Gate of Revelation

Undefended City

Chen Xiaolian was daydreaming.

He stood in the room, right in front of the screen on the wall.

He felt a bit stuffy – the room had been sealed for too long, and after the ventilation system stopped, it inevitably made people feel a bit stifled.

But just as Chen Xiaolian’s mind flickered, suddenly, the ventilation system in the room made a “drip” sound and automatically started running. Although it was an ultra-quiet system, once it started running, there was still a slight sound, which was heard by Chen Xiaolian, who had a highly enhanced sensory perception.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the ventilation grille in the room, clearly feeling a hint of fresh air being injected into the room.

What’s going on?

Chen Xiaolian widened his eyes and began to ponder.

The last memory was… he was in the “Zero Room,” looking for his so-called “own position”??

And then?

And then it’s… a blank?

He just appeared in the room?

Chen Xiaolian’s face turned serious.

No! This is not right!

There must have been something happening in between.

But why can’t I remember anything?

My memories… erased? Modified?

In the “Zero Room,” what did I really experience? What did I learn?

And… what did I gain?

He clearly remembered entering the Zero City system, remembered his conversations with the Zero City system, those discussions about “permissions.”

And also, he once again went through the “Qin Emperor’s Tomb” Instance.

But after entering the “Zero Room”… everything became a blank.

“Damn it!” Chen Xiaolian couldn’t help but curse softly: “Do you have to play like this?! Damn Zero City system! What did you do to me?!”

Wait a minute!

Why is the ventilation system in the room turned on?

Has the power been restored?

While Chen Xiaolian was still in a daze, he heard the voice of Guan Shan, the young man beside Bluesea, coming from outside the door.

“Little Face! Are you inside? Sir sent me to check on you…”

Then came the sound of knocking on the door: Bang bang bang bang…

Chen Xiaolian’s head was still a bit dizzy, and he didn’t snap out of it immediately. It took him a few seconds to react, and then he realized that Guan Shan was banging on the door outside!

“I… I’m fine!”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. He saw the reflection of his facial contours on the screen in front of him.

It was somewhat blurry, somewhat unclear. Although it was obviously his own appearance, for some reason, Chen Xiaolian always felt a bit… unfamiliar?

He shook his head and walked to the door.

Outside, Guan Shan’s voice came: “Little Face? Is that you? What did you just say?”

“I said… I’m fine.” Chen Xiaolian subconsciously grabbed the door handle and turned it gently.

Click, the door, opened!

Outside the door was Guan Shan’s stunned face.

The young man stared wide-eyed… not at Chen Xiaolian, but at the open door!

The expression on the young man’s face was somewhat stiff, and his eyes were filled with shock.

“What’s wrong? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” Chen Xiaolian frowned.

“I…” Guan Shan stuttered: “The door, the door opened?”

“Yeah.” Chen Xiaolian nodded instinctively: “You knocked, so I opened the door… Hmm?”

“The system has been restored? And the power too?”

Guan Shan suddenly exclaimed.

But then both of them looked down the corridor…

All the rooms were still closed, and the lock status remained unchanged.

“Your… your door, how…” Guan Shan trailed off.

“I don’t know.” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly.

Guan Shan hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, “There’s a problem here, I mean, there’s a problem with Zero City! The system is malfunctioning, and almost everything is shut down now.”

Chen Xiaolian thought to himself: I know. But I won’t show it on my face. He looked at Guan Shan.

Guan Shan felt a bit uneasy under Chen Xiaolian’s gaze, although he found it strange, he still quickly said, “Let’s not worry about that now. Sir asked me to check on you. Since you can go out, let’s go together!”

“Where to?”

“To the Elder Council’s main control center… It’s the safest place now!” Guan Shan said solemnly.

“…Alright.” Chen Xiaolian’s mind was in turmoil, but he didn’t have time to think much, so he just nodded.

Then Guan Shan led the way ahead, and Chen Xiaolian followed along the corridor. But when they reached the entrance to the safe passage, Guan Shan went in, while Chen Xiaolian seemed unaware and continued walking along the corridor.

Guan Shan turned back to see Chen Xiaolian not following, and when he turned around, he found Chen Xiaolian heading towards the elevator. He quickly shouted, “There’s no power, all the elevators are… Hmm?!”

The next moment, Guan Shan froze!

Chen Xiaolian casually pressed the elevator button, and the elevator, which had been at a standstill, made a “ding” sound…

And started moving!

Guan Shan once again wore that bewildered expression.

“I…” Chen Xiaolian chuckled wryly, also frowning at the illuminated elevator in front of him: “I… don’t know.”

“…” Although Guan Shan was astonished, he didn’t have time to think much: “Let’s go! We’ll talk when we get to Sir’s place.”

Moments later, the two left the hotel and rushed onto the street.

