"Tick...... Tick ......"

In the darkness, Xu Rui heard a crisp sound in a trance, as if a drop of water fell gently, smashing on the hard stone slab.

"Hmmm......"

Xu Rui rushed out of the water like a drowning person, took a deep breath, and suddenly opened his eyes.

In an instant, the darkness receded like a tide, and a strange place came into view.

It was a boxy room, only about a dozen square meters in size, the walls were all made of polished black rock, but the material was unknown, and a soft light the size of a fist overhead illuminated the room.

Xu Rui squinted at the light, and he could be sure that the light was not any known light, but a more advanced light source.

"Are you back already?"

Memories poured back from his mind, and Xu Rui recalled the moment he stepped into the wormhole, and after that, he came here like a fragment.

"Where is this?"

Xu Rui frowned and looked around, he could only be sure that he had indeed crossed again, but he could not determine the time and place of crossing.

At that moment, he noticed a large door on the wall two steps away, which strangely didn't exist when he looked into the room.

"This ......"

Xu Rui walked towards the gate suspiciously, and didn't stop until he came to the door.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally reached out and pressed the door and pushed it gently.

The thrust was very small, and it was not easy even if he wanted to push open the ordinary wooden door, but the seemingly heavy stone door was pushed open, and a ray of light instantly shone on Xu Rui's eyes, reflecting those eyes colorfully.

Xu Rui's pupils shrank, and his face was full of shock, as if he was shocked by everything in front of him.

Because behind that door was a whole starry sky, and this door seemed to open abruptly in a corner of the universe, directly connecting two completely different spaces.

"What the hell is this?"

Xu Rui was stunned.

"Welcome to the Land of Totems!"

At this moment, a magnetic voice suddenly sounded behind Xu Rui.

Xu Rui was startled, and quickly turned around, only to see an extremely handsome man with black hair and black eyes standing behind him.

The man is slender, wearing a pair of linen trousers on the lower half and naked on the upper body, his figure is like a statue of ancient Greece, every detail is perfect, full of artistic beauty, like a priceless work of art.

"Who are you?"

Xu Rui was vigilant, and subconsciously touched his waist, but found that the pistol had long been lost in the wormhole, and he couldn't help but "chuckle" in his heart.

"Don't be afraid ......"

The man said lightly, his smile seemed to have an abnormal affinity, which made Xu Rui's nervousness disappear in an instant, and every cell in his body relaxed.

"My name is Bao Shuai, you can also call me Star Beast."

The man said with a smile.

"Star Beast?!"

Hearing these two words, Xu Rui's face suddenly changed.

The Star Beast is known as the enemy of all things, the most terrifying creature in this universe, its gravitational field even exceeds that of a black hole, and all civilizations and resources in its path will be devoured and become nutrients for its growth.

Xu Rui never imagined that the real star beast would be human, and it was standing in front of him.

He suddenly remembered that a few years ago, he was on trial in the interstellar court, and it seemed that it was the sudden visit of the star beast that caused chaos in the entire courtroom, and then there was that time travel.

The two are never unrelated!

Xu Rui seemed to have finally grasped the crux of the problem, and asked in a deep voice: "You let me cross back then?" What's going on here? ”

Bao Shuai smiled faintly and waved his hand casually overhead, and the ceiling seemed to disappear in an instant, and a starry sky appeared, and in the starry sky was a huge crimson planet.

"Let me introduce myself first, the part standing in front of you is only a part of me, curled up in the starry sky, and the part disguised as a planet is my essence."

Bao Shuai still said lightly.

Xu Rui's eyes widened, with the experience of interstellar navigation, he could see at a glance that this planet was much larger than the Earth, at least 80% of Jupiter's volume, and it didn't seem to be a gas planet, the mass was much larger than Jupiter.

But maybe only such an ontology is worthy of the terrifying name of the star beast, thinking of this, Xu Rui was relieved and let out a long sigh of relief.

"You just said this is the land of totems? And what is the land of totems? ”

Xu Rui calmed down and asked.

Bao Shuai didn't rush to explain, but turned around and walked behind him, and the room, which was originally only about ten square meters in size, immediately expanded and extended with his steps, and at this moment it seemed that the entire space was changing.

Under Xu Rui's stunned gaze, in the blink of an eye, the entire room turned into a large hall.

The main hall is circular, with a diameter of more than three hundred meters, and the top of the head has turned into a pitch-black starry sky, and it is impossible to see how high the ceiling really is, and around the walls are the statues of twenty-four different creatures neatly arranged, just forming a circle.

The statues are large and small, the big ones can't be seen at all, and the small ones are only the size of a thumb.

Each statue has an exaggerated throne in front of it, the size of which is proportional to the size of the statue, and if the statue comes to life, it can sit on the throne in front of them.

