Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 158 157. It feels like there is an extra small satellite for exploration

Falling into the crevice along the water flow, Seifer only saw a misty light in front of his eyes. The moment he came out of the water, he saw a large rock wall falling towards him.

Or rather, he was smashing into the rock wall.

Curling up his body, he slammed hard against the rocks and continued to fall. All that passed by him was misty energy, and he looked like he was in the clouds.

This feeling... is very strange. Although it is wet, the feeling of falling down still gives me a sense of anticipation of exploring the unknown.

Continuing to fall, Sefer hit various unlucky walls several times on the way, leaving holes of various sizes, and suddenly his eyes became clear.

The entire underground space instantly became extremely bright, because all around were minerals that glowed due to the turbulence of energy.

According to Sefer's vision, if he could occupy this mine, he would become one of the richest people.

But unfortunately, as a mercenary, he currently has no power of his own or property to command, so he is bound to be unable to successfully excavate here.

And most importantly.

How do I get up there?!

Falling from the middle level to the lower level, and then falling here through the cracks in the lower level, no tools or weapons can enter this underground.

This body probably can't be recovered, so before it is recovered, let's just... try to find out as much as we can.

With the mentality of making the best of things, Seifer adjusted his landing posture, looked at the crystalline ground getting closer and closer to him, and pretended to swallow his saliva in his heart.

Falling on all fours, the violent impact crushed and activated the energy crystals in the entire area. The circles of blue light that spread out made Seifer feel dizzy.

The huge impact still failed to knock the body offline. The air flow caused by the energy explosion made a whirring sound, blowing away the flood that fell with him.

After recovering slightly and confirming that the body of the machine was only slightly damaged, Cypher quickly got up and walked away on the crackling crystals to avoid being crushed to death by something else rushing down from above.

Communication... Communication was completely cut off. Cypher opened his mouth and said, "Hello! Are you there?"

“Are you there…are you there…are you…”

Apart from the complex roar of the flood, there is only my own echo.

Well, I'm at a point where no one can help me. In this situation, there's really no other way except to become an Abyss Walker.

But... coming to think of it, such a large mine, does that thing mean that it exists here?
In this world, energy minerals radiated by sunlight will be buried underground due to plate shifts. No one knows what they will become in the high temperature and high pressure underground.

Although energy generally tends to expand outward and become dilute, as long as the concentration is high enough, it will stay and converge.

That invitation to the abyss... No, this is the origin of high-energy crystals.

Walking on the ground made of energy crystals, Cypher thought for a moment and turned on the threat scan.

As expected, everything around him was marked as 'high energy feedback'. Seifer switched the filters a few times, and in his eyes, various energy levels were divided.

Then... then a river appeared before my eyes.

The river of energy flowed slowly, winding down. Cypher looked at its source, a long, indescribable dry riverbed. This place might have once been filled with groundwater, but due to crustal movement, the water had drained away, leaving behind a large hollow.

The river of energy flows down the slightly inclined slope.

The feeling of stepping on it is very strange. Every step will create beautiful halos in the crystals. They slowly spread out and become lighter like ripples on the water.

This dreamlike scene, like a dream, would probably be a beautiful picture if a beautiful girl were standing on the crystals.

It’s a pity that the one standing here now is a robot covered in wounds.

Moving along the 'river', Cypher saw areas where these energy flows bypassed within the complex terrain scoured by water.

Deep within the intricate network of water pipes, Seifer found the place where the energy seemed to be most concentrated, and then immediately began to slowly decrease.

In a small cavity formed by the backflow of water due to erosion, Seifer saw something that was obviously not formed naturally.

It was a rectangular metal artifact that was half-buckled in rocks and energy crystals. Its surface looked quite rusty, but it was still intact.

On the surface of man-made objects, most of the markings have rusted, and only the numbers wrapped in transparent material still look obvious.

Cypher was about to peel off the energy crystal from the numbered box, but after circling it, he decided to pause.

On the other side of the man-made object, in the area where the energy flows, there is a very conspicuous countdown of 'remaining energy duration'. It is counting down to five seconds, but every time it suddenly returns to 1 before reaching 5.

Using common sense, one can tell that this thing is now in a delicate state of balance, and the energy of the energy crystals that wrap around it is trying to replenish this unknown box.

If you rashly peel off the crystal or open it, the duration will immediately become zero.

To be on the safe side, Seifer decided to scan it first - the answer was that it couldn't be scanned in.

That's very dangerous. We have no idea what's inside. Is this energy used to suppress something inside? Will it explode the moment it's opened?
If not, are the contents fragile and will disappear if exposed to air before they are properly handled?
All these thoughts made him stop and pause, take pictures of what he saw, store them, and then find a place away from the entrance.

Then bury yourself with minerals, including your head, and choose to disconnect on the UI.

This is a very strange situation - you know, all means of communication, whether wired or wireless, are completely impossible to pass on.

If the relationship between the main body and the backup body is also through some kind of... ghostly connection, then such a thick rock layer and such a distance should have long ago severed the connection with the main body.

The result is that either one will lose consciousness the moment of falling and be bounced back to the main body, or this entity will fly away in the sky and be completely cut off from the main body.

But none of this happened. The system in front of Sefer was not disturbed at all and was even able to disconnect.

After a brief moment of loss of consciousness, when Seifer opened his eyes again, he was reminded of his body, the cool air in the car with the right humidity, and the feeling of unconscious breathing.

The tank had risen to the floor, and Seifer's body slowly descended. As she walked out of the tank, she hurriedly recalled whether she had forgotten anything.

...Very good, the memory is very complete, even the memory of sitting down with the backup body at the end is still there, which means that this ghost connection... needs to be studied further.

(End of this chapter)