Chapter 36: Data Graveyard and Echoing Resonance

At the northwestern edge of the Eternal Wasteland, the terrain began to turn eerie. The hard gobi was gradually replaced by a fine, grayish gravel like bone powder, soft underfoot and almost silent. The air reeked of a pungent mix of ozone and rotting metal, and even the raging wind‑sand grew feeble here, as if suppressed by some invisible force.

According to Su Yu's vague precognition and the faint guidance of the Primordial Origin Proof, the Echo Team made their way through a vast forest of weathered stone pillars that looked as if a giant beast had gnawed at them. It was eerily silent; not even the usual sand scorpions or mutant rats could be seen.

"It's right ahead." Su Yu stopped, her face paler than before, and pointed to an inconspicuous, downward‑sloping crack at the end of the pillar forest. The opening was pitch‑black, as if leading to the earth's core, and a faint, maddening hum drifted out. In Chen Mo's hand the Primordial Origin Proof trembled lowly, its dark‑gold halo flickering.

"I feel……not good." Han Qing gripped his newly forged tower shield, brows knotted, "Inside there's……a mix of many voices……resentment?"

Chen Mo nodded; his Keen Sense of Smell detected the extremely complex energy residue seeping from the entrance, filled with pain, despair, chaos, and……a cold sense of order forcibly terminated.

"Maintain utmost vigilance. Su Yu, constantly sense energy flows and potential threats. Han Qing, you take the lead, watch your footing and overhead." Chen Mo issued the order and stepped toward the crack first.

The crack was initially extremely narrow, just wide enough for one person; after dozens of steps it suddenly opened up. But what lay before them was not a natural cave, but an unimaginably vast underground space!

The space's ceiling reached a hundred meters high, formed of some crystal emitting a weak pallid light, illuminating the scene below——an endless……"garbage field".

Countless broken, twisted, variably shaped metal constructs were piled into mountains. There were shattered mechanical arms, broken energy cores, scorched circuit boards, and even some vaguely humanoid or beast‑shaped metal remnants whose structures had completely collapsed. They lay like discarded toys, haphazardly stacked together, stretching to the horizon.

The mixed odor in the air became intensely strong here, and even more unpleasant was the omnipresent low‑frequency hum, as if countless souls were whispering sobs and howls.

"Is this……the 'processing plant'?" Zhang Yang gazed at the metal graveyard before him, his voice a little dry.

"Not like a processing plant……" Su Yu closed her eyes, concentrating hard, her body trembling slightly, "More like a……'recycling station' or……'disintegration pool'? I sense……many many……broken 'system' commands……and many……unwilling……consciousness fragments……they are being churned, stripped, and……digested……"

She snapped her eyes open and pointed toward a direction deep in the junkyard: "Over there! There's a particularly strong 'system' energy source! But it's wrapped in many many chaotic thoughts, as if it's being……suppressed, or perhaps……drawn upon……"

Chen Mo followed her gaze and saw, amidst countless metal remnants, a faintly visible platform rising above the surroundings, on which something seemed to stand.

"Let's go take a look. Watch your step—these things might be unstable." Chen Mo gripped the Primordial Origin Proof and led the way into the metal graveyard.

Underfoot came a "crack‑crack" sound; each step could crush unknown parts. All around was deathly silent, only their footsteps and breathing echoed in the vast underground, adding to the eeriness.

After walking about ten minutes, they encountered no living attackers. Yet the mental pressure grew stronger. Li Siwen suddenly pointed at a nearby pile of twisted metal debris and whispered: "Look! Doesn't that resemble the core structure of the corrosive slime monster that attacked us before? And that……doesn't it look like the metal skeleton of a shadow hound?"

Everyone examined closely and indeed, amidst the seemingly chaotic junk, they recognized many familiar monster body parts—only they had lost all vitality and turned into cold scrap iron.

"Does the system recycle all worthless or 'erroneous' creations here?" Wang Hu guessed, feeling a chill.

The closer they got to the central platform, the higher the surrounding metal debris piled, almost forming a canyon. And the chaotic thoughts grew clearer, as if countless voices were speaking directly in their minds:

"Why……abandon me……"

"Error……unit……number……"

"Execute……purge……"

"No……I don't want to disappear……"

These echoes were not complete consciousness, merely fragments of obsession and system commands intertwined, forming a maddening mental pollution.

"Hold fast to your mind!" Chen Mo barked, his Mental Resistance running at full passive power, while the dark‑gold halo emanating from the Primordial Origin Proof also slightly dispelled the surrounding mental pollution.

Finally, they passed through the metal canyon piled high like mountains and arrived beneath the central platform.

The platform was made of smooth black metal, starkly different from the surrounding chaos. Above it hovered a dark‑red prism about five meters in diameter, constantly rotating. Its surface flowed with dense data streams, emitting a stable yet powerful system energy fluctuation—exactly the source Su Yu had sensed.

And beneath the prism, etched onto the platform's surface was a huge complex sigil formed of countless tiny runes. The sigil's light connected with the prism, seemingly maintaining its operation, while……also drawing residual energy from those fragmented thoughts in the endless metal graveyard around it?

"Is it……absorbing the resentment of this 'garbage'?" Su Yu found it hard to believe.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

It seemed their proximity triggered something—the dark‑red prism flared bright! The light of the platform's sigil surged! In the surrounding metal debris piled like mountains, countless broken parts seemed seized by an invisible hand and began to frenziedly assemble and splice!

"Roar!" "Hiss!" "Crack!"

