My Charity System made me too OP

Once breached, it revealed the Crown Engine—a massive crystalline sphere suspended above a plinth of roots, singing faintly. Inside spun a double-helix of light, like a DNA strand forged from liquid song.

Roman stared. "This ran the city?"

"No," Aqua whispered. "This was the city."

Roselia frowned. "Come again?"

"This wasn't just a machine. It was the soul of Aethralun. A sentient stabilizer, syncing their minds and keeping the Rift's madness at bay. It held their culture together."

Leon placed a hand on the barrier. "Then when the Seraph broke through…"

A pause.

Liliana finished the sentence. "...it shattered the crown. The song fell silent."

Central Find #3: The Choir Vaults

Hidden in spiraling sub-chambers around the city's base, they found the Choir Vaults—massive caverns filled with sarcophagus-like pods.

Each one housed a Deep Singer in stasis.

Not dead. Not fully alive.

Frozen between moments.

Their biostructures remained intact, embedded in coral-growth preservation units. Aqua traced her fingers over one—a slender figure with finned arms, closed eyes, and a crystalline mask.

"They put themselves into stasis before the collapse," she murmured. "Hoping the city would survive. That something—or someone—would bring the song back."

Leon nodded. "Then we need to decide—do we wake them?"

"We should. We can learn many things. And given there are only a hundred of such pods, they must be someone great if they were sealed and left for the future revival of this civilization," Roselia said as she eyed the Alchemy pods.

"Papa, should we save these kids?" Aqua suddenly asked as she cradled one of the smaller pods or at leats tried to as they are bigger then them too, even if they are supposedly kids they are bigger than adults too.

"Kids?" Leon asked, surprised.

"Yes, they are children—newborns. I can hear their cries for mama and papa," she said.

Leon looked back at the past he came from. "Sometimes, the dead were called—but sometimes they weren't truly dead, just sleeping, waiting for us to walk by," he said.

Roman added, "And these... it's strange. If the babies are the size of adults, it means they were like giants, not our size."

"No wonder, even with the collapsed paths, there was still more than enough space for all of us to walk in groups around the corridors," Naval said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Then it means," he continued, "this civilization didn't prserve their history, but decided for the future—they preserved their species."

"I don't think that's all," Roselia added. "Even if they knew they might not survive, they must have left some behind as a bargain with whoever might save their people."

"Meaning they must have left their kin as a legacy—both for their own future and for those who would save them," she said as she nodded.

"Then... I guess I can let them live in my world," Leon said as others nodded.

Roselia smiled too.

"Anyway, let's explore more. There's still a lot left to discover," she said.

Find #4: The Memory Codex

In a chamber shaped like an open clam, they uncovered a massive codex orb—hollow and filled with floating hologlyphs. Each projected scenes of Deep Singer history:

Their rise: harmonizing the Rift's volatile waters with harmonic architecture.

Their society: built around balance, both psychic and elemental.

Their philosophy: "Every thought leaves a wave."

Their fall: the Seraph's arrival, a god-shaped paradox that fractured thought itself.

Then, near the end, a vision none of them expected.

The Deep Singers weren't the first.

They were the inheritors of an even older race—one that had once ruled the rift before even them. Their song was a mimicry. Their city, a shell grown from a shell.

Roselia swore under her breath. "There's a deeper layer."

Liliana's eyes glowed faintly. "There always is."

The Sea of Calm Echoes – New Status: Level One Decoded

Potential Layers Remaining: 3

Deep Singer Revival Threshold: 67%

Later, in a temporary command dome built over the city's northern rim, the team gathered around a rotating holo-map of the now-mapped ruins.

"We've got three more towers still shielded," Roman said. "High energy readings from one. Aqua thinks it's a relic vault. Naval thinks it's a trap."

"I think it's both," Naval replied dryly.

Leon scanned the readout. "There's enough tech down there to rewrite what we know about Rift zones. These aren't just natural disasters. They're the bones of whole civilizations."

"And we got lucky," Roselia added. "This one survived enough for us to learn from it. Most Rifts? Just madness."

Millim cracked her knuckles. "Then let's get everything we can out of this one before someone else tries to take it."

Aqua looked up. "Or before the deeper layer wakes up."

Silence followed.

Leon smiled faintly. "Then we better be ready when it does."

