Chapter 35: "The Fifth Cycle: A Forgotten History"

A heavy silence filled the air.

Jiang Chen's words had shaken not just Debi but also the millions watching the live stream.

Even the experts—those who had spent their lives studying human history—couldn't refute him.

Because the ruins buried 4,000 meters beneath the Earth were real.

And that meant the possibility of an ancient civilization existing long before recorded history…

Was no longer just a theory.

It was evidence.

—

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then, Debi exhaled, her voice unsteady.

"Jiang, if what you're saying is true… then how many versions of humanity have there been before us?"

Jiang Chen turned to her, his expression unwavering.

"We are the fifth."

Debi blinked. "And what's your basis for that?"

Jiang Chen didn't hesitate.

"The Mayan calendar," he said. "According to it, we live in the Fifth Sun Era—the fifth cycle of human civilization."

The live chat erupted.

[THE FIFTH?! You're saying we're the fifth version of humans?]

[If this is true, what the hell happened to the first four?!]

[I swear, Jiang Chen just casually drops world-shattering truths like it's nothing.]

Debi folded her arms. "Alright, but is there anything else that supports this idea?"

Jiang Chen nodded.

"Think about what we found today—this civilization existed between 8 million and 4 million years ago. But here's the thing… Scientists have already found evidence of human technology from hundreds of millions of years ago."

Debi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The Oklo nuclear reactor in Central Africa," Jiang Chen explained. "It's a natural uranium deposit that was found to have functioned exactly like a modern nuclear reactor—except it's estimated to be over 2 billion years old."

Debi's eyes widened. "Two billion?!"

Jiang Chen nodded.

"Nuclear reactors don't occur naturally. They have to be built. Which means… someone built it long before any known civilization existed."

The live chat exploded.

[Wait wait wait… A TWO BILLION-YEAR-OLD NUCLEAR REACTOR?!]

[Bro, at this point, I'm convinced history is just a lie.]

[This man Jiang is rewriting EVERYTHING we know.]

Debi took a slow breath. "I get what you're saying, but isn't it too convenient to say we're the fifth? How did you come up with that number?"

Jiang Chen smirked.

"In addition to the Mayan calendar, there's another source—mythology."

Debi gave him a skeptical look. "Myths aren't exactly reliable evidence."

"Not before," Jiang Chen admitted. "But now?"

He turned to the murals on the cave wall, tracing the ancient figures with his fingertips.

"Now, we have something to compare them to."

—

He pointed to the first mural.

"Look closely at this one. Notice anything strange about these people?"

Debi leaned in, studying the faded figures.

It didn't take long for her to notice it.

"Their heads are small… and they have a mark on their forehead?"

Jiang Chen nodded. "Exactly. According to legend, the first human civilization—the Gendaya Civilization—was a race of gods.

It was said that they had three eyes and supernatural abilities."

Debi sucked in a breath.

Jiang Chen moved to the second mural.

"This one represents the second civilization—Mesopotamia. The legend says they were the descendants of the Gendayans, but they lost their powers.

Look at the figures—they look almost identical to the first ones, except…"

Debi's eyes widened. "Except they don't have the third eye."

Jiang Chen smiled. "Exactly."

—

The realization hit Debi like a tidal wave.

The murals weren't just random artwork.

They were a record. A timeline.

A story passed down by a civilization buried beneath the Earth.

And if Jiang Chen was right…

Then the history of humanity was far older—and far more mysterious—than anyone had ever imagined.

Debi swallowed hard, her pulse quickening.

Jiang Chen's words echoed in her mind, each one unraveling everything she had ever believed about human history.

"You're saying… this cave belonged to the fourth group of humans?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jiang Chen nodded. "Exactly. And I can prove it."

—

He stepped toward the third mural, pointing at the towering figures etched into the stone.

"Giants," he said simply. "Look at them. They're much taller than the humans in the previous murals."

Debi's eyes widened as she made the comparison.

She had been so focused on the meaning of the murals that she hadn't noticed the size difference before.

Now, it was glaringly obvious.

"They're massive…" she muttered in shock.

Jiang Chen moved to the final mural—the most detailed of them all.

"This," he said, "is why I believe this cave belonged to the fourth group of humans."

Then, he shifted gears.

"Have you ever heard of Edgar Cayce?" he asked.

Debi shook her head. "No. Who's that?"

Jiang Chen's lips curled into a knowing smile.

"Edgar Cayce was an American psychic and prophet, born in Kentucky in 1877. He had a unique ability—he could enter a trance-like state and make predictions about the past, present, and future.

He's most famous for his prophecies about human origins."

Debi frowned. "What did he predict?"

Jiang Chen turned back to the mural.

"He claimed that we—the civilization we live in today—are the fifth group of humans.

And the civilization that came before us?

Atlantis."

The live chat erupted.

[HOLY SH*T, HE SAID ATLANTIS.]

[NO WAY. ATLANTIS WAS REAL?!]

[If Jiang is right, then history is a damn lie.]

Jiang Chen continued, his tone steady.

"He also predicted that when humanity was first created, five different colors of people were placed in different locations across the Earth—black, yellow, white, red, and brown."

Debi inhaled sharply.

She turned to the last mural, staring at the five figures painted in different colors.

And then she saw it.

The map.

It was a rough, ancient representation, but the continents—though slightly different—were eerily similar to today's world map.

Except…

There were two extra landmasses.

One painted red.

One painted brown.

Her throat went dry.

"This… this is…" she stammered.

Jiang Chen nodded.

"The red region is likely Atlantis.

The brown one—Lemuria.

Two legendary civilizations that supposedly vanished in great floods.

And now, if we analyze this timeline, it suggests that they weren't just lost ten thousand years ago.

They were destroyed millions of years ago."

Debi's entire body tensed.

Jiang Chen's voice remained calm, but his words carried the weight of an unfathomable truth.

"When those civilizations fell, the surviving humans—yellow, white, and black—were left to rebuild.

And they became the ancestors of the civilization we live in today."

A silence deeper than the cavern itself followed.

Then—

[WHAT THE F***.]

[SO WE REALLY ARE THE FIFTH?!]

[Bro, I can't breathe. This is too much.]

[This just destroyed everything I learned in school.]

Jiang Chen took a step back, gazing at the murals once more.

"This means," he said, "that every myth, every legend… might not be fiction after all.

They could be echoes of civilizations that came before us.

Civilizations that were erased."

Debi shuddered.

"This changes everything," she whispered.

Jiang Chen exhaled slowly.

"It does," he agreed.

Because if these murals were telling the truth—

Then history as humanity knew it…

Was a lie.