Every gift from fate had its price secretly marked.
Great Star River World, Predecessor Civilization Research Institute.
The Star River Mayfly Great Scholar, whose body resembled a silkworm cocoon, was using energy in place of limbs to conduct an experiment.
Before him, on an experimental platform, lay an exceedingly ancient Predecessor Civilization Relic.
The relic was a box. Judging by its design, it seemed to be a relic of the Furnace People.
Unlike Wizards, Star River Mayflies often excavated ruins whose knowledge was fragmentary and incomplete. Most of the time, there were only relics left behind.
To obtain the knowledge within them, they had to research it themselves.
The Great Scholar extended strands of energy from his mouthparts. These threads traced across the relic's surface, and the energy reactions within the relic traveled along them into the Great Scholar's perception.
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
Until the relic suddenly changed shape.
It was unclear whether energy stimulation had triggered it, or whether the Great Scholar's tracing had happened to conform to some pattern.
The box, three-quarters of a meter in diameter, suddenly softened and warped. Its metallic texture became like asphalt.
At the sight, a flicker of delight rose in the Great Scholar's heart.
"A new discovery! This relic truly contains a great secret."
The Great Scholar watched in delight, but that delight swiftly turned into threads of fear.
This sludge... seemed somewhat wrong.
The sludge writhed across the experimental platform as though alive, continuously devouring nearby matter and energy before expanding at an alarming speed.
Even the Great Scholar's energy threads were devoured by it.
The Great Scholar attempted to seal it with energy, but no matter what kind of energy he used, he could not seal this mass of ever-spreading sludge.
Matter could indeed briefly impede its spread,