The Wizard of Truth: Starting with Analyzing All Things

The "Shadow" reconnaissance vessel clung tightly to the edge of the dark passage forcibly carved out by the "Silver Servant," like a remora clinging to the belly of a whale shark, slowly and laboriously navigating through the viscous, sensory-absorbing "Silent Mud." Lina's intuition acted as the most delicate and sensitive tentacles, guiding the vessel's course, avoiding the more dangerous energy vortices naturally formed within the flowing "mud," while carefully avoiding contact with the cold, mechanical guiding force within the passage. Barton's muscles were tense, his senses heightened to their limit, his eyes fixed on the eerie scene ahead, a tapestry of distorted light and darkness, peering through the enhanced porthole. Lowe held his breath, suppressing the resonance of the Star Key in his arms, while simultaneously deeply connecting his intuition with the "Shadow Cloak" system, ensuring the reconnaissance vessel's stealthy movements blended perfectly with the inert background of the surrounding "mud."

As they went deeper, the blurry phantom outside the porthole gradually became "clearer"—not in an optical sense, but because its contained psionic "echoes" and structural "outlines" were presented to their perception in a more distorted and fragmented way at close range, weakened by the "silent field".

It was an extremely vast, indescribable mixed ruin composed of countless broken, gigantic crystal prisms, twisted metal skeletons, and dark purple veins that writhed like biological tissue yet possessed a mineral sheen. The overall style of the ruins vaguely reflected the Cradle civilization's pursuit of harmonious coexistence with nature and psionic energy, such as the growth patterns of the crystals and the smooth curves of the metal skeleton. But at this moment, all of this had been brutally twisted, torn apart, and forcibly "grafted" together with the corrosive dark purple veins (a characteristic of crystal-eating bacteria!) and the cold, silvery-white metallic geometric structures with a distinctly static court technology style, forming a morbid, painful, and nauseating "symbiosis." Countless tiny, chain-like or conduit-like silvery-white energy lines, like the neural network of parasites, were deeply embedded in the crystals and dark purple veins, continuously extracting, transforming, and suppressing something.

This is part of the "Wailing Corridor," or rather, the outer area of ​​this vast ruin.

"Look at those silvery-white lines... they're glowing, pulsating rhythmically." Barton lowered his voice, pointing to a crystalline prism half-embedded in a dark purple "tumor" nearby. Its surface was covered with hair-like silvery-white lines, flickering at a fixed frequency, emitting a faint, cold, ordered fluctuation. "Doesn't it look like... an IV drip? Or... an energy extraction tube?"

"It's more like 'exploitation' and 'suppression.'" Lina's voice trembled slightly. Her spiritual senses could more clearly "feel" the effects of those silver-white lines. "They are extracting a very weak but pure spiritual energy from these crystals and those dark purple things. At the same time, they are also releasing a kind of... suppressive fluctuation, suppressing the sad and angry spiritual energy echoes that originally belonged to the 'cradle' in this ruin. Those dark purple veins seem to be both 'prisoners' and part of the 'energy,' forcibly bound and utilized by the silver-white lines."

"The power of the Crystal-Eating Bacteria was captured and bound by the Court of Stasis, used to suppress and extract the psionic energy of the 'Cradle's' legacy?" Luo Wei quickly pieced together the clues in his mind. "This place isn't just a prison; it might also be... an 'energy station' or an 'experimental field'? Are the 'Silver Servants' the managers of this facility?"

Just then, the Star Key's resonance suddenly and violently fluctuated without warning. It wasn't an increase, but rather an urgent, clearly directed "pull," pointing towards the depths of the ruins, to an area heavily enveloped by numerous dark purple veins and silver lines! Simultaneously, from the direction of the previously silent medical pod (via a weak encrypted channel), Lilith sent an urgent message: "Irene's brainwaves and psionic readings are fluctuating violently in sync! She's exhibiting intense pain and...struggle in her sleep? It's as if something is 'calling' her, or...extracting' something from her body!"

