Tang Xiuwei signaled to the two people behind him, indicating they should open the door before them.
Just as the man was getting up to act, a young male voice came from another side of the rose garden.
"City Lord, why don't you let me take them in?" The man's voice was clear and resonant. He wore rimless glasses and a white lab coat, with the top button undone, revealing distinct collarbones. He had a refined and almost ascetic appearance.
Xu An looked at the person before her, her pupils contracting slightly as she lowered her head to conceal the surprise in her eyes.
This person was actually the man from the information Rat had given her, Weng Quan.
But why was this man here?
Xu An did not believe that Qin Chuan would be driven by the person before her. She turned to look at Tang Xiuwei, but if the actual person in charge of the Lighthouse was behind this, it would be a different matter entirely.
"Alright, then you can announce this mission. It's convenient for me, an old man, to have some leisure. Besides, the sponsorship fee for this competition was covered by your research institute."
Tang Xiuwei's words were impeccable. He smiled and stepped back, yielding his position. Everyone present was sharp-minded. Observing Tang Xiuwei's actions, their gazes toward Weng Quan shifted, and they began to speculate about his identity and why Tang Xiuwei was so courteous to him.
Everyone's attention was drawn to Weng Quan, and no one noticed a slender, tall, and somewhat pale young man standing beside him.
The young man also wore rimless glasses and kept his head lowered, appearing to be Weng Quan's assistant.
However, Xu An's gaze was unconsciously drawn behind Weng Quan. Her intuition told her that this man's identity was unusual.
Yet, that person was exceedingly ordinary, to the point where one might question why he was even here.
At this moment, Xia Jin also sensed two scorching gazes directed his way. He found it somewhat amusing.
He hadn't expected anyone to look past such an obvious target as Weng Quan and focus their attention on him.
He wondered if these people could be of use to him.
Everyone harbored their own calculations.
Weng Quan did not stand on ceremony. He walked forward and stopped before the colossal door, gently placing his palm on a recess in the wall.
The next second, the seemingly heavy door slowly opened, revealing a vast interior bathed in a faint, eerie blue glow.
Weng Quan and Xia Jin led the way, followed by the agile Tang Xiuwei and his bodyguards, and then Xu An and the others.
Xu An didn't know how long she had walked, but the lighting in the room was extremely peculiar, as if intentionally obscuring the surroundings from view.
Apart from the light strips illuminating the path at their feet, nothing else was clearly visible.
After Xu An mentally counted to three hundred, a massive glass container, occupying an entire wall, finally appeared before her. The container was filled with some viscous liquid.
Dense tubes and unknown wires were inserted around the glass container, coiling around the entire apparatus on the wall and trailing downwards to every part of the room.
The ends of these coiled wires were connected to various machines, transforming the empty room into a functioning, enormous factory.
In the dim blue room, only the glass container emitted a faint white light, providing the sole source of illumination.
Xu An and the others followed the sight, and everyone was struck dumb with shock. At the center where the pipes and wires converged, a bright red, pulsing... heart... was suspended.
A dense network of wires, like twisted, menacing snakes, coiled around the vibrant, beating heart.
Pipes of varying sizes pulsed with the heart's beat, and something was being extracted from it, flowing through the pipes and into the operating machines.
The heart's atria and ventricles opened and closed rhythmically with its beats, giving the impression that it was alive.
The pipes operated in a cyclical manner, with one end drawing from the heart and the other supplying it.
Xu An watched as dark, unknown liquids were pumped into the heart, and then transformed into pale blue liquid that was then extracted. A sharp pain struck her heart.
It felt as though the beating entity in the suspended display case was her own heart.
However, this heart was unlike a normal human heart.
It was too large.
At least ten times the size of a human heart.
Only after Weng Quan turned on all the lights in the room could Xu An see the full picture.
The massive glass container on the front wall served as the receptacle for this enormous heart.
Even though everyone present knew this was unlikely to be a human heart, the sudden sight still caused many to feel physically unwell, instinctively closing their eyes.
"Welcome to the Lighthouse."
"This is the true core of the Lighthouse, the heart that provides energy for the entire Lighthouse," Weng Quan announced to the crowd.
Silence ensued, with no one speaking except for Weng Quan.
And Weng Quan, ever since seeing the heart, his aura had undergone a complete transformation.
His eyes held an undisguised madness that was terrifying to behold.
A strong sense of unease made Xu An certain that this heart was somehow connected to the tree in her space.
Yet, for some reason, the space tree had fallen into a dormant state since entering this door. No matter how Xu An called out, it showed no response.
"What exactly is the mission? You brought us all the way here, just to let us look at this so-called heart?"
Zhou Hao, who had endured the journey in silence, could no longer contain himself and loudly questioned the individuals before them, those who held the very lifeline of the Lighthouse.
It wasn't just Zhou Hao; many others began to voice their questions. The scene before them clearly defied human understanding, beyond even scientific explanation.
Those who came here were all participating in this mission, hoping to earn a substantial reward. They were not interested in how the Lighthouse actually operated.
Xu An felt that perhaps a different phrasing would be better.
That is, they dared not harbor any superfluous interest.
"Don't rush, young man. Dr. Weng Quan always gets a bit lost in thought when he sees this thing. Let this old man explain it to everyone."
Seeing Weng Quan still in his dazed state, continuously caressing the glass surface, Tang Xiuwei let out a long sigh.
He slowly began, "As you can see, the core of the Lighthouse operates by means of this colossal heart before you."