The Zero City system had shut down, ceasing its simulation of day and night, leaving the streets pitch black!

Even all the streetlights were off, and occasionally there were some armed members of the Angel Corps patrolling in the distance, conducting safety inspections.

As they looked at the dark streets, Guan Shan took out two flashlights and handed one to Chen Xiaolian, whispering, “Quick, follow me.”

“Okay.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded, holding up the flashlight and following closely behind Guan Shan, running towards the Elder Council area of Zero City.

At this moment, another strange thing happened!

As Chen Xiaolian ran, wherever he went on the street, the streetlights on both sides suddenly lit up one after another!

As if they were illuminating specifically for him!

At this point, even Guan Shan couldn’t contain himself any longer.

He looked at the streetlights lighting up beside him in shock, suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around, and stared at Chen Xiaolian!

“What… what did you do?! Why… all of this?!!”

Chen Xiaolian also stopped in his tracks.

He frowned at the surrounding streetlights.

Thoughts raced through his mind.

Could it be because of me?

In an instant, a bold idea surged into Chen Xiaolian’s mind.

Could it be… permissions?

Just now, he felt it was too dark here in his consciousness, and he wished for some illumination.

And then the streetlights automatically turned on?

And in the room, he felt stuffy, and the ventilation system automatically started running.

And being able to easily open locked doors!!

This… was this permissions?!

As Guan Shan looked at Chen Xiaolian with a complex expression, a mix of shock and astonishment, Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and waved his hand: “Wait a moment.”

Chen Xiaolian looked up at the “sky,” although the so-called sky had turned into a black void.

Silently in his mind, Chen Xiaolian repeated: Too dark, let there be light.

In that instant…

This world, lit up!

…

Bluesea was whispering something to the War Angel quietly when suddenly, a member of the Angel Corps stumbled into the room.

“It’s started! It’s started!!”

“What’s started?” the War Angel frowned, rebuking: “Why are you panicking! Slow down and speak!”

The member of the Angel Corps took a deep breath, his face filled with excitement: “Outside… outside! The day-night simulation system has started!!”

And within the next few seconds, the staff sitting at their monitoring stations suddenly became excited one by one. Soon, reports filled with surprise and excitement started pouring in.

“The ecological system has started!!”

“The energy system has been restored and is charging! It’s already back online!”

“All monitoring systems have resumed normal operation!”

“The energy in the production area is showing normal levels!”

“The backup systems have entered sleep mode! The main energy source is back online!”

“Zero City is waking up! It’s awake!!”

One after another, the technicians at the control console reported exciting news. Though Bluesea and the War Angel were puzzled, they both instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.

The continuous flow of good news from the monitoring staff filled the entire hall with excitement.

“The internal security access lock has been lifted!”

“The Love Sea automatic system is restored!”

“The permanent team autonomous system is restored!”

“The Angel Corps armament system is restored!”

“The external lighting system…”

“We’re saved…”

Bluesea and the War Angel exchanged a glance, both filled with skepticism. However, being exceptional leaders, they temporarily suppressed their doubts and immediately issued orders.

“All personnel on duty, conduct checks on the monitoring of your respective posts! I want to know if Zero City has fully recovered to normal operation!”

“Yes!”

“Also, order all permanent team technicians to their respective posts to inspect every area!”

“Yes!”

“All Angel Corps combat personnel to their positions, continue with control measures, and order everyone to stay indoors and not venture outside! Streets are to be cordoned off! Except for permanent team and Angel Corps personnel, outsiders are not allowed to move freely!”

“Yes!”

At that moment, Bluesea saw Guan Shan rushing in hurriedly.

Bluesea immediately exchanged a few words quietly with the War Angel before walking over.

“How is he?”

Guan Shan’s expression was extremely strange. Faced with Bluesea’s question, he didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared blankly at the hall filled with cheers and excitement. Guan Shan swallowed hard and said, “Sir… here…”

“Well, just now, the Zero City system woke up, and everything is back to normal,” Bluesea smiled.

“Is that so… just now…” Guan Shan muttered to himself, then shook his head vigorously, “As per your instructions, I… I found Chen Xiaolian, and then, I brought him back.”

“Brought him back?” Bluesea was momentarily stunned, then nodded, “Good, the situation is unclear now, it’s too dangerous to stay in the hotel. Bringing him back is a good decision. You handled it well. Where is he?”

“He’s outside. I asked him to wait in the lounge. You can go see him anytime.”

Bluesea nodded, “Alright, I’ll go in a moment.”

“Sir,” Guan Shan’s expression was very serious, “You’d better go see him now… something, something is not right!”

“Hmm?”

Guan Shan’s forehead broke out in cold sweat, but without much consideration, he leaned in and quickly whispered a few words in Bluesea’s ear.

Bluesea was taken aback, “What did you say?”

