Chapter 583 — Vision
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Corridors and chambers that had lain dormant for seven centuries were brought back to life.
As they drew nearer to the core control zone at the base, the corridors within the Spine grew ever wider; more and more glowing runes and energy veins appeared along the walls on either side, while pillars carved with richly elven ornamentation lined the broad space ahead. At the far end of this wide passage, all the internal channels of the Spine converged, forming a six-pointed-star-shaped radial hall, and at the center of that hall stood a cylindrical "room," buttressed on every side by countless pipes, metal beams, and rune-inscribed columns.
This was the control nexus of the Sentinel Tower, the place where the spirit-mind was housed—or, as Gao Yang saw it, the central server room where the artificial intelligence resided.
The entrance to the server room was sealed tight. Two beams of light slanting down from high above illuminated a small patch of open ground before the door. Amber raised her head and looked up along the outer wall of the cylindrical chamber; at its top floated a hazy veil of light and shadow, and from amid that glow enormous drapes hung down, embroidered with the emblems of the Silver Empire and the human nations. Some had rotted badly under the centuries, leaving only tattered strips of cloth hanging silently overhead—like… shrouds.
Amber blinked. For a moment she thought she saw something within those drapes—gray shadows, writhing and coiling, breeding and rolling in the dark corners like silt, and faint, indistinct figures emerging from that burgeoning gloom, peering out at the intruders who had suddenly broken in.
But the next second, it all scattered like an illusion.
"What's wrong?" Gao Song's voice roused Amber from her daze. "What are you staring at up there?"
"N-nothing… I must have seen it wrong," Amber said, blinking and rubbing her eyes. "Say, what is that up there? It looks like a layer of cloud floating above us."
"That's the mana cloud canopy. Beyond it is open sky. The roof of this base is actually open—the mana focus draws tremendous energy from the ley lines and mana nodes, generating a powerful mana cloud canopy over the open area. On one hand it supplies the 'Stele,' on the other it sustains the entire base's defensive system," the elven arcanist Banner explained. "If the canopy ever went dark, the Sentinel Tower would be finished. That's why it hasn't shut down once in seven centuries."
Amber gave a half-comprehending "oh," and Banner stepped up to the entrance of the cylindrical chamber, once again channeling magic into the elven reliefs upon the door.
Fortunately, the door did not jam this time—he would not need to produce his bent-headed wrench again.
The chamber housing the spirit-mind opened. The steel rangers, led by Suo Jilin, stood guard at the entrance, while Gao Yang strode forward and led Amber inside.
A wondrous blue radiance filled the cylindrical room, and Amber could not help but gasp softly the moment she stepped in—the entire floor was wrought of the purest, most flawless obsidian, and upon that night-black surface were inscribed incredibly fine and intricate runic patterns. The runes gave off a pale blue glow, echoing the blue crystals set into the walls all around, and at the exact center of the room a black cube roughly a meter on a side floated quietly in an anti-gravity field.
Straight blue lines ran across the cube's surface; its material seemed to be some kind of metal, and faint runes drifted over each of the planes divided by those blue lines, making it look mysterious and esoteric.