From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 750 "The Horrifying Truth"

"."

Standing before the oval entrance that emitted a faint blue light, Sui Meng suddenly raised his hand, signaling the Trapped Warriors squad behind him to stop.

"You stay here."

His voice came through the helmet communicator, leaving no room for doubt: "The situation inside the tunnel is unclear, and the space may be limited. Too many people will only hinder our actions. Keep communication open and be ready to provide support at any time."

"Father, please allow us..."

The squad leader of the vanguard was about to persist when Sui Meng raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Excuting an order."

These four simple words contain the unquestionable authority of the original entity.

The soldiers immediately straightened up and punched their chests to show their submission.

They quickly established a defensive formation at the entrance, the low rumble of powered weapons echoing through the scorching tunnel.

Sui Meng took a deep breath, and a faint aura of spiritual energy flowed around his body, providing additional protection for his power armor.

Thump, thump!

He strode forward, stepping alone into the unknown blue aura.

Upon entering the tunnel, the surroundings still retain the rough texture of a natural cave, but the temperature is unusually high, and the rock walls have a dark red color after being baked by high temperatures for a long time.

However, as he ventured deeper, the surrounding landscape began to undergo subtle and continuous changes.

The ground beneath my feet gradually became flat, no longer uneven natural rock, but exhibiting a smooth texture as if it had been carefully polished.

The walls on both sides also began to show traces of artificial carving, with sharp edges and tight seams. They were made of a dark material that shimmered with a metallic luster, and if you touched it, you would probably feel a mixture of "cool" and "hot" sensations.

The dome overhead gradually became regularized, forming a standard arc shape, with some etched and incomprehensible geometric patterns faintly visible on it. There seemed to be a faint flow of energy in these patterns, providing the only lighting in the tunnel.

All of this clearly points to one fact—

This tunnel, or rather the latter half of this passage, is a man-made structure.

Moreover, its architectural style and materials are completely different from those of humans in the multiverse, and even from any known civilization recorded in the Imperial database.

"."

This unknown made Sui Meng even more vigilant. He moved forward more cautiously, and his spiritual senses spread out in all directions like the most sophisticated radar, capturing any energy fluctuations or potential threats.

The power armor's sensors were all activated, recording all the data along the way.

Such a well-organized artificial environment.
It seems that the Tavorantis are not referring to the direct creators of the divine seal, but perhaps to another equally ancient civilization, but with a completely different technology tree.

Sui Meng pondered to himself, while maintaining the highest level of vigilance.

He realized that although the human empire was conquering the multiverse, it had not yet had any direct contact or confrontation with a truly advanced silicon-based civilization.

The Empire knows very little about the form, social structure, technological direction, and even mindset of silicon-based life.

In his understanding, there are roughly two categories of things related to the concept of "silicon-based":
One type is intelligent artificial intelligence like Wu Ji and Cortana, which possess a high degree of self-awareness.

Their core is based on silicon wafers and quantum computing units, and from the perspective of the constituent matter, they can be classified as a special kind of "silicon-based existence".

However, their essence is programs and algorithms, products of creation. Their civilization is based on information and logic, which is probably vastly different from natural silicon-based life forms that are based on biological evolution, may have completely different physiological needs, and have completely different ways of perception.

Another type consists of the terrifying bio-weapons encountered in the "One Five" universe (Alien Universe)—

Xenomorph.

Their exoskeletons are hard, their blood is highly corrosive, and they possess some tissue characteristics of silicon-based organisms. However, they are essentially biological weapons "developed" by engineers and following the framework of carbon-based biology. They are not silicon-based life forms that have evolved naturally, let alone constitute a true "silicon-based civilization".

Sui Meng recalled the empire's strategy for the "First Five" universe.

Because the universe is relatively resource-poor, and although the alien threat is localized, it has not yet reached the level of intercosmic conflict, the Empire has not invested too much effort in a thorough exploration.

The investigation into the "Engineers" race that developed the Xenomorphs was limited to intelligence gathering and did not involve large-scale searches.

He vaguely remembered that the intelligence mentioned that the engineers seemed to worship some kind of being that looked somewhat similar to the Xenomorphs, but was much older and more powerful, and regarded them as "gods".

If the Empire were willing to invest resources, it might be able to "excavate" all the engineers in the "One Five" universe, and even trace the clues of those "gods," but that would obviously be a different path from the silicon-based race that might independently develop a glorious civilization.

The unknown often means danger, but it also means opportunity.

Sui Meng suppressed his thoughts and focused all his attention on the current environment.

