100: A glimmer of light in dire straits and the concept of "I am the variable".

The moment Morpheus Li's finger pressed that scarlet button, an invisible command traversed the void at the speed of light, like an invitation from the Grim Reaper, precisely delivered to several "commercial satellites" deployed in geostationary orbit.

These satellites, covered in solar panels and seemingly serving global communications, had their casings quietly split open, revealing hidden arrays of directed-energy weapons that shimmered with a cold, metallic luster.

The energy-gathering rings emitted a low hum, beginning to greedily draw in solar energy and convert it into a destructive force aimed directly at the "Zhulong" base hidden in the mountains far below.

Almost the same millisecond the weapons finished charging, deep within the base, the core sensor array of the "Great Wall" absolute defense system let out a heart-wrenching shriek!

On the main screen of the command center, the star map that had previously displayed the calm situation around the base was instantly covered by over a dozen red lock-on icons that suddenly lit up, their energy levels soaring to the maximum!

"Highest alert! Detected multi-source space-based weapon lock-on! Energy signature identification... matching The Foundation's 'Athena's Spear' system! Attack vector Nexus Point—our base's core area! Energy level... incalculable! Exceeding sensor range! Attack expected to arrive in ten seconds!"

The chief technology officer's shout contained a trace of irrepressible trembling.

Wang Jianguo stood before the command console like a stone statue, his face devoid of expression, only a cold flame burning deep within his eyes.

His voice transmitted through the broadcast system across the entire base, as steady as a rock, yet carrying an unquestionable decisiveness: "Activate all interception systems! 'Great Wall' barrier at maximum power output! All units enter highest combat status! Non-combat personnel evacuate according to the plan!"

The moment the Order was given, the scene outside the base changed abruptly!

That usually invisible, semi-transparent energy shield enveloping the entire base—the "Great Wall"—was instantly stimulated to its limit, transforming from a faint state into a solid, massive blue glass bowl inverted on the ground, its surface flowing with blinding energy arcs and emitting a deafening roar!

At the same time, the missile silo covers hidden in the mountains opened layer by layer, and dozens of interceptor missiles trailing exhaust flames shot into the sky, like meteors flying in reverse, heading toward the light of destruction from the heavens!

The first wave of attacks had arrived!

It was not a traditional explosion, but an absolute crushing of energy!

Several thick, invisible energy beams mixed with high-frequency electromagnetic pulses and eerie mental interference waveforms, like thunderbolts thrown by Zeus, slammed fiercely onto the "Great Wall" barrier!

The moment of impact, the heavens and earth lost their color! Blinding white light swallowed everything, accompanied by a sharp noise and low-frequency vibration that felt like it could tear the soul apart!

The sturdy mountains trembled violently like a sieve, the internal lighting system of the base flickered wildly, and then large areas went out, with only the emergency red lights casting eerie glows in the pervasive dust.

Even though the shockwave of the explosion was weakened significantly by the barrier, it still caused the thick alloy walls to emit groans of being overwhelmed, with cracks appearing in some structurally weak areas, sparks flying everywhere, triggering small-scale fires and equipment paralysis!

"Barrier energy load has reached critical point! Local areas are experiencing overload! Interceptor missiles... most were detonated early by the energy beams and failed to intercept effectively!"

The technician's report sounded weak and desperate amidst the continuous roar of explosions.

Struggles in the Eye of the Storm: Despair During Evacuation

The reinforced medical isolation room where Excellence was located, although situated in a relatively core area of the base and specially reinforced, still suffered violent impacts.

The entire room swayed wildly like a small boat in a storm, instruments and equipment fixed to the floor toppled over, screens shattered, and pipelines snapped! The piercing alarm sounds and the noise of twisting metal were enough to burst one's eardrums.

The backup power supply started instantly, emitting an eerie green, unsettling light, barely maintaining the operation of the life support system.

Excellence was terrified out of his wits by this sudden, earth-shattering scene of horror, curling up on the reinforced hospital bed in the corner, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, his face pale as paper.

He hugged Su Mu tightly as she rushed over upon hearing the sound, burying his face in her embrace as if it were the only safe harbor, his mouth emitting blurred, sobbing whimpers.

Su Mu's own heart was beating so wildly it felt like it was about to burst out of her chest, and boundless fear gripped her throat.

But feeling the violent trembling and dependence of the young man in her arms, a more powerful force—the desire to protect—overwhelmed her own panic.

She hugged Excellence back tightly, using her body to shield him from the flying debris, even though her own arms were scratched and bleeding.

