Chapter 163: Data Torrent, Cyber Echo

Chaos! Rending! Vertigo!

Xiang Lingna felt as if she had been thrown into a high-speed spinning tumble dryer, and also as if she had been plunged into a boiling energy furnace. Her body was being wildly torn and crushed by the surging, riotous, multicolored streams of violent energy rushing in from all directions! Every tumble brought the splitting agony of bones about to crack and a vertigo as if her soul were being peeled away. The residual Rotclaw ember energy stored at the scar of the brand on her right arm had completely lost control under the impact of the spatial turbulence, rampaging through her body like countless red-hot steel needles, frantically destroying the fragile tissue that had only just barely regenerated.

She gripped the unconscious Wrench with all her might, while her other hand instinctively shielded her chest — there, the identity tag that had become scalding and whose surface was covered in scorch marks after erupting with chaotic light-flames still emanated a faint yet steady milky-white stardust halo. It was precisely this halo, like a buoy in a raging sea, that barely kept her and Wrench from being completely scattered apart, and it also provided a sliver of faint but crucial order, allowing her to maintain a trace of a sense of direction amid the chaos.

"Warning... high-dimensional spatial turbulence detected... energy erosion level... lethal..."

"Warning... machine-body damage exceeds critical threshold... life-support system... about to go offline..."

A cold, faint, broken-and-continuing electronic synthesized voice rang out, like a hallucination, at the edge of Xiang Lingna's chaotic consciousness. It was the device embedded in the emergency data-reading box! It was still stubbornly operating amid the spatial turbulence! The screen was covered in cracks, flashing a piercing red light, constantly popping up damage warnings.

Xiang Lingna had no time to spare for it at all. She felt like a billet of iron being hammered over and over, her consciousness repeatedly sinking and rising amid the agony and vertigo. Just when she thought she was about to be torn apart completely—

Hum... hum... hum...

The stardust halo emanating from the identity tag suddenly produced a strange, regular fluctuation! This fluctuation was like some kind of positioning signal, piercing through the violent spatial turbulence!

Immediately after, amid the fragments of the chaotically tumbling energy scene before Xiang Lingna, an extremely tiny yet unusually steady blue point of light, like the morning star in the night, abruptly lit up! The point of light rapidly expanded, transforming into a pale-blue data vortex composed of countless flowing 0s and 1s! Deep within the vortex, one could faintly see the scene of intricate, complex electronic circuits and flowing torrents of data!

It was Cyber Territory! It was the Prism Hub! Zero's signal!

In an instant, Xiang Lingna understood the reason for the fluctuation of the stardust halo on the identity tag! It was actively responding to Zero's signal, performing positioning!

"Zero... sister..." A sliver of faint hope ignited in Xiang Lingna's heart. She used the last of her strength, trying to guide her body to "swim" toward the direction of that data vortex.

However, the force of the spatial turbulence was too powerful! Her effort was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot! Her body was still swept along by the turbulence, spinning headlong into the unknown darkness!

Just as Xiang Lingna despaired—

Whoosh!

A condensed rope of light, composed of pure pale-blue data streams, like a living spirit-snake, suddenly shot out from the center of the data vortex! With pinpoint precision it crossed the turbulence and coiled around Xiang Lingna's left wrist, the one shielding the identity tag!

A powerful pulling force arrived, carrying a cold, logical strength!

"Grasp... target... traction program... initiated..." Zero's familiar, emotionless electronic synthesized voice was clearly transmitted through the data light-rope, carrying an unquestionable steadiness.

Xiang Lingna, as if clutching a life-saving straw, gripped the data light-rope with all her might! The light-rope erupted with even stronger pulling force, forcibly resisting the rending of the spatial turbulence, pulling Xiang Lingna and the unconscious Wrench, bit by bit, toward that blue vortex representing order and data!

In her field of vision, the scene of chaotic energy turbulence rapidly receded, and the scene inside the Prism Hub — intricate, cold, brimming with a sense of the future — grew clearer and clearer. Xiang Lingna's taut nerves finally relaxed a fraction; an intense weariness and agony swept in like a tsunami, and her consciousness rapidly sank toward darkness.

Before she lost consciousness completely, her final perception was: a powerful, gentle force-field enveloped her and Wrench, the tearing sensation of the violent spatial turbulence vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, steady floating sensation. Then, Zero's inorganic voice, which yet seemed to carry a barely perceptible trace of "concern":

"Target... Xiang Lingna, Wrench... successfully recovered..."

"Vital signs... extremely critical... emergency medical protocol... initiated..."

"Detected... high-concentration unknown energy erosion... threat level... annihilation... initiating highest-level quarantine..."

Xiang Lingna lost consciousness completely.

Prism Hub, core medical zone.

This was a pure-white, cold, and absolutely sterile space. Faint blue energy patterns flowed along the walls; the smell of disinfectant and ozone permeated the air. Complex mechanical arms moved silently along precision slide-rails.

Xiang Lingna and Wrench were suspended separately inside two transparent cylindrical medical pods. The pods were filled with a pale-green restorative fluid emanating a faint life-energy.

Xiang Lingna's medical pod was enveloped by a thick force-field flickering with ghostly-blue energy arcs, in the highest-level quarantine state. Her body was immersed in the restorative fluid, but the situation was shocking to behold: her entire body was scorched black and carbonized, with large areas of skin peeled away, revealing the horrifying new tissue beneath — a horrifying interweaving and writhing of dark-purple and emerald-green granulation; her right arm was completely gone from below the shoulder, the stump covered by a silver membrane composed of medical nanobots, yet beneath the membrane dark-purple energy still twisted and surged like a living thing, trying to corrode the nanobots; at the location of the identity tag on her chest, a faint milky-white stardust halo emanated, producing a strange resonance with the scanning beams of the medical pod.

