A huge tentacle passed through the rock layer around the cave and lay across a deep ravine. It was about two meters in diameter, and its black skin was covered with dry and cracked lines. It looked like a weird train. Hao Ren could tell at a glance that the tentacle was part of the First Born. He was too familiar with it.
"Sure enough, the virtual world is based on reality. The real planet of Zorm has traces of the goddess' creation." Hao Ren jumped into the ravine and carefully touched the seemingly dead tentacle of the First Born. "This tentacle should be dead, but I don't know if there is any living tissue deep underground."
Vivian looked around, looking uneasy. "This is the refuge of the Zorm people, and the tentacle of the First Born has invaded this place …"
"Anyway, it seems that the Zorm people survived, at least in the virtual world." Hao Ren said as he stood up and clapped his hands. He jumped to the ground and carefully observed the huge cave again. The cavern was connected to the man-made superalloy corridors, and it looked like a pre-existing underground cavern structure. The cavern roof was reinforced with huge alloy grids and girders, and there were traces of synthetic materials being poured into the surrounding rock strata. It was these strengthening measures that allowed the cavern to last until today. Even when the planet was slowly disintegrating, it could still hold on until the final collapse.
As they walked along the underground tunnel, they saw more than one such cave. Some of them were natural, while some were man-made. Some of these caves had been transformed into residences, while others had been filled with large amounts of materials and equipment. Just like the one in front of him, there were many empty platforms and metal frames inside. This place seemed to have been a warehouse, but the things stored here had long since rotted away, and now there was no trace of them.
No one knew how long it took the people of Zorm to transform such a large shelter. But judging from the form of the shelter, it seemed that they did not intend to sneak into the virtual world to spend the rest of their lives. The large number of underground residential areas indicated that there used to be a lot of living people living here. Something must have happened later, so they collectively sneaked into a deeper, safer place: the virtual space.
Hao Ren speculated based on these facts. "Probably the invasion of the First Born caused them to completely abandon their physical bodies in the real world."
Lily did not say anything. She just curiously came to the side of the tentacle and observed its appearance. She saw that the tentacle seemed to have entered the cavern through a purposely left hole. There was a large metal sluice gate on the cavern wall that looked like a sewer pipe. The tentacle came in through it, and the tentacle itself was lying in a gully that seemed to have been deliberately dug. She scratched her chin. "Why do I feel that this tentacle was deliberately let in by the Zorm people?"
"Why did they put the tentacles of the First Born in here?" Hao Ren also noticed the settings around the tentacles. "Do they want to study it?"
The others looked at each other, puzzled. At this time, another tremor came from the depths of the ground. The tremors and loud noises reminded them of the critical situation of the planet. They could only put the matter of the First Born aside and continue to follow the navigation map sent by the MDT.
In the following tunnels, halls, and caverns, they saw more tentacles of the First Born, and the state of these tentacles was getting more and more difficult to understand.
When they entered a huge man-made cavern, Hao Ren finally could not help but be surprised. "This is …"
It was a well-shaped underground bunker, the size of several football fields, with a dome of 100 meters high and an unusually wide interior. A large number of luminous minerals inlaid on the top of the bunker brought a faint light here, and they could barely see the situation inside. Hao Ren saw that the spacious space was full of metal cylinders that looked like buildings. They were arranged neatly and were dark in color. They could vaguely see the metal lines on the surface and the place where the maintenance hatch might be. Around these giant cylinders were a large number of cables and pipes. These cables and pipes were unusually thick and strong, intertwined in the air like a spider web, which reminded them of the cable layout in some kind of computer room.
The huge and complex cable network, coupled with the neatly arranged cylinders, made Hao Ren feel that they should have found the location of the 'server'.
But these 'servers' were entangled with a large number of tentacles … It could even be said that they were symbiotic.
A large number of dark tentacles of the First Born hung down from the ceiling of the cavern, straight down to a height of more than 10 meters from the ground. They were arranged neatly and uniformly, almost like a standard product from a factory. Around each of these tentacles were a large number of cables, and the standard and uniform connection was by no means accidental. Hao Ren threw a light generator into the air, and the diffuse light allowed them to clearly see the interception state of the tentacles and the cables. He saw that the cables and tentacles were connected by a metal connector, part of which was fixed on the cable, and the other part was buried in the tentacles.
"This doesn't look like … an invasion …" Lily muttered to herself as she looked up.
She saw a neatly arranged metal hoop on the ceiling of the cavern, and each metal hoop had a tentacle hanging down. Even with the intelligence of the husky, she could see that this was the result of artificial planning.
Y 'lisabet ran to a metal cylinder in the distance. The cylinder seemed to have been damaged in the earthquake, and part of its shell had cracked. The little demon looked into the crack curiously and immediately shouted, "There's something in these 'servers'!"
Hao Ren went over and found that the metal cylinder was not the server component they had imagined. There was no hard disk or CPU inside, only a large broken glass container. The container seemed to have been filled with liquid, but now it had dried up, and a withered tentacle of the First Born was poking out from it.
Lily ran to an intact metal cylinder and carefully cut a hole in the shell with her claws. There was a glass container inside, and this container was still intact. It was filled with a pale red liquid, and a huge black tentacle was soaked in it. It was unknown whether it was alive or dead.
Hao Ren was stunned and muttered to himself, "Is this a fusion of an artificial machine and the First Born?"
"What is this place used for?" Vivian frowned. "To study the First Born's biochemical base?"
"These things can't trap the First Born," said Hao Ren as he studied the ancient equipment. Although he could not understand the principle and structure of these things, at least he could roughly judge their level of technology. "… This is modified with the active cooperation of the First Born's tentacles."
Then he pointed to the tentacles hanging down from above. "Look at those tentacles. Have you seen such a growth structure on the 'natural' First Born? They obviously adjusted themselves to be like this. At the same time, the surrounding equipment is specially made according to the shape and physiological characteristics of the First Born. This is the result of close cooperation between the two sides. There is no hostility and tacit understanding. Although incredible, this is the only way to explain these things. "
Lily came out from behind a metal cylinder with a serious face. "And these facilities are still running, at least some of them are still running."
Hao Ren raised his eyebrows. "How do you know?"
Lily turned around, revealing her blackened tail. "There's electricity!"
Everyone was speechless.
Vivian squinted and carefully felt the life force around her. "Not only the equipment is running, but there is also a faint life activity in the tentacles. Everything here is still alive. "
A thought came to Hao Ren's mind. "Is this what we are looking for?"
At this time, the underground shook again, and dust fell from the cave. The MDT contacted everyone again. "Buddy! There is still half an hour before sunrise! The sun has appeared on the horizon. How are things on your side?! "
"I … found something here." Hao Ren took over the communication hesitantly. He then placed a series of sensor equipment on the nearby cables and metal cylinders. He did not know what these cables and cylinders were for, but the intelligent sensor equipment should be able to analyze something useful. "I will send you the signals here. They come from the refuge's cable system. You can analyze them."
A moment later, the MDT said happily, "Oh, it looks like the server's data stream. You should be on a key node. Follow the main cable and you should be able to find the storage —"
"There is a problem," Hao Ren interrupted the MDT. "The storage is not a bunch of hard disks, but a First Born. Or, strictly speaking, the server itself is a First Born. The Zorm people live in the dream of the First Born. "
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