Chapter 246

A cold, ancient synthesized voice seemed etched directly onto her soul, each syllable bearing undeniable authority and a crushing weight capable of annihilating all.

【Authorization Request: Initiating ‘Ark·Genesis’ Protocol… Connecting to ‘Heart’… Awakening ‘Core’…】【Warning: Protocol initiation is irreversible… Carrier faces high risk of disintegration… Confirm?】

【Yes/No】

Amid excruciating pain and torrential energy, her consciousness flickered like a candle in a hurricane; Lingna could barely think. Disintegration risk? What did that mean? Total death? Or a restructuring of form?

She had no time to weigh pros and cons. The doctor’s gaze—mixed with greed and fanaticism—felt tangible, ready to swallow her whole at any moment to fulfill his mad scheme.

Rather than become the doctor’s sacrificial vessel for his new god, she would stake everything on this unknown, deepest ‘Final Protocol’ from the Ark itself!

Without hesitation, Lingna poured her last shred of consciousness into a decisive reply to the cold voice:

【Yes!】

As if pressing a button that decided the fate of the universe.

Time… stopped.

No, not truly stopped. Rather, everything she perceived was infinitely stretched, slowed.

The energy fragments of the ‘tears’ flooding her body no longer raged—they became a gentle stream, in ways she could not comprehend, meticulously sorting and weaving together the conflicting forces within her: purified white light, thorned silver radiance, scarred silver-gray, and even her own faint primordial essence.

Her body became a complex energy furnace and circuit board, every cell torn apart, analyzed, then reassembled in a more optimized, harmonious form. The agony remained, yet strangely coexisted with a new, indescribable sense of ease.

Her consciousness was forcibly lifted, as if rising to an immense dimension, overlooking… no, perceiving the entire Ark!

She ‘saw’ the colossal, slowly rotating main energy core—the ‘Heart’—its interior slumbering with unimaginable power.

She ‘saw’ the ‘Core’—a neural network spanning every corner of the Ark—most regions dark, smothered and blocked by the doctor’s pale energy.

She ‘saw’ the silent, ancient artifacts deep within the ‘Legacy Corridor’, brimming with unknown power.

She even faintly ‘saw’ the ‘Mother’ stirring beneath the Seventh Ecological Garden, and deeper still, a pair of vast, crimson eyes—like stars—slowly opening, as if sensing something…

And the core of all this perception? Herself. She had become a temporary, connecting… nexus!

【Protocol confirmed… Permission verified (temporary)… Connecting to ‘Heart’…】

The cold synthesized voice echoed again, pulling her back to reality.

Outside, the doctor’s ecstatic expression froze, replaced by a flicker of doubt. He too sensed a fundamental, uncontrollable shift in the surrounding energy field!

“What did you do?!” The doctor shouted in shock and fury, his black eye violently rippling—as if the ‘Void’ he connected to also sensed threat and rejection!

He no longer waited. His hands, wrapped in dual-colored energy, lunged again toward Lingna, trying to forcibly interrupt the process!

Yet, the instant his hand neared Lingna—

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—!!!!

A sound beyond description—a deep, primordial hum, ancient as the dawn of time, yet potent enough to shake the stars—erupted from the deepest depths of the Ark—from the main energy core, the ‘Heart’!

Every corner, every inch of metal, every energy current within the Ark trembled at that moment…

The doctor’s movement froze. For the first time, terror flickered across his face. “No… impossible! The ‘Heart’ has been dormant… I spent countless efforts just to harness its surface… Who?! Who is awakening it?!”

In answer came an even greater surge of energy!

Centered on Lingna, a pure column of brilliant white light erupted skyward (though confined indoors), instantly piercing through the chamber’s ceiling, through deck after deck, as if aiming to pierce the Ark and reach the cosmos!

Within the column, countless ancient spirit runes and Pioneer geometric patterns flowed, intertwined, and restructured like living entities.

【Connection successful… Awakening ‘Core’… Expelling unauthorized permissions…】

The cold synthesized voice sounded like a verdict.

The doctor let out a furious, resentful roar—he felt his permissions over the Ark’s system being forcibly stripped and expelled by an unstoppable, higher will emanating from the Ark itself! The nodes he had suppressed and twisted were disconnecting one by one!

The dual-colored energy—crimson and black—wrapping his body grew wildly unstable, clashing violently, as if severed from its root, turning against him!

“No! This is my Ark! My achievement!” The doctor frantically tried to stabilize his energy, resisting the omnipresent expulsion force, while launching even fiercer attacks toward Lingna within the light column. “As long as I get you! As long as I get the ‘Primordial Light’!”

But his strikes struck the column like mud thrown into the sea—only faint ripples formed, unable to shake it even slightly. At this moment, Lingna was shielded and empowered by the Ark’s full power!

Within the column, Lingna felt her consciousness slowly merging with a vast, ancient, weary yet resilient will. Was it… the Ark’s will? Or perhaps the collective guardian program implanted by Elder Elana and countless Pioneers into the ‘Heart’ and ‘Core’?

