In a state of spiritual connection with Cangqiong Station, Gao Wen listened carefully to the situation reported by Asharena without missing a single detail.

In the Sky Station... there is a mysterious "Shadow Hall". Even if you don't consider the amazing traces of anti-tide pollution, the existence of this hall alone is enough to be surprising. Why does such a place in the space facilities built by the Settler that is incompatible with the "painting style" of the space station? What is the function of this hall? Did it be there from the beginning, or did it gradually become that way at some time in the past?

If the Shadow Hall was originally just a normal cabin, and it was alienated to its current appearance at some time in the past, is its "alienation" related to anti-tide pollution? If it was part of the space station design from the beginning, then it would be of significance for the setter to set up such a place in the space station... What is this "meaning"?

"We checked other parts of the hall and found that the energy supply in the entire hall was normal, but a large number of equipment entered a dormant state, which is different from the 'disabled cabin section' we encountered before," said Asharena, who continued to report. "Sir Nicholas believes that this means that the 'Shadow Hall' has higher priority on energy supply than other areas, so it maintains basic operation while most areas of the entire space station are dormant.

"But we are not able to determine what the shadow power in the hall is, nor whether it is in that state from the beginning. What can be confirmed at present is that the original lighting in the hall is obviously affected by the 'dark environment'. This shadow power entrenched in the hall is obviously very powerful, and... the setter's equipment did not react to this powerful shadow power, but allowed it to move in the hall."

Gao Wen fell into deep thought and asked after a moment, "You probably haven't walked through the hall to check the situation on the other end yet, right?"

"Not yet," Asharena responded immediately, "The situation in the hall is strange at the moment. We have taken a cautious attitude. Before we understand the nature of the Shadow Hall, Chief Nicholas told us not to move forward."

Gao Wen breathed a sigh of relief: "Very good, keep this cautious. Nicholas is still in the hall now, right? I will try to spread my perception there next, hoping that there will be communication nodes in that hall that can be activated."

"I understand, I'll tell you now..." Ashalina agreed, but she suddenly interrupted as soon as she was speaking. "Ah, Miss Berlanta, who was guarding the hall, has sent a message... Chief Nicholas activated the large equipment wrapped in the thorn structure!"

"His thing activated?" Gao Wen's voice suddenly rose a little. He saw the momentary change of expression on Asharena's face through the monitor in the track station. "Do you find anything?"

"…There is only one line of information star map custodians on that terminal offline."

...

"What is the Star Map Custodian?" Kassandra curiously stretched her neck to look at the ancient device that was activated by General Nicholas Egg. The text projected on it trembled slightly in the air. It seemed that the focus structure of the projection equipment was in a bad state after a long period of dormancy. "Is it the former staff here? A position among the setters?"

"Literally, it seems like he is the person responsible for managing the star map... the navigator? Or just a certain 'warehouse manager'?" A buzzing sound came from Nicholas' body. Although he could activate the terminal in front of him through simple and crude physical methods, he did not know much about the specific settler technology and equipment control methods. When facing such an ancient device that had been dormant for many years, he could only use it with guesses like those ordinary engineering team members. Now he was guessing how to use this terminal while trying to enter instructions to the terminal in front of him according to the experience accumulated in several cabins before. "I'll see if it has any other reactions..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a small electric arc burst out between him and the ancient terminal. This just right arc was his way of "dealing" with these antique machines.

The next second, a slight sound came from the terminal that had just been "digged" from the thorns, and then a line of red fluorescent text appeared in front of everyone along with a buzzing warning sound: "Wrong, the Star Map Custodian is not authorized."

"...This thing seems to be specially prepared for that 'Star Map Custodian'," Red Dragon mechanic Bellanta, who was standing by, was always watching the changes in the terminal calmly, and then he spoke out and broke the silence. "We need corresponding permissions to carry out the next step."

"...Where to find the so-called 'custodian'," Kassandra muttered, "This entire space station has been placed for 1.87 million years. Can you still find a communications station to send a message to the Departures fleet and ask them to send someone back to unlock it for us?"

"Theory... shouldn't be like this," Nicholas muttered, floating in front of the ancient terminal, scanning the deep structure of the surrounding equipment while thinking, "The Settlementer set the space station and the entire space facilities outside to be automatically operated more than 1.8 million years ago. And judging from the records of the Dragon Clan, the Settlementer obviously had no plan to return when he left... Since they had not planned to come back from the beginning, why should they leave a hall here that requires the authority of the "Star Map Custodian" to start? Under normal thinking, shouldn't they either completely lock the area, keep it open, or set it a condition that can be opened without the return of the ship?"

Cassandra next to him reacted: "You mean... the 'Star Map Custodian' mentioned here should not be a member of the Departures' fleet?"

"If you want to leave a place forever and leave a 'legacy' before leaving, then you should either entrust it to someone or lock it up completely, instead of leaving a message at the door, 'The key is in XX's hand, please leave a message if you need to open the door,'" Nicholas shook his body, "I think so anyway."

Kassandra thought, and almost at the same time, everyone in the hall heard Gao Wen's voice suddenly coming from all directions: "I agree with Nicholas."

The next second, they heard a slight buzzing sound coming from some nearby machines. The faint and dim lights in the ceiling of the hall flashed a few times. In the darkness, several monitors started one by one. The dim indicator lights that were almost impossible to detect with the naked eye flashed from the shells of the monitoring equipment, broadcast equipment and communication equipment, and Gaowen Cecil's will arrived at the hall through the newly activated information link, and observed here through the interactive terminals set up in various parts of the hall, talking to everyone in the engineering team.

Kassandra was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Every time you 'come', it's quite exciting."

