According to Lance, they should immediately send Eve back by helicopter to deliver the particle converter to Alaska’s underground city.

This suggestion was unanimously opposed by the expedition team, including Anthony.

Lance, clearly displeased, said, "Zheng Rong, this device is extremely important. Your brother..."

Zheng Rong didn’t reveal Eve’s true identity to Lance. Under such uncertain circumstances, handing over the particle converter to Eve and sending her back was unwise; no one knew whose hands it might fall into.

The expedition team rested for two hours in the Hanging Gardens, and after a heated debate, they all voted to follow the captain’s lead.

"Oh? What’s it for?"

Zheng Rong walked along a floating bridge lined with various sculptures—Minotaurs with bull heads and human bodies, sphinxes with eagle wings and lion feet, and winged humans.

"Angels," Zheng Rong said.

Lance glanced back and spoke in a low voice, "Zheng Rong, listen to me."

He placed his hand on Zheng Rong’s shoulder, deliberately walking at the front of the group. "What Zheng Feng got his hands on was exactly this type of machine."

"The particle generator was destroyed," Zheng Rong whispered.

Lance nodded, "The one we’ve obtained can continue your brother’s experiment. Xiang Yu was the first... product of its trials."

Lance glanced at Xiang Yu. He had been present at the first explosion, so there was no point in hiding anything from him.

Zheng Rong’s heart skipped a beat. "With this machine, can I bring people from the past back?"

In that moment, the chip left behind by Li Ying seemed to burn on his chest, like a branding iron scorching his heart.

Lance said, "Think about it, Zheng Rong. If we could properly use this machine, we could resurrect Zheng Feng, Li Ying, and the others, or gain the upper hand once and for all."

It was a strong, terrifying thought, one that momentarily consumed Zheng Rong’s mind. But within seconds, Xiang Yu broke through the thought.

Xiang Yu said, "No, it’s not about bringing back people from the past; it’s about recreating them."

Lance and Zheng Rong both stopped in their tracks, looking at Xiang Yu in surprise.

Xiang Yu stood silently for a moment before speaking seriously. "When I was about to die at Wujiang, I vaguely heard a man’s voice, discussing this very thing."

He pointed to the backpack Lance was carrying.

"Have you met my brother?" Zheng Rong asked suddenly.

Lance frowned. "Do you understand what he’s talking about?"

Xiang Yu shook his head, narrowing his eyes in thought. "I didn’t know at the time, but after spending time with Zheng Rong, I’ve come to understand a bit more. Your brother was studying the principles of all things..."

"Physics, you could say. The fundamental principles of the world. What you heard must have been their conversation when they first arrived in our time," Zheng Rong said.

Xiang Yu nodded, "It’s not about going back in time; it’s a recreation. The original Xiang Yu has long since died. What stands before you now is merely a recreation."

Zheng Rong was stunned.

Lance added, "I only partially understood his plan. What Zheng Feng explained to me is similar to what Xiang Yu just said. The particle generator can truly replicate past scenes, people, and the composition of all matter, and recreate them in the present..."

Zheng Rong looked up at the grand, floating buildings before him and asked, "So, everything we see isn’t from thousands of years ago. It’s just a replica, created by the particle generator. Including Xiang Yu, who is merely a projection and copy of molecular and atomic information from the Battle of Gaixia, crossing thousands of years of time?"

Something suddenly felt off to Zheng Rong.

The rest of the team caught up. Anthony, puzzled, asked, "What are you talking about?"

Zheng Rong waved them off, his mind racing. He vaguely realized something but couldn’t quite articulate it. According to Anthony’s hypothesis at the Central Stone Tower conference, humans could only replicate the composition of matter but could not replicate memories. If he used the particle generator to recreate an identical Li Ying or his brother Zheng Feng, their personalities would be encoded in their brain cells, but they would have lost all memories.

What did this imply?

Zheng Rong glanced at Xiang Yu. For the first time, Xiang Yu avoided Zheng Rong’s gaze, as if he were hiding some unknown secret.

