Chen Hao took the communicator away from his mouth, his finger still pressed the send button. He stared at the energy core, waiting to see if there would be a response.

Nothing happened.

The blue light continued to flicker, as if it were breathing heavily. Several more cracks appeared in the rock wall, and hot air blew out from them, making people's faces feel hot.

"Useless?" Karl looked up. "Is this name fake?"

“Not necessarily.” Susan stared at the crystal. “The light flashed a little differently just now.”

"What's wrong with it?"

"A beat too slow."

Nana leaned against the stone pillar, her eyes closed, as if she were asleep. After two seconds, she suddenly spoke: "The system fluctuation experienced a brief synchronization phenomenon, lasting 0.7 seconds. This indicates that the information 'Elijas Cohen' triggered a response from the underlying protocol."

“That means it works,” Chen Hao grinned. “It heard us, it just doesn’t recognize us speaking.”

“It’s not a problem with how I speak,” Nana said calmly. “It’s a signal format error. The system needs the raw authentication data stream, not voice input.”

"Translate it into human language?"

"We need to convert the name into a code that it can read, and also match it with the right frequency, and then send it in together."

"Then let's make a high-quality counterfeit card." Chen Hao looked at Susan. "Can you still hold onto the crystals you have?"

Susan touched the crystal inside the protective bag. The crack on the surface was still there, and the light was a little weak, but it hadn't gotten any worse. "It's barely usable. Don't make me turn it too high, or it'll explode."

"That's enough." Chen Hao turned to look at Karl. "How many more power supplies can we assemble?"

Carl rummaged through his toolbox, taking out the remaining batteries and laying them on the ground. "Three and a half capacitors, one is almost ruined. It can only support one high-output cycle at most."

“One time is enough.” Chen Hao squatted down and drew a simple flowchart on the ground. “The name needs to be converted into an encoding, the frequency needs to match, and the timing needs to be precise. We only have one chance.”

“The system resets the shockwave every five minutes.” Nana opened her eyes. “There’s a 0.8-second gap in between, which is when it refreshes its defense logic. If we can inject a signal at that time, the success rate will be the highest.”

"0.8 seconds?" Carl frowned. "A slight tremor in his hand and it's ruined."

“So we can’t rely on our hands.” Chen Hao pointed to the makeshift device he had made. “I’ll press the switch, and you guys are responsible for making sure the other parts don’t break down.”

“I control the frequency,” Susan said.

“I’ll stabilize the power,” Carl replied.

"Nana, keep an eye on the countdown." Chen Hao patted the ground. "Let's practice it once."

The four of them immediately sprang into action.

Susan adjusted the angle of the crystal tray to stabilize the output waveform within a certain range. Carl connected three capacitors in parallel and then into the main circuit to test whether the voltage could withstand the instantaneous load. Nana brought up the system's operating rhythm and marked the time point of the next blank period on the interface.

Chen Hao stood in front of the device, his finger hovering over the button.

"Two minutes and fifteen seconds left," Nana announced.

"Don't call 'start' later," Chen Hao said. "Just tell me 'now' when it's time, and I'll get started."

"clear."

The air grew quiet. Only the hum of the equipment and the low rumbles from deep within the rock walls could be heard.

"One minute and thirty seconds."

Susan's fingers remained pressed against the adjustment knob, not daring to let go. Carl lay prone on the ground, his ear pressed against the power box, listening for any unusual noises from the current. Nana stared at the time, her lips moving slightly, as if silently counting.

Chen Hao didn't move. He stared at the core, at the constantly rotating runes, with only one thought in his mind: if he made a mistake this time, he might not even have a chance to try next time.

"Thirty seconds."

The hot wind intensified. A piece of gravel fell from above, hitting Chen Hao's feet and splitting in two.

"Ten seconds."

Susan took a breath.

"Five, four, three..."

Nana suddenly said, "Now."

Chen Hao pressed the button.

The device emitted a muffled sound, the red light illuminated, and then the entire circuit vibrated. The instant the current surged out, the crystal flashed brightly, then became transparent, as if activated by something.

The signal passed through the light curtain and went straight to the core.

The runes spun even faster, the blue light suddenly dropping to its lowest level before turning deep red, as if about to explode.

No one spoke.

All three of them stared at the core, waiting to see if it would return to normal or explode.

A second passed.

Two seconds.

In the third second, the red light began to fade, and the blue light slowly returned. The rotation speed of the rune decreased, and finally stopped at a fixed position.

The shockwave countdown disappeared.

The vibrations inside the rock cavity gradually weakened until they stopped completely.

