The storage core embedded with many crystals and high-purity gems was taken out, and the Explorer magic puppet woke up from its maintenance state. The round mechanical device moved its long mechanical limbs and circled around them before stopping in front of Kamel. Its optical probe swung back and forth above its body as if it was looking curiously at the storage core that it had just taken out of its body.
Kamel checked the operation status of the core. After confirming that it could be read directly, he began to inject magic power into it. With a slight hum, complex magic patterns quickly appeared on the surface of the palm-sized cube. Then, a large number of images and data were released under Kamel's control, forming a series of rapidly refreshing holographic projections in the air.
"Our time is limited. We can put the environmental monitoring data aside for now and let the technical experts analyze it slowly when we get back," Gwen said. "Let's take a look at the images left behind by the Explorer, mainly of the interior of the spaceship. We need to find a path."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Kamel nodded slightly, and some of the images in the holographic projections were quickly adjusted. A large number of dazzling data and filters were turned off, and the images recorded by the Explorer with its own photographic crystal were magnified in front of everyone. "I have located the video of the Explorer after it entered the spaceship. From here, you can see that it is moving in a corridor …"
In the holographic projection, a first-person perspective, shorter than an ordinary human, was moving forward. Long mechanical limbs could be seen moving rhythmically at the edge of the image. In front of the perspective was a wide and deep corridor. In the empty image, the Explorer's limbs were the only moving objects. Outside the image, only a slight hum from the Explorer's body and the occasional mechanical vibration from the depths of the spaceship could be heard from a distance.
Gwen watched carefully. After a moment, he said in a low voice, "Let's go forward quickly. Record the next fork."
The images recorded in the storage core began to accelerate. The Explorer quickly passed through the corridor and moved forward toward the fork at the end. The low hum in the background also became a little strange because of the accelerated image. Then, the image returned to normal, and when it entered the next section of the corridor, it began to accelerate again.
Gwen and the rest carefully watched the images left behind by the Explorer. The spaceship was so huge that even the shallow level of the connecting corridor was astonishing. The distance from one facility to another was enough for the little magic machine to walk for a long time. Most of the images left behind by the Explorer were basically 'hurrying'.
Of course, it also recorded a lot of details about the internal structure of the spaceship during the journey. But these details … they would need time to slowly analyze them.
All of a sudden, just as the video was being sped up again, Gawain heard a very faint and strange sound.
The sound was so faint that it almost blended into the hum in the background. But Gwen was still keenly aware of its existence. He immediately waved his hand. Modir beside him also said in unison, "Stop!"
"You heard it too?" Kamel quickly paused the playback. Gwen looked at the serious adventurer beside him, a little surprised. "You heard it too?"
"So you heard it too." Modir looked at Gawain in surprise, then quickly nodded. "Yes, there seems to be a strange sound just now … It was mixed in the background. It was very abrupt and different from all the previous sounds."
"Rewind." Gwen looked at Kamel. "It was probably after the Explorer had just entered the corridor with the green light mark. Increase the volume a little."
Kamel did not hesitate to accept the order. The image extracted from the memory core began to rewind under his precise control, and he located the part where Gwen and Modir both heard the 'noise'. Then the image began to play normally. This time, everyone at the scene pricked up their ears, carefully listening to all the subtle sounds recorded by the marionette.
Amid the low hum, there was a very vague noise — it was really there, and it definitely did not sound like the marionette's own movements, nor did it sound like the mechanical sound of the spaceship.
"I can't hear it clearly … but it feels very strange, and even a bit like … some kind of melody?" Amber's long, pointy ears twitched in the air. Her face showed a cautious, serious, and even a little scared expression. "I don't know if I'm hearing things, but I think I heard someone singing … It's … It's creepy …"
Gwen's eyes fell on Amber's pointed ears. He frowned slightly and looked at Kamel with a serious face. "Can you make the sound clearer? Deal with the noise. "
"… I'll do my best." Kamel hesitated for a moment. He began to put both hands on the delicate memory core, carefully manipulating the internal flow of magic very carefully. "The effect may be limited. The Explorer's ear sensitivity is limited, and the faint sound is completely mixed in with the background hum … I'll try to make it clearer."
Under Kamel's control, the image returned to the beginning of the previous scene, and then it began to play again. After the processing, the sound was indeed clearer than before, but the strange sound was still mixed in with the low hum, and it was difficult to distinguish. But just as Gwen was about to ask Kamel to process it again, Amber suddenly turned her head and listened very carefully. At the same time, she waved to the people around her.
Her long pointed ears trembled sensitively. Although she did not have the so-called elven bloodline, as the crystallization of the most advanced biochemical technology of the Gondor era, and as Android 36, her senses were no weaker than the elves when she focused her mind.
Everyone around them quieted down. Only the hoarse and vague hum of the Explorer echoed in the air. The hum was mixed with a faint ballad like noise. Amber listened for a long time. Suddenly, she softly opened her mouth and sang an intermittent and inaccurate ballad.
"… the empty wind … the birds no longer fly in the sky … a sentinel went mad … a sentinel went mad …"
Amber's soft singing echoed in the corridor that had been dead for 1.8 million years. It was a little tone-deaf and a little chilling.
Victoria's eyes widened. "Amber, what are you singing?"
"That 'noise' mixed in with the humming — it's a voice singing. It keeps singing these lyrics." Amber's ears trembled as he looked up and said, "There are a few more lines, but I can only vaguely make out this small part."
