Gao Wu: You have science, and I have magic!

The remains of the destroyed Star Weaver suddenly glowed, and a emerald green energy network reorganized in the void, forming a huge protective shield.

Chu Yao's voice came through the Stargazer's loudspeaker: "It has one last procedure! Go!"

Old Chen didn't need any more urging. The Stargazer's jump engine was overloaded, and at the moment the void tentacles broke through the defense, it jumped out of the temple with two messenger mechas.

In the last glance, Ye Qingzhou saw that the remains of the Star Weaver turned into billions of light points, and each of them reflected the image of an unknown world.

In the jump channel, the three survivors remained silent.

There was an emerald green line on Chu Yao's forehead, which was the last gift from the Star Weaver.

Cecilia's white hair turned back into a bright silver color full of metallic luster, but the golden lines at the corners of her eyes had formed complete super-dimensional text.

Among the three, Ye Qingzhou had undergone the greatest change. The super-dimensional mark had spread to his entire left arm, and part of Skywalker's system had been permanently integrated into his nerves.

Three star paths stretched out before them, each leading to a cage that might have been broken.

The fleets of the Star Alliance, the Shinzo Aragami, and the Human Alliance have now become pawns of Morris, or the "Reaper", unknowingly assisting the arrival of a cosmic disaster.

"The Watchers were the first to issue the warning. We went to the edge of the solar system first."

Ye Qingzhou adjusted the route, his mind constantly deducing the gains of this exploration.

Cecilia gazed at the star map and whispered the ancient words: "Until the end of the world, we watch."

The starry sky at the edge of the solar system is darker than anywhere else. When the Stargazer left the jump state, Ye Qingzhou's first feeling was that the instrument had malfunctioned.

The navigation screen was blank, with no stars, no planets, and even no background radiation could be detected.

This space is so clean that it seems as if there is a black hole that swallows everything, and not even a trace of cosmic dust can be found.

“The coordinates are correct.”

Chu Yao's voice came from the medical cabin, weak but clear.

At this moment, the emerald green lines on her forehead glowed in the dark, giving people a feeling of elegance and refinement, as if it were some kind of peculiarly shaped decoration.

“But what about the cage?”

Cecilia's Chant mech floated to the right of the Stargazer, its broken light wings pulsating slowly.

Her voice was transmitted directly into Ye Qingzhou's consciousness through the neural link: "Use Skywalker's super-dimensional vision to see."

Ye Qingzhou took a deep breath and activated the super-dimensional mark on his left arm.

The pain shot through his nerves like an electric current, but his vision immediately changed - a huge 20-sided structure emerged from the originally empty space, each face of which was made up of translucent super-dimensional crystals, and the outline of some curled up creature could be vaguely seen inside.

What is even more shocking is that countless golden chains extend from the icosahedron and disappear into the depths of the void.

These chains connect the basic force field of the universe and are the maintenance system of the cage.

“Oh my god…”

Lao Chen's cigarette butt fell from the corner of his mouth. "This thing is bigger than our Shenma Star's moon moon!"

At this moment, Skywalker's scanning system suddenly sounded the alarm.

Ye Qingzhou immediately turned his face to the radar screen, his pupils suddenly shrank, because he saw fifteen red dots approaching from the direction of the outermost meteorite belt, and the identification signals were chaotic.

The Shenzhao Ascetic Fleet, the remnants of the Star Alliance, and even the Human Alliance's expeditionary advance team, all of their warships arrived unexpectedly, but the sailing trajectories of these ships were distorted and unnatural, as if they were controlled by the same force.

"Morris's handwriting."

Cecilia's thoughts were filled with cold anger. "He has temporarily united his enemies."

Chu Yao suddenly screamed, and all the monitoring equipment in the medical cabin burst into sparks, and the lines on her forehead became brighter.

“It’s crying!”

She grabbed her hair, her knuckles turning white. “The Watcher…it’s calling for help!”

As if in response to her cry, one of the faces of the icosahedral cage suddenly became transparent.

The creature inside slowly stretched its body - it was a being with a similar outline to that of a human but more slender, its body covered with crystal-like scales, and its head had no facial features, only a smooth silver mirror surface.

There were six spears of light stuck in its chest, exactly the same as the ones Cecilia saw in the basement of the Cathedral of Divine Illumination.

"The child of the Claudius family."

A voice rang directly in the depths of everyone's heart. There was no vibration of sound waves. The sound came from the heart and was a pure transmission of concepts. "You are back with my pain."

Cecilia's Chant mecha suddenly flew uncontrollably towards the cage.

