Above The Sky
Chapter 325 - 325 302 The Core of the Labyrinth 13

325: Chapter 302: The Core of the Labyrinth (1/3) 325: Chapter 302: The Core of the Labyrinth (1/3) The relic cluster began to operate normally.

Ian could sense through the silver core chip that the main control AI of the Redwood Base, which had been stuck for an extended time, was functioning smoothly.

The immeasurable seawater that had been swallowed before, after being purified and converted into a coolant, was being sent to the surroundings of the furnace cores that were on the brink of dissolving for emergency cooling.

In his mind, the blood-red warning lantern that kept flashing finally gradually turned to bright yellow, and although it was still at a dangerous threshold, the visible temperature data was falling, and it was expected to gradually return to normal levels within ten days.

The great storm had become history.

As long as there wasn’t a second Great Elder or a swarm to appear, the furnace core would no longer lose control.

“I wonder how those Primal Fae are doing…

At the time, I didn’t perceive much of a dangerous aura.

Now that I think about it, there are sub-species like Volcano Fairy, Lava Fairy, and Furnace Fairy among the Fae, so there’s no need for me to worry too much.”

Ian looked in the direction of the cooling storage, and he could even imagine that with endless heat flowing into the once icy Ice Abyss, it would soon become a giant reservoir filled with scalding hot water.

The Frost Fairy definitely could not adapt to that environment.

But Hot Spring Fairy and Steam Fairy definitely could.

There was no need to worry about the survival of the Fae.

Even if the world were destroyed, they may not necessarily die.

After all, why was it the Fae Exploration Team that discovered the Obera Flame Ship on the Moon?

Isn’t it because those Fae don’t need almost any of the living conditions required by nearly all other creatures and can freely explore space with their own bodies?

After that, the Fae even built a huge base on the surface of the Moon, serving as the main hub for researching extraterrestrial spaceships.

“Wait a second, if that’s the case, looking up at the Moon shattering, turning into New Moon…”

At that thought, Ian was slightly startled as he recalled the mural he had seen earlier, where the Moon shattered and its fragments fell onto the Teyvat Regions.

The largest gathering place of the Fae was a city-state located around the Sea of Fury…

and the name of that city-state…

was Falling Star City!

“Could it be…

No matter, for the sake of future Fae materials, I definitely need to visit Falling Star City.”

Shaking his head and pushing his thoughts aside, Ian turned his head to look forward.

The Aether Crystal Dragon and the White Mist Bishop were following the river toward its end.

This place was where the cooling pipeline branches used to be, or to be accurate, the regular exchange pipelines used when ’emergency cooling’ wasn’t necessary.

The cooling circuits of the power generation units typically have their own cycles and do not need to often change the internal cooling liquid, but due to the complex underground conditions, the overall system still conducts slow exchanges to ensure the coolant inside the power units remains effective at all times.

Only in extremely critical situations, like what had just happened, would the entire region become a vast interchange channel, pumping the surging tides from the ocean into the interior.

And the end of the cooling channel naturally leads to the vicinity of the now cooling storage, previously the Ice Abyss.

To be precise, it is located right above the cooling storage—in a huge backup reservoir.

“This…

feels even more like the center of a labyrinth?”

When everyone arrived at this place with the Aether Crystal Dragon, Master Gossay couldn’t help but be surprised as he looked around the dazzlingly bright environment: “Or should I say, the South Sea Relic Cluster is only partly labyrinthine, and the core of this labyrinthine part is here—this Crystal Dragon’s nest!”

“And this Crystal Dragon, is what’s known as the ‘Labyrinth Guardian’…

Yes, of course, this makes much more sense.”

“Damn,” Andor exclaimed, “It’s so bright!”

It wasn’t just them; even Ian was momentarily stunned.

What appeared before his eyes was an exceptionally marvelous underground cavity.

This vast underground cavity seemed never-ending at first glance, but it was evident that it was an underground lake, with water so clear you could see the distinctly angular rocks at the bottom.

These rocks were shaped like hexagonal columns, stacked layer upon layer.

Some were flat, while others were uneven, and the tallest ones formed a small island at the center of the lake.

That small island was the Aether Crystal Dragon’s nest, resembling network coral in shape, but made of crystal material.

The Crystal Coral Island emitted a strong fluorescent glow visible to the naked eye, a radiation that was not the high-thermal radiation of a nuclear reactor, but rather resembled the Spirit Energy radiation when a Natural Spiritual Energy Field forms…

Indeed, it was just as Ian had confirmed within the Silver Chip: the crystalline islet that lit up the entire amber space was a highly concentrated Spirit Energy Field that had coalesced into a Natural Element Crystal Vein.

