Interstellar Survival: Invasion

"Great explorer, we've arrived," said Giorno.

I followed Giorno off the carriage. We had arrived in front of a massive mining cave. The cave entrance was guarded by numerous armed guards. Countless haulage vehicles were parked randomly outside the cave, waiting to be filled. There were even more Katar prisoners working here. Most of them were already as thin as a bag of bones. My communication channel was still completely silent. Either Dondon had yet to turn on his communicator or the signal was blocked here.

'I hope Dondon can keep up with me,' I thought.

We walked through the entrance and entered a spacious cave. This zone seemed to have been mined to depletion. From the walls of the cave, this place was probably filled with ores in the past. Now that the ore deposit here had been emptied, the cave had become filled with weapon ammunition and numerous excavating machines.

Deep inside the cave was a dark tunnel. A stream of mining carts filled with ores constantly came out from the tunnel. The moment a cart came out, a group of Katars would step forth to unload the ores before carrying them to the haulage vehicles outside the cave.

"Why did you take me here? Does this place have anything to do with the emperor?" I asked.

"You won't be disappointed," Giorno said as he opened an iron door beside the tunnel entrance.

An elevator was revealed before me. Giorno made an inviting gesture, and I stepped into it. Giorno stepped in next, followed by two burly armed individuals who stood behind me. The elevator rapidly descended toward the depths. During the descent, I noticed that there were countless mining sites in the area. About every five minutes, we would pass by a new mining site. Countless Katar prisoners were laboring for free for the Brotherhood.

My communication channel remained silent. I started regretting telling Dondon to shut off his communicator. To preserve energy, I stealthily shut off my morph-capable shield. Just like that, we descended for three hours before we reached the bottom of the tunnel with a thud.

Giorno pressed a series of buttons in the elevator as though he was inputting some sort of code. The ground below the elevator suddenly parted, allowing the elevator through before closing up.

'Where is this fellow taking me? It's so hidden,' I wondered inwardly.

We continued descending for about five minutes before the elevator stopped. This should be the true bottom of the tunnel. The elevator door opened, allowing me to see that we were in a relatively small cavern. The cavern was filled with shelves lined with preserved goods such as food and water. There were also tens of wooden chests in the cavern.

A small iron door was vaguely visible at the end of the cavern. A sturdy Liyate was sitting before the door. From his heavy breathing, it was obvious he had fallen asleep. Giorno signaled a burly guy behind him with his mouth, and the guy stepped forth to kick the sleeping Liyate to the ground.

"You're here to guard, not sleep," said Giorno coldly.

"Y-ye-yes!" the Liyate hurriedly got back up and replied in panic.

"Open the door," Giorno commanded.

The guard quickly took out a key and opened the door. A dimly lit room could be seen beyond the door.

"Please enter, my great explorer," said Giorno with an inviting gesture.

I took big strides forward. It took my eyes a short while to adapt to the dim lighting. A long-haired, hunchbacked Eternal was seriously studying something on a table, completely ignoring our arrival. The long nose and fangs of this Eternal had degenerated, and he looked more like a scholar than a warrior. However, he also looked incredibly decadent.

"Lord Fode, I brought you a friend," said Giorno to the Eternal.

'So he's Fode? He's wanted everywhere! I did not expect him to be hiding somewhere so hidden,' I thought.

"I don't need any friends. I don't have the time to meet anyone. These characters. There is no way to study them," said Fode without even turning his head.

"I brought him here to help you with it. Respected Fode, he's a Blueling," said Giorno.

The moment Fode heard the word Blueling, he ran toward me, grabbed my arms tightly, and stared at my face.

"No, this is not a Blueling," said Fode with a shake of his head. "You got the wrong person."

"He is none other than Li Canyue, the wanted fugitive from the Interstellar League," said Giorno. "Great explorer, you may remove your disguise."

I removed my disguise and stood before Fode as a Blueling.

Fode started speaking non-stop to me, "Heavens. You really are a Blueling! Are you really Li Canyue? The life form known as Jupiter II, which you had driven off, had entered the Orion Constellation and vanished in the Horsehead Nebula. Why did the league turn you into a wanted criminal just for disobeying a superior?"

"Do you know where the emperor can be found?" I went straight to the point because I found the theologian's erratic behavior unbearable.

"You want to see the emperor? He's probably with the elder from the Sacred Wing race. I heard from Giorno that the emperor has been hiding for quite a while," said Fode.

"How do you know that? And where can I find him?" I asked.