Ye Qingzhou tried to use Skywalker's gravity to pull her back, but a stronger connection had been established - the stigma on Cecilia's neck resonated with the spear of light on the Watcher's chest, and golden energy penetrated the two like a bridge.

A flood of memories came flooding back.

The scene of the first explorers discovering the cage in the Martian canyon six hundred years ago was vivid in the minds of the three people.

Ye Qingzhou saw Leonardo Claudius, the founder of the Church of Divine Illumination, insert a metal probe into the spine of the Watcher to extract spinal fluid.

The golden liquid boiled in the crystal vessels and was distributed to the thirty-six bishops...

In the end, only twelve people barely survived. They gained super-dimensional knowledge by drinking the marrow fluid, but they would never hear the silent screams of the Watchers again.

"Holy Fire Liquid..."

Cecilia trembled in the mental link, her consciousness was synchronized with the Watcher: "This is not a gift from God at all, but a product of torture!"

For their own ambitions and interests, humans were willing to kill the beings they once worshipped as gods. This was unacceptable to the devout Cecilia, and her pure heart was almost broken.

In the real world, the combined fleet has already entered the attack position.

Shenzhao's Ascetic mecha group opened fire first. Their modified Seraph models had simplified light wings similar to the Chant installed on their backs, but the energy was a sickly purple-red. The antimatter shells exploded on the surface of the cage, and spider-web-like cracks appeared on the originally transparent crystal.

“They were deceived.”

The watcher's thoughts were filled with endless fatigue. "The void disguised itself as an oracle, guiding them to destroy the cage."

Ye Qingzhou activated Skywalker to meet the enemy, and the mecha began to evolve autonomously during the flight. In this world, martial arts must be transformed into a miracle of the mind, and the super mecha with a mental skeleton is the power carrier of the martial arts will.

Geometric patterns similar to those of the cage appeared on the surface of the Skywalker, and its left arm transformed into some kind of gravitational vortex generator.

When Ye Qingzhou used his consciousness to lock onto the leading Shenzhao mecha, a micro black hole appeared in the center of the vortex, instantly compressing the three enemy aircraft into metal balls.

But every time he used this ability, the extra-dimensional mark on his left arm spread an inch towards his shoulder, and his crystallized skin lost feeling.

Lao Chen's roar came from the communicator: "The Covenant bastards have circled to the side! They brought... Damn it! Another anti-dimensional bomb!"

Chu Yao suddenly broke free of the medical restraints and rushed to the porthole of the Stargazer. She placed her palm against the glass, and a beam of emerald green light shot out from the lines on her forehead, penetrating the hull and shooting towards the damaged part of the cage.

Surprisingly, the cracks began to slowly heal under the green light.

"The power of the Star Weaver..." She murmured to herself, with two lines of glowing tears flowing from her eyes, "It chose me as its successor..."

Cecilia was still connected to the Watcher, and through her, Ye Qingzhou saw more scenes.

Before the super-dimensional civilization left, it imprisoned the three void entities in different dimensions.

The Watchers volunteered to stay and maintain the cage system. As for the so-called "Big Filter", it is actually the last line of defense.

When all three cages are destroyed, they will be used to restart the local universe.

The Watcher corrected Ye Qingzhou's understanding: "Restarting is not destruction, but an end of mercy for all things."

The battle in reality intensified. The mecha group of the Human Alliance displayed martial arts that integrated super-dimensional technology. Their attacks directly penetrated conventional shields.

In order to deal with the mecha martial arts of the Human Alliance, the Star Alliance fleet had to release more fusion creatures controlled by purple-black energy.

The ascetic monks of Shenzhao began to chant scriptures collectively on the spot. Through the transformation of the holy relics, the fluctuations of the holy words condensed by their spiritual power were actually consistent with the resonance frequency of the cage, accelerating its collapse.

The Skywalker system suddenly sounded an alarm, and Ye Qingzhou's neural link was forcibly cut into another channel.

The image of the void entity occupying Morris' body was distorted, with a tiny but abnormally bright point of light at its core.

"Ye Qingzhou."

The voice of the void was like the friction of countless glass fragments. "Do you think you are saving the universe? The superdimensional ones are the original invaders. We are just taking back what belongs to us."

The holographic image unfolds, showing a history that subverts cognition.

Void life is the original inhabitant of this universe. Super-dimensional civilization descended from a higher dimension, imprisoned and studied the void life, and transformed it into an environment suitable for their own living.

"The Watchers are actually the jailers who are responsible for guarding the void life."

Morris' body gradually disintegrated, revealing the core purple-black energy body: "And the Great Filter is an incinerator that destroys evidence and eliminates all possible threats."

