Chapter 196: Nexus Embers, Star Dust Glimmers

The ruins outside the Prism Nexus core zone were more shattered than Lingna remembered. Massive server arrays looked as if devoured by a giant beast, twisted and broken metal supports resembling the ribs of a monster. Through cracks in the dome streamed the pale, radiation-dusted glow unique to the Star Dust Wastes. The air reeked of acrid burning, the sweet-sick stench of leaked coolant, and something else… a faint trace of blood.

The alarm that the Doctor's fleet was approaching pierced Lingna and Ai Li's hearts like icy steel needles. Seventy-two hours! They had barely survived nine mortal trials, still gasping for breath, when annihilation loomed at their doorstep!

"Confirmed… hyperspace fluctuation… scale… medium-sized fleet… flagship energy signature… matches… Doctor's core!" Zero's console hovered above them, its deep-blue scanning beams vigilantly sweeping the surroundings. "Nexus… defense system… damage rate 99%… energy reserves… below 0.5%… no effective… resistance capability…"

Ai Li swiftly treated her wounds. The shadow-erosion injuries on her ribs and shoulder were the worst—alive, constantly trying to spread into surrounding tissue, radiating a chilling aura. She forcibly sealed them with high-concentration energy gel, but only temporarily suppressed them. She glanced at Liyana, still unconscious but breathing steadily, then at the weakened Lingna. A flash of resolve passed through her cold eyes.

"Split up… operations." Ai Li's voice, hoarse from pain, was unnaturally clear. "I… find… usable transport… or… escape route." She pointed into the ruins. "Zero… scan… records… show… emergency escape vessel… storage point…"

"Lingna…" Ai Li's gaze settled on Lingna, especially her mutated right arm. "You… sensed… the Star Dust resonance… find it! It may be… Lin Mo's… only clue… and… our… key… against the Doctor!"

Star Dust resonance! Lingna's spirit lifted. Yes—the ancient engine's coordinates in her mind—their source of resonance lay deep within this Nexus! Brother Lin Mo might truly be here! She nodded firmly: "I understand!"

Zero instantly projected the remaining structure map of the Nexus, marking the escape vessel storage point Ai Li sought (northwest lower hangar) and the region where Lingna sensed the strongest Star Dust resonance (deep within the core control zone, near Zero's former main server array).

"Move!" Ai Li wasted no time. Her figure melted into shadow like a hunting leopard, swiftly vanishing into the rubble.

Lingna watched Ai Li disappear, then looked at the unconscious Liyana, her heart heavy with worry. Sister Ai Li's wounds… but she knew now was no time for hesitation. She took a deep breath, forcing her weary, injured body forward under Zero's guidance, heading deep into the core control zone.

The deeper they went, the more brutal the battle scars became. Walls were scorched with energy weapon burns and gouged by massive Claw Marks—clearly left by corrupted creatures. The ground littered with shattered android remains and deformed metal shards. Ambient energy currents grew fiercer; occasional sparks of electricity flared violently in the dim light.

The runes on Lingna's right arm crystal flickered faintly. The Star Dust resonance in her mind grew clearer, warmer—like a lighthouse in darkness, guiding her direction. This feeling… could not be wrong! It was Brother Lin Mo!

Around a massive, violently torn alloy gate, Lingna finally reached the deepest part of the core control zone—the hall where Zero's main server array once stood. It, too, lay in ruins. Massive server cabinets lay overturned, smoking. Fractured data cables hung like dying serpents. In the center, where Zero's core host had been, only a huge, torn-out foundation pit remained.

But Lingna's gaze instantly locked onto the scene beside the pit!

There, a crude, makeshift "shelter" had been built from broken alloy plates and energy conduits. Inside lay a still figure.

Lin Mo!

His face was as pale as paper, eyes tightly shut, his breath so faint it was nearly undetectable. His body was wrapped in an extremely faint, flickering milky-white Star Dust glow—so weak it seemed ready to vanish at any moment. The source of the glow was a tiny, nail-sized core hovering above his chest, radiating a stubborn pulse of life. It was this core, resonating powerfully with the coordinates in Lingna's mind!

Beside Lin Mo, a figure knelt, back turned to Lingna.

It was a heavily damaged robot. Its lower body was gone; its remaining metal torso was dented and burned, exposed wiring sparking erratically. Its single remaining mechanical arm carefully held a rag soaked in coolant, gently wiping away nonexistent sweat from Lin Mo's forehead. Its head sensor held only one dim electronic eye, now fixed unblinkingly on Lin Mo—filled with clumsy yet relentless… "protection."

It was Wrench! The robot who, in the Elf Woods, had been nearly destroyed defending Lingna from the Doctor!

"Wrench…?" Lingna's voice trembled with disbelief.

At the sound, Wrench's lone intact electronic eye turned slowly toward Lingna. The dim eye flickered several times, its recognition protocols struggling to activate.

