Chapter 244: Cold Trap and Data Abyss

The ventilation shaft was filled with the coldness of metal and the smell of machine oil; the narrow space pressed against the chest, and every crawl was accompanied by a faint yet grating friction sound that amplified infinitely in the dead silence, striking at the taut nerves.

Xiang Lingna followed Ya's figure closely, moving carefully through the intricate network of pipes, striving not to make any extraneous noise. The "Tear" fragment and the newly acquired white jade disk pressed against her skin in her arms, transmitting a faint warmth that was her only solace and source of courage at this moment. The wound on her left arm throbbed faintly under the continuous movement, reminding her of the cruelty of reality.

The Doctor's words, as if seeing through everything, still echoed in her mind—"Core Carrier." This phrase was like a cold snake coiling around her heart, bringing bone-chilling cold and a fear of being thoroughly spied upon and powerless to resist. He knew they had come, and might even know their precise location at this very moment. This path that suddenly appeared on the scanner, seeming like hope, was ninety-nine percent a naked trap.

But they had no choice. Below, those "Energy Sources" whose life energy had been drained, with numb and empty eyes, were like a nightmare that would not fade. Stopping the Doctor and crushing his mad plan was the only path, even if it led through a mountain of knives and a sea of fire.

Ya's movements were extremely cautious; at every pipe junction or vent, he would stop to observe and listen carefully for a long time before continuing forward. The screen of the scanner in his hand was still covered in static, the weak signal indicating the route intermittent, like a dying candle in the wind, guiding them toward an unknown abyss.

The mechanical humming around them gradually changed, shifting from the low, mighty drone of the energy core to a sharper, denser, more computational humming sound, and the air began to fill with a unique scent resembling ozone and high-temperature circuit boards.

They were approaching the Doctor's laboratory core area.

Finally, Ya stopped before an inconspicuous vent covered with a fine mesh. He signaled Xiang Lingna to be silent and carefully looked down through the mesh.

Below was a relatively small room that looked like a data exchange node or a secondary control room. The room was filled with dense server cabinets, their indicator lights flickering endlessly like stars. In the center of the room stood an isolated console, with massive data streams scrolling rapidly across its screen. Most striking of all was a circular entrance on a wall to one side of the room, clearly a later addition, flashing with a dim blue energy barrier! Behind the barrier was a short corridor leading to an even heavier metal door stamped with the Doctor's private emblem!

There was the entrance to the Doctor's Project 7 laboratory!

And the endpoint indicated by that weak line on the scanner was precisely an inconspicuous backup energy interface in the corner of this room, used for maintaining the server cabinets!

Success was within reach! If they could descend into this room, perhaps they could do something with that interface, or even... find an opportunity to infiltrate the laboratory?

However, the room was not empty. Two technicians in pale uniforms were busy at the console with their backs to them, seemingly performing data backup or debugging. Besides them, no guards were visible.

Too quiet. Too smooth.

The scent of a trap was almost overwhelming.

Ya's brows were tightly furrowed, his emerald eyes filled with doubt and struggle. He looked at the target so close at hand, then at the scanner in his hand, which flickered as if mocking him.

Xiang Lingna's heart rose to her throat; she looked at Ya, asking with her eyes what the next move should be.

Ya fell silent for a few seconds, and finally a flash of determination passed through his eyes. He pointed at the two technicians below, then at the pulse pistol in his hand, and made a gesture of subduing them.

Whether it was a trap or not, they had to try. This was the only chance.

Ya carefully used a tool to unscrew the bolts of the vent mesh, his movements so slow they were suffocating. Xiang Lingna held her breath, feeling as if time had been stretched infinitely.

The mesh was removed silently. Ya, like a leopard in the shadows, slid down without a sound, landing noiselessly. Xiang Lingna followed closely behind.

Using the shadows of the server cabinets, the two quickly and quietly approached the two unsuspecting technicians.

Ya struck suddenly! A precise knife-hand chop landed on the back of one person's neck, and that person fell to the ground without a sound. Almost at the same time, his pulse pistol pressed against the back of the other person's head.

"Don't move, don't make a sound." Ya's voice was cold as iron.

That technician's body stiffened violently, the data pad in his hand nearly dropping, his soul terrified out of his body.

"Open that maintenance energy interface and disconnect the physical connection to the laboratory's main system." Ya commanded, pressing the muzzle harder.

"I... I can't do it..." the technician's voice trembled. "That interface... it... it's a decoy! As soon as an unauthorized access is attempted, it will immediately trigger the highest-level security alarm! The defense systems of the entire area will activate! We... we will all die!"

As expected! A trap through and through!

Ya's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

Just then—

"Hehe... only realizing it now? It's too late."

A calm yet mocking voice suddenly rang out from the loudspeaker above the room! It was the Doctor's voice!

Almost at the same time, the room's only exit—the vent they had come down through and the door leading to the Path to the Outside—suddenly slammed down with heavy alloy gates, trapping them completely in this small space! Dense weapon ports extended from the walls surrounding the room, flashing with deadly energy light, all locking onto him!

And the technician subdued by Ya suddenly wore an extremely bizarre, twisted smile on his face; his eyes rolled back, and from his mouth came not his own voice, but the synchronized voice of the Doctor: "Game time is over, little mice. Especially you, 'Key'... it is time to return to your 'position'."

