Strengthening Defenses, Uncovering Hidden Threats

Compared with the two ancient Fighters, the Lost Objects were kept under far tighter security. They were stored in a separate secure area on the research institute's third basement level.

When Chen Chuan arrived, he saw two crystalline objects about the size of finger joints, flashing continuously inside a cylindrical glass enclosure.

The two objects spun erratically, colliding from time to time. They seemed to be trying to merge, but after a while they would separate and fly about again. They looked like two insects searching for a way out, giving the unsettling impression that they were alive.

Liao Donghai said, "We asked experts on Lost Objects to study them. They found that, besides strengthening Fighters to a certain degree, these objects also possess an unknown directional property."

"A directional property..."

Chen Chuan probed them with his mind. Despite the specially made glass enclosure, his perception passed through it with ease.

At that instant, the two objects seemed to sense something. They flared with light and shot toward him, striking the glass with two sharp bangs.

Liao Donghai instinctively leaned back and took half a step away before remembering that the enclosure could contain them.

Chen Chuan suddenly heard a sound in his mind. It was like a call from somewhere vast and distant.

At the same time, a powerful craving rose within him. His body seemed desperate to absorb the two objects, instinctively sensing the immense benefits they could bring him.

Something else was reaching him along with that sensation: information.

He could have used his Second Self to shut it out, but he wanted to see what it was. He let his mind follow the force toward its source.

The world around him suddenly brightened, and he found himself standing on an ice field. Judging by the terrain