A tremor from deep underground suddenly interrupted everyone's discussion. Then, the entire workstation began to reverberate with a rumbling sound. Apart from the newly built and independently powered workstation, the other parts of the platform had lost their atmospheric environment. The rumbling sound was directly transmitted from the platform's metal structure, mixed with the ear-piercing sound of metal tearing. It was as if the source of the sound was right in front of them.
"It seems that the energy buffer unit in the middle layer has also been destroyed." Tawil frowned, but other than that, she did not panic at all. It seemed that the explosion was the inevitable result of her calculations. "The accumulated energy in the bottom layer and the surface layer made it impossible for people to enter all the key positions. I tried my best to guide the energy into the buffer unit in the middle layer so that the investigation team and rescue team could go down as soon as possible. However, the buffer unit seems to be damaged quite badly. It only lasted for a short time …"
"What is the energy intensity down there now?" Sandora suddenly asked.
"1.2 trillion UE. It's almost equivalent to being immersed in the focus core of a flagship's main cannon." Tawil looked at the holographic image in front of her. "I don't know why, but the energy accumulated under the platform is dissipating very slowly. It's as if it's endless. Theoretically, all the energy reactors should have been disconnected. Now, I suspect that there might be another energy reactor running …"
"This kind of energy exploded inside the platform. No wonder it could break through such a large facility." Shadora said with a frown. I reminded her from the side, "Didn't Tarver say that it didn't dissipate much? So, in theory, it should be able to break through again …"
Tawil shook his head. "It won't. After the two explosions, the energy environment under the platform has entered dynamic equilibrium. This is caused by the special nature of psionic energy. It can easily go out of control, but it usually won't go out of control too many times. After enough contact with the order of the universe, it will quickly enter self-equilibrium. Now, the platform has formed a closed energy sphere. Hmm, two. The upper layer and lower layer have been separated by the buffer unit. Now, they have transformed into two independent energy storage zones. "
The disposal team organized by the Deep Submersible Harbor Garrison was now blocked in front of the entrance to the platform. As mentioned before, the lower half of the platform was divided into two layers, and the staff couldn't even enter the 'upper layer' of the platform. I silently looked at the structure of the control center, thinking that this was the development of the situation …
"Sandora, old habits." I patted Sandora's shoulder and stood up. "I'm going down. Are you coming?"
I vaguely remembered that this was the second time this had happened. The first time was when the prototype of the deep submersible ship exploded, and this time, it was the control center of the deep submersible harbor. Why did I have such affinity with the word 'deep submersible'? In any case, in this kind of environment where normal lifeforms had a 90% chance of survival, it was my turn to go up. Hello everyone, my name is Strong, and my name is Fierce. My nickname is Unkillable Taoist. Thank you for your kindness. I'm going to soak in the psionic sea of fire …
Tawil glanced at me. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything. First, she knew that in this kind of environment, only Commander-level Shiring Apostles and above were suitable. Second, there was no rule in the Schilling School of Thought that "His Majesty's Holy Body is too precious to take risks". As long as the value was high enough, the reward was appropriate, and there was a need for sacrifice, it was only a matter of choice for the Emperor to tank the boss. Of course, more importantly, I reckoned that many people were already used to their Emperor going up personally.
Sandora ran her fingers through her hair. "It seems like this is the only way. I have a plan. You and I will split up. I will enter from the upper layer and look for the main engine room. The main engine might not have been completely destroyed, and we might be able to find some observation data. You go to the bottom of the platform and enter from the lower layer. Look for the energy hub and see if you can find any clues from the explosion site. Whether you find anything or not, we will meet at the buffer unit in the middle. Also, if you find the source of the continuous psionic energy, try to shut it down as soon as possible. I feel that something is wrong. It has been so long, and the buffer unit has only been released once. Why is the energy reading still so high? "
"The environment down there is dangerous, and we have lost contact with it for several hours. We don't know how bad the situation is. Please be careful, Your Majesties." As a Shiring Apostles, Tawil wouldn't say nonsense like "Dragon's body is more important" to stop us. She only reminded us of the things to pay attention to below. "I have sent you the blueprint of the platform, but the main corridor should have been melted or collapsed. Only the second corridor in the upper layer is away from the center of the explosion, so it should still be passable. As for the lower layer … "
Speaking up to this point, Tawil looked into my eyes and said regretfully, "Your Majesty, do you see the red dot on the blueprint? Just go in a straight line in this direction and break through the obstacles in the middle. There is no path in the lower layer, at least in theory. "
I nodded and turned to Lin Xue, who had been silent all this while. "Lass Xue, do a divination."
The half-deity rolled her eyes and looked at Sandora and me for a while. "Mm, it's alright. Great luck. Go in peace. I am keeping watch outside. Nothing will go wrong. "
Although I was worried about her, there was no need to doubt her promise. I nodded and teleported above the control center with Sandora to observe the general situation of the platform.
