1 – God’s Advent
Outside of Beijing. The sky was shrouded in an endless haze. Flames soared alike dragons, dyeing the dark clouds blood-red. One after another, squadrons of fighter aircraft flew over from the horizon. One after another, squadrons of aircraft were shot down, their combusting wreckages lacerating the sky alike meteors before dropping to the ground and turning into mournful flames.
If the sacrifices in the air warfare painted the picture of countless aircraft falling and crashing, without blood or bodies to be seen, then the bloody battle on the ground painted a picture of hell on earth, with blood flowing in rivers and flesh piling up into mountains.
The scent of blood and smoke was ever-present. The scent of sulfur, as if spat out by demons, pervaded the air. The hot air along with the nauseating odor assaulted the respiratory tracts, provoking a flow of mucus and tears.
The ground was littered with heaps of bodies and wreckages of armored vehicles, which extended into the horizon alike a trash site from hell. The once fertile soil had become a ghastly sight of reddish-brown. Who knew whether the soil had always been of this color, or if it was dyed red from the ocean of blood.
On the desperate hell-like battlefield, the ones being the most excited were perhaps the crowds of crows. To the crows, this place was an enormous banquet. The amount of corpses – fresh ones and rotten ones – on the ground was such, that the crows would not be able to finish eating them during their lifetime. Many of the crows, which had come to this sumptuous banquet, had already become rather fat. They couldn’t even fly. They nested themselves beside the delicious bodies, eating from dawn to dusk. They no longer feared the roaring artillery barrage, leading befuddled existences.
At the front-line, a commanding officer, who was covered in cuts and bruises, crawled out from amidst the ever-present corpses. He had already lost a leg in the desperate battle, with blood gushing out as if from a fountain. His life was elapsing. Even tough he was in this state, yet he still struggled to crawl on the mountain of bodies, adding a long bloody mark to the already ghastly corpses.
After arriving at a mass-grave-like heap of corpses, the commanding officer gave his all to dig amidst broken limbs and bodies. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally dug out a still intact communicator from the pile of flesh and blood, before switching it on. Amidst tears coursing down his cheeks, the man shouted himself hoarse: “Brigadier Yue Weiguo reporting to the army headquarters! The personnel from the 27th Infantry Armored Mixed Brigade sacrificed themselves, dying honorably for their country! The offensive on the Cube is still ongoing! I’ll be leaving first! Long live the homeland!”
After the commanding officer finished shouting, he bit the safety pin of a grenade with his teeth, and scrambled into the hell ahead, before vanishing amidst soaring flames.
At this time on the battlefield, the numerous high-rise buildings had already been turned into ruins, the streets were covered in scrapped vehicles and ghastly bodies. Not all of these bodies belonged to humans. Some belonged to strange poisonous insects, fierce beasts covered in exoskeletons, and even hundred meters long giant creatures taller than buildings.
In the distant ruins in the center of the city, a huge and unfathomable Cube stood alike a titan, towering into the sky. It seemed to be piercing the vast blue firmament. The Cube’s surfaces were covered in mysterious runes. Mysterious light spots flowed on veined patterns, congregated, and alike raging waves, erupted as violent energies one after another. The frightening energies even affected the surrounding space, wantonly twisting and distorting a large area. From afar, it looked like a demonic mirror from hell
In the rear of the battlefield, where the commanding officer had died in action, another group of tanks roared as they knocked down any obstacles in their path. The bellowing rumbles erupting from the engines and the black smoke emitted from the exhaust systems of these steel monsters highlighted their ferociousness. The 125 mm tank cannons resembled gigantic arms of titans. Despite of the heaps of bodies on the ground, like meat grinders, the tanks rushed ahead along with berserk killing intent.
Behind the tanks, artillery units were embattled. The latest models of heavy field artilleries and missile carriers exposed their fierce fangs. The army’s fire-control system, as if a predator baring its teeth, took aim at the Cube on the screen. As long as the commanding officer gave the order, countless shells would be launched, before shaving off a three meters thick layer of earth regardless of its firmness!
Overhead, silver-winged fighter aircraft flew over from the horizon along with dazzling tail flames. Deafening bellows erupted in the sky. All the guidance equipment was fully enabled. The mounted air-to-surface missiles were launched along with rumbles, followed by piercing hisses, which were a product of the air friction. The missiles resembled a rain of meteors. When the frightening rain of missile fell, none of the observable enemies were spared!
Meanwhile, the countless weapon-carrying soldiers decked in green military uniforms quickly erected machine gun positions, found good shelters, and formed impregnable defensive perimeters, ready to take action at any time.
