257: The restlessness deep within the wreckage

The abnormal restlessness of the Flowing Silver, like a small dark cloud, drifted over the bright sky where the Starfire base was about to set sail. Wen Youyi did not dare to be careless and decided to investigate the situation personally.

A crack investigation team was quickly assembled. The captain was naturally Wen Youyi, with Zhao Iron Pillar accompanying as the main combat force, Wang Wu responsible for reconnaissance and recording, Xiao Wu accompanying as a Flowing Silver expert to facilitate communication, and two experienced Purifiers members were also brought along.

"Remember, our goal is investigation, not combat." Before departing, Wen Youyi emphasized again, "Find out why the Flowing Silver is restless, assess if there is a potential threat, and then withdraw. The construction of 'Hidden Dragon' and hope is the top priority."

Everyone nodded and checked their equipment. In addition to standard armor and weapons, they also brought a few specially made "Star Marker Stones" to mark paths and establish temporary communication nodes in the complex wreckage environment.

Boarding a small landing craft, the group quietly left the base and flew towards the depths of the wreckage where the Flowing Silver frequently gathered.

This area was even more desolate and dilapidated than the surroundings of the base. Huge starship wrecks, like bones gnawed by a giant beast, were piled and intertwined in various twisted postures, forming deep and dangerous metal canyons. The light was dim, with only the occasional energy turbulence passing in the distance bringing a brief, pale light. The air was filled with the strange smell of metal rust and energy annihilation, and occasionally, one could hear the sounds of unknown objects colliding or breaking in the distance.

"This damn place is even creepier than the mass grave behind our hometown," Zhao Iron Pillar muttered, gripping his heavy sword tightly.

Wang Wu operated the detection Magical Artifact, scanning the surroundings vigilantly: "The energy background is very chaotic, and the interference is strong. Everyone, stay close and don't get separated."

Xiao Wu kept trying to communicate with the occasionally appearing Flowing Silver individuals nearby, but the responses received remained vague, only the intent pointing towards the deeper areas became stronger.

The landing craft struggled through the rugged wreckage and finally stopped at a place that looked like a valley entrance, formed by several huge armor plates inserted at an angle. In front was a darker, deeper area with more densely packed wreckage, and the source of the Flowing Silver's restlessness seemed to be inside.

"Proceed on foot, maintain vigilance," Wen Youyi ordered.

Everyone jumped off the landing craft and stepped onto the cold, hard "ground" covered in rust and debris. The surroundings were unusually quiet, with only the faint sound of boots stepping on metal and each other's heartbeats.

After entering the valley entrance, the light almost completely disappeared, and everyone had to activate the faint light runes on their armor. By the light of the pale silver circles, they saw that the surrounding wreckage was covered with a thin layer of silver that seemed to be alive and slightly wriggling—it was the restless Flowing Silver group! They seemed not to care about Wen Youyi and the others, still persistently "flowing" towards the depths.

"Where on earth are they going?" Xiao Wu couldn't help but ask softly.

Wen Youyi also frowned. He expanded his Mental Energy, combined with the sensing of the star core, trying to perceive the situation in the depths. But the energy turbulence and metal barriers here severely interfered with his perception, and he could only vaguely feel that in the extreme depths, there seemed to be some kind of extremely weak fluctuation that caused both the star core fragment and the crystal key to produce an imperceptible resonance.

That fluctuation... was very strange. It didn't look like an energy source, it didn't look like a life form, it was more like a kind of... lingering echo of rules? Or, an "imprint" left in space after some powerful existence dissipated?

"Be careful, continue forward," Wen Youyi suppressed the doubts in his heart and signaled the team to follow the direction of the Flowing Silver's flow.

They walked through a labyrinth made of steel and ruins, winding and turning, with the terrain gradually sloping downwards. There was more and more Flowing Silver around, almost converging into silver streams, gathering in the same direction.

Finally, after passing through a huge metal cliff crack that looked like it had been split by a sharp blade, the scene before them stunned everyone.

Behind the crack was a relatively open basin, as if formed by a meteorite impact. In the center of the basin, it was not the expected energy source or strange creature, but... a biological remain so huge that it was hard to imagine!

The remains resembled some kind of giant whale, but the whole body was covered with strange bone armor that seemed to be a Fusion of metal and crystal. Even though it had been dead for who knows how many years, it still exuded a faint pressure. Most of its body was buried under broken metal wreckage, with only a small part of its back and an incomplete skull exposed. The hollow eye sockets on the skull seemed to be staring at the eternal Void Realm.

And what shocked Wen Youyi deeply was that the weak fluctuation emitted by this giant beast's remains was the very source that caused the star core and key to resonate! Even more bizarrely, the Flowing Silver group that had gathered in the basin was now, as if on a pilgrimage, slowly covering the remains of the giant beast, especially the broken parts of the skull and back, with silver liquid seeping in, as if performing some kind of... repair? Or... communication?

"What... what is this thing?" Zhao Iron Pillar looked up at the hill-like skull, his voice slightly changed. From those remains, he felt a pressure far exceeding that of the Corrupted Wolf King, ancient and pure.

"I don't know..." Wen Youyi murmured, his eyes fixed on the parts where the Flowing Silver was in contact with the remains. He could feel that the Flowing Silver was not devouring, but was trying to... interpret and awaken some kind of information remaining in the remains? Or perhaps, this remain itself was the source or a close relative of the strange life form that was the Flowing Silver?

"Hum—"

Just as everyone was filled with suspicion and uncertainty, at the center of the giant beast's skull, a dark golden diamond-shaped crystal embedded within, which had long since lost its luster, suddenly flickered extremely weakly under the coverage of a large amount of Flowing Silver!

Accompanying this flicker, a clearer, yet still fragmented and chaotic stream of consciousness, like a dream talk that had slept for eternity, suddenly rushed into Wen Youyi's mind!

[...Watcher...fallen...‘cradle’ damaged...‘cub’ separated...]

[...successor...aura...same origin...‘Star People’...]

[...warning...‘Reapers’...imprint...tracking...be careful...]

The stream of information stopped abruptly, the dark golden crystal dimmed again, and the Flowing Silver covering it also seemed to have exhausted its strength, slowly receding, returning to its previous calmness, just still flowing slowly around the remains, as if guarding them.

Wen Youyi's face turned pale, and he staggered a step, only to be steadied by Zhao Iron Pillar.

"Boss, are you okay? What was that just now?" Zhao Iron Pillar asked urgently.

Wen Youyi took a few deep breaths, suppressing the turmoil in his mind, and looked at the sleeping giant beast's remains, his eyes filled with unprecedented shock.

"‘Star People’...‘Watcher’...‘cradle’..." He repeated these strange words in a low voice, and a more grand, more ancient secret seemed to have unveiled a corner in this forgotten depth of wreckage.

And the restlessness of the Flowing Silver did not seem to be a threat, but rather a kind of... instinctive call and protection.

(End of chapter)