Chapter 79: Dual Alarm: The Warning of Purple Blood and the Thorn

The breather of the Stone Wall was brief and precious. The worm tide’s filthy blood was washed away by high-pressure water, seeping into the blackened earth and leaving behind a pungent stench. Pale golden purification vines greedily absorbed the lingering scent of the World Tree’s new sprouts from the air, their leaves unfurling, specks of light flickering as they struggled to mend the corroded scars. Copperbeard and his craftsmen moved like frantic worker ants, their hammering never ceasing as they repaired the dull thorns on the “Iron Thorn” wheel and reinforced the thornsteel base of the energy shield’s core. The air reeked of rust, burnt metal, and a faint, refreshing greenness drifting from the direction of the earth vein fissure.

Elle leaned against the shadowed inner wall of the wall, her left arm rebandaged. The ointment crafted by Lingna, soaked in concentrated emerald sap, emitted a cooling scent that temporarily suppressed the pigeon-egg-sized, faintly pulsing dark purple tumor deep in her wound. Purple-black erosion patterns, like poisonous vines, coiled across her forearm, horrifying to behold. She refused to rest, her icy gaze fixed on the training ground’s center—several crude humanoid targets bound from scrap metal and radiation-beast leather. Her fingertips twitched; a thread of refined moonlight, sharp as a silver needle, shot out silently, piercing the target’s brow with perfect accuracy, leaving a charred hole. Her control over power was far weaker than before; each time she summoned moonlight energy, the tumor deep in her left arm throbbed like a needle prick, resonating with the searing mark on Lin Mo’s right arm, creating an unsettling harmony.

Lin Mo sat cross-legged at the edge of the platform near the earth vein fissure, eyes closed, meditating. He was not resting—he was performing a dangerous “inner sight.” His consciousness sank into the depths of his soul, carefully guiding a faint thread of earth vein energy like a probe toward the dark purple mark wrapped in the Order Anchor’s blue light. Each touch brought soul-rending agony and a cold, decaying whisper:

*“Release… devour her… merge as one…”*

The Order Anchor’s blue light flared violently, holding firm. Amid the pain, he traced the flow of the mark’s power, seeking its core’s vulnerable node. The dark purple glow on the sword guard flickered erratically, casting his pale face and furrowed brow in shifting light.

Suddenly—

Woooo—! Woooo—!

A shrill, distorted alarm tore through the territory’s fleeting calm without warning! Unlike the sharp, buzzing alarms of past worm tide or wither-beast attacks, this alarm carried a broken, whimpering rhythm like a dying creature’s moan!

“What’s going on?!” Copperbeard’s roar echoed from the furnace zone, metallic and grating.

Wrench scrambled out from behind his workbench, clutching the “Abyss Probe.” Its screen was no longer a stable scan interface but violently torn and overwritten by two wildly conflicting energy waveforms: one a steady, rapid blue pulse carrying the Sanctuary Core’s signature order frequency; the other a cold, lifeless purple line, like a tombstone!

“It’s the Sanctuary Core, boss!” Wrench’s voice cracked with tears, pointing at the struggling blue pulse. “It’s… begging for help! The signal’s incredibly weak—suppressed! And… and this!” He pointed in terror to a cluster of crimson, rapidly ticking digits beside the dead purple line: [Annihilation Seed Activation Countdown: 00:14:59]!

The Doctor’s countdown—like a death knell—seared directly into everyone’s consciousness!

“Begging? Countdown?” Copperbeard stormed to the screen, his mechanical eye flashing blue light frantically. “Location? Source?”

“Source… it’s overlapping!” Wrench frantically manipulated the screen, trying to separate the signals. “The distress signal and the countdown signal… they’re from the same coordinates! Right beneath us! Deep in the earth vein! Near the Sanctuary Core’s physical body!”

As if confirming his words, the ground beneath them trembled—faint, yet filled with intense agony and urgency—like the spasm of a sleeping giant whose heart had been pierced!

Lin Mo’s eyes snapped open, pupils contracting. The Sanctuary Core’s distress signal! The Doctor’s activated Annihilation Seed countdown! Both targeted the very roots of the Thorn Heart! He understood instantly: this was the Doctor’s dual kill—either watch the Sanctuary Core destroyed, losing the last order barrier and energy source of the territory; or descend into the lion’s den, walking straight into the lethal trap planted beside the Core!

