The moment he received this message, Xiao Yu immediately sensed something unusual.

All information that made it through the first layer of automated filtering had its own characteristics. But this message was simply too peculiar.

The source of the message was a massive asteroid approximately thirty kilometers in diameter. An asteroid of this size would be enough to wipe out all life on Earth if it impacted, but to Xiao Yu, it was nothing more than a slightly larger fragment.

At this moment, tens of thousands of miniature robots had gathered around it, either hovering above or clinging to its surface. After preliminary scans, they had simultaneously transmitted an anomaly report to Xiao Yu.

First, after initial analysis, Xiao Yu ruled out the possibility that it was composed of natural materials. Further analysis also eliminated the chance that it was leftover equipment from his own constructions.

The data seemed to indicate that the object being scanned exhibited certain characteristics of organic matter.

Xiao Yu already knew that some corners of this planetary system contained extremely primitive lifeforms, so primitive they could hardly be called life. Their sizes were microscopic, and Xiao Yu still had specimens of these creatures in his collection.

But this object was different from those primitive lifeforms he had previously encountered.

The anomaly was not the asteroid itself, but something else. This object was quite large but seemed hidden inside the asteroid. In the three-dimensional perspective scans, it appeared roughly spherical. Combined with the surrounding rock, the whole thing looked like… like a chestnut encased in a hard shell.

“The rock forming the outer shell is undoubtedly made of the planet’s original material, but what exactly is hidden inside?” Xiao Yu’s curiosity was piqued, and he immediately dispatched a team of robots equipped with highly advanced detection instruments to investigate.

These robots were very different from the miniature ones. In size, mass, and capability, they far surpassed the smaller models. In fact, they were the ones who had previously handled the recovery of the White Dwarf Alien Beast flesh.

This time, Xiao Yu deployed several thousand such detection robots. They were carried aboard a few County-Class starships, which bulldozed their way through the asteroid belt, destroying any planetary debris that blocked their path until they arrived at the target location.

With a diameter of thirty kilometers, this asteroid’s mass had already exceeded ten trillion tons. Such mass generated significant gravity, though not enough to tear apart the County-Class starships. Thus, within the chaotic asteroid belt, a striking scene unfolded.

Against a backdrop of countless dark, frigid asteroids veiled in gas, five massive streamlined starships, gleaming in silver-gray, hovered silently in space. Any asteroid that approached them was ruthlessly destroyed. The light emitted from the ships illuminated an area thousands of meters wide, and they resembled enormous beasts, coldly gazing forward.

There were five of these enormous ‘beasts.’ Before them lay an even larger object.

Despite its thirty-kilometer diameter and mass exceeding ten trillion tons, the asteroid had not yet reached hydrostatic equilibrium, so its surface remained rugged and irregular. Countless sharp angles jutted out like the horns and spikes of some cosmic monster. Occasionally, as nearby celestial bodies shifted and no longer blocked the view, light from the still-raging star would shine directly upon it, heating its interior and causing volatile gases to sublimate. Countless jets of gas burst from its surface, enshrouding it in a layer of dark gray mist.

On its surface, there were mountains, plains, and ravines. It was like a miniature world, silent, yet violently restless.

Amidst this situation, in the void of space, the five silver-gray County-Class starships simultaneously opened their hatches. Under the asteroid’s own gravity, a continuous stream of detection robots began descending. As they neared the surface, the robots activated their built-in reaction thrusters, descending very slowly to land gently on the ground.

Some unlucky robots happened to land directly on top of one of the geysers. Like being launched by a rocket, they were blasted into space, tumbling along the way, crashing into countless miniature asteroids. However, with Xiao Yu’s current level of materials technology, such collisions were not enough to damage these detection robots. After flying out a certain distance, they stabilized and returned to resume their landing.

In total, several thousand robots landed on this dark, icy, sometimes scorching, rugged, and extremely unstable miniature world to begin their work.

“The anomaly was detected inside this asteroid.” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. Following the guidance of the detection satellites, he directed the robots to gather near a massive ravine.

This ravine was over a thousand meters deep and stretched for several dozen kilometers. Even by Earth standards, such a canyon was quite magnificent.

Over a thousand robots embarked on a long journey. They crossed mountains and ridges, skillfully dodged erupting geysers, sometimes soaring into the air, sometimes racing across flat ground. After half an hour, more than a hundred robots had gathered at the site.

Seeing the ravine up close, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but marvel. Due to its depth, no light reached the bottom, leaving it in total darkness. Yet it was not calm. Occasionally, instability in the asteroid’s core would force gas through the canyon as an outlet, causing multicolored plumes of smoke to spray upward.

Cold and dark, the entire ravine resembled the gate to hell.

“The power of the stars… even when shattered into fragments like this, it still remains so mysterious,” Xiao Yu silently sighed in amazement.

A star could be destroyed, but never desecrated. Xiao Yu could completely blow a planet into fragments, yet he couldn’t help but be awed by the wonders of the cosmos. Now, facing an asteroid only thirty kilometers in diameter, a faint sense of unease arose in Xiao Yu’s heart.

“Begin the scan.” Stabilizing his thoughts, Xiao Yu directed the robots to leap into the ravine. As they jumped, the robots’ controlled reaction thrusters activated, allowing them to soar like birds, freely navigating this tiny sky.

A massive stream of data flooded into Xiao Yu’s mind, but still, he had not yet found the critical information he sought.

“Not deep enough? Keep descending.” Xiao Yu gave the order.

The five County-Class ships hovering in space timely released artificial suns. These artificial suns emitted dazzling light, hovering inside the ravine and fully illuminating everything. Bathed in this light, the more than one thousand detection robots employed all kinds of methods to collect data.

“Hmm, this seems to be limestone, worthless. And this… iron oxide? Looks like this used to be an iron mine. There are traces of exposure to high temperature and pressure. On a planet, such temperatures and pressures only exist near the core. This asteroid should consist of material from that planet’s core.”

Xiao Yu gradually lowered the robots’ altitude while analyzing the incoming data.

One detection robot reached the canyon floor, and to Xiao Yu’s surprise, the bottom was surprisingly flat, with a coloration distinct from the surrounding terrain. Judging solely by color, Xiao Yu couldn’t determine what it was, so he shut off the robot’s thruster and let it land directly on the surface.

The data from the vibration sensors sent a chill through Xiao Yu’s heart. The readings seemed to indicate that the ground possessed a certain elasticity, almost like… the skin of a living creature.

“What is this?” Xiao Yu’s curiosity grew stronger. He then directed the robot to bend down, using the collection device on its arm to probe into the ground, attempting to extract a sample for detailed analysis.

But this single action appeared to trigger major trouble. The moment the probe penetrated the ground, a violent change erupted.

It seemed as though an intense geological event had been triggered inside the asteroid, akin to an earthquake. Xiao Yu watched as the entire asteroid began to shake violently. Countless mountain peaks collapsed, flat plains cracked open, and massive fissures split the surface. Countless fragments were flung into space, becoming new miniature asteroids.

Though this was space, where no sound could propagate, Xiao Yu nevertheless seemed to hear a distant, ancient, and sorrowful roar, like a primeval beast struggling to break free from its shackles, trying to escape its prison.

“What… is going on?” Xiao Yu’s mind raced, and he immediately ordered the five County-Class ships to activate all shield systems and withdraw several thousand kilometers.