The corrupted image of the colossal, pulsating crystal structure was burned into Su Liying's mind, a terrifying counterpoint to the triumphant success of the mission. The abstract horror of a sleeping, world-sized god had suddenly become a visceral reality, a tangible presence lurking beneath her feet.
Crystalline_Mind: "Exfiltrating," she reported, her voice betraying a tremor she couldn't entirely suppress. "Drone is returning via the geothermal vent."
The ascent back through the superheated column of water was even more nerve-wracking than the descent. The 'Nautilus', having endured the extreme temperatures for an extended period, was now operating at the edge of its tolerances. Warning lights flickered on her holographic display as the bio-organic hull groaned under the strain.
"Hull integrity at 78%... 65%... 51%," the drone's synthesized voice reported, each percentage drop a hammer blow to Su Liying's already frayed nerves.
Hephaestus: "Push it, Chief! That drone cost me three sleepless nights and enough rare earth minerals to buy a small island! You will not let it become planetary fish food!"
Ignoring the frantic ranting of the craftsman, Su Liying focused all her attention on piloting the damaged drone. The currents in the geothermal vent were treacherous, and the slightest miscalculation could send the Nautilus crashing against the superheated walls.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the drone breached the surface of the underground reservoir, its systems sputtering. "Exited the primary heat source," she reported, a wave of relief washing over her. "Hull integrity stabilizing."
The journey back through the flooded borehole tunnels was a race against time. The drone's power cells were depleted, and its navigation systems were beginning to glitch. Su Liying had to rely on her instincts and the drone's rudimentary manual controls to navigate the darkness.
Back at the riverbank, Lin Mei's team waited with bated breath. The signal from the Nautilus had been intermittent during its perilous journey, and the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Then, a faint blue glow appeared beneath the surface of the dark water. The 'Nautilus', battered and scarred but still functional, emerged from the outflow pipe.
"We have visual," Lin Mei whispered into her comms, relief flooding through her. "Chief, you brought her home."
Su Liying guided the drone back to the waiting hands of Lin Mei's team. The moment it was safely on dry land, its bio-luminescent hull flickered and died, its mission complete.
Inside the mobile command hub, Su Liying leaned back in her chair, letting out a long, shaky breath. The mental strain of piloting the drone through such extreme conditions had left her feeling drained but also strangely exhilarated. She had faced the abyss, both literally and figuratively, and had returned victorious.
The debriefing in [[Channel: Zero]] was a mix of triumph and a newfound, chilling understanding.
Hephaestus: "The data from the drone's internal logs is incredible! The bio-crystal hull performed flawlessly under unimaginable stress. And the vibrational charge... Oracle, your physics is insane, but I am a convert!"
Old-Man-Jiang: "The Janus virus is planted. Now we wait. The long game has begun."
Lin Mei, however, focused on the anomaly. Nomad-Lead: "Chief, during the exfiltration... you mentioned a spike in the spiritual energy readings, directed downwards. And... that image you transmitted before the connection was lost. What exactly did the drone see?"
Su Liying hesitated. How could she possibly describe what she had witnessed? A living, breathing structure miles beneath the Earth's surface, glowing with an alien light... it sounded like something out of a nightmare.
Crystalline_Mind: "The drone's spiritual energy sensors detected a large, concentrated source deep within the geothermal tap," she typed carefully. "Visually... the primary camera captured what appeared to be a vast, crystalline lattice... it was glowing with a faint purple light... and it... pulsed."
A stunned silence descended upon the channel. This was beyond theoretical data. This was a first-hand account.
Oracle: "The Chief Analyst's observation confirms the primary intelligence assessments. The entity is stirring. The awakening cycles are accelerating."
The calm, matter-of-fact tone of Oracle's message was more terrifying than any alarm. The ticking time bomb beneath their feet was not just ticking; it was beginning to stir in its sleep.
Back in her quiet apartment, Su Liying stared at the ceiling, the image of the pulsating crystal burned behind her eyelids. The world felt different now, fragile and thin, like the shell of an egg about to crack.
Her analytical mind, however, was already at work, trying to make sense of the impossible. A crystalline structure... pulsing energy... a dormant god...
Her thoughts drifted, as they often did now, to Qin Mo. His quiet demeanor, the ancient weight of his soul, the impossible knowledge he possessed... it all seemed to point to a connection, a link to this terrifying reality.
She opened her personal terminal and pulled up every piece of data she had compiled on him since the first day she had noticed his anomaly. His medical records, his academic performance, the almost complete lack of a digital footprint... and the faint, almost imperceptible fluctuations in ambient spiritual energy that seemed to occur whenever he was nearby, fluctuations that her advanced sensors had only recently begun to register.
She stared at the data, a terrifying hypothesis forming in her mind, a whisper from the abyss echoing in her soul.
What if Qin Mo wasn't just connected to the sleeping god? What if he was it? In a dormant, human form?
The thought was insane, preposterous. But the more she analyzed the data, the more a cold, undeniable logic began to take hold. The timing of his awakening, his unique abilities, his unfathomable knowledge... it all aligned with the awakening of the entity beneath the world.
If her hypothesis was correct, then their war against Prometheus was not just about protecting the planet. It was about the fate of a god trapped in the body of a teenage boy. And the stakes were higher than she could have ever imagined.
She knew she couldn't voice this theory to the others. Not yet. It was too wild, too dangerous. But it would guide her every action from now on. She would watch him. She would study him. She would try to understand the nature of the being hidden behind those quiet, observant eyes.
The war had become personal.