The numbers on the instrument panel jumped as soon as the spaceship passed through the first barrier.

Chen Hao's hands were still gripping the control stick tightly, his knuckles white. He didn't loosen his grip, nor dared he. The jolt just now felt like hitting an invisible wall; the ship shook as if it were about to fall apart, the lights flickered twice, and the navigation was momentarily interrupted. Although it was back to normal now, he knew in his heart—this place didn't welcome them.

"We've entered the buffer zone," Nana's voice rang out in the control room, "but we're not out of the danger zone yet."

Susan leaned against the wall, panting, her legs feeling weak. She raised her hand to wipe her face and found her forehead covered in sweat. Carl stepped back from the emergency button, his wrist aching terribly; for the past few seconds, he had been preparing to push back and accelerate, his muscles tense.

The light screen on the main screen was still spinning, its purple edges shimmering faintly. The previously calm energy field suddenly twisted, and six translucent tentacles emerged from the depths of the light screen, writhing like living things, and lunging towards the side of the spaceship.

"Left!" Chen Hao shouted, immediately turning the steering wheel to the right.

The thrusters spewed blue flames, the bow veered sharply, and the first tentacle grazed the starboard side. The metal hull screeched, and the starboard lights went out instantly.

"Short circuit!" Carl reacted quickly, turning and rushing to the backup power box. "Shut down non-essential equipment!"

He quickly shut down all power-consuming systems except for the lighting, and the starboard light came back on. The cabin was a bit darker, but at least it was still visible.

Nana stared at the scanning screen, her fingers rapidly swiping to retrieve data. "These tentacles aren't physical entities; they're energy projections, controlled by the barrier's core."

"So that means it has eyes?" Chen Hao asked while stabilizing the boat.

“That’s one way to understand it,” Nana nodded. “They can sense changes in power frequency, and acceleration will attract pursuit.”

"Then we can't run too fast?"

"But it can't be too slow either," Nana added. "If it's below one-third of the cruising speed, it will be identified as a stationary target, triggering a more powerful capture mechanism."

Chen Hao grinned: "So we have to stagger over like drunkards?"

“Pretty much,” Nana said. “I suggest using intermittent propulsion, moving as the tentacles retract.”

The screen showed that the tentacles retracted every eleven seconds, like a breathing rhythm. Taking advantage of this gap, Chen Hao gently pushed the control stick, and the spaceship glided forward a short distance. Then he shut down the engine and let it glide.

One tentacle missed its target and slowly retracted. The other tentacle had just approached when it was suddenly propelled away by the spaceship's small thrusters.

“It works.” Susan looked at the trajectory graph. “They can’t keep up with this pace.”

“Don’t get too excited.” Carl stood in the power zone, his eyes fixed on the energy readings. “At this rate, we’re consuming forty percent more electricity than normal. It won’t last long.”

"Then we need to find a way out quickly," Chen Hao said. "Otherwise, once the power runs out, we'll become floating cans."

Nana has begun analyzing the structural model of the entire buffer zone. New 3D images unfold on the main screen, far more complex than the outer layers. There's a blurry energy cluster in the central region, its specific properties unclear.

“The second layer of barrier is stronger,” she said. “And it has its own defense logic, unlike the first layer which only fluctuates periodically.”

"So, it can use its brain?" Chen Hao frowned.

“To be more precise, it learns.” Nana pulled up a record. “The dynamic pattern we used during our first time travel has been stored in its response database. It might not work the next time we use the same method.”

"That's really annoying," Chen Hao sighed. "So we have to give it new challenges?"

Just then, static came through the communication channel.

"Beep beep—zzzz—beep beep beep—"

The sound was intermittent, like someone typing Morse code, but the rhythm was chaotic and filled with a lot of interference.

"A signal?" Susan immediately picked up the recorder. "Where did it come from?"

“Not sure.” Nana switched to receive mode. “But it appeared thirty-seven seconds after we entered the buffer zone. The timing is too coincidental to be a coincidence.”

She began to strip away the background noise, filtering it layer by layer. After a few minutes, the signal became clearer.

