Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1391: The Second Probe

After entering the energy zone of this giant platform, I kept advancing roughly upwards. Now, I’ve covered about two-thirds of the distorted path and finally discovered a clue that might be related to the accident: an inconspicuous hole in the isolation gateway of the energy cabin section.

This gate is an emergency exit to the middle connecting corridor. According to the platform’s structural map, behind it should be a massive vertical corridor, which means this door is actually installed on the "ceiling." However, the platform initially had independent gravity fields in each area, yet now there’s no gravity field in this zone at all, making it pointless to argue about whether a door is installed on the ceiling or not. I passed through the hole in the gate, and the scene beyond was exactly as I expected: the corridor had been torn to shreds, revealing the enormous mechanical structures once sealed away. Equipment and pipelines, immersed in a sea of ghost energy flames, silently "burned," while "lightning clusters," spanning dozens of meters, continuously shot out from the nearest crystallized cables, licking the area I was in. Occasionally, energy sparks passed through the corridor’s cracks, forming a vast network of flickering lightning ahead. It looked terrifying, but fortunately, I’m the undying Taoist—just a tilt of my body would propel me forward, and the charge "electric" nets hitting me were not painful... just a little itchy.

I rummaged through my limited high-precision knowledge, instinctively feeling this place didn’t quite make sense. Theoretically, I had left the explosion center, the old site of the ghost energy reactor, and energy intensity should decrease as I moved forward, but why was the energy intensity increasing here?

I suddenly recalled what Sandora said earlier about something being "off": the energy accumulated within the platform seemed to have a stable replenishment source and was dissipating very slowly. Initially, we thought there might still be a functioning ghost energy reactor running, but I’d forgotten about the matter after confirming the reactor’s old site was empty. The current circumstances around reignited Sandora’s words in my mind, and I wondered if an unusual energy source was ahead.

Although my mind was still lingering on the hole in the gate, addressing the energy accumulation here was equally urgent. I rapidly advanced towards the energy focal point I sensed, and luckily, things went my way this time: after advancing about a hundred meters and casually pushing aside a collapsed metal panel, I saw all the ghost energy lightning ahead converging like a vortex. Surrounding this vortex was a dense, almost tangible blue glow: the spot with the strongest ghost energy reaction and the focal point of the platform’s energy accumulation, located in such an unrelated position?

The direction of this vortex was intriguing; it was parallel to the corridor, meaning it was perpendicular to the entire platform. Facing its center, I saw a twisting, rotating pipeline—I suddenly realized this was akin to a ghost energy tornado. The "tornado" made one think of a high-speed spinning projectile, vertically shooting from below the platform into the control center. Piercing through four layers of armor and two sets of shields, it didn’t lose speed and passed through this corridor, leaving behind an energy vortex in midair—isn’t this the "ballistic trajectory" I’ve been looking for?!

I approached the massive "tornado" with excitement, discovering the corridor’s end had been shredded by it, with a substantial section of the alloy floor protruding midair like a suspension bridge. The surroundings, meanwhile, were empty except for countless gigantic blue "lightning" and ghost energy torrents swirling towards the vortex like streamers dancing in a gale, resembling hell!

And opposite the vortex was the energy center’s protection shield: it served as the last physical barrier between the lower zone and the buffer unit. Once past the giant dome, I could reunite with Sandora. On the threshold of the protection shield’s high strength, it didn’t seem too severely damaged, perhaps because the shockwave from the explosion had weakened by then.

"First, I’ve got to stop this ’tornado’," I murmured, observing the catastrophic energy vortex for any unique structure enabling its continuous ghost energy generation. This inexplicable energy focal point posed a significant challenge for all operations. Although it might be a critical "ballistic clue," since I had already discerned its pointed direction, its value naturally lost significance, and solving it sooner would save trouble.

I quickly identified a peculiar aspect of this vortex, but this peculiarity was baffling: its interior was filled with minute fissures—void rifts.

Those fine, black fissures appeared like winding, thin lines, eerily static along the inner walls of the ghost energy vortex, standing firm amid the tumultuous surrounding winds—showcasing a stark contrast between extreme motion and stillness, akin to an absurd film. Nevertheless, the ghost energy continually leaked from these fine lines: despite their apparent minuteness, they indeed formed two gigantic ghost energy fields within this kilometer-wide outer space structure.

With a void creature’s talent ability, I could easily recognize these fissures as "wounds" leading from the real world to the Endless Void, yet I couldn’t comprehend how they released ghost energy with my technological knowledge. Thus, I could only contact Sandora: "Hey girl, I’ve discovered a rather incomprehensible phenomenon—by the way, are your claws sharpened?"

It seemed Sandora choked for a moment, hesitantly responding, "Oh... they’re sharpened... Ah Jun, what did you discover?"

