When the Bronze Gate projection appeared in full, the Experimental Starport where Saine stood fell silent for three whole breaths.
It was not that there was no sound.
Rather, every sound had been muted by the phantom Bronze Gate.
The hum of the Mechanical Array grew muffled.
Even the silvery-white information streams of the Sky Net Central Hub seemed weighed down by some heavy rule, their flow briefly slowing.
The Moonlight Essence Branch floated before the Bronze Gate projection, the silvery-white patterns on its surface shining blindingly bright.
This time, Saine finally saw the entire gate clearly.
Tall, ancient, plain, and imposing.
Countless intricate bronze patterns covered its surface.
Some resembled tree roots and were likely connected to the Ancient Tree of the Moon.
Others looked like twisting, burning destruction flames.
There were nine studs on the gate in total.
The surface of every stud bore a destruction rule powerful enough to send tremors through the soul of an ordinary Transcendence Realm practitioner.
More importantly, this projection was not merely an image.
It was forming an increasingly strong connection with a physical Bronze Gate that truly existed somewhere.
Saine did not get too close.
The Magic Cube, the Ten Thousand Mechanical Law Ring, and the Sky Net Central Hub operated simultaneously, surrounding the Bronze Gate projection with layer upon layer of mechanical rule fields.
The projection of the Alarm Clock Girl's Time Gear slowly turned outside the gate.
The space-time seals Ilena had left behind resembled transparent ribbons, firmly securing the projection's four corners.
"Its stability is higher than expected," Wall-E's voice rang out in the laboratory.
Saine did not answer.
For at that very moment, a will came from beyond the gate.
Destruction will!
Extremely pure, and extremely ancient.
Yet, to Saine's surprise, this will showed no aggression.
It