“A trap! A blatant, open stratagem!” Copperbeard slammed his forging hammer into the ground, sparks flying, his stocky frame trembling with rage.

“What do we do, boss?” Wrench stared at the ticking crimson digits, voice shaking. “Going down is suicide! Not going down… the Sanctuary Core is lost, and so are we!”

Time slipped away in silence, each second hammering against taut nerves. 14 minutes 30 seconds… 14 minutes 29 seconds…

Then—a stifled groan came from the training ground!

Elle knelt half on the ground, her left arm violently shaking! The backlash from forcibly summoning moonlight energy to suppress the tumor had caused a loss of control—a sliver of moonlight thread grazed her own arm, spraying tiny droplets of blood! Worse, several drops of blood infused with dark purple corruption splattered onto the nearby training dummy!

Hssss—! Hssss—! Hssss—!

Where the purple blood struck, the beast leather and metal instantly smoked, as if corroded by strong acid! The tough leather rapidly turned gray and rotted; the metal was coated in a slimy, purple-black fungal patch. Within seconds, the dummy showed signs of mild corruption!

The horrifying infectivity made every refugee warrior gasp in horror—even Copperbeard’s mechanical eye froze for a moment.

Elle pressed hard against her left arm wound, staring at the dummy tainted by her own blood. For the first time, coldness flickered in her eyes… fear? Fear of the power within her.

“Elle!” Lin Mo appeared beside her in an instant, pouring Order Anchor blue light into her body, forcibly suppressing the surging tumor and spreading purple miasma. He stared at the rapidly decaying dummy, his heart growing colder. Elle’s corruption now had material transmissibility! If she was gravely wounded—or lost control—in battle…

The crimson countdown pulsed mercilessly: 00:13:45…

The moment of choice had come. Lin Mo’s gaze swept over the unconscious Lingna, the listless Tender Branch, the panicked refugees, the furious Copperbeard, and finally settled on Elle’s pale but stubborn face.

“Wrench! Give me the full spectral signature of the countdown signal! Maximum precision!” Lin Mo’s voice was like tempered steel—cold, decisive.

Wrench blinked, then lunged for the workbench, his fingers blurring over the probe. “On it! On it! The Doctor’s signal encryption is weird—has periodic interference waves…”

“Master Copperbeard!” Lin Mo turned to the dwarf, speaking rapidly. “Activate the wall’s highest defense level—‘Thorn Wall’! Divert all energy to the shield core and Iron Thorn! Abandon outer armor, contract the defense perimeter! Prepare… the furnace overload protocol!” His final words were heavy. Furnace overload meant detonating the earth vein furnace core in desperation, taking the enemy down with them!

Copperbeard’s mechanical eye blazed with blinding blue light as he nodded firmly. “Leave it to me! As long as I’ve got one breath left, the wall stands!”

Lin Mo turned last to Elle, his gaze complex. “You stay. Hold the wall. Suppress the corruption. Down there… it’s too dangerous.”

Elle snapped her head up, icy eyes locking onto Lin Mo, burning with resolve. “My blood… my corruption… only I know how it reacts near the Core!” She pressed against the pulsing tumor on her left arm, her voice trembling yet unwavering. “Let me be your probe! Before it swallows me whole… let me be useful!”

Lin Mo stared into her unyielding resolve, at the living purple tumor on her arm, then at the Sanctuary Core’s plea and the Doctor’s countdown… Time allowed no hesitation.

“…Follow me!” Lin Mo gritted his teeth, snatching up the “Earth Vein Arbiter.” The sword guard’s emblem glowed with four shifting colors; the dark purple portion flared violently as it sensed the mingled decay and order emanating from deep below.

“Wrench! Signal signature!”

“Got it, boss! The countdown signal’s carrier wave has a unique ‘hum’ gap—frequency is…” Wrench rattled off a complex set of data.

Lin Mo memorized the data, his gaze fixed on the heavily guarded alloy gate leading into the earth vein depths. Beyond it lay the slumbering Sanctuary Core—and the Doctor’s death trap, planted with the Annihilation Seed.

“Go!” Lin Mo hissed, his form shooting like lightning toward the gate. Elle followed close behind, the pulsing frequency of the purple tumor on her left arm suddenly accelerating—as if sensing a kindred presence.

Crimson countdown flickered in the corner of his vision: [00:11:17]. The fate of the Thorn Heart hung upon this unknown abyss descending into the earth’s core.