Chapter 92: Decapitation and Purification

At the top of the abandoned signal tower, the massive biological ganglion command node emitted a shrill psychic screech, and dozens of compound eyes locked onto Chen Mo descending from the sky. Below, the surging bio‑hunter dogs surged like a green tide, their sharp teeth and bone spikes flashing coldly in the dim light.

"Su Yu, disrupt it!" Chen Mo, suspended in midair, spoke with utmost calm.

"Understood!" Su Yu pushed the Observer ocular device's ability to its limit, no longer mere foresight but converting her own pure spirit into an invisible spear, thrusting hard at the ganglion's core consciousness! "Psychic Shock!"

The ganglion shuddered violently, the coordinated attack wave momentarily faltered, and the bio‑hunter dogs' lunging motions stalled as well.

Now!

Chen Mo landed, his Order Governor warblade traced a perfect blue arc!

"Order Slash!"

The refined Order Power, like a hot knife through butter, instantly sliced the foremost bio‑hunter dogs apart; the green slime hadn't even splattered before the Order Power vaporized and purified it!

"Kaiwen, deploy an Isolation field, don't let them interfere with the head!" Su Yu shouted while maintaining the psychic disruption.

"Watch this!" Kaiwen controlled his All‑Things Engineer exoskeleton, the mechanical arms behind him swiftly hurling several metal discs. Upon landing, the discs unfolded, emitting high‑frequency vibration waves that formed a temporary energy barrier, temporarily keeping the incoming bio‑hunter dogs at bay. Though the barrier flickered under the dogs' frantic impacts, it bought precious time.

Chen Mo kept moving, his warblade whirling like wind; wherever it passed, the hunter dogs turned to ash. His aim was clear, straight at the tower‑top ganglion!

The ganglion seemed to sense the mortal threat; no longer relying solely on the hunter dogs, massive tentacles thrashed down like giant serpents, producing a mournful whoosh! Their surfaces secreted highly corrosive slime.

Chen Mo moved nimbly, weaving between the thick tentacles; each swing of his warblade left deep, unhealable charred wounds on them, the Order Power continuously scorching their biological tissue.

"Roar—!" the ganglion emitted a painful roar, more compound eyes turned toward Chen Mo, firing chaotic psychic beams that aimed to shatter his consciousness outright.

The blue glow of Chen Mo's Order Governor armor flared, forming a layer of psychic shielding, while the power within him linked to the planetary order network automatically circulated, repelling and neutralizing those chaotic beams.

"You… Order…'s… servant…" a fragmented, malicious psychic message seeped into Chen Mo's mind.

"I am Order!" Chen Mo roared, leapt upward, evading two sweeping tentacles; all the runes on his warblade flared to their peak, as if grasping a blue sun! He poured his entire strength and all his hopes for the new world into this single strike!

"Return… to silence!"

The warblade, with a world‑shaking momentum, drove mercilessly into the ganglion's core cluster of compound eyes!

Boom—!!!

Blue Order light erupted from within the ganglion! Like a red‑hot branding iron plunged into rotting flesh, the ganglion convulsed and twisted wildly, emitting a final, resentful screech before shattering in the dazzling blue glow, turning into drifting, inert ash.

With the command node destroyed, the bio‑hunter dogs still battering the barrier became like puppets with cut strings, their movements freezing instantly, then they collapsed, bodies rapidly desiccating and decomposing, ultimately turning into the same ash.

The battle ended extremely quickly; from the raid to the decapitation took only a few minutes.

"Done!" Kaiwen exhaled, wiping a cold sweat, "It looks disgusting, but it's surprisingly clean when you fight it."

Su Yu also lowered her hand from her temple, her complexion a bit pale but her eyes bright: "Its psychic defense is strong, but its structure is simple; once the core is destroyed, the whole network collapses."

Chen Mo sheathed his blade and stood, feeling the chaotic bio‑energy field around him being swiftly purified and calmed by Order Power. He asked through his communicator, "Han Qing, Zhang Yang, Wang Hu, how are things on your side?"

"The enemies attacking the minefield suddenly lost coordination and have been crushed by us!" Han Qing reported calmly.

"The ghost things at the Purification Plant blew themselves up a few times; the rest we encircled!" Zhang Yang's voice rang with victorious excitement.

"Signal tower, secure." Wang Hu said succinctly.

The decapitation operation was a great success!

However, the joy of victory did not last long. When Chen Mo and the two others returned to the New Hope fortress, a grim report arrived.

In the earlier battle where the Reapers attacked the signal relay station, La Er Si, ignoring the on‑site defense commander (an officer under Han Qing), led his devout followers, attempting to "purify" those bio‑weapons with "pure Pure Fire". They refused to use the issued energy weapons based on Luo Ya and Ark technology, deeming them also "impure".

The result was predictable.

