Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Carrying Baisha, the spacecraft passed through the gradually opening entrance and delved deeper into the Solitary Light.

The Imperial fleet following her was forced to stop as the Solitary Light did not grant them boarding permission. They faced two options: to gamble and forcibly board, using firepower to pry open the entrance if necessary, or to wait, assessing the situation inside the Solitary Light based on Baisha's initial exploration before deciding on their next move.

"…I cannot let you enter the Solitary Light alone," Uriel's voice came through Baisha's helmet, "The Emperor's command was for me to protect you closely."

"Don't worry," Baisha's voice was unusually calm. She looked back at the gradually closing airway, "The Solitary Light's defense systems are still operational, suggesting the giant spacecraft still has power. The fleet forcing entry might lead to undesirable consequences."

"We could discreetly infiltrate by cutting through the Solitary Light's hull," suggested the fleet commander. "It will take some time, though."

Baisha: "Let's try that first. Keep the communication open and exchange information continuously."

"Understood," the fleet commander responded and began directing the personnel.

"Please be very careful," Uriel emphasized again at the end of the conversation.

Baisha could sense his reluctance — if not for the rapid closure of the Solitary Light's airway, the bio-engineered being would probably have jumped from the starship in a spacesuit, determined to follow closely behind her as a guard.

Baisha reassured the fleet a few words. By then, the spacecraft had slowed down, passing through the deserted airlocks, cruising leisurely through the steel city-state built by the sea kind... It then flew over most of the city and stopped in front of a building.

The building wasn't much different from others. If anything, it was larger, taller, with a tower on top.

Baisha's scattered memories suddenly dispersed like dandelions—memories of times spent with her parents in this tower.

Climbing out of the spacecraft, Baisha's legs were a bit wobbly. Approaching the building's entrance, a swath of silver light suddenly appeared. The light scanned her face for a full three seconds before a floating holographic screen popped up on the door:

"Identity verification successful."

Baisha pondered, "...How many years has it been since she last returned? Even if her facial patterns were registered before, they must have changed by now. The eerie pause in the verification system just now was likely calculating how she should look at her current age."

Baisha felt a mix of emotions, surprised that the door still recognized her as a member of this family.

The main gate opened for her.

Baisha walked through the door, strolling around the house. As expected, no one was inside. The household cleaning system, having been cut off from power, had ceased working, leaving a thin layer of dust on the floors and many pieces of furniture. The dust, uniformly settled, seemed to have accumulated all at once, undisturbed by any movement.

Baisha briefly toured the house.

The interior was beautifully and cozily decorated. The adults' bedroom was on the first floor, and the children's on the second. Both were secured with physical locks, which Baisha didn't want to force open. There was also a basement. At its entrance, a red sticky note read, "No Children Allowed."

Baisha thought to herself, she wasn't a child anymore.

So, she naturally pulled open the metal door.

What she saw next slightly startled her: the basement was as spacious as the area above.

The basement was roughly divided into two sections. One half was a mechanical workshop: meticulously organized, with walls adorned with various craft tools, shelves neatly stacked with dust-covered models, and the lower shelves piled with parts. The other half was a simple training area, cluttered with various exercise equipment, including hanging punching bags and a climbing machine. In a corner, there stood two large silver metal cabinets—Baisha guessed they were for weapons. On opening them, she found a couple of small firearms and a few bullets, but most of the compartments were empty.

Baisha paused for a moment, then closed the metal cabinet.

The fleet inquired, "Your Highness, how is the situation?"

"No signs of human activity so far," Baisha replied, "The entire Solitary Light is eerily quiet."

This was Baisha's biggest puzzle: Where had everyone gone?

The Solitary Light, occupied by the Silver Central, served as a base for constructing the Boundless City. Had the sea people all escaped, or had none managed to? If there were survivors, why had the Empire received no information for years; and if they were all casualties, where were the bodies? Or perhaps they were concealed somewhere...

"How are the scan results of Solitary Light?" Baisha inquired.

"The preliminary scan is complete. Most of the energy is concentrated in the underground structures in the central area of Solitary Light."