A portion of the damaged pipelines on the periphery had already undergone emergency treatment. Previously, when we had arrived, we had seen the platform continuously releasing blue "tongues of flame" that were several kilometers long. Now, the scale of the psionic energy jets, which were as powerful as the main cannons of the battleships, had obviously shrunk. This way, large equipment and support ships could approach the control center more easily. A large number of autonomous robots and small engineering ships were busily shuttling around the control center. Although they couldn't enter, they at least prevented the collapse of the platform structure. Seeing this scene, Sandora's expression relaxed. Then, she nodded at me. "Then, I shall head out first. Ah Jun, be careful. Let's meet up at the buffering unit."
Seeing Sandora transform into a ray of light and dash towards the entrance of the upper layer of the platform, I became alert. I circled around the gigantic object and arrived at its bottom layer (or rather, its back?).
"Phew, this place is really terrible." Looking at the situation at the bottom layer, I couldn't help but mutter in my heart. Originally, I already felt that the upper layer was quite tragic, and I was a little mentally prepared for the worse situation at the bottom layer. But when I looked at the scene before me, I really felt that the upper layer of the platform was in a much better condition than the upper layer. It was as if only two layers of paint had been scraped off. Even the huge metal beams inside had been crushed into large lumps of flocculation and thrown outside. Relying on the molten metal to barely connect to the main body, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that it had been ripped open.
This was the power of the core power furnace explosion.
It seemed that it was impossible to tell from the outside whether or not something had hit the control center. Even if there had been a bullet hole leading to the inside, it must have turned into a gas cloud along with the armor.
Compared to the busy rescue work in other places, this place was quite desolate. There were only three unmanned workboats controlling the situation, but it was better than nothing. Faced with a big hole that was not worth repairing, the accident management team decisively gave up on the treatment.
I activated my energy shield and ignored the blue 'sea of fire' that was coming at me. Like a bullet, I dashed into the big hole.
When the intensity of the energy around me suddenly increased by several times, and I passed through a very obvious blue light barrier, I knew that I had entered the 'energy accumulation zone' that Tawil had mentioned. I didn't know where the psionic energy that had gone out of control was continuously replenished, but it formed a huge whirlpool. It was like a flattened egg that enveloped 80% of the lower layer of the platform, maintaining a stable but terrifying dynamic balance. The high concentration of psionic energy dyed everything in my sight a gorgeous but dangerous blue color. Because the environment was not stable, the blue color was constantly rippling like the surface of the water. I dashed past one twisted and grotesque obstacle after another. The highly charged metal slag had accumulated on the remaining supporting structures, forming a strange stalactite. They looked very beautiful and emitted a blue light, like crystals. But as long as it was slightly stimulated, it would …
* Boom!!! * A 'stalactite' that was dozens of meters long exploded right in front of me. The incoming high-energy crystal fragments collided with my energy shield. Every collision was equivalent to a small kinetic energy missile, and they would continue to explode. This was the true vicious side of those seemingly beautiful things. This should be the old site of the main energy supply road. There used to be a large number of crystallized networks and metals with high energy affinity (the latter was the main material for energy bolts and other facilities). But now, these things had all been melted and melted together, forming this' stalactite 'that was overflowing with blue light and deadly. After charging, the composition and nature of each' stalactite 'were almost the same as the warheads of the Empire's common missiles.
The situation inside the control center was a complete mess. On the surface, it looked like it had mostly calmed down, but inside, there were continuous explosions.
The 'thickness' of the underground zone was more than one kilometer, and I obviously couldn't really take the 'straight path' like Tawil said, unless I planned to be bombarded all the way in. Looking at the crooked 'safe path' in this place, I felt that this path … was quite long.
"Sandora, how's the situation on your side?" I slowed down and tried to stay away from the surrounding metal slag that had been charged to the point of bursting. At the same time, I connected to Sandora mentally. "I'm now braving a hail of bullets to advance. Everything that was originally in the energy pipes has been turned into bombs."
"I can guess that. Capable people do more work." Sandora could hear the seriousness in my words, but her tone was rather relaxed and not worried. "Pay attention to the old site of the energy furnace and the energy center's protective shield to see if there are any clues. I'm already in front of the main engine room, but the wall of the main engine room has automatically closed and is completely locked. I'm digging with all my might. "
"Digging?"
"Yeah, using my claws," Sandora said briskly. I instantly imagined the scene of Her Majesty the Queen waving her Abyssal Claws and scratching at the wall. "This claws is quite convenient. The wall is highly charged, so ordinary cutting tools won't work at all. The corrosive power of the claws is useful."
I said, "Oh … Then you dig slowly. I'll continue forward."
After ending the communication, I continued to focus on the dangerous explosive zone in front of me. I had to be careful and not cause any explosions. Although I might be able to take a beating, I was afraid that I would completely collapse this unstable environment. It seemed that Sandora's progress was much smoother than here. I didn't expect that she had already reached the entrance of the target. It seemed that the situation in the upper zone of the platform was much better than here.
