Chapter 165: Annihilation Singularity, A Glimmer of Hope

Zero's cold electronic voice tolled like a death knell through the deathly silent core medical ward of the Prism Nexus.

Xiang Lingna's chaotic consciousness was drenched as if by ice water, instantly "sobering"! Brother Lin Mo... his energy signature vanished?! No! Impossible!

"No——!!!" A wail of grief exploded in the depths of her soul; the moment of nascent enlightenment was instantly drowned by boundless fear and despair! The fragile equilibrium within her body shook violently, and the barely calmed chaotic energy once again ran wild! The energy tendrils writhing from the stump of her right arm lashed madly against the inner walls of the medical pod, emitting piercing crashes! Emerald and dark violet light clashed fiercely across her skin, which cracked inch by inch!

"Compulsory sedation!" Zero's projection instantly appeared before Xiang Lingna's medical pod, hands pressing down in the air. A powerful neural suppression field and energy stabilization beams descended, forcibly suppressing the rampaging energy and the crumbling spirit within Xiang Lingna.

"Analyzing... Lord Lin Mo's final energy trajectory..." Zero's data streams spun at high speed, mobilizing all observational data.

On the screen, the final image captured before the hyper-dimensional interference channel collapsed was replayed:

The Rotclaw Altar space. The Doctor's projection twisted and shattered under the interference of the Spear of Paradox, but did not vanish. And Lin Mo's body, in the process of forcibly devouring and fusing the essence of annihilation, the light of the stardust crystal in his chest reached its extreme, his entire body seeming to transform into a miniature vortex of chaotic energy! But at the very instant the vortex was about to take shape—

Hum!!!

At the top of the altar, that enormous vertical pupil of annihilation, as if utterly enraged, snapped open to its limit! A wave of indescribable absolute darkness, as if it could devour all light and existence, erupted from the center of the pupil! Instantly engulfing Lin Mo's body!

That was not an attack, but... an absolute "negation"! A spatial-level "erasure"!

Lin Mo and the space he occupied, like a picture erased by an eraser, instantly grew blurry and transparent, then completely vanished from the observation screen, leaving behind only an absolute miniature dark singularity from which even light could not escape! And after the Doctor's projection reconstituted, the thought it emitted, filled with shocked fury and a trace of disbelief:

"Chaos... singularity?! How is that possible?!"

The image cut off here; the channel collapsed.

"Conclusion: An unknown high-dimensional spatial phenomenon occurred at Lord Lin Mo's coordinates... suspected formation of a 'Chaos Annihilation Singularity'... target Lin Mo... vanished from the current dimension... energy signature vanished... status: Unknown (MIA)..." Zero delivered the final, cold analytical result.

Vanished... unknown...

Although Xiang Lingna was suppressed by the field, Zero's words pierced her heart like an ice spike. Brother Lin Mo... swallowed by that black hole? Life or death unknown? All because of her... if it weren't for saving her...

Boundless self-blame and despair, like poisonous vines, coiled around her soul. The suppressed chaotic energy within her, as if sensing her emotions, grew even more violent, battering the stabilizing field Zero had laid down. The stardust glow from her identity tag also grew dim and disordered.

"Target Xiang Lingna... mental collapse threshold... energy loss-of-control risk... 97%... recommendation: deep cryogenic hibernation..." Zero's logic core offered the most rational suggestion.

"No..." Xiang Lingna's consciousness offered feeble resistance. Hibernation? Escaping like a coward? Then what about Brother Lin Mo? What about Sister Ai Li and the others?

Just at that moment.

Hum...

The dim stardust glow on the identity tag pulsed once, extremely faintly yet with uncommonly steadfast resolve. A faint but clear thought, like a whisper crossing endless time and space, gently brushed past Xiang Lingna's consciousness on the brink of collapse:

"... seed... not extinguished... light... is..."

Seed? Light?

Xiang Lingna's chaotic consciousness caught this thread of thought. Was it Brother Lin Mo? Or the final echo of the stardust crystal? Where was this thought pointing?