"Oh, your majesty! You are here!" Nicholas also spoke happily. Although he could not see Gao Wen, he knew that everything that happened in this hall was like an "iron ball star man" who could directly observe the operation of the surrounding machines and the flow of energy. From the time he climbed to the Sky Station and talked to Gao Wen for the first time, he understood the connection between Gao Wen and this space station more deeply and clearly than everyone else. "Did you see the situation in this hall?"

"...I can see clearly than you, I have multiple perception filters here." Gao Wen's voice was low. In the spiritual connection, the entire Shadow Hall had appeared in his mind. In his other "impression", he could see a series of activated dim spots and lines of connection between the spots. They were the cabins that Nicholas and his group had been constantly activated since they climbed into the sky.

These devices that were activated one after another appeared in his mind as a constantly forming and intertwined net. It was precisely because of the spread of this "net" that he could constantly connect his consciousness to the newly discovered cabin. In a sense, the actions of Nicholas and his group were actually constantly activate his "view" in the sky station.

And now, at the end of this vision, he saw the Shadow Hall and the huge ancient equipment in the center of the hall.

It was a huge prism connecting the roof and the ground. In the special field of view transmitted back by the monitor, he could clearly see the part of the column hidden among the thorns, and view its details by constantly switching various visual modes. He saw that there were a large number of branches spreading out at the top and bottom of the column, and these structures were connected to a large number of equipment and pipelines deep in the hall.

In his sense, the device presents a "painting style" that is incompatible with the surrounding settler equipment from top to bottom, but it is naturally integrated into the entire hall, and the entire hall... looks like an extension of this pillar, which exists to support the operation of this thing.

Gao Wen silently switched to the vision transmitted back through multiple monitors. These "visuals" were obviously not obtained by optical framing. Therefore, the dim environment in the hall could not affect his "visit". He also saw the "thorn structures" surrounding the central pillar in the picture after the monitor was automatically corrected. The crystal thorns appeared in his eyes a translucent illusion, covering a large area in the center of the hall like a layer of phantoms, looking like a "armor" defending the pillar.

In the Shadow Hall, Gao Wen's voice fell into silence for the time being, but in the darkness around, there was a buzzing sound of equipment running gradually. At the same time, there was a slight clicking sound when some devices switched and the light turning when the top monitor turned. Kassandra and others knew that this was Gao Wen who was mobilizing the surrounding monitoring equipment through his "magical ability" to carefully observe the place, so they did not urge anything, just waited silently.

At the same time, Asharena also brought people back to the hall from the previous corridor. Their movement speed was obviously not as fast as Gao Wenkui, who relied on his consciousness to transfer, and had just returned.

"Has he already been here?" Ashalina came to Berlanta and asked in a low voice.

"He is observing here," Berlanta replied in a low voice, "it's been here for a while."

Asharena nodded, and at this moment, she heard Gao Wen's voice suddenly ringing in the dark: "Is the remnant of the anti-tide pollution on the side of the thorn bush gap? I saw something abnormal there."

"Ah, yes," Asharena said immediately, and walked to the floor that was corrosive and sunken. "This is where the pollution was found. In addition, some of the thorn bushes were obviously polluted before, but the thorns suddenly broke, leaving a gap here, but it also exposed an interactive terminal that was originally wrapped in thorn bushes."

"Do you think these thorns prevented the pollution that year?"

"That's how we guessed," said Bellanta, who was beside him. "After all, it looks like this from the traces of the scene, and the thorns seem to be protecting the... pillar in the center of the hall."

"Well..." Gao Wen nodded softly, then asked again, "Can the traces on the scene determine when the pollution occurred?"

"This... is difficult to judge for a while," Ashalina shook her head in embarrassment. "The space station environment is closed, different from the surface. Everything happens here seems to be frozen in time. It is difficult to find a reference object that can be used to judge the passage of time. Moreover, we do not know the changing laws of these 'thorns' over time..."

"In a rough judgment, this should have happened a long time ago. The time scale is in units of 100,000 years. It cannot be the near future," Alice-6, who had never spoken, suddenly broke the silence at this time. "I scanned the deposition of particles around the pollution traces. Although the on-site environment was slightly damaged due to our actions, the scan results are still of reference value."

"One hundred thousand years is a unit..." Gao Wen's voice sounded quite surprising, "That is to say, at least tens of thousands of years ago, or even hundreds of thousands of years ago..."

"At such an old age, the power of the tide had tried to invade the sky?" Berlanta suddenly widened his eyes, "At that time... it should have been trapped in the tower next to Tallond..."

"Don't forget that although the body of the tide counterattack is trapped in the tower, his power is spreading out all the time. This spreading escaped the eyes of the dragon clan and even the dragon god. Even before he escaped, these spreading powers polluted the sentinel system," Gao Wen's voice sounded, "Then it is not unimaginable that He 'radiates' some power to the sky station in a similar way...and so on, it would be better to say that He was the first to pollute the sky..."

Berlanda didn't understand Gao Wen's idea for a while: "Polizing the sky is a reasonable situation? Why?"

"The Setter left two systems on this planet, one is to monitor the deep 'Sentinel' home port and its affiliated fleet, and the other is to monitor the current 'Sky' space station and its affiliated facilities group. This ancillary facility group includes satellites and small space stations near the 'Sky', and also the corresponding 'support site' on the ground..."

Gao Wen's voice echoed lowly in the hall, and he felt his thoughts become clearer little by little. In the fog, some ancient clues were finally connected into pieces.

Although the tide has died, these clues exposed at this moment are by no means meaningless. He feels that he is approaching a crucial history and some truths that have been ignored by everyone.

“……The body of the tide that year was trapped in the 'tower' on the sea outside Tarlongd, and that tower is located in the present world. Therefore, if classified according to the facilities group left by the set sailor, it should be considered a facility under the sky system.
Chapter completed!