Such an army was enough to block the advance of any land forces in the world. This cooperation between land and air forces was enough to terrify any commanding officer.
Such a stance should have brought about a high morale in the soldiers!
Yet instead… there was fear! Whether it was a seasoned veteran, a hot-blooded man, or the front line commanding officer, everyone’s eyes were filled with boundless fear. As if facing black-sickle-wielding death gods, everyone’s teeth chattered. They were scared witless.
“Listen!!” The commanding officer of the new defensive perimeter firmly held his gun as he watched the enormous Cube bursting out with frightening energies in the distance, and then roared: “I know that you are scared! I am also scared! However, there are people evacuating behind us! We cannot retreat! Whoever takes a step back, is a fucking sinner of our homeland! Did you hear me?!”
“We’ll never retreat!!” Even though fear lingered in everyone’s hearts, yet the officers and soldiers still burst out with furious roars.
In the next moment, when the officers and soldiers were in the middle of their shouts, the Cube burst out with an unprecedented fluctuation of energy. Countless runes gathered into a sea of light, tearing open countless rifts in the space ahead. As if the gates of hell themselves were opened, tremendous and distorted silhouettes were faintly discernible at the gates, followed by nerve-wrecking and terrifying howls.
“They’re here! The monsters have arrived! Open fire! Everyone, open fire!” The commanding officer took the lead and pulled the trigger.
…
It was an ordinary day, at least it was before the arrival of the enormous, mysterious Cubes. People exited their homes, went to work, read books, and worked. White-collar workers complained about the traffic in their cars, students bemoaned the difficult subjects they were confronted in their classrooms, and common citizens haggled for a few cents, everyone followed their own routines.
However, when the mysterious Cubes emerged from the void, descended onto the major cities without warning, and brought about terrifying creatures, humanity seemed to have begun realizing that its rule over this blue planet may be over…
Inside the Institute of Higher Sciences, the director sat in his seat alike a soulless corpse. He said blankly: “‘They’… have arrived once more…”
An huge holographic projector was set up in front of the director, depicting the the republic’s 9.6 million square kilometers of land territory and 4.7 million square kilometers of maritime territory. This enormous territory was covered in green beacons, each representing troop formations. The densely distributed beacons were evidence of the republic’s formidable military might.
However, these green beacons were turning red at a discernible speed, or even disappeared completely. The holographic projection was covered with these warning signals, which were issued by troops that were under attack. The dazzling red lights greeting everyone’s eyes made their scalps turn numb.
“The carrier… the carrier battle group is no mere!” A scientist suddenly stood up in alarm, pointed at the troop formation which had disappeared from the republic’s maritime territory, and said in a bout of panic: “Has even the ocean fallen into enemy hands?!”
“Director!” A communications officer ran over and said with a pale expression: “We confirmed it with the top. Our country is not the only one being invaded by a Cube, the same is happening all over the world! The US has abandoned its capital, Washington, D.C, half of Japan’s territory has fallen into enemy hands, and the EU’s coalition forces are being quickly pushed to the English Channel! Unlike the probing twenty years ago, this time ‘they’ are invading! It’s a comprehensive invasion!!”
A gray-haired scientist stood up and said in cold sweat: “Director, why have the headquarters yet to pass the order for retreat?! According to the current state of affairs, the casualties of the 7th Type A Division have reached over 50%, and the troops garrisoned at Beijing have even been eliminated! The 11th Type B Division does not have enough time to finish their combat preparations. Currently, we are just stalling with human lives, we can’t afford to drag it out!”
Another scientist chimed in: “That’s right! Director, what’s the point of all this?! The troops of other countries have already begun to pull away from the Cubes into remote places! The entire world has given up resistance! Only the troops of our country are still risking their lives. If it continues like this, then our elite troops will be finished! So far, the Cube has erupted with one hundred and thirteen waves of creatures! It has also released some kind of radiation and virus. Its energy is limitless, we can’t stop it even if we fight until the last soldier!”
“The people… still haven’t finished evacuating!” The Director’s eyes were bloodshot. He was not a military officer and had no military authority. Moreover, who would want to see soldiers sacrificing themselves?
