Yang Hao, Li Qiang, and Lin Xiao were cautiously feeling their way forward in the hidden passage of the backup base. A decaying odor permeated the passage, and the moss on the walls flickered with eerie light under the faint lamps. Their hearts were in their throats, not knowing what awaited them ahead.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed from the front of the passage, reverberating in the narrow space and sending shivers down their spines. Li Qiang gripped his iron rod tightly and muttered under his breath, "What the hell is this thing again!" Yang Hao signaled everyone to stop. He carefully approached the source of the sound and, through a gap in the passage, saw a massive creature coiled up in a cave ahead.
This creature resembled a giant snake but was covered in sharp spines, each as thick as an arm. Its eyes glowed blood-red, and it occasionally flicked its tongue, which dripped with green venom. Yang Hao's heart sank. He knew that to get through here, they had to deal with this monster first.
Lin Xiao looked at Yang Hao nervously and asked, "What should we do? This thing doesn't seem easy to handle." Yang Hao pondered for a moment and said, "This monster is huge but probably not very agile. We can take advantage of the narrow terrain of the passage, lure it into attacking, and then look for its weaknesses."
After discussing their strategy, Li Qiang rushed out first, shouting loudly to attract the monster's attention. The monster was enraged by Li Qiang's cries and lunged at him. Li Qiang dodged the monster's attacks skillfully, running deeper into the passage as he retreated.
Yang Hao and Lin Xiao waited for the right moment. When the monster chased Li Qiang past them, Yang Hao quickly acted, shooting at the monster's eyes with his energy gun. A blue beam of energy shot out and accurately hit the monster's left eye. The monster let out a painful roar and began to thrash violently, its tail swinging wildly in the passage, narrowly missing Yang Hao and Lin Xiao.
Li Qiang took the opportunity to circle around to the monster's rear and slammed his iron rod onto its back. The monster winced in pain and turned to attack Li Qiang. Li Qiang quickly dodged but accidentally tripped over a rock on the ground. Just as the monster's sharp teeth were about to bite Li Qiang, Lin Xiao suddenly appeared. She held a homemade bomb in her hand and threw it forcefully at the monster.
With a loud "boom," the bomb exploded in front of the monster, and the powerful impact knocked it back several steps. The monster was engulfed in flames and struggled painfully, emitting heart-wrenching cries. Seeing this, Yang Hao immediately rushed forward and fired continuously at the monster's head. Under Yang Hao's assault, the monster finally collapsed to the ground, motionless.
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground. After a while, they got up and continued walking forward. At the end of the passage, they discovered a huge room. In the center of the room stood a stone platform, on which lay a crystal radiating a五彩 (colorful, in Chinese, but typically "multicolored" is used in English context when referring to such a crystal's glow) multicolored glow - the key crystal they had been desperately searching for to activate the alien artifact.
Yang Hao excitedly walked forward and picked up the crystal. As soon as he touched it, the crystal suddenly emitted a strong light, enveloping him. Yang Hao felt a powerful energy surging into his body, and strange images appeared in his mind, seemingly containing the technology and knowledge of the alien civilization.
Li Qiang and Lin Xiao were stunned when they saw this. They didn't know what had happened to Yang Hao and could only wait anxiously by his side. After a long time, the light gradually faded, and Yang Hao slowly opened his eyes. His eyes shone with excitement, "I feel it. I've established a strange connection with the alien artifact. Now, we have a better chance of escaping the solar system!"
However, before they could celebrate for long, suddenly, the walls of the room began to shake violently, and cracks spread rapidly. Lin Xiao screamed in horror, "Oh no, this place is collapsing! We have to get out of here immediately!" The three of them immediately ran towards the exit of the room, with huge stones falling behind them, raising a cloud of dust.