In any case, he was now representing the human empire, setting foot for the first time on the ruins of a potentially extremely ancient silicon-based civilization, and every step he took was "like walking on thin ice."

The tunnel seemed to have come to an end.

Ahead was no longer an extended passage, but a huge, smooth, mirror-like black wall, made of the same material as the tunnel walls, but without any obvious doors or switches.

Sui Meng stopped and used his psionic energy to carefully scan the wall.

He sensed an extremely complex energy circuit inside the wall, as well as an extremely faint, recognizable fluctuation.

He tentatively placed his psionic-covered hand on the wall.

The next moment, the wall seemed to come alive, its black surface rippling like water, silently sliding open to both sides to reveal the scene behind it.

Even with Sui Meng's strong will, he couldn't help but be moved by the sight before him.

Behind the wall lies a vast and magnificent space that defies description.

The dome is extremely high, with no end in sight, and only a few artificial light sources twinkling like stars in the sky.

Beneath my feet was a platform that stretched to the horizon, and below it lay a bottomless darkness, where countless intricate, gigantic structures could be vaguely seen, extending downwards like the roots of an ancient tree.

Looking around, countless huge and uniquely shaped buildings stand tall. These buildings have strong lines and sharp angles, and their style is completely different from any other civilized building he has ever seen. They stand silently in this huge underground space, like a metal forest frozen in time.

The energy fluctuations that had guided him here became much clearer; this place seemed to be the core of that ancient silicon-based civilization.

Sui Meng strode into this lost world that had been silent for perhaps over 10 billion years, and began to truly confront one of the universe's oldest secrets.

Faced with this bottomless and boundless underground space, Sui Meng did not hesitate at all.

Buzz—~.

The miniature magnetic levitation engine of his custom power armor quietly started, emitting a low, steady hum. The next moment, his body detached from the edge of the platform, hovering steadily above the vast void, flying straight towards the platform on the opposite bank.

During the flight, the multi-frequency pulse scanner mounted on his power armor continued to work, and the invisible detection beams swept across the silent, strangely styled giant buildings along the way, as well as the bottomless darkness below, like tentacles.

Data streams were continuously fed back to his helmet screen.

“Environmental scanning is ongoing.” Sui Meng synchronized the information via an encrypted channel. “No biological signals consistent with carbon-based or conventional life forms have been detected in the space.”

The temperature is kept constant at 312 degrees Celsius, and the air pressure is 120 times the standard value.

A large-scale, systematic low-intensity energy flow was detected, suspected to be an ancient energy or information network that is still partially operational.

The structural integrity is surprisingly high; despite its age, most of the main structure remains stable.

“Data stream received, signal clear.” Halsey’s voice came through the channel, carrying a hint of barely suppressed excitement and concern. “Your vital signs are stable, it seems the environment is still within the range that the power armor can withstand.”

The sight of the emperor reigning supreme is truly breathtaking!

Clearly, she had already seen this magnificent underground spectacle through the real-time images shared by Sui Meng.

"In such an extremely harsh planetary interior, a highly advanced civilization was actually conceived and sustained. Judging from the scale and structure of these buildings, their engineering technology level was definitely not low."

just
These energy readings, while active, exhibit peculiar patterns, unlike those simply used to maintain system operation.
Could there be some form of silicon-based life here?
Or perhaps, the way silicon-based life operates is completely different from all our speculations and imaginations based on carbon-based biology?

Her tone was full of the curiosity and caution that scientists have when facing the unknown.

Just then, Cortana's voice switched to the channel:
"Primarch, at your 2 o'clock position, about 150 meters below, a highly concentrated energy signal source has been detected on the top platform of a cone-shaped building."

The signal characteristics are homologous to the background energy network, but the intensity is three orders of magnitude higher. The coordinates have been marked and transmitted to your helmet screen.

A clear cursor immediately appeared on Sui Meng's helmet screen.

He adjusted the output of the magnetic levitation engine, his body drawing an arc in the air as he descended towards the marked point.

Soon, he landed on the flat top of the cone-shaped building.

The place was empty, except for one object placed in the center of the platform—

A perfect cube with sides approximately half a meter long.

It has a matte silver finish and an extremely smooth surface with no visible gaps or joints, as if it were forged from a single piece of metal.

However, the readings from the power armor's sensors showed that this small metal block was emitting astonishing energy fluctuations, with an astonishingly high energy density at its core.

?

Sui Meng stared at the strange object.

"Child, do not touch it directly."

Halsey's warning came immediately, his tone urgent: "Such a high energy density condensed in such a small volume makes its physical state extremely unstable, or it may be a form that we cannot understand."

