Chapter 1241 The Terminal Hub

Guided by the Guardian flagship "Ayr," the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace slowly approached the planet shrouded in an energy barrier, filled with thick clouds and endless lightning: the Terminal Hub.

The ship hovered near the top of the atmosphere, and the external monitors transmitted clear images of the planet at close range. The striking planetary shield appeared even more solid at this distance, and showed obvious textures and "blocks": it was pieced together from countless enormous hexagons, the borders of which glittered with bright light, while the interiors rippled with flowing light. The entire shield looked like crystal armor several kilometers thick. This protective layer had no obvious energy emission structures, and no energy projection source could be sensed from the surface, which was different from any shield Hao Ren knew—including planetary shields.

Inside the shield, clouds and lightning roiled. Due to the obstruction of the thick atmosphere, it was almost impossible to directly see the surface of the planet from space. Only when the clouds occasionally revealed gaps could one glimpse the true face of this planet. What Hao Ren saw in this glimpse was land full of crystal clusters.

"We've finally arrived..." Hao Ren stood on the bridge of the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace, muttering to himself as he watched the scene presented on the holographic projection.

From first seeing this planet in the illusion of the Red Moon, to following the star map engraved in Vivian's soul to this star system, encountering divine power storms in this mysterious and dangerous star system, discovering traces of the Star-Folk, and contacting the ancient Guardian Legion and the power claws of the Mad Lord...

Finally, he was truly standing in this place, next to one of the miracles created by the Goddess of Creation, and this miracle was inextricably linked to Vivian...

He could feel that he was only one step away from an ultimate truth.

Salaman's figure appeared on the holographic projection in front of the captain's seat—in the communication screen, the giant over ten meters tall became the height of a normal person, which made communication much easier: "Mother built this place in extreme secrecy. All the celestial bodies in the entire sanctuary were shaped out of thin air by her powerful divine power, and even the space here was transformed by her to ensure that the evolution of the material universe would not cause too much interference here, thereby ensuring the eternity of the sanctuary. In this universe, only we, the guardians of the hidden sanctuary, know about this..."

"Unlike other brothers and sisters, we were not born in the Sea of Origin Blood of the Founding Star, but were created in a more hidden place. Mother adjusted the mind network of our branch of guardians so that we could exist independently of other guardians."

"From the day we were born, we have received training, honing our minds, and guarding this place is our greatest mission. We guard here, day after day, just to wait for the arrival of the Pathfinder. Today, you have come, and you have passed the test of the Nakdal Crystal—but this lady must also accept a more formal 'verification' before we can confirm her identity as the Pathfinder. Please do not think this is unreasonable: for an eternal mission, the strictest spirit of caution is necessary."

Hao Ren nodded slightly: "After that, you will tell us the secrets of this place and the ultimate plan of the Goddess of Creation?"

"Actually, this was originally something the Pathfinder knew from the beginning, but..." Salaman glanced at Vivian with some embarrassment, "I'm afraid even Mother didn't expect her creation to experience 'amnesia'... Yes, I will tell you all the secrets, if you really pass the verification."

"I have another question," Hao Ren said, "Don't worry, it's not about this planet—it's about the Star-Folk. We found a large number of dormant Star-Folk warships in the x star cluster... that is, within this local group, and their energy and consciousness have been transmitted here. If I'm not mistaken, the planetary shield above the 'Hub'..."

"The situation was urgent at the time," Salaman nodded gently, "The defense line was breached from the inside, and the Star-Folk responsible for guarding the periphery of the star cluster didn't have time to return to defend, so they used the Star-Folk's racial talent to transmit energy to the Hub. Over the years, the Corruptors have approached the final defensive circle many times. If it weren't for this extra planetary shield, our defense line probably wouldn't have lasted until now."

Hao Ren casually sighed: "In the outside universe... the Star-Folk have disappeared for many years. I didn't expect there to be so many here."

"The Star-Folk... they have been Mother's allies since the ages of darkness and chaos, but few people—including the Guardians—know of their existence. It wasn't until this era that they reappeared by Mother's side," Salaman shook his head, "In fact, even we cannot fully understand the history of those ancient creatures. They are the specters that have survived from the dark and chaotic ages, and have always roamed the edge of the orderly world. Only Mother knows everything about them. Okay, I've said enough. If you want to know more, wait until the Pathfinder's identity has been verified."

Hao Ren didn't object. Although he wanted to ask about the divine power blockade line and the Crystal Throne now, this legion commander was obviously a more stubborn and cautious person than Mu Lu, Limon Dosa, and Sif. Even if Vivian's identity was theoretically impeccable, he would still recognize the "authentication" system left by the Goddess of Creation—not to mention that there was not enough evidence to prove Vivian's identity now.

Let's see what the so-called "verification" is all about.

On the thick, crystallized planetary shield, a hexagonal area suddenly became clear and thin. The Ayr and the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace passed through this opening and flew smoothly towards the surface of the planet.

"I'll be watching the entire 'verification' process," Hao Ren said to Vivian after temporarily suspending communication, "We don't know how the identity recognition process left by the Goddess of Creation works. We must remain vigilant."

