69novels Page 249
Page 249
Lin Ye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a wolfish glint flashing in his eyes. Leaning against the cold metal wall, he caught his breath, determined his direction, and then dragged his injured body along the narrow, dark passage, step by step, towards the depths of the ruins, towards the "core" that attracted the monsters and might determine his life or death.
The aftershocks of the explosion behind him had not yet completely subsided, and ahead lay a bottomless darkness. His breathing sounded particularly heavy in the silent passage, each step accompanied by the scraping of metal and the stinging pain in his own bones.
But he didn't stop.
Chapter 526 The Core of the Remains and the Source of Whispers
The maintenance tunnel was pitch black, with only the faint, pulsating glow of the fragment of the Key of Creation in his palm illuminating an area less than a meter in front of him. The air (or more accurately, the lingering, inert gas that had been sealed away for an unknown period of time) was filled with a nauseating mixture of metallic rust, engine oil, and some indescribable, putrid organic odor.
Dragging his aching body, Lin Ye relied on the light from the fragments and the whispers in his mind to trudge forward through the maze-like passages. A piercing pain shot through his fractured left arm, and every movement sent cold sweat down his forehead, but he could only grit his teeth and not dare to stop for even a moment.
Behind him, he could faintly hear chilling energy fluctuations and heavy impacts, clearly indicating that the "Void Stalker" was venting its fury by destroying the wreckage of his escape pod or trying to break through the blocked passageway. The sharp hiss of the parasites came and went, seemingly searching for him as they darted through the wreckage and larger gaps.
He must reach what the fragments call the "core" before they find other paths to surround him.
[…Go straight…50 meters…There is a fault line on the right…Be careful…]
The whispered guidance remained clear, even carrying a sense of profound familiarity with the structure of this ruin. Lin Ye followed the instructions and indeed found a massive fracture zone ahead. The original passage ended here, revealing a bottomless darkness below, with only a few thick cable trays wrapped in insulating material spanning both sides, covered with a thick layer of cosmic dust.
He took a deep breath of the icy air, trying to gather the last of his energy into his feet, and then carefully stepped onto what seemed to be the sturdiest cable tray. The tray creaked painfully, swayed slightly, and dust fell in clumps. He held his breath and, step by step, like walking a tightrope, slowly and steadily moved towards the other side.
Just as he was halfway there, a dense, chilling buzzing sound suddenly came from the abyss below!
He looked down and his heart skipped a beat—dozens of scarlet lights had appeared in the darkness below! They were the moth-like parasitic creatures! They had found this path and were swarming upwards like ghosts along the shadows beneath the bridge!
"That ghost won't leave you alone!" Lin Ye cursed, immediately quickening his pace. However, his injured body severely hampered his speed, while the parasite's speed was incredibly fast!
Just then, the nearest parasite took flight, its corrosive mouthparts aimed straight at his ankle!
At this critical moment!
[...stepping on...the third cable on the left...connection point...] The whispered reminder suddenly appeared.
Without a second thought, Lin Ye stomped his right foot hard on the spot the whisper had indicated!
"Oh!"
With a muffled thud, the connection point of the cable, seemingly an old interface, burst forth with a dazzling burst of electric sparks as he stomped with all his might! The leaping arcs of electricity, like uncontrolled silver snakes, instantly darted into the swarm of parasites attacking from below!
"squeak--!!!"
A piercing scream instantly echoed through the abyss! Several parasites directly struck by the high-voltage arc were instantly carbonized and exploded, turning into charred fragments that fell into the darkness. More parasites were affected by the spreading current, their bodies convulsing violently, their wings charred, and they fell like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Taking advantage of the opening, Lin Ye dashed across the remaining bridge structure and safely reached the other side. He glanced back at the still-jumping arcs of electricity and the chaotic parasites below, a lingering fear in his eyes. That whisper… it seemed to be more than just guidance; it could also, to some extent, “utilize” the environment?
[…Continue… Ahead… At the end of the passage… Turn left…] The whisper sounded again, as if it had just been a trivial matter.
Lin Ye dared not slacken and continued forward. The deeper he went, the more he felt a strange sense of oppression. Strange, non-functional patterns began to appear on the surrounding metal walls, like some kind of abstract symbol, or like naturally formed erosion marks. They faintly emitted extremely weak energy fluctuations, resonating with the fragment in his palm.
Finally, after rounding a bend, the view ahead opened up dramatically.
He stepped out of the narrow maintenance passage and into a relatively open space. It resembled a vast, circular hall, but was long since dilapidated. A huge tear in the dome revealed the murky void and distorted bands of light outside. In the center of the hall was a circular platform over ten meters in diameter, surrounded by countless broken cables and twisted pipes, like the roots of a giant tree.
