282: The whisper of the echo

The "ranger" slipped into the edge of the N-7741 star sector as silently as a silver fish gliding into the deep sea.

This region, known as the "echo Vortex," lived up to its name.

There were no magnificent nebulae, no dense asteroid belts, only a vast, thin, shimmering expanse of interstellar medium flowing slowly.

The peculiar background radiation was like an eternal, rustling whisper, weaving an invisible web with faint gravitational ripples.

The spatial structure here was like a gently stirred pool of water—seemingly calm, yet harboring turbulence that could throw conventional faster-than-light engines off course.

Most interstellar travelers chose to bypass it—spending a few extra days was better than being tossed into unknown turbulence.

For this very reason, when the "ranger" finally hovered behind an inconspicuous interstellar dust cloud after days of cautious sub-light speed navigation, there was nothing around but eternal starlight and the faint breathing of the void.

Traces of civilization were so thin here they were practically non-existent.

The target was in the depths of this vortex.

"Resonance Star"—a blue planet called Homeland by the "echo" civilization—was slowly orbiting a stable yellow dwarf star.

Viewed from a distant observation point, it looked like a sapphire set against black velvet, its surface covered in rolling clouds, with landmasses dotted across the boundless Deep Blue ocean, serene and beautiful.

But Excellence knew that beneath this tranquility, invisible, raging waves were surging.

"Arrived at the designated stealth coordinates, 0.5 light-years from the target planet."

Evelyn's voice rang out on the bridge, softer than usual, as if she were afraid of disturbing something.

"Initiating full-band silence mode, reducing energy radiation below background noise levels. Beginning deployment of the first phase observation units."

On the outer hull, several armor plates slid open quietly.

Dozens of micro-probes disguised as interstellar rock debris or ice crystals, along with a more covert broad-spectrum information Perception array, were gently ejected.

They glided toward the target using inertia, like dandelion seeds drifting toward the earth, carrying no active signals and relying solely on preset orbits and ultra-low-power passive reception modes.

Excellence stood before the main console, hands braced on the surface, body leaning slightly forward.

Multiple holographic screens unfolding before him illuminated his well-defined face.

The overview of the planet, preliminary physical scan data, scattered fragments captured from the "echo" civilization's public information channels... streams of information scrolled silently.

Stardust stood half a step behind him to his right, her posture as straight as a pine.

Her gray eyes scanned all the screens at a constant rate, her left fingertips dancing across the floating virtual keyboard, categorizing data, applying color-coded tags, and dragging them into different analysis queues.

Her movements were precise and efficient, without a single wasted motion.

Su Mu, meanwhile, was at the workstation on the left, pulling up the massive database provided by "White Elder" on collective subconscious phenomena and historical cases, her brow furrowed as she performed cross-comparisons.

"Target planet, 'Resonance Star', diameter approximately 12,000 kilometers."

Stardust's voice rang out, clear and steady, like she was reading an instrument manual.

"Ocean coverage is 84%, with the main landmasses consisting of archipelagos and four small continents. Atmospheric composition is suitable for carbon-based life, oxygen content is slightly higher than the galactic standard average, and there is a stable and active global magnetic field. Preliminary life scans show a complex and prosperous ecosystem. The dominant intelligent civilization is an amphibious humanoid species that calls itself 'echo' or 'Resonators'."

She called up a set of images.

It was a holographic projection of an "echo" civilization individual: about 1.7 meters tall, slender, with smooth skin that had a pale blue or pale green hue, covered in extremely fine, iridescent scales.

There was translucent webbing between the fingers, and obvious gill slits on the sides of the neck.

Their heads were slightly large in proportion, and their deep purple eyes had no eyelids, covered instead by a transparent membrane that flickered occasionally.

Most striking was an organ in the center of the forehead, slightly raised and covered with a translucent amber-colored keratin layer.

"The frontal organ is their 'Resonance gland', and also the physiological interface for their social foundation—the 'Deep Sea echo' network."

Su Mu took over, enlarging the structural diagram of that organ and calling up more social analysis data.

"Through this gland, individuals can conduct efficient non-verbal mental communication at close range, sharing basic emotions, intentions, and memory fragments.

During specific rituals, large gatherings, or with the aid of natural or artificial amplifiers known as 'Resonance Stones', this connection can expand into a shallow mental Resonance field covering the entire community or even the civilization.

