Chapter 230: Cradle's Faint Light and the Wall of Sacrifice

The scarlet electronic eye was like the entrance to hell, locked dead on Xiang Lingna. The mechanical head that poked in was covered in pale composite armor, its jaw fitted with rotating cutting teeth that constantly opened and closed, flashing energy sparks, emitting a teeth-grinding buzz. This was no ordinary Scavenger, but a specially modified "Hound" unit, born for tracking and hunting!

Without any warning, the Hound unit's shoulder armor slid open, revealing two pitch-black gun ports, scorching energy instantly beginning to gather!

The breath of death rushed at her face! In the cramped space there was simply nowhere to dodge!

At this critical moment, Xiang Lingna, almost purely on instinct, slammed down the button on the cold cylinder in her hand!

Hiss—!

It was not the activation of a weapon as expected, but a section of originally stationary, thick fire-suppression pipe directly above her head that suddenly burst, spraying out a massive amount of white, ultra-low-temperature condensed foam! This foam had an extremely strong suffocating and instant-freezing effect, originally used for putting out energy-core fires!

The white foam sprayed all over the Hound unit head to toe, instantly covering its sensors and weapon ports! The gathering energy was forcibly interrupted, letting out crackling bursts! The Hound unit let out an interfered, distorted electronic shriek, its movements suddenly stuttering, its scarlet electronic eye flickering wildly as it tried to clear the covering.

Chance!

Xiang Lingna paid no heed to the biting cold from a small amount of foam splashing onto her, and threw herself violently to the side! At the same time, she used every ounce of strength in her body to drive the metal pipe she had been using as a walking stick hard into the seam of the Hound unit's neck armor—the place where the more vulnerable wiring was usually concentrated!

Crack!

The metal pipe bent under the tremendous force and failed to fully pierce through, but it clearly caused a short circuit and interference! The Hound unit's whole body threw off fine electric sparks, its movements growing even more chaotic, its mechanical claws flailing wildly, sending debris in the compartment flying everywhere!

【Interference successful! Target's sensors and locomotion system temporarily damaged! Recommend immediate evacuation!】 Sentinel's voice rang out urgently.

Evacuate? Evacuate to where? There must be other Scavengers outside!

Xiang Lingna's gaze fell on the entrance torn open behind the Hound unit. Because of the Hound unit's wedging itself in and its chaos, it had actually temporarily blocked the other units behind it!

She had to break out! Staying here was a dead end!

She sucked in a sharp breath, suppressed the pain and fear coursing through her body, and, spotting a gap in the Hound unit's flailing mechanical claws, lunged through beneath it like an agile cheetah (despite being covered in wounds), bursting out of the cramped maintenance compartment!

The situation in the main corridor outside was just as expected! Three other Scavenger units, with slightly different designs and apparently more focused on ranged support and blockade, stood ready in formation! They clearly hadn't expected the target to burst out this way, and the brief firing delay was seized by Xiang Lingna!

Energy beams grazed past her, striking the walls and floor, melting out pit after pit! Xiang Lingna had no time to fight back—only one thought in her mind—run! Run deep into Corridor Three leading to the Seventh Eco-Dome!

"Sentinel! Navigation! Fastest route!" she screamed in her mind while stumbling and running through the ruins and obstacles.

【Straight ahead two hundred meters, turn left, watch for ceiling collapse risk!】 Sentinel responded swiftly, projecting the planned route onto Xiang Lingna's retina.

The Hound unit behind had already broken free of the condensed foam's grip, letting out an angry roar, and was in hot pursuit along with the other Scavengers! Energy beams kept exploding around her, the scorching blast waves shoving her, and more than once she felt death brush past her shoulder!

The wound on her right shoulder tore open again, fresh blood soaking through the crude bandage, the sharp pain nearly making her faint. Her stamina was draining fast, her vision beginning to blur.

She could not fall! Absolutely could not fall! That child was still waiting!

Whether it was the support of conviction or a last-ditch burst of strength, she miraculously charged through those two hundred meters, made a sharp turn, and plunged into an even older, far more heavily damaged corridor. The walls here were no longer cold alloy, but a special, mostly carbonized and blackened bio-matrix material, with some twisted, long-dead plant root systems still faintly visible winding through it.

This place had once been part of the Eco-Dome!

【Detecting high-concentration residual life-energy signal ahead… consistent with the distress signal source detected earlier! But the signal is extremely unstable, rapidly fading!】 Sentinel issued a warning.

Xiang Lingna's heart clenched tight! She ran forward desperately, and finally, at the far end of the corridor ahead, saw a massive circular door made of some kind of transparent crystal mixed with metal, now riddled with cracks and even torn open with a huge hole by some tremendous force! Beyond the door, a more open space shrouded in darkness was faintly visible.

And near the door, the scene was even more hair-raising! At least a dozen or so Scavenger unit wrecks lay scattered everywhere! They seemed to have been torn apart from the inside by some extremely powerful force; the break points were perfectly smooth, not like an explosion, more like being sliced open in an instant by claws or energy blades! Many of the wrecks were also covered in a layer of eerie, slowly writhing, dark-red moss-like substance that was decomposing and devouring the metal!