Calling? Extracting? Luo Wei suddenly remembered Lina's warning that the "Silver Servant" might use the "key" to open a deeper seal, and the words in that desperate cry for help that "it is using the 'key'".

"Accelerate! Advance to the area where the Star Key resonates and Airi is reacting!" Rowe made a decisive decision. "Barton, Lina, prepare for any sudden attacks! Instructor Verna, be ready for remote interference at any time!"

"Shadow" no longer concealed itself, its engine power slightly increased, and guided by the resonance of the Star Key, it shot like an arrow into the heavily shrouded depths of darkness. They no longer followed the edge of the passage entirely, but began to weave through it with a more direct path. Lina's intuition cleared the way with all its might, searching for the weak gaps in the flow of "sludge" and the distribution of silvery lines.

Their actions seemed to have finally triggered a deeper "immune system" in this silent ruin.

The slowly flowing "silent silt" around them suddenly accelerated and churned! Countless fist-sized spherical detection units, their surfaces covered with silver-white geometric patterns, which had been lurking in the shadows of dark purple veins and broken crystals, emerged densely like a swarm of bees! They did not attack, but simply hovered around, their cold, emotionless scanning beams like searchlights, instantly locking onto the "lurking shadows"! At the same time, deep within the ruins, the silver-white main energy lines shone brightly, and an even larger, colder mechanical will, like a awakened behemoth, slowly "watched" over.

"Highly active unauthorized intrusion unit detected... Psionic signature highly matches the 'Key' contamination source..."

"...Deviating from the preset guidance path...Behavior determination: Threat..."

"...Execute the cleanup protocol: Area energy suppression, capture unit activated..."

The cold, mechanical thoughts echoed once more, but this time, they carried a clear hostility.

Om-!

Centered on the "Hidden Shadow," the "Silent Silent Mud" within a radius of several kilometers suddenly "solidified," its viscosity and suppressive force increasing several times over in an instant! The reconnaissance boat's speed abruptly halted, its surface runes of the "Shadow Cloak" flashing wildly as it resisted this sudden, all-encompassing environmental suppression. Simultaneously, the silver-white patterns on the surfaces of the suspended spherical detection units suddenly shone with blinding light, and countless thin, yet highly concentrated, silver-white rays of "order" erosion energy shot towards the "Hidden Shadow" like a torrential downpour!

"Full shield up! Dodge!" Rowe roared.

Patton had already taken over the reconnaissance boat's rudimentary weapon systems and maneuverability. Lava-platinum-like battle aura surged into the control system through a specially designed interface, granting the small vessel an almost instinctive agility far exceeding its design specifications. "Shadow" danced on a knife's edge, performing incredible turns, rolls, and sudden stops amidst a dense rain of silver rays, narrowly avoiding most of the attacks. However, some rays still struck the shield, emitting a hissing sound of corrosion. The shield's energy reading rapidly decreased, the surface's psionic resonance frequency fluctuated violently, and the "Order Neutralization" coating applied by Lilith was being rapidly depleted.

"These rays have a strong 'order' assimilative effect! The shield won't last long!" Patton roared, simultaneously maneuvering the two small pulse cannons at the bow to retaliate. The incandescent energy beams struck the spherical unit, but only caused a ripple on the silver-white patterns on its surface before being absorbed and deflected, with minimal effect.

"Their shells have high-intensity psionic deflection and order resistance! Physical attacks and conventional energy are ineffective!" Verna's voice came through the noisy interference. "Try to disrupt their lock-on and energy structure with high-frequency, irregular psionic vibrations! Barton, use your aura properties! Lina, try to create localized 'rhythmic' chaos with your spiritual senses!"

"Understood!" A fierce glint flashed in Barton's eyes as he pushed the "high-frequency oscillation" characteristic of his battle aura to its limit. Through the reconnaissance boat's external array, it transformed into an invisible, high-frequency vibrating psionic interference field that spread outwards! Wherever it passed, the trajectories of those silver rays showed slight disturbances and scattering, and the locking of some spherical units experienced a brief delay.