"…Y…a…tou…" A cold, broken, static-laced electronic voice echoed—yet it made Lingna burst into tears. "…Protect…Lin Mo…Lord…mission…ongoing…"

He had been here all along! In these ruins, with this broken body, guarding the last flicker of Lin Mo's Star Dust will—until now!

Lingna could no longer hold back. She staggered to Lin Mo's side, tears blurring her vision. "Brother Lin Mo…" She reached out tremblingly, wanting to touch the faint Star Dust glow—but feared disturbing him.

Zero's console floated over, its scan beam settling on Lin Mo's Star Dust core. "Lin Mo Lord… vital signs… extremely weak… Star Dust core… energy depleted… continuing to decay… connected to… virtual cradle… extremely weak…"

Virtual cradle? Lingna recalled the consciousness space Zero had built for Lin Mo in the Star Dust Sanctuary. So this tiny core was his final anchor!

"How… do we save him?" Lingna asked urgently, her eyes fixed on her mutated right arm crystal. Her inner chaotic energy seemed instinctively repelled by Star Dust energy.

"Requires… same-source Star Dust crystal… or… high-efficiency… pure energy… for replenishment…" Zero's voice carried helplessness. "But… Nexus energy… exhausted… outside… Doctor's blockade…"

Same-source Star Dust crystal? High-efficiency pure energy? Lingna's heart sank. They had nothing, and were trapped by the Doctor's fleet…

Then, suddenly, the resonance of the Star Dust coordinates in her mind shifted! No longer just pointing to Lin Mo's core—but… toward a relatively intact metal wall deep within the core control hall?

Lingna snapped her head up, following the resonance. The wall seemed covered in a barely perceptible energy camouflage?

"Zero… scan there!" Lingna pointed.

Zero's scan beam instantly focused. "Detected… weak… spatial shielding… beneath camouflage… hidden space! Energy signature… highly pure… same-source as Star Dust core!"

Same-source? Pure energy? Hope blazed in Lingna's eyes! Was there, deep within the Nexus, a backup energy source left by Lin Mo?

She charged toward the wall without hesitation! Wrench's electronic eye followed her closely.

Standing before the wall, the emerald veins in Lingna's right arm crystal flickered faintly, their resonance with the Star Dust coordinates reaching its peak. She cautiously pressed her crystal palm against the cold metal surface.

Hum!

The wall rippled like water—the camouflage vanished, revealing a heavy, sealed gate forged of unknown alloy. At its center, a complex emblem formed of rotating Star Dust particles slowly ignited, radiating a gentle yet vast aura. The emblem's design bore a striking resemblance to the ancient Elf Ark coordinates etched in Lingna's mind!

"Authorization… verification…" A cold, non-Zero electronic voice issued from the gate. "Detected… high-dimensional space key signature… and… primordial Star Dust resonance… authorization… granted."

The heavy gate groaned open with grinding machinery, revealing a stream of pure, gentle, life-filled milky-white light—like a warm tide—that instantly dispelled the surrounding chill and oppression!

Lingna, Zero, and Wrench were stunned by what lay inside.

The chamber was not a warehouse of energy—it was a small circular room. At its center floated a fist-sized, perfectly spherical crystal, radiating a soft, steady milky-white glow. The light was warm, vast, brimming with hope and the depth of the stars—the purest Star Dust crystal! Its energy level far surpassed the faint core on Lin Mo's chest!

Beneath the Star Dust crystal, instead of a pedestal, lay a small patch of… emerald-green, living soil! In it, a tiny, tender two-leaf sapling swayed gently, emitting a pure natural aura. On its leaves, faintly visible, were delicate thorned crescent patterns!

The Star Dust crystal's light cradled the sapling like a guardian; the sapling's natural aura, in turn, nourished the crystal's glow—forming a delicate, harmonious energy cycle!

"High-purity… Star Dust crystal… and… unknown… natural symbiont…" Zero's voice was filled with disbelief. "Energy cycle… perfect… tier… S-class…"

Hope! Hope in the face of despair! Lingna trembled with excitement. With this, she could save Brother Lin Mo!

She rushed forward, eager to enter.

But Zero's urgent alarm sounded again—this time, icy and chilling:

"Warning! Detected… ultra-high-intensity… spatial lockdown field… covering… entire Prism Nexus fragment perimeter!"

"Source… Doctor's fleet… deployment complete!"

"Lockdown completion… 100%! All forms… of spatial jump… have been… completely blocked!"

"Doctor's flagship… energy signature… rapidly approaching… this zone! Estimated… contact time… under 15 standard hours!"

The last escape route was sealed. The Doctor's core was coming himself to close the net. They were trapped in these ruins. The only hope lay before them—in this chamber—but did they have time to use it?

Lingna looked at the floating Star Dust crystal and swaying sapling, then back at the unconscious Lin Mo and Liyana, then finally to the silent ruins beyond the gate. Despair and hope intertwined; the cold blockade clashed with the warm Star Dust glow.

The Doctor's icy will seemed to have pierced through the ruins, locking onto this place.

【Game over, key.】