My Talent's Name Is Generator Chapter 781 A Unique Discovery

The fight didn't drag on for much time at all.

Just like the previous outpost, this facility was designed purely for operation, lacking any real defenses to withstand assault. Facing our group, its defeat was inevitable from the start.

Once the final monstrosity toppled, the lunar ground lay scattered with melting corpses and icy marks etched by bolts of lightning, dark shadows, fierce gales, and glowing runes. The sudden quiet that descended seemed jarring, as though the site hadn't foreseen its swift downfall.

Lyrate remained positioned nearby, her palm firmly against the torso of the last spectral foe. The entity's shape wavered faintly, its faceplate shattered, wisps of deathmist escaping in erratic bursts.

As she pulled away at last, the specter imploded, its body crumpling in on itself until it vanished entirely into nothingness.

She let out a gentle breath and faced me.

"It put up a stronger fight than the one before," she remarked. "Still, I secured what we came for."

I arched a brow just a touch. "The location data?"

With a nod, she held out her palm. Between her digits, a subtle hologram unfurled, displaying intricate webs of dimensional lines and moving indicators, vastly more elaborate than those for a simple regional portal.

"A transfer hub," she went on. "This is one of them. The route isn't straightforward—it funnels via a safeguarded relay first—though the destination holds firm."

A gradual grin spread across my features.

"Perfect," I responded. "Now we advance."

Steve propped his blade on his shoulder while eyeing the world suspended quietly beneath the satellite. It loomed near enough for its rounded edge to show clearly, with streaks of azure and earthy tones discernible from our vantage.

"Hold on a sec," he suggested offhandedly, "how about we scout that spot first?"

North angled her head a bit, tracing his line of sight. "It's nearby."

This time, I peered downward with greater intent, allowing my sight to pierce through the vapor layers and landmasses far below. With sharper concentration, an unexpected anomaly caught my notice. No orbital barrier existed, nor any Essence barrier for defense, and zero engineered safeguards enveloped the globe. Despite that, life throbbed within it unmistakably. The sensation reached me subtly yet persistently—a soft rhythm of existence emanating from the sphere, signaling that survival persisted against all odds. Such a revelation ignited my interest instantly. An unprotected realm like this ought to have fallen to conquest or ruin ages past, but it hadn't. That implied inhabitants dwelled there still. The inevitable query arose sooner than I'd imagined: Which species had endured on such a vulnerable orb, free from interference or barriers, amid a cosmos that seldom permitted such fragile persistence?

"No flow of Essence," I whispered. "Nothing detectable to me."

Aurora creased her brow. "A lifeless planet?"

"Far from lifeless," I clarified. "Just in stasis."

Ragnar folded his arms. "So... side trip?"

The decision took me mere seconds to weigh.

"Fine," I agreed. "We'll investigate."

The gateway back wasn't our path.

Rather, we all launched from the moon's crust simultaneously.

BOOM!

Like shooting comets, we hurtled ahead. The emptiness warped in our wake during the speedup, our energies glowing sufficiently to ward off drag and stray particles.

Upon breaching the high skies, a momentary blaze of warmth enveloped us, only to scatter at my command.

The landscape beneath revealed itself.

Waterways sliced across lush terrain. Endless sands extended to the distant skyline. And beside one such wasteland, enormous rock formations jutted upward from the dunes.

Steve decelerated ahead of the rest.

"...That's people down there," he observed cautiously.

An immense edifice took shape from hefty boulders.

Myriad tiny forms encircled it. People. Ordinary folk. Their actions proceeded deliberately, unhurried. Cords pulled taut. Timber frames groaned. No energy fields radiated. No interface lights shimmered. Not a sign of Essence wielding.

My senses expanded to encompass the entire sphere, delving beyond the air envelope, beneath the outer shell, and probing each nook of its expanse. The discovery struck me more through what lacked than what appeared. Nowhere did the interface linger—no customary weight or watchful gaze trailed my probe. Not one evolved entity registered, no Essence currents flowed, no principles were wielded or twisted by intent. The realm progressed solely by its innate momentum, propelled through labor, primal drives, and the passage of eras. Mankind, pristine and unaltered.

"This realm," I uttered softly, "remains pristine."

Aurora turned to me. "From the interface?"

I inclined my head. "It never arrived. Not a single time."

Knight released a hushed sigh. "This must be how a standard society appears."

Steve peered below once more. "Basic... yet thriving."

The monumental builds no longer held my gaze.

My focus plunged further, much deeper.

It wove through the dimensions seeking a particular element I needed to verify, and it appeared without delay.

The world's heart.

Or more precisely... the absence of one as expected.

It resided within a dimensional fold.

Utterly inactive.

No Essence lingered within. The cubic nucleus hovered mutely in the emptiness. Nor did it possess any consciousness.

My companions lingered as I navigated spatial barriers, arriving within the concealed enclosure. The nucleus lay present, modest in scale beside those of roused realms, subdued, scarcely formed. It seemed... nascent and slumbering.

Extending my arm, I laid my fingers upon its exterior and channeled a slender thread of purple Essence from my hand.

Contact sparked an instant response.

The nucleus quivered.

Then it absorbed.

Power rushed forth, saturating vacant conduits untouched by force before. A profound wave emanated from the enclosure, traversing the bedrock, the seas, the very winds.

Over the globe, no outward shifts occurred.

Yet a core transformation had taken hold.

The nucleus edged nearer to me tentatively, inquisitive, akin to an infant extending a hand anew.

A smile crossed my lips as I pressed my palm to its face.

"Steady now," I whispered. "Not yet."

It replied with a subtle throb, then calmed, anchoring steady beneath my mark.

"Perhaps one day," I murmured gently, "our paths will cross again."

I retracted my power and traversed space once more.

Upon reappearing with the group overhead, Steve fixed his eyes on me.

"You made a move," he stated.

"Indeed," I answered. "Though nothing to impact them... for the present."

Silently, we made our way back to the satellite.

At the devastated outpost, Ash labored diligently. He positioned himself by the grandest warp arch, barrier symbols weaving concentric circles along its edges. Our approach drew his upward glance.

"Relay positions are set," he informed. "And after our departure, the regional arches will seal shut for good. No way back."

"Excellent," I acknowledged.

Ash initiated the concluding protocol.

The arch ignited, dimensions compressing as the transfer link locked in.

I cast a final glance over the lunar waste, the wrecked facility, the iced remnants of Hollow Star's endeavors in this sector.

"Time to depart," I declared.

Together, we crossed the threshold.

Far off in our trail, a pristine realm pressed on with pyramid construction, oblivious to the subtle shift in its destiny.