The 'energy conduction bridge' had already stopped working, and the energy reaction inside it was zero. So, Sandora and I boldly connected the spaceship to the end of the 'energy conduction bridge'. While providing energy to the bridge, we could also scan the structure of the facility through the crystallized network to determine its function. But I don't know if it was because of my bad luck or something … Even in a place like this, there was always an accident. The three-kilometer-long 'abandoned facility' suddenly activated, and the extinguished energy network on its surface suddenly lit up. The silver-white alloy shell surged with abundant psionic energy. Luckily, Sandora and I had already passed through the broken end of the long bridge, so we could peacefully watch the huge facility awaken as if it had come back to life, and after a surge of energy, it blew up our spaceship.
"What's going on?!" My reaction was pretty fast, and I didn't pay attention to the small loss of the unmanned spaceship. Instead, I immediately scanned the 'energy conduction bridge' for the flow of energy. To my surprise, I found out that it had received energy from somewhere, and it was now restarting at an extremely high speed!
"I'm afraid that this thing is not as simple as we thought …" Sandora suddenly released a large number of golden lines from her body, forming a huge arrow in the air. Her entire 'person' was like a mouse pointer pointing in a certain direction. "Ah Jun, look at the broken end."
I looked at the big pointer next to me in bewilderment. Then, I realized that it was not the time to pay attention to this. Sandora was pointing at the part where the energy conduction bridge was' cut off '. There was an obvious spatial anomaly around the diagonal section that looked like it was cut off by a sharp blade! The space within a hundred meters of the section rippled like water, and the blue psionic energy network extended from the armor plate of the energy conduction bridge directly into space, maintaining the shape of the expansion on the armor plate for at least half a kilometer before gradually fading away. At the same time, on the empty side of the section, some faint phantoms flashed under the illumination of the psionic energy. I immediately knew what was going on. It was the part of the energy conduction bridge that was' cut off '! In fact, this thing wasn't cut off at all?
"This should be related to the strange spatial structure here. The 'energy conduction bridge' is not cut off, and the other part of it should just be located in a spatial fold. The two seem to be separated, but they are connected in a higher dimension," Sandora's ball analyzed professionally. "Psionic energy is inter-dimensional, so when the psionic energy flows again, this' separation 'is temporarily neutralized. The phantoms we see should be images of the energy conduction bridge in another dimension. This was supposed to be a simple phenomenon, but the spatial encryption here was so strange that I didn't think of it. Ah Jun, look … those psionic veins are elongating and seem to be expanding in all directions. This is probably the shape of the 'cut off' part of the 'energy conduction bridge' … No, that should be the main body of the building. What we see in the present space and time is just the tip of the building, like the tip of an awl sticking out of a pocket. "
I turned these words over and over in my head more than three times, barely building this space model that wasn't easy to understand. Then, I clapped my hands (of course, I couldn't make a sound). "So, we can follow these psionic veins to find the encrypted space?"
"It doesn't seem that easy," Sandora's ball trembled restlessly. "The scientific research team of the engineering ship is cracking the key here at the highest power, but these keys go deep into the 'frequency' of the psionic energy … This energy conduction bridge wasn't accidentally exposed in this space. It seems to be a tentacle, something designed. Its activation doesn't affect the integrity of the entire space lock … We'd better go and feel it for ourselves. Ah Jun, protect me. The defense of Soul Sparks is not as strong as my body. If it's blown up, we'll have to create a new one. "
I quickly hugged Sandora's ball and used a shield to protect both of us. Then, I carefully approached the glowing "energy conduction bridge" and plunged into the section where the light was flowing rapidly. I wanted to see what had happened here.
Strong energy surged around me. I felt that I was at an energy node. If the "energy conduction bridge" was restored, this would probably be the hub of the crystallized network or the location of the energy regulating valve. The scientific research team of the engineering ship couldn't crack the complicated spatial encryption here, so I could only try to see if my strange little ability could bypass it. But I had to be very careful in the process: I was going to directly inject the power of a Void Creature into an antique that hadn't been maintained for tens of thousands of years. Although the Empire's equipment had always been durable, the psionic node was like a heart, and it might explode if it wasn't handled properly.
I wasn't afraid of getting hurt, and Sandora probably wouldn't mind creating a new Soul Sparks for me to play with. But if the antique exploded, it would be gone.
I carefully extended my spiritual power along the flow of psionic energy in space. I shifted my "perspective" from the angle that humans were familiar with to a wider direction. I began to sense that I was moving forward along the energy. Space … space … space … wreckage of the work ship … Oh, I'm running in the opposite direction. Let's change direction again.
