313: Chapter 314 Coordinates, Afterimages, and Uninvited Guests

The ranger was like a scarred yet increasingly lean deep-sea torpedo, gliding silently through the viscous, dense, yet boundless silver-gray void of "silence." On the ship's hull, ancient concealment runes inscribed by White Elder with supreme power combined with an extremely crude "High-Dimensional Information Frequency Hopping Coating"—reverse-engineered by Evelyn Li from Ghost Communication and "Rule Correction Residues." This formed a camouflage that, while rough, was surprisingly effective in the current environment. The ship's presence was suppressed to the limit, its energy radiation near zero, and its flight path deliberately avoided any known energy flows or Node of the Order network that might be monitored, opting instead for a tortuous, long, but theoretically most hidden path.

The target was a vague set of coordinates unexpectedly parsed from a damaged fragment of the Ghost Communication encryption layer. It wasn't a clear point but rather a blurry directional indicator, overlaid with several parameters common in the deep information flows of the silence substrate used to identify areas of "structural weakness" or "historical anomalies." S-001 roughly positioned it in a theoretically "empty" void zone near the junction of the gate and the "Deep Information Sea," about three thousand standard light-years (based on the special spatial metrics of the silence environment) from their current hiding place.

"Based on existing data, the area pointed to by these coordinates is marked as 'Observation Blind Spot - Sector Seven Fringe' in the standard (incomplete) star map of the Silent Corridor," S-001 reported. "Historical monitoring data shows that the information density of the silence substrate in this area is 35% below the average. There are intermittent abnormal peaks in 'Chaos' background radiation, and seventeen unclassifiable weak energy disturbance events have been recorded, though none reached a threat level. Records of subsequent investigations, if any existed, are missing. Overall assessment: low value, low attention, high risk (due to proximity to the Chaos junction)."

"Low value, low attention, high risk... sounds like a good place for clandestine activities and hiding things," Stardust commented. Her fingers slid across the virtual star map, pulling up the records of those few historical energy disturbance events. She tapped the screen lightly, as if feeling those long-dissipated fluctuations. "Looking at the energy signatures of these disturbances... they're very messy and weak, like... 'aftershocks' from equipment startup, malfunctions, or some low-power experiments? There's no obvious aggression or expansionism."

"It could also just be natural phenomena, or traces left by something like a Heart-Devouring Demon passing through," Evelyn added. Her logic core was running route-evasion algorithms at maximum efficiency while monitoring every sliver of energy flow inside and outside the ship. She tapped the console, adjusting the ship's heading as if performing a silent dance. "However, considering the Ghost Communication was sent from near the gate and likely utilized the 'high-dimensional information ripples' generated as a precursor to the wave source's excitation, the direction of these coordinates is indeed worth investigating. The sender either has a base there or knows of some 'loophole' or 'passage' that can be exploited."

Mute's fragments pulsed with a steady light, transmitting waves of thought: "I remember... in very ancient memory fragments, it seemed to mention that at the junction of the gate and the silence substrate, because the rules of both sides permeate and cancel each other out, brief, unstable 'cracks' or information-level 'shadow zones' are sometimes produced. These areas are difficult for conventional monitoring to cover and can even shield against two-way detection from both the silence network and the depths of Chaos to some extent. Theoretically, they are ideal locations for operations requiring extreme secrecy. But they are also extremely dangerous, prone to the impact of rule turbulence from both sides. They are difficult to utilize without special protection or a very deep understanding of the rules."

"Cracks," "shadow zones"... this was sounding more and more like an ideal site for a "secret base" or "hiding spot."

"Whatever is there, we must be careful," Excellence said in a heavy voice, his gaze sweeping over the unchanging, oppressive silver-gray outside the viewport. His fingers unconsciously tapped the armrest of the command chair in a slow, steady rhythm. "That silent 'reaper' and that wave source might both be watching this area. We're going there to 'look,' not to 'take.' Maintain maximum concealment. Do not expose ourselves unless absolutely necessary. Evelyn, S-001, enter full silent stealth mode when we reach a distance of one thousand standard light-years from the coordinates. Use only passive sensors and the most basic Quantum Induction Arrays for scanning. Stardust, be ready to analyze any abnormal signals captured, no matter how weak."

"Understood."

"Command confirmed."

