01 Chapter 1：The Abyss Echoes

Star Calendar 3047, Outskirts of Stellaris Harbor, Caldra Mining District.

Rust-eaten mining cart rails wound their way into darkness, while deteriorating steel beams groaned low in the night wind. This place had once been New Star Resource Union's energy hub, with hundreds of extraction tunnels spreading underground like a spider's web. Ever since stellar core technology emerged, the old mining districts had been forgotten by time, leaving only ruins and the occasional scavenger.

Loy stood at the mine entrance, his tall frame casting a long shadow in the moonlight. Nearly six feet three inches tall, his broad shoulders and solid chest showed the marks of years of physical labor, but his angular face bore the distinctive coolness and shrewdness of an engineer. In the depths of his eye sockets, a pair of gray-blue eyes carefully surveyed the darkness ahead. Most striking was his right hand—starting from the wrist, it was a precision mechanical prosthetic, its silver metal surface gleaming coldly in the moonlight, each joint radiating dangerous yet precise beauty.

He drew a deep breath of air mixed with rust and earth, his mechanical prosthetic's finger joints rotating slightly with faint mechanical sounds. 

"Time is the incarnation of entropy, devouring all order and hope," he murmured these words.

Three months ago, he had discovered that document of unknown origin in an old drawer at his residence. Those records about the "Final Extinction" had kept him awake at night. The "Entropy Fatalism" mentioned in the document completely overturned his understanding of the universe—apparently this seemingly prosperous world was sliding toward the endpoint of extinction at an irreversible pace.

As a scholar with considerable research into the cosmos, Loy quickly realized the document's authenticity. Those complex cosmological formulas, precise energy calculations—they could never be forged by ordinary people. More importantly, certain phenomena mentioned in the document he had indeed observed in his work—unstable fluctuations in stellar core energy, abnormal radiation in this mining district. Everything was confirming the document's terrifying prophecies.

This trip to Caldra Mining District was nominally employment by Stellar Radiance Engineering Group to assess the structural stability of mine tunnels. But someone like Loy, who operated in gray areas, would never simply accept commissions of unknown origin. Three days ago, he had used his technical skills to quietly infiltrate Stellar Radiance Engineering 's internal systems, discovering a shocking truth—this company's parent organization, New Star Resource Union, was actually seeking a mysterious substance called the "Tear of the First Dragon." This name had appeared in that ancient document, described as a "Dragon Clan sacred artifact capable of opposing extinction."

"Loy, stop dawdling and get to work!" came the foreman's impatient urging through the radio, his crude voice particularly jarring in the silent night.

He curled his lip disdainfully, his mechanical prosthetic's fingertip lightly touching a concealed interface near his temple. Instantly, his entire right arm began an astonishing transformation—the seemingly ordinary mechanical arm's interior filled with the sound of precision gears turning, the arm's shell opening to both sides, revealing complex internal spatial structures. This was his pride—the "Pandora's Box"—a multifunctional equipment system integrated within the prosthetic.

After activating the mechanical prosthetic's sensors, the arm's front end shot out several scanning lasers, then closed back to its original form.

The mine's interior was more complex than imagined. The damp, oppressive air felt stifling, and rotting support beams occasionally made unsettling creaking sounds. Bats sometimes darted through rock crevices overhead, their sharp cries echoing through the tunnels. Loy carefully avoided areas that were obviously about to collapse, his mechanical prosthetic's built-in sensors constantly scanning the surrounding environment, providing him with perception beyond normal human capability.

After walking for about ten minutes, the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed without warning. Loy instinctively extended his mechanical prosthetic, powerful mechanical grappling hooks shooting from the wrist section, gripping tightly onto a precariously balanced rock. His entire body hung in mid-air, the prosthetic's motor emitting a slight humming sound to bear his weight.

"Damn." He cursed under his breath, brow deeply furrowed. The mechanical prosthetic quickly analyzed the rock's load-bearing capacity—the conclusion wasn't optimistic. Looking up, there was only pitch-black abyss above, impossible to climb back.

"looks like I'll have to gamble," he gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, then deliberately released the grappling hook, letting his body fall into the unknown depths below.

 The descent seemed to last forever—Loy felt he had dropped at least thirty feet. At the moment of impact, he aimed his arm at the ground and released a shock wave for cushioning, allowing his feet to land safely on solid ground.