In the center of the platform, there is a roughly one-person-high, irregularly shaped, multifaceted crystal suspended in the air!
The crystal was a dark purple color, with a viscous, blood-like energy flowing and swirling slowly within it, emanating an extremely ancient, obscure, and slightly ominous energy fluctuation. Tiny black arcs of electricity occasionally flashed across the crystal's surface, emitting a soft hissing sound.
The moment the fragment in Lin Ye's palm saw the crystal, the burning sensation intensified several times over, even causing it to tremble slightly! The whisper in his mind also reached unprecedented clarity, carrying an emotion bordering on "excitement":
[...access...core...read...information...]
Is this the "core" the fragments are pointing to? The energy source of this piece of debris?
Just as Lin Ye was about to step forward for a closer look, a series of heavy footsteps, so heavy they made the entire hall tremble slightly, came from the direction of the passage he had come from! At the same time, the huge, eerie green eyes of the "Void Stalker" appeared through the crack in the dome of the hall, coldly watching down below!
It's coming after us! And it's blocked our escape route!
And those parasitic creatures, like maggots clinging to bones, poured out from every passage and crack, densely packed, completely blocking the entrances and exits of the entire hall!
Lin Ye's heart sank to the bottom. He was completely surrounded! In this relatively open hall, he had nowhere to hide!
The whispered message, "[...contact...core...activate...defense protocol...]" sounded again, carrying an undeniable urgency.
Defense protocol?
Lin Ye looked at the floating dark purple crystal, then at the menacing monsters around him. He had no other choice!
He gritted his teeth, endured the pain all over his body, and rushed to the platform in the center of the hall as fast as he could!
His actions immediately provoked a reaction from all the monsters!
The Void Stalker let out a silent roar, and a ghastly green energy tentacle, thicker and more solid than before, tore through the air like a battering ram, lashing out fiercely at Lin Ye! The surrounding parasites, as if receiving a command, surged towards him from all directions like a tidal wave!
Life and death hang in the balance!
A hint of madness flashed in Lin Ye's eyes. Just before the energy tentacles reached his body, he lunged at the edge of the platform and slammed his right hand, which was holding the fragment of the Key of Creation, down into the dark purple core crystal!
“Buzz——!!!”
The instant his palm touched the crystal!
An indescribable, vast torrent of energy, as boundless as a sea of stars, surged wildly into his body along his arm! At the same time, countless images, sounds, and fragments of information flooded into his mind like a burst dam!
He saw... a magnificent, unimaginable civilization... a colossal stargate opening... an endless expedition... then disaster... an incomprehensible, irresistible enemy... the collapse of space... the fall of civilization... the last survivors sealing their information in the "core"... drifting... silence...
At the same time, the dark purple core crystal suddenly burst forth with a dazzling purple light!
A condensed, almost tangible purple energy shield instantly unfolded around the crystal, perfectly enveloping Lin Ye!
"boom!!!"
The Voidwalker's energy tentacles lashed fiercely at the purple shield, unleashing a deafening roar! The shield rippled violently, yet stubbornly remained intact! The parasites that collided with the shield were like moths to a flame, instantly annihilated into the most basic particles by the energy flowing across the shield's surface!
Lin Ye knelt in the center of the shield, his right hand pressed tightly against the core crystal. His body trembled violently from the immense energy shock and information flow, but his eyes were fixed on the menacing monster outside the shield and the images that flashed through his mind, revealing ancient secrets.
The whispered voice, merging with the flow of information at this moment, became grand and mournful, as if transcending countless times, resounding directly from the depths of his soul:
[...The recorder...the core...is open to you...]
[...understand...the truth...and then...make...a choice...]
Chapter 527 The Recorder's Legacy
"Boom!!"
The Voidwalker's ferocious energy tentacles, like green lightning, relentlessly bombarded the shield generated by the dark purple core. The shield trembled violently, rippling with energy, seemingly on the verge of shattering, yet stubbornly holding on.
Inside the shield, Lin Ye knelt on the ground, his right hand pressed firmly against the core crystal.
A vast stream of information, like a burst dam, surged into his mind, accompanied by a pure yet ancient and lifeless energy that forcibly poured into his nearly parched meridians. The pain was excruciating! Not only was it the tearing sensation of his body being subjected to the energy impact, but also the throbbing pain of his soul being forcibly crammed with countless fragments of memory, a pain that threatened to burst his consciousness!
[...Identify...Permissions Confirm...The Holder of the Key of Genesis Fragment...]
[...Transmission begins...Last record...The "Observer" civilization...The Fallen Log...]
Intermittent whispers mixed with a clear flow of information, exploding in his consciousness.