This could be an individual manifestation of some kind of silicon-based life, or a highly integrated information node, or even some kind of weapon.

Upon hearing this, Sui Meng took Halsey's warning very seriously.

With a slight thought, pure psionic energy, like liquid gold, surged forth from the depths of his primordial body.

This force not only constructed a visible, golden protective barrier on the outer layer of his magnificent and imposing power armor, but also precisely extended and covered his metal finger guards, forming a pair of "invisible hands" composed entirely of psionic energy, isolating all energy and matter from interaction.

He slowly bent down, his movements extremely cautious and steady, controlling the movement of every joint at the nanometer level to avoid any unnecessary vibration.

With his double-protected hand, he picked up the silver metal block that lay quietly in the center of the platform.

The moment I touched the metal block, I didn't feel the expected coldness and deathly stillness, but rather an unusual heaviness, its density far exceeding that of ordinary metals.

The texture is also quite peculiar; it is not purely cold or hot, but rather carries an indescribable, extremely faint "warm" feeling, as if it contains some kind of extremely slow energy circulation, giving people the illusion of being a "living organism".

However, thanks to the powerful insulating properties of psionic energy, the high-risk energy radiation emitted by the metal block itself was effectively shielded and could not directly affect Sui Meng.

He carefully and securely placed the unidentified object in the special sealed storage box on the lower back of his power armor, a box specifically designed for storing high-value or high-risk samples and equipped with multi-layered energy shielding and physical locking functions, and confirmed that the latches were fully closed.

"The unidentified sample has been successfully collected and has not yet triggered any abnormal reactions," he reported concisely, his voice calm and normal.

After collecting the samples, Sui Meng did not delay at all. He restarted the micro magnetic levitation engine and glided lightly across the huge underground space, arriving at the vast platform on the other side.

However, this platform is not the end of this exploration.

In its central area, a huge circular passage entrance with a diameter of over fifty meters is clearly visible. Its edges are exceptionally smooth, obviously the result of precision machining, and certainly not naturally formed.

Standing on the edge and looking down, all that comes into view is an extremely deep darkness that seems to devour all light, giving one the feeling of gazing into the abyss of the universe.

At the same time, a massive energy fluctuation, stronger and more primal than that felt in the upper space, seemingly originating from the very source of life on the planet, was continuously emanating from the boundless darkness below, carrying a mysterious pull.

Facing this unknown abyss, Sui Meng showed no hesitation whatsoever.

He adjusted his posture, then leaped again, decisively plunging into the thick darkness.

This descent was far longer than before. The surroundings were absolute nothingness and silence. Without any reference points, the sense of time became blurred. Only the eerie blue flames emitted by the power armor's engine drew a lonely and resolute trajectory in the eternal darkness, marking his path as he continued to penetrate deeper into the "earth's core."

After a brief, strange sensation as if crossing some kind of spatial boundary, the view suddenly opened up, and the darkness vanished instantly.

He arrived at a massive underground cavity that was even more magnificent than the upper space.

The scene here is completely different. Its core is not more strangely shaped buildings, but a complex metal matrix that is so large that it exceeds the limits of ordinary people's imagination.

Countless colossal pillars, each requiring several people to encircle, made of unknown dark metal, intertwine, overlap, and extend according to some extremely complex geometric laws that embody inhuman wisdom, forming an infinitely repeating three-dimensional network structure that almost fills the entire field of vision.

What is most striking, and also most unsettling, is that each metal pillar is inlaid with a strange symbol that emits a faint, ominous red light at its key points.

These symbols are distorted and ancient in form, and their structure violates normal rules. The twists and turns of the lines carry a strange sense of desecrating reason. Staring at them can even cause a slight dizziness and a sense of spiritual rejection.

"."

Sui Meng's gaze instantly sharpened like a knife, fixing fixedly on these symbols radiating red light—

The artistic style and inner meaning of these symbols bear a striking resemblance in their core essence to the runes engraved on the surface of divine seals, which are full of blasphemy and eeriness.

Despite the differences in specific strokes and local structures, the deep-seated distortion and chaos, as well as the spiritual core that seems to whisper the opposite truth of the universe, are almost identical.

These countless symbols, pulsating like the eyes of living beings and radiating an ominous red light, are scattered throughout every node of this massive metal matrix deep within the "earth's core." They silently gaze upon the intruder, as if proclaiming a terrifying truth that originates from the same source as the divine seal, yet may be even more ancient and closer to the ultimate truth of this universe.

Deep within this silicon-based civilization relic, which may have been dormant for billions of years, lies a core secret directly related to the divine seal that brought about destruction and unification.
(End of this chapter)