217: The Impact of Wisdom Inheritance and the Truth of "Weaving a Web"

"morning star" like a cautious pilgrim, retracted all energy fluctuations, relying only on fine-tuning maneuvering thrusters, in the core of the twisted "Void Corridor", this rare peaceful void, slowly approached that flowing geometric shape of light — beacon gamma. Unlike the silent waiting of beacon alpha or the traumatic self-preservation of beacon beta, gamma radiated an aura that was nearly perfect, full, and wise. It did not look like a relic that needed to be awakened or repaired, but rather like a "mentor" that had been waiting for a long time, patiently awaiting a qualified visitor.

No energy barrier, no tentative scanning, when the spaceship entered an invisible range that seemed to be composed of pure intent, communication unfolded directly and smoothly on the level of Excellence's consciousness, and spread like ripples, allowing Evelyn, Su Mu, and others at the core of the bridge to clearly perceive that grand and gentle flow of intent.

"Welcome, inheritors who have crossed the dangers." The intent of beacon gamma was like a warm spring, smoothing out the nerves of everyone which were taut from traversing the corridor, "I can perceive the marks left on you by The Foundation of alpha and the scars of beta... as well as that unyielding heart of exploration. Very good, you are exactly the souls I have been waiting for, capable of bearing the truth and responsibility."

This opening remarks set the tone — this was not a simple energy transfer or information download, but would be a deep core lesson.

The knowledge base possessed by gamma, its breadth, depth, and systematic nature, were far beyond what alpha and beta could compare to. It first confirmed everyone's previous speculation: "The Weave" system was indeed the ultimate cage built by "the watchers" civilization with the full strength of the entire race, used to imprison a terrifying existence named "Entropy". This network was not a simple barrier, but a dynamic, constantly self-adjusting complex structure, using the power of the universe's own laws to limit the expansion and influence of "Entropy".

However, immediately after, gamma revealed a shocking truth buried under ancient dust that was enough to subvert everyone's cognition:

"But you need to understand, 'Entropy'... is not a disaster naturally bred by the universe, nor is it an invader from another dimension." In the intent of gamma, for the first time, a deep, suffocating regret and sorrow flowed out, "It... is a product of our own arrogance and ambition as 'the watchers' civilization, it is a pandora box that we opened with our own hands, yet could never close again."

As the flow of intent shifted, a sealed scroll of history slowly unfolded in everyone's consciousness. That was during the peak of the "the watchers" civilization, their technology and understanding of the universe had reached an unprecedented height. Not satisfied with merely observing and adapting to the universe, they conceived a plan that was arrogant to the extreme — launching the ultimate experiment named "Genesis Era", intending to transcend the constraints of existing dimensions, and according to the "Perfection" and "Order" in their minds, rewrite the underlying rules of the local universe, creating an "Ideal Universe" without chaos, without decay, where everything was under precise calculation and control.

"We attempted to play god, to define infinite possibilities with limited knowledge." The intent of gamma was full of pain, "We gathered unimaginable energy, tore apart the boundary between reality and illusion, attempting to forcibly implant the 'Laws of Perfection' we defined within an isolated space-time bubble. However, we severely underestimated the complexity of the universe's own chaos and infinity, and also overestimated our own control over the power of creation..."

The experiment went out of control. The massive amount of energy gathered and the twisted laws did not give birth to an ideal kingdom of Order, but instead collapsed, mutated, and bred a terrifying existence that possessed self-awareness and had "disorder" and "reality distortion" as its essence — an "artificial universe-level singularity", which they named "Entropy". It greedily devoured all surrounding Order and energy, and transformed them into chaos and nothingness.

"We released a demon that we could not understand." The intent of gamma was as heavy as stellar remains, "'The Weave', is both the cage we built to imprison this demon, and the eternal price we paid for our own arrogance. It is even more of a warning, admonishing any latecomers never to attempt to control those powers that belong to the realm of the Creator, which are far beyond the scope of their own understanding."

This truth was like cosmic ice, instantly freezing the thoughts of everyone on the bridge of "morning star". What they had been fighting against all along was actually the toxic legacy of a crazy experiment by an ancient civilization! This felt even more absurd and chilling, originating from the very foundation of civilization, than facing a pure external natural disaster.

More unsettling information followed. Gamma revealed that although "The Weave" system was incredibly powerful, after the long erosion of billions of years, and the endless impact and corrosion of "Entropy", its stability was decaying at an extremely slow but irreversible speed. The power of "Entropy" was like venom that permeated everything, continuously infiltrating the isolation layer of the system, attempting to pollute and rewrite the core protocols that maintained the cage.

"The gravity trap you encountered, its technical source, very likely was tainted with the reality-distorting characteristics leaked by 'Entropy'." The intent of gamma pointed to The Foundation, "The dangerous knowledge obtained by those latecomers known as 'The Foundation', and even many space-time anomalies and physical constant fluctuation phenomena in this sea of stars that are difficult to explain by common sense, behind them, very likely have 'The Whisper' of 'Entropy' at work; it is the weak but continuous 'pollution' caused by its power through the gaps in 'The Weave' to the real world."

And regarding the reason for the final demise of "the watchers" civilization, gamma unveiled the last and most painful page. It was not simply because building "The Weave" exhausted the power of the civilization, but because at the critical moment of carrying out the final sealing procedure, some of the top members of "the watchers", due to long-term confrontation with the power of "Entropy", their mental defenses were finally broken and corroded by the tempting and twisting "The Whisper" of "Entropy".

