Chapter 66

A cold, chaotic torrent of data, like poisoned thorns, struck without warning deep into Lin Mo’s consciousness! This assault was not the decaying whispers of Rotclaw, but something wilder, more disordered, brimming with malice—fragmented information!

【Breach vulnerability… coordinates…】

【Energy node… distribution…】

【Lord core… fluctuations…】

【Thornsteel… conduction… schematic…】

【Ali… purification force… frequency…】

【Lingna… jade affinity… vulnerability…】

Countless core data on the Thornheart’s defense system, spectra of Lin Mo’s own power fluctuations, even fragments of Ali and Lingna’s ability traits—mixed with sharp electronic noise and distorted imagery—flooded his nerves like a bursting dam! These fragments were forcibly implanted, brutally seared into his perception!

Worse still, this data torrent had been meticulously disguised! Its energy signature and transmission method mirrored Rotclaw’s revolting spiritual corruption almost perfectly. Embedded within the fragments were deliberately forged “prophecies” of Rotclaw’s imminent attack, laced with cruel mockery!

“Ugh—!”

Lin Mo let out a stifled cry of pain, his body convulsing as he clutched his skull with both hands! At the core of the Seed of Life, the Anchor of Order’s blue light flared wildly, trying to suppress this sudden storm of information—but the energy within the storm, disguised as Rotclaw’s signature, triggered violent resonance and agitation in the suppressed violet mark! Under this dual assault, the Anchor’s suppression cracked open instantly!

Hum—

The thorn emblem on the hilt of the "Earth Pulse Arbiter" blazed violently with dark purple! A cold, savage, ravenous aura of decay erupted uncontrollably from Lin Mo! Though instantly crushed back by the blue light of Order, that aura was unmistakably clear, undeniably evil!

“Lin Mo!”

“Boss!”

Ali, Copperbeard, Wrench, and Lingna jolted awake and rushed to his side. Ali’s fingertips shimmered with lunar light, her cool energy attempting to dispel the chill clinging to Lin Mo. Lingna’s jade-green aura also enveloped him.

But the next instant, Ali froze. She was closest—she had clearly sensed the decay aura erupting from Lin Mo, identical in origin to Rotclaw’s revolting corruption! Her pupils shrank sharply; her lunar light instinctively hardened with caution and chill! Though the aura vanished in an instant, its memory was seared into the minds of all who had just survived Rotclaw’s projection battle!

“What was that just now?” Copperbeard frowned, his forging hammer already gripped tight, his mechanical eye scanning the darkness warily. “Something got in?”

Wrench scrambled behind Copperbeard; Lingna’s face turned instantly pale.

Lin Mo forced himself to lift his head, his face as white as a ghost, his eyes unnervingly sharp. He saw the fleeting doubt and wariness in Ali’s gaze, the gravity in Copperbeard’s expression, the terror on Wrench and Lingna’s faces.

“It’s not me…” he rasped, trying to explain, “Something… is attacking me… it’s information… disguised as Rotclaw…”

Yet the core data fragments forcibly implanted in his mind—the breach vulnerabilities, the energy nodes, even the weaknesses in Ali and Lingna’s abilities—now gnawed at his reason like venomous snakes. Who? Who could know these details so precisely? A traitor? Or… had Rotclaw truly gained some incomprehensible infiltration ability?

The forged prophecy fragments within the data stream, predicting Rotclaw’s attack, also unsettled his mind.

“Attack? Where?” Ali’s voice turned icy; her lunar light did not recede, her gaze piercing the dim hollow. That fleeting decay aura from Lin Mo left her unable to fully trust. Trust, under Rotclaw’s relentless spiritual corruption, had cracked open its first fissure.

“I don’t know…” Lin Mo pressed his temples, the chaotic data clouding his thoughts. “The information… is fake… but its goal… is to split us apart…”

“Split?” Copperbeard snorted. “I reckon that damn claw’s playing tricks again! Everyone hold your positions! Ali, keep an eye on the Lord!” The dwarf preferred to believe it was Rotclaw’s trickery—but the aura Lin Mo had just emitted had planted a seed of doubt in his mind.

The atmosphere plunged to freezing. The comrades who had stood united moments ago now radiated silent suspicion and tension. Ali did not withdraw her lunar power, only stepped back slightly, her gaze shifting complexly between Lin Mo and the dark wasteland. Lingna clutched Ali’s sleeve tightly, staring fearfully at Lin Mo’s pained face.