Guan Shan gave a wry smile, then continued to whisper in Bluesea’s ear, recounting what he saw and heard from Chen Xiaolian, as well as what happened on the way back with him.

After he finished, Bluesea was also stunned.

“…Really? Is this even possible?”

“I… I thought I saw it, but… but…” Guan Shan’s expression seemed like he was about to cry, “My mind is so confused right now, Sir, I don’t know what’s going on either.”

Bluesea’s eyes widened in horror, then he took a deep breath and said quickly, “Quick! Take me to see him now!”

…

Chen Xiaolian sat in the lounge.

The lounge wasn’t decorated with the futuristic vibe you’d see in movies, but rather had a nostalgic old-fashioned style.

Sitting on the leather sofa, Chen Xiaolian didn’t feel quite comfortable. He shifted his body, then stood up and walked over to the wall of the room.

There were several wall lamps on the wall.

“Close.”

The room darkened.

“Open.”

The room lit up.

Chen Xiaolian wore a strange smile on his face.

“So it really is like this.”

Chen Xiaolian felt like a child who had just received a new toy, filled with a sense of novelty.

And just as he turned off and on the room lights again, the door opened.

Bluesea stood at the doorway, just witnessing the lights in the room flicker off, then on again, and then off once more.

Chen Xiaolian stood with his hands behind his back next to the wall switch.

This scene was captured perfectly by Bluesea’s eyes. The leader of this tumultuous world was utterly shocked!

His expression became indescribable, and suddenly he walked in, forcefully closed the door, turned his head, and stared at Chen Xiaolian with incredulous eyes!

Chen Xiaolian stood there, quietly looking at Bluesea.

“Chen Xiaolian… can you tell me, what on earth is going on? All that just now… you… ” Bluesea felt a bitter taste in his mouth, “how did you do it?”

Chen Xiaolian’s expression also seemed strange, “This matter, explaining it might be a bit difficult.”

“Then take your time explaining!” There was a hint of impatience in Bluesea’s tone – he felt a sense of fear and unease growing inside him, this unease made him momentarily lose his composure.

Chen Xiaolian frowned, looking at Bluesea.

“… I’m sorry.” Bluesea rubbed his face hard, “I’m feeling very agitated… but I think you should understand! This is Zero City, our home! And you… seem to have control over some aspects of Zero City? An outsider, controlling some permissions of our home, this makes me unable to remain calm, unable to keep my composure! Chen Xiaolian, I need an explanation!”

“Okay, let’s come clean.” Chen Xiaolian sighed, but just as he was about to speak.

Bang!

The door was forcefully pushed open!

The War Angel walked in with an anxious expression on his face.

“Bluesea! Come with me! Something big has happened!”

“What?!”

“Quick! Central Control Center!! Gather everyone! Hurry! Get all your team’s combat personnel ready!!”

After the War Angel spoke, he quickly turned and ran off.

Bluesea hesitated for a second, then turned and followed, but after a few steps, he looked back at Chen Xiaolian, “You come with us! Xiaolian!”

…

In the central control hall, the previous atmosphere of joy and excitement had vanished completely! In its place was a tense, oppressive atmosphere as if facing a major crisis!

Bluesea had just entered with the War Angel when he saw two other familiar faces.

The leaders of the two permanent teams had already arrived, each accompanied by several key experts from their respective teams.

The atmosphere in the hall was tense!

“What’s going on?”

Bluesea asked.

The War Angel’s face was grave as he pointed to a member of the Angel Corps, “You, report.”

“Yes!” The member of the Angel Corps stood up straight, though somewhat nervous, and quickly began to speak.

“Just now… everyone was checking their respective positions’ procedures. At the moment, it seems that almost all of Zero City’s functions have been restored to normal. However… within the scope of my duties, I discovered an abnormal situation.”

“What situation?”

“The management authority of the external passages, sir!” The member of the Angel Corps’ voice trembled slightly.

The management authority of the external passages!

Upon hearing this, both Bluesea and the members of the two teams who had just arrived here gasped in shock.

A middle-aged man in a gray robe spoke in a hoarse voice, “Be clear, what exactly is the situation?”

The speaker was obviously a high-ranking figure in the Elder Council. The reporting member of the Angel Corps immediately bowed to him and continued, “The management authority of the external passages of Zero City is the highest security level part of Zero City. We have always tightly controlled all functions of opening and closing the passages, and we can also control the temporary authorization to open the backup passages at any time.

“In other words, each permanent team has its own authorization channel. The Angel Corps has secure passages needed for combat. And Zero City itself also has public passages, which are opened on open days to allow internal and external personnel to enter and exit.

We have security screening functions, guarded by electronic sentinels, to prevent the infiltration of programs from the outside world—although they have always been trying to do so, it’s because of Zero City’s security procedures for external passages that we have remained impregnable.

