Behind the hidden door was not the chaotic ruin they had expected, but a staircase descending into the depths.
Fluorescent stones embedded along both sides of the stairs emitted a dim, ghostly green glow, casting flickering light across the path.
The air carried a strange scent, like a mixture of humus and stardust. Every step produced a hollow echo as their shoes struck the stone stairs, as though they were walking upon the remains of time itself.
After descending more than a hundred meters along the staircase,
Su Wen's vision suddenly cleared, revealing a circular ruin hall.
The hall's dome was engraved with star-map runes from the Third Era civilization.
For some reason, the long-dimmed gilded patterns briefly lit up the moment he stepped inside before swiftly fading again.
At the very center of the hall floated a fist-sized crystal, dark ruby-red throughout:
Unlike an ordinary biological core, it did not writhe. Instead, it was as clear as a carefully carved gemstone, with dark red and ink-black patterns of light flowing within it as though it contained an entire restless miniature universe.
The crystal's surface gave off a cold, eerie sheen. Every faint flicker made the surrounding air tremble in accordance with some bizarre rhythm.
But at that moment, everyone understood:
"That's the Heart of the Swarm?"
Su Wen recalled the disgusting insect nests and fungal carpets he had seen outside the star ring of the Thirteenth Non-Purification Zone in the Third Era. He found it difficult to comprehend.
Four translucent light membranes floated around the crystal. Third Era characters were embedded in them as three-dimensional inscriptions, ancient and vigorous strokes mottled by the corrosion of time, yet still radiating a faint aura of the Witch.
Those were the codes Lucia Ferdinand had left behind, and also the ultimate clue