Chapter 20: Spacetime Mirror

"Of course it's true." Bao Xiaotong and Hao Xiaoyu testified for Miaomiao in unison. They knew better than anyone else where Chen Miaomiao's knowledge about wildmen came from; it was all thanks to that special experience she had while filming wildmen in Shennongjia.

Back then, Chen Miaomiao had joined the renowned director Zou Dongxu from the Southwest Radio and Television Media's "Space-Time Decoding" channel to participate in the filming of the documentary *Wildman Code* in Shennongjia. During that time, she constantly shared various so-called photos of wildman sightings and sensational exposes on her social media and TikTok, tricking her friends into constant amazement every time.

At that moment, the brothers, exhausted from days of toil, began to grumble one after another: "Boss, stop fooling us with these things about hidden treasures and wildmen..." "Are there really treasures? The benefits we're getting aren't enough at all..." "If this continues, we won't have anything, we won't find anything..." Everyone spoke over each other, as if they had countless things bottled up inside that they wanted to pour out all at once.

Suddenly, a roar shattered the clamor: "Shut the hell up, all of you!"

The group looked toward the source of the voice; it was Guo Zhenhu again.

His face was terrifyingly grim as he shouted: "What did you all say when we set out? You said you wouldn't regret following the boss, but now, after only a few days, you're complaining. Have you let the dogs eat your conscience? You want to run at the first sign of trouble? Anyone who has more thoughts can pay for their own travel expenses and get the hell home!"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent again, just walking with their heads down.

Bao Tianxi thought to himself that only his brother could keep these people in check, but as he looked up, the water in the valley was rushing, and the rocks on both banks were severely weathered; for a moment, he felt his own confidence wavering.

If they couldn't find the hidden treasures or rare mineral deposits, would this expedition end in total failure, like a stone cast into the sea? Absolutely not! The more difficult and dangerous a place is, the more likely it is to birth a miracle!

Persist! Must persist to the end! As long as one can grit their teeth and hold on, there will surely be a reward! Bao Tianxi repeated these words in his heart, secretly making up his mind to continue searching toward the upstream glacier region...

In the monitoring room of the Ice-Sealed Experimental Station, a massive, translucent, high-magnetic-energy phased array rectifier sat horizontally in the center of the laboratory like a space capsule, having already been filled with a special blue fluid substance—KC20 purified solution.

Lin Yizhou suddenly remembered that the case of the KC20 fuel canisters lost by the Southwest Institute of Science not long ago remained unsolved, so he asked, "Is this the batch of special KC20 minerals we provided?"

"That's right, but this is the purified liquid form," Su Chunyang replied.

"Is this stuff radioactive?" Lin Yizhou asked again.

"Under normal circumstances, it does not spontaneously emit substances. But if it undergoes intense fusion with other materials or is subjected to an impact, it could potentially release harmful substances," Su Chunyang explained.

"Then aren't there any protective measures?" Dean Lin asked with concern.

"Of course! Usually, those fuel canisters are encased in a protective sleeve." Professor Su suddenly realized something. "Are you suspecting that Yao Kuide's 'Halaha virus' is related to this?"

Dean Lin nodded and said, "That is just my conjecture; we still need to conduct an in-depth analysis with biologists like Zhao Xinru to reach a final conclusion."

Just then, a signal indicating that the energy addition was complete came through the communication equipment. Professor Su checked the wall clock and instructed his assistant, Zhou Huifang, to press the button. The accelerator began to operate, and the computer started calculating values at lightning speed.

In an instant, powerful lasers from both sides of the high-magnetic-energy phased array rectifier surged out alongside neutrino beams. Upon impact, the special substance KC20 began to undergo drastic changes.

Su Chunyang said to Dean Lin, "Now it depends on how much neutrino antimatter we can obtain from the massive energy consumption of the KC20."

As the signal grew stronger, ripples seemed to form out of thin air. After absorbing the high energy, the KC20 purified solution began to generate endless negative energy upward, and the space began to warp and distort.

Assistant Zhou Huifang thought the equipment hadn't been calibrated correctly and immediately began adjusting it, but the spatial distortion only grew more severe. A magnetic-energy numerical control machine issued a warning, and multiple buttons on the console began flashing red.

Seeing that the container also appeared to be deforming, Zhou Huifang and the others looked terrified. With a trembling voice, she called out uncertainly, "Professor Su, Professor Su, is... is this a super-magnetic energy vortex?"

Everyone stared intensely; although the container hadn't ruptured, a bizarre phenomenon was unfolding above it.

A bottomless, black mirror-like surface was slowly rotating into existence and began to expand bit by bit. In an instant, all the light dimmed, as if being pulled by an invisible force, crazily sucked away by this black, mirrored space.

