Chapter 157

Zero's voice was like a stone cast into dead water; after the ripples, came a deeper silence and coldness. Xiang Lingna stood frozen, the cold glow of the emergency data box illuminating her bloodless face.

"Reinforcements… cannot arrive…"

Those words were ice picks, piercing through the hope she had just kindled. Brother Lin Mo knew they were here, Sister Zero was searching for them, yet they were cut off by some "annihilation threat"! Was it the Doctor's power sealing this corrupted wasteland? Or had the territory itself… fallen into grave crisis? Sister Ai Li, Priestess Liyana, Sister Groona, Sister Zero… were they still alive?

"Cough… girl…" Wrench's pained groan pulled her back to reality. He leaned against the cold pipe, his back wound looking even more gruesome under the faint glow of the jade fragments; emerald-green corrosion energy writhed like a living thing along the charred edges of his flesh, each breath trembling with agony. The fragments' power could only barely slow the decay—not eliminate it.

Outside the cave, the monsters' frustrated scratching and pounding echoed like a death drum; loose stones rained down. The blocked entrance, under sustained assault, seemed to be slowly widening.

They couldn't stay here! Xiang Lingna gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressing her fear and despair. Zero's signal proved the "Whistle" communication station lay ahead! It was their only hope! They had to reach it! Whether or not reinforcements came, it might at least offer sturdier shelter—or a chance to send a clearer signal!

"Wrench, hold on! We're moving!" Xiang Lingna's voice carried unshakable resolve. She carefully slung the data box onto her back, then struggled to lift the nearly collapsed Wrench, letting his heavy body rest mostly on her frail shoulders. Every step sent a screeching groan from the slick metal grating beneath their feet; the two staggered forward through the narrow tunnel.

Darkness clung like thick ink, swallowing the weak glow of the jade fragments, illuminating only a few steps ahead. Massive pipes on either side were rusted and beaded with cold condensation; the drip-drip-drip echoed sharply in the silence. The air was stifling, thick with the stench of rust, mold, and a faint, unsettling sweet-metallic odor—the signature scent of corrupted flora.

The deeper they went, the more the tunnel walls were covered in dark purple moss and twisted vines. They were no longer lifeless; under the fragment's glow, faint writhing could be seen. Xiang Lingna's right arm scar burned hotter as they neared the corrupted plants, as if a red-hot iron pressed against her skin, sending waves of icy pain. The Doctor's destructive will clung like a parasite, trying to pierce her mind.

"Ugh…" Xiang Lingna groaned, cold sweat beading on her brow. The scar's erosion clashed with the chaotic energy inside her, making her vision blur.

"Girl… put… me down…" Wrench whispered, his consciousness fading.

"Shut up!" Xiang Lingna growled, gripping him tighter. "We're… getting out together!"

Suddenly, the tunnel ahead widened slightly. A "wall" of countless thick, gnarled dark purple vines completely blocked their path! Each vine was as thick as a child's arm, coated in viscous emerald-green fluid, exuding a heavy, corrupted sweetness. At the base of the vine wall lay a thick layer of dark purple decay, like sludge, concealing twisted white bones and metal fragments. This was the corrupted flora's nest! The route marked on the scan had been utterly overrun!

"No… no way out…" Wrench stared in despair at the dead end.

Xiang Lingna's heart sank to the bottom. Ahead: a wall of corrupted flora. Behind: pursuing monsters. Wrench severely wounded… Had they truly reached the end?

No! Xiang Lingna's eyes locked onto the corrupted vine wall. Under the jade fragment's glow, she sharply noticed that at the densest center, a small patch of vines… differed slightly in color? No longer pure dark purple, but tinged with an almost withered gray-green? And that patch of vines… seemed to be twisting, ever so slowly, resistively?

A mad thought struck her instantly: Thorns Corridor! In the Thorns Corridor, she had once resonated with vines not yet fully corrupted, even guided them! These vines were corrupted—but did their "roots" still hold a faint remnant of the land's original will, the will of the old world's steel forest? Like the Thorns Corridor?

"Wrench, hold tight!" Xiang Lingna snapped, no longer hesitating. She carefully leaned the nearly unconscious Wrench against a distant pipe, then took a deep breath and stepped toward the terrifying vine wall. Each step forward intensified the burning pain in her right arm and the Doctor's mental assault; the corrupted sweetness in the air nearly choked her.

She stopped before the vine wall, ignoring the vine tips slowly rising toward her like venomous snakes, sensing her living aura. She closed her eyes, sinking all her focus into the jade fragment in her hand. This time, she did not try to resist the scar's erosion—she tried to communicate.

She imagined the silver-white orderly vines of the Thorns Corridor, their pain and resilience. She poured her own will—mixed with the desire to live, to protect her companions, and the sorrow for this corrupted, twisted land—like a gentle stream, into the jade fragment.

