276: Chapter 276 Pivot Judgment

At the end of the metal corridor, there was no door, only an intangible energy barrier that rippled like water and emitted a soft white light.

The traction from the metal ring on its wrist pointed straight behind the barrier.

Old Shi did not hesitate; dragging Ling Ye on the floating medical platform, it stepped into the light curtain.

The scene before it suddenly opened up.

This was a huge, hemispherical, enclosed space with a diameter of over fifty meters.

It was constructed entirely of that dark silvery-white, smooth, seamless metal, with a high and broad dome, emitting a brighter, more stable white light of the same source as the corridor, illuminating the entire space like daylight.

Unlike the cold, empty, and experimental atmosphere of the previous "Gate of Order" hall, this place felt more like a highly precise, tech-filled, yet inhumanly cold "Command Center" or "Arbitration Hall."

In the center of the hall floated an extremely complex, three-story-tall, inverted pyramid-shaped main control terminal, composed of countless fine energy lines, transparent crystal pillars, and slowly rotating light clusters that seemed to contain galaxies within.

The terminal operated silently, exuding a vast, cold, and absolute "Order" pressure that seemed capable of perceiving and judging everything.

Around the main control terminal, arranged in a ring, were a dozen relatively small, also floating operation/display platforms, their surfaces displaying complex data and holographic images that constantly flowed and changed.

The content displayed on the platforms consisted of dense data streams and 3D models regarding energy flow, spatial structure, vital signs, contamination concentration, and permission Rank, which Old Shi could not understand at all.

In the entire hall, apart from the extremely slight, rhythmic energy humming from the main control terminal and those operation platforms, as well as the almost inaudible rustling of data flow, there was no other sound.

The air was dry, clean, and the temperature was constant; everything appeared absolutely, meticulously, and coldly "Orderly."

"Intruder, arrived at Hub Node-γ. Initiating deep assessment and permission verification protocol."

That cold, inhuman synthesized voice rang out again, echoing throughout the entire spherical hall, clearer and more oppressive than in the corridor.

The voice did not come from any specific direction but seemed to emanate from all directions, from this entire "Order" space itself.

"Hum—"

On the main control terminal, that huge, slowly rotating light cluster with galaxies operating inside suddenly increased in brightness.

Several condensed, pure white beams of light, like searchlights, shot out from the light cluster, precisely and simultaneously covering Ling Ye on the floating medical platform and Old Shi, who was standing beside the platform with the metal ring on its wrist.

This scan was completely different from the basic scan in the corridor.

The light beam carried a cold "insight" that dug deep into the Soul, analyzed the essence, and allowed no concealment.

Old Shi felt as if every inch of its skin, every bone, every trace of energy, and even every thought were being mercilessly dissected, inspected, and analyzed by this light beam.

Under the irradiation of the light beam, the gray-green patch on its right wrist was like being placed under a microscope; its internal structure, the composition of the contamination, and every detail of the tiny "Metal Point" wrapped inside were clearly captured, magnified, and presented on the holographic image of the nearest floating operation platform.

As for Ling Ye, the light beam seemed more "gentle," but the degree of "depth" was even greater.

It was not just his severely injured body, but more importantly, deep within his consciousness, all the obscure, sealed, and even energy marks and information that he himself had not yet fully understood—related to the "Ancient Ring" mark, the "the key" beacon left by his parents, and the "xuanyuan ring"—were forcibly stimulated, revealed, and parsed under this absolute "Order" insight beam!

On the holographic image, Ling Ye's body was decomposed into countless layers—bones, muscles, meridians, energy circuits...

And at a deeper level, several extremely special energy marks emitting different fluctuations were highlighted:

Mark A: Located deep in the Soul, vast, constant, carrying the rhythm of suppression and Guardian, suspected to be left by an ancient high-level existence ("Ancient Ring" mark).

Mark B: Deeply bound to the physical body, cold, orderly, emitting "beacon" fluctuations, deeply associated with the "Star Gate" and specific coordinates, permission Rank judgment: Abnormal/Advanced/Pending Verification (the "the key" left by parents).

Mark C: External object, ring form, energy attributes are of the same source as Mark B but mixed and unstable, judged as a replica/secondary beacon/contamination sensitive body ("xuanyuan ring").

Status: Vital signs extremely low, severe trauma, energy disorder, but core marks stable, not eroded by contamination.

The assessment regarding Old Shi was also quickly completed:

Lifeform B: Moderate trauma, physical exhaustion. Energy mark: Low-Rank interface (Model: Star Gate Maintenance Unit - Type 7, serial number lost). Current status: interface damaged, severely eroded, wrapped, and blocked by high-concentration "Chaos-side secondary derivative contamination" (i.e., "abyssal eye" contamination). interface function loss 97.3%. Contamination stability: Critical (temporarily isolated). Threat assessment: Medium (contamination spread risk). Permission Rank: None (due to interface damage and contamination).

"Assessment complete." The cold voice sounded again, without a trace of emotional fluctuation, "Starting permission verification."

"Verification Target 1: Lifeform A (Advanced Order beacon carrier). Performing beacon backtracking and permission matching."

The light cluster of the main control terminal shot out even more concentrated beams, locked onto Ling Ye.