As the saying went – when fighting a tiger, rely on your blood brothers, when fighting a war, rely on your army brothers! Families had their hot-blooded men risk their lives during the country’s distress, throwing themselves into the battlefield! Those collapsing beside them were quite possibly their brothers, fathers and sons! However, for their beloved country, they nevertheless turned their endless sorrow into power! Without even time for crying, they launched wave after wave of assaults, right until they collapsed! People were dying every second! These were exemplary soldiers of the homeland, every single one full of devotion and loyalty…
At the front line, while watching the demise of those heroes, the commanding officers could still hear the jagged and unswerving oaths made before the battle reverberating beside their ears, and could even hear their firm and resolute shouts made on the day of their enlistment! Those soldiers, who were akin to their close relatives, were nevertheless collapsing in this war one after another, offering their lives in order to protect their ideals.
There were no exceptions on the front line. The commanding officers were bound to take their guns and launch a final assault once all their subordinated soldiers were annihilated! No one chose to retreat! In the minds of those jagged and unswerving military personnel, going side by side to hell might make them ten thousand times happier than if they were to drag out an ignoble and lonesome existence!
How could such a sacrifice not provoke heartache in others?
But the war came too suddenly. The army was not prepared when the Cube invaded society and released the countless monsters. The evacuation of civilians was hurriedly carried out, resulting in a slow progress.
If the director had the military authority, then he would promptly give the order for retreat! But the reason why the army was delayed in its retreat was perhaps the one which he had just mentioned – the civilians still hadn’t completely evacuated! If any commanding officer were to utter the word ‘retreat’, then they would go down in the republic’s history as criminals!
At this moment, a communications officer suddenly ran over. He was so terrified that his face had already lost its color, becoming as pale as a white sheet of paper. When he arrived, his legs went soft and he almost fell. He leaned against a desk and said in panic: “We… we received a response to the signal we sent to the Cube!”
“What?” Everyone turned pale with fright. It was able to issue a response to their signal, which meant that the Cube represented some sort of civilization! This was sufficient to subvert the entire history of Earth!
The director took the scientists to the communications station, then faced a huge screen and said gloomily: “Send a signal to the Cube. Ask it who it is.”
The communications officer simply typed three words ‘who are you’ and sent it over after transcoding it into a particular signal. Afterwards, everyone waited as they held their breaths. The entire room was so silent that it seemed to be under a magic spell. There was no sound, with the deathly silence being reminiscent of a tomb.
A few seconds later, the Cube’s response arrived. The answer was projected on the huge screen. It was very simple and was composed of a single word. But when everyone saw that word, they felt heat quickly escape their bodies, as if they were turned into cold corpses.
The Cube’s reply was…
“God.”
…
1 – God’s Advent
Outside of Beijing. The sky was shrouded in an endless haze. Flames soared alike dragons, dyeing the dark clouds blood-red. One after another, squadrons of fighter aircraft flew over from the horizon. One after another, squadrons of aircraft were shot down, their combusting wreckages lacerating the sky alike meteors before dropping to the ground and turning into mournful flames.
If the sacrifices in the air warfare painted the picture of countless aircraft falling and crashing, without blood or bodies to be seen, then the bloody battle on the ground painted a picture of hell on earth, with blood flowing in rivers and flesh piling up into mountains.
The scent of blood and smoke was ever-present. The scent of sulfur, as if spat out by demons, pervaded the air. The hot air along with the nauseating odor assaulted the respiratory tracts, provoking a flow of mucus and tears.
The ground was littered with heaps of bodies and wreckages of armored vehicles, which extended into the horizon alike a trash site from hell. The once fertile soil had become a ghastly sight of reddish-brown. Who knew whether the soil had always been of this color, or if it was dyed red from the ocean of blood.
On the desperate hell-like battlefield, the ones being the most excited were perhaps the crowds of crows. To the crows, this place was an enormous banquet. The amount of corpses – fresh ones and rotten ones – on the ground was such, that the crows would not be able to finish eating them during their lifetime. Many of the crows, which had come to this sumptuous banquet, had already become rather fat. They couldn’t even fly. They nested themselves beside the delicious bodies, eating from dawn to dusk. They no longer feared the roaring artillery barrage, leading befuddled existences.
At the front-line, a commanding officer, who was covered in cuts and bruises, crawled out from amidst the ever-present corpses. He had already lost a leg in the desperate battle, with blood gushing out as if from a fountain. His life was elapsing. Even tough he was in this state, yet he still struggled to crawl on the mountain of bodies, adding a long bloody mark to the already ghastly corpses.
After arriving at a mass-grave-like heap of corpses, the commanding officer gave his all to dig amidst broken limbs and bodies. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally dug out a still intact communicator from the pile of flesh and blood, before switching it on. Amidst tears coursing down his cheeks, the man shouted himself hoarse: “Brigadier Yue Weiguo reporting to the army headquarters! The personnel from the 27th Infantry Armored Mixed Brigade sacrificed themselves, dying honorably for their country! The offensive on the Cube is still ongoing! I’ll be leaving first! Long live the homeland!”
