From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 229: Underground Space of the Temple Defenders "I am the Bank of Tranquility" (-in-)

Buzz~buzz~!
These "drones" that appear to be slow-moving and easily damaged are actually stupid automatic robots used by the Forerunners for maintenance, patrol, and defense purposes——

Temple defender.

The contents of the Ruins of Harvest Star analyzed by Apu and Melissa include a brief summary of Shield World 0459, as well as the first line of defense that forms the surface of the Shield World, namely the Temple Defenders.

Moreover, the forerunners usually refer to these tireless and tireless automatic robots as sentinels.

They have anti-gravity and pulse engines. They are not the magnetic levitation technology used by Atlas. Theoretically, their flight speed is not slow.

At the same time, the high-energy beam placed at the lower end of their heads can not only cause severe burning effects on enemy infantry units and light armor, but can also act as a "welding gun" to repair themselves and their own units.

In addition, their derivative form "Builder" can assemble, splice, and weld ground buildings and warships of all levels in a short period of time.

If the number reaches a certain level, it may even be possible to build celestial-level facilities, such as a shield world.

As for the fact that they seem to be extremely fragile, it is actually a visual misunderstanding. Not only are they equipped with energy shield generators, they can also use themselves to launch collision attacks.

Having said this, Apu looked up at Vulcan and said with a slightly solemn tone:

According to Apu, Melissa and others, the performance of the temple defenders and builders is much better than that of Hex robots, and they also have a certain degree of intelligence. This is simply the perfect labor force!
It will take years, even decades, for the company to break through the pioneer technology.
Thinking of this, Vulkan turned to look at Apu in front of him on the right, and asked:
"If we successfully find the master control room, can you and Melissa convert those sentries into units belonging to the company?"

"Wait a minute."

The sound of high-energy beams being released and burning flesh resounded around Vulcan, Riemann and others.

"Okay, I have reverse-analyzed their route, let's go."

And here, countless temple defenders and builders can be found clinging to the walls and bridges.

The data also shows that the Forerunners will deploy exclusive intelligent AI to manage celestial-level giant structures such as the Shield World.

At this point, everyone can truly see the "soil" beneath the surface, which is actually a hollow space supported and interlaced by large metals.

Click—click—!
The major and a group of ODSTs also changed ammunition, pulled the bolts, and aimed their respective AMWS firearms and .30cal caliber smart machine guns at the temple defenders who were gradually lowering their altitude.

"These little guys are quite interesting."

"Sir, the service life of our intelligent AI is about seven years. Once this period is exceeded, it will enter an irreversible overload state and fall into madness.

Therefore, if you want to control them, you cannot circumvent the supervision of that AI.

Next, they shuttled between streets that had been abandoned for who knows how many thousands of years, sometimes solving groups of infected forms, and went deep underground through a tunnel with a diameter and height of thirty meters.

Seeing this, Apu said: "According to the information provided by the Intelligence Department, Humanity 08 is the "successor" recognized by the Forerunners, or a recycler or returner, and has the authority to open and use Forerunner facilities and weapons.

"Not sure." Apu replied:
"The Forerunner ruins on Harvest are just a transfer station. The stored data is indeed enough for us to study and digest for a period of time, but only optical bridge technology, plasma isolation technology and quantum communication are worthy of study.

When Vulcan, Riemann and others passed by, those stupid AIs, which were also more than tens of thousands of Earth years old, would activate eye-like monitors to observe the humans who disturbed them from a distance.

Hearing this, Vulgan did not issue any orders, but simply waved his left arm to signal everyone to follow.

Then, just as Apu said, they slowly took off and left, continuing the purification and elimination procedures with their companions.

at this time--

Riemann, who put the cold winter back into the scabbard on his waist, couldn't help but joke as he looked at the leaving temple defenders.

Even though you are from other universes, you are both human, so you will probably be judged as returned by the temple defenders. "

At worst, they will self-destruct, releasing an electromagnetic pulse that can paralyze surrounding equipment.

