The glow of the Entropy Balance's restored stability had barely faded when Lin Yue's figure, suspended in mid-air, plummeted. Dim starlight seeped from the cracks of the seventeen-colored gemstone. The thread of time shattered into a shattered silver chain around her wrist. The giant blade disintegrated into a star scepter and a dragon codex, slamming heavily onto the charred ground left by the disintegrated Chaos Colossus. Of Lu Li's six afterimages, only three remained, their golden codes flickering like dying fireflies. As he struggled to catch Lin Yue, the alarm on his armor's surface faded to a hum of electricity. The calico cat stumbled onto Lu Li's shoulder. The gear collar shattered completely into pieces, blue light escaping from the cracks where it met. Only the last gear remained, stubbornly spinning.
"The black liquid... is still moving." The calico cat's whiskers trembled violently, its claws pointing at the base of the Entropy Balance Center. The drop of chaotic black liquid was crawling along the metal lines, its eerie smile gradually blurring as it moved, but it suddenly solidified when it came into contact with the remains of the Colossus. The moment the residual green corrosive liquid on the debris collided with the black liquid, ripples resembling brain waves appeared. Lu Li's pupils constricted, and the golden code forcibly deduced in the void, but the moment it caught the black liquid's frequency, it erupted in a shrill cry: "It's... imitating the energy fluctuations of the center!"
Lin Yue's head shot up, the thread of time in her palm trembling uncontrollably. She could clearly sense the drop of black liquid analyzing the underlying logic of the Entropy Balance Core at an astonishing rate, like a virus infiltrating the core of the system. Even more chilling was the sight of fine cracks appearing on the ground where the black liquid had crawled. From deep within these cracks came the wailing of countless fragments of civilizational consciousness—those points of light purified during the disintegration of the Chaos Colossus were now twisted into resentful shadows under the influence of the black liquid.
"We must destroy it!" Lu Li injected the last bit of stable code into Lin Yue's body. Three afterimages transformed into a light shield in front of her. "Sanhua, disrupt its energy frequency! Lin Yue, use time reversal to sever its analysis chain!" The calico cat hissed, and the remaining gear parts gathered from all directions, reorganizing in its mouth into a humming frequency disruptor. Blue light pulses covered the black liquid like a spiderweb. But the surface of the black liquid suddenly exploded with dark green ripples. All the gear parts rusted into powder the moment they came into contact with the ripples. The last gear that stubbornly rotated also cracked with a "click".
As soon as Lin Yue's thread of time touched the edge of the black liquid, her consciousness was gripped by an icy force. Countless images exploded in her mind: the rift in the multiverse spread like a wound. Within a dark purple nebula, countless tentacle-like energy streams wove into a vast network. At the core of this network, a giant eye with pupils the size of a spiral galaxy—the same eye that had stared back at them at the end of the battle now transmitted clear malice through the black liquid. "So... it's just a messenger," Lin Yue's voice trembled, the thread of time freezing inch by inch in the image of the giant eye. "The true source... lies beyond the rift."
The black liquid suddenly erupted with a shrill roar, and the smile on his face transformed into countless twisted runes, piercing the cracks in the Entropy Core. The entire core was instantly coated in dark green, and the metal structure squirmed like a living thing. The gears that once symbolized order began to rotate in reverse, making a creaking sound like dislocated bones. Lu Li's light shield was shattered by the energy burst from the core. The three afterimages completely dissipated. He knelt on one knee, and golden code poured out from the cracks in his armor like blood. The calico cat was blown away by the blast, crashing into the energy wall in the distance, coughing up blue light mixed with gear fragments.
"At this rate, the core will become a puppet of Chaos." Lin Yue forcibly gathered the remaining power of the gemstone. Seventeen colors of light converged into miniature star tracks in her palm. "Lu Li, do you remember the memories of the first generation of guardians? When they sealed the source of Chaos, they used..." Before she could finish her words, the Entropy Core suddenly split into countless tentacles, enveloping the black liquid into a cocoon. The cocoon's shell was covered with spiral patterns similar to those of a giant eye's pupil. Each pulse caused the entire space to distort like ripples.
Lu Li looked up suddenly. Golden code sketched a fragmented formation in the air. "It's a soul resonance! But our power..." He had barely finished his words when the calico cat suddenly, with its last remaining strength, leaped onto the cocoon. The shattered remains of the gear collar emitted a final blue glow, faintly resonating with the cocoon's patterns. Simultaneously, the miniature star track in Lin Yue's palm suddenly exploded, and all the gemstone light transformed into thin threads, wrapping around the cocoon like a neural network. She closed her eyes and immersed herself in the lingering memories of the original guardians. The obsessions dormant within the artifact instantly awakened, transforming into countless transparent figures. Their hands passed through Lin Yue's body and pressed against the cocoon.
"In the name of order, seal!"
"I swear on my life, Zhen!"
Ancient oaths intertwined in the void. Lin Yue's hair was reignited by seventeen-colored light. The threads of time transformed into chains, merging with the golden code Lu Li forcibly condensed and the blue light of the calico cat's gear debris. The spiral patterns on the cocoon's surface began to crack, and the black liquid screamed in resonance, but was suppressed by the soul power of the first generation of guardians. Just as the cocoon was about to shatter, a deafening roar suddenly rang from the depths of the rift. A wave of energy far greater than that of the Chaos Colossus surged through the black liquid's links.
Lin Yue's consciousness nearly collapsed from the impact. She watched as the transparent Guardians' figures dissipated into tiny points of light amidst the energy wave. Lu Li's golden code shattered like glass, and the last gear of the calico cat was shattered to dust. But just as the energy wave was about to destroy the cocoon, all the dissipated Guardian points of light suddenly converged into a portal of light. A vague figure emerged from the portal—it was the leader of the first generation of Guardians, clutching a key composed of countless symbols of civilization.
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