403: Let's watch some more CG in Chapter 400.

The two stood on the ice field, silent for a long time.

Only that giant sword remained before them, thrust obliquely into the ice, its blade reflecting the weak Arctic sunlight. The patterns on the hilt flickered in the light, as if breathing. Further away, where the mecha had disappeared, the ice had refrozen, leaving no trace behind.

Lu Jianchuan finally moved.

He pulled an instrument—a locator—from his pocket, pressed it a few times, and coordinates popped up on the screen. He then pulled out a compass and glanced between the two.

"That direction." He looked up and pointed into the distance. "About three kilometers away is the Research Station's location. Let's go."

Cynthia nodded.

"Let's go."

The two walked side by side in that direction. The snow crunched under their feet, and their exhaled white breath drifted before their eyes.

After walking for a while, Lu Jianchuan suddenly spoke.

"Who exactly did you come here to find?"

Cynthia didn't stop, her gaze fixed straight ahead.

"To see a person," she said, her tone very flat. "Biologically speaking, the guy who could be considered my father."

Lu Jianchuan tilted his head to look at her.

"That one... with the 8-plus concentration?"

"Yes."

Lu Jianchuan was silent for a few seconds.

"You came here for him?" He paused. "Wait, so that means he's here?"

Cynthia shook her head.

"It seems he isn't."

She spoke as she walked, her tone devoid of emotion.

"If he were really here, the The Authorities should have sent people to capture me or stop me the moment I showed my face. Instead, they only sent you to find the professor."

Lu Jianchuan nodded.

"So that guy isn't here at all."

"Yes."

"Then where did you get your information?"

Cynthia's footsteps faltered for a moment before she continued.

"That group called the 'The Fellowship'," she said. "They wanted me to join, saying something about making me the Goddess of Flowers or whatever. I didn't agree and set a condition—if they wanted me to join, they had to tell me where that person with the 8-plus concentration was first."

Lu Jianchuan looked at her.

"This was the intelligence they gave you?"

"Right."

Cynthia gently exhaled a puff of white mist.

"Now there are two possibilities. Either they lied to me, or they were lied to themselves."

She paused.

"It seems regardless of which it is, that person isn't here."

Lu Jianchuan didn't speak. After walking a bit further, he suddenly asked again:

"How are you sure he's your father? Just because of the concentration?"

Cynthia thought for a moment.

"The intelligence they gave me said that the guy with the 8 concentration is male," she said. "And my cloning method is a bit different from standard genetic cloning. I can't be considered a pure genetic clone; I'm more like... an offspring."

She paused.

"So there are still many differences between me and that original body."

After hearing this, Lu Jianchuan didn't ask further.

The two continued forward. On the distant ice, the buildings of the Research Station were already faintly visible.

[Consciousness Space]

Han Chengyu sat cross-legged in that void of white space, three light screens floating before him. The one on the left showed Lu Jianchuan's real-time physical data, the middle one was a dense metal element analysis chart, and the right one—temporarily empty, waiting for new data to be pinned.

He stared at the left light screen for a few seconds and rubbed his chin.

"Hmm... the issue of Lu Jianchuan's factor concentration rising hasn't been completely solved, but it's suppressed for now," he muttered to himself. "The rate of increase has dropped to an extremely slow level. At this speed..."

He paused, his lip twitching.

"With this growth rate that has infinite decimal places, he will never reach the truth of actual factor concentration growth."

[System has detected a sarcastic tone from the host. Are you making a meme reference?]

"It's none of your business whether I'm making a meme or not." Han Chengyu waved his hand and shifted his gaze to the middle light screen.

On it was the data just scanned from the giant sword and the mecha wreckage. The contact time wasn't long, but it was enough to scan many things.

"Come, come, look at this." He enlarged the chart on the light screen, those complex atomic arrangements rotating and zooming in before his eyes. "System, look at this sequence. Interesting, isn't it?"

[Analyzing metallic composition...]

[Preliminary conclusion: The metal is a composite alloy, composed of at least seven unknown elements.]

[The primary component—temporarily named 'Element X-7'—possesses extremely high hardness and extremely low density. Its hardness is approximately 17 times that of the hardest substance on Earth, while its density is about 1/3 that of titanium alloy.]

Han Chengyu whistled.

"Such high hardness and such low density? If Earth could grow this stuff on its own, I'll swallow the entire System."

[System refuses to be swallowed.]

[Analysis continues—The formation of Element X-7 requires an extremely specific planetary environment: the planet's gravity must be at least 6-8 times that of Earth, and it must possess one or several companion planets with sufficient mass to exert continuous gravitational pull, allowing this dense yet light crystalline structure to form over vast geological eras.]