Witnessing the various habits of the temple's defenders and builders, Vulkan narrowed his eyes under the helmet and thought it could be "used".

There are intricate corridors here, tunnels leading to nowhere, and bottomless dark abyss.

"The Forerunner's stupid AI also has its own personality." Melissa added: "Just like us, it's just that they can't speak human language."

"What do you mean?" Vulcan followed Apu's words and continued:
"Is there a high probability that the Forerunner AI responsible for managing Shield World 0459 is in a state of madness?"

Apu said, taking the lead to head north.

Hey! Phew——! !

Seeing this posture, Riemann immediately raised the Sword of Winter and prepared to meet the enemy.

After arriving here, the temple defenders began to use high-energy light speed to further purify the corrupted corpses and remaining Flood demons.

"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Apu nodded, "So before completing the strategic goals given by the boss, it is best not to contact the other party prematurely."

While Apu explained to everyone on the communication line, the temple defenders also completed scanning and analysis.

They may have used the local network system to share information. After seeing that it was the Returners who disrupted their rare "rest time", they turned off the monitor again and fell into standby mode.

"."

!

Several of them also came to the top of everyone's heads and released cyan-blue scanning beams, which seemed to be analyzing and "authenticating" their group of unknown visitors.

From this point of view alone, the Templar Defenders and Builders are very similar to the Hexbots that Atlas obtained through the Avatar universe.

It's just that they have their own thoughts. Although they cannot disobey their superiors' orders, or they must patrol, defend, and build without complaint, they will not take the initiative to self-destruct unless absolutely necessary.

The main thing is”

Atlas also considered developing a Hex robot equipped with a magnetic levitation engine, but found that the production cost was high, the benefits after mass production were relatively low, and a large amount of money and manpower were needed for maintenance, etc., and the robot was finally put aside. The project is temporarily on hold.

Even if the technology of the Forerunners far exceeds that of the company, tens of millions of years are enough to drive all intelligent life crazy. Sorry, pardon my misnomer, it is all known intelligent life. "

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Hey!"

Just as the two "people" were finishing their discussion, Riemann, who was at the forefront, raised his hand and pointed to the right, reminding:
"What's there?"

Hearing this, Vulgan turned around and saw that there was a large platform protruding outward on the right side of the long bridge where they were.

On the platform, there is a disc device with a diameter of about fifty meters, and there is a layer of cyan-blue shiny grid on the surface of the device.

Riemann, who was the first to discover the device, first thought that it deserved careful investigation.

"It should be the teleportation shaft." Melissa expressed her opinion through the helmet communication.

After hearing this, Vulkan ordered: "Riemann, you and ten Thunder Warriors go to the right platform first to confirm whether the device poses a threat to us."

"give it to me."

Riemann immediately broke away from the team with ten Thunder Warriors, walked quickly to the end of the long bridge, and transferred to the large platform through the hub area. In fact, Riemann only needed a standing jump to reach the platform no more than 100 meters away, but he was worried that some mechanism would be triggered, or the platform would be trampled directly.

Although the creations of the Forerunners are not that simple and will be easily damaged, Riemann will not gamble.

Rush to the platform and step onto the disc device.

After Riemann looked around and confirmed that there was no threat here, he came to a short pillar that looked like a control terminal.

Then, Riemann looked up at Vulkan: "Brother, do you want me to try it for you?"

Hearing his brother's question, Vulgan was silent for a while, then nodded in response:
"Then please."

"okay!"

After receiving the approval, Riemann did not hesitate at all. He freed his left hand and pressed on the terminal's display screen.

Then——

Nothing happened.

?

Seeing this, Riemann was a little confused, so he hammered a few times with controlled strength.

Until a few seconds later——

Swish. Swish——! !

On the edge of the disk device, many green-blue halos suddenly appeared, and in the blink of an eye, the halos suddenly increased in brightness, directly illuminating the entire area.

"What the hell? What is this."

Before Riemann could finish saying "What's going on?", he and the ten Thunder Warriors completely disappeared in front of everyone.

"Well, it seems that it is indeed a teleportation shaft."

