The cold metal tunnel sloped downward like the gullet of a behemoth, plunging deeper into unfathomable darkness. The only source of light came from the entrance—the entropic black tide sealed off by a suffocatingly thick armored gate. Beyond the gate, a viscous, all-negating darkness silently swirled and roared, casting twisting, writhing dark red shadows on the tunnel's inner walls like the embers of a hellish furnace, illuminating the vast, dried, oxidized black stains of blood and the lacerations of claw marks on the metal walls.

The air was a frozen mass of death, filled with the lingering smell of eons of decaying motor oil, the pungent stench of rust, and a soul-deep, icy silence that belonged to a metal graveyard. Every breath I took was like pouring cold metal shards and despair into my lungs.

Pei Du's heavy, steely remains collapsed on the cold, metal floor of the passage, like a pile of abandoned, filthy war debris. The thick, dark silver armor covering his entire body was covered in deep dents and scratches from impacts, and several joints leaked a faint blue life-sustaining fluid, like the blood of a dying beast. His right leg was completely rotten from the knee down, the armor covering it like weathered rock, a lifeless gray. The internal structure had been pulverized by the erosion of the law of entropy, and only the remaining superstructure and left leg barely kept the body from completely falling apart. The thick alloy claws of his left arm dug deep into the ground, spasming unconsciously, the claws scraping against the metal with a harsh noise.

The real purgatory is within the body.

[Core... Pollution Conflict... Level: Extinction! ]

[The remaining…activity of the Starry Sky Law…continues to decline…]

[The End Key…Authority Core…Energy…0.3%…Continuously depleting…]

[Unknown higher-dimensional will…activity…is rising exponentially…! ]

[Pollution sign…locking in…!]

Inside the helmet, his vision was completely drowned by a stream of crimson alarm data. The soul-shattering buzzing sound was like millions of red-hot steel needles, fiercely piercing his nerves on the verge of collapse! The excruciating pain was no longer localized, but permeated every inch of his being, as if his entire body was being torn apart and crushed from the inside by an invisible giant hand!

What’s even more terrifying is the “voice”.

It was not a physical sound, but a "whisper" that sounded directly in the core of his chaotic consciousness, cold, indifferent, and with an absolute alienation as if looking down on an ant...

[Container... damaged... deteriorated...]

[Rules…complex…inefficient…]

[Entropy...will eventually...cover...]

【Resistance... is meaningless...】

Each icy fragment of thought, like a heavy hammer, slammed down upon Pei Du's remaining will! It did not belong to him! It came from within him, a terrifying existence awakened by the black tide of entropy, dormant within the depths of the dark red energy turbulence! This will greedily absorbed the conflicting energies within him, like an awakened ancient demon, attempting to completely take over this body on the verge of destruction, transforming it into a "hotbed" for its own arrival or annihilation!

"Get out..." Pei Du roared hoarsely, like metal grinding against metal, each utterance causing excruciating pain like a core tearing apart. He used up all his remaining willpower, trying to force the faint embers of the Crimson Key to suppress and resist!

Buzz!

Deep in the core, the crimson ember belonging to Xu Shuangyao suddenly jumped and burst out with the final, cold light of command!

[Authority...instructions...suppress...the source of pollution...!]

A faint stream of command, yet one that carried an aura of absolute order, was forcibly injected into the core of chaos! It was like throwing a piece of ice into a boiling pot of oil!

Swish!

The violently conflicting energy field within his body froze for a brief moment! The cold whisper of the ancient will also experienced a delay of a billionth of a second!

efficient!

However, the cost of this brief suppression was devastating!

[Key Core…Energy…0.1%…]

[Warning! Excessive use... of the core structure... will accelerate its collapse...!]

The scarlet alarm in his vision became even more glaring! Pei Du felt an indescribable pain and weakness in his core, as if his soul had been forcibly ripped out! The crimson light dimmed like a candle in the wind, almost completely extinguished! It exhausted its last bit of strength, buying him this insignificant moment of respite!

The price is... the last "existence" of Xu Shuangyao left in his body... is about to completely dissipate!

A chilling pain, deeper than the collapse of his core, emanating from the depths of his soul, instantly overwhelmed Pei Du! It was as if something most precious was silently and irreversibly disappearing from his body...

"Ahhh!" A silent roar, a mixture of extreme pain, despair, and endless sorrow, exploded from the depths of his consciousness! His broken steel body convulsed violently from the excruciating pain that emanated from his soul, and the dark blue life-sustaining fluid leaking from the cracks in his armor splattered like tears!

Just then!

Buzz…buzz…buzz…

A low, regular, vibration sound with a cold metallic texture, like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant beast awakened, came abruptly from the endless darkness deep in the passage!

The sound penetrated the sound insulation of the helmet and the chaotic storm in his body. Like an icy alarm bell, it struck Pei Du's consciousness, which was on the verge of disintegration!

Danger! From deep within the tunnel!

Pei Du's molten gold pupils (only two flickering dark red embers remained behind the dark red mask) suddenly and with great difficulty focused on the source of the sound - the dark abyss below the passage.

At the end of the passage that was barely illuminated by the distorted light and shadow at the entrance, two points of light appeared in the deep darkness... no, four points... six points... more and more cold, dark blue points of light!

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