An extremely fierce battle had taken place here! And not long ago!

Xiang Lingna had no time to think it over—the pursuers behind had arrived! Without hesitation she charged through the breach in the door!

The space beyond the door opened up at once, but it was a dead, apocalyptic scene. This seemed to be a massive circular hall, originally perhaps a place lush with greenery and full of life, but now everything had withered, carbonized, and was covered in a thick layer of ash. In the center of the hall stood a huge device, also made of crystal and metal, shaped like a flower bud, but now this "flower bud" was riddled with holes, its surface covered in cracks and impact dents, the emerald-green energy fluid that should have been flowing within long since dried up and leaked away, leaving only some solidified, dim remnants.

This was the "Cradle"?

And what was even more shocking was that on the walls all around the hall were dozens of small, similarly damaged crystal chambers, like a honeycomb. Most of the chambers were already empty, or contained only some blurred, tiny withered bones inside. Only the very center, the largest "flower bud" core, still faintly emanated a weak, intermittent green halo.

That child's distress signal had come from there!

But at this moment, that halo was visibly dimming, like a candle in the wind!

"Hold on! I'm coming!" Xiang Lingna shouted toward that direction, sprinting quickly toward the center.

However, just as she neared the central "flower bud," a sudden change occurred!

The dark-red moss-like substance on the hall floor that was devouring the Scavenger wrecks, as if suddenly disturbed, surged together violently, like a living thing, rapidly forming a blurry, constantly writhing, roughly man-height dark-red humanoid! No features, no details, only a pure, nauseating hunger and malice!

This thing emanated a kind of eerie energy field Xiang Lingna had never felt before—neither Abyss nor Shadow—that made her shudder to the depths of her soul!

The dark-red humanoid did not hesitate at all, lunging straight at Xiang Lingna with astonishing speed!

Xiang Lingna had no time to dodge at all, and could only subconsciously hold the bent metal pipe in her hands across her body!

Hiss!

The dark-red humanoid's arm, like a hot knife through butter, easily melted through and severed the metal pipe, then slammed hard into Xiang Lingna's chest!

"Ugh!" Xiang Lingna felt as if she had been struck head-on by a battering ram, her whole body flying backward, crashing heavily into the withered plant remains, fresh blood spraying wildly from her mouth, her vision going pitch black, nearly losing consciousness on the spot.

Her sternum might be broken… breathing had become extremely difficult…

The dark-red humanoid, having landed a successful strike, did not pursue, but turned toward the central "flower bud" about to go out, extending writhing tentacles as if to devour that last bit of energy!

No… she couldn't…

Xiang Lingna's consciousness struggled in the darkness. She saw the Scavenger units had already charged into the hall, but they too seemed wary of the dark-red humanoid, not approaching immediately, instead spreading out, trying to encircle.

She saw the dark-red tentacles about to touch the "flower bud"…

Despair doused her like ice water.

Just then, beneath the skin covering the broken flesh on her right shoulder, the long-dimmed Order Brand and Thorn Brand of the World Tree sapling, as if stimulated by the pure malice of that dark-red entity and the wail of the life energy within the "flower bud," flared back to life like a last gasp, bursting out with one last wisp of green light—faint to the extreme, yet incomparably pure!

This flash of light vanished in an instant, and didn't even manage to inflict any damage on the dark-red humanoid.

But it was like a pebble dropped into a dead-still lake!

Hum—!

The entire hall, or rather, the underground of the entire Seventh Eco-Dome ruins, suddenly transmitted a low, deep hum, as if from the depths of the earth! The ground trembled slightly!

Immediately after, those long-dead, thick plant root systems on the walls, and the carbonized plant remains on the floor, as if awakened by that wisp of faint Order green light, or perhaps enraged by the dark-red invader, suddenly lit up with countless fine, golden-green energy lines like circuit-board traces!

These energy lines instantly wove together, forming a barrier of golden-green energy—thin yet incomparably tough—in front of the "flower bud" at the center of the hall, barely blocking the dark-red humanoid's tentacles!

Hiss hiss hiss!

The dark-red tentacles collided with the golden-green barrier, letting out corrosive sounds, the barrier rippling violently, clearly unable to last, but it had truly blocked this strike!

The dormant Eco-Dome defense system, or rather, the last instinctive power of this Ark, had been briefly activated!

The sudden change stunned everyone. The dark-red humanoid let out a silent roar and began madly attacking the barrier. The Scavenger units immediately opened fire as well, energy rays striking the barrier and sending up ripples after ripples.

Xiang Lingna lay on the ground, watching this sudden turn of events, watching the gold-green barrier flickering under the assault as if it would shatter the next second, watching the dim yet stubbornly glowing "flower bud" behind the barrier…

She knew she was about to give out. Her consciousness was gradually drifting away from her.

But in the final second before she sank completely into darkness, through the flickering barrier and the firelight of the attacks, she seemed to see, on the surface of the largest "flower bud" crystal in the center, the faintly reflected face of a little girl—pale, blurred, streaked with tears—looking at her with eyes full of worry and gratitude.

At the same time, that faint spiritual resonance once again entered her consciousness, about to flicker out:

"…Thank…you…run…they…woke up…more…'Hunger'…woke up…"