Chapter 246 – The Inverted and Magnificent Geocore World! The Star Union's Eastward Pilgrimage!
"It looks like these AI robots don't see us as enemies."
David finally lowered his weapon, relaxing as he watched the nearby Sanctum Sentinels busily purifying the Flood corpses with laser equipment.
"These dumb-type AIs aren't much inferior to the smart ones in terms of intelligence and comprehension. They just lack the ability to continuously learn and evolve."
"They're perfect for use as sentries."
As a leading expert in AI research, Dr. Catherine Halsey wasn't unfamiliar with the principles behind these drones.
Soon, after the Sanctum Sentinels finished disposing of the Flood bodies, they returned to David's group. After glancing at them, the robots turned back and started retracing their steps.
To help the Reclaimers keep up, the Sentinels even deliberately slowed down, occasionally looking back—almost as if they were guiding David's team.
"Let's go. Can't you see these little guys are already inviting us in? Saves us the trouble of scouring the place for the entrance."
Smiling, Halsey took the lead, heading in the direction the Sentinels had gone.
David immediately issued the order for everyone to follow and proceed toward their destination.
They journeyed across a seemingly endless wasteland. Though the surface of the Shield World was teeming with dormant Flood infection forms, most were stuck in early developmental stages due to severe malnutrition.
With so little life present here, the Flood lacked sustenance. Most of them were stunted, lethargic, and barely functional.
Over time, fully formed Flood forms either starved to death or dehydrated into floating spores, waiting to parasitize a new host and resurrect from the ashes.
Against these pathetic Flood remnants, David didn't even need to fire a shot—he could crush them to dust with a single stomp.
Before long, the group reached a tunnel descending into the depths. Peering down its length, David and Halsey could almost sense the thriving vitality of the world below.
"This is the entrance to the Shield World's inner core!"
Halsey's eyes lit up as she took in the enormous metallic infrastructure, the web of interlocking corridors, and the countless Sanctum Sentinels moving about.
They were close—so close—to completing their mission.
As David, Halsey, and the others passed through, the long-serving dumb-type AIs—some operating for over ten millennia—activated ocular scanners to verify their identities.
Once the network confirmed them as Reclaimers, the monitors shut down, and the Sentinels resumed their tasks without incident.
David exchanged a look with Reed. Both of them saw the immense potential: these Sentinels could serve perfectly as guards or construction bots for Galactic LA Megacorp Enterprise.
If the company could mass-deploy AI robots of this caliber, it would free up enormous human resources for use elsewhere.
Sensing David's thoughts, Halsey smiled and remarked, "The Forerunners already packed all their technological data into the Shield World."
"Once we find the tech relics inside, we can turn these AI units into assets for Galactic LA Megacorp in no time."
David nodded. Compared to the trove of relics awaiting them deeper inside, the AI drones here were merely the tip of the iceberg.
Soon after, as the team proceeded down the tunnel, David—leading the way—suddenly noticed a strange, massive device up ahead.
"Hold on—there's something here!"
Everyone turned to look in the direction he was pointing. Ahead of them stood a raised circular platform, glowing with faint blue projections—intersecting gridlines resembling a two-dimensional coordinate plane.
Could this be... a map of the Shield World's interior?
Driven by curiosity, David led the team closer to investigate the device and determine its purpose.
"This should be a transport platform—like one of our elevators," Halsey said confidently after a quick visual inspection. "It's not a trap or a map."
Reed immediately ordered several Astartes warriors forward to verify its safety.
After a few careful tests and stomps, they confirmed the platform posed no threat and had even discovered a control terminal nearby.
Once the group had all boarded the area, Halsey studied the terminal, then stepped forward and pressed the screen.
At first, she thought the machine was as sluggish as a relic from the Qing Dynasty. But suddenly, the edge of the platform lit up with dazzling brilliance.
Whoosh—!
A flash of white light enveloped them, and the group vanished—reappearing moments later within the core world of the Shield World.
