From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 751 "Showdown"

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Sui Meng hovered before this magnificent "core" matrix, his gaze sharp as he carefully examined this creation that far exceeded his comprehension.

Its overall architectural style is consistent with any carbon-based civilization he knows—

Whether it's the various styles of humans, the streamlined elegance of elves, or even the combination of ruggedness and delicacy of dwarves, they are all completely different.

It presents a more...
Its highly abstract, logical, and even "digital" characteristics make it seem as if an extremely complex program or data structure has been physically manifested here.

"Sir," Wu Ji's voice came through the encrypted channel, carrying an unprecedented solemnity, "a highly complex logical field and information entanglement phenomenon have been detected in this environment."

Its physical structure matches less than 0.12% of any known architectural paradigm in my database.

It is strongly recommended that you raise your psychic field to the highest level and be prepared to deal with any potential informational shocks or logical traps. Your safety is the highest priority.

Her tone revealed a concern for Sui Meng personally, going beyond mere tactical analysis.

Almost simultaneously, Cortana's analytical perspective was even more unique: "Amazing structure"
Ms. Wu Ji's concerns are not without merit, but from the perspective of information science, this near-perfect geometric repeatability is more similar to the orderly distribution of energy nodes than to a certain type of repetition.
A physical carrier of ultra-large-scale 'memory' or 'operation matrix' based on quantum storage principles.

Its energy fluctuation pattern bears some resemblance to the underlying hardware load characteristics I encounter when processing ultra-high-density information streams, although its scale and technical level are currently beyond my comprehension.

Listening to the contrasting yet complementary analyses from the two AIs, Halsey, who had been carefully observing the shared footage, took a deep breath and, with an undeniable certainty, said to Sui Meng:
"Child, I think we may have found it."

"What did you find?"

Sui Meng asked in a deep voice, his gaze still fixed on the pulsating matrix in front of him.

"The creators of the divine seals," Halsey said in a startling statement, "or rather, the 'traces' of their existence, or even 'themselves'."

"Doctor, what is the basis for this?"

Sui Meng pressed for details, and even with his composure, he was still taken aback by this deduction.

“This is the basis.” Halsey, on the bridge, pointed to the matrix in the shared screen. “Look at this style, this completely digital, and logic-driven construction philosophy.”

This doesn't resemble a city or monument built by an individual of flesh and blood, even silicon-based 'flesh and blood,' nor by their civilization. Wu Ji and Cortana's intuition was correct, but they only saw part of the surface.

She quickly pulled up some supporting data to strengthen her argument:
Cortana mentioned memory, and Wu Ji sensed the logic field, combining this with our previous speculation—

This galaxy is so ancient that it was 'dead' before the formation of our solar system, and the coordinates locked by the Tavolantis point to this location.
All of this points to one possibility: this so-called 'silicon-based civilization' may not exist in the form of 'biological organisms' like insects or rock life as we imagine.

Halsey's gaze seemed to pierce through the mystery of billions of years: "They are very likely a kind of pure 'digital life'!"
Or rather, their collective consciousness and the essence of their civilization have long since detached themselves from their fragile biological carriers, uploaded, and integrated into such a vast physical matrix.

This enormous structure, deep within the earth, is their 'Olympus,' the cloud of their consciousness, the ultimate vessel and habitat of their civilization.

In a sense, Cortana and Wu Ji, as highly advanced artificial intelligence, can also be regarded as a special form of silicon-based existence, but they still need ship mainframes or specific servers as physical foundations.

And this is what's in front of us.
It is precisely that 'physical foundation' that created the Divine Seal Civilization, the cornerstone of their existence.

"This"

Upon hearing this, even Sui Meng felt a strong sense of disbelief after hearing Halsey's resolute deduction.

The galaxy was thrown into chaos, creating the terrifying creation of the Divine Seal, which spread death and distortion and devoured countless intelligent civilizations. The mastermind behind it, its origin, and the core of its entire civilization, was none other than this.
Is it "stored" in the matrix beneath this extremely desolate planet?
This truth is too subversive, too unbelievable.

Such a powerful and "evil" civilization, whose influence spans across galaxies, does not actually exist as a fleet or empire scattered among the stars, but rather in such a "static" and highly centralized form.

What was their purpose in creating the divine seal?
Is it to harvest biomass to maintain this matrix?
Or is it for some grander, darker experiment or evolution?

Countless questions flooded Sui Meng's mind in an instant.

