It wasn't Qingluo! It was another voice!

Higher up in the collapsed dome, a relatively intact metal wall covered in thick, dark green light patterns suddenly rippled like water! Countless tiny, gleaming silver-white roots seeped out from within the wall, quickly converging and condensing!

In the blink of an eye, a figure turned from virtual to real, floating in the air dozens of meters above the ground!

The figure's silhouette bore a resemblance to Qingluo's, equally slender. He wore a robe composed of vines and flowing light, but the hue was a deeper interweaving of dark green and dark silver. His face was shrouded in the shadow of his hood, revealing only the lower half of his jaw, its lines as cold and hard as if chiseled by a knife. He (?) was hairless, and the skin beneath his hood was a cold metallic silver, covered in fine, emerald green lines like a circuit board. Most striking were his (?) hands—composed entirely of flowing, silvery-white liquid metal, his fingertips gleaming with an icy, cold light.

"The Crown of Thorns! No false god! The ultimate firewall left from the Root Era! You, the twin carriers, are not fighting for it, but for..." The cold, metallic voice, like a mighty bell, echoed deep within the consciousness of Pei Du and Xu Shuangyao (if she was still conscious), attempting to penetrate the clamor of the battlefield and the chaos within Pei Du's mind! The voice carried an unquestionable authority and an ancient sense of vicissitudes.

However!

At the moment when the newly appeared "World Tree Guardian" is about to tell the most crucial information!

Boom——!!!!

A scarlet beam of energy, far thicker and more concentrated than any previous attack, like a spear of judgment cast by a demon from Hell, suddenly blasted down from another huge gap in the dome! Its target was directly aimed at the floating, dark green figure that was now taking shape!

It is a sniper-type unit hidden among the high-level Reapers!

"Warning! High-energy attack! Avoid!" The metallic voice showed rapid fluctuations for the first time!

The suspended dark green figure reacted incredibly quickly! His (??) hands, composed of liquid metal, instantly crossed in front of him. Countless silver-white roots and dark green vines intertwined frantically, forming a thick energy shield!

boom--!!!!

The scarlet beam slammed into the shield! An indescribable explosion! The blinding red light instantly engulfed the dark green figure! The violent energy shockwave swept around like a tsunami! More of the dome's metal structure collapsed and fell!

The roar of the explosion and the violent energy surge instantly drowned out the second half of the metallic voice! Like the most precise interference, the most crucial information was completely cut off in the chaotic battlefield noise!

Pei Du only heard intermittent fragments:

"The Crown of Thorns…The Ultimate Firewall…The Twin Carriers…Not for Contest…"

What's behind this?! What's it really about?! Fusion? Sacrifice? Or... something else?!

The shockwave from the explosion also swept across the platform! Pei Du was violently thrown back, landing heavily on the rubble-strewn metal floor! Smoke and dust filled the air, and gravel rained down like rain! He struggled to look up, and through the dense smoke and dust, he saw the dark green figure flying backwards in the explosion, slamming heavily into the distant wall. His shield shattered, his dark green robes charred and shattered, and the figure seemed to have suffered heavy damage as well!

Meanwhile, several Reapers who had broken through the defenses were once again raising their ion blades, flashing with deadly cold light, and charging towards Xu Shuangyao, who was barely protected by the silver-white barrier on the ground (which had now dimmed greatly due to the appearance of the Guardians and the impact of the explosion). The barrier was crumbling!

Chaos! Absolute chaos! The newly emerged guardian was unidentified, his words unclear! The Fungus Master's high-level killing weapons pressed forward! Xu Shuangyao's life hung by a thread! Deep within Pei Du's consciousness, the images of betrayal implanted by the Fungus Master and the cold reality of being repelled by the barrier entwined and grew like poison ivy!

"It's not a fight... it's actually..." Pei Du looked at Xu Shuangyao, who was unconscious on the ground and "protected" by the strange plant power. He also looked at the violent power of the Crown of Thorns in his body that seemed to be out of control again at any time. A cold, desperate, self-destructive thought, like a poisonous flower in the dark, instantly bloomed in his heart!

"Shackles... they're all shackles..." he whispered, his voice hoarse and cold. The last glimmer of struggle in his eyes was completely extinguished, leaving only a bottomless pool of cold and a determination bordering on madness.

"Since... you want it... then I'll give it to you!" Pei Du roared with a mixture of extreme pain and violence! He no longer attempted to pounce on Xu Shuangyao. Instead, like an arrow shot from a bow, he rushed towards the huge crack at the edge of the platform, which was constantly being eroded and cracked by the power of the scarlet fungus! There, sticky dark red mycelium, emitting a sweet and decaying smell, emerged from the crack like a living thing, squirming madly!

On the way to rushing towards the crack, Pei Du's right hand covered with burning golden patterns suddenly grabbed the position between his eyebrows - grabbing the floating shadow of the crown of thorns!

Swish——!!!

The pain was like tearing the soul apart! He had actually torn off a small portion of the phantom crown of thorns, made of pure energy, from his brow! It was a ball of thorn light that was constantly twisting and struggling, emitting pure golden light and violent energy!

"Catch your throne!" Pei Du roared, not even looking at it. He threw the torn Crown of Thorns energy towards Xu Shuangyao like trash! The ball of light dragged a dark golden tail flame, drawing a dazzling arc!

At the same time, his body had already rushed to the crack at the edge of the platform! Without hesitation, he jumped towards the dark red mycelium that was wriggling crazily and exuding the decaying smell of the fungus master!

In the final moments before his body was engulfed by the viscous mycelium, Pei Du turned his head. His cold eyes, burning with a mixture of dark gold and scarlet flames, locked onto the unconscious Xu Shuangyao in the dust and the faint emerald light at the side of her neck. That gaze was filled with the coldness of betrayal, the violence of all-destruction, and a heartbreaking, utterly despairing despair.

"This is... the true order!"

The sticky dark red mycelium was like the maw of a living creature, instantly swallowing him completely! Only those cold, desperate words echoed in the crumbling ruins of the World Tree.

The ball of energy from the torn Crown of Thorns did not hit Xu Shuangyao, but slammed heavily into the already dim silver-white repulsion barrier in front of her!

boom!!!

The shockwave of annihilating energy once again sent the unconscious Xu Shuangyao careening into the air! Like a broken doll, she tumbled through the dust, finally crashing into a piece of broken metal debris, completely motionless. The tiny emerald green buds on the side of her neck, under the violent impact, dimmed like a candle in the wind, as if they would be completely extinguished at any moment.

The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

The collapsed World Tree's core platform left only the unconscious, near-death Xu Shuangyao and the dark green guardian struggling to rise from the distant ruins. Pei Du's figure, along with the portion of the Crown of Thorns he had taken with him, completely vanished amidst the all-consuming dark red mycelium.

The twin carriers were completely torn apart by the suspicion of betrayal, the whispers of the fungus master, and the truth that the guardian was interrupted.