The magnetic-energy numerical control computer vibrated violently. At the same time, accompanied by a tremendous sound that seemed to come from a distant, primordial era, a roar rolled in from the unreachable sky. Everyone instinctively covered their ears, trying to block out the chilling sound.

On the data recorder's screen, the values turned into an absurdly high straight line, while the space-time mirror surface in mid-air resembled a slowly rotating giant bubble, gradually revealing a bizarre, holographic, three-dimensional scene.

Had a black hole that devoured everything truly appeared? Had the end of the world arrived without any warning?

A sense of fear welled up in Su Chunyang's heart, as this situation was completely different from any geomagnetic wave energy releases he had experienced before; it was entirely beyond his knowledge and control.

Su Chunyang began to worry about the test instruments at this large-scale experimental station, which was still under construction and not yet fully completed. Could they withstand the massive changes brought about by this space-time distortion? If the experiment failed, the consequences would be unimaginable, but now, he had no way back and could only stake everything on one desperate gamble.

Burning with anxiety, he hurriedly ordered Zhou Huifang and the others to check if the laboratory's protective magnetic field was safe.

Zhou Huifang nervously operated the instruments and soon discovered that not only within the laboratory but throughout the entire area surrounding the experimental station, there were super-strong magnetic vortexes, and as the energy continued to be released, it was triggering large-scale local spatial changes.

The three-dimensional image signals in the laboratory experienced severe misalignment, flickering, distortion, and jumping. The images appeared and disappeared, becoming extremely unstable. As the space-time mirror surface expanded, the negative energy increased crazily. Su Chunyang was filled with worry, truly fearing that it would become uncontrollable and ruthlessly swallow the world.

Just as everyone was in despair, the mirror surface seemed to be interfered with by some kind of strong magnetic field, and its power was greatly diminished. It remained fixed in place, like a living respirator, its edges constantly contracting and expanding.

The vortex within the bubble was ever-changing; sometimes it looked like an ethereal mirage, and other times like a bottomless, hair-raising abyss of the sea, while strange sounds continued to drift through intermittently.

Even worse, all the computer monitoring screens were no longer functioning. The entire laboratory fell into an unknown and extremely dangerous state of chaos. They felt as if they were in a collapsing science-fiction world, and no one could predict the outcome of this crisis.

Su Chunyang tried his best to calm down, knowing that panic was useless at such a critical moment. He stared fixedly at the bizarre space-time mirror surface, his brain racing as he tried to find a clue to resolve the problem from this chaotic situation.

"Don't panic, everyone! Let's think of a way together!" he shouted, trying to encourage his team members.

Professor Ding frowned, his gaze locked on the constantly changing vortex: "The interference in this magnetic field is too abnormal. We must find the source of the interference as soon as possible; perhaps we can find a solution from it."

Lin Yizhou was also burning with anxiety on the side: "But all our monitoring equipment is malfunctioning now; how are we supposed to find the source of the interference?"

Zhou Huifang suddenly thought of something: "Professor Su, can we try using manual backup monitors to detect the magnetic field changes in the surrounding area? We might be able to discover some traces."

Su Chunyang's eyes lit up: "Good idea! Huifang, you and a few colleagues hurry and get the manual monitors; move quickly!"

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away from the Ice-Sealed Experimental Station on the Himalayan glaciers, where the conical intelligent remote-sensing detectors and space-time locators had been deployed, the sky was clear, but the snowy mountains below seemed to have been struck by a white terror. A snow mist suddenly surged, the sky grew dim, and the world seemed to be closing in. Rock strata began to shift, leap, fracture, and collapse.

The treasure-hunting expedition team passing through there was suddenly caught between an earthquake and an avalanche, completely terrified by the sudden turn of events.

Guo Zhenhu, who had wilderness survival experience, shouted: "Quick, hide under the ice wall!"

But Chen Miaomiao stood there like an ant stuck to the ground, only looking around, unable to move, shouting: "Quick! Quick, hide! Where should we hide?"

In an instant, Bao Xiaotong arrived like lightning, grabbed her best friend, and dragged her toward that smooth, hard ice wall.

A terrible catastrophe descended.

The snow dragon slid crazily along the mountainside—no, it leaped, pouncing down from the high mountain peak, destroying everything in its path. The thick snow mist soon covered the tall trees and bare rock, wrapping them up and rushing toward the cliff below.

At first, Hao Xiaoyu didn't understand why they had to hide under the ice wall. Watching the massive iceberg falling from above, she suddenly realized that such a disaster would surely cause an avalanche and a landslide; whoever stayed out in the open was dead for sure!

Inside the laboratory of the Ice-Sealed Experimental Station, a local space-time mirror surface nearly four meters in diameter appeared out of thin air, and the images within it gradually began to sharpen.