The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

A sand beast, awakened by the drilling noise of the mechanical insect, suddenly leaped out from under the sand.

The colossal beast that emerged from the sand was fifty meters long. As soon as it appeared, it opened its blood-red maw and bit down on the reconnaissance vehicle parked on the side of the road.

In that instant, two armor-piercing shaped charge projectiles from the hovering reconnaissance drone pierced its skull through its left eye, shattering its brainstem.

The sand beast's massive body crashed onto the sand dune, sending up crimson sand particles tens of meters high. The unmanned probe only paused for two minutes to record biological data.

They continued with their work as if they had merely stepped on an ant on the roadside.

The search continued from the afternoon until late at night, and the vast majority of mechanical insects completed their exploration of the areas they were responsible for.

However, the data transmitted back were all from ordinary rock formations, with no abnormal reactions from any artificial structures.

Many young researchers began to wonder if the coordinates were wrong, or if the wormhole device was buried even deeper during plate tectonics tens of thousands of years ago.

Cole stared silently at the constantly changing detection data on the screen, while Lu Qianwei sat in his chair and took a sip of his energy drink.

Just as we were about to suggest a different approach, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded in the central detection area.

"Mechanical Insect No. 739 has transmitted an abnormal energy response!"

At a depth of 5,214 meters, a high-strength, high-density energy shielding layer was detected. The average material density of the structure is seventeen times that of ordinary alloy steel, making it 100% a man-made defensive structure!

The flagship's screen quickly displayed a 3D underground image.

An irregular, massive structure, more than ten kilometers long and wide, lies hidden deep within the rock strata, like a giant beast that has been dormant for over 30,000 years. Its outer energy shield is so strong that even the flagship's neutron scan can only capture a blurry outline.

If it weren't for the fact that mechanical bug number 739 happened to be less than 100 meters away from the core structure, no anomaly would have been detected at all.

"We actually found it!"

"I never imagined that after more than 31,000 years, this civilization's technology and energy could still keep its outer energy systems functioning properly." Cole's tense shoulders finally relaxed.

"But it also means there might be dangers," Lu Qianwei added.

However, exploration and excavation were still necessary, so he immediately ordered the work to begin!

Ten giant drilling vehicles were quickly built using 3D printing, and after being filled with fuel, they were immediately deployed directly above the anomaly point.

The scorching, directional flow of heat melted the rock layers as it slid down the drill rod. The hard granite was transformed into flowing magma at a temperature of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. The engineering team continuously pumped out the magma, and in less than three hours, they had reached the outer layer of the base.

As the group descended in a small flying vehicle, the entire rock formation began to tremble violently.

One after another, the defensive cannons hidden around suddenly turned and bombarded the group's flying vehicles!

Fortunately, the energy shield blocked most of the attack, and Lu Qianwei maneuvered the vehicle to maneuver and evade.

"They still have positive energy after more than 3 years. We really underestimated them. Everyone, get into battle mode!"

With the addition of a large number of drones and fighter jets, the defensive artillery around the base was quickly blown to pieces.

Cole and his hacking team approached the outer access control and tried several different hacking methods.

But most of them were blocked by the base's quantum firewall.

Frustrated, he finally retorted, "Our computing power can't compare to the other side's database."

"Just blow it up."

"That's all we can do."

The robots were very efficient at finding the target, and soon, thanks to their numerical advantage, the team located the relatively weak ventilation shaft on the defensive shell.

With a directional explosion, a five-meter-wide entrance appeared before everyone.

Lu Qianwei personally led twenty powered armored vehicles to clear the way, with Cole's research and decryption team following in the middle, heading towards the core area through the narrow ventilation passage.

There was no danger in the passage, but it was covered with half a meter of weathered rock ash.

The group walked less than 500 meters with searchlights in hand before entering the outer corridor of the base.

As soon as I peeked out to observe, dozens of defense robots, each over three meters tall, rushed out.

The particle cannon on his chest instantly shattered the energy shields of two soldiers at the rear of the formation.

"Wow! That's incredibly powerful!"

"Everyone spread out and form crossfire positions!"

As Lu Qianwei spoke, the team members had already spread out along the corridor walls.

In the midst of a chaotic firefight, Lu Qianwei noticed that the robots seemed somewhat stiff.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. It hasn't been touched for over 30,000 years, so it's only natural that some parts would age.

But to be honest, their outer alloy armor is really tough!

The laser only produced a series of sparks when it hit them; it couldn't break through their defenses at all.

Seeing this, Lu Qianwei had no choice but to throw away his weapon, take out his broadsword, and rush forward.

With a flash of cold light, Tang Hengdao, empowered by psionic energy, cleaved the robot in front of him in two.

Some team members who also possessed superpowers immediately abandoned their energy weapons and chose to charge into melee combat.

Amidst the clash of swords and the sounds of explosions, the entire corridor was soon filled with twisted robot wreckage.

Cole squatted in front of the robot wreckage, frowning as he analyzed: "The base's defense AI is still fully operational. It will send all the defense units that can be activated to stop us. It will only get harder and harder to fight from here on out."

Sure enough, less than a kilometer into the distance, the partition door in front of them was suddenly slammed open.

A strong, pungent stench swept over us like a whirlwind, and countless strange beasts rushed out through the open hatch.

At the front of the pack were countless rat-like creatures, each about the size of a small dog.