"Shall we keep going?" Ugos asked.

"Continue," Zheng Rong said. "Kim Po-Ai, have the sonic scans revealed anything?"

Kim Po-Ai packed up her probe and replied, "The map is complete. According to the computer’s analysis, these small areas might be residential zones. I suggest we check out the central area."

She pointed to a massive floating island, with streams of water endlessly cascading down its edges. The air was filled with the scent of flowers, and every step they took seemed to pass through a sea of blossoms.

"It’s beautiful," Ugos remarked, looking up in awe. "This granite was imported from the Mediterranean. God knows how much manpower it took to build this garden."

Zheng Rong remained silent as they crossed the floating bridge and stopped in front of a stone monument.

It was densely covered with cuneiform writing.

Zheng Rong took out a dictionary manual and flipped through it, his head starting to ache.

"Call Eve over," Zheng Rong said. "Who’s going to fetch her?"

"I’ll go," Ugos volunteered.

As he turned, Zheng Rong suddenly said, "Lance has the 'key.' Send him back to the Tower of Babel and bring them here."

Ugos and Lance left to fetch the old woman. Zheng Rong brushed past the stone monument and continued inspecting the wide platform.

"You were right, Dr. Zheng Rong." Anthony, standing next to a massive green crystal, said, "Look at this."

The green crystal stood three meters tall, with a frozen corpse inside.

There were twelve such green crystals, scattered around the platform’s edges. From a distance, they all appeared to be decorative. But up close, they contained strange creatures.

"Like amber, with insects trapped inside," Zheng Rong murmured, tapping the surface of the crystal. Inside, a Minotaur-like creature was silently frozen in place.

In the center of the platform, there was a structure resembling an operating table. Water gushed from a basin at its side, while a blackened bone lay in another basin. Judging by its appearance, it had been there for centuries.

On one side of the platform lay a stone tablet filled with twelve runes.

Anthony inspected them one by one. "This is the third one we’ve found... Everyone, don’t wander too far!"

He picked up a bone. "A cow’s leg bone."

Zheng Rong stored the stone tablet and asked, "What about this?"

Using another bone, he prodded the blackened bones at the bottom of the basin. Both he and Anthony fell silent when they saw a human skull.

"This skull doesn’t quite resemble a modern human’s," Anthony remarked, frowning as he examined the skull. Kim Po-Ai screamed and backed away.

"It must have been his operating table," Zheng Rong said. "The creatures trapped in the crystals may have been his experimental subjects, combining humans with animals..."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Anthony shuddered. "Dr. Zheng Rong, what do you think his goal was with these experiments? To improve humanity?"

Zheng Rong didn’t answer immediately. After a pause, he speculated, "Maybe he was just doing it for fun. Who knows?"

He turned and continued examining the crystal pillars, each containing grotesque creatures, until he stopped in front of Xiang Yu.

The crystal in front of Xiang Yu housed an especially terrifying creature.

It resembled a human infant, but its head was ten times the size of a normal adult’s, with no eyebrows, and two massive eyes taking up its entire forehead, gleaming like wheels.

"It looks like a forest spirit from Norse mythology," Zheng Rong commented.

Anthony came over, studied it briefly, and said, "More like an alien... in the usual sense."

The huge head and massive eyes were exactly how aliens were commonly depicted.

Xiang Yu stared at the creature’s eyes, lost in thought. "What are you looking at?" Zheng Rong asked. "Interested in this thing? Let’s go."

Xiang Yu replied, "Zheng Rong, look at its eyes."

Zheng Rong felt a shiver down his spine and examined the giant infant’s eyes closely. They were unnervingly strange—two pupils fused together in an infinity (∞) shape.

A cold sweat broke out on Zheng Rong’s back. He knew it was foolish to do so, but he couldn’t help turning to glance at Xiang Yu.

There was a peculiar look in Xiang Yu’s heavy-pupiled eyes.

"Brother, you’re overthinking this," Zheng Rong said. "Stop staring at the monster."

