80: Chapter 79 Moon Shadow Submarine

The interior of the Chasing Light stealth shuttle was cramped; the four of them were almost "embedded" in their respective functional seats.

The dim blue light from the main console illuminated four tense faces.

The external panoramic screen (processed through multi-layer filtering and enhancement) displayed the scene of the Moon's South Pole permanent shadow region—a chaotic terrain filled with sharp peaks and deep fissures, faintly outlined by starlight and the Earth's reflection.

Zhao Yan's fingers glided lightly across the main control panel, keeping the output of the spirit particle thrusters precisely below 5%, with almost no exhaust trail.

The stealth coating covering the shuttle's surface absorbed the vast majority of active detection waves while simulating the thermal radiation and reflection characteristics of the surrounding lunar rock.

"Eighty kilometers to the edge of the target void."

Zhao Yan's voice sounded in the internal communication channel, kept very low, even though sound could not travel in a vacuum. "Maintaining a speed of forty meters per second; estimated arrival at the designated infiltration point in thirty-three minutes."

Lin Shen adjusted his breathing, connecting his consciousness to the auxiliary system built into his helmet while diverting a sliver of attention to maintain the technology tree in his mind.

Golden veins quietly unfurled deep within his consciousness, creating an indescribable resonance with the faint spirit particle background radiation permeating outside the stealth shuttle, coming from the direction of the Cradle.

"Spirit particle environment readings are stable; the background radiation intensity is 15% higher than the orbital measurements, but the fluctuations are gentle."

Elena Costa stared at the spectrum analyzer in front of her, her eyes appearing exceptionally bright under the dim light. "No active scanning or defensive field structures detected. The Cradle seems to truly be in a low-power standby state."

"Medical monitoring is normal."

Medical Officer Lu Yunshan's voice was steady as he monitored the physiological indicators of his three teammates. "Chief Engineer Lin, your heart rate and brainwave activity are slightly above baseline; please try to relax further. Excessive tension will affect the clarity of your consciousness."

Lin Shen nodded slightly, closed his eyes, and performed a quick meditative adjustment.

He wasn't nervous, but rather... expectant, and filled with a heavy sense of responsibility.

The resonance from the technology tree system was becoming clearer, as if urging him to draw closer.

"Received encrypted pulse communication from the Kunlun station; the signal is weak but clear."

Elena reported, "Base confirms that the Star Ring decoy experiment is proceeding as planned. Continued attention-related signal fluctuations have been monitored from the direction of Mars. There are currently no signs of the Pruning Faction mobilizing toward the Moon."

"Maintain silence and proceed."

The stealth shuttle, like a fish cruising in the deep dark sea, silently glided past the shadows of crater walls thousands of meters high.

Time slipped away amidst precise navigation and continuous monitoring.

Twenty minutes later, they approached the target area.

Ahead, the horizon (if the Moon could be said to have one) was severed by a massive gap, as if bitten out by a giant beast—that was the edge of the void where the Cradle was located.

From their perspective, it looked like a bottomless black hole leading into the interior of the Moon, with steep, jagged rock walls reflecting the cold, faint light of distant stars.

"Switch to passive optical and thermal imaging fusion view."

Zhao Yan ordered.

The screen display switched, presenting the scene inside the void in a different way.

The bottom was not completely dark; faintly visible were extremely dim, unevenly distributed dark red and dim blue light spots, like blood vessels under the skin of a sleeping giant beast.

Temperature readings showed that the temperature in certain areas at the bottom of the void was tens of degrees higher than the surrounding lunar surface, clearly indicating the presence of heat sources.

"The structural prediction map provided by the Gardener has a matching rate of about 65% with the actual scene."

Elena compared the data. "Only one of the three relatively gentle 'entry ramps' in the prediction is clearly visible; the other two have been partially buried by new debris accumulation or tectonic activity. I suggest entering from the eastern ramp; the angle is optimal, but we will need to pass through a heat source distribution area."

"Nature of the heat source?"

