159: Chapter 159 Sea Monsters and Prehistoric Civilization

"Darkness, endless darkness... my thalassophobia is acting up..."

"Look! There's something down there!"

As the submersible slowly descended, irregular, massive silhouettes of man-made objects began to appear at the edge of the searchlight's beam.

There were collapsed stone pillars and broken giant slabs carved with unrecognizable patterns full of geometric beauty and flowing curves. Some patterns seemed to reflect a faint, unnatural luster under the searchlights.

"Initial assessment suggests the material of these stone structures is very special, unlike any rock known to modern science."

President Chen Ran's voice rang out at the right moment, calmly explaining, "The carving style... has never been seen in any recorded civilization."

"Based on the thickness of the surrounding sediment and biological growth, a preliminary estimate suggests they are of great antiquity."

The bullet chat boiled over:

"Prehistoric civilization confirmed?"

"Atlantis? Mu?"

"These carvings are so cool! A completely different aesthetic system!"

"Just how many surprises (scares) does the Deep Blue Nation have left?"

"The big shots at the Chinese Academy of Sciences must be losing their minds with excitement right now!"

The submersible continued forward, carefully weaving through the massive ruins.

Those silent megaliths cast hideous and mysterious shadows under the lights, creating a heavy sense of oppression.

Suddenly, directly ahead at the end of the darkness, a faint, steady blue light appeared.

"Light source detected."

President Chen Ran's voice rose slightly, tinged with a sense of exploration.

The submersible adjusted its course and headed toward the blue light.

As the distance closed, the blue light became clearer and increasingly breathtaking.

It was a pyramid!

The entire structure was made of a translucent material that looked like neither jade nor crystal. It was estimated to be over fifty meters tall, standing quietly on a relatively flat layer of sediment on the seabed.

The surface of the pyramid was smooth as a mirror, covered in complex, precise luminous patterns that seemed to follow some mathematical law.

That soft blue light emanated from within these patterns; it wasn't reflecting the searchlights, but glowing on its own!

The light wasn't blinding, but it flowed slowly as if it were alive, illuminating the surrounding patch of sea like a dreamscape.

Even more shocking was that the top of the pyramid wasn't a point, but a flat platform. On the platform was a circular groove, and in the center of that groove hovered a fist-sized, deep blue polyhedral crystal with highly concentrated light, rotating slowly at a constant speed.

The entire scene was filled with a sense of technology and mysticism that transcended the era, breathtakingly beautiful yet eerie enough to send chills down one's spine.

In the livestream room, there was a brief, dead silence as if the bullet chat had been vacuumed away.

Then, a mountain-shaking explosion of activity erupted!

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!!"

"A glowing pyramid?! With its own power source?!"

"Is that an energy core? It has to be an energy core, right?!"

"This is definitely not an Earth product! At least not from the Earth we know!"

"My mom asked why I'm watching the stream on my knees!"

"President Chen Ran! Quick! See if you can interact with it!!"

"Xia Kingdom pilot: Who am I? Where am I? What am I looking at?"

"Scientists around the world are fainting in unison..."

"This stream was worth it! I'll be bragging about this for the rest of my life!"

Inside the cockpit, President Chen Ran also displayed a shocked and solemn expression at the appropriate time (his acting was on point).

He slowly piloted the submersible in a circle around the pyramid, showing this incredible creation from different angles.

As the camera zoomed in, the details of the glowing patterns became clearer, looking like some unknown script or circuitry.

"Unbelievable structure... and energy performance."

President Chen Ran's voice carried just the right amount of wonder and caution. "We currently cannot determine its purpose, age, or creators."

"It is very... stable."

"No harmful radiation or abnormal energy fluctuations have been detected."

"The crystal at the top... is very special."

He signaled the Xia Kingdom co-pilot to use the mechanical arm to carefully scrape a small amount of residue from an inconspicuous spot at the base of the pyramid.

"We will take the collected data and samples back for in-depth research."

"Out of safety and respect for an unknown civilization, we will not attempt to enter or touch the core structure for now," President Chen Ran decided.

This decision caused countless viewers who were dying to see the doors open or the thing activate to wail in disappointment, but it also earned the approval of many rational viewers.

After all, this thing was too eerie; who knew what would happen if they messed with it.

However, just as the submersible finished its orbit and prepared to maintain a safe distance for more external observation, a sudden change occurred!

The blue crystal at the top of the pyramid suddenly increased its rotation speed without warning!

The blue light it emitted also abruptly became bright and unstable, beginning to flash like a pulse!

Simultaneously, the seawater around the base of the pyramid began to surge violently and unnaturally, forming dangerous whirlpools!

"Energy readings are skyrocketing!" the pilot cried out. "Abnormal disturbance in the surrounding water! Something is approaching! Something big!"

The searchlight suddenly swept toward the darkness on one side.