The subsequent voyage was long and peaceful. Within silence, distance lost its conventional meaning, and time seemed stretched. Inside the ship, everyone performed their duties, maintaining peak vigilance while seizing every moment to recover, learn, and analyze. Excellence continued to temper his power of Order, attempting to combine it with the techniques of using the Order Definition Beam he had observed from the wave source during their confrontation, seeking breakthroughs in defense and concealment. Stardust dove into the massive amount of data captured from the "Messenger's" self-destruction, the confrontation between the wave source and the Predator, and the reaper's interference, trying to extract patterns regarding their energy operation modes, behavioral logic, and potential weaknesses. Mute, assisted by S-001, continued to sort through the stirred memory fragments, looking for any information that might relate to the current coordinates, Ghost Communication, or the Traitor. Evelyn constantly optimized the ship's systems, especially the stealth and defense modules, integrating new data and inspirations.

White Elder was like a stabilizing anchor, his Daoist charm always enveloping the ship. Not only did he ward off the invisible "sense of being watched" and the pervasive malice that might still exist, but he also subtly soothed the anxiety and exhaustion in everyone's hearts caused by days of tension and high-intensity pressure. The green glow flowing on the wood carving seemed to become the only warm solace in this lonely voyage.

Just as they were about eight hundred standard light-years from the target coordinates and preparing to enter full silent stealth mode, S-001, who had been monitoring the external environment, suddenly issued a low-priority alert:

"Detected unexpected, extremely low-intensity disturbances in the silence substrate information flow. Source: multiple, scattered. Direction: roughly parallel to our flight path, but with an offset. Disturbance characteristics: approximately 40% similarity to the 'wake' produced by standard Silent Corridor units during flight, but much weaker, more fragmented, and showing clear signs of 'energy depletion' and 'system aging.' Preliminary hypothesis: there may be other Silent Corridor units or their derivative vehicles in the vicinity that are in a 'silent stealth' state, in poor condition, and whose headings partially overlap with the target coordinates."

Other units nearby? And more than one? All in poor condition?

This news energized everyone while simultaneously heightening their vigilance.

"Can we track their headings or try to identify them?" Excellence asked immediately.

"The disturbances are too weak and fragmented for effective tracking or identification. I can only determine their general direction of movement, which has an angle of about 15-30 degrees with the target coordinates. They are not heading there directly, but they are not entirely unrelated either. Their activity patterns show high concealment and extremely precise energy control; they would be almost undetectable if we weren't also in a high-stealth state with specially optimized sensors," S-001 replied.

"They're hiding too, moving toward a certain direction..." Stardust mused, data streams cascading like waterfalls in her gray eyes. "Is it a coincidence? Or does that coordinate area hold some special attraction for these units in poor condition and hiding? Or is it a... prearranged gathering point? Or a sanctuary?"

"Could it be that... besides us, the wave source, the Predator, the wanderer, and the 'Messenger,' there are even more units in a similar 'silent stealth' state operating in the shadows, perhaps even... having some connection with each other?" Evelyn proposed a startling theory, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

"It's not impossible," Mute's consciousness fluctuated, carrying the exhaustion of ages. "The 'silent stealth' command was domain-wide. If some units knew each other before going into hiding, or established contact through some method we don't know, they could have entirely communicated in secret or even attempted to assemble over the long years. Those coordinates might be a 'safe house' or 'contact point' they selected."

This theory made the situation even more complex. If there really was a hidden "small group" composed of multiple "silent stealth" units, then approaching rashly would be extremely risky. Heaven knew how these units—having endured long loneliness, possible system aging, logical alienation, or even erosion by "malice"—would react to an uninvited guest like them.

"Adjust the flight path to maintain maximum safe distance from these disturbance sources. Continue advancing in stealth, but raise the alert level," Excellence ordered with unquestionable decisiveness. "If those coordinates really are some kind of gathering point, we must be even more careful. Observe from a distance first and get a clear picture of the situation."

The ranger, like a most cunning shadow, quietly adjusted its heading, continuing toward the target coordinates in a more roundabout arc that stayed further away from those weak disturbance sources. Simultaneously, all sensors were adjusted to their most sensitive states, attempting to capture any clearer signals from that direction.

However, until they reached the planned "stealth start point" about five hundred standard light-years from the target coordinates, they captured no active or regular signals from the coordinate point itself, other than those extremely weak, fragmented "wakes" of other units. There, in the scans of the passive sensors, it remained a patch of "emptiness," a darkness nearly "void" with an information density even lower than the surrounding silence substrate.