But just now…”

“What happened just now?” Bluesea asked in a deep voice.

“Just now, the management authority for the external passages, which is the security program, disappeared!”

War Angel roared angrily, “Disappeared? What does that mean? Does it mean this program hasn’t woken up yet? Is it locked? Like what happened just now? Locked? In a dormant state?”

“No, it’s not like that.” The reporting member was sweating profusely, “In the events that just occurred, the external passage program didn’t disappear, it was just locked. Locking means that all the ‘doors’ were closed, preventing people from outside coming in and those inside going out. That’s what we call ‘locked.’ But now… there’s been a bizarre change in the situation.

The entire security system for the external passages… has completely disappeared!”

His voice started to tremble, clearly unable to suppress the overwhelming shock, and his tone became increasingly stuttered.

“If we were to say that the permission system for the external passages has been the city wall protecting Zero City from foreign invaders… now, esteemed leaders, that wall has completely disappeared! It’s as if this program never existed in the first place!”

The last few sentences plunged the hall into silence!

After a few seconds, Bluesea asked in a hoarse voice, “Are you saying… the wall doesn’t exist? So now all the external passages of Zero City… the main passage and the permission passages controlled by each team… are all… open?!”

“It’s not like that,” the person whispered, “Perhaps you’ve misunderstood a concept. Essentially, Zero City only has one external passage, which is the central area, the one everyone uses the most for entry and exit, as well as during open days when outsiders can come and go. We call it the ‘main gate.’

Apart from that, the special passages each resident team possesses, as well as backup passages, and so on—all these various passages opened using different permissions—are collectively referred to as ‘side gates.’ And strictly speaking, these side gates shouldn’t exist; they are additional doors opened separately using the ‘external passage system.’

In other words, they are doors added later onto the walls of Zero City, intended for the exclusive use of each resident team and our Angel Corps internally.

But these doors themselves are all newly added; the original passage was just that ‘main gate.'”

“And the new side gates were all opened individually using the program… And now, this program no longer exists! So… everyone, the permission passages owned by resident teams, as well as the combat safety passages used by the Angel Corps internally… all the ‘side gates’ have disappeared! They’ve all completely vanished!”

The faces of everyone present turned pale.

Bluesea was relatively composed: “So… according to what you’re saying, these ‘side gates’ have all disappeared, meaning everyone will have to use the ‘main gate’ from now on? It doesn’t seem too bad…”

“It’s not like that.” The person’s eyes were already red, evidently extremely anxious, their voice becoming increasingly sharp and unpleasant: “The side gates have disappeared! But the main gate is still there! And because the ‘external passage system’ has disappeared! We’ve lost control of the main gate!

Now, the main gate is wide open, in a state of unrestricted access! It means that anyone, whoever they are, without any screening, without any security measures or restrictions! People inside can go out freely, and people outside can come in freely!!

Everyone, let me make it clear: Zero City is now in an undefended state!”

Undefended!

Zero City is undefended!

“The main gate is wide open!”

Everyone heard these words, and understood them!

Because of this, the hall suddenly fell silent, as if you could hear a pin drop!

Shock, anxiety, fear, confusion… various emotions showed on everyone’s faces.

“It means we’re in great danger now.”

The speaker was the leader of another team, dressed in a white robe, resembling a mage.

“That’s one way to put it.”

“But not necessarily,” said Guan Shan, beside Bluesea. “Even if the main gate is open… the enemies outside, like the electronic guards, might not necessarily find where the main gate is…”

“I’m not so optimistic about that,” the person interjected swiftly. “The external world’s programs, the electronic guards, have been tirelessly searching for the entrance to our main gate. The reason we’ve been safe all along is because we have Zero City’s ‘external passage security system.’

This system wasn’t developed by us, but is inherent to Zero City’s system. It’s very sophisticated, and we’ve never been able to crack it. We can’t even understand how it operates.

In short, its existence releases various ‘deceptive’ data to deceive external world programs searching for us.”

“This searching and probing never stops! Because we were protected by the security system, our main gate remained hidden, so they couldn’t find us!”

“But now, as I just mentioned, for some unknown reason, this program protecting us has completely disappeared!”

“So…”

“So, the main programs of the outside world, those dreadful electronic guards, could potentially find us at any moment, rush in through the now wide-open and defenseless main gate, and annihilate us, destroy Zero City?” Bluesea asked in a calm, almost eerie voice. “Is that what you’re trying to convey?”

“…Yes,” the person trembled. “Given this situation, according to the highest wartime rules of the Angel Corps, as the person in charge of monitoring, I am obliged to present my recommendation to Lord War Angel.”

“Speak,” War Angel’s face was grim.

“…According to the ancient rules, in the event of such a situation, the rules specify that the highest priority course of action is… evacuation! Evacuation of all Zero City personnel!!”