Just as the tension of shattered trust reached its peak—another anomaly erupted!

Hum—

The entire Thornheart territory shuddered violently without warning! The epicenter was not the geopulse heart deep underground—but the outer Stone Wall!

The thornsteel armor plating on the wall’s exterior now emitted a low hum! Within each plate, the fine blue-green energy veins ignited like lit fuses, glowing fiercely—not steadily, but flickering chaotically! Especially in the core region previously torn by Rotclaw’s projection and later patched with thornsteel, the light flared most violently!

“What’s going on?!” Copperbeard gasped. “Armor overload? I didn’t activate the shield!”

Lin Mo snapped his head up, momentarily suppressing the chaos in his mind. He clearly felt the thornsteel armor now resonating violently—with the geopulse heart’s energy, with the life aura from the Jade Heart shard, even with the Seed of Life within him, guarded by the Anchor of Order!

“It’s… the Order and Life energy within the thornsteel… disturbed by the earlier information assault!” Lin Mo realized instantly! That disguised information torrent, meant to strike him, had spread like a virus—through some unknown link—polluting the fused Order and Life energy within the wall’s armor, triggering an energy circuit runaway!

Creak—

A grating, teeth-on-edge sound came from the wall! One thornsteel plate at the edge of the repair zone, under violent energy conflict, developed fine cracks! Blue-green light leapt erratically along the fracture edges!

“No! The energy conflict will tear the armor apart!” Wrench screamed.

“Suppress it!” Lin Mo, ignoring everything else, slammed the "Earth Pulse Arbiter" into the ground! He poured his will into the geopulse heart and the Jade Heart shard, trying to stabilize the energy within the thornsteel!

Ali acted instantly, her lunar light forming delicate threads, attempting to untangle the wild energy veins in the repair zone.

But the runaway energy was like a runaway steed! Lin Mo’s guidance was a drop in the ocean! Ali’s lunar threads were flung back by the chaotic energy field!

Just as the thornsteel armor was moments from being torn apart by its own energy—

Hum—

A deep, resilient, vast will suddenly awakened—without warning—from the blade in Lin Mo’s hand, from the thornsteel armor of the wall, from the geopulse heart, even from the pale gold vines clinging to the inner wall, nurtured by Lingna…

This will did not come from Lin Mo, nor from Ali, nor from anyone. It had slumbered for eons, carrying the weight of earth, the tenacity of thorns, the vigor of life, and… the unyielding resolve to protect home!

【…Home… damaged…】

【…Energy… chaotic…】

【…Will… coalescing…】

【…Thorns… are… territory…】

Faint thoughts echoed directly in everyone’s minds!

Then—a miracle occurred!

The violently flickering, conflicting blue-green light on the wall, under the dominion of this vast will, flowed like rivers returning to the sea—suddenly orderly, docile! The chaotic energy was forcibly calmed, flowing smoothly along the thornsteel’s internal veins! The cracked plate’s fracture edges no longer sparked—they healed slowly, as if welded by the most skilled artisan!

The vines clinging to the inner wall stirred without wind, their pale gold leaves emitting soft green light, merging into the thornsteel’s energy veins, bringing stable life aura.

The geopulse heart’s pulse grew steadier, stronger; its orange-red glow interwove with the wall’s blue-green shimmer.

Even the restless Seed of Life within Lin Mo, upon sensing this will, saw its orange core glow purer, denser—the blue light of the Anchor of Order and the dark violet corruption mark both temporarily suppressed by this grand will!

The ancient guardian will inherent in the Thornheart land itself—awakened fully under the triple assault of information pollution, energy runaway, and shattered trust!

On the main screen of the Doctor’s base, the display showed the thornsteel armor’s energy running wild, then instantly stabilizing. Though the vast guardian will could not be directly detected by instruments, the energy field’s shift—from extreme chaos to near-perfect harmony—was crystal clear on the Doctor’s display.

【Unknown high-level will detected!】

【Target territory energy coherence increased to 97.8%!】

【“Information Pollution” tactic failed!】

【Warning: Unpredicted variable detected (suspected awakening of world fragment’s primordial will)! Threat level reassessing…】

【“Annihilation Seed” protocol… data updating… simulating…】

On the Doctor’s cold lenses, the screen’s near-perfect energy stability curve was reflected. His finger, hovering over the interface, paused—for the first time—with the faintest tremor.