In the shadows of the distant ruins, a massive, indescribable silhouette was being drawn by the pyramid's abnormal blue light, slowly moving toward them!

The thing looked like a terrifying combination of a deep-sea anglerfish and a giant worm, magnified thousands of times.

Most of its body was hidden in the darkness, revealing only a giant mouth filled with spiral sharp teeth—likely over ten meters in diameter—and bait-like organs extending and retracting from the mouthparts, emitting a ghastly white bioluminescence!

"Deep-sea behemoth?" The bullet chat went wild.

"Run! Run fast!"

"I knew nothing good would happen!"

"Can the striver hold up?"

"President Chen Ran is in danger!"

A faint alarm sounded inside the cockpit.

The Xia Kingdom pilot turned pale and looked at President Chen Ran.

President Chen Ran frowned, staring at the massive object rapidly approaching on the screen and the energy-unstable pyramid, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.

Was it an accident, or had the defense mechanism of these ancient ruins been triggered?

Whatever.

"Initiate emergency protocol, release the Deep Sea Silence Field," President Chen Ran ordered in a low voice into the communicator.

"Prioritize repelling the biological entity and stabilizing the ruin's energy."

"Yes!" Inside the submarine, a hidden device that was not part of the original striver systems was activated.

There was no sound, no light.

But in the livestream, the terrifying behemoth that was charging forward suddenly stiffened as if it had hit an invisible wall. It began to struggle violently and silently, the light of its ghastly white bait organ flickering rapidly, looking pained and confused.

After struggling for less than five seconds, this deep-sea overlord seemed to be greatly frightened or injured. It suddenly turned around and fled into the endless dark abyss at a speed even faster than it had arrived, vanishing from sight.

At the same time, the wildly flashing blue crystal at the top of the pyramid rapidly dimmed and calmed down, returning to its previous steady, soft blue light and constant rotation.

The abnormal surging of the surrounding seawater also quickly subsided.

Everything had happened in just over ten seconds.

From the eruption of the crisis to its sudden resolution, it was so fast that people couldn't react.

The livestream room fell silent once more, followed by a screen full of question marks in the bullet chat.

“???? What happened?”

"The behemoth ran away? What scared it off?"

"The pyramid stopped flashing too? A coincidence?"

"President Chen Ran seemed to whisper something just now? Are there any lip-reading masters here?"

"The striver must have some black technology we don't know about!"

"Deep Blue Nation's black technology saves the day again?"

"Xia Kingdom pilot: I've had a bit too much excitement today, I need some quiet time..."

President Chen Ran faced the camera, showing a look that was part relief and part confusion. "The unidentified creature has been repelled... the ruin's energy also seems to have stabilized."

"The cause is unknown. This exploration mission has achieved its expected goals. To avoid unpredictable risks, we will now begin our ascent."

His tone was steady, as if the heart-pounding scene just now was merely a minor episode.

But the audience didn't think so; countless questions and speculations exploded across the internet.

The submersible began a steady ascent.

The livestream camera took one last look at the pyramid as it was gradually swallowed by the darkness again, leaving only a tiny point of faint blue light at the top, full of endless suspense.

The livestream ended with the submersible safely surfacing and being recovered by the mothership.

But the discussions on the global network had only just begun!

"Deep-Sea Glowing Pyramid," "Prehistoric Unknown Civilization Ruins," "Terrifying Behemoth and Mysterious Repulsion," "President Chen Ran's Latest Miraculous Expedition"... Related topics dominated global trending lists, their popularity crushing all entertainment news and political events.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences immediately issued a strictly worded but visibly excited statement, confirming the authenticity of the joint scientific expedition and announcing that they would conduct a "most comprehensive and in-depth" study of the acquired data and samples, calling for the international scientific community to stay tuned and cooperate.

As for President Chen Ran, after ending the stream and returning to the Presidential Palace, a pleasant system notification sounded in his mind:

[Livestream exploration of 'Blue Light Ruins' (System Designation: Cyberna Ancient Monitoring Outpost) has triggered massive global attention, wonder, speculation, and discussion. Based on the impact assessment...]

[Reward: 3,000 Points!]

[Current Total Points: 6,000!]

6,000 points! A light of pleasant surprise erupted in President Chen Ran's eyes.

A single livestream gave him 3,000 points!

This was more profitable than his hard work salvaging several shipwrecks!

It seemed that appropriately displaying some extraordinary things—while using 'unsolved mysteries' as a cover—to leverage global attention for points was a highly efficient shortcut!

More importantly, this livestream perfectly laid the groundwork and provided official certification for the existence of these ancient undersea ruins.

In the future, when he had enough points or the time was right, he could leisurely develop small sightseeing submersibles and turn these Blue Light Ruins into a one-of-a-kind global super-tourism project. That would be another endless gold mine of points and wealth!

And... President Chen Ran pulled up the detailed system scan of the Blue Light Ruins that only he could see.