At the same time, Lina took a deep breath, enduring the dual mental pressure from the suppression of the "silent field" and the external attacks, and reversed the operation of the "Deep Space Rhythm Listening Method"! Instead of "listening," she actively "plucked"! She transformed her spiritual sense into an invisible, high-speed vibrating "string," aimed at the relatively weak background "rhythm" nodes in the area where several spherical units were gathered, and "plucked" them hard!

Buzz...!

A strange, eerie fluctuation, as if space itself were "out of tune," spread out from Lina's center. The flow of the "silent silt" in that area became momentarily chaotic, the silver-white patterns on the surfaces of several spherical detection units flickered erratically, and attacks and locks experienced noticeable lag and errors!

"A perfect opportunity!" A glint flashed in Luo Wei's eyes; this was the moment he had been waiting for! In the instant that Lina created chaos, Barton provided interference, and the enemy system experienced a brief lag, he poured the stellar power he had been suppressing into the Star Key in his arms. However, instead of activating its "source seed" resonance, he combined that power with his experience of "guiding" the cracks in "order" over the past few days, as well as his profound understanding of "star vortex strangulation," and outlined it in the void outside his body in an unprecedented, more restrained yet violent way!

No longer a wide-ranging gravitational vortex, but a highly compressed, extremely condensed, and internally tearing and annihilating single-unit penetrating energy structure! He temporarily named this nascent strike, which condensed the concepts of "traction," "explosion," and "order confrontation," "Starfall Finger," and pointed it out in mid-air through a temporarily enhanced psionic focuser on the outside of the reconnaissance boat at the densest cluster of spherical units blocking his way, and behind them at the area with the densest concentration of faintly visible silver-white lines!

call out--!

A condensed, extremely fine gray-white stream of light, as thin as a steel needle yet containing the appearance of tiny star vortexes, silently pierced through the void and instantly disappeared into that area!

There was no earth-shattering explosion. But at the core point where the streak of light struck, space seemed to collapse slightly inward for a moment. Then, an invisible yet extremely violent energy turbulence, like the release of pressure from the inside of a punctured balloon, suddenly erupted from that point! The silver-white patterns on the surfaces of the dozen or so spherical detection units within the area were torn apart and annihilated as if by an invisible force, instantly dimming, shattering, and turning into dust! The cluster of silver-white energy lines behind also experienced large areas of light disorder and a brief interruption in energy return, revealing the scene of the area behind them!

It was a colossal, slowly pulsating core, composed of dark purple "tumors" and pale gold fragmented crystals! The core's surface was also pierced and bound by countless silver-white "chains" and "conduits." Deep within the core, dozens of pale gold, humanoid psionic phantoms were faintly visible, firmly bound by silver-white chains, their faces contorted, radiating endless sorrow, anger, and pain—the very source of the cries for help and warnings! Above the hybrid core, suspended, was an even larger control node, purely composed of silver-white geometric structures, resembling a cold throne. At the node's center, a dazzling silver-white sphere slowly rotated, emanating the same cold mechanical will sensed earlier—that was the true form of the "Silver Servant," or rather, the main control unit!

The spirits of the "Cradle" survivors! A mournful core imprisoned and oppressed by the Crystal-Eating Bacteria (dark purple tumors) and the Stasis Court's creations (silver chains)! And the "Silver Servant" is the warden and pump of this prison-and-energy station!

The scene before them confirmed their worst suspicions. The Court of Stasis had not only destroyed the "Cradle of Glimmer," but had also captured and imprisoned the spirits of some of its survivors (perhaps the souls of those who died in battle?), and, using the power of the Crystal-Eating Bacteria they controlled or manipulated, combined them to construct this ruthless and efficient "facility" that continuously produces psionic energy and suppresses the activity of the "Cradle's" legacy!

"I see it! That's it..." Lina's exclamation was interrupted by an even louder and angrier mechanical roar!

