Chapter 27: Desperate Counterattack and the Data Key

The outpost's metal walls and rock frames merged perfectly; the last trace of energy fluctuation faded completely, leaving the interior in utter silence. Only the emergency light strips emitted a faint blue glow, illuminating the solemn, slightly pallid faces of everyone. Outside, the heavy breathing of the iron-armored lizards, the crisp sound of metal boots stepping on stone, and the low hum of charging energy weapons rang out like the footsteps of the grim reaper, clearly audible.

"The scanner shows the signal source disappeared right here." A cold voice came through the superbly soundproof wall, muffled.

"Dig three feet deep and find it! The Observer and this outpost must be retrieved!" A more commanding voice issued the order, with undeniable resolve. Even through the wall, the LV17's pressure made people's hearts pound.

"They're right outside..." Liu Qian's voice trembled as she clung tightly to Zhao Lei.

"Mo Ge, what do we do? Fight them head-on?" Zhang Yang gripped his recently enchanted machete, palms sweating, but his eyes held more ferocity.

Chen Mo's thoughts raced. A direct clash was the worst option—the enemy outranked them in level, numbers, and gear, making head‑on combat hopeless. The outpost's concealment lasts only seventy‑two hours; we must find a way to escape within that time… or weaken the enemy.

His gaze swept over the dim control hall and settled on the now completely dim blue light sphere—the AI core of the Night Watch.

"Su Yu," Chen Mo lowered his voice, "try again—can you use your pendant or your perception to establish a deeper link with the Night Watch? Even just gaining a bit more clearance, say… the outpost's structural diagram, or non‑combat defensive systems?"

Su Yu nodded, closed her eyes, gripped the pendant before her chest, and poured her mental power outward, trying to communicate with the dormant AI core.

Chen Mo then turned to Han Qing and the others: "Check every exit and ventilation shaft for any hidden passages or usable terrain. Li Siwen, come with me—see if the control console still has any hidden functions."

Everyone immediately split up to act.

Time ticked by second by second; outside, the Purification Society soldiers had begun scorching the rock walls with energy weapons, trying to force open the camouflage. The harsh sizzling and faint vibrations kept coming, reminding them they had little time left.

"No… the Night Watch's core is dead still, like a pool of dead water—I can't get my mental power in." Su Yu opened her eyes, forehead beaded with fine sweat, feeling dejected.

"Mo Ge, all exits are sealed shut; the structure is a single cast, with no other passages!" Han Qing also reported the bad news.

Li Siwen flew over the console, trying to crack the locked icons, but each prompted insufficient clearance. "Unless we have a higher‑level key, we can't move anything."

"A higher‑level key?" Chen Mo's heart leapt—he recalled the two black crystal cores he'd gotten from Barton and a low‑rank Purification Society soldier! Those cores seemed to carry some kind of clearance!

He immediately took out the two crystal cores. One came from Barton, recording fragmented coordinates; the other from a patrol soldier at the rift's edge, containing a purge command. They were of the same material, both exuding a cold, dead aura.

"Try this!" Chen Mo handed the two crystal cores to Li Siwen.

Li Siwen received a crystal core, found an inconspicuous read‑out slot on the console, and inserted one.

【Detected unknown authority key… identifying… Authority level: Low‑level Purifier. Authority scope: partial map data update, low‑level command reception.】

On the console, a previously gray map icon lit up.

"Useful!" Li Siwen's spirits lifted; he immediately opened the map. The map range expanded considerably, marking many more temporary Purification Society outposts and patrol routes, but there was still no additional information about the outpost itself.

He quickly swapped in the second crystal core.

【Detected unknown authority key… identifying… Authority level: Mid‑level Purifier (Squad Commander). Authority scope: expanded map data, receiving combat orders, temporarily mobilizing regional defense facilities (requires higher‑level clearance confirmation).】

Another icon lit up, displayed as 【Regional Facilities】.

Chen Mo immediately opened it. The light screen showed a 3D terrain map of the area around the outpost, with several red dots marking the Purification Society soldiers outside. At the same time, a few light‑blue icons appeared, still inactive—【Environmental Disruptor (Dormant)】, 【Sonic Disperser (Dormant)】, 【Emergency Lighting (Usable)】.

