Chapter 245: Whispers of the Void and the Price of Choice

The heavy laboratory metal door, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, twisted, deformed, then violently exploded inward! Shattered metal fragments mixed with scorching energy streams shot outward like artillery shells!

A terrifying torrent of energy—indescribable, blending dark red “hunger,” ravenous greed, a bone-chilling void coldness, and the doctor’s familiar mad will—surged forth like a tidal wave from behind the door!

The deep blue energy barrier, directly in its path, failed to hold for even a second, shattering and vanishing like a soap bubble!

Lingna and Crow had no time to react before the horrific energy wave slammed them backward, hurling them hard against the server racks with a dull, thunderous crash!

“Ugh!” Lingna felt her internal organs shift out of place; a gush of blood spurted from her mouth, and the “Tear” fragment and white jade disc nearly slipped from her grasp. Old wounds and new pain erupted simultaneously; her vision blurred with darkness.

Crow’s condition was equally dire; he used his own body to shield Ellie behind him, but the impact still shattered his ribs, blood oozing from his lips. He struggled to rise but could not move.

The residual energy ravaged the cramped room, destroying every fragile device; electrical sparks exploded like fireworks in all directions.

Amid swirling dust, a figure slowly stepped forward from behind the shattered door.

It was the doctor.

But his current state filled Lingna and Crow with a soul-deep trembling.

He still wore his white lab coat, but its hem stirred without wind, as if brimming with terrifying energy. Around his body, two utterly distinct energies visibly twisted and spiraled—one familiar, nauseating dark red “hunger,” the other stranger, deeper, a void-like blackness that seemed to devour all light!

These two energies, which should have clashed violently, now barely fused on his exterior in an unstable, furious manner, forming a twisted energy armor. Half his face bloomed with greedy, twisted vascular patterns from the “hunger,” while the other half turned cold and lifeless as marble, devoid of any vitality.

His eyes, visible through cracked lenses, one glowed with dark red madness, the other became pure, lightless black—as if connected to endless void!

“I must admit… you little rodents… always bring me some… unexpected ‘surprises.’” The doctor spoke, his voice grotesquely layered—his original cold tone fused with another, inhuman whisper, hollow and echoing with infinite emptiness.

His gaze first fell on the “Tear” fragment still glowing faintly in Lingna’s hand; that dark red eye blazed with ultimate greed: “‘Primordial Light’… indeed… you always find the best things… this is precisely the final piece needed for the ultimate fusion!”

Then he turned to Crow, his black eye cold and merciless: “And you… my dear ‘Crow’… a failed modification, a fragmented spirit of an elf… your betrayal was accounted for… Perfect. Your life and soul will soothe ‘Him’’s slight… agitation.”

Finally, his gaze returned to Lingna; both greed and longing surged simultaneously: “And you… my perfect ‘key’ and ‘core’… your body, your soul, this wondrous balance within you… will become the supreme vessel to contain this great power!”

The doctor slowly raised one hand, its surface entwined with dark red and black energy, writhing like venomous snakes. “Abandon futile resistance. To become the cornerstone of a new era is your honor.”

A terrifying pressure descended like a physical weight, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

Lingna felt unprecedented despair. The doctor before her had surpassed her understanding of “power,” transformed into something far more terrifying, more ineffable! He didn’t merely control the “hunger”—he had somehow contacted something… even more dreadful… from the void!

“What… what have you done?!” Crow rasped, lifting his head with difficulty, eyes wide with disbelief and horror.

“What have I done?” The doctor’s lips curled into a mad, twisted grin. “I merely… opened a crack… in the ‘door’… that foolish ancestors feared and sealed.”

He pointed to his black eye: “Behold… this is true… ‘transcendence’! The endless whispers of the void beyond the world! Compared to this, ‘hunger’ is but a child’s cry!”

“Too bad… this power is too vast… too… cold… it requires sufficient ‘warmth’ and ‘structure’ to contain it…” His gaze burned again upon Lingna. “And you… my ‘key’… you are unique. You’ve been purified by ‘Primordial Light,’ yet mysteriously compatible with the ‘hunger’ mark (even purified) and the thorn’s protection… you are the only living vessel capable of balancing and stabilizing this void power!”

Lingna understood instantly! The doctor’s ultimate goal was to use her as a vessel to forcibly fuse “hunger” and the terrifying “void” power! This was his so-called “ascension” and “new era!”

