Chapter 48: Dimensional Rift, the System's Glimpse

"Initial Land" behind them shattered, like a sand table crushed by an invisible giant hand. The ground turned into a torrent of 0s and 1s, the sky tore open, revealing a cold, voidal underlying data space. The system's gaze was like billions of ice needles piercing the soul, not merely a lock‑on but a high‑dimensional "Definition"—marking them as core anomalies to be eliminated at once.

"Get in!" Chen Mo roared, pressing the scorching Source Code Fragment hard against his chest as if it could give a sliver of warmth against the boundless malice. The assault vehicle's engine let out a near‑collapse roar, throwing a daring drift across the fully digitized ground, charging toward the light barrier of the Origin Sealed Zone they had come from, which was still violently shaking.

The passage they had struggled to open on arrival had already vanished, and the light barrier itself, under the system's fury, had become like boiling metal, radiating destructive energy.

"Can't break through!" Zhang Yang stared at the devastating barrier ahead, his eyes bulging.

"If we don't charge out, we die here!" Chen Mo's gaze hardened. He wildly fused the partial understanding he had just gained about the Source Code Fragment with Rule Analysis, Basic Compilation Technique, and all the Primordial Force within his body! He wasn't trying to fight the entire light barrier—that would be like a mantis arm against a chariot. What he needed to do was locate the fleeting "rule fold" within this region rendered extremely unstable by the system's gaze.

"Su Yu!"

"Thirty meters to the left‑front, spatial coordinates (X‑7, Y‑13, Z‑0.5)! The rule disturbance peak will reach critical in 1.7 seconds!" Su Yu's voice trembled from severe mental strain, yet remained pinpoint accurate. Her "Observation" pierced the boiling energy façade, directly targeting the weak point on the rule layer.

Chen Mo did not hesitate, concentrating all his power into a single point—not as an attack, but like the most delicate scalpel, he performed an overloaded "Compilation" on the coordinates Su Yu reported, defining the space there as Non‑existent (duration: 0.05 seconds)!

Buzz—!

Amid an indescribable eerie hum, the boiling light barrier ahead of the assault vehicle, as if erased by an eraser, suddenly revealed a wildly unstable edge—a "hole" whose interior was absolute void! On the other side of the hole, the desolate, shattered real world could be faintly seen.

"Go!"

He floored the throttle! The assault vehicle shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, and at the instant the hole began to rapidly contract and vanish, it barely made it through.

The moment the vehicle fully left the Origin Sealed Zone, Chen Mo suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his spirit instantly waned, and Rule Analysis vision became hazy. Forcibly compiling the spatial attributes of the system's core rule zone back‑fired, far beyond his imagination.

Yet before they could catch their breath, a greater terror descended.

It did not come from the collapsing sealed zone behind them, but from—above.

The area the assault vehicle had just burst through, together with the entire Pelican Beak Canyon and the broader sky, rippled violently as if a stone had been thrown into water. Then, under everyone's soul‑shaking gaze, that sky… had a corner "lifted".

That was not a physical lifting but a dimensional stripping. An indescribable "scene"—beyond any size or shape—covered the heavens. It was a conglomerate of countless rotating, nested, ever‑born‑and‑dying geometric structures, flowing chaotic colors, and incomprehensible abstract symbols. It had no substance, yet exuded an icy will that sent all things into silence. Merely "seeing" it caused Han Qing, Zhang Yang and the others' consciousnesses to nearly freeze, thoughts stalled, as if their very purpose of existence were being negated.

The system's core… or rather, its true form caught a glimpse in the material dimension!

There was no sound, no sign of attack. Yet the space around the assault vehicle began to "fail". Gravity grew chaotic, the vehicle alternated between floating and sinking heavily. Material stability crumbled, the metal hull started to sandify. Physical constants were whimsically altered.

"The rules… are collapsing!" Li Siwen watched his hand turning translucent, his voice filled with despair. This was a blow more fundamental than any monster or logical construct—directly negating the very foundation of one's existence!

Chen Mo gritted his teeth against the tearing pain in his consciousness, once again channeling his spirit into the Source Code Fragment in his hand. This time, he was not seeking knowledge but trying to awaken its own power! This item, derived from the "World Tree" and representing a fundamental cosmic order, might counter the destroyer of that order!

"Everyone! Spirit link! Pour all of you—beliefs, memories, even the tiniest emotions—into it!" Chen Mo roared, first linking himself with the fragment.

