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Chapter 162 Opening the Door
Chapter 162 Opening the Door
Before us lay a relatively flat ash depression.
In the center of the depression, a more magnificent and complete dark silver metal building stands out!
The building is a flat, hexagonal column, over twenty meters high, mostly buried underground, with only about one-third of the top visible.
The exposed surface is covered with energy circuits and interfaces for unidentified devices that are far more complex and extensive than those in the entrance hall.
Scattered around the building are some smaller, similarly styled metal structure remains, which appear to have once been ancillary facilities.
Most notably, on the front of the building, there is a massive five-meter-high archway that clearly serves as the main entrance.
The archway was tightly shut, its surface covered with layers upon layers of incredibly precise verification runes, radiating a chillingly powerful energy.
This is the main entrance to Hub-2!
Its scale and completeness far surpass the previous entrance—3!
Not far to the side and rear of the building, there is a distinct square depression with neat edges on the ground. The depression reveals a downward-extending metal staircase, which is dark and exudes a different, more deathly energy.
That is very likely the entrance to the Star Chart Archive or other ancillary areas.
Almost simultaneously, a report came through the intercom crystal from Officer Renekton of Team B: "Team B has arrived at the suspected area of the lost maintenance unit:"
"Severely damaged ancient mechanical remains were discovered, and their style has been confirmed."
"There are signs of recent activity near the wreckage, not from our side, nor the Empire—it's suspected to be the Ash Ring!"
"The tracks are fresh; they might still be nearby! Requesting instructions!"
The Ring of Ashes! They've got their eyes on this place too!
Hector's face darkened, and he immediately replied, "Team B, remain concealed, maintain high alert, do not make contact, continue surveillance and try to trace the direction of the trail!"
"Team A has arrived at Hub 2 Main Entrance and will attempt to open it soon. Maintain contact!"
After closing the communication, Hector looked at Duden and Rolin with a sharp gaze: "The bugs from the Ash Ring have arrived too."
"Time is of the essence! Researcher Duden, Wizard Rowling, are you confident in opening the main entrance?"
Duden stared at the terrifying array of runes on the massive archway, swallowing hard. "This—this verification system is more than ten times more complex than Entrance-3!"
"Time is needed for analysis —"
Rowling didn't speak. He had already walked to the archway, and the light from the Insight Ring swept over the extremely intricate patterns.
The echo unit operates at high speed, attempting to analyze its energy loop structure and verify its logic.
The pressure is immense.
But at this point, there is no turning back.
He turned to look at Hector, Duden, and all the team members watching him, and slowly spoke, his voice unusually clear in the scorching wind: "I need time, and I need everyone's cooperation."
"This door—is more complicated than any we've encountered before."
"But I can sense that its core verification logic is consistent with the energy order essence of the observer."
"We possess the control key crystal for Entrance-3, fragments of basic symbols obtained from the Stone Tablet of Civilization, the powerful fire order energy of the Empire, and the wisdom and strength of all of us."
His self-illuminating light swept across the crowd, finally landing on Hector.
"Commander, I suggest we try a combined verification."
"Compound verification?" Commander Hector repeated the word, his golden soul flame fixed on Rolin.
"Yes." Roland nodded, his gaze returning to the massive array of runes.
"The verification system for this door is extremely complex; simply simulating energy frequencies or key crystals may not be sufficient. The core technology of the observer is order and information."
"What we possess can be viewed as different fragments of order and pieces of information."
He quickly analyzed: "First, the polyhedral crystal we possess is the secondary area access key for Entrance-3. It contains the observer's energy characteristics and basic access information, which can be used as a trigger for authentication."
"Secondly, the fragments of basic energy geometric structures and logical symbols that I deciphered from the civilization stone tablet, though scattered, represent a more fundamental knowledge language or rule description that may be common to the observer civilization."
"We can try to use these fragments to build a very simple request access information flow that conforms to its underlying logic."
""
"Third, the Empire's fire energy, although manifested in different forms, is at its core the same pursuit of a powerful and stable order."
"Especially the flames controlled by the Flame Purifiers and High Priests, which possess purifying and stabilizing properties."
"We can use it as a powerful source of ordered energy and a stable field to provide energy support and environmental stability for the entire verification process, preventing interference from external chaotic energy."
Rowling turned to Duden, Cassandra, and the others: "Therefore, we need to divide the work and cooperate."
"Researcher Duden, using the basic symbol mapping table we compiled, combined with the control crystal, try to compile the symbol fragments I parsed into a basic logical information flow requesting minimum access permissions, in preparation for injection."
Duden nodded immediately, took out the recording crystal and the special compilation tool from his backpack, and began to work quickly.
"Kashan, and all the priests." Roland looked at the Imperial spellcasters.
"When I give the signal, please join forces to construct the strongest purifying fire order field in the area between us and this door, creating an extremely stable energy environment that repels chaos, covering the entire archway as much as possible."
Cassan exchanged glances with the other priests and Flamebringers, quickly reaching a consensus.
"Yes, but we can only maintain this level of order for a maximum of three minutes."
"Three minutes should be enough." Roland took a deep breath and took out the black stone box containing the polyhedral crystal from his pocket.
He walked to the huge archway, placed the stone box on the ground, and opened it.
The polyhedral crystals radiated a warm luster within the box.
Commander Hector waved his hand, and the Forge Guards quickly dispersed, forming a tight defensive circle around the perimeter. Their shields faced outwards, their soulfire burning, as they stood vigilant against any potential threats from the outside.
Whether it's energy bodies in the environment or potentially lurking Ash Rings.
Everything is ready.
Lorin stood about five meters in front of the archway, raised his left hand, and the light on the Insight Ring on his index finger reached its peak.
Within the spiritual sea, the echo unit operates at full power, calling up and integrating all the clearest basic energy geometric structures and logical symbol fragments that were successfully triggered and recorded from the Civilization Stone Tablet, as well as the observer energy frequency characteristics obtained from the Entrance-3 console.
"Duden, is the logical information flow ready?"
"Alright! It's the simplest identification request—a low-power access structure—already encoded into the control crystal!" Duden handed over a palm-sized crystal plate with flowing runes on its surface.
Rolin took the crystal plate and placed it side by side with the polyhedral crystal in the stone box.
"Cassan, prepare the arena for order!"
Cassan and the other seven priests and Flamebearers stepped forward and stood in a semi-circle behind Rolin.
They raised their staffs or ritual implements high, chanting ancient and solemn syllables.
A fiery energy, hot yet not violent, rose from their bodies, intertwining and merging in the air to form a huge, translucent, pale golden flame shield that enveloped Rolin, the stone box, the crystal plate, and the entire archway entrance!
Inside the light shield, the air instantly became fresh, the temperature remained constant, and even the omnipresent low energy noise of the Ash Plains disappeared, leaving only a pure sense of order that brought peace to the mind.
"Now!" Roland shouted, pressing his hands simultaneously against the crystal and crystal plate on the ground!
Mental energy acts like two bridges, one end connecting the Insight Ring and the Echo Unit, and the other end simultaneously infusing the Polyhedral Crystal and the Control Crystal!
The polyhedral crystal was activated first, emitting a soft, milky-white light. A clear energy wave with a secondary authority mark spread out, touching the rune array on the surface of the archway.
Immediately afterwards, the control crystal lit up, and the simple logical information flow compiled by Duden, in the form of extremely refined energy symbols, followed the guidance of Rolin's mental power and mixed with the permission fluctuations emitted by the crystal, like a document with basic identity verification and a simple access request, surging towards the archway.