Chapter 78: Dawn's Light, Shadows' Scheme

The Black Fang incident struck the camp like an unexpected hailstorm, wilting the tender shoots that had just sprouted on the surface, yet it also packed the soil underneath tighter. At least, openly no one dared shout 'unfair' anymore; but in private, there were still whispers and restless glances.

Chen Mo understood the situation fully, but he didn't say more. Some thorns can't be removed by words alone; they need to be worn down by facts. He focused more effort on two things: first, speeding up the repair of the damaged firewall; second, … farming.

Exactly, it's farming. He even personally opened a small plot beside Su Yu's experimental field, clumsily learning to loosen the soil and sow seeds. His awkward movements made the onlooker Hui Jin curl his lip; he couldn't help stepping forward to instruct: 'Energy! Feel the life rhythm in the soil, guide it with your rule power—not with brute force digging! Do you think you're Wang Hu digging a trench?'

Chen Mo took the advice to heart, trying to weave a faint, vibrant rule pulse into the soil. A few days later, the seeds he had planted actually pushed through the surface, sprouting two tender yellow cotyledons.

"Look! The captain's vegetables have sprouted!" The news spread through the camp like wings, causing a stir comparable to when we first took down a Guardian Mech. People came to see the novelty, gazing at the fragile seedling that truly represented 'the captain doing the same work as us,' and some inner knots seemed to loosen slightly. Even when the Black Fang group passed by, their looks grew more complicated.

Hope, sometimes, is utterly unreasonable—it need not be a earth‑shaking feat; it may be nothing more than a crooked little green shoot in the leader's hand.

Meanwhile, Li Siwen and Kaiwen, the 'trash‑picking treasure duo,' finally produced a new result.

"Dang dang dang dang! 'Little Firecracker No. 1'!" Kaiwen proudly displayed several palm‑sized, unimpressive‑looking metal discs: 'Reverse‑engineered from the energy‑absorption trait of the Returning Abyss Mayfly! When activated, it creates a small‑scale energy disturbance field that interferes with the targeting of low‑level data lifeforms and some energy weapons! Short duration, small range, but……cheap! Plenty in stock!'

Li Siwen added: 'Most of the materials were scavenged from scrap; the core algorithm was borrowed……uh, borrowed from some rule‑disturbance data when the captain fought the energy net.' He pushed up his glasses, rare for him to joke: 'It's a tangible application of the captain's wisdom.'

Zhang Yang picked up a 'Little Firecracker,' weighed it, and grinned: 'This thing's great! Next time that tin can dares to show up, I'll toss a few over and make it dance disco!'

The camp's defenses were quietly evolving from a single Definition Firewall toward a more diverse, three‑dimensional direction.

However, the true turning point occurred on a mist‑filled morning.

Wang Hu's squad, tasked with outer patrols, returned with astonishing news: on the edge of a northwestern area known as the Crying Marsh, they discovered traces of a battle that had just ended.

"It wasn't people fighting people," Wang Hu described, his honest face full of confusion, "it was… those white‑uniformed Ark Soldiers battling a bunch of dark, shadow‑like monsters! Both sides suffered heavy losses, and the marsh's edge was nearly stained with color."

The Ark and the Returning Abyss Creatures were fighting?

The news left all core members stunned. Kaiwen was the first to jump up: 'Impossible! In the Ark's internal data, the "Returning Abyss" is classified as a "higher‑order natural phenomenon" to be studied and utilized cautiously—not an enemy!'

Chen Mo immediately led a team to investigate. The battlefield was littered with corpses of white‑uniformed Ark Soldiers intertwined with the remnants of shadow‑formed strange creatures now slowly dissipating—an eerie sight. The air retained the cold scent of Ark energy weapons and the nauseating emptiness of the Returning Abyss.

