The others set up camp on top of the shaft and kept in contact with each other. Meanwhile, Hao Ren and Vivian entered the pitch-black, ancient cave.
The light coming from above was soon reduced to a small bright spot, and they could not see the bottom of the shaft. Vivian hugged Hao Ren's waist from behind and descended steadily and quickly. Hao Ren held the silver spear in one hand and the lamp in the other to illuminate the path ahead. He looked at the steel scaffolding and guide rails that flew past him, and the sound of Vivian's wings echoed in his ears. "It's been a long time since we flew together."
"Yeah, I've been following you to all sorts of strange places. It's either space or water. I've almost forgotten how to use my wings," Vivian's voice came from above. She adjusted the angle of her wings slightly as she glided in the wide shaft. "I still remember the first time we flew together, you seemed to be airsick. Oh … it's not airsick, it's just me. "
"Don't be silly. I was just shocked at that time. You didn't say anything and just pulled me up into the sky. No ordinary person would go through this." As Hao Ren spoke, he moved his body slightly. The soft touch on his back made it difficult for him to concentrate. Vivian immediately noticed it and giggled. "What's wrong? We've been flying together for so many times. You still don't feel used to it?"
Hao Ren pursed his lips. "No matter what, you're still a beautiful girl, okay?"
"… I really don't think about this. You know it's hard for me to fill my stomach," Vivian blinked. Suddenly, she saw a faint light in front of them. "Mr. Landlord, it looks like we're almost at the bottom!"
After a while, the two of them landed on a ring-shaped alloy platform. The platform surrounded the walls of the shaft, and in the center was a hole with a radius of a few meters. A dim red light shone from below the hole. Hao Ren leaned on the railing and peeked his head out to take a look. He was surprised to find that it was actually hot magma below.
"Don't tell me that's the earth's core …" Vivian craned her neck to take a look. Her eyes widened in shock. "We're so deep?"
"It's not necessarily the core of the planet, but it should be very close." Hao Ren looked at the slowly surging dim red light. The internal energy of the planet had been declining, and the magma lake near the core was also a little weak. However, the magma lake still made the bottom of the shaft look like hell. If it was not for some kind of heat insulation technology that was still in effect, the entire metal platform would have melted down. "This should be the energy source of the entire system. Exchanging heat between the Earth's core and the surface … is really a huge project. "
"Those old guys on Earth should really come here …" Vivian sighed. "Speaking of which, why do I feel like I'm walking on air?"
Hao Ren walked a few steps on the spot. "The gravity has weakened. We've come to the deepest part of the entire system. The gravity here is probably less than one-fifth of that on the surface. Let's look around. There should be an entrance nearby. The MDT has scanned that there's a hollow structure similar to the control center. "
Vivian raised her hand and pointed to the opposite side of the circular platform. "You mean that?"
Hao Ren looked up and saw a heavy and reflective metal gate standing quietly on the opposite side of the platform. There was a faint light flashing beside the gate as if to prove that the system behind the gate was still intact.
The two came to the gate. Hao Ren looked at the flashing control panel beside the gate. He exhaled and said, "We're already here. That's enough to prove our sincerity. Do you still want to close the gate and refuse guests at this time? "
It seemed that no one on this planet should have responded to his words, but the gate still moved in response. With a "chi chi" sound of the airlock releasing air, the round gate first retreated, and then rolled to the side with a clatter. Hao Ren and Vivian stepped into it.
They walked through a long safety passageway and finally arrived at a circular hall.
A huge cylindrical device with a surface full of pipes was placed in the middle of the hall. Its height extended up to the dome that was more than ten meters high, and a dim stream of light flowed in its outer pipes. Numerous thick cables extended from the bottom of the cylindrical device, like vines spreading out on the floor of the hall, connecting to a circle of machines around the hall. There was no formal light in the hall. It was entirely the light from the machines themselves that provided illumination, allowing people to see the silhouettes of these ancient machines in the dim light. A low, compound hum reverberated in the surroundings, like an inorganic breathing sound.
Hao Ren looked at the cylindrical device in front of him. This should be the ark's main host. He could feel that this was the heart of the entire planet. Countless things — abstract and invisible things — spread from here to the entire planet outside. He took a deep breath. "I'm here. Aren't you going to say something?"
The machines were silent for a few seconds. A low, emotionless voice came from the depths of the cylindrical device. "My mission is to manage the ark and bring the creators safely to a new home. I was created. They gave me thoughts, logic, and goals … The purpose of the entire system's existence is to ensure the survival of the civilization on this planet. This is the only thing I know that I should do. "
Hao Ren looked at the main host as if he was looking at a living person. "What happened here?"
"Before the ark set sail, the civilization went extinct."
A screen on the wall of the hall flickered and lit up, and a crystal clear, aqua blue planet that shone brightly in space appeared on the screen. Then, the sun in the corner of the screen exploded. Intense solar matter blew across the surface of the planet, but under the effect of some powerful shield, the planet seemed to have survived unscathed. However, after successfully resisting the solar explosion, something abnormal happened on the surface of the planet. Hao Ren did not see the actual nature of the disaster. He only saw the lights on the entire planet diminish and extinguish at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then, the planet went completely silent.
After that, time passed. The sun cooled, the planet froze, and a patch of white covered the surface of the planet. The entire world lost its vitality, and the artificial lights never came back on again.
Vivian turned to look at the main host. "Who did this?"
"An indescribable creature, the creators called it the Scourge." The synthesized voice of the ark's mainframe rang out once more. The image on the screen flashed, and a strange object that seemed to be a mixture of countless tentacles, roots, plants, and chunks of flesh appeared in the center of the screen. Its strangeness was indescribable, and only a sense of terror that seemed to evoke the instincts of living creatures emanated from the twisting roots. "After its death, it destroyed the civilization on the ark."
The thing that appeared on the screen was indeed the First Born. However, when Hao Ren heard the words of the main host, he was shocked. "After it died? You killed it? "
"It rushed out from deep underground, but with the help of the Denizens of the Stars, the creators successfully separated the creature from the planet and pushed it into the sun. Then, the Denizens of the Stars detonated the sun. The flesh of the creature was burned to ashes in the flames of the star, but … something incomprehensible remained on the planet. It eventually destroyed the entire civilization. "
"Something incomprehensible?" Hao Ren was a little confused until Vivian reminded him softly. "Something similar happened in Tannagost."
Hao Ren suddenly understood. "It's the soul of the First Born?!"
The main host did not say a word, as if it could not understand what 'soul' meant. But Hao Ren had already guessed the truth of what happened back then.
Although the indigenous people of this planet did not surpass the other Second Borns in terms of technology, but with the help of the Denizens of the Stars, they did indeed achieve a feat that the other Second Borns could not: they successfully destroyed the flesh of the First Born at the cost of their own sun. However, this feat did not save the fate of their entire civilization. After the physical death of the First Born, it still used its soul to kill everyone on the planet!
But this soul should have dissipated. The radar of the Petrachelys did not detect any traces of the First Born's signal on the planet. And because it had dissipated, no one could find any evidence of the existence of the First Born.
Hao Ren thought it through and sighed softly. He then looked at the main host seriously. "Who are the Denizens of the Stars?"
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