Chapter 89: Moonfall Thorns, The Last Song of the Furnace's Embers and the Sapling

Ten seconds.

In the Sea of Stardust, the Wrench's probe box was like a leaf in a storm. The Dark Purple Mark on Lin Mo's right arm had swollen to the size of a fist; countless dark, spiky energy patterns danced wildly, and at its core, an extreme, pitch-black point capable of swallowing all light was forming! The terrifying annihilation energy made the metal shell of the probe box groan under the strain. The Wrench futilely released weak streams of interference energy, tears mixing with sweat blurring his vision. He seemed to already see the moment that pitch-black point would explode, turning the Boss and himself completely into cosmic dust.

On the Wasteland Barrier, Copperbeard's single eye nearly burst! He saw Sister Ai Li's withered claw gathering destructive claw-glow, and more importantly, the target locked by that claw's destructive aura—the withered sapling beside Xiang Lingna! That was not only Xiang Lingna's sustenance, but also the symbol of the last trace of natural life in the Heart of Thorns! At the same time, the crystal clusters on the backs of the three corrupted giant scorpion turrets lit up with destructive purple light again, their targets still the tottering barrier! The remaining rotting flying dragons in the air let out greedy hisses and dove down!

Ahead was Sister Ai Li's destructive claw aura (of the same origin as the Seed of Annihilation), outside was the barrage from the giant scorpion turrets, above was the pounce of the flying dragons, and within was the dying wail of the furnace about to overload and collapse! The Heart of Thorns had fallen into a death trap surrounded on all sides!

"Roar—!!" Copperbeard unleashed a roar from the depths of his soul like a trapped beast! This roar drowned out the furnace's roar, drowned out the monsters' hisses! His massive mechanical prosthetic hand no longer suppressed the wild leyline energy; instead, he forcibly diverted the destructive energy of the furnace core, which was on the verge of collapsing and exploding, along with the overloaded earth-fire, into the barrier's Thorns Steel Wheel System!

"Burn! Burn this iron body to ash! Burn through this damn apocalypse!"

Boom-boom-boom—!!!

The entire barrier let out a dying wail! The massive iron thorn wheel, under the infusion of unimaginable energy, instantly erupted with a blindingly bright white light! The thorn wood on the wheel's edge carbonized and disintegrated, and the steel spikes melted and deformed! Two massive wheels, like out-of-control fiery windmills, were violently flung out of the barrier by the overloaded energy! Dragging long trails of flame, carrying the momentum of mutual destruction, they traced two resolute arcs and crashed hard into two of the charging corrupted giant scorpion turrets!

This was the final counterattack of the embers after the furnace burned the city!

At the same time, atop the battlements. The last trace of "human" emotion in Sister Ai Li's eyes completely vanished, leaving only an ice-cold, ten-thousand-year-old will of destruction. She abandoned all suppression, pouring her remaining life essence and the power of moonlight entirely into that thorn-wrapped destructive claw aura!

"With the moon as the guide... with blood as the oath... Thorns... Pierce!"

Hiss—!!!

A spear of destruction, condensed to the extreme and composed of thorn-shaped purple-black runes, left her hand! Ignoring spatial distance, it instantly pierced the center of the cannon mouth of the third giant scorpion turret, which was spewing destructive purple light!

There was no explosion, only a crisp sound like glass shattering!

Boom!!!!!!!

A terrifying internal explosion occurred! The giant scorpion turret was torn apart from within! Purple-black energy mixed with the power of moonlight turned into a destructive storm that swept through! Monsters nearby were instantly torn to shreds! The two burning wheels that crashed into it were also swept up, turning into a sky full of molten fragments!

The barrier, finally, under this terrifying impact so close at hand, met its final collapse!

Boom-boom-boom—!!!

The furnace core exploded completely! A scorching white fireball rose into the sky! Burning thorn steel shattered like fragile eggshells! Massive structural components twisted, snapped, and were thrown into the air! The entire Rock Barrier collapsed with a crash amidst the soaring flames and dust! Countless rocks, burning metal, and broken thorn wood rained down like a storm!