"They were originally the brightest stars in the civilization, but in that final darkness... they fell." The intent of gamma was filled with endless sorrow, "Civil strife occurred, a fierce conflict erupted between the corroded and the steadfast, and even... unspeakable terrifying mutations occurred. That civil war accelerated our decline and also caused the final seal to be not flawless, leaving behind some... hidden dangers that now seem fatal. We must reinforce 'The Weave' as soon as possible, delay the infiltration of 'Entropy', and even seek methods to completely purify it."

Gamma provided a clear path, but also emphasized the extreme danger: "To safely access the core of 'The Weave' system to reinforce or repair it requires gathering the power of at least seven main beacons to form a stable Resonance array. Otherwise, any rash contact action, not only will fail to achieve the goal, but may instead, due to the incompleteness of its carried energy or information, become the last straw that breaks the camel's back, accelerating the collapse of the system. What is even more terrifying is that a thin consciousness, when contacting the core, is extremely easily captured and corroded by the residual intent of 'Entropy', becoming its new... carrier or puppet in the real world."

Surprisingly, gamma did not, like the previous beacons, ask Excellence to provide energy for "repair" or "awakening". On the contrary, it began to actively pour the vast knowledge it stored, in the form of highly condensed, structurally clear "seed" of information, continuously into the depths of Excellence's consciousness, and allowed Evelyn and others to receive and record this knowledge through the connection in a limited way.

This included:

Detailed architecture of "The Weave" system: Macro design concepts of the entire cage network, energy flow Nodes, location and functions of core protocols, and known weak points.

Advanced energy control techniques: Cutting-edge knowledge and application methods involving multi-dimensional energy manipulation, space-time structure fine-tuning, and Resonance at the level of laws, which were far beyond Excellence's current "Energy Programming" level.

Overview of the peak technology of "the watchers": Covering fields such as material science, propulsion technology, weapon systems (especially attacks and defenses against reality stability), and life forms that had once reached glorious achievements.

This process was not a simple infusion of memory, but more like a high-dimensional "enlightenment". Excellence felt his thinking being infinitely expanded, and many past confusions and bottlenecks regarding energy application were suddenly cleared up. His understanding of "Energy Programming" was instantly elevated from a skilled "programmer" to an "engineer" level capable of understanding underlying code logic and even performing certain "architectural design". He could even vaguely perceive the macro flow trends of certain types of energy (such as "The Weave" Node energy, or powerful space-time disturbances) beyond distant star regions! This was a qualitative leap.

"The guidance and knowledge I can give you end here." After completing the inheritance, the intent of gamma carried a trace of relief at completing the mission and deep expectations, "The road ahead is full of unknowns and dangers, requiring you to forge ahead with your own wisdom, courage, and will. Beware of the automatic defense units of 'The Weave' — 'Scavenger', they originally existed to clear unauthorized entities approaching the system, but over the long years, some units may have been corroded by the power of 'Entropy', and their behavior patterns have become unpredictable and highly aggressive. Be even more careful of... those 'Lost Ones' who may be hiding in the shadows, tempted by 'The Whisper' of 'Entropy'; they may be descendants of survivors of the ancient civil strife, or members of other civilizations who were corroded later..."

As the voice faded, the flowing light of beacon gamma began to slowly converge, the surging energy fluctuations gradually subsided, and finally it returned to a seemingly calm geometric shape of light silently suspended in the void, as if an ancient mentor who had fallen into a long sleep after pouring out all its knowledge, continuing its eternal watch.

Inside the bridge of "morning star", a long, pin-drop silence fell. Only the faint humming of equipment reminded people of the passage of time. Everyone's face was written with shock, digestion, and heavy thinking. The knowledge gained was an invaluable treasure, enough to make the technological level of human civilization leap forward for thousands of years. But the truth and warnings that followed were like a boundless dark nebula pregnant with storms, pressing down so hard that people could not breathe.

What they were facing was no longer just a powerful enemy, but a tragic legacy of a civilization destroying itself due to arrogance, a terrifying existence capable of corroding reality and tempting the soul, and a war of defense that was a race against time, concerning the Order of existence of the entire universe. Even, they had to guard against dark arrows that might come from "their own people" — other corroded civilizations or ancient fallen ones.

Su Mu subconsciously tightened her grip on the weapon at her waist, as if that invisible threat could pounce from the void at any moment. Evelyn quickly retrieved and classified the massive amount of data just received on multiple screens, her eyes filled with both the excitement of a scientist obtaining precious materials and extreme seriousness in the face of a huge crisis.

Excellence slowly raised his head, his eyes, after the initial shock and digestion, had become like a tempered star core, incomparably firm, sharp, and burning with an unquestionable fire of will. He slowly unclenched his tightly gripped fist, but it was as if he had grasped an even greater power.

"The path is becoming clearer." His voice sounded in the silent bridge, steady and powerful, dispelling the oppression permeating the air, "Find all the beacons scattered in the sea of stars, gather their power, reinforce 'The Weave', and the ultimate goal — stop 'Entropy', fix the mistakes left by the ancient pioneers! This is the mission entrusted to us by 'the watchers', and it is also the war we must win for our own existence!"

His words ignited the fighting spirit in everyone's hearts. Fear still existed, but responsibility and determination were stronger.

The massive hull of "morning star" began to slowly turn, the engines reignited, spewing out a steady blue stream of light. It carried heavy responsibilities, unprecedented knowledge, and a deep warning from ancient times, once again sailing into the boundless sea of stars without hesitation. The target of the next stop had already been pointed towards the direction of the next key Node in the network model, based on the star map fragments provided by gamma and Excellence's enhanced spatial Perception.

The road ahead is long and fraught with crises, but the course of "morning star" has never been so clear.