Chen Hao remained crouched in place, his hand still pressing the button. He didn't dare to let go, afraid that if he raised his hand, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

"The cooling system has restarted," Nana said softly. "The temperature is starting to drop."

"It really worked?" Carl sat down on the ground. "Am I dreaming?"

"If you're dreaming, I'm dreaming too." Chen Hao finally removed his hand, leaned back against the wall, and said, "I'm exhausted."

Susan carefully removed the crystal from the tray. The crack was still there, but the light had stabilized and was no longer flickering. She gently blew on it and smiled.

"I thought it was going to be reimbursed."

"You held on." Chen Hao turned to look at her. "You held on too."

Carl removed the circuit board, dusted it off, and casually stuffed it into his backpack. "If this thing had an award, I'd nominate it for Temporary Worker of the Year."

“It’s more reliable than some permanent employees,” Chen Hao said, then, remembering something, “By the way, did it say what to do next?”

Nana, with her eyes closed, was still receiving data. "Defense protocol disabled, security mode reactivated. System enters standby mode, awaiting further instructions."

"So that means... we can start repairing it?"

“You can access the core interface,” Nana nodded, “but I suggest you check first to see if the internal structure is damaged.”

"No rush," Chen Hao waved his hand. "Let me rest for a bit. I almost lost my life just now."

“If you want to rest, I won’t stop you,” Carl said, sitting against the wall. “But I must warn you, this place has become quiet far too quickly.”

"What's the meaning?"

“They were all going crazy just now, and now it’s all stopped.” Carl looked around. “Even the alarms are off, there’s not a sound. Don’t you think it’s going too smoothly?”

“You’re overthinking it,” Susan said. “The system has recognized its master, so of course it won’t cause trouble.”

"But whose was it before?" Karl asked in a low voice. "Something left behind by someone over three hundred years ago, and now it works just by being called by its name. Don't you think...it's too much of a coincidence?"

No one responded.

Chen Hao stared at the core; the blue sphere of light floated quietly in the air, rotating evenly and emitting a soft glow. It certainly looked like a normally functioning machine.

But he also had some doubts.

Everything went too smoothly.

After being thoroughly beaten along the way, the last move actually worked.

He looked at Nana: "Can you find out who this Elias Cohen is?"

“There are some records in the database,” Nana said. “He was the chief engineer in the early stages of planetary construction, responsible for the energy system architecture design. He disappeared after the project was completed, and the official record states that he died accidentally.”

"Missing?" Chen Hao raised an eyebrow. "So the body wasn't found?"

"No."

"So it's possible he didn't die?"

“The probability is less than two percent,” Nana said. “The time span is too long, and the probability of physiological survival is almost zero.”

“But the system still remembers him,” Susan said, “which means he’s at least alive in the program.”

“Maybe it’s not a person,” Carl suddenly said. “Maybe it’s a access code. Like a name like ‘administrator,’ anyone can use it.”

"Then why hasn't anyone tried it before?" Chen Hao asked.

“Because nobody knows this name,” Nana replied. “The logs are encrypted at the highest level, and cannot be read by ordinary access. We only saw them because we triggered a hidden path.”

"So we were just lucky?" Chen Hao chuckled. "We got lucky?"

"That's one way to put it."

Chen Hao was silent for a while, then reached up and touched the back of his neck, where it was still a little numb, a lingering sensation from the electric shock earlier.

“Whether it’s luck or not,” he said, “the door is open now. The next step is to go in and see what’s wrong and how to fix it.”

"You really intend to fix it?" Karl looked up. "Didn't you come in here to escape?"

"We've come this far," Chen Hao stood up and stretched his limbs. "It would be too embarrassing to go back empty-handed."

Susan put the crystal away and stood up: "I agree. Now that the system has recognized our identities, we should complete our original mission."

Nana opened her eyes: "I suggest we act as soon as possible. Although the current condition is stable, prolonged neglect could lead to irreversible damage."

"Then let's stop talking nonsense." Chen Hao walked towards the core interface. "Let's get started."

The three followed.

The interface is located below the light sphere, with a metal ring embedded in the ground and a palm-sized groove in the center, shaped like a place specifically for holding crystals.

"Should I insert it?" Susan asked.

"It should be." Chen Hao took out the crystal. "Shall we try it?"

"Wait a minute," Nana suddenly said.

"how?"

“Scan the environment first,” she said. “The system had an abnormal reading after the signal was injected just now.”

"What reading?"

“Deep within the core, a piece of unauthorized data residue was detected.”

"What's the meaning?"

“Someone tried to connect before us.”