"Analyzing... Spectral characteristics show it is not lava or radioactive decay, but more like... some kind of inefficient energy dissipation or waste heat emission. It may be related to the internal systems maintaining the Cradle's minimum operation."

"Enter from the eastern ramp. Zhao Yan, it's up to you."

"Understood. Switching to manual micro-maneuver mode, preparing for entry."

The stealth shuttle gave a slight jolt as the main thrusters were completely shut down, replaced by the operation of dozens of micro-attitude control thrusters distributed around the shuttle's body.

Zhao Yan was fully focused, his hands gripping the control stick as if performing the most delicate micro-carving.

The shuttle began to descend into the dark abyss along the steep rock wall at a near-vertical angle.

The sensation of weightlessness became pronounced.

Light from the outside world rapidly disappeared, leaving only the shuttle's own lights to illuminate a small patch of jagged rock wall ahead.

The temperature readings began to climb slowly.

"Depth five hundred meters... one thousand meters... heat source approaching."

Elena reported, "Detected weak but regular electromagnetic pulses; the source is below, suspected to be some kind of periodic self-test signal."

The resonance in the technology tree in Lin Shen's mind suddenly intensified, and several branches that were originally dim, related to "extraterrestrial construction" and "consciousness-matter interaction," began to emit a soft golden light.

A stream of information naturally flowed into his consciousness—not specific knowledge, but a kind of "intuition" regarding the weak points and safe paths of the energy field below.

"Turn right fifteen degrees, reduce descent speed by 20%."

Lin Shen spoke suddenly, his tone unquestionable. "Three hundred meters ahead, there is an energy vortex inside the rock wall; passing directly through it will cause the stealth field to overload."

Zhao Yan did not hesitate in the slightest and executed immediately.

Elena quickly scanned the area indicated by Lin Shen, and sure enough, she detected an unstable spirit particle turbulence zone behind the rock wall.

"Chief Engineer Lin, how did you..."

Elena was surprised.

"A hint from the technology tree system."

Lin Shen explained simply, without saying more.

Everyone understood tacitly; this was the reason he had to come.

Relying on the "intuitive guidance" Lin Shen provided from time to time and Zhao Yan's superb control, the stealth shuttle traversed the heat source area and several hidden energy traps without incident.

The depth continued to increase: two thousand meters, three thousand meters...

The bottom of the void gradually became clear in the enhanced sensor images.

It was not flat lunar soil, but covered in regular geometric protrusions and depressions; the material was neither stone nor metal, shimmering with a matte dark silver under the dim light.

Some of the tops of the protrusions were embedded with those "light spots" emitting dim blue or dark red light; up close, they looked like some kind of complex crystal or energy node.

"We are here."

Zhao Yan's voice carried a hint of relief. "Hovering fifty meters above the bottom."

The stealth shuttle hovered silently in the massive underground space.

All around were vertical rock walls thousands of meters high, and overhead was the entrance with only a sliver of light remaining.

Below was the surface of the "Cradle" itself, spreading out and filled with unnatural creations.

An ancient, massive, sleeping presence silently pressed on everyone's nerves.

"Search for the entrance. What was the 'marker' in Dr. Sarah's memory?"

Lin Shen asked.

Elena pulled up the vague description of the entrance from the memory fragments provided by Sarah: "She said... the entrance is next to the 'largest Sleeping Eye', 'the eye has three ripples'."

"Scan the structure below, search for circular constructions that fit the 'eye' characteristics, and detect if there are special energy patterns on their surface."

Nuwa's subroutine (already downloaded to the stealth shuttle's local system) quickly processed the sensor data.

A few seconds later, a location was marked on the main screen, about one kilometer to their front left.

The image zoomed in.

It was a perfect circular depression about one hundred meters in diameter; the center of the depression was not dark, but rippling from the inside out with three layers of extremely faint, different-colored concentric energy waves—dark red, dim blue, and pale gold.

The ripples spread slowly, like the steady breathing of a sleeping giant beast.

"That's it!"

Elena confirmed, "The energy wave frequency perfectly matches Dr. Sarah's description!"

"The stealth shuttle cannot get any closer; there are too many obstacles at the bottom, and the energy field is complex."

