Time seemed to freeze into amber, completely sealing off this vast space filled with a deep blue light.

Lin Yi's eyes were deep, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Maintaining such a large-scale time freeze was also a great burden for him.

Every passing second felt like it was draining the power from the depths of his soul.

He had to race against time.

"Yaoyao, it's up to you!" Lin Yi's voice was exceptionally clear in the still air, yet it carried a strange sense of stagnation due to the distortion of the laws of time.

Without needing to say more, Chu Yao's figure had already transformed into a stream of dazzling data, and in the absolute stillness created by Lin Yi, she entered the massive, galaxy-like central network interface in front of her as if she were in her own water.

Her consciousness coalesced in the virtual space into a heroic female figure wearing a tight-fitting combat suit, her eyes gleaming with a calm and confident light.

"Night Owl's identity verification protocol... it's indeed an outdated version. Hmph, arrogant fellow, always thinking his defenses are impregnable." Chu Yao's lips curled into a cold smile.

Her fingertips danced rapidly in the air, and countless complex codes poured out like a waterfall, precisely capturing a tiny but fatal vulnerability in the protocol stack—an ancient key that had long been abandoned but not completely erased.

"Permissions disguised... Senior Administrator... Authentication successful!"

The first layer of firewall, the Sighing Wall that once deterred countless top hackers, was as useless as a door open in front of Chu Yao.

She moved through in her data form with effortless grace, without raising any alarms.

But this is just the beginning; ahead lies an even more intricate and densely packed defense matrix, like a spider web.

Every data link may conceal a deadly trap, and every node may harbor a dormant sentinel program.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the central area, Aizen's figure blended into the shadows like a ghost.

He formed a hand seal, his fingertips shimmering with a pale blue spiritual pressure.

As he chanted in a deep voice, invisible spiritual pressure runes quietly spread out, like ripples on the surface of water, constructing a vast and sophisticated interference array around the central core area.

This array is not for attack purposes, but rather to isolate any possibility of information leakage and ensure that their actions are not detected by any external forces in the initial stages.

“Spiritual pressure interference, complete. Next…” Aizen’s eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of expectation mixed with caution in his gaze.

He quietly took out a piece of jade—a piece of jade that was completely black but faintly emitted an alluring luster—from his bosom.

This is his biggest trump card, and one of the reasons he dares to venture into dangerous territory.

He carefully channeled a tiny amount of spiritual energy into the Hogyoku.

The jade trembled slightly, and an indescribable longing and power emanated from it.

Inside this nest of technology and data, the power of the Hogyoku seems to be somewhat suppressed, but its inherent strength remains unchanged.

It is like an ancient behemoth that has been awakened. Although it is constrained by its environment, its will to devour and evolve everything is still clearly discernible.

“It’s alright… Although the power of the Hogyoku isn’t as unrestrained here as it is outside, its core characteristics are still there, enough to deal with any unexpected situation.” Aizen felt a little more at ease and put the Hogyoku away again.

His role is to provide support, to be a backup, and more importantly, to be the sharp blade that can tear apart a desperate situation at crucial moments.

Lin Yi's face grew paler and paler, and maintaining the time freeze was nearing his limit.

He could clearly sense that the power of time that imprisoned this area was becoming unstable, like glass about to shatter.

"Chu Yao, speed up! I can't hold on much longer!" Lin Yi's voice was urgent.

"Breaking through the second layer of the logic maze! The defense mechanism here is more complex than expected, constantly changing like a living thing!" Chu Yao's voice came through the communication channel, tinged with seriousness.

Her data body traversed at high speed through countless flashing logic gates and data traps, each turn fraught with danger.

Suddenly, just as Chu Yao was about to crack a key encryption lock and reach the protective barrier surrounding the core database, a specially made communicator on Lin Yi's waist lit up with a faint red light without warning and emitted a very slight, almost negligible vibration.

The frequency of the red light flashing was extremely special, indicating the highest priority of encrypted communication.

Lin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted. This communicator was left to him by Xuan Mingzi. It was for single-line communication and would never be activated unless absolutely necessary!

Has some enormous change occurred in the outside world?

Or...did their operation get exposed?

He managed to spare a glance at the communicator screen.

A line of characters, triple-encrypted and constantly jumping around, is slowly emerging, eventually solidifying into the prototype of a sentence.

Xuanmingzi sent back an encrypted command: "Beware of the seventh node, where the Night Owl hides. The night is as dark as ink, and the starlight is dim."

"Buzz..." A faint electrical sound rang out deep in Lin Yi's eardrum; it was Xuan Mingzi's unique encrypted channel.

"Be careful of the seventh node, Night Owl's 'mind hounds' are hiding there!" Xuan Mingzi's voice carried a barely perceptible urgency, clearly indicating that the situation was extremely urgent.