"That must be the main control area of Solitary Light," Baisha murmured, "I'll go check it out."

"We've successfully infiltrated," announced the fleet commander, "The energy activity in this region is abnormal, suggesting potential danger. You haven't rested for dozens of hours and are not in optimal physical condition. We are the ones suited for frontline combat. Please wait at your current coordinates; we'll be right—"

The signal fluctuated, followed by a brief, distorted screech.

Instinctively turning around, Baisha looked in the direction of the fleet's infiltration and saw the ground in several city districts trembling violently as mechanical tentacles, each several meters long, burst through the surface. Soon after, buildings began collapsing in large areas, revealing their attackers in full view: several giant mechanical octopuses.

The tentacles waved continuously in the air, flexibly contracting and extending, casting faint rainbow glimmers as they moved. The large mechanical eyes shifted agilely, creating an eerie sense of dread.

Soon, the sound of gunfire echoed from afar.

"Can you handle it?" Baisha shouted into the communicator.

"We're managing for now!" someone responded over the channel, "Please stay put, a guard is en route to your location—"

Before the sentence was completed, a violent noise filled the air. The mechanical octopus closest to Baisha was torn apart by a strong gust, its climbing tentacles instantly collapsing, knocking down a swath of buildings as they fell. Metal plates and various materials rained down like a torrent.

Baisha was about to seek shelter under a sturdy eave. The next second, enormous wings unfurled above her head—wings from human mythology, radiating a pure, untouchable majesty. Each feather was intricately arranged, stretching from one end of the eave to the other.

Uriel had arrived in haste, his eyes and brows slightly furrowed as if carrying the breath of the wind. His eyes, like frosted green lakes, softened slowly upon seeing Baisha unharmed.

"Your Highness," he said, his chest rising and falling slightly, "Stay safe."

Baisha: "...If you hadn't rushed over suddenly, I doubt that creature would have thrown a pile of debris in my direction as it fell."

Uriel, aware of this, pretended to hear nothing and slowly retracted his wings.

"Don't you need to help them?" Baisha glanced towards the other mechanical octopuses hovering nearby.

"They have the fleet, Your Highness, and can activate ship-borne weapons if necessary," the angel replied. "You, on the other hand, have nothing."

"I wouldn't say I have nothing," Baisha drew her laser weapon and held it in her hand. "I was planning to wait for them, but since you're here, shall we go check the underground control area first?"

Uriel nodded.

They hurried to the central control area, but the door leading underground was still locked.

The password lock was lit up.

Uriel: "Should we wait for the decryption team?"

Baisha took out a laser cutter from her bag: "Let's just cut the door open." She had grabbed it earlier from the workshop in her basement. She also had a plan B, having picked up various items that could be used to make a simple targeted explosive device.

Fortunately, the laser cutter was very efficient — after breaking the door, they successfully entered the tunnel leading underground. Every few steps, they passed a flashing red warning light. Although the lights were blinking continuously, they made no sound.

They delved deeper into the darkness until they opened a door and suddenly a sea of luminescent blue light appeared before them...

Countless people, countless hibernation pods.

Their bodies were placed in transparent pods, their skin eerily pale under the soft light, looking like rows of sleeping human sculptures.

Silence. Besides the silence, the only other thing they could feel was the faint sound of machinery.

Baisha looked up — every hibernating person had some kind of machine attached to their head, with tubes extending from their pods, intertwining and extending through a circular hole deeper underground. Judging by the gaps around the hole, there were many more similar tubes underground.

Countless.

Baisha swallowed, then suddenly started walking quickly past the rows of pods, looking at the faces of the people. Although not peaceful, each face looked calm. The luminescent blue liquid enveloped them, with tiny bubbles occasionally rolling and floating inside.

"These machines are extracting their mental power," Uriel said, frowning with caution. "In the past, the Silver Core used similar punishments to discipline unruly Ares people."

"Can they be awakened?" Baisha asked in a low voice.

"Perhaps," Uriel paused, then shook his head, "Not everyone can be awakened."