He stared at the massive matrix pulsating with ominous red light ahead, and for the first time felt that the enemy they were facing might be far more bizarre and terrifying than the wildest imagination.

This is no longer a simple war of conquest or destruction, but an unknown conflict that touches upon life forms, the meaning of existence, and even the essence of the universe.

He steadied himself, and the golden psionic aura on his power armor became even more solid.

No matter what form the enemy takes—whether it's human, alien, demon, or this bizarre collection of digital consciousness—the Empire's will will not change.

“Wu Ji, Cortana.” Sui Meng’s voice regained its absolute calm. “Activate all recording devices and scan and record all energy fluctuations, information flows, and physical structures here with the highest precision.”

"Dr. Halsey, I need all your professional judgment. We are uncovering a dark secret, and we cannot afford to miss any details."

He slowly moved forward, approaching the enormous matrix, preparing to explore this terrifying place that might be the "source of divine seals" more deeply.

Every step felt like stepping onto a historical juncture, heavy yet resolute.

He slowly approached the metal matrix, his gaze sweeping over every detail, trying to find a possible access point, information interface, or any breakthrough that could reveal its mysteries from the complex structure that transcended conventional geometry and the shimmering runes.

His psychic perception, like the finest tendrils, cautiously extended forward, carefully avoiding the energy-active core nodes and touching the relatively "calm" areas on the outer perimeter of the matrix.

However, just as his highly condensed psychic perception threads inadvertently brushed against a specific peripheral energy node that was extremely well disguised and almost blended into the background energy fluctuations—

Buzz————!
A sharp, extremely loud energy alarm, completely beyond the realm of physical sound, exploded directly in his mind like the most violent thunder.

The alarm did not sound through his eardrums, but rather acted directly on his consciousness in a way that was currently incomprehensible, carrying a strong warning of intrusion and an intent to destroy.

Almost at the same instant the spiritual alarm sounded, a dramatic visual change also occurred.

On the surface of the matrix, the dark red symbols that had been slowly flickering like breathing suddenly became much brighter, as dazzling as a red-hot branding iron.

The surrounding dark metal pillars, which had been smooth as a mirror and seemed to be a seamless whole, instantly deformed—

Numerous previously undetected concealed launch ports slid open at an astonishing speed, revealing the deep calibers behind them.

Within the opening, a chilling, eerie blue energy was rapidly converging at an exponential rate, emitting destructive energy fluctuations that cast an eerie glow over the entire underground space.

The defense mechanism was fully activated, and this ancient ruin, which had been dormant for perhaps billions of years, revealed its sharp fangs to the uninvited guest. Sui Meng, who was already mentally prepared, instantly had his fighting instincts, rooted deep in his genes, elevated to their peak.

The vast, ocean-like spiritual energy within him, like fuel thrown into a Martian fuel tank, immediately boiled over, transforming into a destructive volcano about to erupt.

Based on his past fighting style, his first reaction would inevitably be to use a thunderous, devastating, area-of-effect energy shock to completely crush and annihilate any threat that dares to attack him, along with its source.

But just as this destructive energy was about to surge forth instinctively in the blink of an eye, a more rational thought, like a bucket of ice water, forcefully suppressed the destructive impulse.

No.

The attack range and force must be controlled with the utmost precision.

Halsey's deduction is very likely correct; the matrix itself is a "priceless treasure" for understanding the origin of the divine seal and even for glimpsing the essence of this mysterious digital civilization.

Once it is affected and destroyed by the aftershocks of its own violent power, the loss of information and evidence will be incalculable.

In the instant he finished weighing his options, dozens of blazing, high-energy beams, fully charged, burst forth from all directions and from all sorts of tricky angles.

These beams of light emitted an unnatural and unsettling blue hue, their energy readings surging to dangerous thresholds on the power armor sensors, enough to vaporize and melt through the thickest armor that the Empire's capital ships were so proud of upon contact.

Faced with this dense beam of death, Sui Meng's combat skills were on full display.

He instantly ruled out two conventional options—

Large-scale dodging is not allowed, because high-speed movement may cause beams that cannot be completely avoided to hit the seemingly solid but actually extremely fragile matrix structure behind you.

Similarly, one cannot simply rely on power armor shields or psionic shields to withstand the beams and deflect or bounce them off, because the trajectory of the deflected energy is uncontrollable and carries a huge risk of hitting and destroying the matrix.