I finally confirmed what I was vaguely "seeing". In a chaotic and strange space, psionic energy that was so complex that it could drive any intelligent creature crazy was intertwined and pulsating in some kind of system that was as large as a planet. The endless flow of energy didn't seem to be damaged by tens of thousands of years of slumber. It seemed that a certain "giant facility" with a huge amount of energy was constantly operating. While the facilities in the outer space had all shut down, the core of the ruins was perfectly hidden in the other space. It was as if a dormant heart was beating slowly and powerfully.
I could only sense the flow of psionic energy to "see" the distribution of energy in the other space. Therefore, what I saw was only the energy network, which was equivalent to seeing a person's blood vessel system. You could use this network to outline a person's body, but you wouldn't know the person's face — this analogy seemed a little scary? Anyway, it was roughly the same meaning.
Based on the energy network, I deduced that what was hidden in the other space seemed to be an artificial planet. Was it a battleship from the old Empire era? Or was it another "Green Star" ark that the tree elves used to escape? Or was it even more bizarre … a glorious starship?
I couldn't be sure. I could only see the tangled psionic energy forming the shape of a planet. But with my level of knowledge, it was impossible for me to determine what type of planet it was. I reckoned that Sandora wouldn't be able to either. That would be too complicated.
But for some reason, the tangled psionic energy network only formed a thick "shell". Its core was empty. It seemed that there was something that I couldn't understand or had never seen before wrapped up in these psionic energy networks. Even though they were fused together, it was obvious that they didn't belong to the same system … Could it be that this encrypted space wasn't to protect the artificial planet inside, but to protect something even more precious in the artificial planet's core? Was it double insurance?
At this moment, I suddenly felt the flow of psionic energy around me become even more rapid. It seemed that my prolonged "immersion" was destroying the stability of this system. I knew that my power as a Void creature was actually a powerful bomb that was difficult to control. I hurriedly retracted my spiritual power to prevent the entire system from exploding. When I focused my vision again, I saw my shiny, golden, round wife floating in front of me: Sandora's ball was almost touching my face.
"Ah Jun, what did you see? You had such a serious expression just now! " Her Majesty the Queen didn't seem to realize that she had become a natural cutesy. She used her cute appearance and serious tone to ask me about the situation.
"This alternate dimension is about the size of the sun. In its center, there is something that looks like a planetary battleship. It could also be the second Green Star Ark that the exiles rode on back in the day. I can only see the energy flow inside the artificial planet, so I don't dare to confirm its model. Also, there is a region in the planet's core that I can't detect. It doesn't seem to be the structure of an artificial planet. It seems to be … goods. "
As I explained what I saw, I cautiously used the word "goods." Among the many "historical issues" related to the old Empire, the word "goods" always tugged at people's heartstrings. It meant trouble, and in most cases, it meant a business trip. But now that Sandora and I were forced to go on a business trip here, there didn't seem to be anything to worry about.
"As expected, it's something big. Maybe the Heavenly Forge is really this thing?" Sandora's ball floated away. "No, there's no way to confirm it. This is basically just a guess. By the way, why did this' Energy Conduction Bridge 'suddenly activate? It seems to be an 'accessory' of the artificial planet that you mentioned. It should have been shut down all this time. Could it be that we forcefully 'powered up' it and triggered some kind of alarm? It doesn't seem like it. I haven't seen any defense forces rushing out yet. "
Sandora's ball floated into space. She sighed in disappointment in the mental channel when she realized that there were no defense forces.
By the way, why are you disappointed now! There's only one ball left. Can you not be so full of fighting spirit?!
"If the defense forces rush out, we would at least have a chance to capture an AI to analyze or something," Sandora explained. It turned out that it wasn't entirely the Shiring Apostles's war factor that was at work. "We can't go in, so we can only hope that something will come out. But it doesn't seem to be reliable now."
"It seems that the encrypted space here is Abyssal Schilling's handiwork. Even if she didn't build it herself, she must have left some equipment for the fugitives to build this encrypted space." I looked at the scene in space. Apart from the 'Energy Conduction Bridge' in front of us that was getting brighter, the various abandoned facilities in the distance were still lifeless. I had no idea what this building complex that was built by a large number of races was for. I could only confirm that only the core of the Empire facility had withstood the test of time and operated until today. "That guy is really everywhere … but at least it's not all bad. Wait! Sandora, look at that. What is that? "
I pointed in the distance in surprise. The Energy Conduction Bridge had reached a certain threshold, and at the end of it was a huge structure that looked like a World Gate. This huge ring-shaped structure appeared out of thin air and stopped a few hundred meters above the end of the Energy Conduction Bridge, with a diameter of more than ten miles (far beyond the size of the Energy Conduction Bridge). Circles of ripples quickly appeared inside the ring, and a dimensional door that led to a faraway, possibly even to other worlds, seemed to have opened. But it was different from the other World Gates we had seen before. We could not sense the presence of other worlds leaking out of the ripples.