Xu Rui looked at the twenty-four statues in amazement, and suddenly found that one of the statues was very familiar, and when he looked closely, it was actually the appearance of himself sitting in front of the interstellar command platform to dispatch the army, which was lifelike.

"The first time I saw these statues, I was just as surprised as you were."

Bao Shuai stood behind Xu Rui and said with a smile.

"What the hell is going on?"

Xu Rui finally couldn't hold back his doubts and looked at Bao Shuai.

Bao Shuai explained: "Actually, your previous crossing was a screening. ”

"Screening?"

Xu Rui frowned.

Bao Shuai nodded: "That's right, that world is like a huge training base, and there are many traversers who have been put into it, but only one supreme can come out of it and become one of the twenty-four totems - the commander!" ”

Xu Rui's face changed: "Are you saying that all this is actually an experiment led by you?" ”

Bao Shuai nodded, and shook his head again: "I am in charge of this experiment, but I am not in charge, to be exact, in the twenty-four totems, I am only responsible for providing logistics support, and the real leader is another totem - insight!" ”

Xu Rui was stunned and said, "Are you trying to pull me in?" ”

Bao Shuai said: "The land of totems is also known as the Temple of the Gods, and even I don't know who established it, only that before the appearance of the Insight Totem, the owner here sent countless observers to countless universes.

Observers have to sift through twenty-four totems from countless candidates in parallel universes to accomplish an unknown mission.

As the first totem to be born, I was responsible for providing support for the twenty-four totems, and it was not until the Totem of Insight, who was responsible for scouting thousands of affairs, was found that the task of screening other companions was changed to the overall responsibility of the Totem of Insight.

Everything you go through is actually the process of totem selection, and you are one of these twenty-four totems, Commander! ”

"Why do you think I'll accede to your invitation to be your companion?"

Xu Rui asked in a deep voice.

Bao Shuai said: "I know your grievances, we have all experienced what you have experienced now, but to figure out the truth behind all this, we must first collect the twenty-four totems, otherwise we will always be trapped in the fog by an invisible hand." ”

Xu Rui fell silent when he heard this, and Bao Shuai was not in a hurry, quietly waiting for his answer.

After a while, Xu Rui seemed to have made up his mind, shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I still have a lot to do than to find out the truth, I'm afraid I don't have the time to do any totem." ”

After speaking, Xu Rui turned around and walked towards the starry sky.

"That great war is over, humanity has lost, this is a fact that cannot be changed!"

Bao Shuai stood behind Xu Rui and said calmly.

"What did you say?!"

Xu Rui suddenly turned around and looked at Bao Shuai in dismay.

Bao Shuai sighed and said: "I am also a witness to that war, and I won't tell you, in fact, I was also a member of the human race, and I was subject to certain laws, so I could not directly interfere with the victory or defeat of that war, and I could only drive the interstellar alliance out of the earth again after the defeat of mankind." ”

Xu Rui was stunned: "You mean that the reason why the alien coalition gave up on the earth is because of you?!" ”

Bao Shuai nodded calmly: "This is the last contribution I can make to mankind, but only in this way, maybe when the alien coalition will return to Earth."

I believe that humanity will be reborn from the ruins and return to its former glory, but they need time, and if you become one of the twenty-four totems, you will be able to use the power of the other totems to provide shelter to humanity. ”

Xu Rui was shocked, but he seemed to think of something, frowned and asked, "What price do I need to pay?" ”

Bao Shuai said: "You are the most important commander of the twenty-four totems, and you will be responsible for commanding the army of the twenty-four totems, and shouldering your responsibilities is the price you need to pay."

However, the search for other totems is still in the stage, and before it is time for you to perform your duties, you have plenty of time to adjust to your new identity. ”

Xu Rui muttered, "I'm afraid the time it takes you to collect the twenty-four totems is not short, right?" ”

"Tens of thousands of years? Or hundreds of thousands of years? ”

Bao Shuai said lightly.

Xu Rui smiled bitterly: "Do you think I can wait that long?" ”

Bao Shuai smiled: "For us, the length of life is not a problem. ”

Xu Rui was stunned: "To put it lightly, could it be that you can still make me immortal?" ”

Bao Shuai said: "No life can be immortal, but you only need to modify your genes slightly, and you can get a much longer life, which can also be understood as eternal life compared to the lifespan of humans." ”

Xu Rui was stunned, and fell silent again, this time the silence lasted much longer than the last time, and it seemed that his heart was also at war with heaven and man, hesitating whether to accept this new fate.

Bao Shuai stood quietly beside him, looking at him lightly, without urging at all.

I don't know how long it took, Xu Rui finally made a decision, took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I can promise you to become one of the twenty-four totems, but I have one condition." ”

Bao Shuai didn't have the slightest surprise, but just spit out two words lightly: "You say." ”

When Xu Rui heard this, the corners of his mouth gradually hooked up a smile.