[Chapter 186. The Petrified Core]

Searanox walked methodically over the cracked, baked ground of the elevated plateau. There was not much to see in this desolate expanse other than dry, fractured rock and the occasional silver-leaved bush that clung stubbornly to life in the crevices. The oppressive heat radiated upward from the stone, distorting the horizon with a permanent, trembling haze. Every now and then, he encountered a roaming Stonehide Strider. He dispatched each one with a single, perfectly placed shot from his rifle, the violet beam of energy cracking like thunder across the empty plains. Meanwhile, his drones were flying across the vast floor, autonomously hunting and executing the local fauna with ruthless precision.

His focus momentarily drew away from the barren landscape and toward the list of active drones hovering persistently in the corner of his vision.

The translucent blue interface displayed the maximum number of drones he could comfortably keep active at the same time without diminishing his Tech-Points with each passing minute. Once again, he thought about the absurd, almost prohibitive cost of operating his advanced machinery. For him, the constant energy drain was not that big of a deal, but compared to an Awakened individual with normal, baseline stats, it was an astronomical sum. If a standard Awakened had somehow acquired his class, they would only be able to summon six at a time at most. That was assuming they didn't have the specialized set effect that doubled their unit count.

Then there was the critical aspect of energy regeneration. With his high-tier gear and his elevated stats working in tandem, he boasted a passive recovery rate of twenty-six Tech-Points per minute. A normal Awakened of his current level, even a dedicated magic caster, would struggle immensely just to reach a regeneration rate of ten per minute.

Searanox shook his head softly, a faint, amused smirk touching his lips as he walked on, his boots crunching rhythmically against the brittle stone.

"That would be enough to sustain exactly one Intermediate drone," he muttered softly into the dry wind. "Everything more than that, and it would actively consume their TP reserves until their drones get forcefully dismissed. Good thing I'm not normal."

Two hours of steady walking later, he had reached a point where the flat terrain was finally sloping downward. It was not a steep decline by much, but he could clearly see that in the far distance, the grade would drop sharply into a massive basin. Through the reddish-brown haze and the swirling, abrasive dust, he could see the colossal tree much more clearly now. Judging by the sheer scale of the slope leading down into the earth, he realized that the towering blackened structure he had seen from the entrance was not even close to its entire height; much of the tree was hidden below the plateau's surface.

As he surveyed the changing landscape, he spotted a pack of four-legged creatures making their way up the incline. They were significantly smaller compared to the massive, armored reptiles he and his drones had been hunting down all this time, but they moved with a coordinated, highly predatory gait. Their lean, muscular bodies hugged the ground, using the rocky outcroppings for cover. They had clearly seen him standing at the crest of the slope.

A notification popped up in his vision, analyzing the approaching threat.

Searanox didn't even bother to raise his rifle. A simple, silent mental command was all it took.

High above, one of his four active Intermediate Assault Drones immediately broke away from its autonomous hunt a kilometer away. Its sleek, metallic form quickly grew from a tiny speck against the red haze as it accelerated toward his coordinates. The pack of Ravagers froze in their tracks, their sharp, predatory instincts instantly recognizing the approaching, unnatural threat from above. They bared their teeth and tried to scatter into the silver bushes, but the attempt was entirely futile.

The drone descended like a mechanical bird of prey. Its quad-cannons spun up with a high-pitched whine, unleashing a blinding torrent of superheated plasma that ripped mercilessly through the pack. The rapid-fire energy bolts struck the ground with explosive force, turning rock into slag and vaporizing the beasts in less than three seconds, leaving four smoking, headless corpses in its wake.

The familiar notification appeared in his peripheral vision once again:

The charred bodies of the Ravagers shimmered with blue light and dissolved into sparks before the dust of the bombardment had even settled back to the earth. He watched the glowing motes fade into the wind, the brief, violent tableau entirely erased as if the creatures had never existed in the first place. A quiet, clinical satisfaction settled over him. This was not a hunt; it was not even a challenge.

His gaze shifted away from the scorch marks and back to the colossal, dead tree at the center of this desolate world. The path downward led directly toward its massive, sprawling roots, and he knew intrinsically that whatever guarded this floor was waiting in the dark beneath it.

He continued his measured walk, the rhythmic sound of his heavy boots crunching on the fractured rock serving as the only genuine noise in the heavy silence of the Labyrinth. As he descended deeper into the basin, the ground gradually grew softer. The hard-packed, sun-baked plateau gave way to a dark, loose, ash-like soil that crumbled effortlessly under his weight. The scattered silver-leaved bushes thinned out entirely, replaced by a strange, wiry moss that clung to the sloping ground like a dark, velvety fungus, feeding off the decay of the earth.

The air grew noticeably colder as he descended further into the shallow basin. The scorching, relentless heat of the plateau above rapidly gave way to a still, tomb-like chill that seemed to emanate directly from the dark soil. His drones continued their systematic extermination in the distance while he advanced alone toward the silent, black heart of the first floor.

The Colossus Tree grew closer with every step, and at this vantage point, he could finally comprehend its true, mind-bending size. The ancient, gnarled roots burst from the dark earth like the fossilized remains of some titanic, subterranean leviathan. Each individual root was as wide as a car, their coarse surfaces covered in the exact same black, petrified bark that armored the main trunk. The vast, empty spaces between these colossal roots formed a natural labyrinth of deep, winding canyons and heavily shadowed alcoves that sunlight had not touched in centuries.