When David and the others opened their eyes, the once-dark tunnel was gone—replaced by a vast, sunlit prairie.
But when they looked up, what met their eyes wasn't the familiar blue sky—but a shimmering, rippling ocean!
Above them hung mountains, verdant forests, grasslands, deserts, and marshlands—natural biomes suspended like gemstones in a glass orb.
"So this is the interior of the Shield World? Feels like we've stepped inside a giant glass sphere."
Rita was momentarily entranced by the surreal beauty. The ocean above their heads looked like a mirage framed behind a massive dome—so fantastical it felt unreal.
Halsey quietly studied the environment, but what truly astonished her was the artificial sun positioned in the upper sky—a glowing sphere about a hundred kilometers in diameter.
This enormous sphere served as the Shield World's inner sun, supplying light and warmth to this inverted geocore world.
Here, David and his team could simultaneously witness sunny grasslands, rainy forests, and snow-capped peaks—all hanging in the sky above them.
Such an awe-inspiring architectural marvel rivaled even the grandeur of the Halo rings.
"There aren't any Flood spores here. Looks like we got lucky—no more alien parasites to worry about."
Unlike the younger, more impressionable team members, Reed stayed composed. After scanning the environment, he confirmed that the air composition was safe—one could breathe freely without powered armor.
Still, he wouldn't allow anyone to risk it.
"No wonder the Forerunners were worshipped by the Covenant. A civilization capable of constructing megastructures and stars—it's mind-blowing."
David nodded thoughtfully. In this universe, only Forerunner tech could rival LA Megacorp.
Yet their entire civilization had been wiped out by the Flood, leaving behind only scattered relics to showcase their former glory.
"The Forerunners may have partially mastered Neurophysics—that would explain how they created such miracles. Maybe we'll find what the boss has been searching for."
Before the expedition, Li Ang had briefed David on Neurophysics, the ultimate mystery of the Halo universe—once wielded by a precursor race to shape the fabric of reality.
Even just a fragment of that knowledge was worth chasing to the ends of the galaxy.
Presumably, the Forerunners, having overthrown the Precursors, inherited the complete Neurophysics tech tree.
But they hadn't mastered it completely—otherwise, the Primordial wouldn't have succeeded in unleashing the Flood apocalypse.
If the Forerunners had fully grasped Neurophysics—its matter decomposition, restructuring, and reconstitution—then not even the Flood could have overwhelmed their God-tier warriors.
Their downfall proved a simple truth: if you're weak, train harder.
Still, humanity had been chosen as the Forerunners' successors—their rightful Reclaimers. So it stood to reason that remnants of Neurophysics would exist somewhere in this Shield World.
Even a fragment would justify David's long journey.
"If we can bring back all the data and tech points here, we're about to hit the motherlode!"
Grinning, William Cage was clearly elated. Pulling off this mission could easily earn him a position in the elite Vanguard Expeditionary Force—and maybe even a promotion to the A-team.
"In theory... yes."
Even the usually cautious Reed couldn't help but smile. His tone betrayed his barely restrained excitement.
But Halsey shook her head, her voice brimming with ambition:
"It's more than that."
"If we manage to uncover the Neurophysics knowledge the Forerunners inherited from the Precursors—and fully master it—then we won't just be a dominant civilization…"
"We'll be gods."
"The laws of the universe, matter itself, even time and space would become transparent playthings. Every action we take could determine the rise and fall of entire species."
"That's what only gods can do. And we humans... are about to become the universe's sole divine race."
Halsey had far grander visions than David and the others. To her, this felt like a rookie player in an MMO stumbling upon the max-level account of the server's top player.
From here on out, no more grinding, no more questing—just instant ascension and full-on god-mode gameplay.
Just as the team reined in their excitement and prepared to continue exploring the ruins...
Rita suddenly noticed a fast-approaching unidentified object hurtling toward them!
