Do you understand? This is what respect is!

Jiang Han leaped off the dragon-bone boat.

His feet landed firmly on the frozen surface of the planet.

"Snap!"

The mysterious ice beneath their feet, which had been frozen for countless millennia, shattered instantly, turning into countless shimmering powders that drifted into the deathly silence of the void.

He looked around.

This massive planetary remnant is covered with a layer of graphene-like, viscous black substance.

Under the dim yellow glow of the ancient lamp that wards off evil spirits, they were wriggling weakly at an extremely slow pace, as if they possessed life.

This bizarre scene made the viewers in the live stream, who had just calmed down, jump in anxiety again.

[What...what is that dark thing? Is it alive?]

Could it be a monster native to this planet?

[It looks disgusting... sticky and moving...]

Jiang Han squatted down and carefully examined the black substances.

He soon discovered that these things seemed to possess a faint, primal consciousness.

They were instinctively and recklessly moving slowly toward the ancient lamp that was suspended at the bow of the keelboat.

It was the purest kind of yearning for light and heat, a survival instinct originating from the deepest part of life.

"That's interesting."

Jiang Han understood.

"It seems these are the only 'living things' on this planet, and... they possess souls."

It is precisely because they possess souls that they can exist under the light of the Soul-Suppressing Ancient Lamp, instead of being purified in the light like other inanimate objects.

Jiang Han did not disturb these poor "survivors".

He stood up and glanced at a huge military bunker that was half collapsed not far away.

His intuition told him that there was something good inside.

Deep inside the bunker, amidst the chaotic ruins, Jiang Han discovered an intact black metal box protected by several layers of semi-transparent force fields.

"I've found you."

He smirked and drew the black and gold ancient sword from his back.

There are no fancy tricks or complicated decryption processes.

Jiang Han simply and decisively cleaved down with his sword!

"Sizzle—!"

An energy field powerful enough to withstand the bombardment of a starship's main cannon was instantly torn apart like fragile paper by the Black Gold Ancient D Blade imbued with the True Fire of the Qilin!

The violent energy burst forth in all directions, plowing through the surrounding ruins once more.

Jiang Han violently broke through the force field and opened the metal box.

Inside the box lay a low-temperature test tube and a tiny, fingernail-sized chip that shimmered with a faint blue light.

Inside the test tube was a small clump of live sample, the same black, viscous substance found outside. It wriggled eerily inside the tube, as if it possessed a life of its own.

This is a sample of the Abyssal Symbiote Orlando.

The other thing is the data chip.

This long-destroyed civilization stored its most valuable technological data and heritage here.

Holy crap! I opened a blind box and got a treasure!

That slash was so cool! Violent aesthetics, so awesome!

So, this civilization foresaw its destruction and thus preserved a spark?

Jiang Han put away the two items and continued to wander around the ruins.

Soon, he found a thin metal card next to a frozen skeleton.

Magnetic induction identity card.

He took the card and went to another, even larger building, which looked like a hangar.

In the center of the hangar were two huge, container-like military equipment crates.

Jiang Han gently swiped his ID card on the sensor area of ​​the box.

"Beep—Authentication successful."

With a mechanical electronic sound, the huge equipment box slowly opened, revealing the grotesque steel artifact inside.

They are two spider-shaped war machines with a design full of science fiction and violent aesthetics!

Spider Demon Power Armor!

They are over five meters tall, with eight sharp, metallic spider legs that gleam like knives. The cockpit is located in the spider's "abdomen," exuding a menacing and oppressive aura.

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

[Mecha! Mecha! The romance of men!]

[This level of technology... it's at least thousands of years ahead of our Earth, right? So cool!]

How could such a powerful civilization be destroyed?

Seeing the amazement in the comments, Jiang Han revealed a mischievous smile.

He cleared his throat and spoke seriously to the camera.

"Dear viewers, as civilized interstellar explorers, when we come to someone else's territory, we must respect local customs and show respect for the local civilization."

The audience was completely confused.

[How can we show respect when everyone's dead?]

[Jiang Shen, what mischief are you up to now?]

The next second, Jiang Han answered them with his actions.

He grabbed the scruff of the neck of Baihu Yueyao, who had somehow slipped out of the divine realm and was now curiously looking around, trembling with fear.

"Awoo?"

Yueyao was lifted up with a completely bewildered look on her face.

Then, under its terrified gaze, Jiang Han casually tossed it into the cockpit of one of the Spider Demon Power Armor units.

"You, drive this."

Jiang Han pointed at Yue Yao, then at himself, and then sat down in another powered armor.

The cockpit door closed slowly.

After a few seconds of deathly silence, Yueyao's pig-like screams echoed wildly in Jiang Han's mind through the mental link.

"No! I won't! How could this divine beast possibly crawl into such an ugly lump of iron! It would damage the majesty of the Frost Prison White Tiger!"

Yueyao struggled frantically in the cockpit.

Jiang Han's voice drifted over.

"Here's an extra treat for you: ten roasted Vermilion Bird eggs."

"..."

Yueyao's struggles stopped instantly.

A second later, it asked in a voice that sounded like it was crying and a little aggrieved.

"Deal...but, boss, how do you open this thing? (╥_╥)`"

Thus, under the watchful eyes of the entire internet audience, an extremely comical scene, worthy of being recorded in history, was born.

A Spider-Man power armored vehicle moved nimbly and jumped through the ruins, performing a variety of difficult tactical maneuvers with ease.

The other one, however, moved erratically, like a drunkard just learning to walk, nearly tripping over its own legs and falling flat on its face several times.

The live stream chat was completely flooded with "hahahahaha".

[Hahahaha, help! White Tiger is piloting a mecha! I'm laughing so hard my neighbors think we're slaughtering a pig!]

[Yueyao: Don't I have any pride?!]

[Screenshot taken! Screenshot taken! A new meme has been created!]

[The Persecution of Mythical Beasts Series +1]

Amidst this joyful atmosphere, Jiang Han, piloting the mecha, began to focus on analyzing the information in the data chip.

A massive torrent of data flooded into his mind.

Qin-style antimatter reactor, warp drive warship blueprints, force field stabilizing anchor, superconducting hercules ore...

Countless technologies far surpassing those of Earth's civilization were displayed before him like commodities.

But Jiang Han's attention was soon drawn to a voyage log.

He discovered that this civilization's technology was already sufficient to support them in large-scale interstellar travel.

However, all the navigation records abruptly ended when they reached the edge of this star system.

Without exception.

It was as if an invisible wall had trapped them here.

Jiang Han parked the Spider Demon Mech on a high ground, overlooking the endless ruins, and announced his deductions through a live broadcast.

"They have the power to leave, but something seems to be preventing them from doing so."

"or……"

"We can't leave."

His words plunged the live stream audience back into shock and contemplation regarding the mystery of the "cage".

However, at that moment...

A golden barrage, seemingly crafted from pure gold, appeared slowly and domineeringly at the very center of the screen, positioned at the very top.

That was a completely new ID that had never appeared before.

Code name: Prometheus.

The comments section only had one question.

A rhetorical question that sent chills down the spines of seven billion people worldwide.

[Prometheus: Host, have you ever considered another possibility?]

[Prometheus: It's not that they're afraid to leave... but rather that this 'cage' wasn't meant to confine them at all.]

[Prometheus: It was not for... to protect them.]

Prometheus: Unharmed by external "things"...