Chapter 112: Echo from the Earth's Core

800 meters.

This number flickered on the engineering screen, like some kind of silent provocation. Kaiwen pushed his glasses, checking the geological scan data for the fifth time: "The rock layer structure is stable, but there is an abnormal energy reading running through the entire vertical shaft—it's not Luo Ya energy, nor any kind we know."

In the newly opened work area beneath the Pure Land, the heavy drilling rig was already in place. The low-frequency hum from the rotating mechanical arm made the air tremble. Su Yu stood at the edge of the work area, unconsciously rubbing the metal pendant hanging from her neck—that was Chen Mo's polishing of the first scrap of Luo Ya alloy, irregular in shape, with the crooked characters "peace" he had carved into its surface.

"I was thinking," Zhang Yang leaned on the drill control console, unusually not shouting, "Did the boss already know back then that there was something down there? Otherwise why would he insist on building the base in this godforsaken place?"

"He doesn't 'know'." Hui Jin's voice came from the shadows. The old man had changed into the simple robe of the Pure Fire Sect ritual, the Pure Fire crystal on his staff emitting a soft glow, "He 'felt' it. Just as a seed can sense the water source deep in the soil."

Makusi was adjusting his powered exoskeleton, the metal joints making a crisp clicking sound: "Back home we have an old saying—the best treasure spot is a place you pass every day but never linger in."

"So we're going to dig an eight-hundred-meter hole straight beneath our feet." Kaiwen sighed, turning to Su Yu, "There are two drilling options: fast melt-through, reaching the bottom in twenty minutes but possibly compromising the structural integrity below; slow cut, taking six hours, safe, but…"

"But we'd just be waiting six hours in this godforsaken place." Zhang Yang interjected.

Su Yu's gaze shifted from the pendant to the constantly flashing "800m". "Use slow cut."

"But—" Kaiwen wanted to say something.

"Chen Mo chose to leave things here, showing he thought this place was worth protecting." Su Yu's voice was calm but carried undeniable force, "We won't destroy what he wanted to protect just to save a few hours."

She recalled what Chen Mo had once said, during the repair of the Order Barrier, when faced with a choice that could be fixed quickly but would permanently damage part of the Luo Ya runes—"Once something is broken, it can never be put back together. Time can wait; history cannot be relived."

Back then she didn't fully understand, but now she does.

The drill started, the cutting bit rotating into contact with the rock layer, emitting a sharp but steady grinding sound. Slow cutting meant they really had six hours to wait.

The wait was long, especially in a place filled with memories.

Han Qing arranged rotating guard duty, the others scattering around the work area. Kaiwen and Aili tried to analyze the real-time energy readings streaming from the rock layer at the makeshift data terminal. Wang Hu was checking everyone's gear—a habit unchanged since the Pure Land era.

Zhang Yang couldn't sit still; after pacing a few laps in the work area, he suddenly pulled a flat metal flask from his pack. "Taken from the Voyager's mess hall," he shook the flask, liquid sloshing inside, "Synthetic vodka, strong enough. Who wants a swig?"

Makusi took the flask, gulped a big mouthful, and grinned: "Strong enough. It reminds me of the antifreeze they drank at the Iron Anvil in winter—the difference being that one actually prevented freezing."

The flask passed around among them, Hui Jin even symbolically touching it to his lips. When it reached Su Yu's hand, she hesitated.

"The boss doesn't drink," Zhang Yang said, "but he'd say 'occasionally breaking the rule isn't a mistake.'"

Su Yu smiled faintly but genuinely. She took a small sip; the liquid burned her throat, making her cough, yet inexplicably she felt a cold spot in her chest warm up.

"Speaking of which," Kaiwen suddenly said, eyes still on the screen, "Do you remember when we first found the Luo Ya console? The boss stared at those runes for three days, and we all thought he'd gone crazy."

"I remember," Wang Hu rarely interjected, "On the fourth day, he said he'd understood the first word."

"'Door.'" Su Yu said softly, "He said that symbol meant 'door.' Back then we wondered, what door? A door to where?"

Now they know. There are many doors—leading to the starry sky, to the abyss, to the past and the future.

Hui Jin tapped the ground lightly with his staff, the glow of the Pure Fire crystal undulating softly: "In the oldest prayer of the Pure Fire Sect there is a line—'Behind every closed door waits a lamp ready to be lit.' We're always seeking doors, yet we forget that the door itself waits to be opened."

The work area fell into a brief silence, only the drill's grinding sound ringing steadily.

"Depth three hundred meters." Aili reported, "Energy readings are starting to increase. Wait… what is this?"

She pulled up a spectrum chart. On the straight line representing the background radiation of the rock layer, a regular fluctuation appeared—not mechanical vibration, but a kind of… pulse.

Thud… thud… thud.

Slow, steady, like a heartbeat.

"A heartbeat underground?" Zhang Yang widened his eyes.

Kaiwen quickly manipulated the controls: "Not a biological signal, but an energy pulse. Frequency… once per second, very regular. The source is right beneath us."

Su Yu rose and walked to the data terminal. She stared at the jumping waveform, suddenly feeling the pendant at her neck warm slightly.

"This is the heartbeat of the Stardust Cradle." She whispered, "It's waiting for us."

Six hours have passed.

At the moment the bit broke through the final rock layer, there was none of the expected collapse or gas outburst—only a warm airflow drifted out of the opening, carrying a fresh, indescribable scent—not floral, not vegetal, but something… entirely new.

The probe robot descended first. The footage it sent back made everyone hold their breath.

Below was not a cave, but a huge, perfectly spherical space. The walls were smooth as mirrors, emitting a soft milky light, as if the entire space were made of solidified light. In the center floated a platform, bearing only a simple stone pedestal.