"Contact! Everyone, stay sharp!"
---
"Something's happening! All units, stay alert!"
As the shout rang out, the Astartes warriors immediately raised their boltguns, aiming in the direction Rita was facing.
On the tactical helmets' holographic displays, a small red dot appeared, rapidly approaching their location until it was right in front of them.
It was a metallic sphere about half a meter in diameter—seemingly the same type of clunky AI robot as the Temple Guardians outside.
Sensing Halsey and the others were on guard, the sphere spoke in a voice that had a distinct metallic timbre:
"I am the Guide of Shield World 0459. Welcome, Reclaimers. I have been awaiting your arrival for quite some time!"
"..."
…
Elsewhere, far above Shield World in near-planetary orbit, the Covenant fleet had just ordered its ground forces to retreat back to their cruisers.
Docked CCS-class and CRS-class cruisers periodically opened their hangar bays to receive the returning dropships.
Ever since the members of the Covenant discovered the existence of Forerunner relics, they'd been absolutely ecstatic—one more excited than the next.
It was as if, back on Earth, Catholics, Christians, and Muslims suddenly found out that Allah and Jesus were real—and not only real, but had left behind a true divine civilization gift pack, waiting to be unearthed and unlocked like treasure chests at various ruins.
You can imagine how thrilled they were.
After all, Earth once had Crusaders doing more or less the same thing as these Covenant zealots—embarking on holy expeditions to meet their "god."
But unlike the Crusaders, the Covenant's "Crusade" came with actual rewards—you could really loot gold coins from ancient relics!
This wasn't just some vague spiritual pursuit. Open a single relic cache, and you might score Forerunner tech, ships, even research points. Isn't that way better than toiling away to develop everything from scratch?
So the various civilizations banded together to form the Covenant, channeling the same "first to take Guanzhong becomes king" energy as Liu Bang, and threw themselves into grand-scale galactic exploration, scouring the stars for Forerunner ruins.
Forget civil war and old-school colonial imperialism—why not build the galaxy's greatest space pirates and grow the pie big enough for everyone in the Covenant to feast?
It sure beat wracking your brain over how to split a tiny slice of cake.
However, as the Covenant fleet delved deeper into the ruins, they stumbled upon a truth that shook them to their core—their god had an illegitimate child.
And that bastard child? Was the designated Reclaimer, someone who could effortlessly inherit the Forerunner legacy and had direct access to the Shield World systems.
It was like the Covenant found a vault stuffed with endless cash and gold—civilization-leveling loot, basically.
But the vault was secured with complicated locks and guarded by Flood and Temple Guardians—disgusting things.
To the Covenant, who had worshipped the Forerunners as divine beings, this was a total meltdown. They went ballistic.
On one hand, they kept pushing their research teams to pry open the Forerunner's "safe."
On the other, they began assembling an expeditionary force to go massacre that illegitimate child—humanity—across every colony.
The Forerunner relics could only belong to the Covenant!
They'd been burning incense and praying to the Forerunners for years—hell, they were probably one step away from getting Forerunner icons printed on their underwear.
And now, the Forerunners had left their inheritance to a bunch of random monkey-descendants? Who the hell could accept that?!
If they didn't wipe out the humans completely, they'd never be able to stomach the insult.
Back in the fleet, the Covenant's supreme commander looked at the returning expeditionary squads and couldn't help but feel deeply troubled.
The Flood on the surface were proving far more troublesome than anticipated. Originally, he'd planned to send troops in for a swift extermination.
But then the religious fanatics in the fleet—clearly out of their minds—suggested that they should offer sacrifices to the Flood to gain divine favor and awaken the Shield World.
These lunatics began feeding themselves to the Flood, accelerating its evolution from Phase One to Phase Two in no time.
If they kept "feeding the enemy" with this sacrificial nonsense, it wouldn't be long before they triggered the emergence of a Phase Three Gravemind!