After the commanding officer finished shouting, he bit the safety pin of a grenade with his teeth, and scrambled into the hell ahead, before vanishing amidst soaring flames.
At this time on the battlefield, the numerous high-rise buildings had already been turned into ruins, the streets were covered in scrapped vehicles and ghastly bodies. Not all of these bodies belonged to humans. Some belonged to strange poisonous insects, fierce beasts covered in exoskeletons, and even hundred meters long giant creatures taller than buildings.
In the distant ruins in the center of the city, a huge and unfathomable Cube stood alike a titan, towering into the sky. It seemed to be piercing the vast blue firmament. The Cube’s surfaces were covered in mysterious runes. Mysterious light spots flowed on veined patterns, congregated, and alike raging waves, erupted as violent energies one after another. The frightening energies even affected the surrounding space, wantonly twisting and distorting a large area. From afar, it looked like a demonic mirror from hell
In the rear of the battlefield, where the commanding officer had died in action, another group of tanks roared as they knocked down any obstacles in their path. The bellowing rumbles erupting from the engines and the black smoke emitted from the exhaust systems of these steel monsters highlighted their ferociousness. The 125 mm tank cannons resembled gigantic arms of titans. Despite of the heaps of bodies on the ground, like meat grinders, the tanks rushed ahead along with berserk killing intent.
Behind the tanks, artillery units were embattled. The latest models of heavy field artilleries and missile carriers exposed their fierce fangs. The army’s fire-control system, as if a predator baring its teeth, took aim at the Cube on the screen. As long as the commanding officer gave the order, countless shells would be launched, before shaving off a three meters thick layer of earth regardless of its firmness!
Overhead, silver-winged fighter aircraft flew over from the horizon along with dazzling tail flames. Deafening bellows erupted in the sky. All the guidance equipment was fully enabled. The mounted air-to-surface missiles were launched along with rumbles, followed by piercing hisses, which were a product of the air friction. The missiles resembled a rain of meteors. When the frightening rain of missile fell, none of the observable enemies were spared!
Meanwhile, the countless weapon-carrying soldiers decked in green military uniforms quickly erected machine gun positions, found good shelters, and formed impregnable defensive perimeters, ready to take action at any time.
Such an army was enough to block the advance of any land forces in the world. This cooperation between land and air forces was enough to terrify any commanding officer.
Such a stance should have brought about a high morale in the soldiers!
Yet instead… there was fear! Whether it was a seasoned veteran, a hot-blooded man, or the front line commanding officer, everyone’s eyes were filled with boundless fear. As if facing black-sickle-wielding death gods, everyone’s teeth chattered. They were scared witless.
“Listen!!” The commanding officer of the new defensive perimeter firmly held his gun as he watched the enormous Cube bursting out with frightening energies in the distance, and then roared: “I know that you are scared! I am also scared! However, there are people evacuating behind us! We cannot retreat! Whoever takes a step back, is a fucking sinner of our homeland! Did you hear me?!”
“We’ll never retreat!!” Even though fear lingered in everyone’s hearts, yet the officers and soldiers still burst out with furious roars.
In the next moment, when the officers and soldiers were in the middle of their shouts, the Cube burst out with an unprecedented fluctuation of energy. Countless runes gathered into a sea of light, tearing open countless rifts in the space ahead. As if the gates of hell themselves were opened, tremendous and distorted silhouettes were faintly discernible at the gates, followed by nerve-wrecking and terrifying howls.
“They’re here! The monsters have arrived! Open fire! Everyone, open fire!” The commanding officer took the lead and pulled the trigger.
…
It was an ordinary day, at least it was before the arrival of the enormous, mysterious Cubes. People exited their homes, went to work, read books, and worked. White-collar workers complained about the traffic in their cars, students bemoaned the difficult subjects they were confronted in their classrooms, and common citizens haggled for a few cents, everyone followed their own routines.
However, when the mysterious Cubes emerged from the void, descended onto the major cities without warning, and brought about terrifying creatures, humanity seemed to have begun realizing that its rule over this blue planet may be over…
Inside the Institute of Higher Sciences, the director sat in his seat alike a soulless corpse. He said blankly: “‘They’… have arrived once more…”
An huge holographic projector was set up in front of the director, depicting the the republic’s 9.6 million square kilometers of land territory and 4.7 million square kilometers of maritime territory. This enormous territory was covered in green beacons, each representing troop formations. The densely distributed beacons were evidence of the republic’s formidable military might.
