Chapter 316: Perilous Journey of Exploration Gives Rise to Danger

The dazzling light gradually dissipated, and dust filled the cabin, choking everyone into a fit of endless coughing.

Zhang Cheng struggled to climb up from the floor, and the scene before his eyes made his heart pound with alarm.

Kelinda lay on the ground, her fate unknown.

Xingji Xiake leaned against the wall, his face pale, clearly having suffered no light injuries himself.

The others were no better off, every one of them covered in dust and utterly wretched.

The runes on the device had already dimmed, but an unsettling energy fluctuation still lingered in the air.

Xingyun Zhizhe and the Xingling xue zhe gathered around the device, brows tightly furrowed, repeatedly studying those runes, yet remained utterly helpless.

Time passed second by second, and everyone's mood grew increasingly anxious.

"This can't go on!" Xingji Xiake slammed a fist into the wall with a dull thud. "We have to find a way to break these runes quickly, or else..." He paused and did not continue, but everyone understood what he meant.

"I have an idea..." the hacker girl Xiao Ying, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

Everyone's gaze focused on her.

Xiao Ying nervously bit her lip and continued, "I can try using my program to break these runes, but..."

"But what?" Zhang Cheng asked.

"But it would consume a massive amount of energy," Xiao Ying's voice grew quieter and quieter, "and... I can't guarantee it will definitely succeed."

"No!" Xingji Xiake rejected it without a second thought. "That's too risky! If we consume a massive amount of energy, what if..." He glanced at the unconscious Kelinda. "What if another accident happens, then what?"

"Xiake, calm down." Guangming Shizhe patted Xingji Xiake on the shoulder and said softly, "We have no other choice right now."

"But..."

"Trust me, I can do this." Xiao Ying looked firmly at Xingji Xiake, her eyes glinting with the light of confidence.

Xingji Xiake still wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhang Cheng.

"Xiake, I think Xiao Ying's proposal is worth a try." Zhang Cheng's gaze fell on the device, his eyes deep. "The situation is already bad enough. We can't waste any more time."

Xingji Xiake looked at Zhang Cheng in disbelief. "You..."

Zhang Cheng patted Xingji Xiake on the shoulder, his tone brooking no argument: "Xiake, I know what you're worried about, but right now we have to take a gamble. Xiao Ying, begin." A resolve showed in his eyes, as if he had long since cast life and death aside.

Xingji Xiake opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing, only silently clenching his fists.

Xiao Ying took a deep breath, walked up to the device, and her slender fingers danced swiftly across the control console.

Lines of complex code flashed before her eyes, like leaping musical notes.

As she proceeded with her operation, the runes on the device began to flicker, brightening and dimming, as if breathing.

Suddenly, the device let out an ear-piercing shriek, and a powerful energy wave rippled outward in all directions.

Caught off guard, everyone was forced to stumble backward by the energy wave.

After the energy wave passed, a distortion appeared in the air, and immediately afterward, several metallic figures materialized from within the distortion.

They varied in shape, but all radiated a cold metallic luster and held sharp weapons in their hands — they were unmistakably several mechanical puppets!

"Careful!" Xingji Xiake roared, drawing his weapon and charging forward to meet them.

The mechanical puppets moved with swift and precise ferocity, every strike aimed straight at a vital point.

Though Xingji Xiake fought bravely, he could not hold them off all at once.

At that moment, a figure flashed to Xingji Xiake's side — it was the mechanic A li.

He held a specially made wrench in his hand, wielding it nimbly and forcing back the puppets attacking Xingji Xiake one by one.

These puppets' attack patterns were complex and ever-changing, every movement concealing hidden subtleties, as if they were meticulously designed combat machines.

Xingji Xiake and A li fought together against them, yet danger still lurked at every turn.

One puppet swung a massive metal arm, slamming viciously toward Xingji Xiake.

Xingji Xiake could not dodge in time and was about to be struck; in the nick of time, A li forcefully jammed the wrench into the puppet's joint, forcibly altering its attack trajectory.

"Damn it! What is going on with these puppets?" Xingji Xiake wiped the sweat from his face and said through gritted teeth.

A li fended off the puppets' attacks while carefully observing their construction, his brow tightly furrowed. "The construction of these puppets is extremely precise, and..." He suddenly stopped, his gaze falling on one of the puppets, his expression changing drastically. "Oh no! Their energy source..."

"What is it?" Xingji Xiake asked anxiously.

A li did not answer, only pointing at that puppet, his voice trembling. "Its energy... comes from the device!"

