Unexpected

The sudden explosive news left me momentarily speechless. The shock it delivered was far greater than when Pandora told me that broken metal plate was a Null Beacon, so much so that I couldn't help but wonder if the author even knew what they were writing... Cough! My mistake...

I looked around and found that this underground space had no light source, yet it was as bright as day. We could clearly see everything in the hall.

The entire hall was about the size of a football field, constructed entirely of massive stone blocks. The square flagstones on the ground were covered in strange patterns and designs, while the walls beside us bore meaningless reliefs that looked like some kind of sacrificial scene. Roughly every 20 meters in the hall, there was a thick square stone pillar supporting the roof, and these pillars were also covered in what appeared to be hieroglyphic markings.

Besides the entrance we came through, there was an equally sized exit on the wall in each direction of the hall. Including our side, there were a total of four passages connected to this hall.

As an ancient ruin, the architectural standard of this hall could be considered very high, but it had nothing in common with the futuristic Shilin architecture I had seen.

"Pandora, are you sure this is a Shilin Warrior graveyard? There isn't a single piece of advanced equipment here."

"This place is indeed filled with the aura of ancient Carbon-Based Lifeforms, but the architectural layout is identical to the resting place of Shilin Warriors. Although the reliefs and texts here have been arbitrarily modified by Carbon-Based Lifeforms according to their understanding, a trace of the original Shilin script can still be seen... More importantly, there is still a working Shilin device here..."

"What?!" I was startled and was about to ask for details when I heard Lin Xue exclaim in surprise, "Everyone, close your eyes!"

Although we didn't know what Lin Xue meant, we didn't doubt her and closed our eyes together.

"Ah—"

"What's going on..."

"How is this possible..."

"I can still see..."

"...Stop padding the word count... Ugh..."

Various exclamations rose and fell.

We were surprised to find that even with our eyes closed, the scene in the hall still clearly appeared before us.

Almost simultaneously, we instinctively raised our hands to touch our faces to confirm whether our eyelids were still there.

"Mind Imaging System, which can directly cut images into the thought circuits of creatures within its range of effect. The restoration degree can reach over ninety-nine point nine nine percent. We usually combine this technology with virtual reality technology to conduct special combat drills for soldiers..."

"So, everything here is an illusion?!" My heart skipped a beat, and I was about to speak up to warn everyone.

"No... The Mind Imaging System installed here seems to be only for allowing people who enter to see the scene in the hall smoothly. The transmitted images are exactly the same as the real situation in the hall."

At this moment, Lin Xue also discovered this through her own abilities. She waved her hand to calm her somewhat uneasy companions and said, "Everyone, don't worry, this is not an illusion. It seems to be some kind of device in this ruin that allows us to see the scene in the hall without using conventional means."

"...Is this place really an ancient ruin?" Lin Feng voiced the thoughts of most people present.

The strangeness of the ruin made everyone more cautious. Lin Xue maximized her perception ability, Zheng Yiming walked to the front of the team to deal with any potential danger, Lin Feng's right hand was surrounded by a faint circle of azure Wind Blades, and Sikaro carefully hugged his package full of pirated discs...

...Uncle, are you really not an undercover agent sent by a hostile force to cause trouble? Or is your real purpose for coming here to expand your user base of pirated discs to ancient tomb zombies?

"Wait a minute..." Qian Qian, who hadn't said much since the beginning and had been carefully following behind everyone, suddenly spoke up to warn us. We turned back and saw that the hexagonal metal plate Qian Qian had been holding all along was trembling slightly, and one of its edges was emitting a faint red light.

"It suddenly became like this..."

We exchanged glances, and then I suggested, "Try turning this thing around."

Qian Qian turned the metal plate as instructed. We saw that the edge emitting the red light also changed accordingly, like a compass.

"Follow the direction indicated by the red light."

Lin Xue looked at me with some surprise and said, "I didn't expect you to be quite smart besides being destructive."

...If you also had a living instruction manual like little Pandora's Null Beacon by your side, you could easily come up with this suggestion too.

Following behind Lin Xue, we arrived near the exit on one side of the hall. A dark and deep passage appeared before us.

I complained to Pandora through our mental link, "Which stingy Shilin Apostle built this place? Would it kill them to install a few more Mind Imaging Systems? If not, even a light bulb would do..."

"If Brother is dissatisfied with this, we will find a way to locate the builder of this underground tomb and give them appropriate punishment."

"Uh... Didn't you hear I was joking?"

"Wait!" Just as we turned on our portable cold light tubes and were about to enter this dark passage, Lin Xue suddenly called out.

"What's wrong, Sis? You'll scare us sick!" Lin Feng almost stumbled in fright and said with some dissatisfaction.

Lin Xue looked at the dark passage before her with an uneasy expression and whispered, "Suddenly, I have a very uneasy feeling..."

My heart tightened, and I immediately became more vigilant—I didn't doubt Lin Xue's words at all. That was a skill that even Pandora called powerful!

"Everyone, be careful!" Zheng Yiming low-growled, and then a translucent protective layer quickly shielded everyone. Almost simultaneously, hundreds of dark red beams of light shot out from between the square flagstones on the hall floor, moving towards us along the cracks in the floor tiles.

"Quick, everyone retreat into the passage! I can't block all the attacks!" Zheng Yiming saw that his defense layer was already shaky after blocking the first few beams of light and shouted urgently.

"No... I can't get in!" Qian Qian tried to hide in the passage behind her but found herself blocked by an invisible barrier and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Pandora," I immediately asked through our mental link, "What's going on?!"

"Analyzing—Confirming attacker identity—el-305 Automatic Defense Counterattack System, requesting connection—Request denied—Submitting high-level authority marker—Opponent refuses to accept authority identification... Brother, this is a commonly used interception-type defense counterattack system. It seems to have malfunctioned due to the passage of time. I cannot terminate its operation through normal means."

"Is there any way?" Seeing that Zheng Yiming's defense barrier already had obvious cracks, I started to get anxious.

"Unable to accurately locate the main unit of this defense counterattack system. There are two response plans: The Sikaro Legion's Defender Battle Tanks can completely defend against this energy attack. My Reconfiguration Photon Drone Array can terminate the attack by completely destroying this ruin. Both of these plans will generate huge energy fluctuations and obvious observable phenomena, with a ninety-nine point nine one five percent chance of being observed by the Carbon-Based Lifeforms on this planet."

"...Is there a more discreet plan?"

Although the situation was already extremely critical, Pandora's voice remained calm: "There is an alternative plan, but it may have unpredictable consequences—use the Null Beacon I am carrying to teleport everyone out of this place, but I cannot be sure if there is a spatial interference system here, so the teleportation may not be completed."

"Try it first. If the teleportation fails, then use your super weapons."

Pandora nodded, then closed her eyes to conceal her pupils, which were about to change color.

Just then, I saw that the basically scrapped Null Beacon in Qian Qian's hand, which she had obtained from Gu Zhengfeng, suddenly emitted a dazzling red light!