Li Tianming maintained his grip. The subtle tremor in Lia's wrist and her confession tinged with unfamiliar words confirmed his deepest suspicions.
"Vessel..." he repeated the term, his voice low against the humming derelict servers. "So the Celestial Realm laboratories created you to contain the Rust Sea's power?"
The final traces of panic in Lia's eyes solidified into resigned acceptance. "To comprehend it. And eventually... perhaps command it." She gestured at the endless metallic wreckage surrounding them. "We K-series units are expendables, research probes, and... restraints. They fear this sea. They dread its true awakening."
Abruptly, the steady hum intensified into a violent shudder. The server maze convulsed, corroded metal shrieking under overwhelming stress.
"It's stirring...!" Lia's face whitened as she seized Li Tianming's arm. "To the central core! Now!"
No longer concealing her capabilities, she moved with preternatural agility, navigating collapsing passages with intimate familiarity. Li Tianming followed closely, recognizing the vibrations beneath them emanated not from external assault, but from the sea's profundity—as if some primordial consciousness were awakening.
They burst from a disintegrating corridor into a vast, preserved spherical chamber. Beyond its translucent energy dome, rust-hued nanite currents swirled endlessly, casting crimson illumination through the barrier.
At the chamber's heart lay no treasure, but an impossibly scaled skeleton—a fusion of machinery and crystalline structures, partially submerged beneath technological debris. Though crusted with oxidation, fractured sections revealed an unearthly luminescence pulsing within.
"The Divine Skeleton?" Li Tianming felt his weakened divine spark resonate with the colossal remnant.
"Merely one fragment. Legends indicate multiple specimens rest here." Lia's voice thickened with reverence. "The 'Heart of the Rust Sea' sought by hunters and blades... is believed embedded within the prime specimen."
Without warning, an arctic, dispassionate voice manifested within their consciousness:
[Divine entity detected. Authorization level: Unregistered. K-series unit confirmed. Designation: K-017. Synchronization: Optimal.]
The spherical space remained empty. Origin: uncertain—Skeleton or Sea?
[Initiating dialogue protocol.] the voice continued. [Anomaly detected in divine core signature. Account for your existence.]
Mastering his turmoil, Li Tianming projected his response: "The system designates me for termination. I seek rectification of systemic flaws."
[Logical contradiction.] the voice countered. [System constitutes fundamental law. Internal entities cannot modify governing parameters.]
"Unless," Li Tianming's mental projection hardened, "the corrective force predates systemic establishment."
Silence engulfed the chamber. The ambient hum vanished, replaced by oppressive stillness.
After moments, the voice returned, now bearing microscopic fluctuations resembling curiosity:
[Parameters satisfy preliminary access requirements for [Origin Key]. K-017 unit assigned as stabilization conduit. New directive: Guide visitor to [Primordial Void].]
Lia shuddered as her eyes refocused, receiving implanted instructions. Her expression complex, she whispered: "The Sea—or the Skeleton's residual will—imparts a mandate. The Void contains truths preceding both Rust Sea and system."
Above, massive shadows eclipsed the energy barrier—Scavenger capital ships accompanied by three radiance-wreathed titans. The Blade of Judgment's vanguard had arrived.
[Critical threat proximity.] the voice stated dispassionately. [Demonstrate utility. Or undergo granular assimilation.]
Li Tianming surveyed the approaching armada, the ancient Skeleton, and Lia's determined countenance.
His diminished divine energy cycled faster, now synchronizing strangely with the ambient nanites and the Skeleton's otherworldly glow.
"Forward," he told Lia, turning toward the dark passage penetrating the Skeleton's core. "To witness reality before systems existed."