The runes on the device flickered faster and faster, their light growing ever more dazzling, like a star about to explode.

And those mechanical puppets moved faster and faster too, their attacks growing ever fiercer, surging toward everyone like a tide.

"Xiao Ying, are you done yet?!" A trace of anxiety tinged Zhang Cheng's voice.

Xiao Ying's face was pale, her forehead covered in beads of sweat, her fingers still dancing swiftly across the control console, her lips trembling slightly. "Almost... just about..."

Just then, the runes on the device suddenly stopped flickering, and the light gradually dimmed.

And the movements of those mechanical puppets halted along with them, as if frozen in place, motionless.

Xiao Ying slumped weakly onto the control console, her face pale as paper, her voice faint. "I... I succeeded..." She laboriously raised her hand and pointed at a rune on the device. "This rune... is the control..." Her voice cut off abruptly, and her fingers dropped limply...

Zhang Cheng rushed to the device, his gaze fixed dead on that rune, his expression changing drastically. "Oh no! This rune..."

The instant Xiao Ying slumped over, the runes on the device finally went completely dark, like extinguished stars.

Those mechanical puppets, so menacing moments ago, were as if their Control Strings had been snipped — their metal limbs froze in midair, then crashed to the ground with a dull metallic clang.

Everyone's taut nerves finally relaxed a little. Xingji Xiake wiped the sweat from his face and let out a long breath. "It's finally over..."

But before that breath was fully exhaled, an invisible shock wave erupted outward from the device, violently rippling in all directions.

Everyone felt a sharp, violent pain pierce their minds, as if a slender steel needle had been ruthlessly driven in.

Xingji Xiake grunted and staggered backward, nearly falling.

Xingyun Zhizhe's face was pale as he clutched his forehead, groaning in agony.

Even the ever-composed Zhang Cheng felt a wave of dizziness, the world before his eyes seemingly turning into a distorted kaleidoscope.

"A mental attack!" the Xingling xue zhe said through gritted teeth, forcing out the words with difficulty.

This mental shock came quickly and left just as fast.

As everyone gradually regained consciousness, the place at the center of the device, originally covered by runes, slowly split open, revealing a small control console.

Complex lights flickered on the control console, like a slumbering beast silently waiting to be awakened.

Zhang Cheng endured the lingering sting in his mind, quickly walked to the control console, and carefully observed the buttons and indicator lights above it.

Guangming Shizhe also came up, asking concernedly, "Zhang Cheng, are you alright?"

Zhang Cheng shook his head, his gaze fixed tightly on the control console, and said in a low voice, "This should be the key to controlling the whole device…" Before his words faded, he suddenly felt a hand tightly grasp his.

He turned his head to look, and Guangming Shizhe's face was unusually pale, her eyes filled with fear……

Guangming Shizhe's hand was icy cold and trembling, but she tightly held Zhang Cheng's hand, and a warm power flowed from her palm into his body.

This power was not ordinary heat but a strange energy; it soothed the lingering sting in Zhang Cheng's mind, dispelled his inner confusion, and made him feel an unprecedented calm and resolve.

He turned his head toward Guangming Shizhe; a forced smile appeared on her pale face, her eyes full of encouragement and support.

"We'll do it together." Zhang Cheng said in a low voice, his tone firm and strong.

Together they walked toward the control console, with Xingji Xiake and Xingyun Zhizhe closely following behind.

The lights on the control console flickered unpredictably, casting strange shadows like a gate to an unknown world.

As Zhang Cheng approached, the screen on the control console suddenly lit up, displaying a string of complex interstellar coordinates.

These coordinates were not any familiar star system to them, but a completely unknown region hidden deep in the universe, full of mystery and the unknown.

"What place is this?" Xingyun Zhizhe leaned close to the screen, carefully examining those coordinates, brows furrowed, muttering, "I have never seen such a star system……"

Xingji Xiake also came over, he glanced briefly at those coordinates, then impatiently waved his hand, "Never mind what place this is! As long as we can find a way out of here!"

Zhang Cheng said nothing; he intuitively felt that behind these coordinates lay a greater secret, one capable of changing their fate.

He reached out and lightly touched the coordinates on the screen; a strange energy flowed from his fingertips into his body, making him feel dizzy.

Just then, Guangming Shizhe suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! Look…" Her trembling finger pointed to a corner of the screen, where a new coordinate was slowly emerging, emitting an eerie red glow……

"What… what is this…" Zhang Cheng jerked his head toward the red coordinate, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart……

"This…"