Su Yu without hesitation placed her hand on Chen Mo's hand holding the fragment; her "Observer" essence acted as a bridge, stabilizing the link. Han Qing, Zhang Yang, Wang Hu… all members of Echo Squad, at that moment, abandoned all defenses, channeling their most primal spirit imprints like a trickling stream into the resonance between Chen Mo and the Source Code Fragment.

This was not an attack, but… a "Declaration"!

Using this tiny Source Code Fragment as a fulcrum, and their humanity‑wrought will as "abnormal variables" as a lever, they projected their small yet resolute existence proclamation toward the high‑dimensional being's "glimpse"!

We are right here!

We perceive!

We suffer!

We laugh!

We are angry!

We… exist!

A faint yet incredibly resilient wave, haloed with warm light, radiated outward from the Source Code Fragment. Wherever this wave reached, the failing rules briefly attained "stability"! The sandified hull ceased collapsing, and the chaotic gravity returned to normal for a moment.

This was not a clash of power but a collision of "existential nature"! The system's will sought to erase the "Error Signal", while the union of the Source Code Fragment and human will firmly proclaimed the rationality of that "Error Signal"'s existence!

Above the heavens, the indescribable "scene" seemed to ripple slightly. Within that icy will, a trace of comprehensible "emotion" was transmitted for the first time—not anger or surprise, but an extreme, pure "repulsion". Like an immune system detecting an unrecognizable virus, it mobilized a stronger eradication mechanism.

That "glimpse" grew more concentrated, and more abstract symbols coalesced, targeting the assault vehicle below. A more thorough "existential deletion" was imminent!

At that hair‑trigger moment, the anomaly rebirthed!

The Luo Ya's Heritage Mark cradled by Chen Mo suddenly erupted with unprecedented light! It was no longer merely a directional coordinate, but resembled a… beacon! A summons!

Simultaneously, on the distant horizon, several light pillars imbued with ancient, massive wills shot skyward without warning! Their positions were scattered, their auras varied—some gentle, some fierce, some teeming with life, some dead‑silent—but all unmistakably bore a "independence" at odds with the system's will.

The moment those light pillars appeared, the system's "glimpse" above the heavens visibly paused, its attention divided. It seemed to sense more, more troublesome "anomalies".

"Is… other relics? Other 'Source Code' fragment holders?" Su Yu said, shocked, looking into the distance.

Opportunity!

Chen Mo, enlightened, ceased trying to forcefully resist and instead leveraged the interference caused by other ancient wills' manifestations, using the Source Code Fragment's power wholly for "concealment" and "escape"! He was no longer compiling space, but the "relationship" between their small cluster of "existence" and the current dimensional layer!

Definition: Causal linkage between this location's target and the current timeline: zero (duration: 3 seconds)!

A strange sense of stripping arrived. It was as if they were temporarily erased from the world's "record".

The concentrated destructive energy in the sky lost its clear target, swirling and flashing over the heavens like a headless fly, and finally, as the "scene" slowly faded, it gradually dissipated.

The system's "glimpse" departed. Not a surrender, but because more "targets" required priority. Echo Squad temporarily slipped off the highest‑priority list by one.

Yet that cold lock‑on never fully vanished, only becoming obscure, like a sword hanging above, its next drop unknown.

The assault vehicle finally regained control, crashing heavily onto the ground, sliding a distance before stopping in a barren desert plain.

Inside the vehicle lay dead silence. Everyone collapsed in their seats, faces pallid as if just pulled back from the brink of drowning. The recent ordeal exceeded any combat they could comprehend—it was a crushing, struggling at the level of life itself.

Chen Mo watched the Source Code Fragment's light gradually dim in his hand, then gazed toward the few ancient light pillars fading in the distance, his heart rippling with emotion.

The system's true visage—a fleeting glimpse.

Other sparks of resistance, faint and elusive.

The road ahead seemed no longer a solo fight for them, yet because of that… grew even more tangled, fraught with danger.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his body's weakness and his soul's tremor.

"We survived."

"Then?" Han Qing's voice carried a hint of fatigue, but more so solemnity.

Chen Mo's gaze sharpened.

"Then, find them. Or… find the next fragment."

"Before the system's hunt, and before possible… 'allies' or 'competitors' appear."

A new era, amid the ruins of the old world and the shadows of higher dimensions, quietly unfurled a more chaotic yet grander curtain.