Chapter 223: The Desperate Gambit and the Shattering of the Emerald Blade

The blood-red countdown danced wildly on Lingna’s retinas like a demon’s sneer, each descending digit hammering against her nearly shattered soul. 00:00:59… 00:00:58… The engine’s roar grew shriller and more unstable; the entire Shadow Engine cavity shuddered violently. Space rifts spread and widened like shattered mirrors, and several small, twisted shadow creatures had already breached in, shrieking sounds that crushed sanity, writhing to adapt within the energy storm.

Shadoweye stretched his arms wide, fully immersed in his destructive, mad vision. Purplish-black energy cocooned him and the seed on the verge of total corruption; he paid no heed to the surrounding collapse, even anticipating it.

Ellie was unconscious; Gorna’s power armor was severely damaged and immobile; Zero’s computational power was almost entirely devoted to maintaining its own stability and monitoring the collapse.

The only one still capable of action was Lingna herself.

That mad plan spun wildly in her mind—direct the engine’s energy to strike Shadoweye! Just like Brother Lin Mo had done! But here there was no earth vein energy to buffer it—only the most violent, chaotic, space-tearing destructive energy!

How? Her right arm’s crystal… that key infused with a sliver of World Tree sapling power and the Thorn Order seal… could it withstand it? Could it guide even a thread of this torrent?

She didn’t know! But there was no time to hesitate!

“Zero!” Lingna’s voice was hoarse with terror. “Calculate… calculate the weakest vent point in the engine’s energy flow! Even a sliver! Give me the coordinates!”

Zero’s console flared wildly, nearly burning out. “Calculating… risk extremely high… success rate below 0.001%… coordinate marked: three o’clock, seventh cooling pipe rupture! But the energy flow is highly unstable—could collapse at any—”

“Enough!” Lingna cut it off, her gaze locked on the point Zero had marked on her retinas—a thick, twisted, broken pipe end extending from the engine core, now spewing uncontrollably a chaotic stream of blue-purple energy crackling with terrifying arcs!

There!

She drew a deep breath of hot, radioactive air, dragging her exhausted, wounded body along the trembling edge of the observation platform toward the rupture. Every step felt like walking on blades; the chaotic energy storm tore at her flesh, and the cracks in her right arm sent searing pain through her.

Shadoweye seemed to sense her movement. His black eyes flicked toward her, filled with mockery and indifference: “The struggles of ants… only add to the amusement…” He didn’t even bother to stop her, certain she could never succeed.

At last, Lingna reached the rupture! The violent energy flow’s wind pressure nearly blew her away; her skin burned from the scorching energy particles, her hair stood on end.

Now!

She screamed with all her strength, pouring every ounce of will, every hope, every fear into her cracked right arm! The emerald veins and silver thorn patterns within the crystal blazed brighter than ever before!

She did not try to absorb—it would mean certain death—but mimicked the sensation Lin Mo had used to guide earth vein energy, using her right arm crystal as a “bait” and “refractor,” driving it hard into the edge of the surging chaotic stream!

Hssssssss—!!!

Unimaginable agony surged through Lingna’s entire body—as if her soul had been thrown into a meat grinder! The moment the crystal touched the stream, it emitted a grating, teeth-chilling crack! More fissures exploded across its surface; tiny shards shattered and flew apart instantly!

The chaotic energy was too violent, far beyond her capacity to guide! Most of it still surged wildly in all directions; only an infinitesimal thread, forcibly redirected by her will and the crystal’s nature, lashed out like an enraged viper, tearing through space toward Shadoweye at the platform’s center!

This sudden, though faint, energy disturbance instantly shattered Shadoweye’s energy equilibrium!

Snap!

A clear, glass-shattering sound! The purplish-black energy cocoon around him rippled violently, its surface cracking with countless fissures. The seed in his hand, nearly fully corrupted, trembled violently—and the last stubborn sliver of emerald light within it erupted fiercely, struggling to break free!

“What?!” Shadoweye’s mad grin froze, twisting into shock and rage. He was forced to divert part of his power to stabilize the cocoon and suppress the seed’s backlash!

That moment of disruption and distraction!

Zero, waiting for this chance, gambled every remaining computational resource: “Energy field fluctuation detected! Interference successful! Execute final protocol: Overclock Pulse!”

A beam, condensed to near-invisibility, shot from Zero’s console—not toward Shadoweye, but toward an unremarkable energy node beneath his feet—the critical point Zero had silently calculated to maintain platform stability and energy transmission!

Crack!

The node overloaded and exploded! The entire platform shuddered violently; lighting died instantly; energy transmission halted briefly. Shadoweye’s energy cocoon flickered wildly, destabilizing. The ground beneath his feet began to tilt!

“Damn machine!” Shadoweye roared in fury, stumbling.

Lingna, after delivering that life-ending strike, could no longer sustain her right arm’s crystal. With a sharp, clean snap, it fractured cleanly in half! The majority of the crystal, along with all its emerald and silver light, instantly dimmed, shattered, and turned to dust. Only a small fragment remained clinging to her shoulder and upper arm, its broken end sparking with dangerous energy and a faint, fading green glow.

She herself was hurled backward by the violent backlash, slamming into a distant metal wall. Blood gushed from her mouth; her vision darkened, and she nearly collapsed into unconsciousness, leaving only a sliver of blurred awareness.

The cost was horrific—her right arm nearly destroyed—but she had created a fleeting opening!

The countdown continued, merciless.

00:00:15

00:00:14

…!