To make matters worse, they still hadn't found the internal activation switch for the Shield World, and the Flood was spreading at an alarming rate—practically on the verge of total outbreak.
At this rate, the entire scientific expedition might be doomed.
'Forget it, I'm just unlucky. Time to rebuild the strike team and clean out the Flood ourselves.'
Just as the Covenant commander resolved to reorganize and send troops back down, the surface of the Shield World suddenly split open. A powerful gravitational force emerged, pulling the entire fleet toward the planet.
Inside the bridge of the CCS-class flagship, the Covenant high-ranking officers stared in stunned silence at the unfolding spectacle.
These officers—each standing roughly 2.3 meters tall, with naturally arched spines, muscular physiques, gray-brown skin, and pupils that adapted to light—were members of one of the Covenant's core species: the Sangheili.
Of course, they had another name as well—Elites.
The Elites were one of the founding civilizations of the Covenant, alongside the Prophets.
These two were the classic "brains and brawn" duo—and their names said it all. The Prophets were the thinkers.
They understood that true power wasn't brute strength—it was MAC cannons and cutting-edge tech.
With their extraordinary tomb-raiding expertise, the Prophets dug up piles of "premium-grade relics" left behind by the Forerunner ancestors.
While the Elites were busy punching their neighbors into submission, the Prophets quietly unveiled jaw-dropping starships and energy lances.
And so, using Forerunner technology, the Prophet civilization assumed leadership of the Covenant, with the Elite civilization as their first major follower.
As the Prophets reverse-engineered one batch of Forerunner gear after another, the Elites used these weapons to beat half the galaxy into obedience.
Species like the Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Mgalekgolo, and Jiralhanae were all defeated and subjugated by the Elites. Thanks to the carrot-and-stick approach, they too became believers and joined the Covenant.
To be fair, Sangheili warriors were exceptional in every way—physically, tactically, and in sheer combat drive.
The whole civilization was basically a bunch of Noxians—always itching for a fight and more than capable in a one-vs-many.
In fact, many Covenant members respected the Sangheili more than they feared them—power speaks for itself.
But at the end of the day, the brainy Prophets held the real power: truth and technology. That gave them overwhelming influence, and even the Elites had to follow orders.
The Sangheili were great warriors, but they weren't exactly strategic masterminds. That limitation let the Prophets fool them and everyone else.
The Prophet high council maintained a massive lie, telling the Covenant that humans were heretics who desecrated the Forerunners, and that they had to be cleansed to appease the gods.
Most Covenant members had no idea that humanity was actually the Forerunners' true chosen successors.
And keeping that lie intact was critical for the Prophets.
Because if the fanatical believers within the Covenant ever found out that humans were the "Children of the Gods," there was a real chance they'd turn their guns on the Prophets—those frauds who had been digging up holy relics under false pretenses.
Just then, a Sangheili helmsman stationed at the bridge's central console turned sharply to the commander, shouting in urgent Sangheili:
"Commander! We've lost control of the ship! Same situation across the fleet!"
"There's an unidentified gravitational field coming from the surface—it's pulling us in! Even with all engines at maximum, we can't escape! What are your orders?!"
Watching as the long-dormant Shield World suddenly split open, dragging the fleet inward, the Elite commander was completely dumbfounded.
It had no idea what had triggered the activation of the Shield World.
'Could it be... that the zealots' sacrifices actually worked? That seems way too hasty…!'
After a brief moment of contemplation, the commander raised a hand to signal calm among the crew. Looking at the live data on the console, it spoke again:
"Send the word—order all ships to shut down their engines and cease all evasive maneuvers. Hold position."
If they couldn't escape the gravitational field, then they might as well go with the flow. Who knows? Maybe it was a blessing in disguise—and they'd gain entry to the Shield World after all.
"Uh… yes, sir!"
The helmsman hesitated briefly, then obeyed without question. He powered down the engines and relayed the order to the rest of the fleet.
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