Suddenly! An image flashed through Xiang Lingna's mind! It was in the Thorn Corridor, when Sister Priestess Liyana handed her the jade shard and said: "... the seed of Wang Ting... the hope of life... waiting for rebirth within withering..."

Seed! The core of Wang Ting! Sister Priestess Liyana had said the jade shard was only part of the core! More shards were scattered throughout the Withering Forest! They were the seeds of life and order!

And the light Brother Lin Mo finally unleashed... the light of stardust...

The seed is not extinguished... the light remains...

In Xiang Lingna's sea of despair, as if a pebble had been dropped, a faint ripple stirred. Brother Lin Mo might not be dead! He was only trapped somewhere! And the hope of awakening him, of finding him... lay in those scattered "seeds"! In the shards of Wang Ting's core! With Sister Priestess Liyana and the others!

This thought, like a firefly in the darkness, faint yet igniting Xiang Lingna's final will to live. She forcibly suppressed the surging despair and self-blame, focused her spirit, and felt the faint stardust glow of the identity tag, felt the violent yet Lin Mo-scented chaotic energy within her...

Gradually, a vague, directional sensation emerged. Not Lin Mo's specific location, but... a directional guidance! Pointing toward that forest shrouded in withering mist where Sister Priestess Liyana was!

"Zero... sister..." Xiang Lingna summoned all her strength, calling out within her consciousness.

Zero's projection instantly appeared before the medical pod, inorganic eyes watching her.

"Take me... to the New Moon Grove... where Sister Liyana is..." Xiang Lingna's consciousness conveyed the plea, "Wang Ting... shards... seeds... Brother Lin Mo... needs them..."

Zero's data streams spun at lightning speed, analyzing Xiang Lingna's request.

"Target Sister Liyana... coordinates: Elven Lament shard... New Moon Grove..."

"Current route: spatial turbulence blocking... conventional channel cannot be established..."

"Plan: utilize the resonance between the chaotic energy within Xiang Lingna and Lord Lin Mo's remnants... forcibly tear open an unstable spatial channel... risk level: catastrophic..."

"Confirm execution?"

Zero's voice was cold, laying the cruel reality before Xiang Lingna. In their current state, forcibly traversing the spatial turbulence to the New Moon Grove was a nine-death-one-life gamble.

Xiang Lingna did not hesitate in the slightest. Staying in the Prism Nexus, she would ultimately lose control and become a bomb, or be put into deep cryogenic sleep. Going to find the Wang Ting shards, to find Sister Liyana, to awaken Lin Mo... this was her only hope, and the responsibility she had to bear!

"Confirm... execute..." Xiang Lingna's consciousness was absolutely steadfast.

"Command confirmed." Zero's projection nodded slightly, data streams becoming utterly focused. "Preparing: spatial tear protocol!"

"Target: Elven Lament shard — New Moon Grove!"

"Energy source: chaotic essence within Xiang Lingna + Nexus core overload output!"

"Path guidance: identity tag stardust resonance!"

The entire Prism Nexus's energy was instantly mobilized to the limit! Piercing overload alarms shrieked through every corner! The energy output bar representing the Nexus core instantly breached its limit, emitting an ominous red glow! Vast energy surged along the guidance beams, madly pouring into Xiang Lingna's medical pod!

"Gyaaaaaa——!!!" Xiang Lingna let out a scream of agony! Zero not only did not suppress the chaotic energy within her, but under the stimulation of the guided Nexus energy, completely detonated it! The violent chaotic energy, mingled with the tremendous energy output from the Nexus, formed a destructive energy storm around Xiang Lingna's body!

Zero's hands manipulated rapidly in the void, like the most precise conductor. She guided this destructive energy storm, slamming it brutally toward the space in front of the medical pod!

Zzzzza——Crack!!!

