"It has merged into the underlying spatial structure and is bound to our energy.

Unless we completely dissipate, or it actively withdraws, it will exist forever."

Qingniao punched the cabin wall, sparks of lightning flying everywhere. "So we've become that monster's living beacon? It can come knocking at any time?"

"Not for now." Bai Cheng stared at the star map, light and shadow flowing in her silver eyes. "The seal is still there; its power projection range is limited.

But we must find out its origin, the composition of the seal, and... why it thirsts so much for the Power of Faith as soon as possible."

She looked at Lu Duo. "Can life sensing trace back energy trails? I want to know what exactly is hidden deep within those eyes."

Lu Duo closed her eyes and concentrated, the light of life in her palm rippling out like water.

After a moment, she opened her eyes, her face slightly pale:

"I... saw some fragments. Deep within those eyes, it's not just the simple will of the abyss, but... countless overlapping shadows of civilizations.

There are crystal tower cities reaching into the clouds, fleets spanning across the sea of stars, ancient rituals sacrificing to the stars... but all of these eventually came to the same end—"

She paused, her voice trembling:

"They were drained of faith and souls by some invisible existence, turning into parched ruins.

And those eyes... they seem to be a conglomerate of the resentment and knowledge of those drained civilizations."

Deathly silence fell over the room.

Yu Nian swallowed # Nоvеlight # hard. "So that monster sustains its existence by devouring the faith of civilizations?"

"Worse." Zi Yuan gripped her sword hilt, her fingertips turning white. "It devours not just faith, but the knowledge, history, and soul imprints accumulated by entire civilizations... then turns them into its own power and memory. Every time it devours a civilization, it grows stronger, closer to... being complete."

Bai Cheng slowly let out a breath.

She finally understood.

Gemini's—no, rather, the Constellation Leader's true plan—was likely even more insane than they had imagined.

The Leader collected all sorts of top-tier laws, attempting to construct a universe of laws to break through to the rank of Emperor.

While this Abyssal Pupil fed on the faith and souls of civilizations, attempting to re-condense a godhead from nothingness.

The two seemed to have different paths, but in essence, both were about plundering external things to achieve their own ends.

"We must figure out the Abyssal Pupil's full background before the Leader does." Bai Cheng stood up, her determination as firm as iron in her silver eyes,

"If the Leader also knows of the Abyssal Pupil's existence, or even... tries to utilize it, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"But we don't even know what it is right now," Qingniao said. "There's no record of such an existence in the ancient texts at all!"

"There is one place that might have the answer."

Leng Ningxue, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

Everyone looked at her.

Her ice-blue eyes scanned the star map, her fingertip pointing at a coordinate marked as taboo:

"The Star Archive—a place that legend says houses all the knowledge of the Lost Era.

It isn't in any known sea area, but in a spatial rift that moves at any time.

But in Atum's memory fragments, there are clues to the key to entering it."

Bai Cheng's silver eyes lit up. "The Star Archive... I remember legends saying it contains records about the Path of the Emperor, the Ancient God Era, and even the essence of the world."

"But that's also an area under heavy surveillance by the Enforcement Officer," Zi Yuan reminded. "The existence behind the Enforcement Officer probably won't be happy about us coming into contact with that knowledge."

"That's exactly why we need to go," Bai Cheng said decisively,

"Whether it's dealing with the Abyssal Pupil or confronting the Leader and the Enforcement Officer, we must grasp more information. Passively waiting only leads to a dead end."

She looked at the star map, her fingertip tracing a silver trajectory connecting their current position to that taboo coordinate:

"Adjust the course; destination: Star Archive."

"Before the Abyssal Pupil fully awakens and the Leader completes the ritual, we must find the key to breaking the deadlock."

Outside the window, the night was deep.

The silver train pierced through the sky, heading toward the unknown taboo star sector.

And beneath the deep sea, those giant nebula-like eyes slowly closed, sinking into eternal darkness.

The chains rattled softly, and the sealing runes dimmed a bit more.

The galaxy was silent, with only the void of starlight and darkness intertwined outside the porthole.

The train had been away from the Abyssal Trench for three days and nights; that sea area gazed upon by the Abyssal Pupil had long since vanished beyond the horizon,

But the cold imprint deep within the soul remained clear, like a silent alarm bell hanging overhead.

Bai Cheng stood before the center console in the cockpit, her silver eyes staring at the cursor moving slowly on the star map.

It was the Star Archive coordinate marked by Leng Ningxue, currently drifting slowly among the shattered star sectors at the northeastern edge of the Emerald Sea along an irregular arc.

"The archive's movement trajectory forms an energy node every seventy-two hours," Leng Ningxue's voice came from the side; her fingertip swiped lightly, and a string of constantly calculating runes appeared on the ice-blue light screen,

"The next node will appear outside the Shattered Star Corridor in nine hours. We must arrive before then and complete positioning and jumping within the twelve seconds the node is open."

"Twelve seconds..." Qingniao leaned against the cabin door with his arms crossed, lightning flickering restlessly in his eyes. "Is that enough?"

"It has to be enough, even if it isn't." Zi Yuan wiped her long sword, the blade reflecting her cold profile, 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"The Abyssal Pupil's imprint is like a slow-acting poison; the longer we delay, the higher its tracking precision. The archive is the only place we can find answers right now."

Lu Duo gently stroked a slightly glowing pure heart vine in her arms, its leaves moving without any wind:

"I feel... the life aura in that star sector is very thin, almost entirely consisting of shattered rocks and solidified energy residue.

The fact that the archive can exist in such a place is abnormal in itself."

"Precisely because it's abnormal, it might hide abnormal knowledge." Bai Cheng turned around, her gaze sweeping over everyone. "Action in nine hours.

Now, everyone, adjust your status.

Qingniao, Zi Yuan, check the train's outer protective runes; Lu Duo, Yu Nian, ensure the life support systems and emergency medical supplies are ready;

Ning Xue, continue calculating the node's trajectory. I need the most precise space-time coordinates."

Everyone dispersed at her word.

Bai Cheng stayed in the cockpit alone, her fingertip lightly touching an inconspicuous indentation on the edge of the center console.

Silver light flowed, and a fine rift appeared out of thin air, from which a palm-sized, dodecahedral prism-shaped dark silver crystal floated out.

This was the "Key Fragment" that Atum had forcibly stripped from the depths of his memory in his final moments through a soul imprint.

The surface of the crystal was covered in fine cracks, and inside, nebula-like misty light slowly rotated.