Inside the temporary workshop, energy levels finally stabilized above a reassuring threshold. That "Thunder-7 type" battery allowed Cairo's micro-fusion reactor to catch its breath and enabled him to dedicate more energy to long-term planning.
"Survival baseline temporarily secured. Next step: expand sensory range, deepen control and understanding of surrounding environment." Cairo issued orders to the hovering servo-skull. "We cannot forever remain reactive. Information is more fundamental fuel than promethium."
He walked toward a corner of the workbench where several days' additional achievements lay—three newly "born" servo-skulls. Unlike the original from Mars's forge worlds with its ancient history and exquisite craftsmanship, these three were locally sourced products: skull bodies came from vagrant remains recovered when clearing the mine, thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and metal-reinforced; interiors filled with sensors, processors, and power units stripped from abandoned town terminals and appliances; exteriors crude even slightly grotesque, exposed cables and welding marks clearly visible, eye sockets flickering with unstable light.
They were pragmatic creations born of resource scarcity, but under Mechanicus knowledge systems, their core functions—scanning, mapping, data transmission, and basic logic judgment—were realized.
"Initialization complete. Loading collaborative surveying protocols." Cairo's mechanical tentacles interfaced with the last imitation skull's data port, infusing commands. "Mission: With main workshop as origin point, within fifteen-kilometer radius, conduct millimeter-level terrain scanning, underground structure penetrative detection, energy signal tracing, and life sign monitoring. Priority: map complete geographic information, mark all potential resource points, structures, and anomalous areas."
Four servo-skulls—one precision original, three crude imitations—simultaneously lit up in their eye sockets. They silently ascended through the temporarily opened hatch in the garage ceiling, flying toward four different quadrants, quickly disappearing into the murky sky.
Cairo returned before the main terminal. On the crude multi-screen array, data began cascading like waterfalls. Four different data streams transmitted in real-time, gradually weaving an increasingly detailed dynamic map.
Initial information met expectations: rolling dunes, weathered rock layers, twisted metal wreckage, radiation mutant creature heat signatures...
But as scanning deepened and penetrating waves continuously fed back, secrets hidden beneath this dead wasteland began quietly surfacing.
Cairo's attention was drawn to data transmitted by one imitation skull. It was scanning a seemingly ordinary rock wall area northwest of town. Geological radar echoes showed a massive artificial cavity within the rock wall, structure abnormally regular, depth far exceeding naturally formed caves. More notably, extremely faint but stable low-frequency energy signals were detected deep in the cavity—not common radiation or geothermal activity.
Almost simultaneously, another skull discovered beneath the old sewage treatment pump station in town's southeast corner a large ventilation pipe almost completely blocked by sand and waste. The pipe structure was solid, alloy material completely different from surface buildings' cheap materials, and extended downward all the way, ultimately pointing in a direction that astonishingly matched that cavity beneath the northwest rock wall.
"Underground structure. Large scale. Not civilian-grade." Cairo pooled all four skulls' resources for focused scanning of these two areas.
Preliminary surveying results showed the underground facility's main body located directly beneath the town, depth approximately fifty to one hundred meters, range almost covering the entire town's foundation. The northwest rock wall was one of its main entrances; the southeast ventilation pipe was part of its air exchange system. The surface town seemed like a crude lid covering this hidden megastructure.
"Priority: clear and explore southeast ventilation pipe entrance. It's closer to main workshop, environment relatively controllable." Cairo ordered his "old friend"—that original servo-skull.
The servo-skull efficiently executed the command. It guided the other two imitation skulls, using precise micro-laser cutting and miniature impact drills, spending hours clearing sediment from the pump station's bottom, exposing the rusted but still solid ventilation well cover. After forced dismantling, a downward-sloping dark passage was revealed, cold air thick with stale machine oil and trace radioactive dust surging forth.
The servo-skull flew first into the passage, its powerful sensors penetrating darkness, transmitting internal structure in real-time.
Passage walls were smooth, material high-performance composite, visible clear Militech eagle emblem markings branded upon them. The passage led downward, extending hundreds of meters before connecting to a larger space.
That was a small outpost or security node. Inside the room were collapsed desks and chairs, shattered display screens, and several remains long weathered to white bone, bodies retaining Militech uniform fragments. Emergency lights on walls had long extinguished, but servo-skull scans showed a violently damaged data terminal interface in one corner.
The skull cautiously approached that damaged terminal interface. A hair-thin data probe extended from its jaw, interfacing with the break.
"Attempting data recovery... detecting residual data fragments... parsing..." Cairo stared at the screen.
Broken log files, experimental data fragments, engineering report remnants... were gradually salvaged. Most text was incomplete, interspersed with massive corporate terminology and military codes, but key information was sufficient to piece together a shocking truth:
"...Little Dipper Project Seventh Outpost... environmental camouflage layer ('Flint Town') construction complete... effectively masking main entrance..."
"...Arasaka satellite reconnaissance frequency elevated again... must ensure 'beacon' absolutely concealed..."
"...Abnormal neural activity pattern records... Test Subject Seven showing irreversible cognitive distortion... suspected related to secondary interaction with 'Visitor'..."
"...Headquarters order: All Little Dipper facilities enter maximum silence... cut all non-essential power... physically isolate core database... await final disposal instructions..."
The information flow abruptly ceased, subsequent data seemingly completely erased by some strong electromagnetic pulse or physical means.
Little Dipper Project? Countering Arasaka? Abnormal neural activity? "Visitor"?
Cairo's optical lenses slightly contracted. The surface town was a disguise, an "environmental camouflage layer" established to conceal underground military research facilities! This facility belonged to Militech, aimed at developing some project during the corporate wars. From fragment information, its core seemed related to utilizing some rogue AI called "Visitor" from "beyond the Blackwall" to counter Arasaka's "Soulkiller" program. Those energy transmission, neural interface technologies were likely just accidental gains from researching this dangerous byproduct process.
With corporate wars ending and power shifts, this dangerous project was urgently terminated and sealed. The surface town also lost its reason to exist, gradually swallowed by wind, sand, and oblivion.
"A relic attempting to toy with demonic forces..." Cairo muttered, voice carrying a trace of cold interest. Warhammer universe experience made him maintain extreme vigilance toward any attempts to utilize abominable intelligence or similar dangerous existences, but also deeply aware of the potentially enormous risks and rewards.
There might be sealed rogue AI data fragments, intact old-era military-grade hardware, protected power cores, even research records not completely destroyed—everything far more valuable than surface scavenging, also far more dangerous.
"Old friend, continue attempting to retrieve any readable data fragments, focus on finding structural diagrams and energy circuit maps. Other units, centered on ventilation pipe entrance and northwest rock wall entrance, deploy concealed vibration sensors and energy fluctuation monitors. Monitoring level elevated to maximum." Cairo rapidly issued a series of orders.
The four skulls busied again. An invisible surveillance network began quietly spreading with the town as center.
Cairo returned to the workbench, calling up all scan data on underground facilities and Little Dipper Project fragment information, beginning in-depth research. Exploring a secret base possibly involving rogue AI was no easy task. He needed more detailed structural diagrams, stronger firepower, more sufficient energy, and contingency plans for information pollution and electronic warfare attacks.
That buried secret was like tempting yet dangerous bait. His logic core spun rapidly, calculating risks versus benefits, beginning to plan the first step in exploring this technological tomb.
Expanding boundaries had extended from surface to underground. A new chapter was about to unfold in dust and shadow.
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I started translating this 13 days ago and there's a guy who started translating the same fic 3 days ago but he's higher in the rankings. If we're able to beat him by the end of this week, I'll upload an extra 5 chapters.