Space was forcibly torn like fragile glass! An extremely unstable spatial channel, its edges flowing with chaotic energy and its interior a twisted, shattered scene, was forcibly opened! At the other end of the channel, the image of a twisted forest shrouded in grey-green mist was faintly visible! It was the Elven Lament shard!

"Channel established! Stability... extremely low! Duration... estimated less than 30 seconds!" Zero's voice carried urgency.

"Target Wrench... mechanization modification completion... 87%... forced awakening!"

In the adjacent medical pod, Wrench's body had been modified beyond recognition. Nearly half his body was replaced by cold metal components; exposed mechanical joints and energy conduits flickered with ghostly light, and the wound on his back was covered by thick armor plating. He snapped his eyes open, pupils flashing with chaotic electronic light, letting out a pained, metallic-grinding roar: "Rrr... pain... so much pain..."

"Command: escort Xiang Lingna into the channel! Target: New Moon Grove!" Zero's electronic voice carried an unquestionable forced command, directly implanted into Wrench's muddled post-modification consciousness core.

The chaotic light in Wrench's eyes was overwritten by the cold command; like an activated war machine, he slammed open the medical pod door, mechanical arms deploying sharp claw blades, tearing open the field restraints on Xiang Lingna's medical pod, and with his relatively intact mechanical arm, clamping onto the utterly feeble Xiang Lingna like an iron vise!

"Go!" Zero's projection pointed toward the violently fluctuating spatial channel that could collapse at any moment!

Wrench let out a low roar, clutching Xiang Lingna, and like a cannonball, charged toward the channel entrance!

"Warning! Channel stability dropping sharply! High-dimensional space storm formation detected!" Zero's alarm blared!

Just at the moment Wrench was holding Lingna and about to rush into the channel—

BOOM—!!!

A spatial storm torrent of indescribable color, brimming with violent tearing force, slammed into the side of the channel without warning! Like the whip of a cosmic titan, it lashed brutally against the channel's weak point!

CRACK—!!!

The fragile spatial channel, like glass struck by a heavy hammer, instantly became covered in cobweb-like fractures! The scenery inside the channel twisted and shattered wildly!

"No—!" Lingna only had time to let out a desperate cry of alarm!

The spatial storm torrent slammed brutally into Wrench and Lingna! The terrifying tearing force instantly separated the two!

"Girl!" Wrench's chaotic electronic voice let out one last muffled roar, his body seized by the storm and hurled deep into the channel toward that twisted forest scene, vanishing instantly into the mist.

And Lingna was swept by another storm torrent in a completely different direction! The last thing she saw was the blinding white light of the channel's total collapse, and Zero's projection instantly growing blurred and shattered within the storm...

Then, endless darkness and a sensation of falling.

Plop!

Lingna crashed heavily onto a patch of cold, damp earth. The stinging scent of rotting leaves and mud rushed into her nostrils. The faint glow of the jade fragment illuminated the surroundings—twisted, gnarled deadwood, ground covered in thick dark-purple moss, and a suffocating withering mist hanging in the air.

This place... was a shard of the Elven Lament! But not the New Moon Grove! It was a far more deathly still, far more twisted forest region, brimming with ominous aura! She could even see, in the distant withering mist, some twisted figures moving slowly like withered-wood guardians, emanating a corrupting aura!

She had been hurled by the spatial storm into the depths of the Withering Forest! A place a hundred times more dangerous than the New Moon Grove! And, she had been separated from Wrench!

Lingna struggled to get up, but the sharp pain in her body and her depleted energy left her unable to move. What was worse, when she fell, the identity tag that had been protecting her slipped from her grasp and landed a few steps away on a patch of writhing dark-purple moss! The radiance of stardust appeared so faint within the dense corrupting mist.

And that patch of dark-purple moss, like a shark scenting blood, began slowly, greedily spreading toward the identity tag...

In the distance, those withered-wood-guardian-like figures seemed also drawn by the commotion here and the faint stardust glow, emitting a teeth-grinding "creak" as they slowly turned around and, step by step, came stumbling toward Lingna's direction...

The aura of death closed in once more.