“The entire underground cavity where the Redwood Base is located should be a relic of a prehistoric volcano, a giant subterranean spectacle left after the lava in the magma chamber receded back into the mantle—and this underground lake is one of them.

These hexagonal columns are likely coral rocks formed after volcanic lava cooled,” he said to himself.

With certainty in his heart, Ian noticed that on the edge of the underground lake, at the basalt shore, there were many huge carcasses of Magical Beasts, which were probably the Aether Crystal Dragon’s collection and the remnants it had left uneaten.

And there, incredibly, was the massive carcass of a Crocodragon… none other than the bodies of the Redwood Great Shaman and the Swamp Crocodile Dragon!

It seemed that Shasha and the Gargantuan Eel had also followed the river to this lake and then made their way to the River of Parasites… No wonder they were parasitized.

It was probably the Parasitic Beasts that had come here to steal the eggs and attacked the Gargantuan Eel and Shasha, which caused them to be infested with Brain-Eating Parasites!

And this lake, being interconnected in every direction, must also have one path leading to the Ruins of Ice Abyss.

No wonder it is the Labyrinth’s center.

With this thought, Ian turned his head to look in the direction of the Aether Crystal Dragon.

The once brilliantly luminous behemoth was now dim all over, only a core at the heart emitting a pale light, and most of its densely packed crystalline eyes were closed on its head.

It locked eyes with Ian for a moment.

“It’s dying.”

A white figure landed beside Shasha; the White Mist Bishop looked toward the crystalline coral islet at the center of the lake and said calmly, “Since it helped me during the battle with the Brain-Eater Matron, I will not fight against it before it attacks me of its own volition.”

“Remember to respect life, Mr.

Guide,” he reminded Ian.

“Yes, Bishop White Mist,” Ian replied with a slight nod.

He signaled to Yisen Gard and Master Gossay not to worry, then patted the head of Shasha beneath him, and with the Dragon Eggs, he leapt toward the Aether Crystal Dragon.

The exhausted, dying Aether Crystal Dragon watched as Ian gently landed before it, then returned the three melon-sized Dragon Eggs, wrapped in Worm Nest flesh and blood, to its front.

The great beast let out a mournful cry that echoed like the trembling of some kind of crystalline iron.

The huge Magical Beast rose to its feet, extended its tongue, brought the tiny eggs into its mouth, then nodded slightly to Ian with a soft groan.

Ian likewise nodded, then turned around and signaled to Shasha and the others to go ashore.

“The Dragon Eggs have been contaminated with the Origin Quality of the Worm Nest and undergone subsequent battles, making it unlikely they’ll hatch.

The Crystal Dragon wants to use its last bit of strength to warm them a little,” Ian remarked somberly as they headed to the shore.

“Let’s hope it’s successful.

After all, as a Labyrinth variant, its offspring are sure to inherit some of its evolutionary traits.”

“But then again, it’d be quite interesting if they ended up being Swarm Crystal Dragons.”

Of course, there couldn’t possibly be such a thing as Swarm Crystal Dragons…

No, what if the Nest Will actually nurtured the Dragon Eggs by hand?

Then perhaps it really could breed Swarm Crystal Dragons?

Yisen Gard, meanwhile, stared at Ian lost in thought with a dazed look, muttering to himself, “I get the shark, but how can he understand even dragons?”

“Is Spirit Energy really that powerful?”

Ian did hear the quiet muttering but didn’t mind—of course, he couldn’t understand, but that didn’t make him a fool.

If you don’t understand, you guess.

He could discern the other’s emotional fluctuations through the Foresight View and Silver Chip; aligning these with the other’s actions, movements, and vocal tone, he could generally grasp what the other was trying to convey.

By now, all dangerous creatures and enemies in the Southern Sea Ruins had been eliminated, even the soldiers from Fiery Flame Land had almost entirely perished in the earlier cooling duct restart—it might be that some survivors were out there, but Ian would have plenty of time to eradicate them later.

If they could capture a ‘living’ member of the Spiritual Tool Church, that would be even more valuable.

With that thought, Ian turned his head to look at another member of the Orthodox Church in his team.

He looked at Bishop White Mist.

He looked at this peaceful and tranquil elder who, even though his targets, the Brain-Eater Matron and the Swarm Will, had been destroyed, showed not a hint of ‘joy,’ ‘exhilaration,’ or ‘relief.’