282: Chapter 282 Heading to the Star Gate

Ling Ye's voice, like cold raindrops, tapped against the silent dome of metal and rock, stirring up a faint echo.

The constant, warm pulsing of the Geocentric Furnace seemed, at this moment, to carry a trace of an indescribable, urging haste.

Old Shi met Ling Ye's calm, yet resolute gaze and fell silent for a moment.

It lowered its head, looking at the glowing, dark silver scar on its wrist that resonated faintly with the 'Furnace'.

The perception coming from the 'interface' resonated weakly with the trace of urgency, sadness, and that 'call' like a final warning flowing from Ling Ye's 'the key' mark.

To the northeast, the silhouette of the massive, incomplete, and darkness-entangled 'Star Gate,' along with the surrounding 'abyssal eye' shadows that wiggled and eroded like gangrene, appeared clearly in its 'perception' field once again.

Every moment of delay meant the corruption grew deeper.

The urgency in that 'call' was certainly not unfounded.

'Safe' accumulation might never catch up to the speed at which the crisis was spreading.

The parents left behind 'the key' and the 'Dual Keys' System clearly not for them to wait in this safe fortress while the world completely sank into slow collapse.

'Let's go.' Old Shi raised its head, the last trace of hesitation in its eyes fading, replaced by a flame mixed with trepidation and resolution, ignited by Ling Ye's decisiveness.

'I'll go with you. Staying here, even if I become stronger, if the 'Star Gate' is completely swallowed by corruption, or if something irreversible happens, it will all be too late.'

A faint glimmer, like an undercurrent beneath ice, flashed across Ling Ye's eyes.

He didn't say much, just nodded slightly.

The decision was made; what remained was action.

Time was tight; they had to use this final gift from the 'Furnace' to make the fullest preparations for the final journey ahead, which might be countless times more dangerous than the Rift Canyon.

'First, recharge.' Ling Ye was concise, walking first to the edge of the 'Furnace' pit, gazing once again at that orange-red energy vortex.

This time, he was no longer passively sensing, but actively guiding the fully activated 'the key' mark deep within his Soul, emitting a brighter, clearer pale golden light, consciously resonating and connecting with the 'Furnace's' massive, gentle energy field.

'Hum—'

The resonance between 'the key' and the 'Furnace' was far grander and deeper than the connection of Old Shi's 'interface'.

The energy field of the entire underground space seemed to tremble gently with it.

A purer, more vast, yet precisely guided and filtered orange-red, warm energy torrent flowed from the depths of the 'Furnace,' like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, converging toward Ling Ye, being calmly and steadily absorbed, stored, and integrated into every cell of his body, as well as into that 'the key' mark.

The pink newborn scar on his chest faded and disappeared under the nourishment of this energy.

His entire aura became more restrained and solid at a visible speed, like a divine weapon tempered a thousand times, exuding a heavy and sharp quality that remained unmoved like a mountain.

More importantly, his 'affinity' and 'authority' with the 'Furnace,' and even with the broader 'Order' energy network connected to this underground space, seemed to have been further confirmed and enhanced by this deep resonance.

'Old Shi, come here, get close to me.' Ling Ye said in a deep voice.

Old Shi immediately stepped forward and stood beside Ling Ye.

The moment it approached, the pure and gentle 'Order' energy radiating from Ling Ye, guided and filtered by 'the key,' naturally enveloped Old Shi as well.

At the same time, Ling Ye reached out and gently pressed on the dark silver 'interface' scar on Old Shi's right wrist.

'Hum—!'

The resonance of the 'Dual Keys,' at this moment, with the help of the 'Furnace' as a huge energy source, was actively and strongly ignited!

Ling Ye's 'the key' energy and Old Shi's 'interface' energy, like the two poles of Yin and Yang, merged seamlessly, forming a more stable, efficient, and doubled energy circulation field for the absorption and conversion of 'Order' energy!

Two streams of energy of the same origin circulated, resonated, and strengthened between the two.

Old Shi felt its 'interface' as if injected with new vitality, and the internal energy circuits that were originally blurred and damaged were actually further repaired and lit up under the combined effect of this 'Dual Keys' resonance and the 'Furnace' energy!

Its ability to perceive, store, and guide 'Order' energy was improved again!

The physical fatigue and the mental consumption from resisting the 'Order' brand were also quickly recovering and calming down.

The two, like two human energy nodes, madly absorbed, converted, and stored this last and perhaps most generous gift of the ancient ruins beside the 'Furnace.'

About half an hour later, Ling Ye stopped absorbing energy first.

The energy in his body had reached a certain critical point; forcing more absorption might affect his control.

And Old Shi, at Ling Ye's signal, also stopped the resonance.

