Chapter 72: Inverted Ark, the Echo of Traps, and the Shattered Space

Purple-black withered mist clung to exposed skin like a living thing, thick and sticky, bringing a chilling sting and a nauseating sliminess. The stench of decay was so dense it seemed to solidify; every breath felt like swallowing poison. The wrench's "Abyss Probe" blared a shrill overload alarm, its screen's purple bar graph representing decay concentration nearly maxed out.

"It's no use! If we go further, the thorn-steel energy circuits in the probe's core will corrode and collapse!" The wrench clamped down hard on the metal case, its surface coated in a slick layer of black dew that continuously eroded the armor plating.

Lin Mo stopped, gripping the "Earth Vein Arbiter" in his hand. The four-colored glow of the hilt emblem flickered in the mist like a candle in the wind; the Anchor of Order's blue light struggled to purge the filth within a few feet around him. He focused his perception on the faint emerald signal the probe had detected—right at the heart of the mist, inside the inverted structure tightly entwined by countless thick, serpent-like vines oozing purple-black pus. The structure was shattered, like a wrecked ark fallen from the sky and plunged obliquely into the earth; its twisted metal frame still bore traces of old-world technology, but was smothered in thick, pulsating mats of decayed fungus.

"The signal… it's gone!" The wrench suddenly cried out, voice filled with despair, "Just now! Like something… cut it off!"

In the instant the signal vanished, a sudden transformation erupted!

Hum—!

A powerful, invisible pulling force surged from the direction of the inverted ark's wreckage! Lin Mo and the others were like trapped in invisible mud, their bodies helplessly dragged toward the vine-wrapped death zone! Simultaneously, the surrounding mist churned violently; countless hidden withered monsters—half-human, half-plant corrupted tree-beings, slime-dripping bone aggregates, and other unnameable twisted abominations—emerged from shadows and decayed soil, shrieking with hunger, rushing forward like sharks scenting blood!

"Trap!" Sister Ai Li cried sharply, silver light exploding from her fingertips! The Thorned Moonlight Shield instantly coalesced before them, its thick silver surface swirling with thorn runes, forcibly holding back the powerful pull! But the shield trembled violently under the dual assault of the monsters' charges and the pulling force, its silver radiance rapidly dimming!

"Not Rot Claw!" Lin Mo's pupils contracted. His Inner Anchor of Order surged violently—he clearly sensed the core of that pulling force was not pure decay, but... a cold, precise, intensely technological energy field! Same origin as the Sanctuary's Order energy, yet saturated with twisted malice! The Doctor's work!

"Grab onto me!" Tong Xu's voice roared as if in their ears. Lin Mo acted instantly, channeling Thorn Will into the earth. Thick stone roots burst from the ground, coiling around their waists like ship anchors, driving deep into the earth to resist the pull!

"Wrench! Disrupt it!" Lin Mo roared.

"Got it!" The wrench's face twisted with madness. He yanked open a side panel on the probe case, revealing the humming, orange-red-hot thorn-steel core inside. He pulled out several crude energy conduits, jammed them violently into the core's interface, and connected the other ends to several spiked energy jamming rods ripped from the "Clearer."

"Taste the Wrench's 'noise'!" He slammed down a red button.

Wooooo—!!!

A piercing, chaotic, ear-splitting burst of energy noise erupted from the thorn-steel core in a fan shape! The invisible shockwave swept forward; the foremost withered monsters froze, staggered, and began tearing at each other as if struck by invisible hammers. The technological field binding the three flickered violently like a bad signal—the pulling force sharply weakened!

"Now's our chance!" Sister Ai Li's eyes flashed silver. The Moonlight Silk Net instantly contracted and condensed into a massive silver blade, radiating bone-chilling purifying cold, slashing down at the thickest of the vines binding the inverted ark's wreckage!

Sssshhh—!

The silver blade cut through like a hot knife through oil! The struck vines shrieked in agony, gushing purple-black pus from the wound, which was instantly frozen and purified by Moonlight energy, rapidly withering and snapping. The massive inverted ark's wreckage, losing part of its support, groaned with tortured metal, tilting violently to one side!

In the gap exposed by the tilt, a hidden alloy entrance—covered in scorch marks and broken pipes—suddenly appeared. Along its edge, a device emitting faint, flickering ghost-blue light, resembling the Sanctuary's geometric core but riddled with cracks, projected a distorted hologram—a blurred, white-coated humanoid silhouette stared coldly at them. The Doctor!

"Welcome to… the Annihilation Outpost." A cold, emotionless electronic voice directly echoed into the three's minds.

Boom—!!!

The instant the Doctor's image vanished, the ghost-blue device at the wreckage's base erupted in blinding light! A spatial distortion field a hundred times stronger than before exploded outward! Within a hundred meters centered on the wreckage, space shattered like broken glass, instantly crisscrossed with countless black fissures! The earth tore open, ancient trees were shredded into dust by twisted spatial fragments, light bent wildly, forming a bizarre, disorienting labyrinth of death!

"Spatial chaos trap!" The wrench's voice cracked with tears; his probe's screen instantly flooded with static and garbled code!

Lin Mo felt the world spin. The ground beneath his feet vanished. The thorn roots wrapped around his waist were torn apart inch by inch by the violent spatial forces! He poured every ounce of strength into activating the Anchor of Order's blue light to shield himself, then reached out for Sister Ai Li—the closest to him!

Chaotic spatial shards sliced like invisible blades against his protective blue glow. Just as his fingers neared Sister Ai Li's arm, a massive spatial rift yawned open like a ravenous maw between them—within it, a churning void of chaotic energy, utterly hopeless!

"Lin Mo—!" Sister Ai Li's cry was swallowed by the raging spatial storm.

Lin Mo's eyes bulged as he helplessly watched Sister Ai Li's figure swept into the wreckage's depths by another chaotic spatial vortex. His own body, shielded by the Anchor of Order's blue light, was flung in another direction, crashing violently into a pile of twisted metal debris. Pain exploded through him—his vision went black.

In the chaos, Tong Xu's terrified scream seemed to come from far away, then was swallowed by the spatial tempest.