Book 10: Chapter 49: The Core of the Underground Palace

While Qin Lun and the others explored the core tunnel of the ruins, the joint team of Chaos and Divine Light also entered the depths of the ruins and began fighting with Balin, Alex, and the others. Meanwhile, the Hismere Guardians led by Saintess Ruxin were also battling the Insectoid left guarding the tunnel entrance.

In fact, Balin, Huobiao, and Bowei were very unlucky; they happened to run into the group led by Gan Luo. They were quickly scattered and lost contact with each other, with several of them even being captured by Chaos.

Alex and the other group of Gith Flight Officers, however, were very cunning and did not engage the enemy directly. Using the small bombs and passive mines equipped on their Bingren Mecha, they set traps everywhere and led the other two groups of Chaos on a wild chase through the ruins.

Gan Luo could do nothing about it. Apart from his own group, the other two teams mostly consisted of Holy Light Team members. Though they did not violate the agreement, slacking off was unavoidable.

Still, no matter how hard Alex and the others tried, their numbers and available space began to shrink rapidly under the enemy’s encirclement. Without enough strength to break through, they would eventually be trapped.

Despite this, the Gith Flight Officers continued to fight relentlessly. The remaining two teams constantly sacrificed part of their forces to ensure the survival of the rest. Isolated Gith Flight Officers, to avoid revealing the secret that there were no Descendant Apostles among them, often resorted to the most extreme method of self-destruction as cover. They were buying time for Qin Lun and the others with their lives.

However, Gan Luo, Black, and the others were, after all, elite Apostles with rich adventure experience. After the Gith Flight Officers self-destructed once, twice, three times… they began to vaguely sense that something was amiss.

The problem was that Qin Lun had brought over twenty Gith Flight Officers. Until their numbers were reduced to a certain point, they couldn’t confirm whether the fleeing Bingren Mecha contained any Apostles.

The captured Apostles wouldn’t answer this question, and even the inside informant didn’t know why, because the others had never responded in the Team Channel. He was sure he hadn’t exposed any flaws before; he hadn’t contacted the Chaos subgroup until they entered the ruins.

Time passed minute by minute. At one point, Gan Luo suddenly shuddered, finally losing his composed expression.

“Sir, all our Insectoid at the tunnel entrance have been wiped out. The other team has entered,” Black said, his face extremely grim as he read the prompt in his Soul Sigil.

After the Hismael entered the ruins tunnel, Apostles from all four teams received a prompt simultaneously.

This message reminded the Apostles to try their best to gain Exploration Rate within these ruins, but Star Void would not issue any other task routes, and what happened next was unpredictable. Even if there were traps in the ruins that could potentially wipe out all Apostle teams, Star Void could no longer provide any related hints.

“Damn it, with a little more time we could have trapped them completely,” Gan Luo couldn’t help but curse. “That damn Wolf, if it weren’t for the Holy Light people holding us back, it wouldn’t have taken so much time.”

“Sir, with all due respect, that group of mechas numbers less than ten now. The remaining Apostles of the Lost subgroup probably aren’t among them,” Black said with a serious expression. “We should concentrate our forces, defeat the newly arrived team first, and then continue the investigation.”

Gan Luo fell silent, but the aura around him grew increasingly terrifying, pressing down on those around him like a mountain. His insect-like eyes gleamed with menace as he stared at the two captives at the back of the team.

Beads of sweat appeared on the foreheads of the two captives. They certainly sensed Gan Luo’s killing intent, but having come this far, they were not afraid of death. Instead, they straightened their postures and looked back at Gan Luo with mocking expressions.

“Sir!” Black gritted his teeth and stepped between the captives and Gan Luo, blocking “Skinny Bear’s” line of sight. “Sir, even if we fail this time, you can’t do this. Otherwise, we will never be able to recruit from the Order Front again.”

“Tch! These two aren’t our main targets anyway. Can’t we even extract some information from them?” Gan Luo’s raging violent aura subsided a bit as he muttered under his breath. But he knew Black was right, so he suppressed his anger and turned away.

The two captives secretly breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged a glance. By now, they fully understood that their group had become the team’s bait and sacrificial pawns. They just didn’t know there was a traitor in the team, or why the team was doing this.

After all, judging by strength, their group were all Second Order. With several low-level members in the team, using them as sacrificial pawns seemed like a waste.

…

“Miss Junko, those natives have all gone in. Shouldn’t you advise Lady Mei? If we don’t go in now, we won’t even get a sip of the soup!” one Apostle said, licking his lips, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the tunnel entrance of the ruins.

Even though they hadn’t entered the ruins, they had also received the relevant prompt from Star Void. After entering Paranto, the Apostle’s Exploration Rate reward was increased to three times the base rate. For ordinary Apostles like them who weren’t considered elites, this opportunity was not to be missed.

Junko glanced at them calmly, then lowered her head and exchanged a few words with Qin Mei, a look of surprise appearing on her face.

