The probe was sent into the rift.
Then there was no response ever again.
After the signal connection with the probe had been severed for ten seconds, the Data Terminal finally spoke up on its own: "Partner, something's wrong—the signal has vanished completely, and all backup connections are useless!"
"Did the signal disappear, or did the probe itself disappear..." Hao Ren's brows furrowed deeply as he stared at the dark, profound Great Rift. An odd feeling welled up in his heart. "Could something down there have destroyed the probe?"
The Data Terminal seemed to have forgotten their earlier bickering. It floated beside Hao Ren's head and observed the activity in the Great Rift with him. "This isn't normal. Although the probe is an inconspicuous little gadget, it was made by the Empire, after all. Its signal transmission module is extremely powerful. Almost no Mortal Civilization has the ability to interfere with its operation. And if it was destroyed... the probe's core should have had a chance to transmit information about the attack at the very last moment!"
"But the fact is, it vanished without a sound, just like the stone Lia threw earlier today." Vivian's brows furrowed as well. "Hao Ren, do you have any more probes?"
"Ah, I have plenty in my dimensional space." As he spoke, Hao Ren took out another probe. "Want to throw in another one?"
"This time, let the probe fly in slowly." Vivian nodded. "Terminal, track it and see exactly at what point it loses contact."
Hao Ren released another probe. Under the Data Terminal's precise control, the diamond-shaped machine, thinner than a little finger, slowly flew toward the rift. As it neared the layer of darkness, its speed even dropped to just a few millimeters per second.
Hao Ren and Vivian stared wide-eyed