When Sandora and I curiously scanned the strange dimensional door, a large piece of what looked like a wreckage suddenly appeared in front of the dimensional door! The wreckage had a slightly curved edge, and its surface was black. It seemed to be a piece of debris that had fallen from a huge ring-shaped facility. Its two ends were uneven, and there were traces of metal tearing. Moreover, the internal pipes and wires that had been violently destroyed could also be seen.
Before I could take another look at it, the huge alloy fragment that looked like a wreckage passed through the portal that had just been built and completely disappeared from this universe. Then, the dimensional door dissipated into space again, and the blue light on the surface of the Energy Conduction Bridge quickly dimmed. Everything disappeared faster than it appeared, and it was over in ten seconds. The strange 'World Gate' of more than ten kilometers had returned to some encrypted space, and the Energy Conduction Bridge had returned to its lifeless state, just like what Sandora and I saw when we first arrived.
"What was that all about?" I turned to look at Sandora. "So, the Energy Conduction Bridge took so long to open the World Gate and send something out? Does it have anything to do with our operation? "
"That doesn't seem to be a simple World Gate … It works on a different principle. I can't even sense where it leads to." The surface of Sandora's sphere was glowing brightly, as though she was expressing her surprise. "It looks like we are overthinking it. It's not our activity that awakened the Energy Conduction Bridge. It's just following a certain procedure to wake up and send something out. You and I just happened to see this … But then again, Ah Jun, don't you think that the wreckage that was sent away looks familiar?"
I curled my lips. No matter how bizarre it was, I had to admit that I had seen something similar before. "It looks like … it's Visca's Star Ring fragment? We seem to have collected 99% of the Star Ring fragments, but there must be some that we missed out. "
Yes, Visca's Star Ring Fragment! Star rings were the weapon pendants of Veska's Barrier Star (the moon). There were originally two of them, but one of them had been blown into countless fragments. These fragments had caused us a lot of trouble in the early days of the New Empire's establishment (many incidents were caused by those fragments). In the past few years, we had been cleaning up these dangerous items that wandered the Void and the infinite worlds, and we had almost cleaned them all up. However, they were still items that had been blown into powder, and there would always be fish that slipped through the net without being discovered … But I never expected to see a star ring fragment here!
And it seemed that the Star Ring fragment was released from this world?
It was still too early to make such a conclusion, but at least I had seen one of the fragments being sent away through a device that looked like a World Gate, right under my and Sandora's eyes!
"I just asked the engineering ship to launch a probe to follow the fragment." Sandora was never one to drop the ball. Even though it happened so suddenly, she still reacted quickly. "But the probe lost contact after it passed through the World Gate. We still have to solve the problem of this universe's lockdown first."
"There are more and more mysteries these days. It's interesting, but also quite a headache." I looked at the long energy conduction bridge that was quietly floating in space. This three-kilometer-long metal "tentacle" had once again returned to its lifeless appearance. It seemed that a certain system in the encrypted space had stopped supplying energy to this place. Both Sandora and I had stumbled upon that shocking scene by pure coincidence. This was probably the only situation in which our luck worked: the probability of encountering an incident was especially high.
If my guess was correct, this energy conduction bridge wasn't accidentally exposed in outer space. It was probably left here to mark the World Gate. Perhaps it would activate every once in a while? Every time it activated, it would throw out a Star Ring fragment?
Or rather … it wasn't just the Star Ring fragment that it threw out, but something else in that alternate space?
These were all unexplainable. The research team of the engineering ship was still working hard to crack the spatial encryption lock, but there was no progress at all. Abyssal Schilling was indeed the spiritual collective of all the Apostles of the Old Empire. The encryption system she left behind was the most advanced technology in the Old Empire, let alone now — it couldn't be cracked!
"Oh, I finally found something related to the Tree Elves." At this moment, Sandora's sphere suddenly floated over. She was paying attention to the energy conduction bridge and the Star Ring fragment that was thrown out. At the same time, she was also operating on multiple lines, analyzing the results of the probes' scans of the surrounding facilities. Now, she finally made a discovery. "We found equipment in the style of the Tree Elves in some large buildings. It's the 'original style' of the Green Star, not the Tree Elves style that we found on that planet. The race that built this ruin did have Tree Elves."
"Looks like we can only go back first and see what the old cadres of the Lost Pantheon have to say," I said as I looked up into the deep space. "Speaking of which … have you found any other planets with advanced civilizations?"
"No." Sandora's tone was a little disappointed. "At least within the scope of this galaxy, only the planet that we first landed on has advanced civilizations. There are some planets in other places that have a more primitive ecosphere, but it's still far from civilization. It seems that the wanderers who fled here didn't even manage to develop in their new home. They found a random planet to take root, and not long after, they reverted to their primitive lives. "
Another strange phenomenon. I should go back and ask the people of the Lost Pantheon.
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