"A vortex, presumably the ghost energy source of this place, but I can’t fathom how it produces energy. Within this vortex are one, two, three, four... there are many pencil-like void rifts, arranged in... sunflower formation..." I meticulously detailed what I saw. "The energy emerges from these rifts; it’s my first time witnessing void rifts releasing ghost energy rather than void power, fascinating."

Sandora paused briefly, "Isn’t that the inner core of a ghost energy reactor?"

Me: "...Huh?"

"It’s the central part of the reaction core; the inner core of a ghost energy reactor shares this structure. However, what you see is merely the inner core component; the essential decay components should still reside in the Other Space. These decay components cause the void rifts to release ghost energy... Let me think, you’re near the original output endpoint of the ghost energy reactor on your side, so the energy output’s original coordinates are nearby. If severe spatial tearing occurred there, it’s plausible for the reactor’s inner core to expose itself to the real world. It seems like this explosion was immensely powerful, not only piercing through the control center but also forcing the reactor core initially in the void into the real world..."

"No..." I slowly replied, "This might not be due to the explosion... Hmm, let’s not worry about this for now. Can I just directly shut this thing down? It’s the anomaly energy focal point here."

"Directly sealing the void rifts would halt the reactor’s operation, though its part in the void would certainly disintegrate... Yes, shut it down, as recovering these reactors is impossible anyway."

I acknowledged with a sound, nonchalantly sealing those void rifts that continually released powerful energy. The massive vortex, in its dynamic balance, instantly destabilized upon losing its core momentum. Its internal rotation gradually halted, while the ghost energy sparks spanning hundreds of meters outside began leaping irregularly. At this moment, Sandora suddenly remembered something and hastily warned, "Oh right, Ah Jun, if the inner core undergoes an emergency shutdown, there might be a shockwave, you’d better first..."

My entire body was plastered against the alloy big beam behind me, feeling embedded at least a third deep. It took a while before I managed to "pop" my head out: "You said it too late, I’ve just been blasted away."

"Why are your hands so fast!"

Me: "A void creature’s instinct; seeing those rifts was like seeing family, just touched them all, and they shut."

Sandora ignored me, so I begrudgingly floated forward. Now that energy storm roadblock had ceased, the surrounding ghost energy concentration was swiftly declining at a perceivable pace. However, the energy accumulated in those crystallized pipelines and charged metal plates wouldn’t dissipate quickly. Their emitted blue light prevented immediate darkness here. The corridor torn by the energy storm was empty, and a hundred meters ahead lay the sole remaining remnant: it resembled a charred piece of gum, stubbornly plastered on the alloy protection shield.

It was likely the "bullet" that attacked the platform tore open space here, causing the ghost energy reactor’s inner core to lay exposed in the real world—offering the most plausible judgment based on the present situation.

Following that "tornado’s" path earlier, I meticulously sought the breach mark on the protection shield, which should be within the circular area around the corridor’s end, not exceeding ten meters in radius. This search took little effort; the breached opening was prominent, and I saw it almost instantly.

Indeed! At the time of the explosion, the control center platform was pierced by some foreign object!

Could it have come from the Abyss Gate? It’s not known yet, but I bet Taville would jump with excitement upon learning this news. The research value of this discovery is undeniable. Based on the simple rule of two points forming a line, I marked this breakthrough point and the one before it. The data terminal then mapped out possible hit points of "that thing" on the navigation map.

Passing through the hole in the shield, I officially left this Lower Zone. What lay before me was a vast, endless stretch of metallic module structures. Many parts of those metal modules were damaged, exposing beneath them a crystal lattice emitting a faint blue glow. In the distance, the structure was no longer complete; it seemed to have been destroyed by a massive explosion—this was the energy release buffer unit of the control center, placed between the lower Energy Display Group and the upper Equipment Group, considered an ultimate protector. However, now this protector had also overloaded and was destroyed.

The target point displayed on the data terminal was just a few dozen meters ahead; I could see it now.

It was unmistakably obvious: a black hole lay there, surrounded by traces of melting—another penetration. This time, however, the terrifying "warhead" was finally stopped. It was imprisoned in the melted crystal lattice, just like an insect trapped in resin, becoming a blue "amber." I stepped forward and saw the culprit encased in a piece of gleaming crystal, utterly dumbfounded.

It was a black man-made object, with a sheen somewhere between metal and plastic. Despite some damage, one could easily tell it used to have a smooth, rounded shell. This object wasn’t very large, only a few meters long and as slender as a shuttle. At both ends, one could see two annular grooves, faintly glowing with a regular red light. Other than that, the surface of this black shuttle had no lights or identifying marks.

