Chapter 14 The Gorgon's Core

The metal monsters the Lahkraine called "Gorgon Demons" gave Hao Ren the initial impression of out-of-control ancient weapons, the kind that took the technological route with a rather high level of development. At the same time, they had very distinct characteristics, such as... everywhere revealing structural features that seemed like carbon-based creatures.

Although these behemoths were almost entirely made of alloy, the alloy components still formed obvious structures like muscles, bones, and internal organs, and each structure had a very reasonable function. Their appearance was also close to animals, with manta rays and giant insects being quite distinct features. And when walking into the body of one of the behemoths, this wonderful "biomimicry" became even more obvious.

Hao Ren walked through the passages inside the Gorgon Lord, feeling as if he were walking inside a giant creature that was constantly squirming. Through the gaps between the pipes and cables, he could see a large number of red-glowing mechanical devices operating in the cavities. At the same time, cleaved bodies were being transported in transparent pipes. Those distracting mechanical roars sounded like the sounds of organs wriggling inside a living body, and the oil and electricity flowing in the pipes and cables were the creature's plasma and hormones.

He did not find spacious corridors prepared for normal personnel movement, but only narrow single-person passages. At the same time, he did not find cabins and control equipment prepared for humans. Instead, there were a large number of ancient machines that were obviously operating automatically at a glance.

"All the signs indicate that this thing is completely automated," the data terminal floated beside Hao Ren's head, analyzing while checking the flow of energy and information in the nearby pipelines. "These passages may be prepared for technicians for maintenance in special situations. Apart from these technicians, this thing should not need anyone to control it normally."

"That's right, the Abyss of the Gorgons has existed in this world for thousands of years. It's hard to imagine that there are a large number of drivers hidden in each Gorgon Demon, and the Lahkraine haven't discovered it for so long," Hao Ren nodded while following the route indicated by the data terminal to move deeper. At the same time, he paid attention to observing the operation of the complex mechanical structure inside the behemoth through the observation windows next to the passage. There was an observation window every ten meters on average, which should also be for technicians to use during maintenance. "But these passages are enough... since they are prepared for maintenance work, it must be able to lead to any corner inside this big guy."

His gaze passed through the small window beside him to look at the mechanical compartment on one side of the passage. In that mechanical compartment, a set of complex transmission devices could be seen operating. An air-to-ground missile that had just been assembled was being sent to the launch window. Below the "loading machine", several turbine-like devices could be seen operating. The electric current they burst out lit up the nearby magic runes. The runes absorbed these energies and released huge energy fields. According to the data terminal's detection, it was this energy field that maintained the floating state of this behemoth.

Hao Ren was now fully capable of directly disabling this "Gorgon Lord". As long as he cut a hole in the nearby passage and threw a graviton bomb at any of the magazine, anti-gravity generator array, or energy core, it would be enough to cause serious damage to it, but he had no intention of doing so.

Although this mechanical monster was constantly throwing missiles and bombs at the surface, there was the divine power shield left by Leah to support it. As long as the Charlemagne group did not court death, they would not be in danger for a short time. Vivian and Lily could completely protect themselves in this level of combat. Even if it wasn't to buy Hao Ren "research time," the two of them could even take down this "Gorgon Lord" head-on with a little effort.

After all... Vivian could tear the world apart in the age of mythology, and Lily's dog cannon was even more divine. The power of that thing was no worse than the Gorgon Lord's main gun.

So Hao Ren didn't have to worry about the battle outside at all. What he had to do now was to collect as much information as possible about this Gorgon Lord before it was destroyed.

"We are now located in the middle of this guy, and further ahead is the 'command cabin' where various signals converge," the data terminal projected a route map while pointing out the various signal reactions scanned around. "There is a device connected to the main power pipeline under our feet, but this device is currently not turned on."

Connected to the main power pipeline meant that it was a device that consumed a lot of energy, but it wasn't turned on in such a fierce battle... what could it be for?

Hao Ren was a little curious. He found the nearest observation window, disassembled it directly, and then stuck his head out to look down.

In the mechanical compartment directly below, a huge elliptical device could be seen. The device was connected to a large number of pipelines and auxiliary equipment. Weak lights flickered slowly on its surface. Some neat symbols and markings could also be seen around the device, but they were all unimportant information.

"What is that thing?" Hao Ren raised his eyebrows and asked curiously.

