Ruins of Planet Number Two

Rootlets spread through the planet's underground in a network. Surface observation and exploration were secondary; expansion and spread were primary. The two complemented each other: expansion made searching far more efficient, and acquiring material resources also depended on Rhizome expansion. The Collectors needed to nurture Tianji to calculate and decipher the planet's natives' language.

It was precisely because expansion took priority that the Collectors only belatedly made some new discoveries underground, more than forty kilometers from Shuntian Sect.

"A non-natural structure has been discovered."

"This planet has a cold-weapons civilization. Although its industrial technology is lacking, it is already capable of constructing buildings. Non-natural structures are common."

"Uh... that information was too brief. The technological level of this non-natural structure was clearly not something the surface natives' civilization could have built. They do not yet possess such materials science. I also tested the atomic half-life of its outer wall. The structure has existed for five thousand years."

The individual who gave this response repeated the detailed explanation and transmitted its visual information.

In the visual information, the outline of a structure could faintly be seen on a vertical rock wall. Only half of the outline was visible; the other half was buried within the rock layers. There was no need to test atomic half-lives—any observer could tell at a glance that the structure was extremely ancient.

Many red-and-yellow strips were pasted over its outline, and the structure's main entrance was completely covered in them.

The strips resembled paper. The red portions were the paper itself, while the yellow portions were writing upon it. To the observers, it looked as though paper had been soaked in red dye, then inscribed with golden ink.

The strips were highly conspicuous. Every part of the structure exposed beyond the rock wall was covered in