"I know… you suffer… forced to grow… twisted will…" Xiang Lingna whispered inwardly, as if soothing a wounded beast. "You were once… part of this steel forest… protecting the people here… do you remember? Those lights… those hopes…"

Hum—

The jade fragment seemed to sense her intent. Its emerald glow no longer merely illuminated—it flowed like a gentle tide toward the anomalous vine patch. Within the light, threads of pure life-order energy from Wang Ting's core spread out.

A miracle occurred!

The moment the gray-green vines touched the emerald light, they shuddered violently! As if revived by rain after drought, or awakened from slumber! The viscous emerald fluid on their surface evaporated instantly, revealing their dry, cracked true forms. Even more heart-stopping—Xiang Lingna clearly "heard" a faint, pained, yet ecstatic fragment of thought:

【Light… order's light…】

【Pain… chains… darkness…】

【Help… help us… free…】

These were the faint, suppressed remnants of the vines' own consciousness—crushed to the brink by corrupted wills! They begged for release! They responded to the fragment's power!

"Good! I'll help you!" Xiang Lingna's spirit surged. She immediately channeled more will and fragment energy toward them. "Tell me! The path! Where is the route through here—to the communication station?"

The vines' thoughts grew clearer, filled with urgent direction:

【Below… roots… below… rotting claws… entangled… pain…】

【Tear… rot… below… path…】

The thought pointed to the base of the vine wall—the pile of decay and bones!

Xiang Lingna's gaze sharpened like a blade! She understood! These corrupted vines had their roots bound by the Doctor's "Corrupt Claws" (Annihilation Decay), forced to grow and block the path. The route lay beneath their roots, buried under thick decay! Only by tearing through this rotten "skin" and severing the Corrupt Claws could the path open—and free these suffering vines!

"Wrench! Hold on a little longer!" Xiang Lingna called back, then knelt without hesitation, extending her left hand—the one without the scar—toward the stinking sludge at the vine wall's base.

Her fingers met a cold, slimy, nauseating touch. She forced down her revulsion, digging her fingers deep into the sludge, tearing frantically. The stench overwhelmed her; the sludge mixed with shattered bones and unknown hard fragments. Each dig sent stronger burning pain and furious mental strikes from the Doctor, warning her to stop desecrating!

"Get out!" Xiang Lingna roared inwardly, digging even more wildly. The jade fragment's glow cut like a blade, repelling the corruption trying to coil around her arm.

Soon, her fingers touched something hard and cold beneath the sludge—metal! The tunnel's metal floor! And atop it, she felt several thick, icy, chain-like tendrils deeply embedded in the metal seams—cold, hard, pulsing with faint dark purple runes—corrupted root-threads! These were the physical manifestations of the Doctor's "Corrupt Claws" power!

"Found it!" Xiang Lingna's eyes flashed with cold light. Without hesitation, she pressed her left hand onto the icy corrupted roots, while her right hand, gripping the jade fragment, unleashed its strongest purification light—and slammed it down upon the roots!

"In the name of life and order—BREAK!!!"

Sssshhh—!!!

Like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water! The emerald purification light clashed violently with the cold Annihilation Decay! Blinding light and deafening annihilation sounds exploded in the confined space! The roots pinned beneath her hand twisted, swelled, their dark purple runes flashing wildly in resistance!

But this time, the purification light was not alone! The gray-green vines, having sensed liberation, unleashed their last vestiges of consciousness with unprecedented strength! No longer resisting the fragment's light, they actively guided the life-order energy—like countless tiny roots—wrapping around the corrupted roots, frantically absorbing, breaking down, purifying!

Inside and outside, united!

Crack! Crack!

Chilling fractures echoed! The roots pinned by Xiang Lingna shattered inch by inch under the emerald light and the vines' own will—reducing to ash!

The moment the bindings were severed, the massive vine wall convulsed like a puppet with its strings cut! The gray-green vines at the center let out silent, ecstatic screams of release, then withered, carbonized, and turned to ash. The surrounding dark purple vines, like an army without command, plunged into chaos—twisting, whipping each other, powerless to form any effective barrier!

At the base of the vine wall, a circular metal manhole cover, about one meter in diameter, buried beneath decay and bones, suddenly lay exposed before Xiang Lingna! In its center, a rusted wheel handle was clearly visible! This was the hidden entrance to a maintenance tunnel—leading deeper or farther!

"The path!" Xiang Lingna's heart surged with joy! Yet the instant she severed the corrupted roots and the vine wall collapsed—

"Roar—!!!"

A roar more terrifying than any monster's, filled with pure annihilation will, rang like a death knell deep within her soul! It did not come from outside—it erupted directly from the scar on her right arm!

Xiang Lingna was struck as if by a sledgehammer; her vision blackened, and she spat a mouthful of blood! The jade fragment's glow dimmed to near nothing! She felt her soul gripped by a cold, massive hand; a purer, more ruthless annihilation force than ever before surged into her like a dam bursting, flowing through the scar!

The Doctor! Enraged beyond measure! He no longer merely sent thoughts through the scar—he had projected a stronger power directly! He would crush this insect who dared defy him with his own hands!

Cold, silent, absolute annihilation filled Xiang Lingna's mind:

【Desecrator… die!】