This is not a strict mind-meld, but rather a highly synchronized Resonance of emotions and intentions. The result is extremely strong social cohesion, rapid decision-making, and a highly unified and symbolic culture and art."

"But because of this, the foundation is exceptionally fragile."

Excellence interjected, his fingers tapping the console unconsciously.

"Once this Resonance field itself is contaminated, it's like poisoning a water source; the mental health of the entire civilization is affected. The 'panic imagery' and 'collective anxiety' mentioned in the briefing are exactly what this is about."

"Correct."

Stardust pulled up the timeline of abnormal events attached to the mission briefing.

"About 1.7 standard years ago, the 'echo' civilization's public information network—primarily used for non-sensitive public affairs and basic interstellar communication—began to see sporadic reports mentioning 'noise', 'dissonant sounds', and 'nightmare fragments' in the 'Deep Sea echo'.

Initially, these were attributed to individual mental health cases or network access failures.

But the frequency and scope of impact have risen sharply over the past standard year.

About 0.5 standard years ago, their highest decision-making body, the 'Resonance Council', publicly admitted for the first time that the 'echo' was suffering from 'unknown interference' and announced a state of 'mental alert'.

Recently, the public network has monitored significant collective anxiety discourse, and some remote areas have reported short-term social disorder incidents triggered by 'nightmare Resonance'.

The source, nature, and intent of the interference are all unknown.

Risk assessment: If the interference continues to worsen, it could lead to a structural collapse of the 'Resonance network', triggering a global mental plague, social disintegration, and civilizational self-destruction."

"For a civilization connected by mental Resonance, the most lethal attack is mental contamination."

Su Mu summarized, her small face tight.

"This is crueler than battleship bombardment; it rots them from the roots."

"First phase observation units have arrived in low orbit, and surface infiltration units are being deployed. The broad-spectrum array has initially captured the target civilization's public communications and some 'Resonance field' edge radiation signals."

Evelyn reported.

"Decoding and analysis in progress. Preliminary emotional tone analysis shows that the civilization is permeated with high levels of anxiety, unease, and fear. Public communications are full of calls for mutual reassurance, encouragement, and the search for the source of the 'noise', but also mixed with fringe discourse accusing the Council of concealment and spreading doomsday theories."

The main screen switched views, displaying real-time scenes of the "echo" civilization that had been translated and visually synthesized.

These were cities built on massive coral reefs or artificial floating islands, with smooth and soft architectural lines, making extensive use of translucent biological materials or lightweight alloys, skillfully integrated with water features and light and shadow to showcase a unique aesthetic of symbiosis with nature.

On the streets, the "echo" walked quietly; when they communicated, they rarely used their vocal cords, simply moving close to each other, their frontal glands shimmering as they conducted silent "conversations."

But at this moment, many individuals in the image appeared to be walking in a hurry, their expressions tense, and the "Resonance" halos between them also exuded restlessness and unease.

On large screens in the city centers, slogans like "Hold fast to Resonance, wait for the dawn" and "The Council is taking action" scrolled by, yet they seemed unable to dispel the pervasive panic.

"Captured suspected raw sample of the 'noise'!"

Stardust's voice rose a notch, and the waveform graph on the screen in front of her oscillated violently.

An audio clip that had been noise-reduced and converted through sound wave simulation was played.

It was an indescribable "sound."

It was not air vibration, but the result of a disturbance acting directly on the information reception interface being forcibly translated.

It sounded like the superposition of countless chaotic whispers—the screeching of metal scraping against glass, the wailing of unknown deep-sea creatures, roars filled with pure malice...

Mixed in were twisted and broken "imagery fragments": bloody scenes flashing suddenly, indescribable terrifying shadows, moments of inexplicable hatred welling up toward loved ones...

These filthy, negative information fragments, like a virus, were replicating and spreading madly within the Resonance field, contaminating every consciousness connected to it.

"This is the 'panic imagery'..."

Su Mu's face went pale; even through layers of translation and filtering, the lingering Resonance of that "noise" still made her stomach churn and her brow ache.

Excellence also felt a strong sense of mental discomfort; the noise seemed capable of evoking the most primal fear deep within biological instincts.

A thought flickered through his mind, and he attempted to activate the "emotional observation" ability bestowed by the "Lord of the Grand Feast."