He "saw"... a civilization of unimaginable magnificence. The colossal starships were not metal constructs, but rather like living stars, roaming the universe; cities were built in the dimensional rifts, shimmering with light; they called themselves "Observers," not eager for expansion, but recording and studying the birth and death of the universe, searching for ultimate truth... They even touched the edge of "creation," creating "keys" like the fragments in their hands, attempting to understand and fine-tune the fundamental laws of the universe.
Then... disaster struck.
It was not war, nor internal strife, but a kind of "erosion" originating from the void itself, or rather, from a deeper dimension. Space spontaneously crumbled like fragile glass, and distorted bands of light (what he was seeing now!) spread like a plague, causing matter to lose stability, energy to return to chaos, and rules to break down wherever they passed. This erosion was silent, incomprehensible, and utterly devoid of communication; it was nothing but pure "return to nothingness."
The technology that the "Observers" were so proud of seemed utterly powerless in the face of this collapse of the rules. Starships disintegrated, cities fell into nothingness, and countless individuals were reduced to the most basic particles amidst screams, or twisted into mindless monsters (those parasites? And this "guardian" outside?).
The last survivors sealed the sparks of civilization, all records, and research data on "erosion" in these "record cores," hoping that one day they would be discovered by future generations, continuing the traces of civilization, or... at least letting the universe know that they once existed and why they perished.
[Warning... "Return to Nothingness" is not a natural phenomenon... Traces of human manipulation detected... Coordinates... (unable to resolve)... "Eden"... a lie...]
[...Core energy...only 7% remaining...enough for one...short-distance space jump...target area pre-set...energy input...]
The flow of information becomes faint here, and even the whispers take on a hurried warning.
[...Guardians...contaminated by the power of "Return to Nothingness"...instinctively cleansing the creations of order...core jump...energy depletion...loss of protection...as soon as possible...]
Lin Ye suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils seemingly reflecting a swirling river of stars before quickly returning to a deep, calm stillness. He understood his current situation.
This wreckage is a fragment of an "Observer" outpost or small ship. The core serves as its black box and backup power source. The "Void Stalkers" outside are likely either the outpost's original defense mechanism or a product of its corruption and subsequent mutation. The core's energy is only enough for a single short-distance jump to a pre-set safe point (perhaps another outpost's wreckage, or a coordinate pre-set by the "Observer"), but after the jump, the core will be depleted of energy and lose its protective capabilities.
At this moment, the attacks outside the shield became increasingly violent.
The Voidwalker seemed to have fallen into a true rage due to its inability to break through the defenses. Its massive body was no longer limited to ranged energy bombardment, but began to use its materialized parts to smash the shields. The entire circular hall was shaking violently, the crack in the dome continued to widen, and more and more fragments fell down.
The parasites went berserk, crashing into the shield one after another, not caring if they were annihilated into particles. Their crimson compound eyes were filled only with greed for the core energy (or rather, for the fragments in Lin Ye's hands).
There's no time to hesitate!
Lin Ye took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the chaos in his mind and the excruciating pain in his body, focusing his consciousness on the "preset coordinates" transmitted from the core. The feeling was very vague, but the whispered guidance was exceptionally clear.
[...Infuse your energy...along with the power of the fragments...into the core...guiding the coordinates...]
With his left arm broken, he could only use his right hand to hold the crystal firmly, and began to mobilize the meager energy within his body, while simultaneously guiding the trace of "order" contained in the fragment of the spiritual object in his palm.
Hum...!
The core crystal erupted with intense light once more, its internal dark purple energy flow accelerating dramatically. The ancient patterns on the entire platform lit up one by one, like a resurrected neural network. A powerful spatial fluctuation began to converge around the core.
"Roar--!"
The "Void Stalker" outside clearly sensed the spatial fluctuations. It let out an even more ferocious roar that directly affected the mind, its eerie green eyes almost spitting fire, and the force of the impact increased once again!
Click!
Finally, a tiny crack appeared on the shield!
[…Speed up! Insufficient energy input!] The whispers grew sharp.
Lin Ye gritted his teeth, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth again. He had exhausted the last bit of energy in his body, and the fragments had become scalding hot, almost burning into his palm.
"Open it...!" he growled.
The buzzing reached its peak, and the entire circular hall was engulfed in blinding purple light. Space seemed to be violently twisted and folded by an invisible hand!
The Void Stalker's energy tentacles and countless parasites lunged forward at the last moment, only to collide with the purple light origin that instantly collapsed and disappeared.
boom!
The shield shattered completely, and the core crystal dimmed its light the instant it completed the jump, becoming like an ordinary gray stone, before crashing onto the platform with a thud.
Lin Ye had vanished without a trace.
Inside the circular hall, only the enraged behemoth futilely destroyed everything, and the bewildered howls of countless parasites remained.
……