She was no longer the Xu Shuangyao of the past, nor was she simply a "key." She was the rule itself, the node where cold logic and the vastness of life converged. The immense burden caused her suspended body to tremble slightly. Beneath her nearly transparent skin, crimson and emerald energy veins were as clearly visible as red-hot circuits. Each surge of energy brought a tearing pain. But in her burning eyes, only absolute calculation and icy determination remained.
Protected by the barrier, the Throne of Thorns frantically absorbed the relatively gentle life energy filtered and channeled by the barrier. Thick, dark-gold thorns pulsed like blood vessels, channeling energy into the stabilized tri-colored core at the center of the base. While the core's flickering frequency remained unstable, it was several times more resilient than its previous, weak, near-death state! The liquid metal armor that formed the throne was washed over by the energy, and the cold light flowing across its surface brightened slightly.
However, the stalemate did not last long.
The crimson machinery's attack was like a relentless tsunami. Though the data barrier was resilient, under the endless onslaught of crimson energy, its repair rate began to lag behind its destruction! In the attacked areas of the barrier's surface, the crimson and emerald runes vanished, and their regeneration slowed noticeably. The barrier's thickness also thinned at a rate imperceptible to the naked eye! Even more terrifying, a certain characteristic of the crimson energy seemed to have a slow and persistent corrosive effect on the life energy network that comprised the barrier! In some areas repeatedly struck by the crimson beams, the emerald life network began to show subtle, dull marks, like rust!
"Energy...consumption...excessive..."
"Crimson...Corruption...Erosion..."
"Barrier...estimated...collapse time...calculating..."
A chilling alarm echoed through Xu Shuangyao's fused will. She could clearly see more crimson tentacles pouring in from the edge of the distant rift. Several of them were exceptionally large, their armor covered in complex crimson patterns. Their muzzles were gathering terrifying energy waves far exceeding their previous intensity!
The crisis has not been resolved, but is getting worse!
Just then!
Buzz——!!!
A surge of will, far greater and colder than any mechanical tentacle before it, like a dormant war AI fully activated, suddenly rose from the depths of the steel graveyard beyond the rift! It instantly pierced space and pressed down fiercely upon all of Eden! This will, cold, efficient, and pure, with a sense of absolute control overlooking the battlefield, instantly took over the attack commands of all the scarlet mechanical tentacles!
The attack rhythm of the scarlet mechanical group suddenly changed!
The chaotic bombardment ceased instantly! All the tentacles, like precision instruments controlled by invisible hands, instantly adjusted their positions! Some continued their suppressive fire on the data barrier, while others spread out like serpents, their tips no longer emitting energy beams but instead extending countless fine, scarlet probes resembling bundles of metallic nerves!
These probes seemed to have life, instantly piercing the ground of the emerald forest below, which was shrouded in scarlet light and dimmed by light! They pierced into the roots of those tall but already withered emerald trees!
Sizzle! Sizzle!
A harsh, acid-like sound instantly rang out! A cold, foul, crimson stream of data, imbued with the power of absolute logic and assimilation, flowed through the probes like a virus, madly injecting into the land of Eden and the lifeblood of the giant emerald trees!
“No——!!!” The gardener’s will screamed in pain, filled with blasphemous anger and fear!
Horrible changes visible to the naked eye have occurred!
The crimson probes pierced the earth, and the once softly luminous green grass instantly turned gray and withered, its surface covered in a layer of dark red streaks like rust! The giant emerald trees, injected with the crimson data stream, seemed to have suffered the most vicious curse! The crystal-clear trunks and branches instantly lost their luster, becoming dull and lifeless! The emerald green was eroded and covered by a foul, dark red color like coagulated blood! Countless cold, circuit-board-like crimson lines appeared on the tree's surface! The once vibrant treetops became twisted and sharp, like a snarling ghost! From within the tree, a dull, mechanical sound like rusty gears turned!
Crimson corruption! They are forcibly contaminating and assimilating the very foundations of Eden's life! Transforming this pristine forest into a cold, controlled steel jungle! The life energy of the corrupted trees is no longer used by Eden, but instead is extracted by the Crimson machinery, becoming ammunition for attacking the data barrier!
"Corruption...spreads...!"
"Life network...node...failed...!"
"Barrier...energy supply...decreased...20%...30%...!"
A chilling alarm flashed wildly in Xu Shuangyao's consciousness! The data barrier ahead, eroded by the crimson corruption, saw its emerald green life network rapidly dim and shrink like a vine with its roots severed! The barrier's thickness was thinning at a visible rate! Its defenses were plummeting!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The scarlet mechanized swarm seized the moment the barrier weakened and suddenly increased its firepower! Several high-energy particle beams, twice as thick as before, fiercely bombarded the weak points of the barrier!
Snap——!
The heart-shattering sound of shattering rang out again! Several huge holes, edges of which burned with crimson energy flames, were finally blasted into the translucent data barrier!
The torrent of destruction poured in through the hole like a flood that broke through a dam!
The target is Xu Shuangyao who is floating above the throne of thorns, and the three-color core that is beating tenaciously in the throne!
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