However, these green beacons were turning red at a discernible speed, or even disappeared completely. The holographic projection was covered with these warning signals, which were issued by troops that were under attack. The dazzling red lights greeting everyone’s eyes made their scalps turn numb.
“The carrier… the carrier battle group is no mere!” A scientist suddenly stood up in alarm, pointed at the troop formation which had disappeared from the republic’s maritime territory, and said in a bout of panic: “Has even the ocean fallen into enemy hands?!”
“Director!” A communications officer ran over and said with a pale expression: “We confirmed it with the top. Our country is not the only one being invaded by a Cube, the same is happening all over the world! The US has abandoned its capital, Washington, D.C, half of Japan’s territory has fallen into enemy hands, and the EU’s coalition forces are being quickly pushed to the English Channel! Unlike the probing twenty years ago, this time ‘they’ are invading! It’s a comprehensive invasion!!”
A gray-haired scientist stood up and said in cold sweat: “Director, why have the headquarters yet to pass the order for retreat?! According to the current state of affairs, the casualties of the 7th Type A Division have reached over 50%, and the troops garrisoned at Beijing have even been eliminated! The 11th Type B Division does not have enough time to finish their combat preparations. Currently, we are just stalling with human lives, we can’t afford to drag it out!”
Another scientist chimed in: “That’s right! Director, what’s the point of all this?! The troops of other countries have already begun to pull away from the Cubes into remote places! The entire world has given up resistance! Only the troops of our country are still risking their lives. If it continues like this, then our elite troops will be finished! So far, the Cube has erupted with one hundred and thirteen waves of creatures! It has also released some kind of radiation and virus. Its energy is limitless, we can’t stop it even if we fight until the last soldier!”
“The people… still haven’t finished evacuating!” The Director’s eyes were bloodshot. He was not a military officer and had no military authority. Moreover, who would want to see soldiers sacrificing themselves?
As the saying went – when fighting a tiger, rely on your blood brothers, when fighting a war, rely on your army brothers! Families had their hot-blooded men risk their lives during the country’s distress, throwing themselves into the battlefield! Those collapsing beside them were quite possibly their brothers, fathers and sons! However, for their beloved country, they nevertheless turned their endless sorrow into power! Without even time for crying, they launched wave after wave of assaults, right until they collapsed! People were dying every second! These were exemplary soldiers of the homeland, every single one full of devotion and loyalty…
At the front line, while watching the demise of those heroes, the commanding officers could still hear the jagged and unswerving oaths made before the battle reverberating beside their ears, and could even hear their firm and resolute shouts made on the day of their enlistment! Those soldiers, who were akin to their close relatives, were nevertheless collapsing in this war one after another, offering their lives in order to protect their ideals.
There were no exceptions on the front line. The commanding officers were bound to take their guns and launch a final assault once all their subordinated soldiers were annihilated! No one chose to retreat! In the minds of those jagged and unswerving military personnel, going side by side to hell might make them ten thousand times happier than if they were to drag out an ignoble and lonesome existence!
How could such a sacrifice not provoke heartache in others?
But the war came too suddenly. The army was not prepared when the Cube invaded society and released the countless monsters. The evacuation of civilians was hurriedly carried out, resulting in a slow progress.
If the director had the military authority, then he would promptly give the order for retreat! But the reason why the army was delayed in its retreat was perhaps the one which he had just mentioned – the civilians still hadn’t completely evacuated! If any commanding officer were to utter the word ‘retreat’, then they would go down in the republic’s history as criminals!
At this moment, a communications officer suddenly ran over. He was so terrified that his face had already lost its color, becoming as pale as a white sheet of paper. When he arrived, his legs went soft and he almost fell. He leaned against a desk and said in panic: “We… we received a response to the signal we sent to the Cube!”
“What?” Everyone turned pale with fright. It was able to issue a response to their signal, which meant that the Cube represented some sort of civilization! This was sufficient to subvert the entire history of Earth!
The director took the scientists to the communications station, then faced a huge screen and said gloomily: “Send a signal to the Cube. Ask it who it is.”
The communications officer simply typed three words ‘who are you’ and sent it over after transcoding it into a particular signal. Afterwards, everyone waited as they held their breaths. The entire room was so silent that it seemed to be under a magic spell. There was no sound, with the deathly silence being reminiscent of a tomb.
A few seconds later, the Cube’s response arrived. The answer was projected on the huge screen. It was very simple and was composed of a single word. But when everyone saw that word, they felt heat quickly escape their bodies, as if they were turned into cold corpses.
The Cube’s reply was…
“God.”
…