“Lady Mei says she has no new plans. You can choose for yourselves whether to enter or not. How much reward you get is up to you; no need to give her a cut this time. However, she hopes you understand that there are three teams fighting inside the ruins right now. If you encounter danger, she will not look after you.”

“Lady Mei agreed?” The Apostle who made the suggestion also looked surprised. Honestly, he was just complaining out of habit and didn’t really expect Qin Mei to relent, given the Spectral Enchantress’s volatile temper; she usually didn’t tolerate dissent.

Qin Mei’s unexpected relaxation of restrictions actually made them discuss it more carefully.

However, these people were of average quality, and with the current situation becoming clearer and the rewards so tempting, seven Apostles finally decided to enter the ruins together. Only Junko and another bald man who had been with them the longest remained with Qin Mei.

“L-La… Lady, they won’t be in danger, will they?” Seeing their seven companions disappear into the ruins, Junko hesitated for a moment before she couldn’t help but ask.

“Heh, Junko, you’re still so naive and cute. They’re just companions from one or two worlds; do you need to care so much?” Qin Mei laughed charmingly, a sweet smile on her face. “Their fate is in their own hands now. They must bear the consequences of their choices. Maybe they will die inside, or maybe they will gain huge rewards. Who knows?”

…

The Angel Race of ancient times achieved a high level in both their own evolution and technology. Unfortunately, they ultimately took the wrong path, abandoning their physical bodies. Although they achieved semi-immortality, they also lost their will to live and eventually vanished from the universe.

If they hadn’t lost their own desire to survive, when the Jannamer attacked, they actually could have completely abandoned the Gith Star System with their technology and abilities and started a new life in another star system. They wouldn’t have had to painstakingly leave behind their legacy and seal the Jannamer deep within the core of the star system.

Although the small amount of legacy left by the Angel Race ten thousand years ago was enough to develop the three major Sapient Races: the Gith, the Hismere, and the Gius Insectoid, the legacy ruins they left behind in Paranto were surprisingly primitive.

Bobby increased the power of the Particle Furnace to a certain level. The Bingren Mecha emitted a soft, glowing flame all over its body, and the occasionally drifting sparks of light illuminated a section of the space below the tunnel.

Contrary to what everyone had imagined, there were no high-tech devices below this giant tunnel. Instead, it resembled a very large but ordinary storage warehouse.

Rows of stone pedestals stood in the “warehouse.” At a rough glance, it looked like a library with countless neatly arranged bookshelves. The most prominent feature was a structure in the center of the “warehouse” that resembled a stone pavilion. Inside, a huge crystalline sphere floated. Under the light from the mecha’s glow, this sphere composed of countless tiny crystal facets began to slowly brighten.

Qin Lun released the Holy Thorn binding his body and jumped onto a nearby stone pedestal to observe closely. Reaching out to touch it, the pedestal didn’t feel like cold stone but more like plastic. Its surface was spotless and reflected a metallic sheen.

The center of the stone pedestal bulged upward slightly. A thin “book” was half-embedded in the pedestal’s surface. Qin Lun tried to pry it with his finger and found that the bottom of the “book” wasn’t connected to the pedestal’s surface. Moreover, it could be opened page by page; it actually really was a book.

He didn’t know what material this book was made of, but he was sure it wasn’t animal skin or ordinary paper; otherwise, it couldn’t possibly have been preserved for such a long time.

Opening the book’s cover, the pages contained no writing in any form—at least not in any form Qin Lun recognized. They were covered densely with neat conductor lines, very much like some kind of primitive computer silicon chip.

Qin Lun checked several stone pedestals in a row and finally confirmed that all the books stored here were like this.

“These are all chip-like books. Without a decoder, we can’t decipher the contents,” Robin frowned helplessly. “Qin Lun, we don’t have our mechas. Relying on Bobby alone, I’m afraid we can’t take much away!”

“Leaders, could that crystal sphere in the center be the main computer or control device? Maybe we can use it to input the book data into Bobby’s mecha Optical Computer,” Loben suggested alertly.

Hearing this, everyone looked towards the floating crystal sphere in the center of the space. They saw it had now fully “awakened,” emitting a soft radiance that lit up the entire underground palace with a faint glow, making it look like an artificial full moon.

“Bobby, increase the APB field to maximum power. All of you, come over and stand behind the mecha,” Qin Lun thought for a moment and ordered in a low voice. After everyone gathered together, he raised his arms, from which numerous branches extended and condensed into two sturdy vines, slowly reaching out towards the crystal sphere.

Dark green Holy Thorn vines carefully wrapped around the crystal sphere, but nothing happened.

“Sir, how… how do you feel?” Everyone watched Qin Lun’s actions nervously.

“Not much. It feels like wrapping around a stone,” Qin Lun frowned and sighed. “It seems our efforts have failed. Unless we defeat the teams outside, I’m afraid we can’t take these books with us.”

Just as Qin Lun was about to let go, the crystal sphere wrapped in vines suddenly blazed with intense light. The crystal facets on its surface changed strangely, collapsing inward layer by layer, forming a counter-clockwise vortex. At the same time, a huge projection of a female face appeared above the crystal sphere.