At this moment, both of them had adjusted their state to the best they could currently achieve.

Ling Ye's injuries were healed, and his strength, spirit, and control over 'the key' were far superior to before.

Old Shi had also basically recovered, with abundant energy, the 'interface' function further repaired, its adaptability to 'Order' enhanced, and the tacit understanding of the 'Dual Keys' with Ling Ye initially established.

'Search for available supplies, especially things that can help us quickly cross the Rift Canyon and reach the northeast. Ten minutes.' Ling Ye ordered, while his sharp gaze swept across the dusty shelves and metal boxes in the corners.

The two immediately acted separately.

Old Shi, relying on the 'interface's' faint sensing of 'Order' creations, focused on searching those piled-up metal boxes.

Most of the boxes were empty or contained ordinary supplies that had long turned to dust.

But just when it was about to give up, in a metal box of an old style in the furthest corner, pressed by a half-collapsed metal plate, it found several things—

Three high-purity 'Order' energy crystals, the size of a fist, with liquid slowly flowing inside, emitting a stable orange-red light.

They seemed to be products of the 'Furnace,' which could be used as portable emergency energy or starting cores for certain equipment.

Two rolls of 'energy traction ropes,' about the thickness of a thumb and a hundred meters long, woven from some kind of flexible, lightweight, dark silver metal wire.

The rope body had simple energy circuits, which seemed to be able to temporarily enhance its strength, length, or produce adsorption and climbing effects by injecting 'Order' energy.

A set of neatly folded, seemingly thin but tough-material, dark gray protective suits with basic energy resistance patterns, along with matching hoods, gloves, and boot covers.

The style was simple and ancient, appearing to be the standard uniform for low-level maintenance personnel of the 'Court of World Purification.'

Although its defensive power was limited, it could at least provide basic physical protection, energy isolation, and a certain degree of environmental adaptability.

Under another shelf, Ling Ye found a waterproof-wrapped, about two-meter-long, relatively simple structure, made of dark silver metal and some kind of transparent crystal, similar to a 'sled' or 'hoverboard' chassis, with several damaged energy conduits and propulsion modules scattered nearby.

It looked like a damaged short-range vehicle for a single person; the core seemed intact, but it lacked energy and key control components.

'The vehicle is broken, but the core energy furnace seems to be still there. It might be temporarily activated with energy crystals, but control is a problem, and there are no levitation or propulsion modules, so it can only be used as a sled or a pry cart.' Ling Ye judged after a quick check.

'There are traction ropes, maybe they can be used together to accelerate on relatively gentle downhill slopes or ice (if any).' Old Shi added.

Just then, Ling Ye's gaze focused, and under the frame of the damaged vehicle, he found a palm-sized, dark silver metal plate covered with dust.

He picked it up and wiped off the dust.

On the surface of the metal plate was a relatively complete three-dimensional energy flow and topographic map of this Rift Canyon area (including their current location), as well as multiple paths leading to the northeast, marked as 'Seventh Star Gate - Outer Buffer Zone'!

It was more detailed than the one on the rock wall before, and even marked several relatively safe energy 'calm zones' and known small 'Order' outposts or resource points (most of which had been abandoned)!

Most importantly, there was a dashed line on the map, starting near them, winding to the northeast, and finally pointing to the 'Star Gate Outer Buffer Zone,' marked with 'Emergency Evacuation / Maintenance Passage - No. 7,' and a small symbol representing 'low energy consumption, semi-automatic, requires permission.'

It was a spare emergency passage leading from the 'Furnace' node to the 'Star Gate' direction!

It was likely right there in those dark, unexplored passages!

'This is it.' Ling Ye carefully put away the metal plate map and looked at the supplies Old Shi had found.

'Energy crystals, traction ropes, protective suits, take them. Remove the vehicle core; it might be useful. Let's go.'

The two quickly changed into the dark gray protective suits (though a bit old, they were still a good fit), packed the energy crystals, traction ropes, vehicle core (carried by Ling Ye), and other potentially useful odds and ends (such as the few pieces of high-energy compressed rations found, and an old but intact multi-functional tool pliers), and bundled them up with the relatively strong cloth strips they found to carry on their backs.

Finally, they stood at the edge of the 'Furnace' pit, taking one last look at the orange-red energy vortex that gave them rebirth and strength.

The warm, reassuring light reflected in their eyes, but now only remained with a resolute farewell and unwavering firmness.

'Let's go.' Ling Ye whispered, no longer lingering, turned around, and took a firm step toward the darkest and deepest passage entrance, which was the most likely starting point of the 'Emergency Passage - No. 7' marked on the map.

Old Shi followed closely, the 'interface' on its wrist emitting a soft, faint light as a final farewell to the 'Furnace.'