Countless fragmented memories, knowledge, and information flooded her mind—overwhelming, chaotic, threatening to drown her.

She saw the Ark’s glorious construction, the devastation of the catastrophe, Elder Elana’s resolute sorrow as she activated the ‘Deep Root Protocol’, and how the doctor had seized power, conducting mad experiments…

Simultaneously, she now clearly perceived the true nature of the two forces within the doctor—‘Hunger’ stemmed from the World Tree’s corruption, the ‘Sorrow’; the ‘Void’ energy was older, more terrifying—a monstrous entity from beyond the world, seeking to devour all and reduce existence to absolute ‘Nothing’. The doctor was merely playing with fire!

【Core awakening: 15%… Energy allocation optimized… Attempting repair of damaged zones…】

The cold synthesized voice reported progress.

The entire Ark seemed to slowly awaken from a long slumber. Lights once suppressed by the doctor flickered back to steady brightness; paralyzed systems gradually resumed function; energy flows became orderly and efficient.

Even distant cries of joy from trapped personnel and panicked shouts from the doctor’s troops echoed through the corridors!

Hope seemed to be descending.

Yet Lingna felt a deep, irresistible weakness rapidly consuming her. Maintaining this connection, guiding the Ark’s power, was destroying her! Her body was dissolving from within, turning into particles of light, vanishing into the column!

【Warning: Carrier energy overload… Structural stability plummeting… Estimated time until complete disintegration: 3 minutes 42 seconds…】

This… was the cost of initiating the protocol!

“Lingna!” Below, Ya struggled to lift his head, seeing Lingna’s figure within the column growing translucent, as if ready to vanish at any moment, and cried out in anguish.

Even the doctor noticed Lingna’s state. His twisted face twisted again into a cruel, mad grin. “Hah… hahaha! Fool! Do you think willpower alone can command the Ark’s power? This is suicide! When you disintegrate, the ‘Primordial Light’ and your core essence will still be mine!”

Within the column, Lingna’s consciousness began to blur. The shadow of death had never been clearer.

Is this how it ends? Sacrificing herself for the Ark’s brief awakening and the doctor’s plan being thwarted?

She couldn’t accept it… She hadn’t saved Sister Ai, hadn’t seen Brother Lin Mo, hadn’t…

Just as her consciousness was about to be utterly scattered, her body’s disintegration surpassing the critical threshold—

Another transformation!

The white jade disc clutched tightly in her hand, and the ‘tears’ fragment pressed against her chest, suddenly resonated in perfect harmony!

The jade disc erupted in pure, protective white light—not expanding outward, but contracting inward, forming a cocoon that forcibly stabilized her crumbling structure!

The 'tears' fragment emitted a gentle, purifying, and nourishing energy, like the finest threads, frantically siphoning the overwhelming Ark energy within the column, converting it into warm, life-sustaining energy, and drawing it back into her body!

Disintegration… stopped!

Not only stopped—her body, under the combined influence of these two ancient forces from the ‘Legacy’ and the ‘Primordial’, amidst the Ark’s furious energy influx, began a true… destruction followed by rebirth, a renewal!

【External stabilization module detected… Energy conversion efficiency increased… Carrier structure reshaping…】【Warning: Reshaping process unknown… Outcome unpredictable…】

The cold synthesized voice now carried a hint of uncertainty.

Lingna felt as if immersed in a warm ocean, every cell rejoicing, pain replaced by supreme comfort, weakness swept away by surging power. Her body radiated brighter and brighter light, gradually eclipsing the Ark’s column!

The doctor’s smile froze again, replaced by disbelief and horror. “No! How?! Those two artifacts… they actually…”

Ya stared in shock, hope reigniting in his eyes.

The light gradually receded, revealing Lingna’s form within.

She still hovered in midair, but her appearance had changed utterly.

Her skin glowed with a faint luminescence, the thorn mark on her left arm transformed into intricate, exquisite silver patterns—living vines coiling around her arm, extending to her shoulder and neck. The silver-gray scar on her right leg became a dark-gold, lava-like pattern, radiating a sense of balance.

Deep within her eyes, her left eye shimmered with pure silver-white light, her right eye held deep, dark-gold hues.

In her hands, the white jade disc and ‘tears’ fragment had vanished, seemingly fully absorbed into her body. In their place, a tiny, complex mark now glowed on her forehead—a fusion of blue-white halos and dark-gold patterns.

A powerful, harmonious energy, yet tinged with an inhuman divinity, radiated from her.

She slowly opened her eyes, gazing calmly down at the doctor, utterly horrified.

【Carrier reshaping complete… New form stabilized… Initial compatibility with ‘Heart’ output achieved…】【Core awakening: 41%…】

Lingna slowly raised her hand, pointing at the doctor.

Her voice was calm, yet carried the will and power of the entire Ark:

“Doctor… your permission… has been revoked.”