They're all non‑combat facilities! And the Environmental Disruptor and Sonic Disperser look effective!

"Try activating the Environmental Disruptor and the Sonic Disperser!" Chen Mo ordered at once.

Li Siwen tried to click to activate.

【Insufficient clearance, operation rejected. Requires Regional Commander or higher authority, or authorization from the outpost's guardian AI.】

Still no go! Not enough clearance!

Hope crumbled once more. Outside, the vibrations grew more violent; a rock wall had already been scorched red, about to be melted through.

Just then, Su Yu let out a muffled groan, her face instantly turning ashen as paper, her body swaying as if she'd collapse—Chen Mo grabbed her to steady her.

"What's wrong?"

"Out… side… the LV17 leader… he's holding something… emitting a strong… detection wave… it's force‑scanning the outpost… my head… hurts…" Su Yu clutched her head in pain; the powerful detection wave seemed to strike her mental power directly.

The LV17 leader had stepped in personally! The situation had become dire to the extreme!

Chen Mo's eyes hardened as he looked at the crystal core he'd gotten from Barton, the one recording fragmented coordinates. This core had the lowest clearance and seemed useless—but at that moment, a daring idea flashed through his mind.

Barton knew the Purifiers; the crystal cores might share the Purification Society's origin, but this one recorded coordinates related to the Ark… Could the internal structure of this core hide some… backdoor or special command?

"Li Siwen! Force‑load the data structure of this crystal core into the Environmental Disruptor's control sequence! Don't worry about the content—treat it as a string of garbage code and feed it in!" Chen Mo shoved Barton's crystal core into Li Siwen's hand. This was his last resort, based on a rough grasp of programming and system loopholes—a data overflow attack.

Li Siwen didn't grasp the principle, but he carried out Chen Mo's order without reservation. He worked quickly, bypassing a few security protocols (thanks to the temporary clearance from the Mid‑level Purifier crystal core), and forcibly injected the fragmented, chaotic coordinate data from Barton's core into the Environmental Disruptor's activation sequence like a poison.

【Warning! Detected abnormal data flow! Sequence conflict!】

The console blared a shrill alarm, red lights flashing!

Just when everyone thought they'd fail or even trigger a system crash—

【…hiss… data flow conflict breaks through underlying restrictions… Environmental Disruptor… clearance forcibly overridden… starting up…】

A cold, mechanical tone unlike the Night Watch's suddenly rang out!

Had we succeeded?! The data conflict had serendipitously bypassed the clearance check?!

Hum—!

An invisible, high‑frequency vibration energy field burst outward from the outpost as its center!

The outside world instantly erupted into chaos!

"What the hell?! My detector's gone haywire!"

"Energy readings are scrambled! Communications are under heavy interference!"

"It's the Environmental Disruptor! Does this outpost still have power?!"

The previously steady energy beam scorching the rock wall also turned wobbly, losing its aim.

"Now! Activate the Sonic Disperser! Target, their mounts!" Chen Mo seized the moment and gave the order again.

Li Siwen acted at once.

【Sonic Disperser activated. Target locked: large reptilian creature.】

A high‑frequency sound wave, nearly inaudible to humans but capable of causing extreme fear and discomfort in specific creatures, pierced the walls and precisely affected those iron‑armored lizards!

Whooo—!

Roar!

Outside, the iron‑armored lizards suddenly let out terrified howls and violent trampling! These trained mounts, stimulated by the specific sound wave, went completely out of control—spinning wildly in place, crashing, and even flinging their riders off.

Steady! Steady the mount!

Damn it! Where's the interference coming from?!

The Purification Society squad's formation fell into chaos!

"Go!" Chen Mo made a snap decision; it was impossible to hide here forever, breaking out amid the chaos was the only chance!

The outpost entrance slid open silently again.

The Echo squad burst forth like tigers released from a gate, taking advantage of the precious moment when outside was in utter chaos and the energy interference had not yet subsided, they charged out recklessly!

Chen Mo took the lead, his target straight at the LV17 leader surrounded by several out-of-control lizards, struggling to stabilize the situation! On his tactical axe, the newly enchanted energy halo intertwined with the eerie glow of the 【Corrosive Venom Saliva】, exuding an unstoppable momentum!

Assault, begin!