One day later.
The decay of the virtual mass magnetic storm reached its lowest point.
The lead-gray sky seemed to have been torn open by an invisible hand into a winding rift.
Inside the rift, it was not clear skies, but a thick, dim stillness surging with strange glowing light.
Three black vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, like steel swallows, rose sequentially from the warship’s deck.
They barely circled before diving straight into that rift.
Noah sat in the rear row of the middle aircraft, tightly gripping the armrests.
Even separated by the porthole and multiple layers of the aircraft’s compartments, he could feel the intense oppressive sensation from the outside world that penetrated deep into the soul.
Dim light halos rapidly flowed and stretched outside the window, swirling and twisting.
Everyone felt as if they were traveling through a tunnel formed of viscous energy.
The aircraft occasionally transmitted slight vibrations that set one’s teeth on edge.
Several indicator lights on the instrument panel flashed yellow warnings.
“Normal turbulence.
Everyone, please sit tight.”
The calm voice of the pilot in the front row came through.
Noah glanced at Rover beside him.
She had already changed out of her dignified silver-gray coat and black tactical suit and was wearing a uniform from the Black Shores Research Department Affiliated College.
At the same time, she had removed the butterfly bow from the back of her head and tied her hair into a simple ponytail.
She had also applied some light makeup.
Rover’s facial contours had softened somewhat, losing some of the sharpness that belonged to the Black Shores leader.
At this moment, she was turned sideways, gazing out the window.
The flowing light was reflected in her golden pupils.
She said nothing, her expression indifferent, calm as if she were merely watching a slightly special thunderstorm.
The aircraft suddenly jolted violently.
Noah almost bit his tongue.
“Scared?”
Rover – or rather, Raeliana at this moment – turned her head.
The corner of her mouth seemed to curve slightly.
Before departure, she had specifically instructed Noah that after entering the academy, he must temporarily forget her real name and identity.
“A bit…”
Noah honestly admitted.
In the face of such heavenly might, there was no point in stubbornly acting tough.
“This kind of erosion phenomenon… wasn’t it supposed to be the window period?
How is it still like this?”
“The magnetic storm window period is only relative.”
Rover explained in the tone of a patient senior.
“Energy turbulence still exists.
It’s just that the intensity and frequency have dropped to a range that conventional protective measures can withstand.”
“Back then, not long after the Spacetrek Collective was established, although they had help from the indigenous Roya tribe, it was still an engineering miracle for various nations to transport massive amounts of supplies and personnel into the underground icefield under such conditions and establish large permanent settlements.”
As they spoke, the aircraft suddenly dropped downward.
The scene outside the window changed abruptly.
The oppressive energy glow suddenly vanished, replaced by a vast space illuminated by an artificial simulated sky canopy.
Above was a blue sky and gentle sunlight identical to the surface.
Calling it sunlight didn’t seem entirely accurate, because Noah had never seen anyone’s sun be a cross-shaped star glowing in the middle.
It was like a massive furnace core.
Relying on the heat it continuously radiated, it warmed this underground oasis and maintained Lahai-Roi’s fragile yet exquisite ecosystem.
Below it was a vast, relatively flat basin surrounded by steep ring-shaped mountain walls.
At the center of the basin stood the destination of this journey.
That meticulously planned, silver-white glowing circular city – Lahai-Roi Academy City.
The city’s outline was clearly visible under the sunlight.
Among them, the most eye-catching architectural complex was undoubtedly Startorch Academy, located in the core area of the city.
However, the aircraft did not fly directly toward the city.
Instead, it began spiraling downward along the massive rift valley passage that encircled the basin.
This rift valley was like a deep well chiseled into the rock layers by some great force, forming a magnificent gateway to the center of the underground world.
Between the rift valley and various parts of the basin, a dense transportation network spread out like the roots of a giant tree.
Multi-layered highway bridges and aerial corridors crisscrossed, connecting various facilities.
Even more striking was the railway network spread throughout.
Streamlined trains like glowing silver fish shuttled at high speed between them.
On the highways in some open areas, one could also see figures in uniforms riding uniquely styled motorcycles, speeding along the roads.
Further below, the lush glow emitted by artificial ecological zones could be vaguely seen.
Everything here was filled with an awe-inspiring engineering grandeur.
At this moment, Noah’s gaze was firmly captured by the scene in a certain valley.
It was a gigantic structure whose sheer scale was difficult to describe in words.
Its various pillars were deeply embedded into the rock walls of the rift valley, yet they tore through the surrounding landscape with their absolute presence.
Its main body was a silver-white and blue steel giant pillar that shot straight into the clouds, forming an extremely wide vertical passage between heaven and earth.
It extended upward from the unseen bottom deep in the rift valley, piercing through the top of the rift valley they had come through, and directly connecting to the surface.
Each vertebral segment emitted a cold metallic luster.
Its surface was covered with complex mechanical structures and deep-blue energy patterns, its form resembling a spine that pierced through heaven and earth.
A series of giant rings encircled above each vertebral segment.
Enormous hydraulic devices and rail guide wheels were faintly visible in the gaps of the structure.
However, what shocked Noah’s mind the most was not the outer shell wrapped in human engineering.
His gaze seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, penetrating the layered steel frameworks and energy pipelines, and seeing its most core and most original existence.
A completely black giant sword, as if it had existed since ancient times.
It was unimaginably enormous.
The lower end of its blade was deeply submerged in the dark waters below, while the upper hilt area was like a backbone supporting the sky dome, firmly propping up the curved ceiling of this vast underground space.
The entire structure of the sword ran through the most core region of Lahai-Roi.
Those rumbling, operating steel vertebrae and tracks were like technological armor carefully draped over this ancient miracle by later generations.
The entire system looked both like a miracle of biotechnology and the pinnacle creation of engineering.
Even from a great distance, Noah could feel the low, rhythmic hum it emitted while operating, like the heartbeat of the earth.
What was even more shocking was that a train composed of multiple silver-white streamlined cabin sections was quietly waiting on a long track at the bottom section.
Suddenly, a series of intense electromagnetic vortex light rings lit up around the train.
Accompanied by a low humming sound that grew from weak to strong, the train began to move slowly.
Immediately afterward, its speed increased dramatically within just a few seconds, trailing a dazzling stream of light.
The train shot straight upward at high speed along the tracks on the surface of the vertebrae, like a meteor shooting in reverse.
The scene was incomparably spectacular.