Although the "stalactite cave" filled with high-energy molten slag was troublesome, there would always be an end. After slowly moving forward for a while, I finally noticed that the surrounding molten slag had begun to decrease. Finally, I left the cave that was almost completely crystallized.
Looking at the structural diagram of the control center that Tawil had sent me, I deduced that I had already passed through the main energy network at the bottom level. In theory, I had also passed through the protective layer between the main energy network and the energy hub. I didn't see any protective layer along the way, so it was probably blown to pieces. In that case, the place in front of me should be the ultra dimensional energy output site, the old site of the "energy furnace".
I raised my head and saw a huge and twisted metal hole in front of me. The surrounding metal plates with flowing water patterns were completely unrecognizable. As for the so-called energy furnace … there was nothing there.
I recalled that Sandora had asked me to check out the situation at the old site of the energy furnace. I suddenly felt that I might not be able to achieve my goal …
"Sandora, I have arrived at the old site of the energy furnace. There is nothing here. The entire energy furnace cabin has expanded like a balloon. There is only psionic energy in it. There is not even a speck to be seen."
As I spoke, I slowly floated forward. The energy environment around me was giving me a lot of pressure. Psionic energy was not purely "energy". Under high density conditions, it would exhibit a lot of attributes that did not belong to energy. I felt as though I was moving forward in a pool of molten iron that was about to solidify. There was resistance all over my body. If the psionic energy in this place suddenly transformed into matter, it might be a big problem. I would probably be buried alive by a large lump of strange matter.
Thinking of this possibility, I became even more careful. I could indeed take a beating, but I couldn't take the disgust …
Sandora's voice came after a long time. "Then, we can only hope that the energy center's protective shield is sturdy."
I heard that her voice sounded a little strange. "Did you encounter any trouble on your side?"
"Err … Small problem … My claw was slightly stuck on the wall just now," Sandora said awkwardly. "I have already pulled it out. The front part of the nail is a little bare. I am grinding it now."
I was speechless.
Speaking of which, it was really not easy for Sandora to reveal her adorable side.
I slightly increased the stability of the protective shield. I shook the scene of Sandora grinding her claws on the ground out of my mind and continued to move forward. I had now completed half of the journey. I had passed through the armored area and the energy backbone that had been completely blown up. I had arrived at the cabin that had once stored the hyperspace energy output terminal. We all knew that the psionic reactor was a very special energy device. Except for the extremely small or special models, all psionic energy generators were divided into two parts. One part was placed in the void and was called the "reactor core" or "reactor body." The other part was the hyperspace module that we could see installed in various devices. It was called the output terminal. For the sake of convenience, we usually call this output terminal a psionic furnace because the void part of it will never open again after it is sealed and will never appear in front of anyone. The psionic furnace that you usually come into contact with in the real world is essentially a device that transcends space and time. And the place where I was now used to have a row of huge output terminals. Before they exploded, a huge amount of energy first flowed along the main network to the entire platform, blowing up the platform. Then, the protective device of the reactor failed, and the reactor itself collapsed. The second energy shock went along the main network that was still struggling at death's door and set off a second explosion on the platform. At the same time, the cabin that contained the reactor was also damaged by the shock wave. I had to admit that this place was indeed very sturdy because most of the outer walls of the cabin were still preserved (even though everything inside had vaporized). I found the "passage" that connected the energy cabin to the upper level according to the information that Tawil had provided. I found that the gate of the passage was not blown away, but the shock wave from the explosion had torn a large gap in the middle of the gate. It was big enough for me to pass through.
… No, it didn't look like it had been torn apart by the explosion.
I got closer and observed it carefully. The crack on the gate didn't look like it had been torn open by a shockwave. Instead, it was a relatively "neat" hole. Also, this gate didn't seem to have been severely damaged by the shockwave. The metal frame around it was slightly melted, but it didn't show any signs of melting like the other walls. In short, this place was not in the direction where the explosion was the strongest. It should not have been torn apart like this.
If it was not torn apart by the shock wave, then it could only be …
It was pierced by something!
Could it be the culprit that caused the destruction of the control center?
Although I didn't believe that something that could only create a hole that was several meters in diameter could destroy such a gigantic structure that was several kilometers long, at least I saw a clue. A very obvious clue!
Although I had a clue, finding the "super bomb" that had pierced through four layers of armor and two layers of shields would be a problem. Judging from the hole on the gate, that thing wouldn't be very large. And since all the facilities and walls here had been destroyed, it was impossible for me to determine the "trajectory" of that thing from a hole on the gate. So, I would probably have to search the other side of the gate like finding a needle in a haystack. Right now, I could only hope that the gate was sturdy enough to not be melted by the powerful psionic energy here. But when I thought about the terrifying "power" of that thing to pierce through so many layers of defenses …
It probably shouldn't be so weak.
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