Xiang Yu nodded, "Alright, let’s go."

Eve had returned. She smiled and said, "Finally reached the point where the grandmother can be of help?" She put on her reading glasses and took the cuneiform dictionary Zheng Rong handed her, carefully examining the stone monument. "Hmm, let’s see..."

Ugos was busy snapping photos of the crystal pillars.

"I think you really shouldn’t..." Kim Po-Ai said, worried.

Ugos shrugged and snapped the camera’s shutter at one of the pillars. A bright white flash lit up the room.

The giant infant’s pupils reacted to the light, shrinking slightly.

"Smile for the camera, monster?" Ugos joked, but his expression suddenly turned serious as he moved closer to inspect the creature’s eyes.

The pupils, which had been fused together, began slowly merging into one.

"Oh no, that’s not good. It’s still alive?" Ugos muttered. "Dr. Zheng Rong? Captain?"

Zheng Rong, clearly irritated, shouted, "Stop messing around! Everyone, gather here!"

Several people gathered around Eve as she slowly explained, "This is a garden of transformation."

"Modification," Zheng Rong corrected.

Eve nodded. "The cuneiform text is strange. I can only translate it based on my interpretation. I can’t render it word-for-word."

"Just explain it in your own words," Zheng Rong said.

Eve closed the manual, removed her glasses, and leaned back in her wheelchair, thinking. After a moment, she said, "According to the inscription, only a select few Babylonian priests were allowed to enter the Hanging Gardens. Every so often, they would offer sacrifices to the gods, usually at the central altar of the Tower of Babel."

"Not hard to imagine," Zheng Rong remarked. "I think they were providing him with biological research material—cows, eagles, lions, even humans."

Eve nodded. "That might explain the diversity of offerings in Sumerian culture. The stone tablet was left behind by the gods themselves. One day, they temporarily left the garden, instructing their followers to await their return. But they never came back."

"They intended to use this experiment to create one or more ‘vessels’ for the gods. These grafted beings... forgive me, I can’t think of a better word..."

Zheng Rong interrupted, "Failed experiments, meant to serve as hosts for the same kind as those on his ship? Do you think they were the original Mayan beings, or bodies for the second wave of alien invaders?"

"I think they were for the first wave—the ones from the film Li Ying brought back, the bodies that survived in the nutrient pods, similar to the original Mayans. He was looking for suitable bodies for his six companions."

Zheng Rong fell silent. It made sense.

Eve added, "The text also mentions the eyes. He was searching for suitable eyes and a head capable of accepting a god. This is important, Dr. Zheng Rong. What do you think it means?"

"The eyes... perhaps they have a special function for them. I can’t say for sure yet, but the brain’s role is obvious. It’s meant to be a vessel for the soul of a Mayan god, forcibly entering and occupying it long-term."

Eve said nothing further, and Zheng Rong looked up, locking eyes with Anthony.

Anthony’s expression was clear—he knew that Eve was hiding something.

Ugos, meanwhile, stared straight at the monster’s pupils. Moments later, the creature’s pupils shrank to a point, while Ugos’s pupils slowly dilated.

He turned, took a step forward.

Xiang Yu stood behind Zheng Rong, with the expedition’s travel pack leaning against another crystal pillar.

Ugos bent down, rummaged through the travel pack, and pulled out an ancient, sharp sword—the legendary Zhanlu, which Xiang Yu had taken from Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud.

Zheng Rong pointed at the lower section of the stone tablet. "What do the lines down here mean?"

"They’re connected to the rest. The full translation is what I just explained," Eve said.

Anthony spoke up, "Excuse me, but I didn’t see you consult the dictionary for the last few lines. In fact, you closed the dictionary before those lines. Is it because they’re written in a script that can’t be translated?"

Eve quickly changed her story, smiling. "Let me take another look. The text is a bit low, and my glasses aren’t very clear..."

"Should we copy it down?" Anthony suggested.

Eve opened the manual again. "This part is also difficult to understand. It says something about sharing his blood with humans, hoping that one day they will..."