And most astonishing of all, floating within the space were countless tiny points of light—like dust, like stars—drifting slowly through the air. Each point pulsed faintly, in sync with the heartbeat previously detected.

"Zero‑gravity environment?" Kaiwen checked the data, "No… there is gravity, but its direction is odd—it's a spherical centripetal gravity. This physical structure…"

"Let's go down." Su Yu had already donned simple levitation gear—for the eight‑hundred‑meter vertical shaft they needed a small lift platform.

The descent was quiet. The deeper they went, the more pronounced the warm sensation became, the heat of the pendant at her neck growing clearer. Su Yu glanced down at the pendant and saw the rough characters "peace" emitting a faint blue glow.

The platform landed on the bottom of the spherical space—or rather, any wall could serve as the "bottom". Gravity adjusted automatically, letting them stand firmly on the luminous "floor".

Approaching the central platform, the object on the stone pedestal became clearly visible.

It was not the high‑tech device they'd imagined, nor any powerful weapon.

It was a notebook.

An ordinary paper notebook from the old era, its leather cover worn, edges curled. Beside it lay a regular steel pen.

"This…" Zhang Yang opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Su Yu stepped forward, her fingers trembling slightly as she opened the cover. The first page bore Chen Mo's handwriting, dated one week before the Voyager's departure.

【【If you're seeing this, it means two things: I can't come back, but you've found this place.】】

【【First, the important part: 'Stardust Cradle' is not a structure, but a seed. Before departing, the Stardust Civilization buried 'civilization backups' on every suitable planet. When a native civilization advances enough to grasp the concept of the 'door,' the cradle awakens, offering three things—knowledge, tools, and one chance at communication.】】

【【The knowledge is in the walls. Touch the wall, focus your mind, and you will see.】】

Su Yu looked up at the glowing wall. She hesitated a moment, then reached out. At the instant her fingertips made contact, a flood of information streamed into her mind—not text, not images, but a direct 'understanding'—about the philosophy of the Stardust Civilization, about the truth of the universe, about the origin of the 'Door of the End'…

She jerked her hand back, gasping for breath.

"What did you see?" Kaiwen asked.

"Everything." Su Yu's voice trembled, "... and yet almost nothing."

"What does that mean?"

"The Stardust Civilization also doesn't know who created the 'Door of the End.' They only know it appeared at the dawn of the universe, like some kind of… cleanup program. And the 'cradle' they left behind is to ensure that at least some civilizations, when facing that cleanup, get a chance to ask 'why.'"

The notebook's second page:

【The tool is under the base. Press the protrusion on the right side.】

Wang Hu found that inconspicuous protrusion and pressed it. The base slid open silently, revealing a small space below. Inside, twelve crystals were neatly arranged—similar to the Starlight Crystals but smaller and purer, each with a slightly different color.

"Twelve 'keys'." Hui Jin's voice filled with awe, "Corresponding to twelve civilizations that were completely annihilated... These are their relics."

The third page of the notebook, which is also the last page:

【There is only one chance to communicate; we can send only one message to the relay network left by the Stardust Civilization. I originally wanted to keep it for myself, but now I have no use for it. The decision is yours.】

【Additionally, personal matter: Su Yu, there is something in the interlayer of the last page of the notebook. Look at it alone. No one else is allowed to peek.】

【Finally, no matter what message you send, no matter how the future turns out——】

【Being able to meet you is the thing I regret the least in my life.】

【Keep moving forward. I am proud of you.】

【Chen Mo】

The handwriting ends here. The last few characters are somewhat messy, as if written hastily, yet also as if written with difficulty.

In the spherical space, it was so quiet that one could hear each person's breathing.

Zhang Yang was the first to turn away, rubbing his eyes hard. Wang Hu lowered his head, clenching his fists. Han Qing turned and walked toward the wall, pretending to study the drifting points of light. Kaiwen took off his glasses.

Su Yu turned to the last page of the notebook and indeed found a thin interlayer. She turned her back and pulled out what was inside.

It was a photograph.

Printed on old-era photographic paper, the photo's edges had yellowed. In the photo, a young Chen Mo—younger than she remembered—stood before a ruin, beside a girl with a bright smile who held a baby in her arms. On the back of the photo was a line of small text:

【My sister and my little nephew. The last group photo before the great disaster. I always said I would take them to see the rebuilt world. Now, I entrust this promise to you.】

The photo slipped from Su Yu's trembling hand, floating in the zero-gravity air. The drifting points of light gathered, encircling the photo and gently rotating, as if paying homage, as if escorting it.

She bent down, picked up the photo, and pressed it tightly against her chest.

A long time, a long time.

Then she lifted her head; though tears still streaked her face, her gaze regained its clarity and resolve.

"Kaiwen."

"Here."

"Ready to send the communication." Su Yu walked to the central platform, gazing at the twelve crystals lying quietly beneath the base, "The message content is simple——"

She took a deep breath, and her voice echoed clearly in the spherical space:

【Stardust Civilization relay network, this is Earth civilization 'Qiming'. We have received the legacy of twelve civilizations. We have only one question——】

【Besides the one we already know, how many more coordinates does the Door of the End have?】

【And how should we shut it down, rather than merely pause it?】

【Please answer.】

The message was sent. The twelve crystals lit up simultaneously, turning into twelve beams of different colors that converged at the center of the spherical space, then shot straight upward, penetrating eight hundred meters of rock, piercing the atmosphere, and flying into deep space.

Everyone looked up, watching the direction in which the light disappeared.

"Now," Su Yu turned, looking at her companions, "we wait for a reply. By the way……"

She looked at the glowing walls.

"Let's learn something new."