"Beep—beep beep—beep—beep beep beep—"

“This rhythm…” Susan suddenly looked up, “is the same as the intervals when the tentacles contracted just now.”

"What did you say?" Chen Hao turned his head.

“The pause between each signal segment is exactly eleven seconds,” Susan said, pointing to the waveform. “It’s perfectly consistent with the tentacle’s movement cycle.”

Nana quickly compared the data. "It's not just the rhythm matching. The frequency of this signal also matches the low-frequency fallback period of the barrier."

"So it was intentional?" Carl asked. "Is someone or something using this method to transmit information?"

“It could also be debugging commands leaked during system self-testing,” Nana said. “But if it’s the latter, it shouldn’t contain repetitive patterns.”

"So it was man-made?" Chen Hao stroked his chin. "Could it be that a lonely programmer lives inside this broken barrier?"

“That possibility cannot be ruled out.” Nana had already started running the decoding program. “If this is a warning signal, the content may involve a breakthrough method.”

"Then hurry up and decipher it," Chen Hao urged. "I don't want to dance the tango here until the battery breaks down."

Over the next few minutes, the four of them each performed their duties.

Chen Hao continued to use intermittent propulsion to control the spaceship, avoiding the swarm of tentacles that were stirring in the distance; Karl monitored the energy distribution to ensure that there would be no power outage due to unforeseen circumstances; Susan recorded the time and waveform characteristics of each signal; and Nana worked hard to decipher the mysterious frequency.

During the third tentacle attack, the spaceship was nearly entangled. An energy tentacle swept across the tail thruster, causing a localized short circuit and a sudden rise in temperature in the aft compartment.

“The cooling system is damaged,” Carl reported. “A manual restart will take five minutes.”

"I don't have five minutes," Chen Hao gritted his teeth. "Just give me thirty seconds."

He suddenly increased his thrust, forcibly breaking out of the encirclement just before the tentacles closed in. The ship shook violently, and the alarm sounded once before Nana manually turned it off.

“It’s stable,” she said. “But we’ve exposed a high-speed movement pattern, and we expect the next wave of attacks to be even faster.”

"Then let's try a different approach." Chen Hao sneered. "Anyway, I'm not the only one I know how to use."

He switched to short, pulsed propulsion, advancing only a few hundred meters at a time before immediately gliding into silence. The spaceship, like a mouse hiding in the shadows, inching forward little by little.

The tentacles indeed slowed down. They seemed unable to adapt to this erratic movement, and after missing their targets several times, they began to retreat back to the edge of the light curtain.

“They are reassessing the threat level,” Nana observed the data stream. “Our behavior patterns are outside the preset response range.”

"Looks like it's not an invincible AI after all," Chen Hao laughed. "It can also get stuck."

Just then, a line of characters appeared on the communication screen.

[Decoding complete: Partial semantic reconstruction successful]

The crowd gathered around.

A fragmented text was displayed on the screen:

"...Do not advance continuously...The cycle interval must be broken...The core node is located in the southeast...Signal synchronization means the channel is opened...Repeat...Signal synchronization means the channel is opened..."

"Southeast?" Chen Hao looked at the main screen. "The weak area that Nana marked earlier?"

“The location is close,” Nana confirmed. “The error is no more than three hundred kilometers.”

"So as long as we're in that position and send out a signal that acts like a barrier, we can open a path?"

“It’s theoretically possible,” Nana said, “but we need a transmitter that can simulate the frequency of the barrier pulse.”

“There’s a signal generator in the toolbox,” Carl said. “An older model, but it should be modifiable.”

"Then let's do it." Chen Hao released the control stick. "Anyway, no one's chasing us now."

He was about to stand up when Nana suddenly raised her hand.

"etc."

Her gaze was fixed on the screen.

The light curtain in the distance began to change again. The tentacles did not attack again, but instead swayed slowly in the air, forming a kind of regular pattern.

Immediately afterwards, the signal came through the communicator again.

This time, it wasn't just intermittent beeping.

Instead, it's a single, clear sentence, repeated in a mechanical tone:

"Abnormal entity detected. Execute cleanup protocol?"