Chapter 1

The earth had become a scorched wasteland, mountain ridges and hills leveled. Rampant flames were gradually consuming the surrounding forests, and the most devastated areas resembled the end of the world. Rocks, melted by extreme heat, flowed across the cracked surface as rivers of magma. Thick smoke billowed from craters, staining the sky a burnt hue. The scattered remains of fortresses, like a mutated steel jungle, angrily pointed towards the sky on this newly formed "Disaster Plain."

At the heart of these apocalyptic sights lay a massive, earth-spanning fissure. Charred remnants of tentacles clung to its jagged edges, and rocks and soil tumbled continuously into the abyss. Two rivers of magma cascaded down the cliffs, resembling the sulfurous rivers connecting Hell and Earth in mythology. At the bottom of the chasm, a faint, hazy red glow flickered in the darkness.

It was a neural node of the Changzi (Progenitor) glimmering in the darkness.

Drone swarms had established a temporary base around the chasm. Large-scale equipment originally intended for space engineering operations was deployed from orbit and assembled on-site, transforming into disintegration beam generators suspended over the abyss. Three sets of these generators were now active, using high-energy rays to dismantle everything in their path and clear obstacles deep within the fissure.

Engineering drones buzzed between these massive machines, while other drone models had already entered the chasm for exploration and reconnaissance. Occasionally, a flash of light illuminated the depths—armed drones delivering painful anesthesia, kinetic hypnosis, and physical deletion to any remaining active tentacles of the Changzi…

Or something like that.

The Tortoise Rock Platform descended smoothly and silently into the fissure. As it continued downward, the light from above faded into a distant, blurry line, accompanied only by the glow of the material disintegration beams and the swarms of drones circling the ship.

Hao Ren watched the disintegration beams thoughtfully. "Mineral guns really are the most powerful anti-armor weapons in the world…"

"Tch, they're only good at burning rocks. When you encounter something with a little bit of technology, they're not even as good as a shot from my main cannon," Nolan said, somewhat unconvinced. "What's so impressive about just breaking rocks?"

Nangong Sanba glanced at the ship spirit strangely. "Why are you arguing with a bunch of mineral guns?"

May used her tail to nudge Sanba's arm. "Brother, don't provoke her—Nolan finally fixed the main cannon, but she hasn't gotten to use it, so she's frustrated."

Hao Ren, however, paid no attention to his ship spirit's little tantrum. He was focused on the drone excavation and the conditions deep within the fissure.

This was a "deep dive" unlike any he had experienced before. He had entered the core areas of Changzi before, but they were either the immature Changzi like the one in Holletta, or harmless ones like Zhum. The riskiest time was on Purgatory Star, when he led a team into the body of a living adult Changzi. The feeling of traversing through a planet covered in tentacle forests was memorable, but the Changzi on Purgatory Star had been completely sealed by the demon Vivian and posed no threat until the seal was broken.

This was different. Not only was the Changzi on this planet alive, but its tentacles could move freely. Although its consciousness had dissipated, its body was unrestrained. For such a powerful mythical being, the subconscious movements of its body were enough to cause devastating consequences.

It was no wonder Hao Ren had prepared such a large operation and brought the drone swarm along for protection.

"What's the status of the Lullaby Program?" He tapped the console in front of him, pulling Nolan out of her mutterings.

"The vanguard drones have entered the depths of the fissure with the Lullaby devices. We found a large number of ganglia emitting strong neural impulses. Those ganglia have now been sedated," Nolan said, projecting an image of the fissure's bottom. The image showed a dark red subterranean canyon with nearly vertical rock cliffs on either side. The canyon floor narrowed, with countless tentacles and glowing nerve strands weaving in and out of the rock walls and crisscrossing at the bottom, almost completely blocking the fissure. Among the tangled biological tissue were many tumor-like structures emitting a brighter red light—the ganglia.

Engineering drones were busily working around the ganglia, securing metal beams to the rock walls and more stable tentacles, and installing the Lullaby devices near the ganglia. The tumors pulsed at a steady rate, indicating they had entered a deep sleep.

They were sleeping so soundly that they didn't even notice three mineral guns drilling holes above their heads…

Hao Ren glanced at the material disintegration beams firing straight down from the ship, burning away the tentacle blockages, and reminded her, "Make sure the Lullaby devices are stable. Each area needs at least two Lullaby generators running simultaneously, or we'll have a big problem if this thing wakes up."