"Threat level upgraded! High concentration of 'Source Species' derivative attack detected! Target confirmed as 'Key' carrier and high-risk collaborating unit!"

"Clear protocol upgrade! Activate the 'Core of Sorrow' defense array! Release the 'Spirit Guardians'!"

"All energy must be prioritized for the suppression system! The 'prisoners' must not be allowed to spiral out of control!"

The "Silver Servant's" icy intent carried a hint of anger at being offended by "ants" (if machines could feel anger). The massive silver-white control node shone brightly, and the energy lines disrupted by the "Starfall Finger" rapidly recovered, with even more silver-white light converging from all parts of the ruins! Simultaneously, the silver-white chains piercing the hybrid core tightened abruptly, and the pale golden phantoms within the core emitted even more mournful, silent howls. Their spiritual energy, as if being squeezed, surged frantically into the chains, converging towards the control node above!

Immediately afterwards, from the dark purple "tumors" and broken crystals surrounding the hybrid core, dozens of "humanoid" silhouettes were "pulled" out like puppets by silver-white energy lines! They had blurry psionic body outlines similar to those of ancient "Cradle" warriors, but their bodies were covered with dark purple, constantly writhing fungal carpets, two cold silver-white flames burning in their eye sockets, and they held twisted weapons made of dark purple fungal matter and silver-white energy in their hands, exuding a chaotic, painful, yet forcibly unified, cold killing intent.

Spirit Guardians! Killing puppets without self-awareness, forcibly fused together from fragments of the spirits of the "Cradle" survivors, the active tissue of the Crystal-Eating Bacteria, and the orderly energy of the Stasis Court!

"There's no time to hesitate!" Luo Wei looked at the spirit guardians that were rapidly taking shape and emitting energy fluctuations that were no less than those of ordinary "Eyes of Order." He then looked at the pale golden spirits in the hybrid core that were being rapidly drained and were becoming increasingly dim. He knew that he had to finish the battle quickly, otherwise, once they were entangled by these puppets and the fully restored defensive array, they would surely die, and the spirits of those survivors might also completely dissipate.

"Barton, Lina, buy me ten seconds! I need to establish contact with those remnant spirits!" Rowe gritted his teeth. At the same time, he took the Star Key out of his pocket, no longer suppressing it, but instead actively resonating it with his "Source Seed," combining it with his own star power and will, transforming it into a pure, gentle, and comforting spiritual energy wave, like a bridge, directly projecting it into the depths of the hybrid core, directly towards those bound pale golden spirits!

"Unforgivable! Attack! Destroy the 'Key'!" The mechanical consciousness of the Silver Servant roared in fury.

Dozens of spirit guardians roared in unison, transforming into streaks of dark purple and silver-white afterimages. They surged towards the "Hidden Shadow" like a tidal wave, carrying with them a chaotic storm of psionic energy and a chilling erosion of order! The surrounding silver-white rays also became denser than ever before!

"Leave it to us!" Barton roared, his Lava Platinum Battle Aura erupting. Through the control interface, he temporarily constructed a solid layer of battle aura armor on the outside of "Shadow." He no longer relied entirely on the ship's hull for evasion, but instead controlled the reconnaissance boat to make a near-suicidal charge, deliberately crashing into the first few Spirit Guards. His twin blades (simulated by his mind controlling the external mechanical arm) transformed into a blazing white storm, clashing head-on! Lina pushed her spiritual senses to the limit, no longer caring about the consumption, frantically "fluctuating" all the "rhythm" nodes around her that she could influence, creating a large-scale spiritual energy chaos and sensory interference, slowing down the enemy's locking and attack rhythm.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The reconnaissance boat weaved through the enemy ranks, its shields flashing violently, the hull creaking and metallic clanging of impacts echoing constantly. Barton's fighting spirit was rapidly depleting; Lina's face turned deathly pale, blood trickling from her mouth. But they held fast, maintaining their hold on the space around Lowe.

Ten seconds felt like an eternity at that moment.