The surface of the data terminal flickered with blue light: "Wait a moment, analyzing... based on its internal structure and several key architectures, this unit believes that it is very likely a warped space generator."

Hao Ren frowned: "Part of the warp engine? In other words... these 'Gorgon Lords' have warp capability?"

"But this function is locked," the data terminal said, "because they are now trapped in a very narrow universe, and they can't even leave this planet—it should be to save energy, the warp engine and its auxiliary equipment are currently in a shutdown state."

Hao Ren suppressed various thoughts in his heart for the time being and retracted his gaze: "Save the scan results, let's continue forward."

Before long, he finally arrived at the end point marked by the data terminal.

"The temperature here is very high..." Standing in front of a gate, Hao Ren muttered while looking at the alloy compartment section filled with red light. "It seems that the control mechanism of the 'Gorgon Lord' needs to operate in a high-temperature environment... or this thing is a major heat source inside the entire machine."

The data terminal responded to him matter-of-factly: "This unit tends to the former. According to the information we have observed, the technical level of this big guy is very high, and it should have a heat dissipation system that matches the technology. The only reason for maintaining the high temperature here is that it needs high temperature."

Hao Ren nodded, then pulled out the Godslayer Sword and easily cracked the locking mechanism of the gate in front of him with physical force.

A not-very-wide hemispherical cabin appeared in front of him.

As expected, there were no driver's seats or control terminals in the hemispherical cabin. Its internal structure was unusually simple. Several protruding structures were distributed on the inverted hemispherical cabin wall, and the tip of each protruding structure projected the scene of the external battlefield. In the center of the cabin was a small, slightly recessed ground. In the midair there, a silvery-white metal object about one person high, like an egg, floated.

Hao Ren curiously approached the metal object. He walked around it for half a circle and found that several strings of characters were printed on one side of the metal giant egg. After translation, it was a short message including the serial number:

e326-k7-75, Gorgon's Fist Legion, Immortal Hero, Allie Garnier.

You have returned from hell, may the stars be with you, just as you are with me, and I am with you—beloved, Will Klossi.

The data terminal circled around those strings of characters twice: "The previous ones seem to be serial numbers, affiliations, honorary titles, and names, but the last sentence looks like a message left by someone."

Hao Ren didn't say anything, but under the traction of some kind of intuition, he reached out and touched the surface of the metal "egg."

A slight mechanical friction sound came from below the egg, and then the layer of alloy armor covering it instantly folded and contracted to only one-third of its original size, revealing the transparent container inside.

There was no Allie Garnier in the container, only a mass of entangled chaotic darkness. The darkness squirmed in the unknown liquid in the container like thick ink, looking blind and disorganized.

Then, the sudden appearance of the uninvited guest disturbed this mass of "dark matter."

Hao Ren felt as if he heard an ear-piercing scream—but in fact he heard nothing. He just saw the dark matter suddenly begin to swing and expand and contract frantically, twisting into all kinds of indescribable postures like an electrified muscle. Then, a series of roars came from all directions. The interior of the behemoth, which was already constantly vibrating, was turned upside down for a while. Everything was vibrating, and ear-piercing explosions were everywhere. A shrill alarm sounded throughout all the passages and mechanical compartments!

The data terminal issued a sharp alarm: "Energy index rising everywhere! This big guy is going to self-destruct!"

"What the hell, does this guy have such a big temper!" Hao Ren's hair stood on end. "Just a glance makes it explode?!"

"Can you stop being funny at such a critical time!" The blue light on the data terminal surface was blazing. "Stand firm and don't move around. We'll teleport out..."

"Wait! We can't just leave like this!" In the midst of the chaos, Hao Ren shouted loudly, "Hurry up and find something that can be taken out—information recording equipment, hurry up and find a device that records data to take out!"

The data terminal quickly circled around the entire cabin and smashed a brick on Hao Ren's head when it came back: "What are you looking for? The thing in front of you is the most important thing even if it's not a storage device! Just take it away—damn it, damn it, hurry up! It's going to explode..."

Hao Ren raised his hand and put the metal "egg" into his personal space, and at the same time shouted: "Just kidding, there's nothing in this world that can explode me..."

Before he finished speaking, the data terminal had activated space teleportation. After a flash of white light, one person and one brick had disappeared.

And in an instant, this "Gorgon Lord" was completely swallowed by the flames of self-destruction.

As Hao Ren said—a big boom guy doesn't die from a second-rate boom guy.