She lowered her head, leaning close to Excellence's ear, and in as steady a voice as possible, repeated over and over: "Don't be afraid... Excellence, don't be afraid... Big sister is here... It's okay... It will pass..."

Although her voice carried an imperceptible tremor, it was like a warm blanket, attempting to wrap around Excellence's nerves that were on the verge of collapse.

The alloy door of the isolation room was violently burst open from the outside by a massive force, twisting and deforming!

Xiao Zhang rushed in with several members of the "Fortress" squad, covered in smoke and dust, with abrasions and even bloodstains on their faces.

Their protective suits had obvious burn marks, but their eyes were like quenched steel, firm and sharp.

"The Commander's Order! Immediately transfer Comrade Excellence! The base defense won't last long! Quickly, come with us!"

Xiao Zhang's voice was hoarse but unquestionable. He pulled Excellence up, while another team member tacitly supported Su Mu, almost dragging them as they rushed toward the emergency passage leading to the deeper underground bunker.

The situation in the passage was even more chaotic and dangerous than in the isolation room.

The piercing alarm sounds never stopped, half of the overhead lighting tubes had already gone out or were flickering wildly, and the air was filled with acrid smoke and the smell of ozone.

The violent vibrations never ceased, and from time to time, concrete fragments and twisted metal components fell from the ceiling, hitting the ground with dull, loud thuds.

Panic-stricken staff ran and shouted in the narrow passage, crowding together with soldiers rushing in the opposite direction toward their combat posts.

The fire suppression system had been activated, and the water from the automatic sprinklers mixed with leaked coolant, forming dirty puddles on the ground.

Xiao Zhang and his squad members used their bodies to build a moving barrier for Excellence and Su Mu, using their backs and shoulders to block falling debris and the chaotic crowd.

Evelyn also followed closely behind, her face pale as paper, but her eyes were exceptionally focused, running while nervously operating a palm-sized micro-detector that kept flashing a dangerous red light.

Invisible Net: hecate's Deadly Capture

However, Morpheus's attack went far beyond destruction on a physical level.

The second and third waves of attacks followed one after another, and these attacks were even more insidious and vicious!

High-intensity, wide-spectrum electromagnetic pulses swept through the entire base like an invisible tsunami, and even with some shielding measures, it still caused most electronic equipment to fail instantly, communication was completely interrupted, and even emergency lighting became extremely unstable.

What was even more terrifying was that the mental interference waveforms targeted at consciousness, mixed into the energy attacks, began to penetrate physical defenses, directly affecting the personnel's nervous systems!

In the passage, many guards and staff who were struggling to maintain Order or perform tasks suddenly showed abnormalities without warning: some crouched down in pain clutching their heads, retching; some had eyes that became vacant and confused, bumping around like headless flies; some even hallucinated, firing guns in terror at empty walls!

The chaos spread like a plague, severely hindering the evacuation operation.

"It's mental interference! Cover your ears, try not to listen to those low-frequency noises! Stay awake!"

Evelyn shouted, but her own forehead was also oozing cold sweat, and she felt waves of dizziness and nausea.

Just then, the micro-detector in her hand emitted an unprecedented, piercingly sharp buzzing sound!

The readings on the screen jumped wildly, finally freezing on a pattern that made her blood almost freeze—a strange, constantly rotating symbol representing the forced excitation of a Quantum Entanglement state!

"No... impossible!" Evelyn exclaimed, her voice filled with despair, "It's 'hecate'! They've activated the 'hecate' Quantum consciousness capture field! It... it is trying to penetrate the barrier and lock onto Excellence's consciousness spectrum! They don't just want to destroy the base... they want to... forcibly plunder his consciousness core before Excellence dies or is destroyed!"

As if to confirm her deepest fear, Excellence, who was being half-dragged and half-carried by Xiao Zhang and had been in a state of terrified trance, suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream that no human could possibly make!

He suddenly broke free from the support, his hands clutching his head tightly, his fingernails even digging into his scalp, oozing blood!

He knelt on the ground, his body curled up in pain, convulsing violently.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils no longer the normal round shape, but were dilating and contracting crazily, as if two invisible forces were fiercely competing inside his skull.

Even more chilling was that deep within his pupils, they were no longer reflecting the light and shadows of the outside world, but instead, it was as if countless fine, eerie-glowing streams of code and data fragments were flashing, colliding, and annihilating crazily!

Just like the screen of an overloaded computer, it was on the verge of a complete crash, black screen, or burnout!

The screen of the simplified Emotion-Visualization Device (a bracelet-style device) he wore, first erupted with blinding, irregular, chaotic blocks of white light, then with a soft "pop," the screen completely shattered and went dark, emitting a wisp of blue smoke.