Han Chengyu stared at the string of data, his eyes narrowing.

"In other words, there's absolutely no way this thing was naturally conceived on Earth."

[Confirmed. Not just X-7, but every other element making up this alloy, when taken individually, is not something Earth can naturally form. They require completely different environmental conditions—some needing extreme pressure, some extreme cold, and some needing continuous radiation exposure for hundreds of millions of years.]

[Even if human technology developed to its peak, synthesizing this alloy would require building special factories in space to simulate the formation conditions of these elements, then Fusion them together through complex processes. This process...]

"How long would it take?"

[Conservatively estimated, from raw material collection to final molding, it would take at least several centuries. And the success rate would be extremely low.]

Han Chengyu leaned back, hands behind his head.

"So this thing—this mecha, this sword—is definitely not a product of Earth. It comes from another world, or another part of the starry sky."

He paused, staring at the slowly rotating metal chart on the light screen.

"And the civilization that built it has a technological level far higher than ours."

[Conclusion established.]

Han Chengyu was silent for a while, then suddenly spoke again.

"Speaking of which, Lu Jianchuan and the others encountered this mecha there... how did this thing end up under the Arctic ice?"

[Insufficient data, unable to analyze.]

"Tsk." Han Chengyu scratched his head. "Forget it, just save it for now. Anyway, the sword is still stuck there; I'll study it again when I have the chance."

He moved his gaze back to the left light screen, looking at Lu Jianchuan's stable factor concentration data, then at the complex metal chart in the middle, and finally sighed.

"Day in and day out, there's always so much going on."

[host.] The System's voice suddenly rang out.

"Hmm? What is it?"

[According to further analysis, that sword has been transmitting a special pulse.]

Han Chengyu's fingers froze.

"Pulse? What pulse?"

[It is a special frequency that no human technology on Earth can detect. The target of this pulse is—specific spatial coordinates.]

Han Chengyu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight.

"Spatial coordinates?"

The scene flashed through his mind—the mecha being dragged into that brilliant hole by tentacles, throwing the sword out at the last moment to plant it in the ice.

"Wait..." he murmured, "It was kneeling there with the sword planted to prevent that portal?"

[At least for now, yes.] The System's voice was steady. [The interference waves continuously emitted by that sword can effectively suppress attempts at spatial leaping through specific coordinates. Its coverage range—]

"Covers the entire Earth?"

[Confirmed. The coverage range of this pulse has been precisely calculated to exactly envelope the entire Earth. Any target attempting a spatial leap through those coordinates will be interfered with by this layer of pulse, making precise positioning impossible.]

Han Chengyu frowned.

"If it only protects the entire Earth... that's not enough, right? Can't they still come from other parts of the Universe?"

[Theoretically possible, but practically extremely difficult.] The System paused. [Spatial leaping requires extremely precise coordinate positioning. After determining target coordinates, even a change in the first decimal place would cause the leaper to appear at a location very distant from the Milky Way—perhaps tens of thousands of light-years away, or in a completely unknown Void Realm.]

[Therefore, this planetary-wide interference wave has effectively blocked all valid approach paths to those coordinates.]

Han Chengyu fell silent.

"So... the thing on the other side has been trying to come through those coordinates."

[Inference established.]

He leaned back, his gaze falling on the scan of the sword on the light screen.

"If this mecha is from another part of the starry sky..." he spoke slowly, "Why is it here interfering? Could it be that a civilization once existed on Earth?"

[If a civilization capable of building such mechas had existed, it would be impossible for no traces to remain.]

"Then why is it here?"

The System was silent for a few seconds.

[Based on further inference and simulation calculations—another mecha should exist on Earth.]

Han Chengyu was taken aback.

"Another one?"

[In the Antarctic.]

Han Chengyu blinked, then slowly his mouth hung open.

"One in the Arctic, one in the Antarctic..." he murmured, "Covering the entire Earth from both ends?"

[Confirmed. The pulses emitted by the two swords intertwine to form complete global coverage. This layout highly coincides with the distribution of Earth's own magnetic field.]

Han Chengyu stared at the light screen, suddenly thinking of something.

"Wait, you aren't going to say... Earth's magnetic poles are—"

[Not at all.] The System interrupted him. [Earth's magnetic poles are inherent to the planet itself. The effect of these two swords is more like... utilizing Earth's magnetic poles and amplifying them.]

Han Chengyu fell silent.

He looked at the sword on the light screen, quietly planted in the ice, and at those invisible pulses constantly spreading outward. He suddenly felt that the Arctic ice field was much more complex than he had imagined.

(Thanks to Daluo Wandao for the tip.)