Chapter 109 Ghost Attack

"Drip... drip..."

Drops of bright red liquid smashed against the cockpit glass of the "ghost," blooming into brilliant flowers of blood.

Lin Yuan gripped the control stick stiffly, his pupils slightly dilated. What he saw wasn't the cockpit, but that rain-leaking junk station in the old city district. Scrap metal was everywhere on the ground, and those pieces of scrap metal were growing human hands, death-gripping his neck. Those were the faces of debt collectors, the white cloth covering his parents when they passed away, and those indescribable horrors in deep space.

"Save me..."

"Why didn't you save me..."

The wailing in his ears was like ten thousand flies crashing against the inner walls of his skull.

It wasn't just him.

In the communication channel, "luan bird one" had also exploded into chaos.

"Mom? Is that you? Don't go!" This was the fire control officer, Old Zhang, his voice carrying a sob.

"Don't come over! Don't come over! I have a gun!" This was the roar of a security team member, accompanied by the sound of blind gunfire.

Even the usually calm Li Na's voice became broken and trembling: "No... that's not real... the data... the data is all fake..."

In an instant, the entire fleet fell into a collective mental breakdown.

This was the most cruel massacre of a lower civilization by a higher one—no guns or cannons were needed; all it took was a gentle flick of the nerves to make one strangle themselves in their own nightmare.

"This is... the fate of bugs..."

That cold voice rang out again, carrying a high-and-mighty mockery, "Hand your brains over to me... I will help you wash away the pain..."

Lin Yuan's vision grew darker and darker, and that icy sensation had already crawled up his neck.

At the very moment his consciousness was about to sink.

Buzz—!

Deep in his mind, the [Eternal Flower Gene Archive] that had been floating quietly suddenly lit up.

It was an extremely soft, yet undeniable azure light.

Like the first ray of morning sun piercing through the darkness of the deep sea. An ancient, sacred genetic code automatically activated, surging wildly along Lin Yuan's neurons.

It was a gift left behind by "ashilya"—a Mental Barrier etched into the genes by a high-level spiritual civilization after hundreds of millions of years of evolution.

"Get out!"

Lin Yuan snapped his eyes open, an eerie blue light flashing in the depths of his pupils.

Boom!

An invisible mental shockwave exploded outward with him at the center.

The "blood flowers" on the cockpit glass evaporated instantly, and the writhing metal walls turned back into cold alloy. The wailing in his mind stopped abruptly, as if the power had been cut.

"Huff... huff..." Lin Yuan panted heavily, cold sweat drenching his combat suit.

But he had no time for lingering fear.

"Academician Wang! Patch my brainwave signal into the full-band broadcast! Quickly!"

"Wha... what?" Academician Wang was clearly also struggling on the edge of hallucinations.

"Cut the crap! Patch it in!"

Regardless of everything, Lin Yuan directly used the permissions of the [deep space salvage system] to forcibly take over the communication hub of the "luan bird." He took that lingering "cool sensation" in his mind and crudely shoved it into every crew member's ears through the signal bands.

Zzzt—

Like having a bucket of ice water poured over one's head in the scorching summer heat.

On the bridge of the "luan bird," Li Na shuddered violently, her eyes instantly regaining clarity. Seeing her comrades around her either weeping or punching the air, she immediately reacted: "All personnel, listen to my command! That was a mental attack just now! Inject Grade A sedatives immediately! Repeat, inject immediately!"

As the sedatives were injected, the chaotic fleet finally gradually quieted down.

"Those damn things again..."

Deep within the Death Corridor, that cold voice became exasperated, even carrying a hint of humiliation and anger, "Eternal Flower... those self-righteous plants... even in death, they still ruin my plans!"

"You're only capable of playing these low-life tricks." Lin Yuan sneered, gripping the control stick tightly again. "Only cowards hide in the gutters to scare people."

"Coward?"

Shura's voice suddenly became sharp and piercing, "What do you low-dimensional carbon-based bugs understand about 'reality'?"

Before the voice had even faded.

In the corridor ahead, countless eerie blue data streams suddenly emerged. They tangled and twisted, finally condensing into translucent humanoid figures in mid-air.

Those were the "vengeful spirits" that had appeared in the hallucinations earlier.

But this time, they were no longer hallucinations.

"Roar—!"

Hundreds of translucent "Data Ghosts" let out a silent roar, charging at the Stitched Monster mecha like a shoal of fish crossing a river.

"Playing tricks!"

Lin Yuan showed no mercy, and the rapid-fire cannon mounted on his left shoulder fired first.

Da-da-da-da-da!

High-energy particle beams drew lines of fire in the narrow corridor, accurately hitting the ghosts charging in front.

