62: Return to the Moon Palace and the Heart of the Ruins

The Shadows near Jupiter and the unusual movements of the Lunar Ruin were like two thorns pricking Sun Zheng's heart. Once the defensive reorganization of Hope Fortress was on track, he decided to personally return to the Moon Base, Guanghan Palace, to investigate.

seagull one set off once again, and this time Sun Zheng brought along Shadow, who had preliminary recovered. Shadow's fusion with the Guardian Keystone gave him a perception of Order Energy far beyond that of ordinary people, making him the best candidate for exploring the ruins.

The spaceship arrived in lunar orbit, and the familiar gray landscape came into view. The Guanghan Palace base had more than doubled in size since Sun Zheng's departure. Towering prism towers and dense patriot missile positions guarded the core area, showcasing Colonel A001's exceptional management skills.

Sun Zheng did not linger at the base. He immediately took an armored vehicle, escorted by an elite guard, to the massive crater on the far side of the moon—the site of the Ancient Ruins.

The massive silver domed building still stood quietly at the bottom of the crater, exuding an eternal and mysterious aura. But this time, Sun Zheng clearly felt that the energy flowing through the ancient patterns on the ruin's surface was more active than ever before, as if a sleeping giant was slowly awakening.

"Commander, the ruin's energy readings continue to rise, and internal structural activity is intensifying. The crack we discovered earlier has widened," Colonel A001 reported the monitoring data.

Sun Zheng nodded and turned his gaze toward Shadow. Shadow closed his eyes to sense for a moment, then opened them, a blue light flashing through his pupils. "Commander, the voice inside is clearer now. It's calling out to the keystone."

"We're going in," Sun Zheng decided. This time, he was going to face the core of the ruins directly.

The group arrived before the crack. As expected, it was much wider than before, enough for a person to pass through sideways. What emanated from within was no longer a soft glimmer, but a deeper blue glow that flickered like breathing.

Sun Zheng signaled the guards to stay outside on alert, taking only Shadow and two elite American Soldiers equipped with the latest Order Shields as they carefully entered the crack.

Inside the crack was a smooth, downward-sloping tunnel with light paths flowing like liquid metal on the walls. The air was cold, with a strange smell similar to ozone. The tunnel was deep; after walking for about ten minutes, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

They arrived in a massive spherical space. Suspended in the center was a slowly rotating, complex geometric structure composed of countless blue light lines. Its form was extremely similar to the structure in the core hall of the ancient ship in the Asteroid Belt, but on a much smaller scale. At the center of the geometric body, a blue crystal was also suspended, but this piece was smaller—only the size of a fist—and irregularly shaped, looking more like a fragment.

"A second keystone fragment." Sun Zheng could feel the glimmer keystone within him leaping with joy.

Most striking of all was a massive, smooth, mirror-like black stone slab embedded in one wall of the spherical space. Countless incomprehensible symbols and star maps were flowing across the slab, as if telling a story.

Shadow stepped forward and gently pressed his hand against the black stone slab. The Order Energy within him resonated with the slab.

Buzz—!

The symbols on the stone slab suddenly lit up and flowed rapidly, eventually condensing into relatively stable images made of light and intermittent streams of information. This time, the information was no longer vague thoughts but more concrete fragments, like historical records:

[Star Map Display: An unfamiliar starry sky with a massive silver ring structure radiating the light of order (the capital of the Guardian Civilization?).]

[Scene Shift: Locust-like, twisted Scrin Fleets surge from an endless dark abyss. Wherever they pass, stars dim and life becomes extinct.]

[Intense interstellar war scenes. Under the siege of countless Scrin Fleets, the silver ring finally disintegrates into fragments. Several of the largest fragments are shot into the depths of the universe, with one trajectory pointing toward the Solar System.]

[Tragic Thought: "The Ring of Order is shattered, the sparks are scattered. The duty of the Guardian is passed to those who come after. Beware the Reapers; what they seek is ultimate chaos."]

[Final Scene: From the disintegrating ring fragments, several smaller ships (similar to the Frontier Patrol) fly out. They carry keystone fragments to different directions to fulfill the final mission of preserving the sparks and monitoring the Reapers.]

The information gradually dimmed here, and the stone slab returned to peace.

Sun Zheng and Shadow remained silent for a long time, shaken by this tragic history spanning billions of years.

The truth was far grander and more cruel than they had imagined. The so-called "Guardian" civilization might have already been wiped out in the war with the "Reapers" (Scrin)! The Lunar Ruin and the ancient ship in the Asteroid Belt were both among the "sparks" sent out before the civilization's destruction! They came to the Solar System to escape pursuit, continue their civilization, and monitor the movements of their mortal enemies!

And the goal of the Scrin (Reapers) was not just occupation and plunder; they seemed to be seeking something called "ultimate chaos"? What was that?

"Commander, look!" a soldier suddenly pointed at the floating keystone fragment.

The fragment was emitting an increasingly intense light and vibrating slightly. At the same time, the keystones within Shadow and Sun Zheng also produced a strong resonance!

"It's activating something!" Shadow warned.

The spherical space began to shake! The central geometric body accelerated its rotation, and a beam of light shot out from the keystone fragment, hitting the black stone slab! The slab lit up again, but this time it didn't show historical images, but a clear star map of the Solar System!

On the star map, a piercing red light dot was flashing near Jupiter's orbit! Even more alarming was a dotted line snaking from that red dot toward the Moon!

"Warning! Ruin energy is rising sharply! Detecting ultra-strong spatial fluctuations! Source is from Jupiter!" Colonel A001's emergency communication came from outside, his voice filled with terror. "Something is jumping over from Jupiter! The target is right here!"

Sun Zheng's pupils constricted!

The scrin capital ship hadn't disappeared after being repelled at the Asteroid Belt! They went to Jupiter! And now, they were using the Lunar Ruin as a massive beacon to perform a direct, long-range spatial jump, targeting the Moon!

Their true target had always been the Lunar Ruin! Or rather, this keystone fragment inside the ruin!

"All forces, Level 1 Battle Readiness! Prepare to engage the enemy!" Sun Zheng roared into the communicator, then looked at Shadow. "Quick! Take that fragment! We can't let it fall into Scrin hands!"