The Imperial Marshal’s Darling at the Tip of His Heart - Chapter 20

The starship ultimately did not land directly.

The instability of the surface of Mist-Hidden Planet far exceeded expectations. Scans revealed that the geological structure beneath the “relatively flat” area was extremely loose, completely incapable of supporting the starship’s massive weight.

The gargantuan hull hovered like a ghost above the churning, grey-green mist.

Suspended at an altitude of approximately one hundred meters, the engines maintained low power, emitting a dull hum that stirred the lethal air below. The shadow cast by the ship appeared small and fragile against this cursed land.

The landing order had already been issued.

A vanguard composed of ten elite “Obsidian” soldiers, clad in full heavy-duty protective suits and exoskeleton armor, had already descended to the designated zone via a levitating transport craft. They were currently deployed in a tactical formation, beginning preliminary surveys and setting up a security perimeter. The high-intensity searchlights they carried cut limited beams of light through the dense fog.

Yun Shu remained in the medical cell.

The isolated data pad before him had been interfaced with the real-time environmental data and vital sign readings transmitted by the vanguard. Simultaneously, it monitored the broader scans from the starship’s sensors.

His face grew increasingly pale under the cold glow of the screen. The high-intensity work and persistent physical discomfort had pushed him nearly to his limit. Yet, he dared not relax for a single moment.

This was the “Eye of the Turbid Core.” Any minor oversight could invite a catastrophic disaster.

Ling Yao stood before the bridge’s main console, his posture as upright as a pine tree. The massive main light-screen in front of him was split into dozens of frames, displaying the vanguard’s perspectives, environmental data, ship status, and the processed energy field models from Yun Shu’s end.

His expression was as hard as iron, his sharp gaze sweeping over every detail as he issued concise, clear commands.

“Reporting to the Marshal: Preliminary scan of Zone A is complete. The surface is covered in an unknown crystalline sediment; radiation indices are severely over-limit. No threats detected, but visibility is extremely low, and sensors are experiencing heavy interference.”

The vanguard captain’s voice came through the communication channel, laced with distinct static and heavy breathing, reflecting the harshness of the external environment.

“Continue advancing toward Zone B. Watch your footing. Geological scans indicate a massive cavity directly beneath you,” Ling Yao commanded, his eyes flickering toward the energy model Yun Shu had processed, which clearly showed the unstable hollow structure under the vanguard.

“Understood.”

The channel fell into a brief silence, save for the heavy footsteps of the soldiers and the faint hum of their exoskeleton engines.

Suddenly, on the energy model in front of Yun Shu, an area that had been relatively stable erupted with a piercing red light!

“Warning! Energy readings on the edge of Zone B are skyrocketing! Precursors of a high-intensity energy eruption detected! Source… underground!”

Yun Shu’s voice rang out almost simultaneously, hoarse and urgent, carrying an unmistakable note of alarm. “Order them to retreat immediately! At least fifty meters!”

Ling Yao’s reaction was lightning-fast, without a shred of hesitation: “All units! Evacuate Zone B immediately! Maximum speed! Rally at point A3!”

The command had barely left his lips when the perspectives of several vanguard members on the main screen shook violently! The ground beneath them let out a tooth-grinding roar and the sound of fracturing stone.

Immediately following, a massive stream of energy mixed with pitch-black energy debris and a sickly green light—bolted skyward from a fissure at the edge of Zone B, like a volcanic eruption suppressed for ten thousand years!

BOOM!!!

Even through the starship’s armor and the distance, the vibration from that terrifying energy impact could be felt. The communication channel was instantly filled with gasps, roars, and the horrific whistling of the energy jet.

“Hold steady! Evade! Find cover!” the captain shouted at the top of his lungs.

The images on the light-screen shook and spun wildly. Scorched energy streams could be seen grazing the exoskeleton armor, instantly melting deep furrows into the hard crystalline surface.

One soldier was slightly slow to dodge; the shoulder of his heavy protective suit was caught by the edge of the energy stream. A large section was instantly vaporized, exposing scorched wiring and a metal framework. The massive impact sent him flying backward.

“Li Si is hit! Cover! Cover!”

The chaos lasted for nearly a minute before the terrifying energy eruption gradually weakened and vanished. It left behind a gruesome, smoking crater at the edge of the rift, filled with residual energy and surrounded by total wreckage.

“Report casualties!” Ling Yao’s voice was as cold as iron, betraying no emotion, though the knuckles of his hand gripping the edge of the console turned white.

“One seriously injured, protective suit severely damaged, vitals dropping! Two lightly injured! Others are unharmed!” The captain’s voice carried the gasps of a survivor and a hint of lingering fear. “…Thanks to Headquarters for the warning. Three seconds later and the consequences would have been unthinkable.”

That phrase, “Thanks to Headquarters for the warning,” caused Ling Yao’s gaze to fall once more upon the split-screen representing Yun Shu’s monitoring point.

The sickly figure was leaning against the headboard, coughing violently. It seemed that the split-second warning had exhausted what little strength he had left.

Once again.

This ghost of Xilan had once again relied on his eerily precise energy perception to prevent a major loss.

“Medical team, prepare for extraction. Return the seriously injured immediately. Others, rest in place, expand the perimeter, and avoid triggering similar energy traps again,” Ling Yao ordered calmly, suppressing the complex emotions surging within him.

“Understood!”

Having handled the emergency, Ling Yao temporarily muted the communication channel and patched into the internal line of the medical cell.

“How did you predict it?” he asked directly, his voice coming through the speakers without a hint of warmth or anger. “Conventional sensors captured almost no precursors before the eruption.”

