Chapter 327 – Sacred Artifact
Flipping further, the next page revealed images captured by a spacecraft landing on the surface of the star system.
It was evident that this was once a society with a developed civilization.
The architecture was grand and magnificent, the roads wide and smooth, and small spacecrafts were parked everywhere. A sky city floated mid-air, with massive green plants climbing along the crevices of the buildings, seamlessly blending with the structures. The entire city exuded a unique beauty, combining elements of both science fiction and fantasy.
One could hardly imagine how many millennia the race living here had evolved to create such a civilization.
However, when Tu Ran saw a line of text beneath the image, she couldn’t suppress a fleeting pang of regret.
“This image is only a reconstructed visualization based on special signals detected on the surface of S. Erso. The real S. Erso has already been destroyed.”
Tu Ran turned to the next page and was met with the image of a world devastated beyond recognition.
The surface was covered in sand dunes and scattered with gravel. Massive craters, as if caused by meteor impacts, marred the land. The once-splendid architecture had been reduced to broken walls and ruins, barely hinting at its former glory. What had been a sky of bright, clear blue was now a red-brown haze, filled with swirling sand and dust, resembling a perpetual twilight.
In addition to the images, the materials contained other fragments of information about S. Erso before its destruction.
There were disjointed records of the star system’s development, fragments of scientific knowledge, partial accounts of cultural practices, a few snippets of what seemed like nursery rhymes, and several unique terms.
“These were all transmitted back four months ago,” Xie Xu said, turning around.
Tu Ran flipped through the documents from start to finish. Each page contained annotations written by Xie Xu, elaborating on the contents and making speculative expansions. She quickly skimmed through, closed the file, and looked up. “You’ve known for three years that there were worlds beyond the Threshold?”
“Yes,” Xie Xu replied, “but at the time, we didn’t understand what the collapse of cosmic order truly meant—until these pieces of information were sent back from S. Erso four months ago.”
Tu Ran frowned, puzzled by one thing. “The spacecraft took less than three years to reach S. Erso, which means the planet isn’t far from the Federation. How is it possible that neither the Federation discovered S. Erso nor S. Erso discovered the Federation?”
The more Tu Ran thought about it, the less sense it made.
From the perspective of the universe, the distance between the Federation and S. Erso was negligible—practically shoulder-to-shoulder.
They shouldn’t have been completely unaware of each other’s existence.
“You can think of the spacecraft’s journey through the universe as passing through a ‘door.’ While the two worlds are separated by an incomprehensible distance, the ‘door’ allows one to reach the other world in an instant. It’s similar to Blue Star, the Threshold, and the Haenden star system. Although the Federation is thoroughly familiar with these three worlds and can even send people to them, on a cosmic scale, the Federation doesn’t actually know their precise locations,” Xie Xu explained calmly.
Tu Ran thought for a moment and summarized, “So whether or not you can reach S. Erso depends on luck.”
Xie Xu nodded.
Tu Ran continued, “So, can the spacecraft still return?”
“No,” Xie Xu replied, taking the stack of documents from Tu Ran’s hands. “Four months ago, at the same time these messages were sent back, contact with the spacecraft was lost. The ‘door’ to the S. Erso star system has already closed.”
Tu Ran: She had figured as much.
Xie Xu lowered his gaze and sat back in his chair, placing the documents neatly on the desk. “The people aboard the spacecraft didn’t know about the existence of ‘doors’ in the universe. They collected some material samples from S. Erso and eagerly set off on their return journey, thinking they would be back in the Federation after another two years and seven months. In reality, they’ll be drifting endlessly in space until three years later, when the spacecraft’s energy supply is completely exhausted.”
Xie Xu’s voice dropped slightly. “It was my failure to make the right decision in time that delayed their return.”
Tu Ran sensed that Xie Xu might be blaming himself, but when she studied his expression and tone, it didn’t quite seem like self-reproach.
This man was always good at hiding his emotions. To put it bluntly, he knew how to put on a façade. Tu Ran wasn’t interested in digging deeper; she had more pressing matters to deal with.
“What exactly is this ‘sacred artifact’? I didn’t see anything about it in the documents.” Tu Ran stepped closer, leaning against the only desk in the glass room, frowning as she pondered.
Xie Xu glanced at Tu Ran, who had moved closer, and shifted his chair back slightly to put some distance between them. “There was no information related to it found in the S. Erso star system. It’s highly likely that the race that destroyed S. Erso also wiped out all traces of it.”
Tu Ran nodded thoughtfully and slid further onto the desk, swinging her legs as she sat boldly on it.
Standing this long was tiring.
There was only one chair in the room, and Xie Xu was occupying it.
