Chapter 1258 — Toward the Unknown

Under the remote control of the operator mages, the Explorer golem had been active in the "Divine Realm" on the other side of the portal for two full hours. It had transmitted back a vast amount of real-time imagery, all of which would undoubtedly become crucial material for humanity's understanding of the Divine Realm. But as a magical device, the Explorer's capabilities were ultimately limited.

After the Explorer crossed the Divine Realm's "plaza district" and the first archway leading to the palace complex, the operator mages noticed signs of unstable transmission. The images coming from ahead began to flicker frequently, and seconds later the golem even sent back an emergency signal: "Mana supply about to be cut off."

To prevent the loss of this precious magical device, Windsor Mabel immediately ordered the Explorer recalled. The holographic projection transmitted from the front turned back toward the portal, and the Explorer spread its long metal limbs and began racing back along the path it had come. Kamael watched the trembling holographic images and asked in a low voice, "Has it exceeded the control range?"

"It shouldn't have..." Windsor Mabel said with a deep frown. "We anticipated that the space inside the Divine Realm might be vast, so we specially modified the golem's signal transmission structure. Moreover, the operator mages are all high-tier powerhouses. In theory, even if the golem continued moving outward at its previous speed for another two hours, the signal transmission should not be affected..."

As she spoke, the legendary Typhon mage never took her eyes off the holographic projection beside the portal. The Explorer had already begun running forward at maximum speed; the magical images it sent back flashed rapidly past the broad stone tiles of the Divine Realm's plaza district and the exquisite stone columns standing throughout the plaza. Yet even as the distance between the golem and the portal steadily shrank, the poor signal transmission showed no improvement at all. The holographic image's trembling and interference grew worse with every passing moment, and the golem's warning—"Mana supply about to be cut off"—remained fixed at the center of the image, deepening Windsor's grave expression.

"There's a problem with its energy supply... It looks very much like its mana reserves are exhausted, but the golem has the function of drawing mana from its surroundings to sustain long-term operation..." she murmured to herself, then suddenly raised her head and said loudly, "Can we speed up the withdrawal?!"

"It is already withdrawing at maximum speed, Master Windsor," one of the operator mages said hurriedly. This high-tier mage, clad in a deep purple robe, was covered in cold sweat on his forehead. The golem's intermittent signal made control extremely difficult, and the pressure of soon losing the Explorer made him even more tense—in the hearts of these Typhon scholars, the golem's own expensive cost was actually secondary; what truly worried them was the research progress. The Explorer's current state was clearly abnormal, but only if it returned safely could the technicians on site determine how the anomaly had occurred. Once the golem exhausted its energy and lost contact before reaching the portal, it would undoubtedly have an enormous impact on subsequent exploration and research.

Windsor did not urge them again. She simply stared together with Kamael at the images sent back by the holographic projection. In that increasingly blurred and dim picture, she saw the mirror-like portal appear before the Explorer. The golem's several metal limbs were working rapidly, and the distance between it and the portal was steadily shrinking. Yet as the final hundred meters approached, those raised metal limbs suddenly showed signs of uncoordinated movement; one of them even failed to lift in time, causing the Explorer to stumble and nearly fall.

Even the most basic propulsion system showed signs of energy exhaustion. The last reserves of mana within the golem were about to run dry, yet the function that should have drawn mana from the surrounding environment to sustain operation seemed as if it did not exist at all...

At the final fifteen meters, everyone's eyes were fixed on the now extremely dim and blurred holographic projection, but the operator mages could no longer sense the golem's signal transmission at all. The chief operator among them made one last attempt, raising both hands toward Windsor Mabel: "Master Windsor, the signal is cut. We can only leave it to fate—"

Before he finished speaking, the holographic projection went completely dark, and the last thread of connection between the golem and the mortal world was severed.

The portal hall fell silent, and only after a moment did a few sighs rise from various places. Kamael stared fixedly at the mirror-like "gate," while Windsor Mabel beside him shook her head with a sigh. "We have lost the Explorer..."

Yet no sooner had she spoken than the sound of mechanical limbs scraping suddenly reached the hall. Ripples abruptly appeared on the surface of the mirror-like circular "door," and then a brass magical mechanical device came tumbling out of it, rushing amid a series of noises and rolls onto the base of the portal apparatus.

At the very last moment, the golem had still managed to use its remaining energy to rush back. It rolled to the ground amid a clatter, and at the same time the series of dimly glowing runes on its shell finally went out one by one.

Windsor Mabel reacted at once. She rushed toward the Explorer while issuing a loud order: "Maintenance team! Over here, now!"

Several technicians wearing Typhon mage robes immediately rushed to the Explorer golem's side, and Kamael followed close behind Windsor Mabel to the scene. They stared intently at the golem, which had now completely shut down. All the runes on its brass shell had gone dark, the crystals embedded at its various key energy nodes had taken on the gray-white hue of excessive wear, and heat was radiating from within its body. At this sight, even someone unfamiliar with Typhon golem technology could judge at a glance—this intricate magical device had been running beyond its limits for far too long in an environment where it could obtain no mana replenishment, and now many of its mana circuits had suffered severe damage.

An engineering mage bent down and began examining the Explorer's shell, trying to find traces of external damage or the like in order to determine why its charging apparatus had failed. Just then, a low humming sound again came from the round brass body. The runes that had gone completely dark flickered a few times, then lit up one after another—it was charging itself again.

"...Master Windsor," the engineering mage raised his head and looked at Windsor Mabel in confusion, "its charging structure is not damaged..."

Windsor Mabel watched this scene with knitted brows. After a moment's pondering, she made her decision: "Open the shell. Remove shielding plates two through four. Let's see the condition of the core mana circuits."

"Yes, Master Windsor!" The engineering mage immediately obeyed, and several assistant mages stepped forward together. In a few deft movements they had opened the Explorer's round brass shell. As the heavy shell and the several silver shielding plates inside were removed, the extraordinarily complex and precise mechanical and magical structures within the device were finally revealed to everyone—at first glance, Kamael saw several crystals recharging, and around them several clearly damaged rune structures.