Chapter 164: The Spear of Paradox, The Furnace's Sudden Change

The Rotclaw Altar, deathly still and cold.

The Doctor's energy projection hovered above the unconscious Lin Mo, that giant hand formed of pure annihilation energy plunged deep into Lin Mo's chest, greedily drawing out the chaotic and powerful primordial force fused from stardust and corruption. Dark purple energy, like viscous blood, flowed along the giant hand into the Doctor's projection, making his form more solid and the pressure he exuded ever more terrifying. The stardust crystal in Lin Mo's chest had dimmed to the brink of extinction.

"The perfect vessel... the chaos primordial... shall become my cornerstone..." The Doctor's frigid will echoed through the altar.

The instant his extraction reached a certain threshold and he prepared to carry out a deeper fusion—

Hum!!!

An invisible, formless attack, carrying the cold edge of absolute logic, crossed through space without warning and stabbed viciously into the space where the altar lay!

No energy explosion, no physical impact.

But the annihilation energy flowing throughout the altar space, like the surface of a filthy pool into which a boulder had been thrown, instantly twisted and rippled violently! The energy structure composing the Doctor's projection, as if it had encountered some natural enemy, emitted a piercing, high-pitched sizzling and instantly became extremely unstable! The giant energy hand plunged into Lin Mo's chest trembled violently, the extraction process forcibly interrupted!

"Wh... what?!" For the first time, clear astonishment surfaced on the Doctor's projection! This attack... was not on the energy level, but... the rule level?! Logic-level contamination?!

【Logic virus injection: target—energy composition fundamental laws...】

【Error command implant: energy entropy increase irreversible... self-destruct command... activate...】

Zero's cold electronic voice, like a verdict, branded itself directly onto the Doctor's energy core!

The Spear of Paradox! This was the ultimate information weapon Zero had developed against high-dimensional energy lifeforms and AI cores! It did not attack the physical body, but attacked the "logical foundation" of the target's existence! Writing self-contradictory destruction commands directly into the target's underlying operating logic!

Though the Doctor's annihilation primordial was powerful, his existence itself also followed a certain "logic" under the laws of the universe. The Spear of Paradox was precisely the natural enemy of such logic!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!!!

The Doctor's projection flickered and warped wildly like a holographic image with poor signal! The pure annihilation energy composing his body began to boil, clash, and self-annihilate out of control! He could no longer maintain the extraction from Lin Mo, and the giant energy hand collapsed in an instant!

"Low... ly... logic... contamination!" The Doctor's will brimmed with shock and fury and disbelief. He had never imagined being grievously wounded in such a manner by a technological creation he regarded as an ant!

And in the instant the Doctor was disrupted by the Spear of Paradox and fell into brief logical chaos!

Hum!!!

The stardust crystal in Lin Mo's chest, dimmed to the extreme, seized this once-in-a-thousand-years opening and violently erupted with the last wisp of light, yet exceptionally pure! This time, the light was no longer merely protection, but carried a will of desperate counterattack after being suppressed to the absolute limit!

The stardust light no longer resisted the corruption energy forcibly poured into his body by the Doctor, but... actively guided it! Like a magnet, it forcibly drew in and compressed the annihilation primordial originating from the Doctor that lurked within his body toward the core of the chest crystal!

At the same time, deep within the crystal, the embryonic form of the "Chaos Primordial" belonging to Lin Mo's own will, fused with the characteristics of myriad realms, was thoroughly stimulated at the edge of life and death! Like a miniature black hole, it began madly devouring and fusing the annihilation primordial drawn over by the stardust light!

Lin Mo's body trembled violently, the dark purple root-like patterns beneath his skin writhed madly, clashing fiercely with the emerald stardust light! He was undertaking an unprecedented gamble! Seizing the moment while the Doctor's power was disrupted by Zero, and leveraging the inclusive nature of his own chaos primordial, he forcibly devoured and assimilated the annihilation energy invading his body, completing the true fusion that had been interrupted by the Doctor!

"Vessel... backlash?!" The Doctor's projection, amid the logical chaos, caught the anomaly in Lin Mo, and for the first time a trace of dread crept into his frigid will! He tried to regather his strength to stop it, but the logical conflict triggered by the Spear of Paradox clung like a maggot on the bone, making it difficult for him to gather sufficient strength in a short time!

The entire altar space fell into chaos! The Doctor's projection warped and flickered under the logic virus, Lin Mo's body teetered on the brink of collapse amid devouring and fusion, and the lights of stardust and annihilation intertwined madly!

Prism Hub, Core Medical Zone.

Zero's holographic projection fluctuated violently, the pale blue data streams composing her body flickering in and out of visibility. The hyper-dimensional data interference and the release of the Spear of Paradox had placed an enormous load on the hub core. On the screen, the output curve representing the energy core had breached the red warning line, blaring a piercing overload alarm.

"Warning... hyper-dimensional interference channel unstable... collapsing..."

"Logic virus 'Spear of Paradox'... forcibly neutralized by target's annihilation primordial... duration: 7.3 seconds..."

"Target Lin Mo... vital signs fluctuating violently... energy reaction... unknown fusion in progress..."