Zhao Yan assessed. "We need to proceed on foot."

"Check your lunar suits and equipment, prepare to exit the cabin."

Lin Shen ordered.

Ten minutes later, an airtight door slid open on the side wall of the stealth shuttle.

Four figures leaped out one after another, landing on the cold and hard dark silver surface of the "Cradle".

The Moon's gravity was only one-sixth of Earth's, but the heavy life support systems, scientific equipment, and weapons on their bodies (Zhao Yan carried a compact railgun rifle and special ammunition) made their movements still appear somewhat sluggish.

The internal lighting of their helmets illuminated the few inches of ground beneath their feet.

Outside, only those sparse "light spots" provided negligible illumination; further away was the darkness that swallowed everything.

Silence, absolute silence, only their own breathing and the sound of static in the communication channel.

The four formed a diamond formation, with Zhao Yan in the front, Lin Shen in the middle, and Elena and Medical Officer Lu in the rear, moving slowly and firmly toward the direction of the "Sleeping Eye".

Every step was taken with extreme caution; no one knew if there were untriggered defense mechanisms hidden beneath this ancient shell.

When they were two hundred meters away from the "Eye", a sudden change occurred.

The seemingly calm dark silver "floor" beneath their feet suddenly lit up with fine, dim blue lines resembling circuit board traces!

The lines spread rapidly, forming a complex geometric pattern that surrounded the four of them!

"Detected high-energy spirit particle field activation!"

Elena exclaimed, "We triggered some kind of ground sensor!"

"Defense system?"

Zhao Yan immediately raised his gun, on alert.

Lin Shen quickly observed the lines around them; the technology tree system was running frantically, analyzing the flow of energy.

"No! It's not an attack! It's... a verification program! It's scanning us! Do not attack, do not make any hostile moves!"

Before he could finish, four soft beams of light rose from the four corners of the pattern, enveloping the four of them individually.

The beams scanned their bodies, equipment, and especially the data storage cores carried by Lin Shen and Elena, which were related to the "heart crystal" and the γ-07 anchor.

The scan lasted for about ten seconds.

Then, the dim blue lines on the ground began to change and recombine, finally forming a glowing path directly in front of them, pointing toward the direction of the "Sleeping Eye". At the end of the path, a triangular entrance with milky white light flowing inside silently slid open on the edge of the circular depression.

"Verification passed."

A cold, neutral, emotionless voice sounded directly in the helmet communicators of all four, using a tone that was extremely ancient but automatically translated into their respective native languages. "Carrying partial 'key' imprints, carrying 'Cradle' observation period positive evaluation records, carrying 'secondary anchor' non-hostile contact protocol... complies with temporary access permission 'Visitor-observer-Candidate' Level 3 protocol. Permission granted to enter the outer corridor of the 'Chamber of Inheritance'."

The voice disappeared.

The glowing path and the triangular entrance waited quietly.

The four looked at each other, with expressions of disbelief behind their helmet visors.

Just like that... passed?

"It seems that the 'civilization answer sheet' we brought was received, and it gave us a pretty good grade."

Lin Shen's voice came through the visor, with a hint of relaxation after the tension. "Let's go, visitors. The real trial, I fear, is still inside."

He was the first to step onto the glowing path, walking toward the triangular entrance flowing with milky white light.

Zhao Yan followed closely, his gun muzzle slightly lowered but remaining alert.

Elena and Lu Yunshan took a deep breath and followed.

As they passed through the entrance one by one, the triangular light door behind them closed silently, sealing off the Moon's eternal darkness and silence once again.

Inside the door was a wide corridor extending upward that could not be seen to the end.

The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of that warm, self-illuminating milky white material, with soft, non-glaring light.

On both sides of the corridor, at certain intervals, stood statues or steles of various shapes and unknown materials, covered with incomprehensible symbols and patterns.

The air (if there was air here) was filled with an indescribable "sense of information density," as if every step was taken upon the dust of history and the torrent of knowledge.

This was the "Chamber of Inheritance".

The trial officially begins.