Accompanied by various strange noises, over a dozen monsters—utterly twisted, forcibly assembled from different monster remains—rose from the trash heaps! Some bore a Hunter Dog's head with spider limbs; others waved slime‑monster tentacles studded with a ripper's metal claws; their energy fluctuations were chaotic and violent, their eyes flashing with hatred and pain‑red light.

【LV. 15 System Echo Entity (Aberrant Fusion)】xN

These were hardly natural monsters; they were makeshift, malicious defense mechanisms the system assembled from scrap parts and lingering resentment!

"Prepare for battle!" Chen Mo's eyes hardened; he swung the Primordial Origin Proof fiercely, its dark‑gold axe‑like arc like a crescent moon, instantly cleaving the leading Echo Entity in two! The Rule Corrosion effect on the blade made the energy turbulence released when that entity shattered feel much more sluggish.

Yet more EchoEntities lunged forward. They had no pattern, but their attacks were frenzied and deadly, and seemed entirely unaffected by the surrounding mental pollution.

Han Qing braced his shield, blocking a charging EchoEntity like a siege hammer, made of heavy mech wreckage; the huge force shoved him back repeatedly. Zhang Yang and Li Siwen slashed desperately, but their weapons inflicted limited damage on these patchwork monsters.

"Their cores aren't fixed! They dart around inside their bodies!" Su Yu warned urgently; her perception could barely catch the wandering dark‑red speck of system energy within each monster.

Upon hearing that, Chen Mo immediately changed tactics. Activating Shadow Step, he flickered like a ghost between the EchoEntities, and the Primordial Origin Proof ceased its destructive chopping, instead becoming precise dark‑gold lightning bolts aimed at the energy cores Su Yu had pointed out.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Each precise thrust was followed by a sudden stiffening and dissipation of an EchoEntity's energy core! Efficiency greatly increased!

But the number of EchoEntities seemed endless, and the prism on the platform kept glowing, continually summoning new monsters from the trash heap!

"We must destroy that prism or the sigil!" Chen Mo fought while observing. The prism hovered high, surrounded by protecting EchoEntities, making direct attack difficult. And the sigil on the platform……

"Su Yu! Where are the sigil's key nodes?"

Su Yu gritted her teeth against the onslaught of EchoEntity thoughts, focusing her perception on the complex sigil. A few seconds later she sharply pointed to several inconspicuous points on the sigil's edge that were flashing with especially bright runes: "Here! And here! Destroy them!"

"Han Qing! Cover me!" Chen Mo roared, activating Shadow Step again, aiming straight for the nearest sigil node!

"Leave it to me!" Han Qing roared, heedless of his own safety, he slammed his tower shield aside two blocking EchoEntities, creating a brief corridor for Chen Mo!

Chen Mo shot forward like an arrow from a bow, bringing the Primordial Origin Proof down with all his might upon the node!

"Clang!!"

Sparks flew! The rune node was unusually tough, but the Rule Corrosion effect kicked in again! The light on the node flared violently, then faded, and the sigil's operation showed a noticeable lag.

Effective!

Chen Mo didn't pause, lunging at the next node!

As he destroyed the third node, the hovering dark‑red prism emitted a sharp alarm! Its spin speed surged, and the energy fluctuations it released became extremely unstable!

"Careful! It's about to overload!" Su Yu screamed.

Chen Mo leapt back sharply, simultaneously activating Stone Skin!

"Boom——!!"

The dark‑red prism exploded violently! Its ferocious energy shockwave mixed with countless fragmented data streams and resentment, sweeping through the entire underground space like a storm!

The nearest EchoEntities were vaporized instantly, while those farther away were hurled violently by the blast! Han Qing gripped his shield tight, his whole body sliding back ten‑odd meters under the push! Chen Mo too was shaken by the aftershock, his qi and blood churning.

When the energy storm gradually subsided, the magic array on the platform had completely extinguished, and the prism had vanished without a trace. The echoing entities that had just been brandishing their claws and fangs, like puppets whose strings had been cut, scattered all over the ground as cold fragments, the red light in their eyes completely extinguished.

The underground space returned to silence, with only the lingering burnt-energy smell in the air proving the fierce battle that had just taken place.

"Is… is it over?" Liu Qian asked, still trembling with fear.

Chen Mo leaned on his battle axe, panting, but his gaze fell on the explosion's center. There, where the prism had been hovering, lay a small amount of dark red, crystal‑shard‑like substance, emitting a faint system‑energy fluctuation.

He stepped forward and carefully picked it up.

【Obtained Item: Shattered System Core Fragment (Special)】

【Description: Contains fragments of partial underlying system instructions and data, unstable in nature, unknown purpose.】

At the same time, the 【Death Echo】 talent triggered again!

【Death Echo triggered! Successfully copied skill: Data Perception (LV. 1 Passive)!】

【Data Perception (LV. 1): Passive skill. Slightly enhances perception and analysis of non‑natural information structures such as data streams and energy codes in the environment.】

A new insight surged into his mind; Chen Mo felt his perception of the surroundings had gained an extra dimension, and the faint data streams occasionally flashing on the debris became a bit clearer to his eyes.

He put away the core fragment and looked at the exhausted but bright‑eyed teammates.

"We've found one of the system's 'garbage disposal site' and even got a bit of its 'fragment'." Chen Mo's voice echoed in the silent space, "This is just the beginning. Next, we need to find more 'nodes', get more 'fragments', until… we piece together its full truth and find a way to shut it down completely!"

The Echo Team's gaze pierced the darkness of this underground tomb, turning toward a more distant and perilous future. Their path of resistance, starting from this data tomb, has taken a substantive first step.