The field of vision shifted suddenly.

The originally beautiful blue planet was now, in his "eyes," shrouded in a layer of constantly surging, ominous dark gray and filthy crimson.

Those were the emotional colors of panic, anxiety, suspicion, and even a hint of madness, like thick toxic fog permeating the globe, almost solidifying in densely populated urban areas.

And deep within that gray-red "toxic fog," he vaguely "saw" something even deeper and more twisted—pitch-black spots and purplish-red filaments wriggling like living things, like festering sores, continuously emitting even denser negative emotional "spores."

The space stations and lunar bases in orbit had relatively "clean" emotional colors, but they were also shrouded in Deep Blue worry and earthy yellow high vigilance.

"There is more than one source of the interference,"

Excellence said in a deep voice, describing the scene he perceived as clearly as possible.

"It is mainly concentrated in several large cities on the surface, especially those areas that overlap with 'Resonance Stone' energy Nodes. The emotional contamination is very severe and is in a state of spreading. Those deepest, darkest points, almost pitch black or purplish-red, are likely the core sources of the 'noise', or at least powerful relay stations."

"Can you try to pinpoint the specific coordinates?"

Stardust immediately pressed, her fingers turning into a blur on the virtual keyboard as she quickly overlaid and compared Excellence's description with the geographical and energy readings transmitted back by the probes.

"It's very blurry... and it feels like it's moving?" Excellence tried hard to focus, but his Perception of those deepest sources of contamination was erratic, as if they were not fixed at any specific latitude or longitude, but were drifting on the information layer of the "Resonance Field."

"Wait... the largest continent, the 'Resonance City' on the east coast—their largest metropolis, and also the seat of the 'Resonance Council'—there is an unusually strong, relatively fixed pitch-black contamination source there... but it's not in the city buildings, it's deeper... underground? No, deeper still, it's like... some core hub of their global Resonance network?"

"Global network core hub..." Stardust pulled up the detailed structural diagram of "Resonance City," the 3D model rapidly rotating and layering. "Beneath the city, there is a complex system of natural caves and artificially expanded tunnels. Some areas are marked as top secret, directly connected to the main 'Resonance Stone' mineral veins and large 'Resonance Amplifiers.' If the source of the intrusion is located here, it means the attack was launched from the most fundamental part of their network."

"This is a premeditated, targeted mental erosion." The phantom of White Elder appeared, stroking his long beard, his expression unprecedentedly grave. "The source of contamination is deeply planted in the network's vital points, using the network itself to amplify its spread. To eradicate it, one must first find and purify the source. However, the source is likely not an ordinary material existence; it could be an information lifeform, a mental parasite, or perhaps... the 'Resonance Stone' itself has been contaminated."

"What do we do next?" Su Mu asked. "Infiltrate directly under 'Resonance City'? The risk is too high; that must be the guarded core. Furthermore, our understanding of their 'Resonance network' is limited. If we make rash contact, we ourselves might be backlashed by the 'Noise'."

Excellence was also thinking rapidly. A brute-force assault was absolutely unfeasible; the first iron rule for Observers was concealment and non-direct interference. But the mission requirements were clear: "Assess nature, source, and threat, and provide guidance in accordance with regulations when necessary." Now, the nature could basically be determined as a "malicious mental contamination attack," the source was hidden in the network core, and the threat was at the level of civilization survival. So, how should the scale of this "guidance" be gauged?

"First, we need deeper, more comprehensive intelligence." Excellence made his decision. "Regarding the detailed architecture of the 'Resonance network,' the physical and informational properties of the 'Resonance Stone,' the spatiotemporal patterns of the 'Noise' appearance, and the research progress and response plans of the 'echo' civilization itself. Especially critical is, have they ever encountered similar events in their history? And how did they overcome them?"

"Information from public channels is limited," White Elder said, "but we can search for clues in their historical legends, mythological narratives, and even folk rumors or the research of fringe scholars. If this were their first time encountering such a disaster, the civilization's reaction would usually be more chaotic and helpless. However, observing that their 'Resonance Council' was able to quickly announce a 'mental alert' and maintain the basic framework of society, perhaps... they are not entirely without experience with similar calamities, or at the very least, they have contingency plans."