"Nolan understands."

"Any changes in the deep-level signal response?"

"No change," Nolan replied. "The signals from near the planet's core indicate that the Changzi's brain core is still offline. The drones have located two main nerve strands that we have confirmed are directly connected to the brain core area. We haven't detected any thought waves from those nerves."

Hao Ren nodded and remained silent.

The ship continued to descend, passing beyond the tentacle blockage at the bottom of the canyon. The powerful disintegration beams had burned a large hole through it, revealing even deeper subterranean caverns below.

During the process of the Changzi parasitizing a planet, the planet's physical structure inevitably undergoes enormous changes, creating planetary structures that would never occur under normal circumstances.

Inside a planet parasitized by a Changzi, the most common structures are continuous cavities and fault zones—the remnants of the Changzi's growth and development. When this powerful mythical creature first emerged from the Seed of Origin, it would shape the surface ecology while burrowing deep underground. As a juvenile, it usually lived near the crust, constantly shifting its position to care for the fragile surface ecosystem, leaving behind numerous tunnels and cave structures. During the transition from juvenile to adult, it would move to the mantle, immersing part of its body in magma to absorb energy while another part of its body protruded from the surface to continue monitoring the ecosystem, leaving behind many penetrating "rock column voids." As an adult, the Changzi would have grown to the point where it could span the entire planet, its internal structure shifting to the core and gradually replacing the function of the core (such as maintaining the planetary magnetic field), while its surface tentacles spread globally.

During this series of migrations, growth, and metabolisms, the interior of the planet was left with a massive number of voids and faults. A planet in this state would inevitably collapse under normal circumstances, but because the Changzi's tentacles replaced the rock pillars, the planet's physical structure would actually be stronger than before.

The Tortoise Rock Platform advanced through such a series of voids and faults.

The digging equipment constructed by the drones shut down after drilling through the crust and part of the mantle. The "underworld" below was already spacious enough that they didn't need to continue digging. Nolan could find openings large enough to pass through—even if they encountered difficult passages, the escort drones could help with the excavation.

Nangong Wuyue lay beside the projection device, marveling at the images from the external monitors. "It's truly spectacular."

The ship had just passed through a rocky dome and was now flying over a scorching underground lava lake. In the red light emitted by the lava, several thick tentacles could be clearly seen spanning the entire fault, growing out of the magma and supporting the rock roof above. There were some branching "twigs" between the tentacles, and fleeting sparks of light occasionally flickered across their surfaces, as if fire sprites were residing within.

Nolan slowed down, carefully flying between the giant tentacles. As the ship passed one of them, the external monitors transmitted an unbelievable scene:

The lava lake below suddenly disappeared, replaced by a lush forest. Then the forest was swallowed by yellow sand, and some ancient megalithic structures could be seen in the sand. A few seconds later, the megalithic structures vanished with the wind, and the desert transformed into a white snowfield, where heavily armed medieval knights struggled to trudge across the snow…

Lili perked up at the sight of the snowfield, swallowing hard to suppress the "Awoo" in her throat.

"There's a large ganglion nearby," Nolan's voice startled everyone. "The 'dream murmurs' produced by the ganglion are distorting the reality within the subterranean cave and creating these things."

Hao Ren reminded everyone, "Don't believe these sights are real. Although they are temporarily real, the dream could end at any moment, and the forest, snowfield, and desert will instantly turn back into a lava lake."

"Incredible…" n-6 murmured to herself. "The Planet Devourer had such power…"

"This isn't all of his power," Hao Ren glanced at the robot girl. "He wasn't always a symbol of disaster like you imagine. After this incident is over, I'll leave you some information, and then you can learn the truth."

n-6 nodded gratefully, while the data terminal said, "The presence of large ganglia capable of creating illusory realities suggests that we are very close to one of the brain cores."

No sooner had the data terminal finished speaking than Nolan said urgently, "Boss, I think I've found something! Look over there!"

On the screen Nolan had highlighted, Hao Ren was struck by the sight of fractured rock formations, with numerous glittering crystals mixed within. Several large black tentacles stretched out from the base of the rock walls—the central nerve strands connected to the brain core.

They had found it.