 The sight before him made him gasp. This was a massive underground space, air filled with faint blue luminescence, the light source apparently coming from some kind of luminous crystals embedded in the walls. He found himself in an abandoned laboratory, various precision instruments he'd never seen before scattered across the floor. Though rust-covered, their original precision and advancement were still evident.

 "This place has no records anywhere," he frowned, his gray-blue eyes quickly scanning the surroundings. As an experienced engineer, he was certain that a facility of this scale couldn't be completely concealed.

 Soon, his gaze was drawn to a transparent hibernation pod nearby. It was a massive oval-shaped container, filled with glowing blue liquid as viscous as some kind of biological fluid.

 And within that liquid floated a breathtaking figure.

 It was a young girl who appeared to be about eighteen years old, with long blue hair flowing like seaweed, gently swaying in the liquid. Even with closed eyes, her nearly perfect features were evident—a straight nose bridge, slightly pale lips. Two delicate dragon horns grew from her head, displaying pearl-like luster. A mysterious blue mark adorned her forehead's center, like some ancient rune. Behind her trailed an elegant, slender dragon tail ending in a beautiful fan shape.

 She wore a simple white dress that looked soft as silk, floating lightly in the liquid. The hem just covered her knees, revealing a pair of long, pale legs. Most striking was the necklace around her neck—a teardrop-shaped blue gemstone that radiated heart-stopping energy fluctuations even within the hibernation pod's liquid.

 "Dragon Clan! Could that document's records be true?" Loy exclaimed in shock, his entire being as if struck by lightning.

 That mysterious document had detailed records of the Dragon Clan—one of the universe's most ancient races, wielding power beyond ordinary understanding. But according to the document's description, the Dragon Clan should have disappeared in the "Final Extinction." Why would there be a Dragon Clan girl here? And that gemstone around her neck...

 "Tear of the First Dragon!" he gasped.

 Loy slowly approached the hibernation pod, each step careful and deliberate. Though the girl appeared only eighteen, she radiated an ancient aura completely at odds with her age, like a creature from mythology. Her eyes were tightly closed, long lashes trembling slightly in the blue liquid.

 He had to uncover the truth of all this. Who was this girl? Why was she here? What did that "Tear of the First Dragon" signify? Too many questions needed answers, and this sleeping Dragon Clan girl before him might be his only path to understanding the truth.

 "Perhaps..." Loy extended his mechanical prosthetic, fingertips gently touching the complex control panels on the hibernation pod's surface.

 The moment of contact triggered the hibernation pod to suddenly burst with blinding light, illuminating the entire laboratory like daylight. The blue liquid inside began violently boiling and churning, the girl's body trembling slightly as her dragon horns began flickering with faint luminescence.

 "Warning! Intruder detected! System anomaly! Defense protocols activated!" a stuttering electronic voice sounded throughout the laboratory, clearly some ancient system that had developed serious malfunctions over the long years.

 The next second, the laboratory walls began moving and reconfiguring like puzzle pieces, extending countless dark laser cannon muzzles. But confusingly, these weapon systems seemed unable to correctly identify protection targets, simultaneously locking onto both Loy and the anomalous hibernation pod!

 "Can't dodge—I'll definitely be shot full of holes!" Loy broke into a cold sweat, his face turning extremely grim. This defense system had deteriorated over time, unable to properly distinguish between intruders and protected objects.

 The laser cannons began indiscriminate firing. Dense red beams rained down like a storm toward both Loy and the hibernation pod, each carrying enough heat to melt steel. Loy relied on reflexes honed by years of being hunted to barely dodge between the deadly attacks, but several lasers were heading straight for the hibernation pod.

 At the critical moment, the hibernation pod exploded with a thunderous crash, blue liquid surging out like a tide. The girl's body fell with the liquid, and she suddenly opened her eyes—beautiful ruby-red eyes filled with confusion and tears, their depths seeming to hold starlight.

 She looked around in bewilderment, clearly not fully conscious yet. Her wet white dress clung to her slender body, blue hair scattered across her shoulders and chest. She tried to stand but was obviously still very weak, just sitting up leaving her breathless.

 "Look out!" Loy saw a laser beam heading straight for the defenseless girl, all complex questions instantly forgotten. Without thinking, he lunged forward, not even having time to activate his arm's defense mode, only able to shield her with his own body.

 The laser struck his shoulder, intense burning pain making him grunt, his clothes instantly burned through with a blackened hole. But he held the girl firmly, his broad body like a human shield.

