The crimson light, like a divine punishment from myth, melted the steel bridge connecting the platform and the transition passage into molten iron with devastating force.
Yet, it precisely controlled the range of its strike, sparing the main body of the space station from any damage.
Under the influence of inertia, the severed Support Zone slowly drifted away from the main space station.
This also carried the Astral Express and dozens of other spaceships, which were parked at the platform, away from their original positions, leaving them to orbit lonely under the gravitational pull of the central star.
“What’s happening, Pom?!” Inside the Astral Express, Pom-Pom, who had been left behind to watch the cabins, pressed against the glass window.
Looking in panic at the bridge snapped in two and the Herta Space Station drifting further and further away, Pom-Pom instinctively tried to contact the Express crew inside.
But the Astral Express had long since disconnected from the interstellar network.
The conductor’s pupils dilated the instant those words were spoken, freezing entirely in place.
[Chiyu Meme, Secondary Infection!] The Astral Express…
completely disconnected!
Everything happened so quickly that the Nameless inside the space station had no way of noticing.
They made their way through the dark metal corridors, dispatching numerous Voidrangers and “monsters” that blocked their path.
Yes, monsters— twisted, indescribable monsters.
Their appearances were bizarre and wildly varied.
Some were Voidranger: Reavers with three heads and six arms; others were Voidranger: Distorters with extremely elongated bodies resembling pythons; still others were humanoid creatures covered in bone spikes or tumors…
These were merely broad descriptions of their physical forms.
Upon closer inspection, one would find that all the organs, structures, and very biological components of these monsters defied natural evolution and selection.
As a result, while these twisted monsters looked terrifying, some of them had combat capabilities so weak they couldn’t even defeat the elderly or the infirm, as if merely staying alive took everything they had.
“They seem like genetically degraded creations from failed experiments, but it doesn’t appear to be that simple.” Welt used his cane to turn over the monsters’ corpses, attempting to uncover some of their secrets and the truth.
Meanwhile, Himeko, the Navigator, wasn’t idle either, releasing several drones to scout the path ahead.
The internal routes of the space station were largely the same as she remembered, but there were still minor, easily overlooked discrepancies.
For instance, there were forks that didn’t exist on the map, and corridors blocked by the collateral damage of battle…
Although none of these were enough to stop them from reaching the Master Control Zone, the combination of these factors quietly altered their route.
When Himeko saw the prominent words [Seclusion Zone] on the bulkhead door ahead, her face turned visibly pale.
“This place…” Ye Cang raised his eyebrows.
He prudently kept his response short, but those two words were enough for Himeko to understand what he meant.
“This should be the reception center of the Base Zone,” Himeko muttered, reopening the holographic map on her watch.
“To reach the Master Control Zone, we have to pass through two areas of the Base Zone…
I’m positive I didn’t take a wrong turn.” Hearing this, Ye Cang looked around.
Just as Himeko said, there were indeed no other paths, unless they had already taken a wrong turn at the very first fork.
“Don’t worry.
If it’s the Seclusion Zone, so be it.” Ye Cang shrugged.
After a brief pause, he added a classic line: “Since we’re already here.” “Let’s go in and take a look, then.
Stand behind me.” Mr.
Yang pushed up his glasses, tapping his cane against the control panel of the Seclusion Zone.
Staring unblinkingly at the dark red electronic screen, he murmured, “The power grid here is still running.
Perhaps the survivors have gathered inside.” No one objected.
They watched as Mr.
Yang fumbled with the control panel for a bit.
A moment later, the red screen suddenly turned blue.
“Clearance authorized.
Welcome, Madam Herta.” Following a low, heavy rumbling, the thick metal door slowly slid open before them.
“Amazing!
As expected of Mr.
Yang!” March gave him a thumbs-up and praised.
“…” Welt fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
“I didn’t open the door.” If it wasn’t Mr.
Yang, then who was it?
Ye Cang stared at the glowing blue electronic screen and whispered, “It seemed to say ‘Madam Herta’ just now.” Himeko gripped her briefcase tightly and bit her lip.
“But as far as I know, the real Herta resides at the distant edge of the universe and rarely, if ever, visits this space station.
Even for her academic research, she only operates her puppets remotely…” “And the Herta Space Station has already disconnected from the interstellar network,” Dan Heng added, completing Himeko’s unfinished thought.
If it wasn’t Mr.
Yang and wasn’t Herta herself, who could it be?
Could it be a survivor inside the space station who happened to possess Herta’s highest clearance?
That possibility seemed even more microscopic than Herta actually showing up in person.
“Maybe it really is a survivor…” March 7th spoke hesitantly, but the courage she had managed to summon was immediately snuffed out when she saw the pitch-black environment of the Seclusion Zone.
She said weakly, “As per our usual rules, how about we vote on whether to go in?” Just as the group hesitated, a dull thud suddenly echoed from the silent metal corridor behind them, followed by a succession of heavy metallic clangs.
*Clang— Clang— Clang-clang-clang!* Each strike was heavier than the last, sounding like a massive sledgehammer frantically beating against steel.
Hearing the noise, everyone turned around just in time to see a dark shadow shoot out from the end of the corridor like a cannonball.
It tore past the five standing people in an instant, crashing heavily into the metal wall behind them!
Ye Cang’s pupils contracted.
A metal robot with only half its torso left and its head completely smashed was embedded in the bulkhead barely half a meter away from him.
Its severed electronic components and wiring were sparking violently.
His eyes met the electronic eyes of the near-demolished robot.
The gears in the robot’s eyes adjusted to focus, and its speaker emitted a low, disjointed voice: “Warning…
run…
quickly…” “Leave…
this place…” “Beware…
of the silence…” Beware of what?
Silence?
What was that?
Countless questions piled up in his mind.
Ye Cang’s breathing grew heavy, his heart raced, and fine sweat broke out on his forehead.
That familiar, suffocating sensation of impending death flooded his mind once again, as if every cell in his body was screaming and wailing!
This time, however, it wasn’t because of the Chiyu meme.
Rather, it was because of the red-clothed woman who, at some unknown moment, had come to stand right beside him.
And in her hand, she was holding a familiar head with fiery-red, vibrant long hair.