Su Yu knelt, examining a shadow creature's remains. Her True Knowledge Vision penetrated the disintegrating matter, and she suddenly exclaimed: 'Wrong! This thing… has an extremely fine internal energy‑guidance structure! It isn't naturally formed!'

Hui Jin also sensed something; pure fire sparked at his fingertips as he approached another corpse. When the pure fire met the lingering shadow energy, there was no fierce clash—instead, it emitted a strange, resonance‑like faint hum.

"This thing… seems… forcibly shaped?" Hui Jin frowned, voicing a guess that even he found hard to believe.

Chen Mo walked to the battlefield's center, where a conspicuous explosion crater lay, its floor still bearing strong traces of rule conflict. He closed his eyes, fully extending his rule perception to trace the fading energy ripples.

A blurry vision flooded his consciousness like shards:

·……Several Ark Soldiers protected a person resembling a researcher, but with more elaborate attire……

·……That person held a constantly rotating dark crystal core that emitted an ominous fluctuation……

·……Vast shadow energy surged from the crystal core, condensing into those monsters……

·……But once the monsters formed, they did not fully obey commands; instead, they exhibited frenzy and backlash……

·……A chaotic battle erupted……

·……Finally, the crystal core exploded under uncontrolled energy impact……

Chen Mo snapped his eyes open, his face grim.

"This wasn't an encounter." He said solemnly, "It was an experiment……an out‑of‑control 'creation' experiment."

Kaiwen gaped, his mouth staying open for a moment before he muttered: 'They……they're actually trying to manufacture and control Returning Abyss Creatures?! Crazy! This is literally playing with fire and burning oneself.'

Li Siwen quickly recorded the data on his portable terminal, his voice tinged with excitement and fear: 'If that's true, the behavior of the Returning Abyss apostle that attacked us last night makes sense! It might not have come to "harvest," but rather to……"clean house" or "reclaim property"?!'

This speculation sent chills down everyone's spine. The Ark wasn't just studying the Returning Abyss; they daringly tried to appropriate its power for themselves, thereby drawing the gaze of the true Returning Abyss existence!

"It seems the Ark's internal factions and aims are more complex than we imagined." Han Qing leaned on a makeshift cane, calmly analyzing: "At least there is a radical research faction, and their out‑of‑control experiment might bring us greater trouble, but also……create an opportunity."

"An opportunity?" Zhang Yang asked, puzzled.

"An enemy's enemy isn't necessarily a friend," Chen Mo remarked, his sharp gaze sweeping over the devastated battlefield, "but at least they don't have the bandwidth to focus all their strength on us right now. Moreover……"

He bent over, carefully picking up a small, dim fragment resembling obsidian from the scorched earth at the crater's edge. It was a shard of the uncontrolled crystal core, cold to the touch, its interior seemingly still holding a faint but pure trace of Returning Abyss rule.

"……We might be able to find, within it, the key to truly understanding—and even countering—the power of the Returning Abyss."

Carrying the crystal‑core fragment and a heavy heart, the team returned to camp. This discovery completely reshaped their understanding of the current situation. The threat was no longer one‑sided; the waters had been muddied.

That night, Chen Mo climbed the watchtower again. Below, the camp lights dotted the landscape; the repaired firewall emitted a soft golden glow, and the crops in the test field swayed gently in the night breeze.

Su Yu came to his side, following his gaze: 'It's gotten more chaotic, and also……more interesting, isn't it?'

Chen Mo rubbed the cold crystal‑core fragment in his hand, sensing within it a rule rhythm that was starkly opposed to Primordial Force yet subtly related; the corner of his mouth twitched into a complex arc.

"Yeah."

"Hunter, prey, and even the madman trying to tame the beast……"

"This play is getting livelier."

"And we," he said, gripping the fragment, a dawn‑like light flashing in his eyes, "can't just be spectators."

Shadows have arrived, schemes are gradually revealed. On this chaotic chessboard, the echo of this seemingly tiny piece is poised to pry open the whole stalemate. The true game has only just begun.