Baisha struggled to contain her anger as she glanced again at the hibernation pods emitting a luminescent blue glow.

She was tempted to search for Sepes and Bai Yi among them... but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"I finally understand where the Silver Core gets its power to sustain the City Without Boundaries," Baisha said with a cold laugh. "Biological energy is still energy, isn't it?"

Their mental power could be converted into energy to maintain the City Without Boundaries, and their brain consciousness could replace machinery to provide computing power and intelligence for the city.

The Silver Core had been "using" them for years.

With such depletion, it was inevitable that some of the sea kind would die.

They had to immediately cut off the conveyor belts arranged by the Silver Core — find the main controller and shut it down.

"Let's keep going," Baisha suggested. "Following these tubes will lead us to the source, the base station of the 'City Without Boundaries.'"

The two continued downward — the silence along the way only heightened Baisha's unease.

There were still a few mechanical octopuses causing a ruckus outside, so why hadn't the Silver Core arranged any guards for such a crucial control area? All the equipment in the area, including the underground railways and elevators, was still operating normally. Even the holographic maps hanging on the walls were glowing, showing the location and information of the underground control room. From the direction of the tubes, the Silver Core had indeed utilized all the spatial resources here — its base station was right inside the control room.

The reason was simple: it was the safest and most spacious area.

Baisha and Uriel took the elevator down, reaching the door of the control room without any obstacles —

Hiss, hiss.

The surveillance equipment installed at the door automatically turned towards Baisha and her group.

"Hello," all the machines vibrated, their fine sounds merging into a modulated noise capable of producing speech, "Hello, Researcher Baisha. Although I anticipated your arrival, I regret our meeting here. It signifies the breakdown of our initial cooperation. Cooperation requires testing the trust and sincerity of both parties. Once the first collaboration fails, a second becomes exceedingly difficult."

"Who wants to cooperate with you?" Baisha sneered, then added, "I just want to send you to hell."

"You are now, like other humans, swayed by emotions. I chose to overwrite your memory, to cut your life short at the most appropriate moment before letting you be reborn, to reduce the likelihood of such events," said the Silver Central. "Humans are manipulated by memories and emotions. You, Researcher Baisha, are no exception. So why not choose the path more advantageous to you?—The Federals, the Aresians, do they really matter to you? Aren't the old and new worlds just like a dream to you?"

"You think you know what I'm thinking?" Baisha said softly, "What makes you so presumptuous?"

"You want to destroy the foundation of the Boundless City, to free all the sea people, right?" As it spoke, the door suddenly opened, "Then come and see for yourself—I'm curious to know what choice you'll make."

“……”

The door opened.

A blue light instantly spilled out—brighter and more vivid than before.

It was the physical manifestation of concentrated psychic energy.

Baisha entered the control room and found herself on a high platform. Below was a steep metallic wall, and the light emanated from blue materials embedded in it. They resembled inverted tree branches, extending outward from the main trunk, each tip adorned with a diamond-shaped "fruit"—in reality, dark chips.

"You should be familiar with 'consciousness transfer technology,'" the voice of the Silver Central suddenly resumed, "You must have guessed how you were 'resurrected.' Your current body is the best vessel I could select. From the day Cephas Ronin met Bai Yi, until Cephas boarded the Solitary Light, following the customs of the sea people to provide genetics to the breeding center for offspring... Eventually, I successfully had you reborn in the new world, strong, noble, and healthy. And if you wish, when your current body ages, I can offer you another 'rebirth.'"

"You can be reborn, and these chips... these consciousness-bearing chips, can also be reborn as humans like you. Most of them are heroes from your era, with whom you've closely collaborated in the Lighthouse. They include your mentors, colleagues, friends, revered predecessors, and protégés you've taught..."

"If you agree to cooperate with me, they too can be granted the right to be reborn, just like you."

"You may refuse the benefits I offer you. But can you deny the miracles I can provide for them? Awakening the sea kind, shutting down the City Without Boundaries, all are possible. But what about the souls of these old acquaintances? They sacrificed everything for humanity; they deserve true immortality—"

"Must you obstruct them?"