Chapter 426: Reverse Deconstruction, Every Second Counts

The Yage clone was entangled by vines, its movements restricted, but the Void Energy it released was rapidly corroding the vines. Lin Xuan knew time was limited; he immediately rushed toward the altar and reached out to take the Earth Element Core.

However, the moment he was about to touch the container, the Yage clone erupted violently, and a powerful ripple of Void Energy knocked both Lin Xuan and Chen Mo flying. Lin Xuan slammed hard into the wall, blood gushing from his mouth, his left arm almost completely numb.

"No... just a little more..." Lin Xuan gritted his teeth, struggling to stand, but the side effects of the Origin Pill began to manifest; the meridians throughout his body burned like fire, and circulating energy became extremely difficult.

The Yage clone walked slowly toward the altar, purple-black energy dancing around it: "Your doomsday has arrived, humans. The Global Synchronization Project is unstoppable."

Just at this critical moment, a violent explosion suddenly came from the direction of the Underground Palace entrance, followed by a powerful wave of Earth Element energy sweeping in.

"Xiao Yuan?" Lin Xuan looked toward the entrance in surprise.

Xiao Yuan appeared at the doorway leading a small team, her eyes flashing with golden light, and Earth Element energy formed a thick shield around her body: "I knew you would run into trouble!"

The Yage clone sensed the new threat and immediately turned, launching an attack at Xiao Yuan. Xiao Yuan formed seals with her hands and cast "Earth Element·Earth Element Wall"; a tall, earthy-yellow energy wall rose from the ground, blocking the beam of Void Energy.

"Lin Xuan, take the core quickly!" Xiao Yuan shouted, while directing her team members to attack the Yage clone to distract it.

Lin Xuan endured the intense pain and moved toward the altar again. This time, he successfully touched the container and quickly initiated the unlocking procedure. As the container opened, the Earth Element Core hovered before his eyes, emitting a strong purple-black light.

Lin Xuan put on his specialized gloves, carefully took out the core, and placed it into the Energy Isolation Box he carried with him. The moment the core was sealed inside the isolation box, the Yage clone let out a piercing shriek, and its body began to fluctuate unstably.

"It has lost its energy source!" Xiao Yuan shouted with joy, "Retreat quickly!"

The Yage clone rushed madly toward Lin Xuan but was intercepted by Xiao Yuan and the other team members. Xiao Yuan cast "Earth Element·Thousand Peaks Chain," and dozens of yellow energy chains erupted from the ground, pinning the Yage clone firmly in place.

"Everyone, retreat!" Lin Xuan clutched the core's isolation box and followed Xiao Yuan as they rushed toward the exit. Behind them, the Yage clone gradually disintegrated amidst violent energy fluctuations, finally dissipating into the air as a mass of purple mist.

Outside the Underground Palace, the sky above the Forbidden City was already shrouded in an eerie Purple Aurora, and explosions and screams could be heard from afar from time to time. The city was falling into unprecedented chaos.

"How are the other teams doing?" Lin Xuan asked urgently.

"They all completed their missions, but at a heavy price," Xiao Yuan said with a grave expression, "Two members of Zhou Zhuo's team are severely injured, Li Shibo himself has fallen into a coma due to excessive energy consumption, and Zhao Ming's team sacrificed one member..."

"We must return to headquarters as soon as possible," Lin Xuan said through gritted teeth, "There isn't much time left."

The team moved quickly toward the headquarters, yet the situation on the streets was even worse than expected. A large number of citizens controlled by the "Star Brain" were wandering aimlessly, and some had even begun attacking normal people. The military and police were struggling to maintain order, but as the number of controlled individuals continued to rise, the situation was nearing a state of being out of control.

Xu Feng's anxious voice came through the communication device: "Lin Xuan, you must return as soon as possible! After Yang Zhiyuan's final call, the Void Invasion has clearly accelerated, and global 'Star Brain' users are falling into a berserk state simultaneously. According to my calculations, if we don't initiate the Shutdown Protocol, more than three hundred million people will be completely controlled by the Void!"

Lin Xuan looked at the increasingly intense Purple Aurora in the sky, realizing the situation was even more critical than he had imagined. The five "Void Cores" were the key to stopping the "Global Synchronization Project," and they had to break through the encirclement and bring all the cores back to headquarters.

"All teams, attention, initiate the Emergency Rendezvous Plan," Lin Xuan ordered over the comms, "Target—headquarters, at all costs!"

Inside the headquarters command room, Xu Feng stared intently at the multiple monitors before him. The code flashing on the screens flowed like a waterfall, and intricate defensive protocols were layered one upon another, like a mountain difficult to climb. His fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard, and fine beads of sweat were clearly visible on his forehead.

"This is even more complex than I anticipated," Xu Feng muttered to himself, "Yang Zhiyuan is truly a genius; even while being controlled, he could still design such a precise system."

Other technicians in the command room held their breath, not daring to disturb his work. The occasional sound from the communicator reported the latest status of each team retrieving their cores, but Xu Feng had focused all his attention on the work in front of him.

"Team Leader Xu, Captain Lin Xuan has already obtained the Earth Element Core and is on his way back," a communicator reported softly, "but the abnormal behavior of 'Star Brain' users throughout the city is increasing sharply, and multiple areas are already out of control."

Xu Feng simply nodded, not even taking his eyes off the screen. Nearly forty minutes had passed, but the decryption progress was just over 50%. The layers of encryption and defensive measures were far more rigorous than he had initially estimated.

"No, this isn't a normal encryption system," Xu Feng's brow suddenly furrowed, and his fingers stopped on the keyboard, "This is—Quantum Encryption?"

The code on the screen suddenly became chaotic and disordered; the originally clear algorithmic paths completely disappeared, replaced by a mass of incomprehensible symbols and sequences. Ordinary Quantum Encryption was already tricky enough, but this system designed by Yang Zhiyuan was clearly more advanced, possessing a certain adaptability that allowed it to constantly adjust its own structure based on decryption attempts.

"Traditional methods won't work," Xu Feng took a deep breath, "I need to change my way of thinking."

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and recalled every detail of working with Yang Zhiyuan. Although Yang Zhiyuan had always been a mysterious figure, he had indeed shared some thoughts and philosophies in public. Suddenly, Xu Feng opened his eyes, and a memory surfaced clearly in his mind.

"That's it! At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference three years ago, Yang Zhiyuan mentioned 'Reverse Thinking' in his speech," Xu Feng sat up straight in excitement, "He said that sometimes the fastest way to solve a problem is not from beginning to end, but from end to beginning."

This inspiration was like a bolt of lightning in the darkness, illuminating the direction for Xu Feng. He quickly adjusted his strategy, no longer trying to decrypt from the entrance of the protocol, but choosing to start from the end and reverse-engineer the entire system.

"It's like solving a maze," Xu Feng explained to the assistant beside him, "Instead of trying every possible path from the entrance, it's better to work backward from the exit; this way, the path selection will be greatly reduced."