 "You..." the girl looked up, those ruby-like eyes filled with shock. She gently touched Loy's laser-burned shoulder, her voice clear and ethereal as a mountain spring, "Why did you save me? We don't even know each other..."

 "Because I have many questions to ask you," Loy gritted his teeth against the pain, looking at her with determined eyes. "Can't let you die here."

 "What's your name? I'm Ling," the girl said, though pale and extremely weak, she still managed a few words. "Thank you for saving me. Now we're friends."

 "Is this really the time for this?!" Loy was emotionally agitated.

 When she spoke, she revealed a weak but sincere smile, that pure expression stirring strange emotions in Loy's heart. But the laser attacks continued, and Loy suddenly pulled Ling up forcefully.

 They ran desperately toward a door through gaps in the laser fire, but soon discovered the laboratory's exit was completely sealed by an invisible energy barrier. Countless laser cannon muzzles stared at them like death's eyes, ready to launch fatal attacks at any moment.

 "We're trapped," Ling's voice carried a hint of despair, her strength very weak, the dragon horns on her forehead appearing dim.

 "It's not time to give up yet." Loy clenched his teeth, his gray-blue eyes flashing with unyielding light. He activated all functions of his mechanical prosthetic "Pandora's Box," various decoding tools extending from the prosthetic as he attempted to crack this malfunctioning defense system's code.

 But this system had become even more chaotic and unpredictable in its malfunction state. The complex code was like a maddening maze, far exceeding his expectations for cracking difficulty.

 "Let me try." Ling struggled to stand, swaying as she walked to the laboratory's center. Her face was extremely pale, but her eyes were unusually determined.

 "What are you trying to do? This is too dangerous!" Loy said urgently, wanting to step forward and stop her.

 "I don't want to see anyone else die in front of me." Ling said softly, looking back at him once, her voice carrying sadness beyond her years. "You saved me, now it's my turn to save you."

 She slowly closed those beautiful eyes and extended one hand. What happened next completely stunned Loy.

 Her extended hand began decomposing, transforming into countless energy light points radiating gentle blue luminescence. These light points drifted through the air like living spirits, beautiful and mysterious.

 "Soul fragmentation!" Loy exclaimed in shock. This mysterious ability unique to the Dragon Clan—he'd seen detailed descriptions in that document—legend said the Dragon Clan could decompose their souls into countless fragments, imbuing lifeless objects with powerful force or even life itself.

 Those blue light points flew toward the laboratory's broken mechanical debris. Under Loy's amazed gaze, these remnants that had been nothing but scrap metal began automatically assembling, transforming, fusing, producing crisp sounds of metal collision.

 Even more incredible, these cold mechanical surfaces actually began growing organic tissue resembling flesh, gradually acquiring a female athletic physique. Every muscle was filled with power, every inch of skin radiating life's vitality.

 "This is... Soul Weaving." Ling said weakly, her voice thin as gossamer. "I found her in the depths of memory... Sister Emma's image."

 "Emma, activate." A female voice emerged from that newborn mechanical body, though metallic in quality, it carried a hint of feminine gentleness.

 The mechanical body called Emma suddenly opened her eyes, red light flickering in her eye sockets. She possessed a beautiful yet resolute face, dark hair tied in a high ponytail, her athletic figure clothed in a black bodysuit resembling battle gear. Like a loyal warrior, she knelt on one knee, protecting Loy and Ling.

 Emma rose, her movements fluid and graceful. She swung her arms, using sheer force to smash through the energy barrier sealing the exit, those solid metal walls deforming upon contact with her arms. Immediately after, the mechanical body dissolved back into countless blue light points, all components scattering to the ground with crisp metallic sounds.

 "Go quickly!" Loy scooped up Ling, who was too weak to stand steady, and rushed from this perilous laboratory.

 Loy felt the warm, light body of the girl in his arms, a protective instinct he'd never experienced before rising in his heart.

 What secrets lay hidden within this Dragon Clan girl who had exhausted her strength to save him? Who was that being called Emma? And that "Tear of the First Dragon"...

 From the moment this ancient laboratory was accidentally activated, some delicate balance in the universe was being quietly disrupted. And the "Dragon Clan Ark" mentioned in that mysterious document might very well be the true identity of this underground laboratory hidden before them.

 "Is extinction truly the universe's irreversible destiny?" Loy gazed at the weakened Ling in his arms, complex light flickering in his eyes. That passage from the document surfaced again in his mind, but this time, that faint yet stubborn voice of doubt became clearer, more resolute.