Madness! Utter, complete madness!

“No…” Lingna gritted her teeth, struggling to grip the fragment and jade disc; a faint glow reignited as she attempted one final resistance.

“Foolish.” The doctor sneered, flicking his hand lightly.

An invisible force seized Lingna, hurling her off the ground! Immense pressure crushed her entire body; bones groaned under strain; her barely recovered injuries instantly worsened. She couldn’t move a single finger!

“Lingna!” Crow’s eyes bulged; he fought through agony to raise his gun—but another black energy bolt from the doctor’s other hand effortlessly struck him, vaporizing his pulse pistol into a pool of molten scrap. Crow spat blood and collapsed again.

Absolute power disparity! No possible resistance!

The doctor stepped toward Lingna, suspended in invisible restraints, eyes alight with fervor and possessiveness. “Don’t fear… the initial ‘fusion’ may be… painful… but when you become the new god, you will thank me…”

His hand, entwined with dual-colored energy, slowly reached toward Lingna’s forehead!

Lingna closed her eyes in despair.

Just as all hope vanished—

The girl behind Crow, Aly, who had remained unconscious, suddenly twitched her eyelids with the faintest motion. In her tightly clenched palm, an unseen, minuscule black earring—seemingly carved from bone—flashed a barely perceptible faint light.

Simultaneously, the white jade disc in Lingna’s chest sensed the doctor’s intense, same-origin “hunger” energy (though mutated), and erupted in an unprecedented brilliant white light! A pure protective barrier instantly unfurled, slamming into the doctor’s outstretched hand!

Hssss—!!!

Like cold water hitting scalding oil! The dark red energy on the doctor’s hand clashed violently with the white light, emitting a screeching corrosion sound. The doctor grunted in pain and snatched his hand back; his dark red eye flickered with shock and fury!

“Desperate struggle!” he roared, flooding his arm with more black energy to forcibly suppress and erode the protective white light!

The jade disc’s glow rapidly dimmed under the crushing pressure of void and hunger energies!

But this sudden interference instantly weakened the doctor’s hold on Lingna!

Now!

Lingna snapped open her eyes, summoning her last shred of will and strength—not to attack the doctor, but to slam the “Tear” fragment directly against her chest—right over her heart!

“In the name of… dawn… purify… my body!” She screamed from the depths of her soul!

Wuuuum—!!!

The “Tear” fragment erupted in an unprecedented dual-hued aura! Pure, immense purification energy exploded into her body, surging instantly through every limb and vein!

“Aaaagh—!!!”

Lingna screamed—a cry of agony laced with fleeting relief! The power was too immense, far beyond her body’s current limits; it felt as if it would tear her apart from within, purify her, elevate her!

Countless brilliant blue-white light patterns surfaced on her skin; the silver-gray scar on her right leg and the thorn mark on her left arm both ignited, frantically absorbing and channeling the energy, clashing yet merging with the invading purification force!

The doctor’s expression changed for the first time—not with anger, but with utter shock… and ecstasy?

“Perfect! Absolutely perfect!” He greedily watched Lingna writhing in purification energy, her body growing translucent. “To spontaneously draw such concentrated ‘Primordial Light’… your body’s potential and compatibility… far exceeds my expectations! You are truly the destined core!”

He no longer rushed to capture her; instead, he observed her transformation like a masterpiece nearing completion, waiting for the purification energy to reach its peak.

Meanwhile, Lingna’s consciousness floated in excruciating pain. She felt her body had become a battlefield—purification energy, thorn protection, residual hunger scars, and her own faint origin—locked in a perilous reshaping and balancing.

Just as her awareness teetered on the edge of total dissolution—

A cold, ancient voice, composed of countless tiny gears and electric currents, sounded without warning directly in the depths of her mind—similar to Zero’s, yet older, more… inhuman:

【High-concentration order energy detected… Conditions met for ‘Final Protocol’ activation…】【Carrier identified: Contradictory Symbiont (Order/Chaos·Balance Tendency)… Status: Highly unstable…】【Request authorization: Initiate ‘Ark·Genesis’ Protocol… Connect to ‘Heart’… Awaken ‘Core’…】【Warning: Protocol initiation is irreversible… Carrier faces high risk of disintegration… Confirm?】

【Yes/No】