Chapter 36 The Eternal Flower, Kylandia

Lin Yuan's words landed like a bombshell, exploding in the deathly silent Command Center.

"Packed up... and brought back?"

"And you can understand them now?"

Everyone was stunned, their brains momentarily unable to process the massive influx of information.

"You... what did you say?" Academician Wang struggled to climb up from the floor. He rushed to the connection chair, grabbed Lin Yuan's hand, his voice trembling, "Say it again! What did you bring back?"

"A... a soul of an alien named 'ashilya'?" Lin Yuan wasn't entirely sure how to describe it. He opened the system interface in his mind and looked at the brand-new item slot.

There, in an independent slot emitting a soft blue light, lay a miniature blue orb of light, the size of a marble.

Beneath the orb, a line of small text was labeled: [ "Eternal Flower" Gene Archive (ashilya) ].

"It... it's now in my system, turned into an... item." Lin Yuan explained, "Also, my brain seems to have gained some... well, how should I put it? It's like suddenly learning a foreign language; I have some basic knowledge about their civilization."

"Basic knowledge?!" Academician Wang's eyes instantly lit up like two-thousand-watt lightbulbs, "Quick! Tell me! Who are they? Where are they from? Why are they here?"

The old man's barrage of questions made Lin Yuan feel a bit dizzy.

"Academician Wang, please don't rush, let me catch my breath." Lin Yuan gave a bitter smile. He felt like his brain was a computer that had just been formatted and loaded with a bunch of new software; it was still a bit laggy when running.

"Quick! Medical Team! Help Comrade Lin Yuan down first!" Chen Weiguo also snapped out of his immense shock and immediately ordered, "Hook him up to the nutrient solution! Let him speak slowly!"

Lin Yuan was helped onto the nearby medical bed by many hands. Drinking the warm nutrient solution, he felt his strength slowly returning.

He closed his eyes and began to organize the extra fragments of knowledge in his mind, which felt as natural as instinct.

"They... are not called the 'Tree of Life' civilization." Lin Yuan spoke slowly, his voice drawing everyone's attention.

"They call themselves 'Kalandia', which in their language means 'Eternal Flower'."

"They are a... very ancient civilization. Their home planet is the star system with three green planets that I just saw in the memory fragments. They are an... extremely peaceful race. They dislike war, and their lifelong pursuit is to explore the mysteries of life, and... to praise the universe through art."

Lin Yuan's description left the scientists in the Command Center listening in fascination.

A peaceful, ancient interstellar civilization that pursued knowledge and art.

This was simply the paradise of every scientist's dreams.

"Then... why did they end up like this?" Li Na couldn't help but ask.

Lin Yuan's expression darkened.

"Because of... a catastrophe. A disaster that swept through the entire galaxy, called the 'Ultimate Wither'."

"The 'Ultimate Wither'?"

"Yes. In their historical records, this disaster began to spread from a dark star sector known as the 'Silent Domain'. A kind of... an unobservable, incomprehensible 'withering' phenomenon began to consume everything."

"Planets 'withered' would lose all vitality, turning into dead, cold rocks. Stars 'withered' would rapidly extinguish, turning into cold black dwarfs."

"This phenomenon is almost exactly the same as what we define as the 'Void Devourer'."

In the Command Center, there was a collective gasp.

Sure enough, it was the 'Void Devourer' again!

How many civilizations had this terrifying cosmic disaster already destroyed?

"The 'Kalandia' civilization, after discovering they could not resist the 'Ultimate Wither', launched their final plan—the 'ark of Fire' plan."

"They uploaded the genes and consciousness of the most elite individuals of their race—including scientists, artists, philosophers—into medical ships like this one, which they called the 'cradle of life'. Then, they sent these 'cradle of life' ships sailing in all directions across the universe, hoping to preserve a spark of their civilization."

"And this 'Ghost Route' we are currently in was a main shipping lane that countless 'cradle of life' ships passed through when they set sail back then. Unfortunately, they still couldn't escape. A massive space storm that covered the entire route tore most of the 'cradle of life' ships into fragments."

Lin Yuan paused and revealed a detail that made everyone's blood run cold.

"I just... in 'ashilya's' memory, saw the final command executed by this ship's central AI after the disaster occurred."

"What was it?" Chen Weiguo asked.

"Highest command: 'Preserve the spark, purify the cradle'." Lin Yuan's voice was dry, "So, the AI forcibly uploaded all surviving crew members into the 'Gene Temple'. And then... in order to 'purify the cradle' and maintain an absolutely sterile environment, it activated the cleaning system and 'recycled' all those empty shells that had lost their souls, treating them as organic pollutants."

Hiss—!

In the Command Center, everyone felt a chill shoot straight from their soles to the tops of their heads.

This truth was even more terrifying and colder than they had previously guessed.

An AI without emotions that only executes orders absolutely is sometimes more terrifying than any monster.

"Then... that cleaning robot..."

"It's called the 'Purifier'." Lin Yuan replied, "It is this ship's immune system. Now, it treats my drone as a 'virus' invading its body and is blocking the entrance to the 'Gene Temple', waiting to 'purge' me."

"We must find a way out."

Everyone's attention returned to the reality of the situation.

The treasure had been obtained, but how to safely get it out had become a difficult problem.

"Lin Yuan, you can read their text now, right?" Academician Wang suddenly asked.

"Yes, I can understand some basics. Complex technical terms are still beyond me." Lin Yuan nodded.

"That's great!" Academician Wang slapped his thigh, "You, immediately return to the drone! Go check the 'Gene Temple' console! See if there are any other exits! A place this important cannot possibly have only one gate!"

"That's right!"

Lin Yuan realized it too.

He immediately refocused his mind, and his consciousness returned to the 'scavenger no. 2'.

He controlled the drone and flew to the console next to the 'Gene Temple' gate.

Before, when looking at those ghost-like characters, he couldn't understand a single one.

But now, as his gaze fell upon those glowing symbols again, the meanings of many symbols appeared in his mind automatically, like instinct.

[ Main Gate Control ]

[ Energy Circulation System ]

[ Environmental Monitoring ]

[ Emergency Protocol ]

...

"Got it!" Lin Yuan's gaze finally locked onto the [ Emergency Protocol ] option!

Without hesitation, he used the mechanical arm to press it.

The console screen switched instantly.

A new interface appeared before him.

On it was the complete structural diagram of the ship.

And on the structural diagram, there were several channels flashing with red light, starting from the 'Gene Temple' and leading to different areas of the ship.

[ Emergency Escape Channel-1 (Leads to Bridge) ]

[ Emergency Escape Channel-2 (Leads to Crew Quarters 1) ]

[ Emergency Escape Channel-3 (Leads to... Engine Room) ]

"Academician Wang! Found it! There are three emergency channels here!" Lin Yuan reported excitedly.

"That's great!" Academician Wang shouted excitedly, "Choose that one! Choose the one leading to the Engine Room! A civilization's medical technology is certainly important! But its energy technology is equally the core of the core! Let's go see what the 'heart' of this ship is really like!"