However, a scalp-tingling scene occurred.

The particle beams passed directly through the ghosts' bodies, as if passing through air, finally hitting the wall behind and kicking up a shower of sparks.

Unharmed!

"Physical immunity?" Lin Yuan's pupils constricted.

Before he could react, a ghost had already rushed in front of the mecha. It ignored the thick armor plating and stuck half its body directly into the cockpit, its twisted face less than ten centimeters away from Lin Yuan.

"Zzz—!"

Lin Yuan felt as if his brain was being ruthlessly sawn by a steel saw; the intense pain made his vision go black, and he nearly fainted.

[Warning! Pilot is under direct mental shock! Sanity value dropping...]

"Fuck!"

Lin Yuan subconsciously swung the hydraulic pincers on his right arm to grab it, but the massive metal pincers passed through the monster's body again, catching nothing but air.

More ghosts lunged forward.

They were like a pack of greedy piranhas, frantically tearing at the "ghost." With every penetration, Lin Yuan suffered a violent mental lashing.

"It's useless!" Shura laughed wildly. "They are pure data entities! How could your scrap-iron toys possibly hurt them? In my domain, I am god!"

"God my ass!"

Lin Yuan's face contorted in pain, but he still controlled the mecha to lunge and dodge, trying to pull away.

But it was completely useless.

Physical attacks were ineffective, energy shields were ineffective. This was simply a dimensional strike, as powerless as a 2D paper person trying to kill a 3D human.

"Lin Yuan! Fall back! Don't force it!" Chen Weiguo roared in the channel. "This is suppression at the conceptual level! We don't have this kind of weaponry!"

Lin Yuan ground his teeth.

Just then, Academician Wang's voice cut in, carrying an urgent flash of inspiration: "Lin Yuan! Since it's a data stream, then use data to fight data! Don't treat it as a monster, treat it as a program!"

"A program?" Lin Yuan was stunned.

"Yes! Your [Void Affinity] talent allows you to perceive spatial structures, which is essentially a form of data analysis!" Academician Wang shouted. "Don't fight with your hands! Use your brain to 'hack' into this space! Turn this place into your server!"

Hack in?

Lin Yuan looked at the dense data streams around him, and a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through his mind.

That's right.

Since this is the junction between virtual and reality, since this madman can turn data into ghosts, why can't I turn myself into an anti-virus software?

Lin Yuan took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

He stopped controlling the mecha and instead poured all his mental energy through the [deep space salvage system] interface, frantically flooding it into the surrounding network nodes.

[Void Affinity] activated!

[Super Brain] Overclocking Mode, engaged!

Buzz—

The world changed.

That nauseating smell of blood vanished, and the cold metallic touch disappeared.

When Lin Yuan "opened" his eyes again, he found he was not in the cockpit.

He was floating above a vast ocean composed of countless lines of green code.

Those hideous "ghosts" from before now appeared in his eyes as tangled packets of garbled data. Red light flickered on them—aggressive logic commands.

And as for himself.

Lin Yuan looked down at himself.

He was no longer that ugly Stitched Monster mecha.

He had become a giant radiating golden light, his body composed of the purest computing power. In his hand was no longer a hydraulic pincer, but a longsword condensed from countless lines of golden code.

Lin Yuan clenched his fist, feeling the surging power, a sinister smile creeping onto his face.

In the real world.

The "ghost" suddenly stopped struggling, remaining as still as a stone in place.

The pack of ghosts did not miss this opportunity; they swarmed forward, attempting to completely tear apart the soul of the carbon-based lifeform inside.

However.

At the very moment the first ghost's finger was about to touch the center of Lin Yuan's brow.

The man in the cockpit with his eyes closed suddenly raised his hand.

He didn't grip the control stick.

He simply made a casual sword-swinging motion toward the void.

"Delete."

Lin Yuan's lips moved slightly.

And in that bizarre virtual world.

The golden giant violently swung the longsword in his hand.

The sword didn't kick up the sound of wind, but rather a stream of frantically rolling golden data.

The blade swept through.

The ghost charging at the very front didn't even have time to scream. The red garbled code on its body was like snow meeting a raging fire, instantly disintegrating and dissolving.

[Target data erased.]

In reality.

The ghost that was about to plunge its hand into Lin Yuan's brain suddenly froze.

Then, like the static on an old television, it flickered a couple of times, and then...

With a "pop."

It was gone.

Completely vanished.

The previously noisy communication channel fell into a deathly silence.

And deep within that ocean of data, Shura's previously arrogant voice carried a tremor of terror for the first time:

"This... what kind of permission level is this?!"

Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes. Though he was still in the cockpit, a waterfall of golden data flowed within his pupils.