Pei Du forced back three pursuers with a single blow. His dark-golden body swayed slightly, and blood gushed from the wounds on his waist, abdomen, and thighs. The dark-gold blood dripped onto the cold metal floor with a soft hissing sound. He whipped his head around, his molten-gold eyes instantly locking onto Xu Shuangyao, who leaned against the pipe wall. His breath had become extremely weak again, and the blood-flame mark between his eyebrows was fading.

No words! Pei Du rushed to Xu Shuangyao's side like a flash of black lightning, and once again held her tightly in his arms, covered with dark gold patterns! He didn't even glance at the three stalker wreckages struggling to get up behind him, flashing a dangerous red light. He hugged Xu Shuangyao and rushed into the rust-covered entrance to the secondary energy core on the left without looking back!

The interior of the pipe was even darker and narrower, filled with a thick, pungent smell of rust and engine oil. Pei Du, holding Xu Shuangyao, raced through the darkness, his molten-gold pupils like searchlights, piercing the darkness and precisely avoiding obstacles. From behind, the humming sound of the Hunter's unique, high-frequency energy weapon charging could be heard again, carrying with it a relentless pursuit.

"Hold on... We're almost there..." Pei Du's deep voice rang out beside Xu Shuangyao's ears, a barely perceptible hoarseness in it. He could feel the breath of the person in his arms slipping towards the edge of danger again, the golden flame mark between his eyebrows like a candle in the wind.

At the end of the pipe, a metal door, thickly rusted and inlaid with a long-faded circular energy rune, appeared before his eyes. The door was tightly closed, but the fragments of data from the Source Key clearly indicated that it was an abandoned emergency airtight door. The physical lock had long since rusted shut, but the power core was dormant, suggesting that the internal systems maintaining air pressure and basic life support might still be faintly intact.

Pei Du didn't hesitate at all! He clenched his right fist, covered in dark gold lines, and the dark power of the end was highly compressed in the fist! He punched the rusty door lock fiercely!

boom--!!!

The rusted metal was torn apart like fragile paper! The entire heavy metal door was dented and twisted inward by the violent force, then it broke off its hinges and flew backward like a torn sack!

A relatively warm and humid air with the smell of old metal hits me in the face!

Behind the door lay a vast, hemispherical space. The dome was studded with several indicator lights, most of which had long since broken down, leaving only a few flickering faint red emergency lights. In the center of the space stood a massive cylindrical metal tank, covered in thick dust and condensation. Its surface was covered in thick pipe connections and long-extinguished energy indicators. Beneath the tank, connected to a similarly dusty metal base, intricate patterns faintly visible. This was the [Secondary Energy Core (Dormant)] node marked in the Source Key data fragment!

Although the energy core had long been dormant, this enclosed space clearly still retained the residual warmth of a life-support system independent of the main energy grid, which had maintained the core area during the Cradle's early construction. The air, though stale, was much warmer and more humid than outside, with a faint sense of energy circulation.

Pei Du, carrying Xu Shuangyao, quickly entered the relatively safe haven. With a flick of his hand, a surge of final power erupted, forcibly blocking the shattered remains of the gate at the entrance, forming a crude barrier. While it couldn't hold back the pursuers for long, it could at least buy a moment.

He quickly glanced around, his eyes landing on a relatively flat, dusty platform next to the metal pedestal. He quickly stepped forward, carefully brushed off the dust, and gently placed Xu Shuangyao flat on the cold metal platform.

Xu Shuangyao's aura grew even weaker. Forcibly activating the thorn guard had nearly exhausted the power of the soul imprint that Pei Du had just restored. The golden flame imprint between his eyebrows dimmed to its absolute limit, as if it would be completely extinguished in the next second.

Pei Du's hand, covered in dark gold patterns, hovered once again above her brow. A mixture of coldness and anxiety mingled in his molten-gold pupils. Removing the pollution was only the first step; repairing the rift in her soul and awakening her will required a gentler, more sustained surge of vitality. And within this cold ruin of a "cradle"...

His eyes subconsciously swept over the huge, dormant secondary energy core tank. Cold metal, dormant energy... wait!

Pei Du's gaze suddenly fixed on the intricate patterns on the metal base beneath the tank! Those patterns... analyzed through the fragments of the Source Key data, clearly revealed its energy-guiding and energy-conversion functions! Although the energy core was dormant, its physical structure as a massive energy container and converter still existed!

A crazy idea struck Pei Du's mind like lightning!

He pressed his hands, covered in dark gold veins, fiercely against the cold metal base! The End Star Core within his chest pulsed frantically! This time, he no longer unleashed the destructive force of annihilation, but instead forcibly reversed the core's energy output! Using an extremely difficult, almost self-destructive method, he forcibly transformed the cold, orderly, and end-of-the-universe power of the End into... the gentle, pure, and vibrant End Life Energy!

The reversal is final! It's like asking the Styx to flow backwards!

Buzz——!!!

Pei Du's body, covered in dark gold lines, trembled violently! The dark gold lines on his body erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling light, like an overloaded furnace! In his molten gold pupils, the icy order and the vitality of creation clashed and tore apart frantically! The excruciating pain was like billions of red-hot steel needles piercing his star core at the same time! Dark golden blood flowed from the corners of his mouth!

But he didn't stop! The overwhelming, reversed energy of the Final Life Force, like a river of life bursting its banks, surged madly along his hands pressed against the base! Through the precise energy-guiding patterns on the metal base, it was forcibly injected into the massive, dormant secondary energy core tank!

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