"Will what?" Zheng Rong asked.

"It’s a word that has never appeared before. A variant of the cuneiform symbol. I suppose the dictionary needs to be updated..." Eve replied.

Zheng Rong pressed, "I asked what it hopes humans will eventually do."

Eve, irritated, said, "That’s as far as the text goes, young man. The meaning ends there."

Zheng Rong said, "It’s cyclical, isn’t it? The end of the sentence refers back to the beginning of the inscription, where it talks about searching for a suitable vessel. The meaning of the final word ties to the start—it hopes that one day, humans will have the blood of gods and evolve into suitable beings to serve as ‘vessels’ for the gods’ companions."

Eve frowned. "Do you understand cuneiform?"

"I know this symbol. Joseph taught me. I also know the word you couldn’t translate—it has only one explanation: ‘God’s gene.’"

"He altered human DNA, using surgery or molecular replication to merge Mayan characteristics into the human race..."

Anthony quickly cut in, "Dr. Zheng Rong, I think that’s enough. This is all baseless speculation."

"It’s not baseless..." Zheng Rong realized something and backed down. "Fine. We’ll discuss it later. Ugos, come over... Ugos, what are you doing?"

"Ugos?" Zheng Rong stared at the geologist’s back in confusion. Three seconds later, he shouted, "Stop him!"

Ugos, wielding the sharp ancient sword, cleaved the crystal pillar in two. A splash of glowing green liquid gushed out. Kim Po-Ai screamed, Eve gripped her wheelchair tightly, backing away, while Lance and Xiang Yu leapt forward. Anthony shielded Zheng Rong.

With a thunderous crash, the first sphinx broke free, pouncing toward a stone pillar, sending Ugos crashing to the ground.

"Run! Get out of here!" Xiang Yu commanded.

"Save Ugos!"

Lance shouted, "Forget it! Run!"

One by one, the crystal pillars shattered, each one releasing a torrent of green nutrient fluid. Eleven different beasts, each more monstrous than the last, were freed, attacking the team. Xiang Yu grabbed Ugos’s sword, swung it in a wide arc, and neatly sliced off a griffin’s wing!

The griffin screeched in agony. Zheng Rong pushed Anthony aside, rushed forward, and grabbed Ugos. "Retreat to the entrance of the Hanging Garden!"

Lance mounted a magnetic wrist cannon and fired a shot at the charging Minotaur.

With a deafening explosion, the massive creature was blasted backward.

Zheng Rong and Anthony, each supporting one of Ugos’s arms, stumbled as they fled. Suddenly, Zheng Rong’s mind was overwhelmed by a sharp, piercing pain, as if he’d been struck by a hammer on the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground.

"Zheng Rong!" Lance shouted.

Only one crystal pillar remained standing. Xiang Yu paused, staring curiously at the giant infant inside.

He flipped the sword in his hand, the blade gleaming as it reflected the sunlight, and a beam of white light shot toward the infant’s eyes, causing its pupils to contract violently.

The pain in Zheng Rong’s head subsided. He struggled to his feet, waving his hand. "I’m fine!"

They retreated back to the Hanging Garden’s entrance. Lance threw the particle generator to Zheng Rong, who caught it with trembling hands and placed it on the platform.

With a click, the machine whirred into action. In just fifty seconds, Lance assembled a long-range sniper rifle, mounting it on his shoulder and dropping to one knee.

Xiang Yu covered the rear, swinging his sword as he retreated, fending off the attacking beasts.

The last crystal pillar shattered. Through the sniper’s scope, the giant infant crawled toward the platform.

It struggled to prop itself up, lifting its head. Lance’s hands trembled as he held the rifle.

"Lance?" Zheng Rong called out.

In an instant, Lance pulled the trigger.

With a deafening bang, two seconds later, the giant infant’s head, nearly 500 meters away, exploded into pieces. Red and white brain matter splattered across the sky.

The particle generator spun again, and the team was transported back to the Tower of Babel.

Ugos collapsed, twitching violently as his pupils slowly dilated.