Lin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted!

Consciousness Hound!

The Night Owl is the most feared and invisible killer!

They are not physical entities, but a highly evolved psycho-sensing program that can capture any abnormal fluctuations in consciousness. Once they "smell" them, the intruder's mind will be locked, exposed, or even forcibly torn apart in an instant!

Ordinary stealth techniques are useless against them.

At this moment, he was lurking in the shadows on the outskirts of a massive base, less than a hundred meters from the seventh node marked on the map.

A network of eerie blue energy rays intertwined around the node, emanating a chilling aura.

If it weren't for Xuanmingzi's invaluable intelligence, he probably would have already rushed headlong into it!

"Received!" Lin Yi's voice was as calm as a block of ancient ice.

His brain was working at lightning speed, and countless alternative routes were instantly generated, filtered, and optimized in his mind.

Before us lies a narrow, almost overlooked ventilation duct, riddled with deadly infrared sensors and a high-voltage electric grid, yet it conveniently bypasses the seventh node!

"Fortune favors the bold!" Lin Yi's lips curled into a fierce smile.

His figure flashed like a ghost, brushing against the cold metal wall, weaving through the gaps in the energy net, and with a light tap of his fingertip, several infrared beams instantly became ineffective.

His every movement was precise down to the micrometer, and every breath he took blended seamlessly with the subtle noises of the environment.

Sweat had already soaked through the lining of his combat uniform, but he was completely unaware of it.

A few minutes later, Lin Yi appeared outside the main control terminal like a ghost.

The heavy alloy door gleamed with a dangerous red light, and the internal defense system was clearly more robust than the outer one.

"Su Qing, it's your turn," Lin Yi said softly.

"Leave it to me!" In a secret outpost thousands of miles away, Su Qing's ten fingers flew across the virtual keyboard like a blur.

On the screen in front of her, countless lines of code cascaded down like a waterfall. The firewall of the Night Owl main control terminal was like a ferocious beast, roaring and trying to devour her intrusion.

"Quantum encryption? Hmph, child's play!" Su Qing sneered, her eyes gleaming with excitement and focus.

Time passed second by second, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Suddenly, all the raging code on the screen froze, and a green "Access Authorized" message popped up.

"Done!" Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief, her voice tinged with exhaustion, but filled with undisguised pride.

"A troop deployment chart and... oh my god! There's also a top-secret document about the 'consciousness purification experiment'! Lin Yi, this thing... is terrifying!"

Lin Yi quickly downloaded the file, and when he saw the words "Consciousness Purification Experiment," a chill ran from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

The contents of the document are even more shocking: Night Owl is secretly conducting a terrifying experiment that could overturn human cognition and obliterate individual will!

If they succeed, the whole world will become their puppets!

"We must stop them!" Lin Yi's eyes became incredibly determined.

Mission accomplished, data in hand. Lin Yi took a deep breath and activated the miniature device on his wrist.

"Time recovery mechanism activated!"

An imperceptible wave spread out from him, and all the light and shadow around him began to distort and reverse.

The surveillance cameras returned to their original angles before he appeared, the damaged defense system silently recovered, and the last trace of his presence in the air vanished without a trace.

A moment later, the base remained solemn and imposing, as if nothing had happened.

Lin Yi, and everything he did, was like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating brief ripples before being completely smoothed out by the river of time.

Inside the Night Owl Central Hub, a massive space station floating in geosynchronous orbit, the data stream continues to operate smoothly.

The supervisor in charge of monitoring yawned, glanced at the unremarkable system logs, and continued sipping his synthetic coffee.

He was completely unaware that just moments before, a tiny, almost negligible data packet, like the most cunning parasite, had quietly implanted itself into the deepest layers of the database.

This data packet is Chu Yao's masterpiece—the "Cognitive Virus".

It is neither aggressive nor destructive; it simply lies dormant, like a sleeping volcano, waiting to be awakened.

Meanwhile, somewhere on Earth, in a brightly lit laboratory.

Chu Yao stared at the complex structure diagram on the screen representing the Night Owl's central database. On the hidden node she had marked, a barely perceptible green dot was quietly flashing.

A meaningful smile slowly crept onto her lips.

Beneath the calm surface lies a terrifying tsunami about to erupt.

That invisible chess piece has quietly landed in the most central position on the chessboard.

Her slender fingers gently brushed across the cold control panel, her eyes deep and unfathomable, as if they could pierce through the endless starry sky and gaze directly into the heart of the night owl.

Everything is ready, except for the east wind.

As for when that east wind will blow, it will be up to her, and only she can decide.

Her fingertip hovered lightly above a virtual button.