Xie Xu, witnessing the entire scene: “…”
“This artifact is related to the disruption of cosmic order, right? If we find it, does that mean we can stop the current merging of worlds?” Tu Ran asked earnestly, seemingly oblivious to the odd look Xie Xu gave her.
“Yes,” Xie Xu replied through gritted teeth.
“How do we find it? Do you have a lead?” Tu Ran asked, her eyes full of expectation.
“No,” Xie Xu said coolly.
Tu Ran squinted at him. “Really? You sure about that?” Her tone clearly implied she doubted his words.
“There’s nothing. The only way is through the ‘doors.’ If you’re lucky enough to land in the world of the ‘warlike race,’ everything will become clear.”
Luck?
Tu Ran thought about everything she had experienced over the past six months.
Her luck… well, it wasn’t bad, she supposed.
Tu Ran had picked up a lot of loose ends over time, and now, she even had a high-value wanted list worth billions.
The leaders of the Federation’s extreme protest groups weren’t worth nearly as much as her.
“Is there anything else?” she asked. “If not, I’ll be leaving.”
“No,” Xie Xu replied decisively.
“Then, bye.”
Tu Ran jumped off the desk and headed for the stairs. Halfway down, she suddenly remembered something. She leaned on the railing, turned her head, and looked back at Xie Xu. “Who proposed the invasion of Blue Star?”
Without lifting his head from the desk, Xie Xu replied, “Zero, send it to her.”
[Got it.]
Soon, Tu Ran received a very detailed list.
It clearly marked who proposed which plan and who was responsible for which region.
It was as if he had already known she would ask for this list and had prepared it for her in advance.
Tu Ran found it hard to understand Xie Xu’s attitude toward the Federation.
It seemed like he was indifferent to the Federation, not caring at all about the lives of the Federation’s top officials, and even more so about his own family.
For example, the first name on the list was Xie Xu’s father, Xie Xie’ao.
The second was his older brother, Xie Zhao—the commander of the Pioneer Team.
The rest included some members of the Wells and Pang families.
He knew she would want to settle accounts with these people, yet he so calmly handed her the list. Tu Ran began to have second thoughts.
She cleared her throat. “Uh… since we’re partners, I can do you a favor. You pick a few people from this list, and I’ll spare their lives.”
Xie Xu finally looked up. “If I wanted to spare their lives, I wouldn’t have put them on the list.”
Tu Ran raised an eyebrow. Was it just her, or did Xie Xu seem even more arrogant than her now?
Tu Ran looked over the list once more, her gaze lingering on the name “Xie Zhao.” It was definitely Xie Xu’s second older brother.
“Do you not recognize your own family?”
She had already killed the eldest brother, and now she was supposed to deal with the second brother? Even their father wasn’t spared?
Was this just the typical drama of family feuds in powerful families?
Xie Xu seemed to know exactly who she was referring to. There was a cold smile in his voice as he replied, “If you can kill him, it would be a huge boost for your future.”
Tu Ran: So he was indirectly telling her that killing anyone else wouldn’t do, but killing Xie Zhao was the key?!
Tu Ran acknowledged the message.
She placed her right hand on her left shoulder, bowed at a 60-degree angle, and with a graceful motion, expressed her thanks.
Xie Xu: “…”
…
Leaving the underground space, Tu Ran entered the small clinic, walked around the cramped area, and eventually stopped in front of a bed, half-lying on it.
Xiao Jiu peeked out from behind the computer, feeling like she was more like the owner of this clinic than he was.
Tu Ran comfortably settled on the bed, carefully reviewing the information Zero had just sent her.
It was all about Xie Zhao.
Xie Zhao now had abilities too, though Zero didn’t have exact details on how many or what kind.
The file included a video—one of the ability users threw a fireball at Xie Zhao, but it instantly extinguished in mid-air. Xie Zhao didn’t make a move, simply standing there with a faint, gentle smile on his face.
The ability user tried again to gather energy and form another fireball, but it failed once more. It was as though his abilities had instantly stopped working.
In the end, the ability user was surrounded by the pioneers and controlled, taken away from the area.
Throughout the entire process, Xie Zhao didn’t show any clear signs of using his abilities.
Tu Ran watched the video twice but couldn’t find anything suspicious.
She didn’t force herself to keep looking and moved on to the other materials.
Xie Zhao was no longer the commander of the Pioneer Team. Since the death of Xie Heng, the heir apparent to the Xie family, Xie Zhao had gained significant favor from Xie Xie’ao, and he was gradually being groomed to become the next heir to the Xie family.
Xie Zhao’s position was rising, and the security measures around him had become quite tight, with a large number of his bodyguards being ability users.
Tu Ran carefully reviewed the details of their abilities and made a mental note of them.