Lowe's psionic bridge finally broke through the silver chains' blockade and the painful barrier of the hybrid core, touching the strongest and most conscious of the pale gold spirits.

In an instant, a massive amount of fragmented yet information-rich mental images flooded into Luo Wei's mind like a burst dam!

...The prosperous "cradle" of the border outpost, "Gate of Dawn"...

...A sudden betrayal, the internal defense system was paralyzed by the "Silver Glow" faction (early infiltrators of the Silent Court)...

...A massive, overwhelming tide of "Crystal Devouring" surged in, guided by "Silver Glow"...

...Comrades fell in droves under the combined attack of the bacterial swarm and the "Silver Glow" hunters...

...The last guardians activated "Spirit Core Resonance," attempting to destroy themselves along with the outpost's core to halt the enemy...

...Silver Glow activated an unknown "psychic capture and stabilization field," forcibly restraining their spirits from the brink of collapse...

...A long, dark period of being bound by silver chains, forcibly "symbiotic" with the corrosive "Crystal Devouring" organization, having my spiritual energy continuously drained, and my consciousness tormented in pain and despair...

...They became the "batteries" and "experiments" of the "core of stagnation"...

...The "Silver Servant"—codenamed "Warden Type VII," is the administrator of the Static Court automated prison/energy station, ruthlessly executing orders to extract, suppress, and eliminate all "variables"...

...Over countless years, only a few times have faint resonances from the outside world (perhaps from other fragments that managed to escape) swept by, giving them a glimmer of hope and prompting them to utter those desperate cries for help and warnings...

...Until today, the true bearer of the "key" has arrived...

The torrent of information also contained key details about the structure of the "Core of Sorrow": the silver-white control node is its core, but its energy supply and suppressive pressure field depend on the psionic energy extraction from the hybrid core below; the stability of the hybrid core, in turn, depends on the suppression of the silver-white chains and the isolation of the external "Silent Field"; and the generators of the "Silent Field" are distributed in several specific large nodes around the ruins, uniformly dispatched by the "Silver Servants"...

"Found the weakness..." Luo Wei suddenly opened his eyes, which were bloodshot. His mental energy was on the verge of exhaustion under the onslaught of information, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness. He looked at the silver-white control node floating above, then at the frantically attacking spirit guardians and the constantly gathering silver-white energy around him.

"Barton! Lina! Hold on! Heed my command!" Lowe roared hoarsely. At the same time, he poured all his remaining star power, along with the portion of power belonging to the "Source Seed" in the Star Key that had been temporarily "pacified," into the psionic bridge he had just constructed, connecting it to the pale golden spirit. He then transmitted a clear thought: "Concentrate all your remaining power and, the instant I attack the 'Warden's' core, break through the silver chains binding you! This is our only chance!"

"Understood..." A weak yet incredibly resolute thought came from the depths of the hybrid core, the final response from dozens of broken spirits.

"Now!" Luo Wei roared, raising the Star Key high in his hand! This time, he no longer suppressed any aspect of it, but forcibly fused and collided the resonance of the "Source Seed" and the erosion of the "Order" rift in an extremely dangerous, almost self-destructive way, creating a strange psionic energy fluctuation that was extremely unstable, full of contradictions and a sense of tearing. Then, he poured it all into the still immature "Starfall Finger" prototype, pointed it at the silver-white "Warden VII" control node above, and pointed it out with all his might!

"Starfall Finger - Rift Source!"

A stream of light, no longer gray and white, but displaying an eerie interweaving and twisting of "pale gold" and "silver white," filled with destructive annihilation fluctuations within, tore through the void and shot directly at the silver-white sphere at the center of the control node at a speed beyond perception!

At the same time, within the hybrid core below, all the pale golden spirits simultaneously erupted with a final, dazzling light, like a last gasp of light! They no longer resisted the chains' extraction; instead, they actively channeled their remaining, purest spiritual energy, along with boundless grief and despair, upstream along the chains, fiercely impacting the energy interface connecting the chains to the "Warden's" node!

