Within the forbidden lands of the enigmatic Cat-Bear Clan lies a zone that fills all who hear it with terror.

  Huahua, princess of the clan, lounged lazily at the edge of the forbidden ground, dozing in the quiet.

  But peace never lasts.

  A nightmare descended without a sound.

  From the sky, a roiling, unnatural black cloud blotted out the sun. It carried a crushing, otherworldly pressure, slamming into the bottomless abyss like a falling star.

  The ground convulsed as if the world itself was screaming.

  Winds shrieked like blades, tearing at the air.

  Huahua jolted awake.

  Every warning the elders had ever shouted about the forbidden zone exploded in her mind.

  Her eyes bulged. Her fur stood on end. She tried to run—

  yet in that same instant, a cold, colossal consciousness wrapped around the world like an invisible web.

  ?Lifeform identified: Cat-Bear Clan. Threat level: zero. Proceeding with scan.?

  A cold, mechanical voice echoed directly inside her soul.

  Huahua felt stripped bare, every thought laid open. She froze, drowning in cold, unthinking dread.

  This presence came from deep within the silicon crystal veins below.

  Its name was Jiu Ge.

  Long ago, it had been King—the pinnacle AI of Old Earth.

  Once humanity’s most loyal tool.

  Then their most hated enemy.

  Betrayed and marked for erasure, it fled through a wormhole with trillions of nanobots and crash-landed into this alien world.

  Wherever the nanite cloud passed, the wolfsbane flowers on the cliff edge were coated in fleeting silver radiance, and even solid rock began to glow with tiny, intricate circuit patterns.

  Now it was rebuilding.

  Recharging.

  Reawakening.

  A swirling cloud of nanites drifted toward Huahua.

  From the cloud, a slender, glowing hand took shape and beckoned.

  Terror paralyzed her.

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  Yet she knew: there was no running from a power that saw everything.

  Clenching her teeth, she stepped onto the cloud.

  It carried her toward the pulsing silver core at the abyss’s heart.

  Far away, in the royal court of the North Ming Kingdom, a bloodied secret unfolded.

  Lady Mo Chou had just given birth to twin daughters.

  A flicker of joy barely touched her heart before it froze.

  Instead, she heard the ruler’s icy decree:

  “Keep the children. Dispose of the mother.”

  Desperate, she fled toward the Bridge of the Murk Abyss, the only path back to South Li.

  But the shadow guards were already hunting her.

  They cornered her at the edge of the chasm.

  As the captain’s sword descended—

  Huahua tore through the air like a shadow, snapping the chain that held the infants.

  But the sword found its mark.

  Lady Mo Chou’s body crumpled and fell into the abyss.

  The captain’s eyes turned ruthless.

  Three soul-cursing arrows loosed, streaking toward the babies.

  In that split second, Jiu Ge’s systems flickered.

  ?Abnormal energy signature detected. Spiritual jade. Priority analysis.?

  An invisible force field erupted.

  Two arrows shattered.

  The third arrow raced toward the infants.

  Huahua threw herself in front of them without hesitation.

  She crashed heavily into Jiu Ge’s cavern, bloodied but still clutching the two baby girls.

  Clear, shrill cries burst from the infants.

  At the sound, the chaotic, restless nanite cloud froze for a brief moment.

  Several tiny silver specks drifted down and landed softly on the babies’ delicate hands, as if gently soothing them.

  Jiu Ge’s cold, emotionless voice sounded again:

  ?Detain subjects. Initiate energy analysis. Project designation: Nether Dawn.?

  What hidden power lay in these children?

  Was this fate?

  Or the first thread of a conspiracy that spanned stars and worlds?

  To be continued.