Galaxy Domination Guide

The vast pit was pitch-black, especially amidst the diverging magma, exuding a peculiar aura.

Even the most trained and experienced explorers would not easily enter such caves. Chi Jia and others reported their findings while sending drones into the Martian pit for further reconnaissance; meanwhile, they continued along Sailor Valley and landed on a highland in the middle part of the valley.

The team members, clad in Individual Armor, emerged one by one from the landing ship, and naturally, team leader Chi Jia was the first to set foot on Martian soil.

Due to the lower gravity compared to Earth, even with the modulation of the Individual Armor, the explorers felt their movements were too effortless. A light leap could carry them tens of meters away, and this was without activating the power amplification of the armor.

After collecting some samples and taking a few tourist-like photos, the spirits of the team members were not on these tasks—the vast cave in the pit remained a great mystery weighing on everyone's mind.

Even for Taschwe, who was most excited about reaching Mars, his interest had waned as he incessantly said to Huang Quan, "There must be something beneath that large hole, otherwise, the magma wouldn't even split apart."

Huang Quan used a tool to unearth a rock, and surprisingly found a brilliant blue light inside—it was a beautiful sapphire. Huang Quan smiled as he pocketed the gem and said, "Stop overthinking it, no matter what is found down there, it has nothing to do with us."

Taschwe exclaimed, "How can it not be related to us? We are the ones who discovered it!"

Huang Quan retorted sarcastically, "Do you think they'll share the benefits with us? It's not enough just seeing that pit. Such findings won't provide us any benefit, but maybe you could at least name the cave."

"Sure, even just naming it would be great."

The peculiar Martian pit caught the attention of Bai Zhongqi instantly. The drones deployed by explorers like Chi Jia were not operated or monitored by them directly; specialized personnel handled that, while Bai Zhongqi quietly watched the drone footage in Ruyi City.

The cave was not only wide, spanning several tens of kilometers, but its depth was also unexpectedly significant.

Squatting before the surveillance screen, Bai Zhongqi, stroking his beardless chin, thought, "This huge hole couldn't possibly lead directly to the core of the planet, could it?"

The recent events at Emerald Sea Star had already cast a shadow over Bai Zhongqi's thoughts about planetary cores. Although the planetary life on Emerald Sea Star was in a state of chaotic consciousness, without special detection methods, no one would know the difference from a normal planet.

However, the possibility of a planetary life born millions of years ago with terrifying power made Bai Zhongqi cautious about anything unknown to the people of Iridium Star.

While playing games, Bai Zhongqi enjoyed any unexpected occurrences, even if it meant being caught off guard and having to reload a save game. But in reality, each unexpected discovery made him tense.

Unfortunately, this is the universe, a place filled with endless possibilities. Even as the United Empire of Iridium Star is mightily powerful, it could still capsize in any unforeseen gutter, and a major mistake by Bai Zhongqi as Chancellor could spell doom for the empire.

After the Dragonfly Drones penetrated over ten thousand meters into the cave, they suddenly entered a vast open area, and at the same time, the drones' agility was severely compromised.

Bai Zhongqi squinted his eyes and quickly found the reason. The sensors on the Dragonfly Drones showed that the environment they were in had only 1.5 times the atmospheric pressure of Earth.

The atmospheric pressure of Mars itself is lower than that of Earth, and as they descended deeper into the pit, the pressure on the drones should have continuously increased. However, for some unknown reason, upon suddenly entering this open space, the atmospheric pressure had undergone a drastic change.

"These..."

By now, Bai Zhongqi, through the cameras of the Dragonfly Drones, could see the surroundings. He abruptly stood up from his seat, his eyes shining brightly.

"This is an artificial ecosystem." Mo Laitong, the head of the Empire's Scientific Research Institute who was also watching the monitor, recognized this immediately.

More images came through, allowing a more complete pattern of the environment to be presented in front of Bai Zhongqi through the holographic image. Several Dragonfly Drones were flying high in the sky, hovering as if among the clouds. The entire canopy was blue sky and white clouds, very similar to all of Ruyi City's blue skies and white clouds.

Only with the help of spectral scanning, could the drones discover that directly above them was the big hole they had flown down from. But here, the artificial ecosystem's system had concealed that hole; although passable, it looked as if it didn't exist.

From the fake canopy to the "ground," the distance was about 800 kilometers, much larger than the scale of the artificial ecosystems in Ruyi City.

Mo Laitong, checking all the detection data sent back by the Dragonfly Drones, said, "The fake star hanging in the canopy, it's actually producing light and heat, so this artificial ecosystem system must still be functioning normally, and it's more realistic than our Ruyi City's ecosystem system."

Bai Zhongqi watched this astonishing scene, speechlessly. The first question that entered his mind was, why was there such a gigantic artificial ecosystem underground on Mars?

The environment here was clearly built to accommodate the living habits of the Primate Clan, with various races in the Galaxy that favored different environments. Some races liked oxygen-rich environments, while others preferred more sulfur compounds or nitrogen in the air. Some were inclined towards carbon dioxide-rich atmospheres, and non-carbon based animals were even more diverse and bizarre.

Bai Zhongqi made a decisive decision and dispatched more reconnaissance vehicles into the pit. It took him almost a day to roughly discern the scope of the huge underground artificial ecosystem.

This underground artificial ecosystem covered an area of over forty million square kilometers, complete with its own terrain and bodies of water, such as rivers and lakes. Unlike the artificial ecosystems built by the people of Iridium Star, this place had no life at all; the ground was covered in soil, but there was no vegetation, and no animals.

Even the sampled soil contained no microbes, yet it was full of organic matter.

And in this empty underground world, a massive building, which reached from the "ground" to the "sky," or in other words, was about 800 kilometers high, stood in the center of the underground artificial ecosystem.

This clearly manmade structure, which should be the main control platform of the underground artificial ecosystem, resembled the Tower of Babel. Its shape was somewhat similar to the Mayan Pyramid, with a square base, and each upward layer was formed by joining the midpoints of the four sides to create another square, continuing in this fashion until it reached the top.

This enormous construction, shrouded in mystery, made Bai Zhongqi first think of words like "Temple" or "Altar." Without a doubt, this structure possessed a highly advanced level of technology, enabling it to maintain an artificial ecosystem covering an area of over forty million square kilometers.