"Warning! High-energy 'Source Species-Order' hybrid contamination attack encountered! Mass psionic backlash from 'Prisoners'! Energy circuit overload! Suppression field unstable—"

The cold, mechanical alarm of "Silver Servant" abruptly stopped.

boom!!!!!!!

The silver-white sphere at the center of the "Warden VII" control node was struck by Lovina's "Starfall Finger," which contained contradictory primal power, and was also attacked from both inside and outside by the collective backlash energy of the remnant spirits below. Its precise and fragile internal balance was instantly shattered! A blinding, destructive energy storm, a mixture of silver-white, pale gold, and dark purple, suddenly erupted from the node! Countless silver-white fragments and broken energy lines scattered like exploding stars! The silver-white chains below snapped inch by inch, losing their luster!

The hybrid core trembled violently, and the dark purple "tumors," no longer suppressed by the energy of order, began to writhe and expand wildly and instinctively. The pale golden spirits dimmed and dissipated rapidly the moment the chains broke, but in their last thoughts, they conveyed a trace of relief and a faint gratitude.

The surrounding spirit guardians froze instantly, like puppets with broken strings, before their bodies disintegrated, turning into dark purple dust and scattered silver-white fragments. The dense barrage of silver-white rays also abruptly ceased.

"Success..." Patton panted heavily, releasing the control stick that was almost cracked from the shock. The aura armor on the surface of the reconnaissance boat had long since dissipated, and smoke was billowing from many places on the hull, which was covered in wounds.

Lina slumped in her seat, her face pale, but a weak smile appeared on her lips.

Luo Wei knelt on one knee, supporting his body with the Star Key. The attack had almost drained his star power and spiritual energy. His soul was stinging from the forced fusion of contradictory forces, and his mid-stage second-ring Star Speaker realm was teetering on the brink of collapse, yet he seemed to have touched some deeper barrier. He looked up at the collapsing silver-white node and the hybrid core below that was beginning to spiral out of control.

However, the crisis was far from over. Without the Warden's suppression and control, the "Core of Sorrow" hybrid itself began to evolve in unpredictable directions. The dark purple microbial community revived, mixing with the remaining fragments of the shattered "Cradle" psionic energy and the dissipated remnants of "Order" energy, forming an even more chaotic and dangerous energy turbulence. The surrounding "Silent Field" did not completely disappear, but it became extremely unstable, beginning to distort and collapse.

"We can't stay here! This area is spiraling out of control!" Verna's anxious voice came through, the signal even worsened by the energy turbulence. "Evacuate immediately! Coordinates sent, we're coming to meet you!"

"Let's go!" Rowe forced himself to stand up and, together with Barton, piloted the wrecked "Shadow" towards the relatively stable evacuation route indicated by Verna.

Behind them, the ruins of the "Core of Sorrow" slowly collapsed and annihilated in a silent energy storm, eventually transforming into a deeper, more ominous, slowly rotating chaotic nebula mixed with pale gold, dark purple, and silvery-white embers, like an ancient tomb that had just been detonated.

The "Hidden Shadow" struggled through the increasingly unstable space, finally breaking through the edge of the "Silent Field" and seeing the "Stargazer" waiting in the distance like a pillar of strength.

However, just as they were about to dock with the mothership, Lowe, Barton, Lina, and everyone on the Stargazer clearly sensed that deep within that newly formed chaotic nebula, and in the more distant and darker direction of the "Desolate Beyond," several larger and colder silver-white energy nodes, previously suppressed and hidden by the "Silent Field" and the "Warden," slowly lit up one after another with a cold, scrutinizing, and hostile light, like disturbed nests.

The warden of the "Wailing Corridor" has fallen, but this enormous prison, named "Desolate Beyond," seems to have only just begun to reveal its true extent to them.

The battle-worn Star Key in their hands, the still-sleeping Airi inside the capsule, and the fateful duel across eras between the Silent Court have been pushed to an even more irreversible and dangerous tipping point due to this intrusion and destruction.