Chapter 1 A Fragmented Wreck

A massive black wreck lay ahead, the details of which were fully illuminated by the lush, glowing deep-sea flora growing around it. It was more than ten kilometers long, with a slender central axis and a large number of crystalline lamellae distributed around the main body. These crystalline lamellae varied in size, ranging from tens to hundreds of meters wide, spreading out from the central axis of the wreck like petals or sails. At the rear of the wreck, some bizarre, bulging metal structures could be seen, with what appeared to be heat dissipation grids neatly arranged on them.

The wreck lay on its side on the seabed, supported by numerous structures that prevented it from collapsing completely. Some of its crystalline lamellae were presumably destroyed during the descent, scattering broken pieces around. Aside from this, there were no decipherable markings on the wreck, except for a large, abstract sun-like symbol painted on a black crystalline lamella in the middle section, but its meaning was unknown.

Hao Ren's first reaction upon seeing this thing was that it was a spaceship. This was the result of his recent intensive study of those learning manuals. And after further scanning, the data terminal came to a more precise conclusion: "Indeed a spaceship, but the manufacturing material is completely different from that of the sirens' ships."

"You don't need to tell me, the style is different," Hao Ren said, as he slowly moved the Tortoise Rock Platform closer to the wreck. As they approached, the steel monster, over ten kilometers long, had an even greater impact. Its bizarre "petal" structure and black paint were impressive. "This thing is really big... Is it a warship or a civilian ship?"

"This machine will guarantee you with its six horns that a civilian ship wouldn't accidentally crash in this place, and judging from the structure, this thing is more like a warship," the data terminal said, circling Hao Ren's head. "Speaking of which, you're pretty good, your spaceship piloting skills are already so proficient? This machine thought it would have to be your assistant for life."

Hao Ren waved his hand and pushed the terminal aside: "Don't mess around, I've also studied the instructions. I'm not good at fighting, but I can move a parking space."

The massive black wreck was clearly not built by the sirens, which made Hao Ren couldn't help but think of the Zala Thane that was destroyed in orbit. He suspected that the spaceship in front of him was the alien warship that attacked Aio. But there was another question that couldn't be explained: why did it crash here?

The small and nimble Tortoise Rock Platform quickly weaved between the petal-like crystalline lamellae of the black wreck, and several small probes were released to find the entrance to the wreck. At this moment, Nangong Wuyue's voice suddenly came from the communicator: "Landlord, landlord! We have a discovery!"

"Did you find the portal?"

"No, I found another escape ship," Nangong Wuyue said quickly. "It was also destroyed, and it's in pieces. There's also a strange thing here... very huge!"

Hao Ren immediately controlled the spaceship to ascend: "Stay where you are, I'll track your signal."

The sirens' speed in the water was amazing. In just an hour or two, Nangong Wuyue and the others had each swam hundreds of kilometers. Hao Ren found Nangong Wuyue at the edge of Ivaduran, who waved to the spaceship and pointed to a huge ruin outside the city.

That was another migration starship, lying quietly there, adjacent to the city of Ivaduran. Due to its enormous size, it was almost like another city lying on the seabed. This "city" was already fragmented, even more miserable than the Zala Thane on the orbital station. A huge rift ran across the entire starship, almost cutting it in half, and countless collapsed and broken wrecks were distributed radially around the rift.

"This is the Paladin," Hao Ren realized that this wreck was of the same model as the wreck on the orbital station and immediately made a judgment. "The whereabouts of this ship have also been found... It seems that it failed to escape, it was destroyed directly on the launch pad."

If it weren't for the interference of the Wall of Reality causing this entire area to be in a chaotic "blurred" state, and the "visibility" was compressed to only a few kilometers, Hao Ren would have been able to confirm the structure of this seabed from high altitude. He would have seen the city of Ivaduran located in the very center of a plain, and around this siren capital were symmetrically distributed four large platforms of the same scale as the city, which were the launch pads for launching the Arks.

Four starships once stayed there, and now the Nathaton has settled on Earth, the Zala Thane is drifting alone in the high orbit of Aio, and the Paladin lies quietly and miserably here, split in two by some powerful force, leaving only ruins of the city-sized giant ship.

And the Antavian Ark, which was said to be specially designed... its platform was empty, and no one knew where it went.

"Including the Nathaton, the whereabouts of three exile ships have been confirmed," Izhaks counted silently. "There's only one Antavian left, right? It hasn't been found yet."

"Maybe it was also destroyed somewhere, but I sincerely hope that it was successfully launched back then and has now safely landed somewhere—like the Nathaton," Vivian sighed and shook her head. "You can see from these wrecks how hard those sirens worked back then... It's a pity."

"Is that the 'strange thing' Wuyue was talking about?" Nangong Sanba pointed to a black shadow near the ruins of the city. "It looks like... another black spaceship."

"Yeah, it is, it's the same model as the unknown spaceship we just discovered," Hao Ren turned the external monitor around and zoomed in on the black shadow. He found that it was also a black giant ship, more than ten kilometers long, with unique, sail-like crystal lamellae arranged on the hull. It lay quietly next to the ruins of the Paladin, with a series of cannon-like structures opened on the side facing the latter. It seemed that it was still firing at the last moment before it crashed, and the scene was like dying together. "I think... we should salvage a sample."

"This machine agrees," the data terminal replied, "Comprehensive judgment, this unknown spaceship is extremely related to the destruction of Aio, samples should be taken for analysis."

"How many gravity regulators do we have in the warehouse?" Hao Ren knocked on the terminal shell. "I remember we left a lot of gravity regulators after helping Lao Wang move, it should be enough to lift this thing from the sea to outer space."

The data terminal calculated briefly: "The quantity is enough, but a tugboat is needed, the Tortoise Rock Platform can do it."

"Okay, let's salvage this thing first," Hao Ren made a decision immediately. "I don't want any accidents to happen later and ruin these samples, let's salvage it first to be safe..."

Before he could finish his words, the siren queen's voice suddenly came from the communicator: "Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Katerina?"

"It's me. I found the portal... It's very chaotic, I can't get any closer."

"The main course is about to be served," Hao Ren looked up at the people around him, and then glanced at the huge black warship wreck on the holographic projection. After weighing the pros and cons, he nodded, "Terminal, the spaceship is handed over to you, you salvage that thing, give me a comprehensive engineering machine, and I'll send the explosives into the portal."

Lily jumped up: "Landlord, can I go with you?"

Hao Ren slapped her back: "You paddle too slowly, stay on the spaceship honestly. Vivian, don't come with me either, I'm just going to install a bomb, I'm familiar with this job, there won't be any problems."

Then he beckoned to Izhaks: "Lao Wang, come and help me, deal with accidents. Everyone else, including Wuyue, stay on the spaceship, we'll meet again after I detonate the portal."

Everyone agreed, only Lily oh-ed with grievance, all huskies have this reaction when they are left at home by their owners. She looked at the spaceship console with anticipation: "Then when I'm bored, I can..."

"No," Hao Ren flicked her back to the chair with a brain teaser. "Don't press anything indiscriminately. Terminal, lock the operating system, don't open any permissions except the movie player and Super Mario."

After assigning all the tasks, Hao Ren and Izhaks left the bridge together.

The Tortoise Rock Platform began to approach the black spaceship lying on the seabed. A large number of channels opened on one side, and groups of autonomous machines pushed anti-gravity devices toward the wreck, preparing for installation and floating operations. The rear of the Tortoise Rock Platform opened another gate, and a small probe only a dozen meters long flew out from inside.

The probe pushed a silver cube at the front—that was the explosive gift Hao Ren prepared for the portal.