"I can help you, but you need to first help me with this book," said Fode as he pointed at the golden book on the table.

Only then did I start paying attention to the book. The book had a majestic appearance, and it gleamed brightly even under the dim light. Countless characters were written in the book.

"Is this the Imperial Golden Book?" I asked.

"You know this book? Is this book something all Bluelings know about?" asked Fode with excitement in his eyes.

I shook my head and said, "I don't know this book. I only learned about it from a friend after I had come to Eternal."

Fode shook his head in disappointment.

But he quickly recalled something and said, "Canyue, come, take a look at this book."

I stepped forth and saw that the book was filled with characters I didn't recognize. After flipping several pages, I could see that the book was filled with characters and star charts. These characters are probably the notes accompanying the star charts.

"This book is the imperial family's ancestral treasure. It was said that the secret of energy can be found in this book. However, only those of the Fille bloodline can understand this book. I have gone through this book countless times. Apart from star charts, there are only accompanying notes. However, there is not one recognizable celestial body in the star charts. Therefore, I need to decipher the characters if I want to learn the secret," said Fode.

I stealthily turned on my translation system and scanned the book with my helmet. My database clearly indicated that these characters did not come from Blue or Gliese.

'Perhaps we need Amethyst to decipher these characters,' I thought to myself.

"I've never seen these characters before." I shook my head at Fode.

Fode had a look of extreme disappointment.

"Not even your tech recognizes these characters?" asked Giorno.

"No, it doesn't. No such characters can be found in the database," I said.

"Sigh. The secret of energy. Why is it so hard to learn?" said Fode as he pulled his hair in a vexed manner.

"Secret of energy. I seem to remember reading the same words from some history book before," I recalled something.

I vaguely recalled my time in the cave at the Sirius System when Zhang Xingxing and Dodo had told us about the lost civilizations. The most well-known of them was the Atlantis civilization. After leaving Sirius, I once checked my database and learned that the most notable scientific accomplishment of the Atlantis civilization was their energy system.

The center of Atlantis's power system was the Heart of Atlantis, a massive six-sided crystal that could absorb and convert sunlight into energy. The energy system was installed at the center of the Sun Palace in their capital, Poseidonis. This civilization had learned to harness the cosmic energy that not even those of the 20th century could understand. The energy was concentrated and amplified and was ultimately spread to the world in the form of a blinding radiance.

Not only had the Atlanteans mastered light to become an energy civilization, but it had also gained the ability to allow the old to regain their youth. Thus, Atlantis turned into a paradise. In the legends, Prophet Nommo had visited Blue multiple times.

That was provable by the fact that Plum could speak ancient Chinese. Was it possible that right before Nommo had discovered the secret of Eternal's energy, he had visited Atlantis? That would explain why Plum had previously mentioned time tunnel. Perhaps the language in this book depicting the secret of energy was the same language the Atlanteans used.

The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. I also cursed the stingy knowledge download system that had not provided me with knowledge regarding the lost civilizations to reduce costs. Zhang Xingxing was the only one who would be able to determine if these were the characters of the lost civilization of Atlantis.

"Did you recall something, great explorer," asked a cold voice upon noticing my excitement.

Perhaps it was because I couldn't decipher the characters, Giorno was no longer as friendly as before.

I stealthily turned on my shield. "I have some clues, but I'm not capable of deciphering these mysterious characters," I replied.

"You have clues? Can you share them?" asked Fode in excitement.

"I want to know what you hope to achieve by deciphering this book. Otherwise, don't even dream of learning anything from me," I said, not showing the theologian any respect.

"Calm down, calm down. We can always talk things out. What do you want to know, great explorer? We will not hide anything from you!" said Giorno, who returned to his previous friendly facade.

My communication channel was still completely silent.

'Did something happen to Dondon?' I wondered inwardly.

"It is a long story if I am to talk about this Imperial Golden Book," said Fode.

"Take your time. I have plenty of time," I said as I sat down on a chair.

Fode shot Giorno a glance, and Giorno gave him a nod.

"The biggest secret of the Eternal Empire is its endless energy source," said Fode.

"The Orion Constellation has so many massive stars. The empire shouldn't have any energy issues," I said.

"Yes, these stars are rich in energy. However, only the ancient gods of creation can control them. A higher level of technology is required if we want to make the energy ours," said Fode.

"And that is precisely the ability the Fille family has gained, granting them the power to rule the empire," added Giorno.

"Yes. However, the emperor is becoming too ambitious," said Fode.