Cecilia's scream interrupted the communication, and the six light spears in the Watcher's chest trembled at the same time, and more golden liquid was forcibly extracted.

Apparently, the ascetics had found a way to extract the source fire remotely.

The cracks in the cage spread faster and faster, and purple-black tentacles were already seeping out from the gaps.

"Chu Yao!"

Ye Qingzhou rushed to the most vulnerable part of the cage with all his strength: "We need more Star Weaver energy!"

Chu Yao's green light had weakened, and she knelt on the floor of the Stargazer, her nose bleeding. "Not enough... need to connect..." She struggled to point to Cecilia, "bloodline... and mark... together..."

Ye Qingzhou understood instantly, and immediately controlled Skywalker to change course and rush towards the Hymn Mech that was still connected to the Watcher.

When he grasped Cecilia's right hand with his crystallized left hand, a triple connection was formed: Watcher-Cecilia's bloodline, Cecilia-Ye Qingzhou's super-dimensional mark, Ye Qingzhou-Chu Yao's Star Weaver energy.

The moment the energy circuit was completed, some kind of cosmic consciousness awakened.

The cage, fleet, and even the void tentacles were all solidified, and the flow of time was compressed to almost stop.

Only the minds of the four connectors were still functioning. They saw a silver-blue super-dimensional being standing in front of them. It was obviously a projection from a higher dimension.

"Passed the test."

The voice of the super-dimensional being made the stars tremble: "The second heaven is open to you."

It waved its hand and unfolded a projection of the entire solar system, marking seven hidden nodes.

When these nodes are connected, they form a triangular symbol that is the same as the mark on Ye Qingzhou's left arm.

The super-dimensional being explained: "When the three cages are damaged, the Great Filter will upgrade the dimension of this universe, allowing all life to enter a higher form of existence - including the void."

The Watcher's thoughts suddenly interrupted: "But the Void Clan refuses to evolve... They want to maintain their pure devouring nature..."

The projection switches, showing a terrifying possible future: the void attempts to contaminate all life and drag the universe back to the original chaotic state at the beginning of creation. The only way to stop this is to actively activate the Great Filter before all three cages are damaged.

"The choice is yours."

The image of the extra-dimensional existence began to fade. "Bloodline, Mark and Star Weaver must be a trinity..."

Real time starts flowing again.

Ye Qingzhou found himself back in the Skywalker cockpit. His left hand had become completely crystallized, but was holding a glowing triangular module - the start key for the large filter.

In the communication channel, Cecilia's breathing was rapid, Chu Yao was sobbing quietly, and Lao Chen was cursing while controlling the Stargazer to dodge the artillery fire.

The Watcher's cage was shattered, but the six spears of light in its chest suddenly pulled out on their own.

These weapons flew towards the Chant mecha and integrated into its light wing system.

Cecilia's scream was mixed with a kind of relief. At this moment, she gained the complete power of the source fire, but the price was witnessing the final sacrifice of the watcher.

"Cecilia..."

The dying Watcher poured his remaining energy into the cage chains, and with a deafening cracking sound, the icosahedral cage completely collapsed.

Purple-black void energy surged out like a flood, instantly contaminating the nearest fleet.

But the golden chains left by the Watcher did not disappear. They coiled around the void energy like living things, temporarily slowing down the spread.

"There are two more cages!"

The lines on Chu Yao's forehead turned into a complete triangle symbol, and her temperament changed. She was no longer the naive rich girl in the past, but a strong person with a strong mind: "The Devourer of β-307 and the Twister of Orion!"

Skywalker's navigation system automatically locked onto these two coordinates. Ye Qingzhou looked at the glowing triangular module in his hand and realized that the task they were tasked with was more arduous than he had imagined.

It is meaningless to simply prevent the cage from being damaged. The real chance of victory is to activate the big filter at the right time and the right place.

Cecilia's Chant mecha now has twelve wings of light, each burning with pure golden flames.

There was an unprecedented determination in her voice: "Let's go to β-307 first. Morris's main force and... the thing that calls itself the Reaper are all there."

The Stargazer's engine began to overload. Old Chen grinned, revealing a funny smile with a missing front tooth: "Hold on, kids. This jump will be a bit bumpy!"

When the spacecraft entered the jump channel, Ye Qingzhou took a last look at the collapsed cage.

In the center of the vortex where void energy and golden chains intertwined, there seemed to be a silver figure waving goodbye to them.

Until the end of the world, someone was watching. And now, the responsibility of watching has passed to them. (End of this chapter)