"Initiating Full Silent Stealth Protocol. Shutting down active engines, entering inertial drift. Activating Quantum Induction Arrays and high-sensitivity passive receivers. Reducing energy output to the minimum level required to maintain life and core systems," Evelyn reported. The lights inside the ship dimmed further, and almost all non-critical systems entered hibernation or ultra-low power modes. The ship was like a true, cold cosmic rock, drifting slowly and silently toward the dark coordinates in the void of silence, relying on its initial inertia.

Time seemed to freeze in the absolute stillness and waiting. Only the almost imperceptible scanning of the Quantum Induction Array for underlying spatial quantum fluctuations and the passive receiver's monitoring of all-band background noise proved that the ranger was still "awake," still "looking," and still "listening."

One hour. Five hours. One day.

The direction of the coordinate point remained dead silent.

Just as Excellence began to doubt whether those coordinates were truly just meaningless erroneous data or if the target had long since left—

"Detected ultra-weak, high-frequency, structurally complex information pulses," S-001's voice rang out in the bridge at the lowest volume, yet it was like a clap of thunder. "Pulse source: central area of the target coordinates. Pulse intensity: extremely low, near the quantum fluctuation background noise. Duration: 0.000001 seconds. Repetition interval: irregular, averaging about three hundred standard seconds. Pulse structure: highly encrypted, unparseable, but its underlying carrier frequency has a statistically significant weak correlation of less than 0.1% with the 'heartbeat signal' used by the Silent Corridor system's underlying maintenance protocols."

There was a signal! An extremely weak, hidden, but definitely existing signal! And it was related to system maintenance protocols!

"Is it some kind of... hidden beacon? Or a status report signal?" Stardust's eyes lit up. Her fingers slid quickly across the console, pulling up more detailed data analysis. "The intensity is so low and the intervals so irregular; it's clearly being hidden on purpose. Only an entity that knows the specific receiving frequency and encryption method could capture and interpret it. This perfectly fits the characteristics of a hidden base!"

"Can we try to enhance or parse the signal? Even just analyzing the physical characteristics of its transmitter?" Excellence asked.

"Risk is too high. Any active signal enhancement or detection behavior could be detected by the transmitter or nearby monitoring equipment," S-001 replied. "However, by accumulating passive reception data over the long term, we can attempt to analyze the micro-perturbation effects along the signal's propagation path to indirectly infer some properties of the transmitter. For example, the extremely weak Doppler shifts and polarization changes produced when the signal passes through regions of the silence substrate with different densities."

"Execute long-term passive cumulative analysis. Meanwhile, try to perform minimum pattern matching on the signal using the partial characteristic codes we already have from the Ghost Communication and wave source data to see if there are any matches," Excellence ordered. They were now like people in the dark, deep sea, trying to judge the species, size, and state of a distant whale by listening to its extremely faint, unique calls.

The analysis proceeded slowly in the silence. Every time that pulse signal, so weak it almost didn't exist, was captured, it was like discovering a fleeting, distant Firefly in the darkness.

On the third day (standard time), the long-term cumulative analysis began to show some extremely blurry but exciting signs.

"Based on the signal propagation perturbation analysis, the transmitter is not large in volume, possibly smaller than a standard Silent Corridor main unit, but its energy density is abnormally high. Furthermore, there seem to be multiple layers of complex energy shielding/distortion fields around its perimeter, causing unpredictable distortion and attenuation of the signal as it leaves," S-001 reported the preliminary results. "The signal source itself seems to be in an extremely low-power 'deep sleep' or 'standby' state; the energy consumption of its 'heartbeat' pulses is incredibly low. Simultaneously, extremely weak, non-natural signs of spatial folding have been detected around it, suggesting the presence of a small, high-precision spatial concealment or shielding force field."

A small-volume, high-energy-density "thing" in deep sleep, protected by layers of shielding and concealment fields, hidden in the "shadow zone" at the junction of silence and Chaos, periodically emitting extremely hidden pulse signals related to system maintenance protocols...

This description was sounding more and more like a carefully hidden... outpost, safe house, or communication relay station.

"Could it be the sender of that Ghost Communication?" Evelyn speculated, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation. "It's hiding here, using the special environment to evade monitoring, and then using the 'high-dimensional information ripples' from the wave source's excitation as cover to send out messages?"

