Chapter 41: Moonlight Barrier, the Light of Annihilation and the Doctor's Defeat

Blinding light devoured heaven and earth, time seeming to freeze at the instant annihilation cannon fire collided with burning thorns.

On the top platform of the "Scavenger," the Doctor's gold-rimmed glasses reflected the destructive flash. The cold smirk of total control at the corner of his mouth stiffened, then was replaced by incredulous shock. What he saw was not his target being vaporized, but the throne built of burning thorns and luminous moonlight—standing firm within a plasma torrent hot enough to melt steel!

"Impossible! Energy readings… chaotic superposition! Spatial parameters… abnormally distorted! What kind of power is this?!" the Doctor roared in a strangled voice, his tone losing its icy, calculating edge for the first time, leaving only the horror of facing the unknown. The energy-annihilation equation he had so carefully designed looked utterly pale and powerless before this wildly grown barrier fused with laws from another world!

Inside the Thorn Wang Zuo, the scene was hellish.

Violent energy impacts seeped through the thorn barrier, forming countless turbulent currents that tore the air. Lin Mo felt every bone in his body groaning; each breath carried the taste of blood and searing air. He shielded Sister Ai Li with everything he had. The Seed of Life squeezed out its last shred of power, transforming into a thin yet resilient emerald membrane that barely withstood the slicing of the energy currents.

Sister Ai Li's condition was worse. Forcibly maintaining the throne's core, the moonlight crystal in her hands trembled violently, its pure light flickering like a candle in the wind, guttering on the verge of extinction. Every bombardment from the annihilation beam struck like a heavy hammer against her soul. The corrupted wooden spike in her chest sank another inch under the energy impact; the agony made her vision flash black. She clenched her silver teeth, blood continuously spilling from the corners of her mouth, staining the tattered remnants of her moon-white priestess robe.

"Ugh—ah—!" Sister Ai Li let out a pained groan suppressed to the extreme, her body shuddering violently. A teeth-grinding cracking sound came from the throne's outer wall; several burning thorn pillars, under the sustained bombardment of the beams, finally could hold no longer and crumbled to ash!

A massive breach appeared in the thorn barrier! A destructive deep-blue beam, like a venomous dragon that had found an outlet, roared and poured in!

The breath of death instantly descended!

At this critical moment, a desperate resolve of mutual destruction exploded in Sister Ai Li's eyes! She no longer tried to maintain the entire throne, but poured all her will, all her pain, all her longing for life and her killing intent toward the enemy into the moonlight crystal in her hands!

"Priestess Liyana—! Let the moon be a blade—!"

She screamed hoarsely, her voice piercing through the roar of energy, carrying the ancient cadence of the elven tongue!

Hum—!

The moonlight crystal erupted with unprecedented, sun-like blazing silver light! This radiance was no longer gentle, but filled with a sharpness that pierced through all corruption and annihilation! No longer passively defending, it transformed into a silver light pillar condensed to the extreme, like a spear of judgment piercing the darkness, following the breach in the throne, against the tide of annihilation beams, stabbing viciously toward the "Scavenger"!

BOOM—!!!

Dual-colored streams of destruction collided in midair! Silver light and deep blue wildly tore, annihilated, devoured each other! Space twisted violently, forming ripples visible to the naked eye! A terrifying shockwave, centered on the point of collision, expanded outward violently in a spherical shape!

Crack! Crack-crack-crack!

The "Scavenger's" indestructible pale-blue energy force-field shield, under the impact of the silver light spear, was like glazed glass struck by a heavy hammer—instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks! Immediately after, under the Doctor's horrified gaze, the shield let out a wail of unbearable strain and shattered with a crash!

Though the silver light spear was largely canceled out by the annihilation beams, the remaining energy fragments imbued with moonlight's purifying power splashed down like a torrential rain upon the "Scavenger's" thick armor plating!

Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle—!

A teeth-grinding sound of corrosion rang out! The armor sections struck by the silver fragments instantly lost their cold metallic luster, as if doused with strong acid, rapidly turning dull, softening, even beginning to melt! The precision circuits and conduits beneath the armor plates were exposed, flashing with dangerous electric sparks! One of the thickest fragments struck with precision at the base joint of the main gun turret!

"Warning! Force-field shield collapse! Main armor suffering unknown energy corrosion! Structural integrity down to 43%! Main gun turret base damaged! Unable to maintain stable charging!" The shrill alarm blared frantically inside the "Scavenger"!

"No—! My masterpiece!" The Doctor's heart ached as if torn apart. Watching the "rust" and melted pits appear on the outer shell of the ultimate weapon he had spent countless hours of blood and sweat crafting—this was harder to bear than being killed! The symbol of power he relied upon to control the wasteland was being defiled, being destroyed!

After delivering its final strike, the Thorn Wang Zuo could no longer be sustained. The burning thorns snapped and dissipated inch by inch; the moonlight's radiance dimmed completely. The crystal in Sister Ai Li's hands turned ashen, losing all its luster, with even fine cracks appearing on its surface. Her body went limp and she fell straight backward, caught by Lin Mo in a single embrace—her touch ice-cold, her breath faint to the extreme.

In the center of the depression, only a massive ring-shaped crater formed of thorn wreckage and scorched earth remained, along with two figures in the crater, supporting each other and covered in wounds.

On the "Scavenger," the Doctor's expression shifted from shocked fury to utter gloom. He looked down at Lin Mo, who though swaying on the verge of collapse still had unyielding eyes; at the moonlight crystal that had exhausted its power yet successfully grievously wounded his fortress; and then at the shocking scars on his own vessel…

"Target… threat level… reassessment…" the Doctor's voice was bone-chillingly cold, carrying fury suppressed to the extreme. "Spatial node… otherworldly energy… must be obtained! 'Scavenger,' activate emergency disengagement protocol! Coordinates: main base! Retreat!"

He could not take the risk. Though the Thorn Wang Zuo had vanished, the bizarre power the opponent had displayed gave him pause. More importantly, the "Scavenger" was severely damaged—especially after the armor had been corroded by that silver light, its defensive capability greatly reduced. He did not dare gamble on whether the opponent still had hidden cards. The intelligence on the spatial node and energy source was already sufficient; he needed to return, repair his fortress, and gather greater strength!

The "Scavenger's" massive hull let out a reluctant roar. Its damaged main gun turret drooped powerlessly; the treads turned, rolling over the ruins, trailing billowing dust, slowly retreating in the direction it had come from. That retreating figure was no longer one of invincible crushing force, but carried disarray and a bone-deep hatred.

Watching the steel behemoth disappear into the dust, Lin Mo's taut nerves suddenly relaxed. His vision went black, and clutching the unconscious Sister Ai Li, he collapsed together onto the scorched black earth. Wrench and Xiang Lingna scrambled out from behind cover, their faces a mix of the wild joy of having survived a catastrophe and endless worry.

The depression, a deathly silent victory. In Sister Ai Li's hands, the moonlight crystal—deep within its cracks, a thread of almost imperceptible purple stain, like a living thing, quietly spread. And deeper in the distant Withered Forest, at the edge of the silver pure-land weakened by the crystal's power being over-drawn, those two turbid yellow giant eyes slowly opened, greedily locking onto Priestess Liyana upon the World Tree's remains, now even weaker…