The design of this thing was incredibly familiar—wasn’t this the "Black Shuttle" we initially found on the Divine Race’s territory!

The Black Shuttle, intricately connected with the Abyss Gate, was suspected to be a probe or envoy device from the Other Shore Civilization, with components and principles beyond analysis. The technology allowing it to pass safely through the Abyss was still undecipherable by the Empire. We had captured one Black Shuttle, and here was the second.

It was this that pierced the energy group of the Deep Dive Port control center, leading to the major accident.

"Sandora, I’ve made an incredible discovery, an ultra-awesome discovery..." I called Sandora through the spiritual connection, and she immediately responded, "I’ve also made a major discovery—I’m already seeing you."

Following that instinctive mutual feeling, I saw the silhouette of Sandora rapidly closing in from afar. In the blink of an eye, Her Majesty the Queen was right in front of me, her expression extremely grave. It seemed she also found something earth-shattering in the mainframe room.

"Take a look at this first," I nodded toward the side. "The Black Shuttle, the Other Shore Civilization has sent another probe, but it seems the protective layer outside this Black Shuttle didn’t hold up, and it blew our space station to this state."

Sandora was obviously not expecting to see such a thing here, and for a moment was stunned, then contacted Taville: "Taville, the energy field below has already been weakened, you can have the team come down shortly. Also—prepare your lab, we’ve found something incredible."

"First, let’s figure out how to get it out," I leaned in to inspect the black probe now embedded in the crystal as if a fruit-filled black entity. Although its shell was highly damaged, it seemed to be intact at its core. I remembered the previous Black Shuttle we recovered, which couldn’t be opened, and contained a suspected self-destructive device that was a massive headache. Now that this shell was like this and hadn’t exploded, perhaps the self-destruct mechanism was malfunctioning. "Sandora, use your claw..."

Actually, I meant to ask Sandora to use the Ghost Energy Saber and her excellent cutting skills, but the words came out asking her to use her claw: perhaps because Her Majesty the Queen’s claws had been particularly notable just now?

Sandora certainly didn’t overthink it; she just did as I suggested. Black mist surged beside Her Majesty the Queen, and then her right hand transformed into a sharp and terrible Abyssal Claw. She flew over, scraping the tips of her fingers on the nearby metal plate to get a feel of it, then with a swift thrust (though this place is a void, "swiftly" is more descriptive) she deeply inserted her finger stab into what seemed like a solid crystal. Next, Ghost Energy sparks flew with crystal fragments, Sandora’s claw was sharper than ordinary sabers—though the finger stab wasn’t blade-shaped, it burned with Abyssal Intense Flames, coupled with some of Sandora’s unique techniques, the excavation efficiency was such that I estimated only someone who graduated with full marks from the advanced excavator course at Lanxiang could rival it. Quickly, she hollowed out the crystal surrounding, carefully peeling out the black shuttle along with the outer crystal shell: retaining the shell for safety. When back, let Taville lead her expert team in carefully dismantling it.

I tucked the Black Shuttle into my personal space, then suddenly remembered Sandora’s significant discovery: "Right, what did you say you found in the control room?"

Sandora’s face fell; I knew immediately it was a serious matter. She first asked a question: "Ah Jun, do you think such a small probe could breach four layers of armor and two sets of shields?"

I was stunned, then realized: this was a major doubt!

How potent of firepower would it take to breach four layers of armor and two Ghost Energy Shields? Not to mention, this work platform was established next to the Abyss Gate; its defense system was terrifyingly robust, possibly only the armor plates of the Royal Fleet could match the materials used here, and the Black Shuttle? It was just a probe.

We already had one Black Shuttle, so we knew roughly the level of the Other Shore Civilization. Their technical prowess might be stronger than the current New Empire, but not by much. Although their probe could traverse unbelievable distances in the Abyss, it was only because of the advanced nature of its "Deep Diving Technology," but in terms of structural strength...

While this thing was sturdy, it definitely couldn’t break through so many barriers, nor did it have that much propulsion, right?

Sandora saw I’d caught on to the key issue, so she nodded: "Upon seeing this Black Shuttle, I understood many things. If it were something else unfamiliar, perhaps I’d suspect our enemies had developed some Super Weapon, but the weight and scope of this probe is well-known. If it crashed directly into a normally shielded control center, it wouldn’t even penetrate but rather be charred to ash on the first layer."

I caught a keyword: normally shielded.

"The control center’s protection became abnormal for a moment," Sandora’s expression was gravely serious. "Just now, in the mainframe room, I found a piece of equipment not completely destroyed. It had logs from the bottom layer of the big platform system, showing that just before the explosion, the platform suddenly shut down the shield and vented all the Recharge Armor!"

(To be continued. If you like this work, please feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)