"It's very likely," Stardust nodded, sliding her fingers across the virtual screen to pull up more historical data. "But it could also be something else. For example, a secret chamber used by the 'Traitor' to hide a key or other important items. Or an automated monitoring station that is still operational but has lost contact with the Main System."

"We need to get closer to know for sure." Mute's consciousness wave arrived, carrying a near-mournful resolve. "But getting too close is too risky. The shielding and Cloaking Fields here likely possess extremely strong anti-detection capabilities. A slight lapse on our part could trigger an alarm."

Just as everyone was weighing whether to risk increasing the ship's passive sensor power slightly for a clearer signal, Evelyn, who had been monitoring the surrounding wide-area space, suddenly issued an urgent warning:

"High-energy spatial jump fluctuations detected! Source direction: approximately 120-degree angle from the target coordinates! Distance: about fifty standard light-years! Fluctuation characteristics: 65% similarity to 'Silent Corridor' heavy unit standard jump characteristics, but energy output is extremely unstable and carries obvious... combat damage marks and non-standard energy contamination! Jump target point prediction: unable to calculate precisely, but its jump vector points... roughly toward the target coordinates!"

Something had jumped here! Moreover, it was a damaged, energy-unstable "Silent Corridor" unit that might have undergone non-standard modifications! Its target seemed to be these coordinates as well!

"Friend or foe?" Excellence's heart instantly leaped into his throat. Was it one of those poorly-conditioned "lurking units" monitored earlier? Or... something else?

"Unable to determine. Its energy signature is chaotic and does not match the database. However, its jump's stealth is extremely poor, with severe energy leakage; it is clearly not in good condition and may even be in a state of loss of control or emergency escape." S-001 analyzed quickly.

"Will it exit the jump here? Or will it crash directly into the coordinate point's shielding field?" Stardust asked.

"Based on current data extrapolation, its jump exit will likely appear on the periphery of the coordinate point, in an area about 0.5 to 1 standard light-year away, and it may come into contact or slightly collide with the coordinate point's Cloaking Field." S-001 provided a prediction.

An injured, out-of-control unknown unit, possibly undergoing an emergency jump, was rushing toward this hidden coordinate point!

"All ships silence! Enter maximum stealth mode! Shut down all non-essential sensors, keeping only minimum spatial disturbance monitoring!" Excellence immediately ordered. No matter who the newcomer was, their sudden appearance meant a huge variable. The best choice was to hide completely and wait for developments.

The ranger was like a startled clam, instantly closing all its "shells" and entering the deepest level of lurking. Even the scanning frequency of the Quantum Induction Array was reduced to the limit.

Seconds later, in the void about 0.8 standard light-years from the target coordinates, space caved in and distorted like glass struck by an invisible giant hammer. Then, accompanied by a silent but violent spatial ripple that made the ranger's hull tremble slightly, a massive, broken, scorched, and energy-leaking silver-gray hull—vaguely recognizable as some kind of heavy research or armed platform—was forcibly "squeezed" out of jump space like a wrecked ship tossed by a giant wave!

It appeared extremely abruptly, its posture highly unstable. The main thruster nozzles at the rear flickered with ominous arcs and flames, and several armor plates were twisted open, revealing damaged internal structures flashing with dangerous red light. Its energy field was in total disarray, filled with pain, fear, and a near-desperate madness. More startlingly, its hull was covered in a layer of dull, writhing, seemingly living, purple-black energy bruises, like some malignant parasite constantly eroding the hull and emitting a nauseating aura somewhat similar to the Predator's chaotic energy but even more "viscous" and "malicious."

This unit was not only heavily injured but also severely contaminated by some kind of chaotic energy!

"It's... it's them!" Mute's consciousness wave surged, carrying intense shock and a trace of... unspeakable sadness and anger. "That energy signature... though distorted by contamination, I recognize it! It's the wanderer! It's the wanderer we saw earlier in poor condition! How... how did it end up like this? And so severely contaminated by chaos?!"

It was the wanderer?!

Excellence and the others also recognized it immediately. Although its appearance and energy characteristics had changed significantly due to contamination and trauma, the residual, faint energy reaction belonging to the silence system at its core, as well as its general structure, indeed matched the unit monitored earlier that was sailing unsteadily with energy leaks.

It hadn't collapsed or fled during the previous confrontation; instead... it seemed to have suffered an even more terrible attack, been contaminated by chaos, and then... fled here?

