Chapter 668: The Morona Fault

Once a week, the five councilors of the Borderlands would gather in the meeting hall on the highest floor of the Council Tower. There, they would exchange information on the areas each was responsible for, as well as discuss various other important matters—most of which were related to the development and security of the Borderlands, while the rest concerned intelligence from other civilization circles or the movements of certain destabilizing elements from outside.

The routine exchanges and reports did not take long.

"The city has been relatively peaceful these days," a middle-aged man said slowly, his face perpetually etched with fatigue. "Aside from the damage caused by the Hermits' invasion a while back, nothing else has gone wrong."

"Has something happened to the simulated starry sky above the suburban ring belt?" A black-haired teenage girl with her eyes tightly shut tilted her head slightly. Her face always seemed to carry a gentle, mild smile, but looking closer, that smile might have been an illusion. "I heard a few stars appeared in the wrong positions, and someone even uploaded it to the internet."

"The starry projection has shifted," the middle-aged man nodded. "It's hard to control. After all, the Borderlands' starry sky is essentially a projection of the real universe through the spatial barrier, and the last 'Bridge Incident' affected the entire spatial barrier around the Borderlands… some projection paths have permanently changed."

"How was this matter finally handled?" Bai Liqing asked.

"Cognitive guidance, letting people gradually adapt to the changes in those few stars," the middle-aged man said, then nodded slightly toward the crude, eerie robot beside Bai Liqing. "'Glitch' handled the information that spread online—not by deleting it outright, but by shaping it into something like an urban legend. In a few days, the related buzz will fade, and then it will gradually disappear from people's view."

"The Bridge Incident is over, but the trouble it brought will last far longer than the incident itself," the strange robot called 'Glitch' said in a somewhat out-of-tune voice. The array of clocks inside its chest ticked away, and the bulb serving as its head flickered intermittently. "After all, it tore such a big hole."

Bai Liqing raised an eyebrow slightly, opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could speak, she yawned loudly.

Then the weary middle-aged man sitting across from her uncontrollably yawned in succession.

"Yawning… is contagious," the middle-aged man said after finishing his yawn, rubbing his forehead vigorously. "Isn't this just… how many years has it been? You still haven't adjusted from your hibernation habit?"

Bai Liqing's expression was blank. "Hundreds of years, and have you adjusted from your insomnia problem?"

The middle-aged man rubbed his nose awkwardly. Meanwhile, the pale, slender black-haired girl beside him tilted her head toward Bai Liqing. "Isn't turning up the room temperature actually effective?"

Bai Liqing: "…It's not a temperature issue."

The old man with white hair and beard coughed lightly.

"Hong, Kant, save personal matters for after the meeting. Colorless Dragon, any new intelligence on the Saint Veneration Hermits recently?"

"Yes, Chairman, and this time it's a big deal," Bai Liqing's tone immediately turned serious. "The 'Lodge' recently took out a warlord in the black spot. That warlord had secret exchanges with the Saint Veneration Hermits. If the intelligence is accurate, there might be an 'Artificial Bridge' in the Dark Meteor Domain that could spiral out of control at any moment, and also a Somber Angel on the verge of awakening…"

The meeting hall fell silent. For a long time afterward, only Bai Liqing's voice echoed in the vast chamber.

After a while, two faint crackling sounds broke the somewhat heavy silence—the bulb on 'Glitch's' head flickered a few times, and the filament inside burned out.

Calmly, it unscrewed the burnt bulb from its neck, fished out a new one from under the table, and screwed it on with a squeaking sound.

The new bulb emitted a soft, steady glow on its neck.

"Next time you tell such a scary story, give me a heads-up," it complained. "I'll cut the power first."

"We have a main fleet currently docked at the starport of Mela IX," the black-haired girl called 'Hong' said after a moment's thought. "It can move toward the Dark Meteor Domain at any time—as long as we can determine the coordinates of that 'Sanctuary' planet."

"Luo and Yu Sheng are already working on it. Directly pinpointing the exact location of 'Sanctuary' might be troublesome, but finding the Hermits' other sovereign planets shouldn't be a problem. As long as we secure a springboard, we can find Sanctuary's position from their local broadcasts," Bai Liqing said slowly. "But the problem now isn't how to attack; it's ensuring that we neutralize the threat of that 'Eden Gate' while attacking. As things stand, the only feasible method is to send an elite team to infiltrate 'Sanctuary' before the attack begins…"

"A small team to cripple the strategic facilities on the enemy's capital planet? That's no ordinary 'elite team,'" Kant, the weary-faced man, raised an eyebrow. "I think I know who you're referring to… 'Lodge' and their group?"