"Evelyn, utilize all passive monitoring and non-intrusive infiltration methods. While ensuring absolute concealment, collect relevant information as widely as possible, especially focusing on history, culture, and folklore," Excellence ordered. "Su Mu, you and Old White team up to specifically analyze this data. Focus on searching for myths, records, or any historical records of large-scale social panic events related to 'Noise,' 'The Whisper,' or 'mental erosion,' and look for patterns or precedents."

"Understood." Su Mu nodded vigorously and immediately switched the screen to the document analysis interface. The phantom of White Elder also floated to her side, beginning to quickly browse the data flowing down like a waterfall.

"Stardust," Excellence looked at his apprentice Observer, "you are responsible for building the energy-information characteristic model of the 'Noise,' analyzing its propagation dynamics, fluctuation cycles, and attempting to deduce its possible weak points. At the same time, simulate a possibility: if we use an extremely covert 'external information injection' method to input specific, antagonistic 'positive Resonance'—such as emotional wavelengths like calmness, courage, or hope—into the 'Resonance network,' is it possible to neutralize or dilute the contamination effect to a certain extent? Remember, all simulations must be strictly based on the premise framework of 'non-direct interference, absolute concealment'."

"Instructions clear. Task one: Build the 'Noise' characteristic model. Task two: Simulate the feasibility and risk assessment of 'information hedging.' Estimated total time: 4.7 standard hours." Stardust responded crisply. Deep in her gray eyes, the glow of data streams lit up again, and her entire aura seemed to merge with the analysis terminal in front of her.

Excellence turned his attention back to the planet wrapped in gray-red emotional toxic fog. Those deeply hidden, twisted pitch-black and purple-red spots were like malignant lesions on the civilization's consciousness. He had to find a cure, but the surgery had to be precise and minimally invasive; it must never turn into a crude destruction.

"The Whisper in the deep sea..." Excellence muttered to himself, "What are you afraid of? And what is it that is sowing the seeds of despair in your collective dreams?"

Just then, Evelyn's warning sound rang out at an unusually sharp frequency!

"Alarm! Detected ultra-high-energy unnatural space warp! Location: High orbit of planet 'Resonance Star,' L4 Lagrange point area! Energy characteristics... cannot match the database! Not in the known technological lineage of the 'echo' civilization!"

"What?!" Excellence looked up abruptly, and all screens instantly switched to the deep-space surveillance view.

Only to see that near the theoretical equilibrium point in the high orbit of "Resonance Star," far from the moon, the originally calm void was rippling and twisting violently, like a lake surface into which a giant boulder had been thrown! An irregular spatial rift, with edges flickering with unstable purple-black ghostly light, was being forcibly torn open by some terrifying power!

The inside of the rift was not void, but filled with a viscous, surging dark chaos that seemed to be composed of endless negative emotions and mental impurities! Just by observing through remote sensors, a sense of disorder, hatred, and madness, so strong it was suffocating, seemed to want to flow upstream along the signal channel and assault the observer's sanity!

"Is this the 'entity' manifestation of the contamination source? Or... something else?" Su Mu exclaimed in shock.

Before they could clarify the situation, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.

The dark chaos rolled violently, as if some gargantuan object was struggling and taking shape within it. Immediately after, an eyeball, huge enough to make one shudder, covered in scarlet bloodshot veins and filled with pure malice, suddenly "squeezed" out of the rift, coldly and fixedly "staring" at the blue planet below!

The eyeball was like a small celestial body, with a vortex of pain that seemed to devour everything rotating deep within its pupil, while the white of the eye was densely covered with twisted, wriggling black veins formed from resentment. It had no eyelids, and just like that, it was exposed naked in the vacuum, exuding malice and mental pressure that froze the soul.

"Is it a subspecies of the 'World Devourer'? Or some kind of pure mental reality manifestation?" White Elder's voice carried a rare hint of tension.

"Negative." Stardust's tone showed obvious urgency for the first time. The data on the screen in front of her was refreshing frantically. "The energy characteristics have some similarities with the 'World Devourer,' but it leans more towards pure information disturbance and mental contamination attributes! It is not a complete material existence, but a forced projection of a high-dimensional information aggregate into the reality dimension! Its goal is clear—the 'Deep Sea echo' network of 'Resonance Star'! It is actively releasing high-intensity contamination waves, attempting to directly tear apart and devour the collective consciousness of the entire civilization!"