A massive, cold, but incredibly precise data stream rushed into the depths of Ling Ye's consciousness along the beam, beginning a kind of deep-level, trans-linguistic "verification" and "dialogue" with his "the key" beacon mark.

In his coma, Ling Ye's body tensed up suddenly, his brows furrowed, and his face showed an expression of extreme pain, as if he were enduring some kind of violent impact on a spiritual level.

The light of the floating medical platform also flickered rapidly, seemingly trying its best to maintain his life state.

Old Shi watched nervously, its heart in its throat.

It didn't know what this "verification" was, whether it would cause more serious harm to Ling Ye, or... be judged as "illegal" and trigger Purification.

A few seconds later, the light beam retracted.

The main control terminal was silent for a moment, and then, that cold voice announced the result in a tone that seemed to carry a trace of extremely faint, imperceptible "confusion" or "anomaly":

"Beacon backtracking: Match successful. Source: Seventh Star Gate Maintainer Sequence - Chief Engineer 'Ling' and 'Wei'. Beacon status: Active binding, non-transfer status. Beacon permission: Star Gate core maintenance/Emergency protocol initiation/Highest-level access permission (partial functions unavailable due to carrier status and unknown blockade)."

"Permission verification result: Passed (temporary/conditional). Lifeform A, granted temporary status: 'Lost Maintainer Descendant/Beacon Successor (Pending Confirmation)'. Temporary permission: Hub Node-γ limited access, basic medical maintenance application right, information query (partial) permission."

Passed?! Ling Ye was verified as coming from the so-called "Seventh Star Gate Maintainer Sequence - Chief Engineer," that is, his parents! He had obtained temporary status and limited permission!

Just as a glimmer of ecstasy rose in Old Shi's heart, it heard the cold voice continue to sound:

"Verification Target 2: Lifeform B (damaged interface carrier). Performing interface validity verification and final contamination threat assessment."

The light beam covered Old Shi again, this time with a more severe, more "scrutinizing" tone.

The focus was on the gray-green patch on its right wrist and the isolated "Metal Point."

"interface model confirmed: Star Gate Maintenance Unit - Type 7. Serial number unreadable (damaged). interface original function: Star Gate energy stabilization assistance/secondary permission identification/maintenance data transmission. Current status: Severely damaged, core functional module (permission identification, energy stabilization) failed. interface is deeply parasitized and tampered with by 'Chaos-side secondary derivative contamination'. Contamination has formed an unstable symbiosis with the remaining structure of the interface."

"Contamination threat final assessment: High risk. Contamination symbiont is unstable, with risk of explosive spread and contamination of Hub Node. According to 'Court of World Purification - Basic Law of Order Maintenance - Chapter 3, Article 7: For unauthorized individuals carrying high-risk, unstable Chaos contamination and unable to provide valid permission or Purification proof, immediate Purification can be executed.'"

Old Shi's heart sank to freezing point instantly.

"However," the cold voice changed the subject, seemingly performing some complex logical calculation, "detected the following variables:

The damaged interface carried by Lifeform B has a subordinate and pairing relationship with the Advanced beacon carried by Lifeform A in its original design (i.e., the 'Dual Keys' System prototype).

Lifeform A's current status requires interface assistance to fully activate beacon permissions and execute potential highest-level instructions (suspected to be related to the 'Seventh Star Gate' emergency protocol).

Temporary isolation measures are effective, contamination spread risk is within controllable threshold (remaining time: 14 minutes 22 seconds).

"Synthesizing variables, combined with 'Basic Law of Order Maintenance - Emergency Clause', making the final judgment."

The hall fell into a brief, suffocating silence.

Only the main control terminal light cluster rotated silently, and data streams flashed and calculated frantically on the floating platforms.

Finally, the cold voice made the final verdict:

"Final judgment:

For Lifeform B (damaged interface carrier), immediate Purification will not be executed for now. Given one last chance. Within the remaining isolation time (13 minutes 55 seconds), must go to the 'Purification/Repair Chamber' attached to this node to attempt interface Purification and basic repair. If Purification/Repair is successful, the contamination threat is lifted, and permissions can be re-evaluated based on the post-repair interface status. If Purification/Repair fails, or if it is not completed on time, the forced Purification program will be automatically executed.

For Lifeform A (beacon successor), initiate emergency medical protocol (basic). At the same time, open partial non-core confidential information query permissions related to the 'Seventh Star Gate' and 'Dual Keys' System to assist in understanding the current situation."

"Judgment supplement: The Purification/Repair Chamber is located on the lower level of this node. After entering the chamber, the isolation countdown will pause until the Purification/Repair process ends or fails. The Purification/Repair process requires the high-level beacon authorization and energy assistance of Lifeform A, otherwise, the success rate is lower than 0.7%."

"Please proceed to the designated chamber immediately. Countdown: 13 minutes 48 seconds."

The metal ring on its wrist transmitted a new, more explicit traction, pointing to a circular passage entrance that had just slid open silently on one side of the hall wall, emitting a pale blue light.

At the same time, the floating medical platform where Ling Ye was located also moved slowly, following Old Shi, floating towards that entrance.