Attempting deeper investigations but found no further possibilities.
Right below them, the massive door, about the size of a football field, had lost response, covered by squirming stony substance.
Numerous branching like sea snakes swam across it.
It looked nowhere close to harmless.
"It seems to be some kind of parasitic substance incubated in deep sediment... Do not approach."
The analysis from the Child of Leviathan sounded in everyone’s ear: "The basic gate seems no longer passable, proceed with the second plan, enter from the Gate of the Kingdom."
The jet descending straight soon adjusted its angle, heading for the end of Helios stretching hundreds of miles.
Helios Workshop has a total of eleven entrances, with the main entrance never having been opened. The other ten are used for the circulation of goods and personnel.
Each is named after the ten major Source Substances in Alchemy.
The nearest Basic Gate is already contaminated, approaching it rashly is akin to entering a tiger’s den and is not suitable as a supply base point for the frontline.
It can only be switched to the Kingdom Gate planned as a backup.
The Kingdom represents the ring of the four major elements, symbolizing the existence of people and matter, and is also the end of the ring of ten major Source Substances.
When witnessing this vast cycle entity that leaves one astonished, Huai Shi felt a sudden revelation.
It was like a missing puzzle piece filled a gap; uncountable understandings concerning Metallography collided, forming a picture he had never imagined.
Once again, gaining a new understanding and insight into Alchemy.
"I see..."
For a moment, Huai Shi actually forgot where he was.
Unable to contain his excitement, he widened his eyes, staring down at Helios, hoping to discern traces of its former integrity from its ravaged surface, seeking more inspiration and knowledge.
The more he focused, the clearer his inner understanding became, continuously emerging...
Until a terrible scream echoed in the public channel.
The ear-piercing sound and the imminent Death Perception awakened him instantly, finally hearing the repeated warnings in the public channel.
Amidst the static and harsh noise, someone was shouting with all their might:
"—Don’t look!"
But it was already too late.
Before being awakened, someone had already become engrossed in the sight.
On the outermost side, the person was wide-eyed, immersed in an indescribable vast understanding, stretching the safety rope to its limit, yet instinctively lunging toward the hull below, groping in the void with both hands.
Immersed in the ever-increasing understanding and knowledge.
Until a piercing scream erupted from the throat.
It was too much.
Too much understanding and too much knowledge flooded into his brain through his eyes, filled with the weight and miracle of human knowing, pouring endlessly into his skull, occupying his soul, dominating everything.
The infinite knowledge seemed to bring infinite power.
"I understand!" Amid the painful screams, that face actually showed a frenzied smile: "I see, I understand!!!"
In a daze, everyone saw it.
Something thick and glue-like extended from Helios, the dispersed wisdom and knowledge within Helios now transformed into an indescribable curse by the out-of-control furnace.
Like seaweed, swaying its gaze all around.
Now, those strands of memory had already penetrated that person’s head.
Deep into the soul.
Granting him understanding, bestowing him the essence, gifting him unreserved comprehension!
The terrifying understanding, akin to a disaster, spurred his soul to operate by itself, in this Source-depleted space, using his spacesuit as a furnace, autonomously transforming his shell and Source Substance.
Using the soul as fire, true knowledge as fuel, an irreversible alchemy began...
Horrible flames erupted from the person’s nose and mouth, turning the throat into charcoal instantaneously amid the searing pain, followed by teeth and bones, and even the outer texture...
Complex mystic rituals emerged from his shell, using human bodies to correspond with the cosmos and the nine planets’ theory, starting bizarre recreation!
No one knew what he truly comprehended, and no one knew what kind of oddity he could transform himself into.
But without exception, they could feel the frenzy-filled Source Fluctuation within it.
Even... like a needle pricking in back, an impending Death Crisis.
In the moment of reaction, Huai Shi instantly retracted the safety rope, swinging around the jet engine in the vacuum forming an arc, charging straight toward the figure engulfed in flames.
Resentment Water trembled violently in his pocket, now gripped tightly by Huai Shi.
Slicing onto the outer shell of the jet engine, without a loud sound in the vacuum, only sparks flew.
The heavy force spread along the steel shell, resonating, instantly converging on the other side, shattering the hook of the safety rope, detaching the burning figure from the rushing jet engine.
In an instant, flung backward.
In a terrified stare, the figure gradually twisted, contracted, mutated, countless sharp crystals piercing through his spacesuit, extending outward.
Breaking through the limits of matter, it unexpectedly expanded over thousands of meters instantly, swelling to an unbelievable size.
Like a blooming flower, shimmering with radiant iris glow.
Soon, freezing in the vacuum, shattering, turning into flying ash, disappearing without a trace.
Huai Shi vigilantly held Resentment Water, surveying the surroundings, after a long time, confirming no abnormalities, he finally exhaled a long breath, relaxing.
Unexpectedly, they had not even boarded Helios, and already lost one person from their seven-member team...
Which means there should now be... wait!
Huai Shi froze for a moment, feeling an icy chill.
Counting in his mind repeatedly.
But no matter how he counted, he was incredulous.
—Why were there still seven people in the team now?