As more and more debris was discovered, the reason for the failure of the two Supreme Battlefortresses was inferred.
Although the torrents of meteoroids around 'Gu Shisan' were very fierce, and the cosmic dust was full of fatal radioactivity, they were nothing for the Supreme Battlefortresses that were thick-skinned and well-fortified.
It was probably the reason why Lu Qingchen was so confident and dared to barge in in such a hurry without scanning and calculating the astronomical parameters.
It was a pity that he was too unlucky.
Judging from the mass of the meteoroids that hit the Thick Soil Fortress and the terrible damage that tore apart the Burning Fire Fortress, it was very possible that Lu Qingchen's fleet happened to run into the collision between 'Gu Shisan' and another satellite.
When the two satellites collided, the smaller satellite, which had a lower density and mass, collapsed into billions of meteoroids with extremely high initial speed and kinetic energy. Even 'Gu Shisan' lost about one tenth of its mass. The immeasurable materials were burning furiously into high-energy particles that smashed at Lu Qingchen's fleet overwhelmingly with terrifying radiation and ray bursts. Despite the sturdiness of the spiritual shield and the composite plate armor of the Supreme Fortress, it was impossible for them to resist such crazy and ferocious torrents.
It was like two enormous swirls had collided, and the five Supreme Battlefortresses were merely five dry leaves next to them. How could they not be smashed into smithereens?
The spiritual shields were obliterated, the iron shells were shattered, and the ammunition and fuel were exploding nonstop, resulting in the appalling scene in front of Li Yao's eyes.
"Is this … Lu Qingchen's ending?"
Li Yao secretly sighed, but he did not lower his vigilance. "It can't be. With Lu Qingchen's carefulness, he couldn't have gathered all the five Supreme Battlefortresses in one place even if he had ventured into the strange stone belt.
"There are only remnants of two Supreme Battlefortresses here. Where are the other three? Have they entered the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, or are they hiding not far away and covering themselves with the intense spiritual interference and radiation turbulence so that they can ambush us?
"The interference is so intense, and the radiation is so fatal. Even I dare not expose myself to the vacuum for too long without any protection. If Lu Qingchen were to fight here, both parties would've suffered great losses. Is he … so crazy?"
Li Yao fell into deep thought.
He didn't know why, but deep in his brain, there was always a needle-like pain, as if something was about to happen.
Under the command of Li Linghai, part of the warriors and magical equipment specialists boarded a small carrier, ready to enter the completely paralyzed Thick Earth Fortress to collect the files of the crystal processors inside. It would be best if they could find precious data such as Lu Qingchen's sailing logs.
Besides, all the starships released abundant unmanned probe magical equipment. The glittering "eyes" made of crystals and chips went deep into the edge of the gravity circle of "Gu Shisan" to search for the mysterious "unknown celestial body of a high mass".
Li Yao did not participate in the two tasks. He looked at the violent sea of stars outside the window and racked his brains.
"What game is Lu Qingchen playing? He should know that his secret cannot be kept for long. After his fleet sets off, our main troops will certainly catch up with him. Also, we have combined most of the forces of the Federation, the Imperium, and the Holy League. It is definitely not something that his five Supreme Fortresses can compete with! "
Li Yao mumbled to himself, "So … So … If I were Lu Qingchen … How would I stop the pursuers … If I were … If I were …"
A lot of starry brilliance was condensing inside his eyes, outlining a fatal trap very soon.
"Found it!"
Right then, an invigorating shout came over in the communication channel. "The entrance to the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum has been found!"
"What?"
Glamorous brilliance beamed out of Li Yao's eyes. His meditation was temporarily interrupted.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Shua! Shua! Dozens of 3D light beams were turned on again, connecting to the remote video conference of hundreds of experts. Despite the shrewdness of Li Linghai, Queen Mother of the Imperium, she was overjoyed and showed the image data that the probe crystal cameras had just sent back to the experts.
The first image was taken with visible light. At first glance, there was nothing in the dark, deep vacuum except for the catkins and the raging dust that looked like clouds. Only by pouring all their spiritual energy into their eyes and under the guidance of Li Linghai could they distinguish a spot that was almost transparent from the glamorous dust.
As the probe crystal cameras flew closer and closer, the spot was gradually enlarged and became clearer and purer.
Including Li Yao, all the experts had a weird feeling.