Wrench's medical pod, by contrast, was relatively stable. The horrifying wound on his back was slowly healing under the action of the restorative fluid and nanobots; although the newly grown tissue also carried an unhealthy tinge of dark purple, at least his vital signs had stabilized.

Outside the medical pods, Zero's holographic projection floated silently. The image of a silver-haired girl, with inorganic eyes in which waterfall-like pale-blue data streams flowed. She was mobilizing the Prism Hub's enormous computing power, analyzing the violent energy within Xiang Lingna's body that had been tagged as "annihilation."

"Target Xiang Lingna... internal energy composition analysis..."

"Component 1: highly active annihilation origin... characteristic code matches database record 'Doctor' at 99.3% similarity... possesses extreme erosiveness and spiritual contamination..."

"Component 2: chaotic life-order energy... characteristic code highly consistent with 'Elven Wang Ting Core Fragment' and 'Thorn Order'... in a suppressed state..."

"Component 3: unknown chaotic energy... generated by the conflict and fusion of Component 1 and Component 2 under the action of a special catalyst (Old World tech-core energy)... state extremely unstable... destructive and unknown potential coexisting..."

"Component 4: faint stardust-order energy... source unknown... resonates with the identity tag and Lord Lin Mo's stardust crystal... is the key stabilizer maintaining the target's consciousness core..."

"Treatment plan simulation..."

"Plan A: forcibly purify the annihilation origin... success rate below 0.01%... target will disintegrate instantly due to energy conflict..."

"Plan B: guide the chaotic energy to vent... lacks a controllable vent... 90% probability of triggering hub-core meltdown..."

"Plan C: maintain status quo, strengthen stardust-resonance suppression... await variable... (variable: Lord Lin Mo's status / Elven Wang Ting core integrity)... success rate... incalculable..."

Zero's data streams showed a brief stagnation. The logic core had delivered a nearly despairing conclusion. Xiang Lingna was like a bomb that could explode at any moment, and this bomb was also connected to the Doctor's power source.

"Request... access encrypted file: X-Abyss Spore / Tide of Annihilation..." Zero's projection turned toward the console and issued the command.

"Permission verification: Supreme Administrator-Zero... access granted..."

An encrypted file tagged "World-Ending Level" unfolded in Zero's field of vision. It recorded in detail the inert cosmic spore "X-Abyss" discovered by the Old World's deep-space probes, whose characteristics shared a startling 97.8% similarity with the annihilation origin detected inside Xiang Lingna's body and with the weaponized "Withering Dust" spores previously analyzed at Shelter 07. The core inference of the file pointed to a behind-the-scenes existence named "The Sower," whose ultimate objective was tagged "Epoch's End."

Zero's gaze lingered on a fragmentary speculation at the end of the file:

【...'The Sower' may not be a single entity... the core of its plan lies in collecting highly adaptive life samples as 'vessels,' cultivating 'Seeds of Annihilation,' and accelerating planar corruption through a secondary node network (such as the ovoid structures)... ultimately... (data missing)... Tide of Annihilation...】

Vessels... Seeds of Annihilation... secondary nodes...

Zero's data streams spun at full speed, linking together Xiang Lingna's condition, Lin Mo's encounter, the discoveries at Shelter 07, the Rotclaw Furnace, and the fragments of "The Sower's" file!

A terrifying outline gradually became clear: the Doctor was very likely one of The Sower's executors! Lin Mo had been used as a "vessel" for cultivating a "Seed of Annihilation" (fusing stardust and corruption origin)! And Xiang Lingna, because she carried an Elven Wang Ting core fragment (life-order) and an Old World identity tag (tech-order), and because she had developed a deep resonance with Lin Mo, had unexpectedly become an "unstable vessel" and a "key"! The Doctor's wanting to recover her was very likely in order to perfect or control the "Seed of Annihilation" inside Lin Mo!

"Threat level reassessment... Xiang Lingna... linked to 'The Sower's' core plan... priority: highest..." Zero's electronic voice carried an unprecedented Heavy and Solemn.

Just at this moment!

Hum——!!!

The identity tag inside Xiang Lingna's medical pod suddenly erupted with intense stardust radiance! At the same time, Xiang Lingna's body within the quarantine force-field convulsed violently! The dark-purple energy suppressed at the stump of her right arm frantically slammed against the nanobot barrier, and the chaotic energy within her body became extremely unstable! The medical pod's alarm instantly turned into a piercing shriek!

"Warning! Annihilation-origin activity inside target surging! Traceback signal points to... Lord Lin Mo's coordinates! The Doctor is forcibly extracting Lord Lin Mo's origin! Triggering energy resonance inside Xiang Lingna!"

"Warning! Quarantine force-field overloaded! Medical nanobots being corroded!"

On the screen, the curve representing Xiang Lingna's vital signs plummeted like a waterfall!

In Zero's inorganic eyes, the data streams instantly went berserk! The logic core delivered the only viable emergency plan — at any cost, forcibly intervene! Use the power of the Prism Hub to interfere with the Doctor's extraction of Lin Mo and sever the source of the energy resonance!

"Initiating: Hyperdimensional Data Interference Protocol!"

"Target: lock onto Lord Lin Mo's coordinate space!"

"Loading: Logic Virus 'Spear of Paradox'!"

"Energy Core: Overload Output!"

The Prism Hub's massive energy was mobilized in an instant! Countless torrents of data, under Ling's control, transformed into an invisible pale-blue beam imbued with the highest-level information attack. Following the faint channel established by the resonance of the stardust radiance erupting from Xiang Lingna's identity card, it pierced across the endless spatial turbulence and stabbed viciously at the core altar of the Rotclaw!