. High above the hull, massive war-sails were unfurled, crafted from extremely fine material with beautiful patterns. At the center, a peculiar character was embroidered—even more arcane than hieroglyphs. It was a pity that several large tears marred the beauty of this white sail.

Ye Chen frowned as he looked closer. The markings across the ship’s hull showed minute damage, as if it had recently endured a battle. He glanced around; they were in an alternate dimensional space, surrounded by swirls of ash-gray airflow. The starship drifted above this void, and the long platform they stood on was the sole passage leading into the main cabin.

There was no wind, no sound—only a profound, deathly silence.

Ye Chen pondered for a moment, then turned to the group with a grave expression. “Once we enter the cabin, everyone must stay directly behind me. Do not act rashly, lest you trigger any dangerous mechanisms.”

The others nodded immediately.

Ye Chen then turned and walked to the end of the platform, stopping before the ship’s entrance, which towered three times his height and was made of platinum alloy. Countless black secret markings covered it, dense and writhing like earthworms. He frowned slightly, extended his hand, and pushed.

Icy!

The platinum vessel felt like a block of ten-thousand-year-old glacier ice. Even Ye Chen’s physique registered a bone-chilling cold.

Just then—

The black secret markings began to writhe, flickering with light, shifting from black to crimson. The originally frigid hull immediately became searing hot. Ye Chen started, snatching his hand back, but the instant he moved, he felt a sticky force gripping his palm onto the hull.

“Hiss!”

His palm felt as though it had been branded by a white-hot iron. The boiling heat forced Ye Chen to clench his jaw, the sensation akin to plunging his entire hand into boiling water!

Pain!

This violent agony tugged at every nerve, yet relying on sheer willpower, Ye Chen remained utterly silent, only gritting his teeth. After a moment, the searing heat receded from his palm like water, and the markings reverted from red back to black. Immediately following this, the icy cold sensation returned.

Ye Chen pulled his hand away easily and quickly lifted it to inspect. His palm was flushed crimson, and at the center, a strange pattern was etched—a peculiar character identical to the one on the ship’s sail.

Rune!

In his previous life, Ye Chen had encountered this script and instantly recognized it: the writing of the Runic Civilization.

Frowning, Ye Chen waited until the throbbing pain in his hand subsided slightly before pushing against the hatch again. With a soft creak, the previously sealed entrance swung open, revealing the scene within.

Inside the cabin, the space was immensely broad, featuring a long metallic corridor lined with the same strange patterns. There were no electric lights, yet the walls naturally emitted a glow that illuminated the passage with perfect clarity.

Ye Chen glanced at the floor beneath his feet; the polished platinum gleamed like a mirror. The metal composing this starship was no ordinary platinum; it was an extremely rare substance refined by the Runic Civilization and shaped through special processes. Its defensive power was immense, remaining uncorrupted even after drifting here for countless ages.

The group proceeded down the corridor, their only sounds the rhythm of their breathing and the soft padding of their footsteps.

“Huh?” Ye Zhu pointed toward a distant wall where a long mural was painted onto the metal, three zhang wide and ten zhang long, depicting many entities with bizarre auras.

Ye Chen led the way over. A single glance made his body tremble. On the right side of the painting, a scene was depicted: the sky was dim, stained with blood, and on the ground, countless tower-like structures were smashed into ruins. Scattered among them were many small figures, barely three feet tall, with pale green skin, pointed ears, hooked noses, and purely black eyes, utterly hairless—a rather peculiar appearance.

These figures, resembling humans, all wielded various mechanical devices—strange cold weapons, alongside objects resembling rocket launchers. Without exception, every weapon was inscribed with secret markings.

Among these small figures were many towering beings, exceptionally robust, similar in overall build to humans, yet standing nearly three zhang tall. They possessed wings on their backs, and their divine countenances were so exquisitely beautiful they seemed demonic, utterly flawless.

These winged figures fought fiercely, drenched in blood, wielding runic weapons against a group of colossal entities. These creatures stood ten zhang tall; some were encased in black chitin, others in red. They were supported by two massive, dinosaur-like legs, while eight legs sprouted from beneath their abdomens. Their heads were flat and broad, resembling centipedes, and their mouths sported a pair of frightening black pincers like those of a crab.

Others might not recognize this monster, but Ye Chen would never forget it, because... these were Mutated Ants!!

In the late stages of the apocalypse, the evolved forms of the Mutated Ants looked precisely like this, though generally only three zhang tall. The giant ants depicted here were likely the result of another ten or even twenty years of evolution following the initial apocalypse—Super Mutated Ants!

“I never imagined that in the deep past, before recorded history, such giant ant beasts existed!” Ye Chen was shaken. “And judging by this depiction, it seems this powerful Runic Civilization was destroyed by this horde of ants!”

At that moment, a line of text beneath the mural, resembling earthworm tracks, faintly lit up, transforming into a stream of data—like mental brainwaves—that projected directly into Ye Chen’s pupils. Instantly, a torrent of information flooded his mind.

“Those small figures resembling humans are called the Green Rune People. The winged giants are their guardians. The deity they worship…” Ye Chen muttered to himself. “Those giant ant beasts are called the Dark Demons, the most formidable monsters of the Runic Civilization. Each one possesses power equivalent to 100,000 Stars (the Runic Civilization’s unit of weight)... which equates to ten million jin of our strength, or five million g!”

Five million g—equivalent to the strength of one hundred thousand men!

Ye Chen instantly sobered up, a terrifying realization washing over him. Those ants, when fully evolved, were that horrific!! Given the sheer number of Mutated Ants worldwide, in twenty years at the latest, they would evolve to this level. At that time…

He dared not imagine it!

What did the strength of one hundred thousand men even mean? If one was manageable, how many ants would there be across the entire globe?

“In my previous life, although the ants were stronger than mutated lions and tigers in the late stages, it was mainly due to their swarm behavior—an ant tide was sheer catastrophe! But if this trend continues, and each one reaches the strength of 100,000 men, humanity simply cannot survive! The world will become the ants’ domain, and no matter how strong I become, facing endless waves of them, I will still be devoured!”

Ye Chen clenched his jaw, resentment burning within him! Having received such an incredible opportunity, being reborn ten years into the past, only to die in the end after all his efforts—it was unacceptable!

For an ordinary person, witnessing such a shocking revelation would instantly shatter their will to survive, leading to feelings of powerlessness, despair, and loss.

However, Ye Chen’s willpower far surpassed that of any ordinary person. He recalled once, under attack by a Demonic Wind Hound, his belly was ripped open and his intestines spilled out, yet he had scooped them back into his abdomen and kept running. As long as he hadn't truly died, even if his head were severed, Ye Chen would never give up!

“Power!”

“I must accelerate the increase of my strength—not just mine alone! How many ants can I kill by myself? I must utilize the power of the Base Cities established by the major nations to eliminate these ants prematurely, labeling these monsters as top-tier threats. Kill every single one sighted!”

A wild plan began to form in Ye Chen's mind.

But he wasn't rushed. Given the evolutionary speed of the Mutated Ants, it would take at least twenty years to reach the strength of 100,000 men. Only two months had passed; the future was still long, offering him ample time to prepare.