As if to confirm her analysis, the huge eyeball suddenly "blinked"—not a biological blink, but a high-level focusing and release of energy and information. An invisible but clearly detectable torrent of violent, filthy mental contamination, like a burst dark River Styx, surged out from the rift and poured down towards "Resonance Star"! Its target of impact was precisely the few city areas where Excellence had previously sensed the most severe emotional contamination, especially the strongest pitch-black contamination source underground in "Resonance City"!

"What about the orbital defense system of the 'echo' civilization? Why is there no response?" Su Mu asked anxiously.

"Their defense system is mainly aimed at physical threats and conventional energy attacks; it is slow to react and ineffective against this kind of high-dimensional mental shock!" Evelyn's reporting speed was extremely fast. "More seriously, the contamination torrent has produced a strong Resonance and amplification effect with the existing 'Noise' contamination on the planet's surface! It is actively guiding and strengthening those existing negative emotion Nodes!"

In Excellence's "emotional observation" field of vision, the gray-red panic toxic fog on the planet's surface, the moment it was impacted by the black torrent, became incomparably thick and manic, as if splashed with accelerant! And those deeply hidden pitch-black and purple-red spots suddenly erupted with blinding evil light, as if celebrating and roaring, crazily absorbing the mental contamination from the void, and feeding back even more twisted and vicious "The Whisper" to the entire Resonance network!

In "Resonance City" and the surrounding areas, countless "echo" individuals suddenly let out sharp, tearing mental wails (captured by detectors through Resonance field radiation). They clutched their heads in pain, frantically scratching the glands on their foreheads, as if countless invisible poisonous insects were gnawing at their brains. In the city, the orderly "Resonance" halo began to be replaced by the dark red of chaos, screaming, and panic, and the signs of unrest spread like ripples.

"Damn it! If this continues, the entire Resonance network will overload and collapse within minutes! The civilization is going to be finished!" Excellence's expression changed drastically. The appearance of this eyeball pushed the situation from "chronic poisoning" to the desperate situation of an "acute myocardial infarction" in an instant!

"What do we do, Excellence? Should we intervene? The 'echo' civilization's own power cannot withstand a mental tsunami of this level for long!" Su Mu's voice trembled with anxiety.

Stardust also stopped all analysis processes and turned her gaze to Excellence. Her expression still lacked ripples, but deep in her gray eyes, the flashing frequency of the data stream reached its peak, obviously performing multi-variable deduction and risk assessment in an extreme state—at the same time, also waiting and observing Excellence's decision.

Should he adhere to the Observer's principle of absolute neutrality, watching helplessly as the collective consciousness of a unique civilization is torn apart, contaminated, and devoured before his eyes? Or should he take the risk of exposing his identity, triggering unknown chain reactions, and even violating core regulations, to intervene?

Excellence's knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He could clearly perceive, within the torrent of contamination released by that eyeball, the swirling, familiar, and sickening "taste" of devouring and disorder.

This was by no means a natural disaster!

This was a meticulously planned, genocidal strike targeting the spiritual traits of the "echo" civilization!

"Evelyn! Calculate immediately: If I use the 'Spear of Order', while ensuring our coordinates are absolutely not exposed, what is the success rate of remotely interfering with that torrent of contamination, or interfering with the spatial rift itself that supports the eyeball's existence?

And how high is the risk of exposure?"

Excellence issued the command in a near growl.

He could not sit idly by, but he must not be reckless.

"Calculating... The target is a high-dimensional information projection, physical defense parameters are unknown, but it may be sensitive to information perturbations and 'Order' attribute power.

The intensity of the contamination torrent is extremely high; direct opposition would consume massive energy and would very easily expose our energy source.

Suggested plan: Interfere with its spatial projection anchor point, namely that unstable spatial rift.

Success rate simulation result: 37.2%.

Exposure risk assessment: High.

The target's energy level is extremely high; once reverse tracking occurs, the probability of us being instantly locked onto exceeds 80%."

Evelyn's response was fast and cold, listing the cruel numbers.

37.2%, less than a 40% chance, yet the risk of exposure was terrifyingly high.

Excellence gritted his teeth, the veins on his temples throbbing.

Just as he was about to recklessly Order an attack, a turning point appeared.

The "echo" civilization was not a lamb waiting for the slaughter!