"It's fleeing for its life!" Stardust judged immediately, her voice carrying a hint of urgency. "Looking at its jump trajectory, it's extremely hurried and chaotic, clearly a desperate flight. It was attacked by something, contaminated, and then instinctively, or guided by some residual command, fled to these coordinates! It might know this place, or the key or something else inside it is guiding it here!"

The wanderer's broken hull tumbled and decelerated helplessly in the void, its energy field coming into contact with the invisible cloaking/shielding field on the periphery of the coordinates. There was no violent collision or alarm as expected. That Cloaking Field seemed alive, fluctuating slightly, and then... like a ripple in water, "parted" to the sides, creating an extremely narrow, unstable "gap."

Behind the "gap," the originally empty darkness vaguely revealed a trace... of an extremely faint, man-made structural outline? It looked like a corner of a massive, irregular, deep-gray platform or building with a surface covered in complex patterns. But the sight vanished in a flash, remaining blurry.

"There really is something at the coordinates! And it seems... to allow the wanderer to enter? Or at least, it didn't immediately attack or repel it?" Evelyn exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief.

The wanderer also seemed to sense the opening of the "gap." A faint glimmer of hope, like catching a lifeline, flashed through its chaotic energy fluctuations. It struggled, trying to adjust its posture and squeeze through that narrow "gap."

However, at the very moment its bow was about to touch the edge of the "gap"—

Another change occurred!

A cold, swift, and unannounced silver-white energy beam, like a venomous snake lurking in the dark, suddenly shot out from the void behind the wanderer's broken hull—a place that had seemed empty. It accurately and ruthlessly struck the wanderer's rear main Energy Distributor, which was already severely damaged and barely maintaining minimum power!

"Boom—!!!"

This time, it was a real, violent energy explosion! The silver-white beam contained a powerful Order dismantling force, instantly detonating the already extremely unstable, contaminated energy in the wanderer's Energy Distributor!

The wanderer's broken hull shuddered violently as if struck again by an invisible giant hammer. A blinding and chaotic energy fireball, a mix of silver light of Order and purple-black chaotic energy, exploded at its rear! Its already weak energy field instantly plummeted to rock bottom, and the hull tumbled even more violently, almost losing control. The "gap" that had just opened also fluctuated and distorted wildly due to this sudden violent energy impact and the interference of the Order force, then quickly shrank and closed!

"It's the Order Definition Beam! The power of the wave source!" Stardust cried out, her voice carrying unmistakable shock.

The attack came from behind the wanderer's flank, from that void... what was hidden there?! Was it the wave source itself? Or a pursuit unit it had sent out?

"Signs of high-precision spatial Cloaking Field deactivation detected! Attack source coordinates: confirmed! Energy signature: completely consistent with the wave source (suspected rogue High-level Execution Unit)! Target: a single Miniature High-speed Assault Unit, model unknown, in deep optical and energy stealth, just deactivated its stealth to launch the attack!" S-001's alarm sounded urgently.

The wave source! It had actually sent a unit to secretly follow the wanderer! It hadn't fought to the death with the Predator in the previous confrontation zone; instead, it had split its forces to track this seemingly insignificant, near-collapse wanderer all the way here! What was its purpose? To destroy the wanderer? Or... to track the wanderer to this hidden coordinate point?

The wanderer suffered a fatal blow, its rear was completely paralyzed, its energy plummeted, and it tumbled toward the rapidly closing "gap." It seemed to use the last of its strength to release a faint, chaotic information pulse carrying a strong sense of "pleading" and "despair," aimed at the vaguely visible structural outline behind the "gap."

Then, in the final instant before the "gap" completely closed, an extremely faint green light, like a Firefly in the dark, flickered once from the direction of the hidden structure.

Immediately after, the "gap" closed completely, and that patch of void returned to a seemingly normal darkness.

And the wanderer's broken, powerless hull, eroded by the dual forces of chaos and Order, struck the already closed Cloaking Field like a rotten tomato hitting an invisible wall. It jolted violently, then drifted even more powerlessly and slowly into the dark void away from the coordinates. Its energy reaction was rapidly fading and extinguishing at a visible rate...

"It... was abandoned?" Evelyn's voice carried a hint of complexity. The "master" of those coordinates seemed to flicker a green light at the last moment, but in the end, did not open the "gap" to accept this dying, contaminated "kin" that had brought pursuers.

