58: Core Hall and Ancient Log

The gate closed, temporarily blocking the Scrin's frenzied assault. Only a few ancient ship defense drones hovered at low altitude in the corridor. Their aggression toward Shadow and the others—who had closed the gate and whose energy fluctuations resonated with the ancient ship—had decreased significantly, though they still maintained a wary distance.

Falcon Squad gained a precious moment to breathe. They quickly tended to the wounded and replenished their ammunition, cautiously advancing deeper along the corridor that radiated a faint blue glow.

The corridor wound and twisted, with many closed hatches and complex control nodes visible along the way. The air was filled with a cold metallic scent and an indescribable sense of antiquity, as if time itself had frozen. Blue light paths on the walls pulsed like blood vessels, maintaining the most basic vitality of this giant vessel.

"The energy flow points toward the hall deep inside," the Engineer said, checking his instruments. "That crystal prism is the core."

They encountered no more automated defense units. It seemed that the act of closing the gate had been interpreted by the ancient ship's system as the activation of a "defensive posture" rather than a continued intrusion.

A few minutes later, they reached the end of the corridor—a vast, open circular hall.

The scale of the hall was beyond imagination, with a soaring dome at least several hundred meters in diameter. In the center of the hall was the complex geometric structure composed of countless blue light lines rotating slowly, which had been detected earlier. It looked like a massive, living holographic star map, or perhaps the interior of an incredibly precise mechanical clock, with countless points of light moving along set trajectories and emitting vast, profound energy fluctuations.

Suspended in the very center of that light-and-Shadow structure was a crystal-clear blue crystal prism over a meter long. Seeing it up close was even more breathtaking. The interior of the crystal seemed to seal a miniature starry sky, with nebulae flowing and light restrained yet containing unimaginably vast Order Energy.

At this moment, the glimmer keystone fragment within Shadow's body emitted an unprecedented resonance, almost like a cheer! A strong sense of longing and kinship was transmitted from the keystone to his consciousness.

"This is it..." Shadow murmured. This complete crystal was very likely the missing core part of the glimmer keystone!

"Scan the environment! Look for control interfaces or information storage devices!" Shadow ordered, suppressing the immediate urge to step forward and touch the crystal.

The team members fanned out to cautiously explore the hall. Many smooth black panels were embedded in the walls around the hall, with even more complex symbols and patterns flowing across them.

The Engineer connected his equipment to one of the panels and attempted to decipher it.

"Commander, I'm receiving a data stream! It's some kind of log record! The language is unrecognizable, but the energy fluctuations can be translated into basic information!" the Engineer reported excitedly, synchronizing the translated information stream back to seagull three and the distant Hope Fortress on Mars.

Intermittent fragments of information, seemingly spanning endless time, flooded into everyone's minds:

【...Eras unmeasurable, "Guardian" fleet cruising the frontiers of order...】

【...Detected "Chaos Origin" abnormal fluctuations, coordinates: Milky Way Galaxy, Third Spiral Arm...】

【...Ordered to investigate, voyage long...】

【...Arrived at target star sector, discovered primitive civilization (Mark: tiberium diffusion precursor?) and "Reaper" vanguard marks...】

【...Warning! Encountered "Reaper" capital fleet! Conflict erupted...】

【...Hull severely damaged, "Core Keystone" energy overloaded, forced to detach and crash here...】

【...Executing final protocol, isolating core, releasing dormant mist, awaiting reinforcements or Eligible successor...】

【...Warning: "Reaper" will eventually return, order must continue...】

The information cut off abruptly there.

Silence filled the hall. Everyone was stunned by the staggering information contained in this ancient log!

"Guardian" fleet? Frontiers of order? This ship belonged to an ancient civilization called the "Guardian"?

"Chaos Origin"? "Reaper"? Could the "Reaper" mentioned in the log be the Scrin?! Was the true name of the Scrin "Reaper"? Were they the vanguard of a faction called "Chaos"?

Was this ship destroyed while investigating the Scrin (Reaper)?

"Core Keystone"? This crystal right in front of them? Was it waiting for "reinforcements" or an "Eligible successor"?

Countless questions flooded Sun Zheng's mind. This log didn't just reveal the origin of the ancient ship; it pointed to an ancient, grand war spanning the stars—a war between the civilization of order and the forces of Chaos (with the Scrin as the vanguard)! And Earth (tiberium?) and the Solar System seemed to have been swept into this war!

"Eligible successor..." Sun Zheng looked at Shadow on the screen and felt the keystone resonance within his own body. Could it be that he and the base were the "successor" this ship was waiting for?

"Commander! The scrin capital fleet is performing targeted demolitions on the ancient ship's hull! They're trying to force open another entrance!" Lieutenant Colonel Falcon's urgent communication came through, interrupting Sun Zheng's thoughts.

The external threat was imminent! There was no time for slow research!

"Shadow! Try to make contact with the Core Keystone! See if you can establish a connection and gain control! This is our only hope!" Sun Zheng ordered. He had to take a gamble!

Shadow took a deep breath and walked toward the rotating light-and-Shadow structure in the center of the hall. He reached out his hand, slowly moving toward the suspended blue crystal prism.

The moment his fingertips were about to touch the crystal—

Buzz—!

The light in the entire hall suddenly became blindingly bright! Blue energy flooded into Shadow's body like a tide! The Chrono Armor on him immediately overloaded, letting out a piercing alarm! A massive stream of information and energy battered his consciousness!

"Shadow!"