Below that giant eye filled with malice, several major "Resonance" stone vein Nodes on the "Resonance Star", as well as several large space stations in orbit, simultaneously erupted with a strong, azure brilliance filled with firm will and the belief in protection!

That was not a laser or particle beam, but a highly condensed spiritual Resonance wave composed of pure positive emotions!

At the moment of the civilization's survival, under the emergency coordination of the "Resonance Council", or perhaps spontaneously gathered from the instinct of life, hundreds of millions of "echo" individuals gathered, resonated, and amplified their deepest attachment to their Homeland, their most selfless love for their compatriots, and their most ardent desire for survival through the "Deep Sea echo" network, transforming them into azure spiritual barriers that resolutely met the black torrent of contamination pressing down from the void!

Blue and black, hope and despair, Order and chaos—on the high orbit of the "Resonance Star", a silent yet extremely tragic collision unfolded!

The spiritual explosion was silent, yet it allowed detectors 0.5 light-years away to capture terrifying psionic turbulence and information storms.

The azure spiritual barrier oscillated violently, flickering on and off.

Every second, countless "echo" individuals fainted or neared death due to mental overload, but the barrier never shattered!

It was like a battered yet standing wall of will, tenaciously resisting the erosion of the black torrent, protecting the fragile spark of civilization below.

The giant eyeball seemed angered by this tenacious resistance; the blood-red vortex in its pupil accelerated its rotation, and more black torrents gushed out from the rift.

At the same time, the eyeball itself began to slowly rotate and adjust its angle, as if looking for a weak point in the blue barrier, or as if gathering an even more terrifying next round of attacks.

"Now!" Sharp Light flashed in Excellence's eyes!

The desperate resistance of the "echo" civilization itself not only attracted the vast majority of the eyeball's attention but also greatly interfered with the spatial stability and energy field environment around the battlefield!

"Evelyn, lock onto the most turbulent energy Node at the edge of the spatial rift!

Stardust, calculate the optimal interference timing and energy output parameters, ensure that after one strike, we immediately cut off all active signals and activate all stealth protocols!

Su Mu, prepare the emergency hyperspace jump plan!

White Elder, help me stabilize my spiritual sense, prepare to guide the 'Spear of Order'!"

"Target Node locked!"

"Optimal interference window: 3.2 seconds later.

Simulated attack trajectory and energy output suggestions have been sent to the main console.

Suggested output power: peak 37%, with additional composite information scrambling."

"Emergency jump channel pre-charging complete, ready to start at any time!"

"I have secured my spiritual center, awaiting the moment."

Excellence took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and poured all his spirit, will, and understanding of "Order" into that point of silver light between his brows.

This time, he was not pursuing destructive power, but extreme precision, stealth, and interference effects.

His goal was not to destroy that nearly indestructible eyeball, but to interfere with the relatively fragile spatial rift that sustained its existence.

Even if it only caused it to be chaotic for an instant, interrupting its attack rhythm, winning a glimmer of breathing room for the "echo" civilization, and securing a window for his own undetected withdrawal.

"Spear of Order" — Directional disruption mode, with multi-layer information scrambling, fire!

A silver-white thin line, condensed to the extreme with almost no energy dissipation, quietly shot out from the "ranger" hidden deep in the dust cloud.

It did not follow a straight line but followed the extremely complex curved trajectory calculated by Stardust, cleverly passing through the turbulence zone and spatial ripples caused by the energy collision.

Like a living silver snake, it silently hit a violently fluctuating energy turbulence point at the edge of the spatial rift below the giant eyeball.

There was no dazzling explosion, no earth-shattering roar.

That silver-white thin line was like a drop of ice water thrown into boiling oil, instantly triggering a subtle yet critical chain of chaos.

The spatial rift, which was already extremely unstable due to the eyeball's full-power output and the desperate resistance of the "echo" civilization, suddenly saw its purple-black eerie light at the edge twist, tear, and flicker!

The overall structure of the rift experienced a momentary, perhaps only millisecond-level, distortion and tremor!

It was precisely this millisecond-level tremor that caused the black torrent of contamination continuously released by the eyeball to exhibit a faint, almost imperceptible lag and chaos, and also caused the eyeball's own "Perception" and "locking" to blur for an instant.

Below, the azure spiritual barrier gathered by the "echo" civilization extremely keenly seized this fleeting opportunity.