Although Pure Fire has some suppressive effect on biomass, La Er Si and his followers' Pure Fire cultivation was far inferior to Hui Jin's, and they could not match the Reapers' soldiers' formidable regeneration and bizarre attack methods. In the fierce firefight, La Er Si, trying to protect a follower trapped in a bio‑net, was grievously wounded by a Reaper soldier's self‑detonation; the dozen‑plus followers who went with him also suffered heavy casualties. Though Wang Hu's support troops eventually repelled the enemy, the losses were irrecoverable.

In the medical bay, La Er Si's life hung by a thread. His body was ravaged by the explosion and corrosive slime, green contaminant energy spreading within him; even the finest medical tech and Pure Fire power could not fully cleanse him.

Hui Jin stood at La Er Si's bedside, his weathered face filled with sorrow and complexity. La Er Si was his former comrade; though his ideology was extreme, his faith and courage were undeniable.

"... Hui Jin... sir..." La Er Si struggled to open his eyes, his gaze unfocused, "Did I... err? Defending... purity... was wrong?"

Hui Jin grasped his hand, his voice hoarse: "Defending belief is not wrong, but the method... La Er Si, true purity lies in the heart, in embracing life's diversity, not clinging to form. The meaning of Order is to protect, not to exclude."

A flash of insight crossed La Er Si's eyes, then was swallowed by pain: "I... understand... but it's... too late..." He looked at the arriving Chen Mo, using his last strength to say, "Leader... beware... the internal... fissures... are more... than the external enemy..."

Before he could finish, his hand fell limply.

La Er Si's death cast a shadow over the entire New Hope fortress. It starkly revealed the painful cost of internal disunity and extremist ideology when facing a powerful external foe. Those who had once supported or sympathized with the devout faction began to reflect in the face of such ironclad facts.

Chen Mo stood before La Er Si's corpse, silent for a long while. He ordered La Er Si and his fallen followers to be buried with martyr honors, while also convening a full assembly.

At the meeting, he did not blame Priest La Er Si's errors, but spoke mournfully: "Priest La Er Si and his followers died for the beliefs in their hearts; they were brave, yet their sacrifice could have been avoided. Our enemies will not show mercy because of our internal divisions. New Hope is hope because it can accommodate different voices, but more because we can unite under the fundamental premise of survival!"

"From today onward, any technology, any power, as long as its purpose is to protect New Hope, to ensure the survival and development of the majority, and passes Ethics Committee review, may be researched and employed! Likewise, any act that seeks to undermine internal unity or endanger collective safety, regardless of its original intent, will be deemed treason!"

His words rang out, echoing in everyone's hearts. La Er Si's death was like a cold shower, awakening many who had been intoxicated by extreme doctrines. The internal fissures, though not fully healed, were at least superficially suppressed by the overwhelming external pressure and the bloody lesson.

To soothe morale and rally spirits, and to test a new method against Reaper bio‑contamination, Chen Mo and Hui Jin decided to hold a large‑scale joint Purification Ritual.

The venue was the fortress's central plaza. Hui Jin led all Pure Fire Cultists, chanting ancient prayers, the pure white Pure Fire raining down like light, cleansing the lingering radioactive dust and the negative emotional energy generated by the battle from the air.

Chen Mo stood at the plaza's center, pressing his hand to the ground, channeling the power within him that stems from the planetary order network, combined with Luo Ya's order runes. Blue light radiated from him outward like rippling water, sweeping across the entire plaza and every corner of the fortress. The glow was not scorching, but carried a soothing, stabilizing, and purifying force.

The warmth of Pure Fire intertwined with the coolness of Order Light, producing a marvelous effect. People felt their fear and anxiety ease, the days‑long fatigue seemed greatly lessened, and the fortress's atmosphere cleared, becoming more cohesive and vibrant.

"Is this... the fusion of Order and the fire of life?" Su Yu whispered, feeling the harmonious power.

"It seems different forces aren't mutually exclusive," Kaiwen said, watching the data feedback. "Pure Fire leans toward purification of the life's spiritual layer, while Order Power focuses on regulation and energy stability; together they amplify the effect! Perhaps we can develop a specialized purification method against Reaper bio‑contamination!"

The ritual achieved success beyond expectations, greatly boosting New Hope's morale.

However, shortly after the ritual ended, Kaiwen, who monitored distant signals, brought news that tightened everyone's nerves again.

"Boss, we've picked up an extremely powerful bio‑energy signal from the southeast of the continent! Its scale... far exceeds any Reaper force we've faced before! Moreover, the signal characteristics show they're... gathering, moving toward a certain direction!"

Han Qing immediately marked the probable location and trajectory of the signal on the strategic map, his face solemn: "Based on the trajectory, their ultimate target... even if it's not us New Hope, it's the last and largest human settlement on this continent."

The briefly eased atmosphere in the command room vanished instantly.

We decapitated a command node and repelled a probing attack, but the Reapers' main force—the true threat sweeping in like a locust swarm—has only just shown its snarling edge.

Chen Mo walked to the window, gazing toward the unknown, dangerous horizon, his eyes deep.

The internal crisis has temporarily subsided, but a greater storm is brewing far away.

New Hope's trial is far from over.