The heavy machine gun swept down a group, but more kept surging in from behind; it was impossible to kill them all.

Next came several ten-meter-tall shadow leopards, which could hide in the shadows and silently circled around to the rear of the group, capable of knocking a soldier away with a single swipe of their claws.

Lu Qianwei turned around and slashed the leopard's waist in half with a single blow. Black and red blood splattered all over the wall, making the advance of the team extremely difficult.

The base's defense AI is still operating behind the scenes, closing hatches and cutting off escape routes from time to time.

One moment it's a guillotine weighing a thousand pounds falling down, the next it's spewing out spikes covered in poison.

Several times they almost trapped the entire team in the narrow passage.

If it weren't for Lu Qianwei's spatial teleportation assistance, there would have already been casualties by the time the group reached the open hall in front of the core area gate.

Finally, the last robot in the vicinity was dealt with.

Cole and his hacking team immediately gained access to the control system of the core gate.

"Although we've severed some of its connection to the database, cracking it will still take several hours."

What else can Lu Qianwei say about this?

They had no choice but to continue moving forward, setting up a defensive line near the entrance to the open hall.

In the first hour, only scattered robots and small groups of alien beasts rushed over. The team members firmly guarded the entrance and didn't let a single one through.

In the second hour, the entire base began to shake violently, and the defense AI activated all stored full defense units.

A whole squad of well-preserved defensive robots charged forward, pushing giant shields.

Leading the way was a main defense robot over ten meters tall, carrying a giant energy cannon. With one shot, it shattered half of the wall of the open hall. The three team members were buried in the rubble before they could dodge, but fortunately, Lu Qianwei rescued them in time.

"You guys deal with the smaller ones, I'll handle this one!" Lu Qianwei said, and immediately rushed forward.

Before the main robot could even fire its second shot, he had already appeared on its shoulder in an instant.

Tang Hengdao plunged his sword straight into the gap in the neck, unleashing his full spiritual energy to shatter the robot's core reactor. The colossal machine crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

With less than twenty minutes remaining until the crack was complete, the entire base suddenly began to shake violently.

The bulkhead on the left side of the core area was violently smashed open, and a huge black shadow more than 20 meters tall rushed out through the breach.

This is clearly a biological weapon cultivated by a previous civilization.

Its body is covered with slimy tentacles as thick as bowls, and its single eye is larger than a heavy truck. The corrosive toxic mist it spews can instantly melt through ten-centimeter-thick alloy armor.

It can also release high-intensity electromagnetic pulses to interfere with electronic equipment; several armored vehicles went black immediately after being swept by the pulse.

Lu Qianwei's power armor screen also shook twice. He immediately switched from automatic control to manual control, drew his sword, and charged forward.

A dozen tentacles lashed out with a whooshing sound, but he dodged them one by one. His blade flashed, severing two tentacles on the spot, and blackish-red blood sprayed all over him.

The tentacle monster flew into a rage, its countless tentacles completely enveloping Lu Qianwei and shoving him into its enormous mouth.

Lu Qianwei channeled all his spiritual energy into the blade, forcefully pushing away the tentacles that were wrapping around him.

With another leap, the entire knife plunged straight into the bio-weapon's single eye.

The energy-concentrated explosion burst from the inside, directly shattering its heart. Its massive body collapsed limply, crushing half a wall.

"Crack complete! The core gate is open!"

Just as Cole's shout fell, the massive gate to the core area, dozens of meters high, slowly opened to both sides.

Bright, cold light leaked out from the door. In the center of the hall, the semi-activated wormhole device sat quietly, its pale blue energy aura slowly flowing, while the main control panel glowed with a faint white light.

Lu Qianwei wiped the blood off the knife, walked over and opened the main control panel. The last log left by the scientists of the previous civilization slowly unfolded, and everyone gasped after reading it.

It turns out that this was not an accidentally activated, unfinished wormhole at all, but a trap deliberately left by the hostile Cyon civilization.

When Cyon was hunting down the Aiur civilization, he never intended to completely destroy this base. He deliberately left a semi-activated wormhole to slowly leak the mist and let alien beasts from other dimensions come over. Once a new intelligent civilization was born and developed on this planet, the alien beasts would slowly devour the entire civilization, which was equivalent to planting a seed of slow destruction here.

The scientists at Aier were too late to destroy the device, so they hid the encrypted coordinates inside a statue in the northern ruins, leaving it for someone who would discover the secret later, hoping that the person who discovered it could defuse the bomb.

"So, we broke in here to defuse a time bomb aimed at the nascent civilization on this planet." Lu Qianwei was speechless.

"But it also has some research value," Cole said, before leading his research team to take over the entire core area.

While shutting down the wormhole program, they dismantled it along with the equipment and stuffed it into the space.

They took all the useful data from the base database and then cleaned up all the remaining defense robots and took them away.

When everyone returned to the ground, it was already dawn.

Meanwhile, with the wormhole closing, the fog over the entire planet gradually dissipated with the atmosphere, and most creatures that had long been accustomed to the fog suddenly felt bewildered and fearful.

But that wasn't something Lu Qianwei and the others should concern themselves with. Having obtained the complete set of equipment, they simply used a teleportation device to return to their original world.

Chapter 247 Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Upon seeing a group of savages dressed in tattered clothes, Lu Qianwei thought he had traveled to a primitive tribe.