Chapter 002: Gravitational Acceleration

The stone egg fell heavily to the ground, and apart from the sound of the impact with the ground, nothing else happened

However, it seems that the crisis is no better than being frozen like a wooden man in blue light

A mechanical voice emerged in Tang Lang's mind: "Emergency response is excessive. Article 1188 of the Civilized Law stipulates that, without permission, it is prohibited to harm early-stage evolved beings. Activate protection protocol"

To choose between dying from a direct fall or potentially being killed by an explosion from a detonator, Tang Lang resolutely opted for the latter within one hundredth of a second. Even if there is only a one in ten million chance, a strong warrior will strive for it

The Red Republic advocates materialism; since it is not man-made, it can only be attributed to the forces of nature. However, all on-site materials have been kept confidential and sealed.

The blue pupils were wide enough, wide enough for Tang Lang to see his own reflection falling from the sky within them

A tremendous roar, billowing smoke, falling rocks, trees in the jungle collapsing, small animals scattering in all directions, the entire mountain resembling hell, yet within the blue light, it seemed as if time had come to a standstill. Tang Lang's entire body was frozen in the blue light, even his slightly constricting pupils remained unchanged from when he had turned back earlier.

Tang Lang silently cried out in despair, yet he still made an effort to survive. Just before hitting the ground, he threw out his canvas bag and curled himself up in the air, waiting for the moment of impact to land on his feet and then roll forward to reduce the terrifying force of the collision. This way, the greatest possibility was that his legs would be completely broken, but that was certainly better than dying from the fall!

The jungle below is his only chance for survival; he must rely on the branches and leaves of the jungle to slow his descent. Otherwise, no matter how strong he is, he will end up as nothing more than a pile of mush, a fate not much better than being blown to pieces by a landmine

A few minutes later, Tang Lang had to reluctantly yet thankfully conclude that this was nothing more than a stone egg

After the incident, a joint investigation team composed of the Border Defense Corps and the Earthquake Bureau rushed to the scene at the first opportunity. They were astonished to find that the ten-second earthquake, aside from triggering ninety percent of the landmines left over from the last century scattered throughout the mountains, caused no other damage. This included a mountain village located merely five hundred meters from the mountain, where, apart from some falling rocks, the houses remained intact.

What greeted him was a burst of blue light, rapidly expanding from a soccer-sized sphere to a diameter of ten meters, completely engulfing Tang Lang and the green military canvas bag containing explosives at his feet

A black vortex identical to Earth appeared above a lush jungle and then vanished

The person seems to have vanished, as if he never existed in this world.

However, if there is no sturdy strap on the canvas bag, Tang Lang knows that recklessly grabbing a branch with his hand could very likely result in tearing his palm or the muscles in his shoulder due to the immense weight.

The speed was so fast that Tang Lang had no time to even formulate a tactical evasive action, let alone have a thought arise in his mind.

The neural responses of Tang Lang, whose thoughts had nearly come to a standstill, could only manage such a reaction to the protection of the peat before he completely lost consciousness

Then, he saw a face filled with horror, a face that was looking up at him yet stood frozen in place, a face that did not belong to a person of Huaxia.

A warrior's unique intuition told him that there was danger

... ...

Tang Lang, regaining consciousness, is falling from a height of at least fifty meters

Suddenly expelled by the whirlpool, Tang Lang fell into the jungle like a kite with its string cut, flailing about in a dance of limbs

Subsequently, the color of the blue light gradually deepens, transforming from deep blue to an eerie pitch black, as the radiance begins to swirl, forming a black vortex

Although the discussion of Tang Lang's mine clearance is primarily based on the keen intuition developed over more than 1,000 days and nights dancing with death near the Grim Reaper, a metal detector is also carried at all times

It is unclear how much time has passed, but Tang Lang regained consciousness

It seems that the energy of the earthquake is solely directed at this mountain, or rather, one could say it is specifically aimed at the countless landmines scattered across this mountain. The precision with which that energy is controlled surpasses the imagination of all scientists; at least, at this stage, it is deemed impossible

Here, a sufficient level of caution has been ingrained in Tang Lang's very marrow after countless encounters with death over the past three years

Holding it in my hand and weighing it, the weight of two to three pounds seems somewhat peculiar in relation to its size

And until this moment, in an office hundreds of kilometers away, chaos reigned, and from a location not situated on the seismic belt, seismic waves reaching as high as magnitude 8 were unexpectedly emitted

Tang Lang would never let down his guard simply because it resembled a stone. On this former battlefield, densely packed with landmines, even an inconspicuous clod of earth could suddenly explode.

On the mountain, there is an area exceeding 100 square meters that has not been damaged in any way, including the metal detector left by Tang Lang at the resting point and the expired rice balls, both of which remain intact

Tang Lang casually threw the stone egg towards the open ground ahead, yet instinctively took cover behind the silhouette of a tree trunk as thick as an adult's thigh

Tang Lang let out a light sigh without even realizing it, turned around to prepare to continue the unfinished work, but in the next moment, he suddenly turned back.

Licking his increasingly dry lips due to nervousness, Tang Lang used a military knife to clear away all the soil surrounding the discovered "landmine".

The black vortex suddenly vanished, taking Tang Lang and the canvas bag beneath his feet with it

Fortunately, Tang Lang managed to grab the military canvas bag in mid-air. Although it contained detonators that could blow him to smithereens

The title of "Guardian of the Republic" has been bestowed upon retired Sergeant First Class Tang Lang, who went missing while on duty in the mountains for mine clearance, a honor he rightfully deserves

With the outbreak of blue light, the entire mountain began to shake violently, with an intensity equivalent to at least a magnitude 8 earthquake. The landmines scattered across the mountain were triggered one by one due to the intense vibrations and pressure

Tang Lang's frantic gestures were certainly not caused by the fear of terrifying weightlessness; he was fighting for survival

But what is even more bizarre is that just ten seconds later, the seismic waves disappeared

A calm mind and strong arms, along with the sufficiently dense foliage of the jungle, successfully slowed down Tang Lang's descent. However, the immense gravitational acceleration from a height of fifty meters still caused Tang Lang to crash through the jungle like a meteorite, breaking countless branches as he fell deeper into the jungle

It is an egg-shaped object, wrapped in a layer of stone