Chapter 498: Chapter 329: Beacon Activated
[At a depth of one hundred thousand meters underground]
The Earth Navigation Spaceship piloted by Su Mo had reached the edge of the immense void.
Suddenly, a powerful resistance was felt, the drilling equipment emitted a violent noise, and the Earth Navigation Spaceship came to a halt amidst tremors.
Simultaneously, what was blocking its path was captured by the detection equipment and projected onto the screen.
It was a film-like barrier shimmering with a dark green glow, densely packed with light blue scale-like spots neatly arranged on its surface. At the contact points with the drilling equipment, it rippled like water but showed no sign of breaking.
From Future came the sound of rapid keystrokes, followed by a mumble: "This is some kind of energy defense barrier... No wonder there’s such a massive void underground; it’s supported by this."
Su Mo asked, "Is the high-energy drilling mode ready? There’s no other entrance here, we’ll need to break through."
Future: "Ready, I’m receiving feedback data, I’ll help set the parameters right away."
With Future’s remote assistance, Su Mo tightly gripped the control lever, his eyes fixed on the screen displaying the feedback visuals.
Future: "Parameters input complete, switch to high-energy drilling mode, there might be intense shaking, prepare for impact!"
As the roar of the engine echoed through the cabin, the Earth Navigation Spaceship began to accelerate, blue booster flames jetting from its rear, melting the rubble behind it into a rolling liquid, and the entire vessel hurtled towards the energy barrier like a meteor.
"Boom——" At the moment of impact, the energy barrier exploded with flickering light, its surface rippling furiously, and a powerful counterforce struck, causing the spaceship to tremble violently.
Nevertheless, Future’s technology proved solid, as even under such intense tremors, the Earth Navigation Spaceship’s structure remained stable, and not even the safety system issued an alert, indicating it was far from reaching its limits, easily handling the stability.
The high-energy drilling lasted for nearly half an hour, and gradually, that energy barrier finally began to crack.
The cracks were initially subtle, confined near the drilling point, but later began to spread outward, like a growing spider web, becoming more pronounced in depth.
"Boom!!!" As the spaceship’s engine burst forth with an even brighter glow, the energy barrier finally shattered, and the vessel surged forward past the boundary like a silver meteor, rushing into the unknown interior.
When the scene ahead appeared on the detector’s display, Future’s dazed voice came through: "Oh my god..."
It was an expansive space, exhibiting a hemispherical structure, its edges covered by the same film-like energy barrier Su Mo had encountered, supporting this space amidst the mantle rock layers without collapsing.
Looking around, one could see undulating building complexes, unlike the orderly style of the Human Realm, these structures exuded an eerie and ominous aura.
Their outer walls resembled some kind of biological organ structure, as if possessing their own vitality. Beneath the semi-transparent membrane-like structure, red veins could be seen converging like densely packed blood vessels.
Countless bizarre structures were twisted and stacked layer upon layer, forming a towering black spire in the center of the space, with some kind of crystal at its tip emitting a dim light, like a star in the darkness.
On the other side of the communication platform, after the exclamation, Future began to inhale sharply: "Boss, are these things created by the kind of life you mentioned earlier?"
Looking at the grotesque architecture ahead, Su Mo solemnly said, "Yes, you can call that kind of life a ’Construct’."
"Constructs are a form of inorganic life, somewhat akin to the concept of robots, but not quite the same. They aren’t created, but rather naturally evolved, possessing all biological characteristics, including intelligence comparable to humans."
"Unlike the surface human civilization, Construct civilization originated within the planet, neither side aware of the other’s existence during their development, each believing themselves to be the sole dominator of the planet until they first encountered one another 153 years ago."
Dazed, Future replied, "You mean..."
Su Mo’s voice turned somber: "Yes, the cataclysmic war 153 years ago that destroyed the old era’s civilization; humanity’s enemy was indeed the Construct civilization."
"The war erupted for simple reasons: both humans and Constructs, as intelligent life forms, had their uniqueness significantly threatened."
"Moreover, the two civilizations had irreconcilable differences in life composition, societal form, and ideology, making coexistence impossible, leaving only one option—to destroy the other."
"Thus, after a brief interaction between the two civilizations, the war that swept the entire world broke out."
"Our ancestors a century ago paid the price of sacrificing several generations to obliterate the Construct civilization, preserving the seeds of human civilization’s propagation until a hundred years later today."
Faced with this shocking historical truth, Future was silent, only her heavy breathing, conveying equal parts excitement and anxiety, remained on the other end of the communication platform.
After a long, long time, she finally spoke in a trembling voice: "Boss, who on earth are you? And how do you know this..."
Su Mo chuckled lightly, playfully saying, "Just consider me a human awakened from a cryogenic chamber of the old era. Who I am isn’t important; what matters is, I know the truth unknown to everyone."
"In that apocalyptic war, humanity indeed achieved a pyrrhic victory, and the Construct civilization was indeed destroyed, but not completely annihilated in the truest sense."