The Doctor could actually remotely control his employees directly?!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Countless energy beams poured down like a rainstorm! Covering every corner of the room!

"Take cover!" Ya roared, shoving the controlled technician into the incoming energy beams, while at the same time diving with Xiang Lingna behind the nearest server cabinet!

Pfft! That technician was instantly riddled by the dense energy beams!

Dense firepower poured crazily onto the server cabinets, shattering metal casings into flying fragments and sending electric sparks flying! Screens shattered, data streams chaotic! The entire room had turned into a purgatory!

Ya and Xiang Lingna were pinned down tightly behind the cabinet, unable to even lift their heads! Stray bullets occasionally grazed their hiding place, leaving them in mortal danger!

"He's trying to force us out! Or kill us right here!" Ya gritted his teeth, trying to find an opportunity to counterattack, but the firepower was simply too fierce!

Xiang Lingna tightly gripped the white jade disk and the "Tear" fragment in her hands, her heart burning with anxiety. These two items seemed to possess protective power, but facing such dense firepower, they were afraid they could not hold out for long!

Was it really going to end like this?

Just in this moment of despair, her gaze was suddenly drawn to a console nearby on the floor, its screen shattered by stray bullets. Although that console was smoking, its core seemed to still be operating, and rows of incomplete code and data packets were stubbornly scrolling on its screen!

And one data packet identifier that flashed by... she actually found it somewhat familiar! That complex encoding style, carrying a certain unique rhythm... it looked exactly like... Zero?!

A crazy thought flashed through her mind like lightning!

Although Zero's core data had been destroyed, her fragments... her partial code... could they still remain in the depths of the Ark's network? Just like those soul fragments in the Hall of Echoes?

The Doctor's network defense was extremely strong, but at this moment, because of the fierce battle and destruction, the defense system of this data node seemed to have developed extremely subtle, brief disturbances and loopholes!

And the "Tear" fragment in her hand contained a certain pure, high-level energy signal possibly related to the World Tree's origin... could this signal serve as a special "key" or "bait" to attract and gather those remaining data fragments belonging to Zero?!

There was no time to hesitate!

Xiang Lingna gritted her teeth suddenly, ignoring Ya's surprised gaze, and suddenly protruded her body from behind the cover, slamming the "Tear" fragment in her hand, which emitted a faint two-colored halo, hard against the data interface of that smoking console!

"Zero—! If you are still there—! Answer me—!" She used all her strength to let out a hoarse, desperate cry, while pouring all her will, all her calls, along with that trace of origin energy from the fragment, into it without reservation!

Crackling—!

The instant the fragment touched the interface, it erupted with astonishing energy sparks! The entire console screen suddenly lit up with dazzling Bai Guang! Countless garbled codes and broken data streams flooded the screen like an explosion!

The dense energy shooting seemed to pause for an extremely brief moment because of this!

The Doctor's cold laughter also stopped abruptly, as if feeling a slight surprise at this sudden change.

The next second, an extremely weak, intermittent, yet infinitely familiar electronic synthesized voice, as if painfully gathering from the extremely distant abyss of the network, came out intermittently through the console's speaker:

【... Lin... na...?... Detected... high-purity... order energy... signal...】【... Attempting... to reassemble... core... protocol...】【... Warning... network... defense... system... is... locking... position...】

It was Zero! It was really Zero! Even if only broken echoes remained!

Xiang Lingna's eyes instantly welled with hot tears!

"... Help me... Zero... We need to... disrupt this place..." Xiang Lingna shouted urgently.

【... Understood... Permissions... Insufficient... But... Can utilize... Current... Chaos... Execute... "Garbage Data... Flood"... Protocol...】 【... Hold on...】

The data streams on the control console instantly turned violent! Countless meaningless, redundant garbage data packets carrying erroneous commands, like floodwaters bursting a dam, poured crazily into the laboratory's network system from that damaged node as the source!

The entire room's defensive weapon system suddenly stalled! Firing became chaotic and disordered, some even beginning to attack each other! The alarm sounds became shrill and garbled! The indicator lights flashing on the walls flickered wildly!

The corpse of the technician controlled by the doctor also twitched once, the white light in its eyes going out.

The network paralysis tactic worked! Though it might only last an extremely brief moment!

"Nicely done!" Crow instantly understood. He seized this hairsbreadth opportunity, dashed out fiercely from behind cover, and with his pulse pistol fired precise aimed shots, silencing several of the most threatening automated weapons!

"Over there!" Crow pointed to the other side of the room, at the laboratory entrance flickering with a ghostly blue barrier! "The barrier seems to have been disrupted too!"

Sure enough, that layer of ghostly blue energy barrier had now become extremely unstable, flickering on and off, as if it might disappear at any moment!

This was the only chance!

The two of them rushed toward the laboratory entrance without a care for anything!

Just at the instant they were about to touch that unstable barrier—

Boom!!!

The heavy metal door of the laboratory, emblazoned with the doctor's insignia, was suddenly blasted open from within by a blast of indescribable, pure energy mixed with dark red and pitch-black colors!

A cold, furious voice, filled with absolute will, exploded from behind the door like a sudden thunderclap:

"Enough!!!"