The underground space was completely silent.
The beams from the searchlights seemed to be swallowed by the darkness.
The investigation team stood around the perimeter of the central area.
Everyone was staring at the enormous containment device.
It was only after standing here in person that they realized just how massive it truly was.
From a distance, its size had not been obvious.
But now that they were close, the overwhelming sense of pressure was almost tangible.
Dozens of massive support pillars extended from the ground all the way to the rock layer above.
Each one was covered in a thick layer of frost.
Numerous metal pipes were wrapped around them, eventually converging on the central containment device.
Like blood vessels connected to a heart.
It was as if the entire underground facility existed to keep it running.
A technician activated a rangefinder.
The numbers continued to fluctuate.
After a moment, he raised his head.
"The main structure is more than forty-eight meters tall."
The person beside him froze.
"More than?"
"We can't determine the height of the top."
Everyone instinctively looked upward.
The searchlights could not reach the end.
The darkness seemed to extend endlessly into the depths of the underground.
The entire facility was far larger than they had initially imagined.
The investigation team continued forward.
Their footsteps landed on the frozen ground, producing faint cracking sounds.
The closer they got to the containment device, the lower the temperature became.
The technicians repeatedly wiped frost from the surfaces of their instruments.
Their breath had already turned into thick clouds of white mist.
Even wearing professional cold-weather gear, everyone could feel the chill penetrating their bodies.
One of the handlers could not help asking,
"How cold is it here?"
The technician looked down.
He remained silent for several seconds.
"Seventy-three degrees below zero."
The surroundings fell silent.
No one spoke again.
At this temperature, most mechanical equipment would already be unable to function.
Yet the containment device before them was still operating.
As if decades had done nothing to it.
Irina walked at the very front.
Her eyes remained fixed on the pipes connected to the containment device.
The longer she looked, the deeper the frown on her face became.
The team leader noticed the change.
"What's wrong?"
Irina did not answer immediately.
Instead, she slowly crouched down.
She placed her hand against one of the frozen metal pipes.
Her ability began to activate.
Phase Change Dominion.
She was not changing its state.
She was observing its state.
The structure of the ice.
The flow of heat.
The exchange of energy.
Everything gradually became clear in her mind.
Several seconds later, she opened her eyes.
There was a noticeable change in her expression.
The team leader immediately noticed.
"What did you find?"
She looked around and slowly said,
"These layers of ice did not form naturally."
Everyone froze at the same time.
The technician frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Irina raised her head and looked toward the containment device.
"If it were simply caused by the low environmental temperature…"
"The ice would have formed randomly."
"The thickness would also vary."
She pointed toward the surface of the device.
"But it's different here."
Everyone followed the direction of her finger.
Only then did they notice.
The layer of ice covering the containment device was almost completely uniform.
The thickness was similar.
The density was similar.
Even the direction of the crystals was strangely consistent.
It was as if the ice had been deliberately shaped.
The technician's expression gradually changed.
"Someone created this ice?"
Irina nodded lightly.
"And on a very large scale."
The air suddenly fell silent.
If these layers of ice had been artificially created, it meant one thing.
The containment itself did not rely solely on the metal structure.
There was another form of technology involved.
The team leader looked up at the enormous structure.
"Left behind by the old era?"
"Probably."
Irina answered.
"And it has been maintained for an extremely long time."
The technician spoke quietly.
"Decades?"
Irina remained silent for several seconds.
"Possibly longer."
Everyone fell silent.
Decades were already astonishing.
If it had been even longer, then it meant the people who built this place possessed technology far beyond what existed today.
The underground space once again became quiet.
Only the sound of machinery echoed through the darkness.
The investigation team began recording the surrounding area.
The more they investigated, the more shocked they became.
The entire core area was practically an underground city.
Maintenance platforms.
Energy lines.
Transport tracks.
Backup power rooms.
There were even remnants of living quarters.
Judging by its scale, large numbers of people had once been stationed here for a long period of time.
A technician stood on an elevated platform and looked down.
He could not help speaking.
"They weren't conducting experiments."
The team leader turned around.
"What do you mean?"
The technician looked around.
Slowly, he said,
"If this were merely a research facility…"
"There would be no need for it to be this large."
"This place looks more like…"
He stopped halfway.
In the end, he changed his wording.
"Like a prison."
The air seemed to freeze.
No one contradicted him.
Because everyone had the same feeling.
The entire facility…
Was not built to study something.
It was built to contain something.
Just then, a voice came from the other side.
"We found an archive room."
Everyone immediately rushed over.
The room was located on the outskirts of the core area.
The door had already been damaged.
Large quantities of paper documents were scattered inside.
Most of them had already rotted away and were impossible to identify.
The technicians carefully sorted through the remaining fragments.
Eventually, they found several records that were still barely intact.
Everyone gathered around.
The writing on the documents had become blurred.
Only fragments could still be read.
[Containment Level Increased]
[Entry into Core Area Prohibited]
[Power Supply Stable]
[Target Status Normal]
[Containment Ongoing]
Everything after that was missing.
Although there was not much information, it was already enough.
The team leader slowly lowered the document.
"They had been maintaining the containment this entire time."
No one disagreed.
Because the facts were already right in front of them.
Every facility here.
Every person stationed here.
Had only one purpose.
To maintain the containment.
The group returned to the central area.
At this moment, the plaque was still quietly embedded at the bottom.
Seventh Containment Zone.
Removal of Containment Prohibited.
Contact with Core Prohibited.
Awakening of Target Prohibited.
Just three short lines.
Yet they somehow carried an inexplicable weight.
Then—
Crack.
A faint sound rang out.
Everyone immediately looked up.
A crack on the surface of the ice had widened slightly.
It was not obvious.
But it was definitely there.
The technician immediately checked the data.
His face quickly turned pale.
"Temperature dropping."
"Pollution increasing."
"Containment structural stability down by 0.7 percent."
The team leader's expression darkened.
"Record it."
The person beside him immediately complied.
But it was not over.
Crack.
A second sound rang out.
Clearer than the first.
Everyone saw it.
The crack was extending.
Slowly.
Steadily.
As if something inside was continuously exerting pressure.
The air became deathly quiet.
No one spoke.
Only the occasional sound of cracking ice could be heard.
Irina, meanwhile, kept staring at the containment device.
She could feel it.
The rate of heat flow was increasing.
The temperature throughout the entire facility was converging toward the core.
As if something inside was awakening.
Absorbing power.
Recovering.
Suddenly—
A faint azure glow lit up again.
This time, it was far more pronounced than before.
The entire underground space was bathed in a layer of pale blue light.
The support pillars.
The pipes.
The platforms.
Everything was illuminated by it.
Everyone instinctively held their breath.
Because they saw it.
Deep within the ice,
a blurred silhouette slowly stood up.
It was tall.
Far larger than an ordinary human.
Its exact appearance could not be seen.
Only its outline was visible.
But even that alone was enough to make everyone feel an inexplicable pressure.
The technician's voice trembled.
"It… it's still alive?"
No one answered.
Because the answer was right before their eyes.
The next second—
Deep within the ice,
those eyes that had remained tightly closed for countless years
slowly opened.
An azure glow illuminated the pupils.
As if, after crossing the span of countless years,
it was looking upon this world again for the first time.
The temperature throughout the underground space dropped once more.
Alarms sounded simultaneously.
Beep—
Beep—
Beep—
Every instrument began screaming warnings.
And the investigation team finally realized.
They had never been facing a source of pollution.
They were facing an existence that the civilization of the old era had sealed away at any cost—
and had kept sealed until this very day.