Yuan made a tentative judgment about the Taotie. As for where their future would lead, he could not predict it—not yet, at least.
After making a rough assessment, the Taotie warship rose into the air with a slight tremble. Inside the planet, the warship's speed made travel nearly instantaneous.
The area around the palace complex was completely open, with no differences in any direction. So Yuan casually chose an empty patch of ground to land.
When he stepped out of the warship and saw the scene before him with his own eyes, he could not help but gasp in admiration.
"It's beautiful!"
A grand complex of buildings filled his vision. Two enormous pyramidal structures faced each other in midair, resembling a giant hourglass—except this one was square.
Between the opposing hourglass structures was a hollow space, within which floated a sphere composed of three irregularly rotating rings.
It seemed to serve as a connecting device, linking the two massive opposing pyramids. Beneath them lay an enormous palace complex.
Every palace was built on a grand scale, with a large palace standing in each of the four directions. The four great palaces formed a protective ring around the two opposing pyramids suspended in the air, as though they existed to guard them.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
The group walked along roads covered in yellow sand, their armor creaking with each step. This area was especially silent. Apart from the magnificent buildings before them, there was nothing else. The ground had become entirely yellow sand, with no signs of life.
Before them was a stone staircase leading toward the palaces. Most of the steps had already been buried beneath yellow sand, though traces of their former splendor could still be seen.
Beside the palace stood two towering humanoid stone statues. Their heads had been carved to resemble helmets, leaving only their eyes exposed, while their faces remained obscured.
The silence was deathly. Even beneath the sun, everyone felt a chill.
Countless streams of information flashed continuously across Yuan's tactical visor. He studied them carefully, but found no useful data. The technology of an Astral Civilization was useless here.
"Your Excellency, this should be the place Wu Daozi mentioned. Should we go inside?"
"Not yet." Yuan waved his hand, then raised his right hand under the startled gazes of Bruis and the others.
"Hiss!" The small energy cannon on the left side of the warship behind them began charging. Beneath his tactical visor, Yuan focused slightly and locked onto his target.
"Bang! Boom! Rumble!"
A streak of blue light flashed past, and the massive stone statue was blown apart. Countless fragments shot into the sky before crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Hmm, just an ordinary statue. Qiming, use the optical system to scan the target and build a three-dimensional model. This great deity really didn't bother hiding anything."
"Yes, Master."
Soon afterward, Qiming rapidly constructed a clear three-dimensional model before Yuan. The moment he saw it, Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
"Why do these palaces feel so unusual?" Yuan murmured as he enlarged the palace model.
Yuan enlarged the projected model with both hands, raised it slightly, and compared it with the palace before him. Then, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.
"Energy lines? No, energy patterns! Interesting. There are some things here that shouldn't be. If I'm right... huh? I've struck it rich."
Seeing the faint smile on Yuan's lips, Bruis felt so curious that it was like cats clawing at his heart.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency! What's going on? Tell us already, you're killing me here." Seeing that Yuan was in a good mood, Bruis gathered his courage and asked.
"Don't rush. It's just a theory." Yuan looked at the palace complex as countless patterns flashed through his mind.
Then, as though he had grown tired of looking at the palaces buried beneath layers of yellow sand, Yuan lightly traced a circle through the air with his right hand. A wormhole formed above the palaces.
A massive torrent of water descended like a tornado, scouring the palace walls. Without the help of the Dark Dimension and a Dark Matter Computer, Yuan was incapable of opening a larger wormhole.
However, as his right hand moved, the wormhole above the palace shifted direction as well. Combined with the force of the water's impact, Yuan achieved his goal.
After a short while, the palaces that had once been covered in dust and yellow sand looked completely new. Beneath the noon sunlight, the vast complex appeared especially solemn and majestic.
But Yuan no longer felt the awe he had experienced upon first seeing it. For him, confirming his theory as soon as possible was what truly mattered.
As the palaces revealed their original appearance, the model of them beneath Yuan's tactical visor became increasingly clear. It was not that the detection systems could not penetrate the dust; rather, the detectors in their hands seemed to have been blocked throughout the entire palace complex.
The energy waves emitted by the warship's detection devices could detect that something extraordinary was present, but the equipment in their hands could not display it.
When Yuan saw the walls interwoven with gold and white, his pupils narrowed slightly. He cautiously condensed a faint amount of Dark Energy in his hand.
With a thought from Yuan, the Dark Energy in his hand slammed into the wall carved with intricate patterns.
The Taotie stared wide-eyed. The expected explosion never came. In complete silence, the wall absorbed the Dark Energy, and a faint platinum glow lit up across its surface.
"What the hell is this? Who am I? Where am I?" Yuan had no time to care about the Taotie's reactions. Dark Energy kept appearing in his hand and striking the palace walls.
As the energy continued pouring in, the model in Qiming's database grew clearer and clearer.
"Huff! Huff! Damn, I'm exhausted. When will I get a Gene Engine? This is so annoying." Still, as he looked at the secret now completely exposed before him, Yuan laughed aloud.
"Bruis, get up and get to work!" Yuan had no intention of doing the remaining work himself. He had already memorized this portion of the model, and the remaining mechanical labor was perfect for the Taotie.
"Ah, Your Excellency, please give your orders. Those guys have been so idle lately that their bones are practically rusting."
"Good." As he spoke, Yuan transmitted detailed architectural blueprints from beneath his visor to the terminals of the surrounding Taotie warriors.
"Send some men out in four teams. Bring the energy cannons. Following the data blueprints I sent, blast away all the useless outer palace walls."
After speaking, he hesitated slightly. He had been using Dark Energy all along, which could resonate with the structure. But the Taotie had no Dark Energy—only Light Energy weapons in their hands.
Although these walls were of extraordinary quality, it was possible that after so many years, they had become fragile once their energy was depleted.
Seeing the clear-eyed Taotie before him, Yuan finally decided to change his strategy.
"Forget it, Qiming, you do it. Based on the core pattern model of this palace wall, deduce the approximate models of the other three walls. Don't let these guys smash the stuff to pieces."
"Yes, Master. Beginning model deduction."
Yuan then looked at Bruis and said with an apologetic expression, "Sorry, Bruis. The plan has changed. You can't use the energy cannons. Their power is still a little too great."
"????"
"Go get some pickaxes." Yuan's face was full of smiles.
"Because this isn't some damn palace at all. It's a supercomputer."
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