Just as Hao Ren began seriously considering whether all these arks had lost all signs of life, an unexpected piece of good news suddenly arrived: a group of probes detected life signs when they burrowed deep into one of the arks—and they were extremely strong life signs.
Giant Turtle Rock Platform immediately lit up its thrusters. It glided rapidly and silently through space, soon reaching the airspace above the ark that had transmitted the life signal. The silver-white ship slowly descended onto the ark's black hull, reading the information coming from deep within it like a delicate stethoscope.
"This is the ship?" Hao Ren looked at the footage from the external monitors. The ark below looked no different from the others. It was just as battered and ancient, with armor that appeared to be in even worse condition. It was hard to imagine that the last survivors among these refugees were hiding beneath its several-kilometer-thick hull.
"There are indeed life signs. The probes have detected them. The engineering drones are building a temporary airlock below so you can enter and leave," Nolan nodded. "The probes couldn't find a way to open the doors normally, so they drilled their way in—but the breach has already sealed itself."
"The automatic sealing system is still working. Looks like there really are survivors." Hao Ren let out a breath. "What about communications? Has anyone aboard this ship responded to your calls? Is anyone willing to answer our communications?"
Nolan gently shook her head. "Still no response from anyone. That's the strangest part. Also, the probes sent back some rather strange footage."
As she spoke, she opened a holographic projection. Hao Ren saw a dilapidated city illuminated by lights. Everything looked old and rotten. The city inside the ship stretched before him like some kind