Its light flared up, actually temporarily pushing the black torrent back by a small but crucial margin!

At the same time, the "echo" space stations in orbit seemed to have also captured the abnormal spatial disturbance (perhaps the momentary instability of the rift), and several weak but clearly targeted detection beams swept toward the rift area.

"Now! Cut off all active connections! Activate full-frequency stealth! Prepare to withdraw!" Excellence whispered.

The "ranger" had cut off all external active detection and energy radiation the moment the attack was launched, while simultaneously activating all types of optical camouflage, energy-absorbing coatings, and information camouflage fields on the hull surface.

Like a drop of ink merging into the night, it silently glided into the deep space away from the battlefield.

In the void, the giant eyeball seemed to vaguely perceive the subtle interference from an unknown direction.

It rotated violently, its scarlet "gaze" like a tangible scanning beam, frantically sweeping the surrounding airspace, and powerful spiritual tentacles stirred the void.

However, most of its computing power and attention were still firmly occupied by the "echo" civilization resisting below and the spatial rift that it still needed to stabilize.

A few seconds later, under the forced stabilization of the eyeball's own power, the spatial rift returned to calm, but the previous momentum of the all-out assault had been completely disrupted.

The eyeball appeared even more enraged, but it did not immediately launch a full-power attack again.

Instead, it stared fixedly at the "Resonance Star", as if re-evaluating the prey's resistance capability, or as if brewing a more sinister, more lethal next round of offensive.

As for the "ranger", it had long fled to a safer observation distance, perfectly hidden in the embrace of cosmic background radiation.

Inside the bridge, the oppressive silence was broken by a slight exhale, but the atmosphere remained as heavy as iron.

"Interference operation complete, no tracking signals or directional scans detected.

We are in a safe state, for now." Evelyn reported, her voice returning to its usual softness, but still carrying a trace of the aftermath of tension.

"The stability of the target spatial rift has dropped by approximately 12.7%, and the eyeball's mental contamination output power has temporarily attenuated by approximately 8.3%.

The pressure on the 'echo' civilization's spiritual barrier has been slightly relieved, but the overall situation remains extremely dangerous." Stardust reported the real-time analysis data while looking at Excellence.

In her gray eyes, the data glow flowing at high speed slowly subsided.

"This intervention operation was completed within the principle framework of 'limited, covert, and non-direct intervention in the core conflict', and the actual success rate was slightly higher than the simulation prediction.

The command decision was timely, and the tactical execution was precise.

However, it must be reiterated that the overall risk coefficient of this operation remains high.

All parameters and processes of this intervention will be recorded in detail according to regulations."

Excellence nodded, paying no mind to Stardust's final stylized "recorded in detail".

His gaze remained locked on the main screen—that blue planet which, although it had temporarily withstood the impact, was still being eyed covetously by the huge, malicious eyeball, and the gray-red emotional smog on the planet's surface that had become even more frenzied and ominous due to the just-concluded impact.

"The crisis has only been temporarily delayed, not resolved." His voice was low, with a metallic texture, "That eyeball, and the things behind it, will never give up just like this.

And the 'echo' civilization's resistance will and spiritual power cannot be maintained in this high-intensity consumption state indefinitely.

We must be faster; we must find the true source of the contamination, figure out what that eyeball really is, and... why they are targeting 'echo' like this, before their next, perhaps more violent, attack arrives."

His gaze swept over Stardust and Su Mu, finally landing on Evelyn's main control interface: "Our work is only just beginning.

Stardust, continue to deepen the analysis of the 'noise' and the eyeball's projection mechanism.

Su Mu, White Elder, speed up the search for clues and possible solutions from the historical and cultural fragments.

Evelyn, maintain the highest level of stealth, and continuously monitor the 'Resonance Star' and orbital situation.

We must find the key to breaking the situation before this civilization's 'Deep Sea echo' is completely contaminated and torn apart."

"Understood!" everyone replied in unison, their voices echoing in the silent bridge, carrying a solemnity and determination before stepping into an unknown battlefield.

A genocidal crisis targeting the entire spiritual world of a civilization, its most tragic chapter perhaps had not yet fully unfolded.

And Excellence and his team had already involuntarily been drawn into this "Deep Sea", becoming a hidden and crucial variable in this invisible war.