"Excellence!" Su Mu cried out and lunged over, trying to hold him, but was violently repelled by an invisible force field emitted from Excellence's body, falling to the ground.

The accompanying medical officer lunged to Excellence's side, the data displayed on the life monitor (portable) making his face ashen: "It's over! His neural electrical signals are completely chaotic! Brain pressure is rising sharply! Arrhythmia! This is... this is the precursor to consciousness collapse! The brain is being torn apart from the inside! We must immediately execute the 'Lullaby' plan! Inject powerful neuro-sedatives! Otherwise, he will be brain-dead in a few minutes!"

The medical officer tremblingly took out a sealed metal box, inside which were several special injections marked with the highest danger level.

He looked at Wang Jianguo, waiting for the final Order.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Wang Jianguo.

Wang Jianguo's fists were clenched until his knuckles turned white, his lips pressed tightly.

Activating "Lullaby" meant personally sending Excellence into a potentially endless slumber; how was that any different from killing him?

This was undoubtedly admitting defeat and giving up hope.

But if he didn't activate it, was he supposed to just watch as he was plundered by The Foundation in extreme pain, or worse, his consciousness completely collapsed and perished?

Just at this critical, life-and-death decision-making moment, a new anomaly occurred!

Awakening of the Variable: I Am the Greatest Variable

That Excellence who was convulsing in pain on the ground, as if he would shatter completely at any moment, suddenly stopped roaring and struggling.

He maintained the kneeling posture, but his curled-up body slowly, extremely slowly, unfolded.

His hands that were clutching his head loosened bit by bit, and then, he suddenly raised his head!

At that moment, time seemed to freeze.

The painful distortion on his face vanished, replaced by an unprecedented calm that could not be described in words.

But this calm was not dead silence, but an absolute tranquility like the center of a storm, containing destructive energy.

His eyes were no longer unfocused or crazy, but had become as deep as the universe, and the crazily flashing data streams in his pupils had not disappeared, but seemed to have been gathered and integrated by a more powerful force, transforming into a cold and pure light of reason that pierced through the void.

That gaze swept over the chaotic passage, over the astonished crowd, as if looking at strings of code that needed to be rearranged, and finally, it fixed on the sky outside the window, which had been rendered into a chaotic and eerie color by the energy storm.

His lips moved lightly, and the sound he made was not loud, yet it strangely pierced through all the explosions, alarms, and chaotic shouts, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

The voice was calm without a single ripple, yet it carried an unquestionable authority that seemed to come from the origin of the universe:

"Error... algorithm..."

"They... got it wrong... variable..."

Then, the corners of his mouth twitched upward extremely slightly, outlining a smile that certainly did not belong to the previous Excellence, carrying a trace of divine pity and an almost cruel calmness.

"I... am... the greatest... variable."

The moment his words fell, under the gaze of everyone's terror, Excellence, who was kneeling on the ground, actually stood up slowly and steadily by his own strength!

His movements no longer had the slightest weakness or staggering, and every step he took was exceptionally steady.

He ignored Su Mu and the medical officer who were trying to support him, and even ignored Wang Jianguo who was close at hand, walking straight toward the huge observation window on one side of the passage, made of special composite materials and currently vibrating violently.

He stretched out his hands, palms forward, as if to embrace with his bare hands the violent, chaotic energy storm outside the window that was strong enough to tear apart a warship's armor!

Something even more unbelievable happened!

Centered on him, an invisible yet majestic force of will, like the beginning of a starry sea, suddenly spread out like ripples!

This was not a physical shockwave, but a disturbance acting on the information level, and perhaps even touching deeper layers of reality!

The crazily flickering lights in the passage miraculously stabilized; although still dim, they no longer flickered; those dizzying low-frequency noises of mental interference seemed to be wiped away out of thin air by an invisible hand; even the destructive energy beams constantly impacting the "Great Wall" barrier outside the window seemed to have experienced a momentary, extremely subtle stagnation and disorder!

Excellence stood before the window, his back, illuminated by the energy storm outside, appearing both tiny and immensely huge.

He was no longer the object to be protected, no longer the treasure to be fought over.

At the extreme edge of destruction, before the abyss of pain where his consciousness was being completely torn apart, the certain essence within him that was deeply fused with the "pandora" fragments, which had always been in a dormant or chaotic state, was finally completely activated by the pressure of death and the attempt at plunder.

He was no longer a pawn.

He had become the chess player.

The greatest variable had entered the game.

The equation of survival or destruction was about to be completely rewritten.