"I've heard this song before … from Bersetia," Gwen suddenly said. His expression was so serious that it startled Daniel and Melita. "This is an old nursery rhyme of the Silver Elves. It tells the story of the sentinels who were far away from their homeland during the pioneering era. They fell into madness and gradually fell into hallucinations! But … how could it be here? "
"A nursery rhyme of the Silver Elves?" Melita's eyes widened. "Are all the elves' nursery rhymes so powerful?"
"… That's not the point," Gwen said in a low voice. "The point is why the sentinels and the Explorer magic puppet recorded this melody on this ancient spaceship! Kamel, where did the magic puppet record this song? Can you deduce it from the image data? "
"I've already started the deduction," Kamel said quickly. At the same time, he held the storage core in one hand and opened the other to the side. A large-scale magic illusion spread out in front of him. The magic illusion used a light blue light screen to outline the corridors, forks, and the structure of the cabin. These were the corridors in the spaceship that he had just outlined based on the image data played by the magic puppet. On one of the corridors, an eye-catching red block marked the area where the magic puppet "heard" the song. "It's here."
Gwen waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Everyone immediately followed behind Gwen and Kamel and started moving quickly in the ancient spaceship. They quickly passed through the long corridors and connecting portals, moving quickly along the safe route that the Explorer magic puppet had identified. The ancient spaceship that had been silent for a million years echoed with the hurried footsteps of the uninvited guests. It didn't take long for them to reach the corridor that Kamel had marked out.
The spacious and bright corridor of the spaceship was quiet and empty. The ancient lighting system shone a soft light, and the low hum of machinery could be heard from behind the alloy cabin walls. Apart from that, Gwen and the others did not hear anything else.
Even Amber pricked up her ears, but she shook her head after a few seconds. "No, I don't hear anything."
Everyone looked at each other. Almost everyone could feel an inexplicable chill slowly spreading from the ends of their limbs in this empty, unmanned ship. Mary, who hadn't spoken much along the way, muttered softly, "That song might not have lasted forever."
"There is another possibility. The alchemy golem doesn't hear 'sound'," Kamel said in a low voice. "The golem's recording device is not a real 'ear'. Sometimes, it will record energy waves at a specific frequency as a 'sound signal'. Many magical devices produce mysterious interference when recording images or sounds."
"It doesn't have to be 'sound', huh?" Gwen frowned and quietly activated his Mana Vision. However, he did not see any unusual magic waves in this spacious corridor.
Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. It was as if the spaceship system had released a signal, and he subconsciously looked at the fork at the end of the corridor.
"What is that place?" He looked at Kamel and asked.
"I'm not sure." Kamel shook his head. "The 'Explorer' golem did not reach there. This place is already very deep in the spaceship. The golem returned after exploring this corridor."
Gwen stared in that direction for a moment and said slowly, "Maybe we should go and take a look."
A moment later, the group passed through the corridor and the fork at the end. A tightly shut alloy gate appeared before everyone.
Gwen frowned as he stared at the tightly shut gate.
They had passed through countless gates and connecting passages along the way, and all the doors were open. It was as if the controller of the spaceship had deliberately deactivated all the access control systems before leaving the spaceship. However, only here … they encountered a tightly locked door.
There must be something special behind this door.
"What should we do? The door is locked. "Amber looked at Gwen and then at the alloy gate in front of them. She looked a little distressed." To be honest, this is a bit beyond my professional skills … I don't know how to open this thing. "
"Even if you are a Level 10 locksmith, you can't open an interstellar lock." Gwen gently shook his head. "Can we use Shadowstep to get in?"
"I've tried it just now, but it's useless." Amber shook his head regretfully. "God knows how the Voyager did it … This door is not only closed in the real world, but it also forms a corresponding barrier in the Umbra Realm. It's as if it exists in all the 'boundaries' of this world at the same time. I even suspect that even the elemental creatures could not penetrate it."
Gwen did not say a word. He just stepped forward silently and tentatively put his hand on an unmarked silver-white technical panel next to the door.
This was the experience he had accumulated in the Tide-Defying Tower.
The blank silver panel lit up, and the images of buttons and interfaces quickly appeared on it. However, the main system of the spaceship remained silent. It did not respond to the navigator identification signal that Gawain carried. The tightly shut alloy door showed no signs of opening. Only a line of words kept scrolling on the interface: System Fatal Failure. Main Control Room Closed.
Apart from Gawain, no one else could understand the words that appeared on the panel. Carmel and the others had never seen the scene that appeared in the Tide-Defying Tower before. Seeing the panel light up, Daniel subconsciously asked, "Has it been opened?"
"No, there is a fatal failure in the system. This door can no longer be opened." Gwen shook his head helplessly. He could not hide the regret in his voice. "Maybe we should look for another entrance."
"How about hitting it?" Amber could not help but come up with a bad idea. "For example, punch it. Sometimes when the magic net terminal has a glitch, just hit it twice and it will work six or seven times out of ten."
"Stop fooling around. Where did you get this forty-five-degree angle repair method from?" Gawain glanced at the half-elf who was full of whimsical ideas. "This is not a simple magic network terminal. This is an advanced product of the interstellar era …"
"Let's try knocking on it a few times …" Hu Po gestured in a small voice. He casually patted the silver-white alloy panel. "Anyway, this thing is already …"
Seeing this guy's reckless behavior, Gawain was about to speak, but in the next second, the tightly shut alloy gate suddenly made a slight "click" sound, and then it quietly opened to both sides.
Everyone's gazes instantly landed on Hu Po, including Gawain's. Every single gaze was filled with astonishment.
"Don't … Don't look at me!" Amber immediately shrank back and shouted. "I don't know what's going on! I just hit it twice! "
(End of Chapter)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