Zero's gaze locked dead onto Xiang Lingna's medical pod. At the very same moment the Doctor was disrupted and Lin Mo began his backlash, the violent chaotic energy within Xiang Lingna that had resonated with Lin Mo, like a restlessness that had lost its source, instantly calmed considerably! Though still dangerous, it no longer showed any tendency to explode immediately! The nanobot barrier had temporarily stabilized, and the vital sign curve had ceased its waterfall-like plunge, fluctuating weakly along an extremely low baseline.

"Interference effective... maintain Xiang Lingna's vital signs..." Zero ordered decisively, mobilizing the remaining energy to fully maintain the stability of Xiang Lingna's medical pod.

However, the instant she had just stabilized Xiang Lingna's condition—

Hum!!!

Inside Xiang Lingna's medical pod, that scalding, charred identity tag once again erupted with intense stardust radiance! This time, the radiance carried not only Lin Mo's aura, but also a vast, chaotic fluctuation that yet contained the will of new life! It was the strange energy fluctuation Lin Mo had shed during the fusion process, fusing stardust, corruption, and his own chaos primordial! This fluctuation, following the channel of stardust resonance, crossed through space and struck directly at Xiang Lingna!

"Detected... high-grade chaos primordial resonance... being channeled into target Xiang Lingna..."

"Target Xiang Lingna's internal energy environment... unable to bear... about to collapse..."

The alarms that had just stabilized blared madly once more! Xiang Lingna's body convulsed violently, as if injected with overloaded high-voltage current! The chaotic energy that had just calmed boiled over again! And this time, it was mixed with the even more powerful and pure chaos primordial aura transmitted from Lin Mo! The dark purple energy at the severed right arm instantly breached the nanobots' blockade, transforming into a ferocious energy tentacle that whipped wildly! The emerald and dark purple lights of the newly grown tissue on her surface flickered madly, the conflict intensifying!

"Initiate: Energy Diversion Protocol! Target: Wrench!" Zero's computing core made the coldest yet most rational decision in a thousandth of a second! The energy Xiang Lingna could not bear had to be vented immediately! And the only "vessel" on site was Wrench in the adjacent medical pod, whose body was similarly eroded by corruption energy and whose internal energy environment was relatively "compatible"!

A beam of energy guidance instantly connected the two medical pods!

"Gyaaaaaa—!!!"

The unconscious Wrench let out a wretched scream! Vast, chaotic energy, mixed with the characteristics of both Lin Mo and Xiang Lingna, like floodwaters bursting a dam, instantly surged into his body! The wound on his back that had just healed split open at once! The blood vessels on his surface bulged like earthworms, and beneath his skin the emerald and dark purple lights flickered and clashed madly! His body swelled up like a balloon being inflated, his bones groaned under the unbearable burden, and in an instant the man became an unstable energy bomb!

"Target Wrench... vital signs overloaded... body structure on the verge of collapse..."

"Initiate: Emergency Mechanization Modification Contingency!"

Zero did not hesitate in the slightest. Wrench's value as a goblin technician far exceeded his value as a biological organism. Moreover, his body structure was more suited to undergoing mechanization modification to contain and stabilize this energy!

Several precision mechanical arms snapped out instantly, bearing laser cutters and nano-welders, and at a dazzling speed began on-site modification of the violently convulsing, swelling, deforming Wrench! Metal components were rapidly implanted, replacing damaged tissue; cold energy conduits pierced into his spine and limbs; a powerful containment field held him rigidly in place!

"No... don't..." Xiang Lingna, through the agony, regained a sliver of consciousness and, through her blurred vision, saw the horrifying sight of Wrench being modified beneath the mechanical arms, letting out a feeble wail.

"Optimal solution..." Zero's cold electronic voice carried no ripple, the data streams intently controlling the modification process.

And Xiang Lingna herself, after venting part of the energy, though still in pain, found the conflict within her body slightly eased. The stardust radiance emitted by the identity tag and the chaos primordial fluctuation transmitted from Lin Mo formed a delicate, fragile equilibrium within her. Her consciousness sank into a semi-comatose state, as if she were in a sea of chaotic stars, with countless memory fragments and energy insights streaking past like meteors...

She saw the hardships Lin Mo endured in establishing the Hope Bastion on the wasteland...

Saw Sister Ai Li's coldness and sorrow in her eyes as she wiped her dagger beneath the moonlight (blood feud!)...

Saw Priestess Liyana's gentleness and resilience as she purified the Withered Forest...

Saw Sister Glorna's boldness as she swung her battleaxe at Furnace Keep...

Saw Sister Zero's profile as she calmly computed within the data torrent...

These images, intertwined with the old-world memory fragments contained within the identity tag, the ancient legacy of the Elven Royal Court, and the chaos primordial now flowing within her...

A vague insight regarding "fusion" and "protection," like a seed, quietly sprouted in the depths of her chaotic consciousness.

Just then, Zero's voice rang out once more, carrying unprecedented urgency:

"Warning! Hyper-dimensional interference channel has completely collapsed!"

"Detected high-grade annihilation fusion reaction at the Rotclaw core spatial coordinates!"

"Lord Lin Mo's energy reaction... gone!"