Apu looked at the empty device that had been restored to its original state. He confirmed Melissa's guess in a calm tone and added:

"As for the destination, it must be the core world of 0459."

"Oh! If the company can apply this technology to individual soldier equipment, tsk tsk, then we won't have to take the airdrop pod anymore!"

Major ODST also expressed his emotion in their internal communication.

like
No one cared about Riemann's personal safety.

"."

Vulkan sighed calmly. Fortunately, he could vaguely sense that his brother was not in danger, so he felt relieved and said:
"Since it is confirmed that it is a teleportation shaft, let's all continue moving forward."

"Yes."
-
Shortly after.

Swish——! !

With a burst of blue light, the dim underground space in front of Vulkan was transformed into a vast grassland that suddenly opened up.

Looking up, I saw the "blue"
Ocean.

That's right, above their location was the sparkling blue ocean.

And it's not just the ocean, there are also towering mountain peaks and green forests and grasslands, as well as deserts, wastelands, swamps, etc. that are used to regulate the internal climate.

As for the thing that caught Vulkan's attention the most, it was undoubtedly a "sun" located "obliquely above" with a diameter of about a hundred kilometers, which provided light and heat to the earth's core world.

Here, everything seems to be upside down.

After all, there is no natural planet whose "sky" is made up of oceans, land, and forests.

Vulkan could even see complex climate phenomena, such as the windy and sunny grassland where they were located, but heavy rain or snowfall in some areas "above".

And the environment here is obviously much better than on the surface. At least the scan of the power armor showed that no tiny Flood spores were detected in the air.

"This place is like the paradise my father mentioned, bro."

Riemann, who was the first to be teleported here, approached Vulcan, looked up at the "sun" and sighed:

"No wonder the Covenant regards the Forerunners as gods. We humans have mastered nuclear fusion technology, but it is unimaginable to create an artificial star of such a scale and maintain it stable."

"The Forerunners are absolutely the pinnacle of existence in the physical universe."

Vulkan agreed with Riemann's words, but he glanced at Apu and Melissa who fell silent, and continued:
"If smart AI can help companies fully master the technology of the forerunners, then our human civilization will also become one of the pinnacles."

"Haha! It should be the Human Empire by then, brother!" Riemann smiled boldly.

"Yes." Vulcan nodded lightly.

Then, Vulcan was about to ask the two artificial intelligences if they had any clues that would lead them to the destination of their trip, which was the main control room.

?

!

But he and Riemann noticed an unknown object approaching here at an extremely fast speed.

So he changed his words and said: "Everyone is on alert!"

After the words fell, the Thunder Warriors and ODST immediately spread their distance and raised their guns on alert.

At this time, the map on the helmet screen showed that there was a small red dot in the "north" direction of everyone, and the distance from their location continued to shorten until it appeared in everyone's visual range——

Is it a metal sphere two circles larger than a football?
The sphere seemed to sense that everyone was on guard, so it took the initiative to slow down. It also said in a mature, steady female metal voice on the public frequency communication:
"Welcome to all returnees. I am Tranquility Riverbank, the leader of Shield World 0459. Is there any way I can help?"

at the same time.

On the sunny side of Shield World 0459, the Covenant fleet is anchored 300 kilometers above the ground.

The overall appearance of the five CCS-class and CRS-class cruisers is almost the same, like an enlarged version of a space cockroach.

Their main task of parking here is to guard against rebels, unknown forces, and races from desecrating God's creation, as well as to protect the scientific expedition team from carrying out reverse decryption projects, and to find ways to enter the interior of God's creation.

After all, none of the races in the Covenant have the authority to visit the Earth's core world. Only humans recognized by the Forerunners as Returners can do so.

Just as the commander in charge of this fleet thought that today was the time to help the scientific expedition team deal with the insect plague and prevent the crazy pilgrims from feeding their flesh and blood as tribute to the Flood.
The surface of the earth actually began to crack, and the surge in gravity dragged the entire fleet into the atmosphere and even deep underground.

(End of this chapter)