The silence within the lab was rendered even more mysterious by the dim glow of the screens. Rune models floated in the air, like fragments of a galaxy moving through the void. Xiang Fan's fingers danced across the keyboard, and the subtle ticking sounds from the console felt like a unique rhythm, echoing his focused expression.

"What the hell is this..." Xiang Fan muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the flashing data stream on the screen. It was the residual code he had intercepted from the virtual mecha of Shadow Killer and others. It was chaotic and disordered, yet it faintly revealed a strange regularity.

The codes on the screen seemed to be performing some subtle "behavior": they seemed to have life, constantly reorganizing and proliferating in the rune model, and could even simulate the psychic fluctuations in the environment and make reasonable adjustments.

Xiang Fan's brows gradually furrowed. He clicked on a data fragment, and the rune chain suddenly split into countless tiny points of light at a speed too fast to be seen by the naked eye. Like cell division, more runes were rapidly generated.

"Self-replication... self-adaptation?" Xiang Fan's voice was filled with disbelief. "This is beyond the scope of ordinary rune programming. Why does it feel like a psychic version of a biological virus?"

He rubbed his temples and tapped the screen a few times. The image switched to a higher-magnification model of the rune structure. The runes were entangled in a seemingly chaotic yet hidden order, like a group of intelligent microorganisms conversing.

"There's something terribly wrong with these things." Xiang Fan took a deep breath and zoomed in on the model. The faint psychic fluctuations between the runes were clearly visible. Each rune was vibrating minutely, as if they truly possessed life.

The corner of Xiang Fan's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but mutter, "Did I fish out some ancient evil spirits from the cultivation network? If these things come back to life, won't I be the first to be eaten?"

On the screen, a chain of psychic runes suddenly flashed, generating a more complex branching model. This model rotated, almost as if showing off its presence.

"Oh, you're quite confident." Xiang Fan stared at the rune chain with a meaningful smile on his face. "Are you provoking a mortal like me?"

After saying this, he quickly tapped on the keyboard, trying to intercept the operation record of this rune chain. However, as if sensing his movements, the rune chain suddenly split into countless small fragments and fled in all directions.

"Damn, you're actually running away?!" Xiang Fan was quick-witted and quickly locked onto a portion of the runes, blocking them with a psychic barrier. "Don't rush to run away, I haven't had enough fun with you yet!"

Trapped in the barrier, the rune chains struggled to break free like trapped animals. Xiang Fan watched them, his smile widening. "It seems you guys are quite interesting."

He input the rune chain's structural model into a backup terminal, attempting to simulate its operating logic. The rune chains on the screen seemed to cooperate at first, but soon, they actually attempted to reversely invade Xiang Fan's terminal system.

"Good guy, you can fight back?" Xiang Fan's eyes lit up and he quickly switched to another terminal. His fingers danced on the keyboard, setting up a complex psychic barrier to completely isolate the invading rune chain.

"Isn't this just a thief robbing me? How unique!" He couldn't help but mutter to himself as he operated, "No, I have to see where the hell you guys came from."

After some deconstruction, Xiang Fan discovered that the core logic of these rune chains was completely different from ordinary programs. Not only could they replicate and adapt to the environment, but they could also autonomously adjust their algorithms based on external changes, as if searching for the best way to survive in the psychic network.

"Is this... a program? Or life?" Xiang Fan muttered, his expression becoming increasingly complex. He stared at the model on the screen, his thoughts racing.

There is a pattern hidden in the movement of these rune chains, like some kind of innate instinct - invading, replicating, and growing, and each time they grow, their complexity will increase to a higher level.

"This can't be an accidental vulnerability," Xiang Fan whispered, his eyes piercing. "This was clearly designed by someone... But who designed it? What's their purpose?"

The rune chains on the screen struggled within Xiang Fan's terminal, seemingly trying to break through his blockade. Xiang Fan sneered, his fingers rapidly typing a string of commands: "Don't waste your energy. Just stay put. Even if you truly crawled out of some ancient ruins, you still have to pass my test first."

He switched the screen to the experimental environment of the psychic network, preparing to further study the secrets of these rune chains.

"If you truly are some unknown power, then let me, a 'mortal', dig deep into your secrets." Xiang Fan's voice was low and sly. "Who knows, I might even be able to sell you for a good price."

In the lab, the communication system's projection suddenly lit up, revealing Ning Yuge's face, a slightly rogue-like expression. He munched on a spiritual fruit while casually asking, "Boss, can my mech be repaired? It was horribly damaged last time. I think it's completely lost its soul."

Xiang Fan didn't even look up, his fingers still dancing on the keyboard. "It's fine to repair it, but tell me, what exactly happened to your mecha's control system that day? Don't tell me you were using your face to block the rune cannons from beginning to end."

Ning Yuge rolled his eyes. "Boss, can't you be kind? We didn't see it clearly at the time, and that thing got into the system, messing up everything and nearly causing my psychic energy to explode! Do you think I want to be cannon fodder like this?"

Xiang Fan sneered: "Then shut up and let me study these runes."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!