"No—!" The Wrench (in the Sea of Stardust) watched in despair as the signal representing the Heart of Thorns barrier, returned by the detector, completely vanished.

On the slope of the collapsing barrier, Sister Ai Li, who had just delivered the final blow, fell backward like she had lost all support. The tumor on her left arm completely lost control; purple-black patterns instantly spread across her entire face and neck, and her ice-blue right eye was completely covered by a lifeless gray film. She fell from the high ruins, her silver hair scattering in the firelight and dust.

Beside the leyline fissure, Xiang Lingna was thrown up and down by the violent tremors, and the withered sapling was buried under the falling scorched earth.

Copperbeard was violently blown away by the blast wave in the explosion, crashing heavily into the burning ruins far away; his mechanical prosthetic eye flickered a few times and then went out completely.

The storm of destruction swept over the battlefield, temporarily obscuring everything.

Inside the observation station, the Doctor watched the signal showing the Heart of Thorns turned to ruins, and the faint blue-white starlight on Lin Mo's chest returned by the detector (at the edge of the Seed of Annihilation's explosion), Sister Ai Li's falling withered figure, Xiang Lingna's weak buried signal, and the last dissipating aura of the World Tree's origin from the withered sapling. The status of the Seed of Annihilation, after 【Activation Command Confirmed】, strangely got stuck at the 【Critical Point of Energy Explosion】; that destructive pitch-black point did not spread as expected!

【Warning: Seed of Annihilation (Primordial Erosion Unit) energy release blocked! An unknown order energy (Stardust) and high-purity life essence (World Tree) mixed field has formed a temporary suppression barrier! Explosion delayed (time unknown)!】

"Stardust... World Tree origin..." The Doctor's cold electronic synthesized voice carried a barely perceptible fluctuation for the first time, like confusion, or perhaps... some interest beyond calculation. "To form such a resilient composite barrier at the very moment the annihilation command was issued... an interesting symbiotic resistance phenomenon." He pulled up the analysis of the last dissipating origin aura from the withered sapling.

【Energy spectrum comparison: Compatibility with 'Key' Project (Ark Seven Top Secret File) 'World Tree Origin Sample - Alpha': 99.98%...】

【Conclusion: Confirmed 'Key' carrier (World Tree sapling) completely destroyed... origin dissipated... unrecoverable...】

"Carrier destroyed... origin dissipated..." The Doctor's gaze behind his glasses flickered slightly. "'Key' Project... Phase One failed. But the 'Seed of Annihilation' implant (Lin Mo) survived and obtained critical symbiotic resistance sample data... The Phase Two experimental field needs re-evaluation." He looked at the main screen again; above the ruins shrouded in dust and fire, the faint light points representing Lin Mo, Sister Ai Li, Xiang Lingna, Copperbeard, and the Wrench were like the last sparks in a gale.

"Survival... struggle... evolution... bloom amidst deeper despair..." The Doctor's lips twitched upward extremely slightly. "Final Annihilation Protocol... execution suspended." He closed the ruin footage and brought up another set of coordinates—deep within the Withered Forest, an area shrouded in eerie purple mist, where the outline of a dilapidated tree-shaped building loomed faintly. New data streams began to refresh.

Wasteland ruins, dust yet to clear.

On the scorched earth, Copperbeard struggled to crawl out from the rubble, spitting out the sand and dirt in his mouth. Agony swept through his body; his left eye was a hollow socket, and the wounds on his back and chest were gruesome. His single eye burned red as he looked toward the nearby vine basket—a few burning boulders were falling! And inside the vine basket, Lin Mo's charred body remained unconscious!

"Boss!" Copperbeard roared, dragging his injured leg and lunging forward!

In the sky, a few rotting flying dragons that had narrowly escaped the explosion circled, their scarlet compound eyes locking onto the moving figures in the ruins, letting out greedy hisses.

The spark of hope swayed amidst the embers, and a new crisis had quietly descended.