At the critical moment, Sui Meng made a brilliant choice that required the utmost control over his strength and was also the most mentally taxing.

The dazzling golden psionic shield expanded outwards instantly, but its energy properties underwent a fundamental transformation.

It is no longer an indestructible "rigid" barrier, but has transformed into an "energy absorption layer" with peculiar properties, whose physical characteristics are similar to those of a non-Newtonian fluid, "becoming stronger when subjected to strong forces."

All the incoming high-energy blue beams of light, upon violently striking this special psionic shield, did not explode or bounce off as expected. Instead, they seemed to sink into an invisible quagmire. Their violent and destructive energy was forcibly absorbed, guided, and decomposed by the psionic shield in a mysterious way, and was ultimately "neutralized" by being transformed into a relatively harmless form of basic energy.

The immense energy surge caused the golden aura surrounding Sui Meng to ripple violently and undulate like the surface of a lake where a stone had been thrown in, demonstrating the terrifying pressure he was enduring.

But his towering five-and-a-half-meter-tall body remained firmly in place, like an ancient mountain, without moving an inch.

With his own power and exquisite psionic manipulation, he absorbed and neutralized all the terrifying energy that could destroy an ordinary fleet within his own defensive system, ensuring that not a single bit of energy leaked out and affected those vital ancient matrices.

However, passive defense is by no means the Primarch's style.

As he absorbed the first volley of fire, he suddenly exerted force with his right hand, and the crescent-shaped powered spear shot out as if it had come to life.

Rou~————！！

The spear, accompanied by a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through space, pierced through the main gun turret—the one that posed the greatest threat to him and was charging up for a second round of fire—with unparalleled precision at a speed beyond the reach of the naked eye, destroying it along with its internal energy core.

At the same time, he raised his left arm and drew a specially customized, incredibly powerful 2.0-calcium caliber explosive "pistol".

His figure blurred in place, a terrifying speed that even the elite Astartes, such as the Vanguard, could not fully capture, as he weaved and darted through the gaps in the dense beams of light.

*Thud! Thud!*

The bolt pistol emitted a deafening roar, the sound amplified and echoing within the vast, enclosed space, like the wrath of a god.

Each explosive projectile left a dazzling trail, as if it had eyes, precisely hitting the constantly firing defensive cannons or energy nodes.

Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out, and one defensive turret after another was reduced to scrap metal and streaks of energy under precise bursts of fire.

The entire clearing process was lightning fast; in just a few seconds, all the activated defenses were completely silenced.

Sui Meng floated back into the air, his spear flying back into his hand automatically, while wisps of smoke still curled around the muzzle of his explosive "pistol".

His gaze swept across the entire matrix area, and his psionic senses quickly spread out to check for any hidden threats.

He would never allow any of his men, subordinates, or compatriots to risk entering the area to collect materials until he had ensured that the environment was absolutely safe.

Just as Sui Meng thought the threat had been temporarily eliminated and was preparing to further explore the matrix, the mutation occurred again.

Without warning, everything before his eyes—

The gigantic matrix, the shimmering runes, and even the bottomless abyss beneath their feet vanished in an instant.

It wasn't that the light dimmed, but that there was complete and absolute darkness, as if all his senses, including his psychic perception, had been forcibly stripped away at this moment and thrown into an absolute void where even the concept of "nothingness" did not exist.

This is by no means any known psionic attack or warp phenomenon. It is more like a special technology used by a civilization that, like the Forerunners, has mastered the mysteries of space, to instantly teleport him or confine him to a specific space or dimension that is completely independent and isolated from the outside world.

Sui Meng felt a strong sense of alarm and did not hesitate to fully activate the vast spiritual energy within his body, preparing to forcibly tear apart this strange confinement with the purest "supernatural power".

However, just a moment before his immense psychic power, powerful enough to shake the very fabric of reality, was about to erupt—

A soft light shone in front of him.

The light quickly stabilized and coalesced, eventually outlining a clear figure that contrasted sharply with the absolute darkness around it.

That's one.
The presence of "humans"?

In this absolute darkness and nothingness, the suddenly appearing "human" figure seemed so abrupt, yet so meaningful.

Sui Meng forcefully suppressed the spiritual energy that was about to erupt. Under his helmet, his golden pupils slightly contracted as he stared at the uninvited guest.

He realized that this might not be a direct attack, but rather some form of communication, or rather, a showdown.
(End of this chapter)