The echoes of the explosion slowly faded within the metallic graveyard, replaced by a more unsettling, dead silence. Even the wind's wail seemed to have ceased, as if the entire graveyard was holding its breath, watching the direction of the firefight.
Chen Ke made a swift decision. "Take the path you mentioned. Now!"
Jolted from her worry for her father, Lia nodded vigorously, saying no more, and turned to lead Chen Ke into a narrow gap formed by collapsed giant pipes and hull plates. The path was extremely difficult, often requiring them to crawl through rusted holes or balance on precarious metal structures. The toxicity in the air seemed denser here; Chen Ke's filter emitted a slight overload warning buzz.
They moved as fast as they could, the silence behind them like an invisible whip driving them forward. Chen Ke's nerves were taut, his implant senses heightened to the limit, alert for any possible pursuit or ambush.
About half an hour later, they climbed a high slope piled with abandoned shipping containers. The sight before them made Chen Ke catch his breath.
Ahead, the earth seemed to have been split open by a god's axe, revealing an immense, colossal rift—the Great Chasm. It was bottomless, staggeringly wide, with steep cliffs on either side, littered with shattered metal, plunging down into thick darkness. Eerie, phosphorescent mist swirled within the chasm, occasionally lit by electrical arcs flashing within the fog, like the breath of a slumbering behemoth. Standing at the edge, a primal sense of vertigo and awe arose.
"This is it…" Lia's voice trembled, mixing fear with a flicker of excitement at reaching their goal. "The signal source Dad mentioned is somewhere down there."
Chen Ke's gaze swept along the chasm's edge. Soon, he spotted anomalies. On a relatively gentle slope a few hundred meters to the left, there were clear signs of vehicle tracks and personnel activity, even a temporarily established, camouflaged equipment dump.
"'The Ring' is already down there," Chen Ke said grimly. He adjusted his visual focus and saw several thick synthetic fiber ropes fixed to the slope, descending into the mist below.
Just then, a faint, intermittent sound reached Chen Ke's auditory enhancers. Not an explosion, nor gunfire, but… voices? Seemingly carried up from within the chasm by the wind.
"Movement below," Chen Ke whispered, signaling Lia to maintain absolute quiet.
They carefully approached the area, using the wreckage for cover, and潛伏 at the cliff's edge. The voices gradually became clearer—amplified shouts, but broken by interference:
"...Repeat… surrender… hand over… 'Cradle'… or else…"
This was followed by the sound of intense energy weapon fire, but it sounded… chaotic? Mixed with strange, sharp noises like metal being torn by great force, and a deep, rumbling like heavy machinery overloading.
Chen Ke frowned. This didn't sound like a simple encounter or annihilation. The situation below seemed highly complex.
Suddenly, a terrified scream rose from below, accompanied by a distorted shout over the amplifier: "It's alive! Watch out… Ah—!" The transmission cut off abruptly, leaving only the crackle of static and the now louder sound of rending metal.
Lia's face was deathly pale, her hands gripping a protruding metal edge so tightly her knuckles were white. "Down there… what's happening down there? My father, he…"
Chen Ke didn't answer. His full attention was captured by a new development within the chasm below. The swirling, phosphorescent mist seemed to be flowing faster, and… growing brighter. A low, rhythmic vibration transmitted through the ground beneath his palms.
Thump… Thump… Thump…
This vibration was clearer, more powerful than Old Dog's description or anything he had imagined. It was no longer just a signal, but a tangible physical phenomenon, as if a massive engine was being awakened deep within the abyss.
"The heartbeat…" Lia felt it too, murmuring with incredulous horror.
Chen Ke stood up abruptly. They couldn't wait any longer. Whatever was below, 'The Ring' squad was clearly in serious trouble. This might be their only chance.
"We're going down," he stated decisively, checking his gear and adjusting the interference device Old Dog had given him to a ready state.
"But… how?" Lia looked at the dizzying abyss, her voice shaking.
Chen Ke pointed to the ropes 'The Ring' had left. "Use their path. Stay close, and no matter what you see, don't make a loud sound."
He grabbed a rope first, tested its strength, and without hesitation began rappelling down. Lia took a deep breath, suppressing her fear, and followed closely behind.
One after the other, they quickly disappeared into the eerily glowing mist. The narrow strip of sky above gradually thinned, surrounded by thickening fog and the increasingly loud 'heartbeat'. The metal cliff faces were covered in strange, unnatural etchings that grew denser the lower they went.
After descending several dozen meters, the surrounding mist suddenly thinned. Chen Ke and Lia finally got a clear view of part of the scene below—
It was a massive, artificial platform built into the chasm wall, ancient and bizarre in style, definitely not a creation of the current era. The platform was strewn with the bodies of 'The Ring' squad members and destroyed equipment, a scene of carnage. At the far end of the platform was a gaping, maw-like entrance to a passageway, its edges flickering with unstable energy arcs.
The powerful, heartbeat-like vibration and light were emanating directly from deep within that passage.
Simultaneously, Chen Ke's implants received an extremely powerful, no-longer-hidden data stream, flooding directly into his consciousness. The signal formed a single, constantly repeating word, carrying a cold, inhuman urgency:
"Cradle… Awaken… Inherit…"
Hanging on the rope, Chen Ke stared into the dark passage entrance. The answers were inside. And the danger had taken form.
He released the rope, landing steadily on the platform, his high-frequency cutter humming as it charged. Lia landed beside him, looking at the passage with terror and determination.
"We're here," Chen Ke said quietly, stepping towards the entrance that resembled a giant beast's throat.
End of Chapter 9.