Next Mission Logged: Tower #5 – The Sea Emperor's Reliquary

Objective: Explore sealed high-tier chamber for ancient command tech and deep-layer links.

Status: Locked. Requires Song Resonance Code.

Liliana stepped forward. "Then it's time to decode the Crown."

The glow of the Crown Engine filled the vast heart of the city with pulsing blue light, painting their faces in ghostly hues.

Liliana knelt near the crystalline pedestal, runes swirling around her fingers. She worked carefully, weaving sonic glyphs into the air, replicating what little of the Deep Singers' ancient code they had managed to piece together.

The Crown Engine responded like a sleeping giant—humming louder, rotating slower, like it was beginning to listen.

Leon stood at her side, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword, his Miracle Sage Eyes activated at half-strength to monitor any hidden psychic pulses.

Aqua floated nearby, quietly harmonizing in a haunting underwater melody, her voice eerily close to the tonal patterns etched into the chamber walls.

"Almost... there," Liliana whispered. "I've isolated the primary Songline. It needs a spark... a living harmonic."

Aqua took a breath.

"I'll do it," she said softly.

Leon gave her a steady nod. "Just be careful. We don't know how much of the system is still stable."

Aqua closed her eyes. Her body shimmered faintly with sea-blue light as she synced her song to the ancient tone, weaving her melody into the gaps of the dying machine's resonance.

For a heartbeat, the entire city seemed to hold its breath.

Then, with a deep, resonant bong, the Crown Engine flared to life.

[CROWN ENGINE: REACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL]

[Memory Vaults: 32% Restored]

[Energy Grid: Minimal Stabilization Achieved]

[Ancient Authority Recognized: Heirs of the Song]

The city moved.

Across the endless coral platforms and crystalline bridges, lights blinked on.

Ancient tide-forged spires straightened.

Sunk pathways rose from the depths.

The entire Aethralun Rift began breathing again, like a beast roused from a long slumber.

A flood of data cascaded into the team's map displays.

Roselia whistled low. "You seeing this?"

Roman leaned over her shoulder. "Layered sub-zones, hidden vaults, a defense grid... Even an evacuation nexus that leads somewhere outside the Rift structure entirely."

Naval tapped a flashing icon on the map. "And that... is the Sea Emperor's Reliquary. Looks like it's one of the most heavily protected sites in the city."

Liliana pushed her hair behind her ear, studying the swirling glyphs.

"The Deep Singers sealed their highest technologies and histories there. Probably before the Seraph corrupted the upper layers."

Leon nodded. "Then that's where we go."

Journey to the Reliquary

Moving through the reawakened city was a surreal experience.

Floating coral bridges realigned themselves underfoot, carrying them across the vast expanses. Strange bioluminescent creatures—once dormant—now drifted lazily through the corridors, trailing dreamlike colors in their wake.

Along the way, they passed numerous memory pylons.

Each one played holographic scenes from the city's golden age:

Towering gatherings where Deep Singers wove songs that stabilized reality itself.

Processions of aquatic beings from other Rift regions, offering tribute.

Construction ceremonies where massive sea-golems sculpted architecture from living coral.

In one scene, a Deep Singer Empress—tall, graceful, with long finned arms—stood atop a platform, addressing her people.

"Should the song ever fall silent, and madness take the deep, we leave our memories in trust. Heirs of the Song, find us. Restore the Tide of Thought."

Aqua placed her hand gently on the projection as it faded.

"They weren't just fighting to survive," she murmured. "They were trying to leave hope behind."

Leon squeezed her shoulder lightly. "And we're the ones that found it."

The Outer Reliquary Gates

When they finally arrived, the Reliquary loomed before them—a temple built inside a massive, hollowed-out sea-stone, floating within an abyssal trench.

Huge gates, carved with endless layers of glyphs, sealed the entrance.

The barrier shimmered with layered defenses—psychic, elemental, and structural.

Millim grinned, her blood energy crackling faintly around her.

"Looks like this won't be a simple knock-and-enter."

Naval twirled his halberd. "Wouldn't be fun otherwise."

Leon studied the defenses carefully.

"The Crown Engine partially reactivated the outer locks. But the inner seals... We'll need to match the Songcode perfectly to open them without triggering the defense guardians."

"Guardians?" Roman asked dryly.

As if on cue, the trench around the temple rumbled—and vast shapes stirred in the darkness.