Chapter 458 - 303: An Eerie Song Rises, Celestial Wave Plunges, Jiangbei’s Grand Retreat

Three hundred meters below Broken Star Reef.

The Mad Shark squad, led by Chen Meng, had reached the massive cavern where the first exploration team was located in their twenty Titan Battle Armors.

An eerie blue light flickered here—the glow of Energy seeping from the vessel’s core Power Furnace.

The searchlights of the Titan Battle Armors pierced the darkness, illuminating the ancient murals on the cavern walls.

"Holy shit, this place is so goddamn creepy!"

A squad member nicknamed "Big Head" couldn’t help but curse from inside the cockpit of his Titan Battle Armor.

Chen Meng’s voice, laced with excitement and impatience, crackled over the shared channel:

"Cut the crap! All of you, look alive!

We have less than two hours to haul this stuff out!"

As he stared at the massive Titan Giants in the murals, a wave of irrepressible greed washed over him.

This stuff was the very source of Jiangbei City’s technology. Even a single chunk would be worth a fortune!

"First Squad, you’re in charge of cutting the special minerals from the cavern walls!

And remember, scrape off those glowing pigments, too. Don’t let anything go to waste!" Chen Meng commanded.

The massive mechanical arms of the Titan Battle Armors extended, their laser cutters emitting a piercing whine as they began to hack violently at the cavern walls.

Amid a shower of sparks, chunks of ore shimmering with an eerie blue luster were violently stripped away and stuffed into the Battle Armors’ internal storage compartments.

"Second Squad, push deeper down the main passage! We still haven’t found the core area Deputy Zhao wants!"

"Third Squad, assist First Squad and widen the passage! Dammit, some of these spots are too narrow and it’s slowing us down!"

In an instant, the entire cavern was filled with the sounds of cutting, drilling, and blasting.

The Titan Battle Armors rampaged about, showing no regard for the damage to the ruins, focused only on seizing all the "Treasure" as quickly as possible.

"This damn place is so dark and deep."

Big Head grumbled as he operated a mechanical cutting arm. "If the boss hadn’t said there was a huge Treasure to be found, who the hell would want to come down here and suffer through this?"

Chen Meng ignored his squad member’s grumbling.

His Titan Battle Armor led the team from the front, the light of his Spiritual Energy Power Artificial Eye sweeping over every inch of the cavern wall in the hope of finding more clues.

He knew that what Zhao Heihu wanted most was the ancient civilization’s "technology database." That was the true strategic Treasure.

Finally, after clearing a collapsed rock wall, a vast space opened up before them.

It was a majestic, exceptionally tall cavern, large enough to hold a dozen Titan Battle Armors at once.

The ceiling soared up into the darkness, making it feel like a subterranean world.

An ancient, desolate aura washed over them, as if this place had been sealed for hundreds of millions of years.

"Holy shit! We’ve hit the jackpot!" a squad member cried out in amazement.

The cavern walls were also covered in a vast number of stunningly lifelike murals.

The Titan Giants in the images appeared to be performing some sort of ancient ritual.

They were holding up orbs of Energy, surrounding several tall pillars.

"Look over there!"

Chen Meng’s voice trembled slightly. He had spotted thirty-six towering pillars standing in the center of the hall.

These pillars were forged entirely from a strange, ink-green metal that gave off a faint shimmer, and they were engraved with complex and mysterious Runes.

These Runes were not the common Rune technology of Jiangbei City.

They were more like a combination of ancient script and Arrays, emitting faint waves of Energy.

"What is this?!"

Big Head’s voice was filled with awe. "Pillars? An altar? This has to be an altar, right?"

Chen Meng’s Spiritual Energy Power Artificial Eye captured the Energy flowing from the Runes, and his heart began to pound wildly.

’This is the real deal—both the material and the Runes!’

"Forget about all that!"

Chen Meng commanded, "We’re running out of Time!

"All Battle Armors, listen up! I want you to dig out all of these pillars!

"Get the foundations underneath them, too. Take as much as you can carry!

"Prioritize the ones with Runes on them!"

"But Boss, these pillars are huge, and we only have two hours..." a squad member said hesitantly.

"We don’t have time to worry about that!"

Chen Meng waved his hand. "Just take them! We can analyze them later when we get back!"

"Boss, I’ve got a bad feeling about these pillars..."

Big Head muttered. He saw the Runes on one of the pillars flickering faintly, as if they were a living, breathing creature.

"Cut the crap! If you’re scared, then get the hell out of here!"

Chen Meng snapped.

He knew this was no time to be cautious. Zhao Heihu wanted results—tangible objects that could increase Jiangbei City’s power.

A Titan Battle Armor’s massive mechanical arm shot out, its heavy fist, enveloped in a Spiritual Energy Shield, slamming directly into one of the ink-green pillars.

BOOM!

With a tremendous crash, dust filled the air.

The hard pillar actually developed a deep crack under the Titan Battle Armor’s brute force.

The light from the Runes dimmed instantly, as if grievously wounded.

"It’s working! Keep at it!" Chen Meng was ecstatic, ordering his men to accelerate the destruction.

One Titan Battle Armor after another joined the demolition.

Laser cutters, giant hydraulic pincers, Gravity hammers... the entire cavern echoed with the piercing sounds of grinding metal and cracking stone.

The thirty-six tall, ink-green pillars were being savaged. The light of the Runes rapidly extinguished, and the pillars’ surfaces became covered in cracks.

VMMMM...

An extremely bizarre, low-frequency vibration swept through the entire Divine Hall without warning.

Inside the cockpits of every Titan Battle Armor, the lights flickered violently, and a burst of piercing static erupted over the communications channel.

"What’s going on? My Mecha’s Energy readings are dropping!"

"Mine too! What’s happening? Is that an Energy Attack?"

Chen Meng’s heart sank, and a sense of foreboding washed over him.