"Maybe they couldn't, or maybe they wouldn't," Stardust said coldly, an unspeakable complexity flashing in her gray eyes. "Accepting a unit severely contaminated by chaos and targeted by the wave source is too risky. That bit of green light might have been some kind of identification signal, or a way of saying 'I see you, but I'm powerless,' or... something else entirely."

Excellence's gaze, however, was fixed on the deep-gray structural outline that had just briefly been revealed and then quickly hidden again, and on the wave source's miniature assault unit that had launched the sneak attack and was now quietly hovering not far from the wanderer's wreckage, re-entering deep stealth.

"The wave source knows about this place," he said slowly, his voice carrying a cold certainty. "It tracked the wanderer here not just to destroy it, but to confirm these coordinates. It might have only suspected before, but now, it has seen it with its own eyes. Moreover, the assault unit it sent didn't leave immediately; it's continuing its stealthy surveillance... it's waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for the 'master' of the coordinates to appear again? Waiting for the wanderer to die completely? Or..."

He looked toward the wanderer's wreckage, which was drifting into the depths of darkness, its life force rapidly fading.

"Or, waiting for us... or other 'uninvited guests' to be drawn out by this sudden attack and the dying wanderer?"

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. And they, the group of observers hiding in even deeper darkness, were now facing an even more difficult and dangerous situation.

A hidden coordinate point that seemed to have a "master."

The wave source's pursuit unit, lurking on the side, watching like a tiger.

A dying, contaminated wanderer heading toward its end right before their eyes.

And they, the ranger, should they continue to hide until the wave source's unit leaves or the coordinate point's "master" acts again? Or... do something?

"Captain..." Evelyn looked at Excellence, her voice carrying a hint of uncertainty.

Excellence's gaze swept across the light point on the screen representing the wanderer's rapidly extinguishing life, then looked at the dark void of the coordinate point that had returned to silence, and finally landed on the seemingly empty area where the wave source's assault unit might be hiding.

He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In his sea of consciousness, the sharp edge of Order flowed quietly, intertwining with the conviction of "responsibility," the desire for "survival," and the persistence for "truth."

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a flash of decisiveness in them.

"S-001, calculate the precise drift trajectory of the wanderer wreckage and the estimated time until its energy reaction completely extinguishes."

"Stardust, analyze the possible monitoring range and reaction patterns of that wave source assault unit."

"Evelyn, prepare a set of minimum-power, single-use, remote-controlled energy disturbance generators that simulate 'natural collisions of small space debris'."

"Senior White Elder, please be ready. The moment I give the Order, secure for us even 0.1 seconds of 'Cognitive Interference' against high-dimensional detection."

He paused, looked at everyone, and said in a low, clear voice: "We won't touch the coordinates, nor will we provoke the wave source. But that wanderer... it might know something about this place, about the wave source, about that forged command... Before it 'dies' completely, we might be able to... 'read' something from its residual core data that hasn't been completely contaminated. In the most hidden and inconspicuous way possible."

Inside the bridge, time seemed to freeze. Everyone exchanged looks, a silent understanding flowing through the air.

"Begin execution," Excellence's voice echoed in the silent bridge.

The ranger was like a hunter lurking in the dark, quietly initiating its faint but lethal plan. In the final moments before the wanderer's wreckage energy completely extinguished, an almost imperceptible, extremely low-power energy pulse was quietly emitted, synchronized with the wanderer's wreckage drift trajectory, simulating a natural space debris collision.

At the same time, the green halo flowing on White Elder's wood carving fluctuated slightly, as if mourning for everything about to happen.

At the moment the wanderer's wreckage energy completely extinguished, Stardust captured one last faint data stream—an afterimage of a residual key-related protocol fragment that was severely contaminated by chaotic energy.

"We... got it." Stardust's voice was very soft, but it carried a weight as if having survived a disaster.

Excellence did not respond; his gaze pierced through the void of the bridge, cast toward those dark coordinates. He knew that this silent game was far from over. The wave source's assault unit was still lurking in the dark, and the "master" of the coordinates might also be observing all of this.

And what kind of truth would the faint data fragments extracted from the wanderer's wreckage reveal?

The ranger quietly adjusted its course in the void, like a fallen leaf blown by the wind, slowly sliding into deeper darkness. It knew that the real storm had only just begun.