Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 210 The Third Base

Qiu Ci originally thought that the base would be hidden like before, and that it would take some time to find the entrance, but she didn't expect it to appear so suddenly in front of her.

It was a steel fortress-like building, but the gate was broken open and there were various metal fragments scattered around, as if it had been forcibly dismantled by something. The inside of the fortress was even more gloomy.

Once inside, they discovered that the place had been completely dismantled, with charred metal walls bearing faint traces of smoke and scratches from various magical attacks. The entire base fortress stood amidst the sandstorm, resembling a dilapidated machine abandoned after being forcibly demolished.

"How could this happen?" Juanshan was also shocked. "Who destroyed this place?"

"Who else could it be?" Qiu Ci sighed. Apart from those in the temple who possessed the system, who else could find the exact location of the base?

Although she had prepared herself for the possibility that the base had already been discovered and that the equipment inside might not be as intact as the previous two bases, she was still shocked when she actually saw it. It wasn't just incomplete; it had clearly been completely dismantled.
"Dog system, scan the base," she said directly.

[Yes, Master! Beep, deep scan in progress...]

The small ball of light flew out, shooting out a beam of white light that swept directly across the dilapidated fortress before it flew back after a while.

[Master, over 90% of the base's facilities have been damaged or dismantled, but the control room is still relatively intact; it should still contain all the base's data.]

Qiu Ci was secretly delighted. "Take us there."

【Good master! 】

The little ball of light immediately began navigation, but because the place was so thoroughly destroyed, most of the original passages had been dismantled, making it very difficult for them to walk. They had to stop from time to time to clear out a passable path.

The two of them continued clearing as they went, and with great difficulty, they finally managed to get close to the center of the base by following the guidance of the dog system. However, the deeper they went, the more she noticed that the chaotic matter around them increased. The black mist that had previously avoided them would occasionally burst out in wisps, as if in a panic, and would then be dispersed by the psionic machines around her.

Moreover, the base's lighting system had clearly been broken long ago; the deeper they went, the darker it became, until it was completely pitch black. They had to summon a ball of fire for illumination until the two of them reached a huge metal door.

Unlike the other buildings in the base, this door was clearly reinforced, gleaming with a unique silvery-white luster. It was also covered with a dense array of mysterious runes, with faint, flowing light emanating from the patterns resembling magic circles, as if it were some kind of energy that could be activated at any moment.

“Master, look here!” Juanshan pointed to some charred marks and a pile of gray stones on the ground by the door.

She looked at it carefully for a while before recognizing it: "This is a discarded spirit stone." Spirit stones are formed by the convergence of spiritual energy, and once the spiritual energy within a spirit stone is exhausted, it turns into a gray stone like this.

“That’s right.” Juanshan nodded and said, “It seems that these were originally top-grade spirit stones. Judging from the quantity, it seems that someone has tried to open this door many times without success.”

Qiu Ci also realized that since the temple had discovered this place long ago, they certainly wouldn't let the control room go; it's just that their methods were simply insufficient to open the specially reinforced door. Of course, it's also possible that the outbreak of chaotic matter forced them to withdraw prematurely.

She frowned, then stepped forward and placed her hand on the door. The next moment, a beep was heard, and the previously tightly closed door seemed to be activated. Runes lit up one after another, covering the entire door. Then, the seemingly indestructible door opened section by section, like a curtain being drawn back, revealing the space inside.

Perhaps due to the extensive damage outside, the control room was completely dark, with only a faint glimpse visible in the firelight. A few unfamiliar machines were scattered around; neither of them knew what they were, and when she patted them one by one, there was no response.

"Dog system, are these devices still working?" she asked directly.

The dog system had already circled around inside and quickly replied.

[Master, the base is too badly damaged. The power supply here has been cut off, which is why it can't start. It can only be activated by another power source that activates the backup power. Besides, all the equipment here is powered by psionic energy.]

"Where can we activate other energy sources?"

【Master, you forgot, you have psionic machines. Their driving energy is also psionic energy; just connect to them to activate them.】

Qiu Ci understood, and with a thought, a piece of the psionic shield that had been surrounding her flew off instantly, and in no time it transformed back into her original mechanical armored form. Following the dog system's guidance, she walked to a machine on the left and reached out to connect to a certain interface on it.

Drop drop!
Three warning beeps sounded immediately in the control room, followed by a series of beeps, and the entire room lit up instantly. The unfamiliar machines lit up with various red and green indicator lights, and in a flash, a large number of screens popped up in front of us, each marked with a large exclamation mark, displaying various damage warnings and words such as "unrepairable," showing how severely the entire base had been dismantled.

Qiu Ci took a deep breath before speaking, "Damn system, receive the data here."

[Okay, Master! ]

The system light cluster flickered for a moment, then immediately plunged into the largest light screen. At the same time, the surrounding light screens, which had previously displayed damage warnings, also flashed and began frantically displaying data.

Qiu Ci was about to invite Juan Shan to sit down and wait, since the dog system would need some time to receive the data, when she saw the psionic machines that had been surrounding her suddenly scatter and adhere tightly to the wall of the control room, as if summoned by something. Even the machine that had just been sent out to activate the backup energy did the same.

Moreover, as the psionic machines dispersed, all the remaining chaotic matter in the room dissipated, and the door to the control room slammed shut again.

what happened?

She was startled and quickly went over, only to find that the psionic machine was transforming into round, armor-like plates, which were neatly embedded in the wall. On the originally black metal shell, rows of light green data were flashing, and the refresh rate was even faster than that of the dog system.

Is this... also being upgraded?

Qiu Ci's eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time she had seen the psionic machine begin to upgrade on its own since it was retrieved from the Immortal Alliance. Considering its ability to control the chaotic energy, she didn't pay any attention to it. She simply pulled Juan Shan to sit down in the middle, pulled out a light screen, and while waiting for the dog system to receive data, she checked the situation of the entire base.