Yun Shu caught his breath and wiped away the blood seeping from his lips due to the violent coughing. His voice was weak but his thoughts were clear:

“It wasn’t… a traditional energy accumulation precursor. It was an extremely subtle ‘structural stress wave.’ The high energy pressure caused the crystalline structure of the underground rock to undergo an ultra-high frequency tremor just before the critical point similar to the final shift before an avalanche. Your sensors… the filter thresholds are set too high they treated it as background noise and… ignored it.”

He paused, adding: “These stress waves have appeared in certain high-concentration Crystal-Erosion mining areas in Xilan. It’s just, the scale here is far greater.”

Xilan’s experience again.

Ling Yao fell silent for a moment. This nation, gasping for its last breath under the torture of Crystal-Erosion Disease, had indeed accumulated “primitive” yet precious knowledge during its struggle against the disaster—knowledge the Empire had overlooked.

“Mark all areas where you detect similar stress fluctuations,” Ling Yao finally said. His tone hadn’t changed much, but his previous skepticism had vanished.

“Already doing it,” Yun Shu replied.

On the data pad, centered around the vanguard’s location, several faint orange markers representing potential dangers lit up on the map.

Just then, a new discovery came from the vanguard.

“Marshal! We’ve discovered artificial architectural ruins at the edge of Zone C! Repeat, artificial ruins found!” The captain’s voice carried suppressed excitement. “They look ancient, and the style… I’ve never seen anything like it! Most of it is covered in crystalline sediment, but the structure seems relatively intact!”

A frame on the main screen switched over.

Amidst the dense mist and distorted energy shadows, one could vaguely see a tilted, massive stone archway and collapsed walls. They were covered in thick, darkly shimmering crystalline growths, exuding an ancient and eerie atmosphere.

The “Eye of the Turbid Core” did indeed contain ruins!

Ling Yao’s spirits lifted. “Scan the ruins’ structure and search for an entrance. Stay safe.”

“Attempting… Wait! What is this?” The captain’s voice suddenly became uncertain.

The screen focused on a relatively well-preserved wall of the ruins. A soldier carefully used an energy brush to clear away some of the surface crystal dust, revealing what lay beneath—

It was not a naturally formed pattern, nor was it the script or iconography of any known civilization. Instead, it was an extremely complex set of deep purple etched marks, seemingly grown naturally from countless tiny crystals, possessing a hauntingly eerie mathematical beauty.

It emitted a faint energy pulse that was out of place with the environment of Mist-Hidden Planet, yet strangely integrated with it.

“Energy signature… unrecognizable! But… it seems to have an extremely faint similarity to the Karrant signal!” another soldier responsible for scanning reported.

Yun Shu also saw the transmitted images and data. His pupils suddenly contracted!

He had never seen this style of etching with his own eyes, but he had seen similar descriptions in the oldest, fragmented star-map rubbings of Xilan’s ancestors!

Legend had it that these were the “Traces of Apocalypse” that appeared in the Xilan sector alongside the “Turbid Core” at the beginning of the “Great Pollution.” They were said to contain the ultimate secrets regarding the origin of the disaster, but the knowledge had long been lost!

It actually appeared here?! On Mist-Hidden Planet!

Furthermore, the energy signature displayed on the data pad, while faint, shared a shocking, almost cognate overlap with certain characteristic fragments of the Karrant anomaly signal in his memory!

“Etching…”

He murmured unconsciously, and the keyword he had previously eavesdropped on flashed through his mind—”Ancient Archive: Etching”!

Could it be… could “Etching” not refer to a written document, but to these physical energy traces containing information?!

And were the Karrant signal, Mist-Hidden Planet, and even “Tartarus” all related to this mysterious “Etching”?

“You recognize this?”

Ling Yao’s cold voice suddenly rang out, carrying an imperceptible sharpness. He had clearly caught Yun Shu’s momentary loss of composure and his whisper.

Yun Shu snapped back to reality, his heart pounding wildly. He immediately forced down all shock and association. Dropping his eyelids to hide the turbulence in his eyes, he used his weakness and a cough to mask the pause:

“…No. It’s just… I’ve never seen… this form of energy residue. It’s very… peculiar.”

Ling Yao’s gaze landed on him like something physical, full of scrutiny and suspicion. He absolutely did not believe Yun Shu’s reaction was merely because it was “peculiar.”

However, at this moment, the discovery of the ruins was more important. He did not press further immediately, but turned to the vanguard: “Record all etched traces in detail. Attempt a 3D scan and energy spectrum analysis. Look for any possible information storage patterns.”

“Understood!”

The exploration continued. As the cleaning and scanning went deeper, more etched traces were discovered. They seemed to form a vast, misunderstood narrative or diagram. The soldiers even found an entrance, blocked by thick crystal dust, likely leading into the depths of the ruins.

Hope and danger amplified simultaneously.

Ling Yao looked at those mysterious etchings, then at the pale-faced prisoner of Xilan in the split-screen—someone who appeared fragile yet repeatedly demonstrated incredible value. His gaze became increasingly deep and inscrutable.

The mists of Mist-Hidden Planet seemed to be slowly parting at one corner, but what was being revealed was an even larger, more shocking mystery. And the key seemed to be in the hands of this sickly genius.

“Get ready,” Ling Yao suddenly said to Yun Shu, his tone brookng no argument. “You’re coming down with me in the next landing party.”

Yun Shu snapped his head up, a flash of disbelief in his eyes.

Ling Yao looked at him, the corner of his mouth curving into a cold arc. “Let’s take a closer look at these ‘peculiar’ traces. Perhaps, they will help you remember more things you’ve ‘never seen before.'”