They had never seen such a weird celestial body before. It did not look like a naturally-occurring planet at all but more like a pearl. No, it was a hundred times purer and more transparent than a pearl. It was a frozen teardrop, a clear glass, or a piece of amber that was still flawless after billions of years of erosion. It was — it was an existence that should not exist in this universe!
When it was scanned by the special crystal cameras that could detect invisible light and all kinds of radiations, the translucent teardrop was even more dazzling. Millions of colors were melted and entangled with each other, revolving and wriggling slowly as if it were alive, but it did not release the slightest energy to the outside world.
"A mirror."
Such a word popped up in the minds of many experts.
Yes. The entrance to the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum was like a mirror that had been shaped into an absolutely precise sphere. It coldly reflected all the radiations and brilliance around and even the entire universe.
Under the remote control of Li Linghai, a crystal camera slowly flew toward the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. The closer it flew, the more anxious the experts and the specialists became.
"This is impossible!"
The data sent back by the probe camera greatly surprised all the astronomers and the specialists of spiritual energy. They felt that the solid edifice that they had built with their lifelong knowledge was collapsing slowly.
Right now, the probe camera was less than five hundred kilometers away from the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. At such a close distance, it could calculate precisely that the entrance of the mausoleum, which looked like a sphere, was no more than ten kilometers in diameter.
However, it boasted a mass that was comparable to Gu Shisan, an enormous satellite more than five thousand kilometers in diameter. It was even much more massive than Gu Shisan because it was capturing tremendous materials from Gu Shisan's gravitational sphere and transporting them to itself in the form of a bridge, forming dreamy veils and ripples.
Its size was less than one ten-thousandth of Gu Shisan's, but its mass was much higher than Gu Shisan's. Theoretically speaking, its density should be hundreds of thousands of times higher than Gu Shisan's, too.
But it was impossible because Li Linghai had clearly entered the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum before. The gravity inside was quite normal and maintained in the most comfortable range for human beings. Although some unknown elements had been collected, the density was not high.
What was even weirder was that any celestial body in the universe, even if it was not a celestial body such as a wormhole, would release radiation incessantly as long as it existed in the universe for one second. However, at such a close distance, the probe camera failed to detect any radiation waves at all.
How was it possible?
Of course, black holes would not release any radiation or information to the outside world, either. However, as a result, black holes could not be discovered by most detection methods, nor could they be 'seen' by the naked eye. The environment inside a black hole was not suitable for the survival of anybody, either. Before a human entered the core of the black hole, they would be torn into thin, long noodles by the enormous tearing force.
The Supreme Emperor's mausoleum was definitely not a black hole but something that was even more mysterious and inexplicable than a black hole. At the very least, it could not be analyzed by all the laws of the Pangu universe.
The probe camera was only a hundred kilometers away from the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum.
At such a distance, it no longer looked like a mirror but more like a gate that faced the entire Pangu universe and led to an unknown world.
Eighty kilometers, sixty kilometers, forty kilometers, twenty kilometers, ten kilometers, five kilometers. In the last ten meters, the probe camera made contact with the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum!
For a moment, the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum seemed to have come alive. Dozens of thin threads that seemed to be made of mercury suddenly rose from the transparent surface and blossomed like buds. Countless pistils wriggled and covered the probe camera. The 'mercury' proliferated and spread out quickly, enshrouding the probe camera very soon. Then, like two drops of water touching each other, they were completely melted.
Most of the transmission of information from the probe camera was cut off. It seemed to have sunk into a mysterious ocean. The messages that it sent back were all crazy ravings that nobody could understand.
"It's … alive?"
Although it was very unprofessional, a relatively young astronomer still exclaimed on behalf of everyone else, "It's swallowing!"
"It's not exactly alive, but the entrance of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum is indeed highly organized and purposeful. You may consider it a piece of stellar-level magical equipment produced by a certain primeval civilization and controlled by … say, the other half of Fuxi all the time."
Li Linghai said, "There's one more thing that I hope you'll pay attention to. It is not a real celestial body but just an 'entrance'. I've seen things that were more than ten kilometers long inside the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, such as the most splendid fortresses and super carriers in the Star Ocean Imperium. If those things were not dismantled and shipped into the mausoleum, it means that the entrance can expand and 'swallow' things dozens of times larger than itself."
"Have you ever tried to analyze the materials used to build the 'entrance'?"
A material scientist asked. "At least in the Pangu universe, we've never seen such amazing materials before. They're like … mercury that is alive."
"Yes, but unfortunately, they failed."
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