When disaster struck, I became a big shot surviving in the ocean.-Chapter 323 - 225: The Truth about a Corner of the Ruins

Chen Qing stood dumbstruck in front of the Mechanical Tree, and after a long while, suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood and half-knelt on the ground, trembling incessantly.

Her entire being appeared as if a major portion of her Life Force had been drained, with twilight lingering by her side.

Her originally black hair had turned grey-white, wrinkles and spots appeared on her skin, but those eyes remained bright.

That moment just now had been extremely terrifying...

It seemed as if she had glimpsed the once flourishing and resplendent Mechanical Civilization that had eventually gone silent and disappeared from this world.

Numerous memories that did not belong to her flooded her mind, attempting to oust her original memories and occupy the nest.

But those were the memories of an entire civilization, how could Chen Qing possibly contain them? Even if there were a hundred more Chen Qings, they would not be able to hold so many memories.

She would have exploded and died.

Even if those memories had successfully invaded and taken over, Chen Qing would only have become a vessel for the Mechanical Civilization, no longer under her own control.

Her soul extinguished, she would become a walking shell.

The only reason it wasn’t successful was thanks to her Extraordinary Ability and the three passive abilities Lei Guang had sent earlier.

Chen Qing’s Extraordinary Ability was highly aggressive too, and to invade its territory, one would have to consult it first.

Only then could she withstand the invasion of the Mechanical Civilization’s memories and timely withdraw all her spiritual power.

Even so, Chen Qing’s body was still severely damaged, not only were all her accumulated Extraordinary Points wiped clean, but her body also rapidly aged.

The Life Force she lost had all been drawn away by her Extraordinary Ability to resist the invasion of the Mechanical Civilization.

However, Chen Qing finally understood what those so-called Mechanical Viruses really were.

All the viruses related to the Mechanical Relics she had seen were not actual viruses, but rather fragments of the Mechanical Civilization intent on a resurgence.

In fact, calling them viruses was not entirely wrong, but Chen Qing felt these were more remnants of consciousness.

The latter is far more terrifying.

Chen Qing slowly sat down, leaning against the trunk of the Mechanical Tree, under the protection of which the mechanical beings below could not come anywhere close.

The Mechanical Tree behind her had calmed down after Chen Qing sensed it using her Plant Affinity.

The most dangerous thing on the island was the tree itself; as long as it did not cause trouble, Chen Qing would be fine.

Now she had time to reflect on everything happening in the Deep Blue Sea, including this war.

Connecting all the clues, the timeline should start from when the Mechanical Association discovered the relics of the Mechanical Civilization.

They discovered the relics and attempted to develop them, and subsequently, the first people who entered the relics discovered the issues and chose to seal the relics.

At the cost of many elites and genius Mechanics of the Mechanical Association.

Xia Li was likely one of those privy to the inside information, possibly involved as well.

Based on her age, it was estimated that the Mechanical Association discovered the relics about twenty years ago or even earlier.

No wonder the Mechanical Association now has no capable people left; Chen Qing managed to catch up with their decades of progress in just a few months.

Chen Qing closed her eyes, soothing her tumultuous spiritual power, slowly unraveling the existing clues one by one and connecting them together.

The Mechanical Association discovered the relics, then sealed them, only for them to be reopened by some ambitious people within the association later on.

The relics themselves were also gradually reaching out their claws towards the Deep Blue Sea, and the things flowing out from inside the relics were not gifts, but [candy] used to paralyze the Mechanics.

Those things genuinely posed no problems and were extremely powerful.

Given the development level of the Mechanical Civilization relics, the likelihood that the Mechanical Association could seal it was very low.

After the Mechanical Association had paid such a terrible price, it was now impossible for them to reproduce the act of sealing the relics as they had done in the past.

And the seal on the relics was not permanent.

Chen Qing looked up at the lush foliage of the Mechanical Tree, and although it was rather impolite to say, the Mechanical Association had already become part of the lost civilization invading the Deep Blue Sea.

Even though they didn’t want it to be this way, even though they clearly knew this, they were already powerless to recover, only able to descend clearly into the depths.

Having lost a large amount of vital force, the Mechanical Association could only rely on the materials from the relics to counter the relics themselves, a cure that was akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.

And whether those within the association who rebelled really reopened the relics purely out of their own will, this was still up for debate.