Vivian frowned: "You suspect that the things the Goddess of Creation left me... have problems? Or do you suspect that these Guardian Giants have problems?"

"Staying cautious is the way to last. The things left by the Goddess of Creation may not have problems, but the 'Goddess of Destruction' is hard to say, and even if these Guardian Giants seem to be an uncorrupted bunch, no one can say whether the orders they received have been distorted," Hao Ren shook his head, "Even if none of this is a problem, you yourself are actually an uncertain factor—don't forget, you are only half of the divine avatar. The complete 'Pathfinder' created by the goddess was already divided into two on the Purgatory Planet."

Vivian sighed softly: "As an incomplete 'Pathfinder,' I may not be able to pass the 'verification,' is that what you mean?"

Hao Ren looked at Vivian and took her hand: "Don't worry, even if this path doesn't work, we will definitely have other ways to unlock the secrets of this planet. After all, the Goddess of Creation is just a self-taught amateur who has never been to school, and I have technical support from a genuine god system here."

After a while, he added: "Of course, I don't mean to blow up this planet..."

Vivian: "...I didn't say you were going to blow it up!"

Hao Ren scratched his hair: "I don't know why, I suddenly feel that someone will definitely say that I'm going to blow up this planet... Forget it, it's probably those moldy, idle guys like Jialazhuoer and Anthony who spend all day on the water forum."

While speaking, the two spaceships had already landed on the surface of the Hub.

As a sanctuary, this planet has hardly been developed. The surface of the planet has only extremely limited infrastructure built by the Guardian Giants.

The two spaceships landed on a platform made of crystal and metal. Three directions around the platform were endless plains full of crystal clusters, and behind the platform was a long, crystallized slope.

At the end of that slope was a mountain peak formed entirely of blue and white crystal.

Hao Ren left Doudou to watch the house on the spaceship, and also let several autonomous machines accompany the little guy to relieve boredom, while he and Vivian came to the front of the crystal slope.

The crystal mountain peak in the distance towered into the clouds. The cliffs around the mountain were steep and straight. The entire mountain stood on the ground like a sharp sword or a giant tower. Even the constant thunderstorms generated around this mountain, incessantly striking the crystallized cliffs of the mountain.

"I've seen this place in the illusion..." Hao Ren muttered to himself, "The Crystal Throne is inside this mountain..."

The space behind him twisted for a while, and Salaman's huge figure also appeared in front of the slope. The old giant's voice was like rolling thunder: "Ahead is the core of the sanctuary. I will personally take you there."

"Only you?" Hao Ren looked back and saw that many Guardian Giants had also left the spaceship, but they were all standing quietly in the distance, seemingly not planning to follow.

"My brothers and sisters are with me," Salaman said, "What I see, they can also see, and if there is any problem with the verification process, they can come to my side at any time. But before that, the sanctuary does not need more disturbance."

"I understand—you Guardians just can't say things properly," Hao Ren twitched the corner of his mouth, "Isn't it just a top-secret area where noise is prohibited..."

Salaman did not answer, but took the lead and walked forward in the direction of the "Sacred Mountain."

Hao Ren, Vivian, and the data terminal quickly followed behind.

After walking for a while, the data terminal couldn't help it and started chattering:

"I say, do we really have to walk over there? It would be so much faster to fly over there or teleport over there..."

"..."

"Okay, okay, this unit knows this is a sanctuary."

"Speaking of which, can you tell this unit what the verification process is in advance? We can prepare in advance."

"..."

"Okay, okay, this unit knows this is a sanctuary."

"This outer plain is very desolate. This unit thought you would have a base camp or something here."

"..."

"Okay, okay, this unit knows this is a sanctuary."

Salaman suddenly stopped, lowered his head, looked at the data terminal floating next to Hao Ren's head very seriously, and then looked at Hao Ren: "You... didn't you stuff a fairy in there?"

Hao Ren: "This thing has been so naggy since the day I got it! It has nothing to do with fairies!"

"Oh, so there are creatures in this world that are so talkative besides fairies."

The data terminal suddenly became furious: "This unit challenges you to a duel! Do you understand what a duel is! Partner, don't stop this unit, don't stop... Damn it, you're not stopping me?"

"Why don't you shut up for a while," Hao Ren grabbed the data terminal and stuffed it into his pocket, "Don't you feel ashamed?"

In just this moment, Salaman had stopped again: "We're here."

"We're here already?" Hao Ren was stunned and quickly looked back in the direction he came from: he saw an extremely long slope, which could almost allow a thousand sea serpent-shaped Nangong Wuyue to line up and frolic on it, but he felt that he had walked on it for at most ten minutes.

Salaman then explained: "Being able to walk on this slope means that you have passed the first test: anyone who has been contaminated by the power of the Mad Lord or harbors malice towards the sanctuary cannot reach here at all. As for distance... that is an irrelevant issue in the sanctuary. The space here has never been continuous and uniform."

Hao Ren twitched the corner of his mouth: "I knew it wouldn't be that simple..."