71: Chapter 71 Artifacts in the Remains of the Space Battlefield

A ring-shaped battlefield ruin, one light-year in diameter, lay right before them. Looking out from the ship's porthole, it was a boundless space graveyard, far more vast than any desert.

Countless fragments of disintegrated warships and weapon debris floated in the vast universe.

Yu Lan projected a hologram and issued a stern warning: "This is a treasure trove containing countless high-end technologies far beyond our imagination, yet it is also fraught with danger. No warship is allowed to advance before the area ahead has been thoroughly scanned and observed!"

"Additionally, do not get too close to the inner ring. The central area of the inner ring appears to be a void, but there is an extremely small black hole at its center. You must be careful not to be sucked in by it."

Despite the repeated warnings from the search operation's General Commander, one warship soon ran into trouble.

All personnel on Warship No. 08 were frozen in place as if a binding spell had been cast upon them; the entire cabin resembled a massive wax museum.

This filled the people on the other ten ships with terror.

Luo Ningning, a crew member on the flagship, the divine might, burst into tears at the eerie sight. "How can this be? They can't be dead, can they?"

Upon careful observation, Chu Xingyang discovered that the people on No. 08 were not dead, though they clearly weren't just playing a game of statues either.

He then instructed Yu Lan and Xiliu, "Have all warships stand by. I'll go see what's happening."

Yu Lan's knees buckled as she prepared to kneel.

He frowned. "I am currently incarnated as the Bishop. Do not be constrained by etiquette when there is work to be done!"

Soon, Chu Xingyang's consciousness reached Warship No. 08. He had initially thought some kind of time-stasis weapon had been triggered.

However, after looking around, he found that the electronic clock on the deck was still keeping time normally.

After a moment's thought, he used gravity to drag No. 08 out of the anomalous zone.

The personnel on the ship immediately regained their freedom. Moreover, they were clearly aware of what had just happened.

They looked around, one by one, their faces filled with panic.

"What happened? I couldn't move at all just now, I couldn't even blink. It seems you all were in the same situation."

"Me too. My limbs and even my hair felt fixed in place, as if I'd turned into a statue."

Chu Xingyang nodded, adopting an experimental mindset.

He dragged No. 08 back and forth between the anomalous zone and the normal zone several times.

Just as the crew members were on the verge of an emotional breakdown from the constant switching between movement and paralysis, he finally reached a conclusion.

Since their consciousness remained clear and time flowed normally while they were unable to move, it wasn't a time-stasis device.

Instead, it was a static force field maintained purely through mechanical forces. It could firmly lock the relative positions of all objects within a certain area.

Chu Xingyang projected his consciousness above No. 08 to look down and quickly found a square box at the center of the static zone.

On top of the box were a knob and a button.

After a few tries, he realized the knob adjusted the range of the spherical static force field, while the button was the power switch.

A sudden idea struck him: if there were enough of these square boxes, they could be installed on the Oort Cloud.

Then, the Solar System would become a massive spherical spaceship two light-years in diameter, with the Oort Cloud, bound tightly by the static force fields, naturally serving as the ship's hull.

Delighted, Chu Xingyang immediately returned to the divine might and issued an order to all warships in his capacity as the Bishop: "If you find this square box, do not approach it. You must mark the coordinates, and the divine might will collect them all!"

With the lesson of No. 08 fresh in their minds, the entire search fleet became exceptionally meticulous and cautious in their subsequent tasks.

A day passed. Although they triggered the passive defenses of energy weapons over a dozen times,

thanks to their advance precautions and collective efforts, only one warship sustained light damage and had to withdraw from the ruins for repairs.

However, they obtained hundreds of quantum conductors and dozens of square boxes.

There were also nearly a hundred spaceships trapped by static force fields. The creatures trapped inside seemed to still be undergoing a slow metabolism.

These creatures had actually been dead for a long time; the moment they left the force field, they collapsed into a pile of ash.

Yu Lan watched this and said slowly, "We and Earth are far from the only ones who know about this place. Clearly, many civilizations have come here to explore. It's just that most of them never returned."

Xiliu tilted its head. "There are also civilizations that know about this place but won't come because they think the things here are too primitive."

A silence fell over everyone in the bridge's command room upon hearing this.

In the vast universe, the gap in technology between civilizations is far greater than the gap in distance.

On the second day, the search fleet discovered a four-meter-tall object floating in a patch of battlefield debris.

The reason it was spotted immediately was, first, because it was so intact—it appeared to be a single, complete unit.

Second, its appearance was very unique. On a base stand, there was a metal semi-circle arc, and a rod between the arc passed through a constantly rotating sphere nearly three meters in diameter.

Chu Xingyang was also drawn to its appearance. Wasn't this just a globe? It was just much larger and had no map on it.

The entire sphere was a deep black, emitting a faint, eerie light.

Wei Wei walked over with various instruments and, after testing for a long time, said slowly, "It doesn't look like a biological weapon, but this sharp point is very likely a gene sampler!"

Everyone followed her gaze and saw that, sure enough, at the bottom of the metal rod supporting the sphere, a small section extended outside the arc, tipped with a spike covered in countless tiny barbs.

While everyone was discussing what this object could be,

Yu Lan walked over nonchalantly. "Practice brings true knowledge. What's the harm in a little sampling?"

Before Wei Wei could stop her, she pressed her index finger onto it.

In an instant, a bead of blood seeped from the center of her finger.

"See, getting sampled is no big deal. Look at me, I'm still alive and kick—"

Before she could finish the word 'kicking', Yu Lan collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Everyone scrambled to carry her to the infirmary.

Half a day later, Wei Wei was on the verge of tears. "I can't find the cause no matter what. All I know is that her vital signs are continuously dropping. At this rate, she only has two hours left."

Xiliu stood by blankly, appearing even more wooden than usual.

Chu Xingyang circled the giant 'globe' a few times. His Matter Conversion skill could easily save Yu Lan, but this time he wanted to challenge himself.

He soon found a door on the base. Once opened, the space inside was large enough to fit one or two people.

At this point, a crew member cried out, "Bishop, why are you lying inside? We still don't know what this thing is, and the vice captain's life is already hanging by a thread because of it!"

Chu Xingyang didn't bother to answer them, simply closing the door and commanding from within, "Open the interface and start it!"

No one dared to step forward.

In the entire fleet, only Yu Lan, Wei Wei, and Xiliu knew that the Bishop was actually a god.

Xiliu glanced at the unconscious Yu Lan and stepped forward without hesitation to start the 'globe'.

The sphere began to rotate wildly, and the light it emitted blurred the surrounding space like ink.

After a series of strange noises from the base, the crew on the divine might discovered that the Bishop seemed to have vanished!