The deep-blue spacecraft hovered in the void like a ghost, faint streams of energy occasionally flickering across its hull. It made no further move, neither approaching nor departing, merely "watching" the observation station disguised as a rock.
The atmosphere inside the cabin was tense.
"It found us," Night Owl murmured, his voice carrying restrained anxiety. "It's scanning us. The energy detection beams are well concealed, but they can't fool me."
"Can you determine where it came from?" Neji asked, his gaze fixed on the unfamiliar spacecraft through the hazy crystal wall. Its style differed from both the Ōtsutsuki Clan's common biomechanical hybrids and their orderly metallic constructs. It was simpler, colder, harder, and carried an air of practicality above all else.
"Unable to determine." Xuan rapidly searched the remnants of the Poolkeeper Civilization database in the console. "There are no matching records of spacecraft characteristics in the database. Its energy signature is also unfamiliar—not part of any known Void Spirit Clan or Ōtsutsuki Clan system. But... the fluctuations of its core energy furnace vaguely carry variant traits of Source Energy. They're extremely weak."
A Source Energy variant? Could it be related to the Poolkeeper Civilization? Or was it another civilization that also made use of Source Energy?
"The other side shows no intent to attack." Shadowweave studied the spacecraft's posture. "Nor have they attempted communication. They're observing and evaluating."
"They may be judging whether we pose a threat, or... whether we're worth attacking." Flame Calamity snorted coldly, quietly clenching his fists.
Just then, a seam silently opened along the side of the deep-blue spacecraft, releasing a silver-gray sphere no larger than a human head. Its surface was smooth, with no propulsion nozzles of any kind, yet it drifted steadily toward the observation station.
"A small reconnaissance unit, or... a communications