It was in these narrow, twisting corridors that the local fauna seemed to congregate. Clustering densely around the base of the great tree, hiding from the heat of the day. As he approached the outermost ring of the root system, he noticed a particularly large alcove situated between two incredibly thick, intertwined roots. It was not just a cave; it was a clear, descending tunnel a way down below the massive tree into the subterranean depths.

His drones immediately broke off their distant hunts and converged on his location to clear the way for him. The crimson, stroboscopic flashes of their heavy beam weapons bathed the lightless spaces between the roots in pulsing, crimson flashes. As he finally reached the base of the tree, he stood between the massive wooden arches, peering down into the dark of the tunnel. While his enhanced eyes adjusted quickly to the sudden change in brightness, his drones ruthlessly finished off the last straggling pack of Ridgeback Ravagers that had tried to defend the entrance.

In a quick flash of pale blue light, his polarized sunglasses vanished into his spatial storage ring. He didn't need protection from the glare anymore.

He slowly made his way down the steep tunnel leading deep into the earth. His drones followed him down in a tight, protective formation two hovering just behind his shoulders to cover his rear, while the other two flew a few meters ahead, their optical sensors cutting through the absolute pitch black. It was a treacherously steep decline, the ground slick with loose earth, and he almost lost his footing on several occasions. The tunnel wound its way downward, creating a complex weave that sprawled throughout the subterranean chamber.

With his gauntleted hands pressed firmly against the hard, earthen wall for balance, he descended deeper and deeper below the surface. Soon after, the narrow tunnel walls gave way entirely, opening up into a massive, cavernous chamber where the underside of the tree's root system penetrated the ceiling and the walls like a cage of dark ribs.

Within the span of a few seconds, his drones fanned out, flying rapidly across the expansive open space, navigating below and past the blackened, hanging roots to secure the perimeter. Searanox walked up to one of the massive roots suspended near the chamber floor and placed his hands onto its surface.

It didn't feel like wood.

The surface was ice-cold and unyielding, completely devoid of the fibrous texture of ancient timber. He applied pressure, his mechanically enhanced fingers digging into the material. With a sharp crack, the surface splintered. Shards of the root fell to the ground, and he pulled a jagged piece of it free, holding it up to the dim light cast by his drones.

`This is a very strange Tree.` He noted, turning the heavy shard over in his palm. `It behaves exactly like solid stone, and less like wood.`

He thought about this anomaly as he clenched his armored, gauntleted hand into a tight fist. The piece of root trapped in his grip shattered instantly, turning to fine dust and small, gravel-like pieces that slipped through his metallic fingers before he let them fall to the cavern floor. The entire colossal tree above him was completely petrified.

Suddenly, without any auditory warning, there was a blinding, pale white light.

Its sudden radiance was as bright and harsh as the desert sun directly overhead, illuminating the entire massive chamber deep beneath the blackened tree. The flash was absolute, washing out all color and casting sharp, terrifying shadows against the cavern walls.

But just as suddenly as the white light appeared, it vanished entirely.

It was instantly replaced by the rapid, chaotic flashing of concentrated crimson beams. The heavy weapons of his four assault drones opened fire simultaneously, bathing the massive chamber in a deep, strobing crimson hue. The shadows of the thick roots drew long and distorted as the air filled with the deafening hum of discharging plasma and the sickening sound of flesh being rapidly vaporized. His gaze fell on something massive thrashing violently between the roots in the distance, but the encounter was over before it had even truly begun. The drones ceased their fire, their weapon barrels glowing white-hot in the dark.

The next thing that filled his vision was a cascade of System windows, their soft blue glow providing a stark, calm contrast to the violent darkness he was standing in.

Searanox read the floating text, putting the pieces of the environmental puzzle together in a fraction of a second.

`A Basilisk... as in the mythological beast with the petrifying gaze.` He thought, exhaling a quiet breath of realization. `Well, that would certainly explain why an entire Colossus Tree and a ten-kilometer radius of the Labyrinth is made entirely of solid stone.`

He walked slowly around the massive, petrified roots, navigating the cavern floor until he reached the exact location where his drones had just been fighting. In front of him lay the smoking, ruined corpse of a massive reptile, easily large enough to swallow a full-grown horse in a single, terrifying bite. Its thick, armored scales were now covered in neatly spaced, deep burn craters, its internal organs completely liquefied by the concentrated drone fire before it could even finish its initial attack. The blinding flash of light had been its petrifying gaze a deadly, instant-kill mechanic for any biological adventurer. Unfortunately for the Floor Guardian, it had attempted to turn soulless, unblinking machines of steel and magic into stone.

"A Level 15 Greater Beast Guardian." He mused, looking down at the pulverized remains. "Sounds about right for the first floor."

Then, the massive corpse began to glow in a soft, ethereal blue light. Sparks drifted off its body like fireflies, slowly deconstructing its physical form from the cavern floor. At the exact same time, somewhere deeper into the chamber, directly below the absolute center of the petrified tree, a vibrant green glow flared to life. It pulsed steadily like a massive, beating heart, never turning fully off, casting an eerie emerald light across the stone roots.