"It is possible that another alien race, like the Kree, sent those machines here to dig up something. This energy storm may have been triggered by whatever they uncovered." Nur shrugged.
Since Attilan originally belonged to the Kree, much of their critical knowledge had been passed down to the Inhumans, giving them a greater understanding of galactic affairs than Earth's people—though much of that information was thousands of years outdated.
Even so, this knowledge was kept strictly within the royal family. The lower-class Inhumans were unaware of it, since maintaining control over their origins and history was one of the foundations of the royal family's rule.
"You may be right," Ambur nodded. "But we need to go down and take a closer look to be sure."
With that, the team donned their protective suits, left the ship, and began to examine the excavation site.
"Aside from numerical designations, there's little information. All data has been completely wiped out by the energy surge—nothing can be retrieved," Nur reported after examining the deactivated robots and equipment. "The design style is similar to Earth's technology, but that doesn't prove anything."
Just because Arabic numerals were used didn't necessarily mean these robots were of Earthly origin—Attilan itself used Arabic numerals.
Who could say whether an alien civilization had borrowed Earth's resources to build these robots?
Under normal circumstances, these robots would have had manufacturer markings, specifically the logo of America's Robotics Corporation from I, Robot World.
However, when Josh purchased them, he naturally made sure that any potentially misleading information was removed.
As a result, Josh's robots were stripped of all identifying marks except for their numerical designations. Their internal data was the only thing that could reveal their origin.
The drilling equipment was even more ambiguous—it was custom-made by Yuri for Josh, with no identifying labels at all.
With all the data in the robots and machinery erased by the energy surge, the Inhumans had no way to determine their source.
"In that case, we'll have to go down and take a look," Ambur said, nodding as she turned her gaze toward the central drill shaft.
"Whoa—going down is gonna be tricky. This shaft clearly wasn't designed for humans," Alvak whistled, baring his teeth as he examined the nearly vertical, perfectly smooth walls of the drill hole.
This kind of shaft was made specifically for robotic descent.
For Josh's robotic exploration teams, a 30-meter drop was nothing—they could rappel down in under a minute. After all, robots, especially military and engineering models, were built to be extremely tough. Even if they fell from 30 meters, they wouldn't necessarily break.
And if they were made of super-alloys like Sunny, they'd be even more indestructible.
So for robots, this was a simple task.
For humans, however, the difficulty increased exponentially.
Fortunately, these weren't ordinary humans. They retrieved special equipment from the ship and prepared to go down the shaft, leaving Alvak on the surface to keep watch.
After about ten minutes of effort, the four finally reached the bottom.
"Sh*t! You were right—there's no way Earth's people have this kind of technology!" Ambur gasped, staring at the partially exposed spaceship embedded in the ice. Only about a third of it was visible.
"Yes, this thing is definitely the source of the energy storm," Nur confirmed, holding up a beeping instrument that showed fluctuating readings.
"But how do we get in? There's no visible entrance!" The burly Ellis ran his hands over the hull, searching for seams or openings, but finding none.
"I can feel it... There's something alive inside. I think I can try to communicate with it!"
Mander, who had been silent since the descent, suddenly spoke up.
"You're serious? Something inside is still alive?" Ambur and Nur exchanged stunned looks.
They had scanned the surroundings earlier—the ice encasing the ship was at least ten thousand years old. Under normal circumstances, it should have been buried deep within the Antarctic ice sheet.
Only glacial movement over the past century had brought it to this place.
"Yes, and... not just one," Mander confirmed with a nod.
This...
Ambur frowned, lost in thought.
Her concerns at this moment weren't much different from what Josh had considered when he first discovered the site.
A spaceship buried for over ten thousand years... with living occupants... and technology far beyond anything Earth possessed.
If whatever was inside had hostile intentions, Earth's fate was of little concern. But if it threatened Attilan—that was a disaster.
Should she let Mander try to communicate?
She hesitated.
Mander also looked at Ambur and waited for her command.
"Let him try. Given the current situation, we—like those robots—don't seem to have any other way to deal with this spaceship," Nur urged.
"Not necessarily. Look at this!"
At that moment, the burly Ellis spoke up.
Everyone turned to see that Ellis was now holding a cutting tool. It wouldn't turn on, but he had simply dragged the blade across the hull, leaving a visible scratch.
It was shallow, but it was proof enough that this cutter was capable of penetrating the exterior of the ship.
"So it's not that these robots had no way in—it's that they were too capable, which triggered the ship's automatic defenses," Nur remarked, raising an eyebrow. He then pulled a dagger from his waist and took the cutting tool from Ellis.
With a firm squeeze, the thin blade remained perfectly intact. The dagger, however, didn't fare as well—it didn't snap, but a large chunk was chipped off.
The sight made all four of them tense.
Nur's dagger was made of the finest metal in Attilan.
"Incredible metal... Relying on others isn't as good as relying on ourselves. Shall we try this first?" Nur suggested, waving the cutting tool.
"No! We can't go in there!"
Mander suddenly shouted.
"What's wrong?" The other three were startled by his reaction.
"The thing inside... it's warning me. Whatever's in there is extremely dangerous. This isn't just a spaceship—it's a prison!"
Mander was trembling all over, barely able to stand.
"Hey, calm down, man! Maybe whatever's in there is just trying to trick you?" Nur quickly stepped forward to support him.
But before he could reach Mander, two golden beams pierced straight through him.
The sudden attack stunned everyone.
What had just happened?
Following the beams to their source, they saw a strikingly heroic young man floating in the air.
Before the remaining three Inhumans could question his identity, his eyes glowed again, firing another set of beams—this time at Nur.
Fortunately, Nur reacted swiftly, leaping aside to evade the attack.
There was no doubt.
In the Antarctic, someone who could fly and shoot energy beams from their eyes could only be one person—
Ikaris, the "Superman" of the Eternals.
But why did Ikaris attack them if they were here for the same purpose?
Because...
"Quickly! Gather Gilgamesh, Phastos and Sersi! Only together can they stop Ikaris!"
From a distant hill overlooking the excavation site, Ajak ordered Makkari while tending to her own wounds.
Ikaris hadn't just attacked the Inhumans—he had also attacked Ajak.
The reason?
Just moments ago, Ikaris had suddenly succumbed to Mahd Wy'ry—the Eternal madness.
After wounding Ajak, he had immediately flown to the ship's location.
Ajak was already struggling when Thena had suffered from Mahd Wy'ry. Now, with Ikaris—arguably the Eternals' most powerful warrior—falling victim to it, things had only gotten worse.
Makkari understood the gravity of the situation. Without hesitation, she activated her speed and sprinted toward the Eternals' North American stronghold to fetch reinforcements.
But even with her incredible speed, bringing others back was another challenge altogether.
Would those Inhumans still be alive by the time she returned?
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