"Who else could it be?" Bai Liqing spread her hands. "The 'Proto-Astral Body' incident at least proved that such an absurdly difficult mission is possible in Yu Sheng's hands."

The councilors present didn't speak for a moment, only exchanging glances.

Strictly speaking, 'exchanging glances' wasn't quite accurate—because 'Glitch's' head was just a bulb, and 'Hong' didn't even open her eyes… Anyway, just get the gist.

"Yu Sheng…" Hong frowned slightly, turning toward Kant. "Still can't figure out how he actually 'came'?"

"If even Colorless Dragon can't find out, what can I find?" Kant shook his head, and after being 'stared at' for a few more seconds, he finally sighed. "Fine, fine. I did dig into the 'depths' to check, but even in the shadows left by the previous era, there's no 'echo' related to this person called 'Yu Sheng.' He really seems to have appeared out of thin air."

"Appeared out of thin air, yet 'imprinted' in the Borderlands' earliest archives…" Hong crossed her arms, her slender, pale fingers unconsciously tapping her arm. "Not an entity, not an echo, not an angel. In every respect he looks like a human, and his self-identity is human, but the least likely possibility is also human…"

"At least he's on our side," Kant said. "Based on the intelligence we have so far, as long as we don't make provocative or hostile moves, he and the 'team' he leads are reliable friends."

"Even so, we can't pin the success probability of everything on one person," the Chairman's voice came from the side, interrupting Kant and Hong's exchange. "Next, let's discuss our backup plan in case the Lodge's operation at Sanctuary fails—and the backup plan for that backup plan."

Bai Liqing nodded lightly. "Alright."

…

At the same time, deep in the Dark Meteor Domain, a place far from all major celestial bodies and prosperous trade routes.

Space was desolate, cold and barren. The nearest star was hundreds of light-years away.

But it wasn't empty here—countless celestial fragments, large and small, floated in the dark, cold void. They might once have been a complete planet, but for some reason had broken free of their star's grasp and wandered alone into this deep space. A powerful force had torn apart that lost planet, pulling its wreckage into a rubble belt tens of thousands of kilometers long drifting through space.

Amid the rubble belt, the once-molten planetary core had cooled into an ugly, roughly potato-shaped black sphere. Broken continental plates and mantle layers had crashed and melded into each other indiscriminately, forming a series of discontinuous space mountains. And near this desolate wreckage, there loomed a faintly glowing, immeasurably vast… 'rift valley.'

It was a rift floating in space. Its true form could not be distinguished by the naked eye; only sensitive gravitational-wave radars or subspace probes could detect its full outline. As for the glowing parts, they were merely luminescent phenomena caused by residual gases from the shattered planet being swallowed by the rift. The true complete size of that entire rift might even be measured in light-years—it jutted abruptly across the dark void, pressing a 'fold' in real space that was invisible to the eye. The terrifying, invisible gravitational tides on either side of the rift pulsed relentlessly, their intensity enough to tear apart any lost planet that wandered here.

This was the Morona Fault—one of the most famous gravitational faults in the Dark Meteor Domain.

The universe was vast, and deep space was fraught with dangers. Some of those dangers came from this kind of gravitational fault phenomenon, though such phenomena were rarely seen elsewhere. However, in the blessed land of the Dark Meteor Domain… the locals had even grown accustomed to their existence.

In the densest fault areas, these gravitational 'razors,' large and small, could even form a 'barrier matrix' spanning dozens of light-years, enveloping several planetary systems.

It was said that some pirate groups wielding 'sorcery' would set up their nests inside such 'barriers,' using the surrounding faults to block their enemies. Their so-called 'sorcery' was actually the 'Star Tongue' talent of the Algared Elves—the sharp psychic perception of the Algared could help them avoid deadly rip zones and find safe routes through the faults.

It was also said that the best among the Algared could find the exact coordinates of their home planet from several star systems away, without relying on navigation systems.

Listening to the stars, seeking answers from the stars—this was a talent etched into the very bones of the Algared.

But regrettably, Luo's bones had been extracted—so she couldn't hear.

Now she could only rely on equipment.

A low-profile gray-black shuttle emerged from warp space. Taking advantage of the gravitational fault's cover, it activated its stealth system. Then, hiding among a few massive celestial fragments, it released two deep-space probes.

Luo sat in the shuttle's cockpit, her gaze heavy as she stared at the dark void outside.

(End of chapter)