39: Chapter 11 Ancient Guardian

The metal door of The Engineer's Workshop closed silently behind them, completely sealing off that space of absolute cleanliness and order, as if it were a brief and surreal dream. The familiar, murky air of The Nest's underground—a mixture of rust, decaying organic matter, and chemical pollution—flowed into their lungs once more, heavy and suffocating.

The three of them stood in the dim passage, glancing at each other without speaking. A single door separated two entirely different worlds. They carried equipment repaired and upgraded in the Workshop, and the dangerous structural diagrams of the Abyss Library were branded into their minds; their goal was clear, yet the future remained uncertain.

Lei Kun made a gesture, signaling for silence. He moved first, his actions like a cheetah blending into the shadows, advancing quickly and quietly along the route provided by The Engineer. Lin Feng followed closely, striving to make his footsteps as light as Lei Kun's, while simultaneously >> Activating Low-Level Environmental Scan. Mapping Safe Footsteps. He used the power of Source to constantly scan the structural stability of the ground and walls ahead, avoiding loose debris and heavily rusted areas that might make noise. Ling Yue brought up the rear, her new mechanical arm operating almost silently, with faint sensory probes occasionally extending from her fingertips to scan the passages behind and to the flanks, preventing them from being followed or flanked.

The route was more winding and ancient than expected. They gradually moved away from the areas of The Nest's main body that still had faint power and delved into the more primitive layers beneath the city's foundations. The passages here were no longer regular metal or concrete structures, but roughly excavated rock layers mixed with massive, rusted metal pipes and support beams of unknown purpose. The air grew increasingly damp and cold; the dripping of water and the faint groans of structural stress from afar were the only main themes, instead emphasizing a deathly sense of oppression.

External Atmosphere: Oxygen Levels Decreasing, Trace Toxic Gas Concentrations Rising (Non-Lethal Levels). Recommend Conserving Energy. Approaching Estimated Location of Library's Northern Access Point.

The prompts from Source surfaced in Lin Feng's vision. They were approaching the target area.

According to the map, an ancient ventilation duct entrance to the Library was hidden deep within an abandoned pump station in this area. After advancing nearly another hundred meters, a massive space resembling an underground cavern appeared before them. It was piled high with mountains of mechanical wreckage, their original forms long unrecognizable. In the center was a dried-up Sedimentation Tank over twenty meters in diameter. The silt at the bottom had long since hardened, cracking into a tortoise-shell pattern.

"The entrance is below maintenance ladder number three on the pool wall, buried under debris," Ling Yue whispered, her mechanical eye flickering with a faint light as she compared the real-time environment with the structural diagrams.

Lei Kun nodded, signaling Lin Feng and Ling Yue to stay alert. He himself slid down to the bottom of the tank as silently as a lithe ape, quickly clearing away a pile of rusted metal mesh and broken concrete blocks to reveal a dark, circular pipe opening behind them, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through. A draft of air, colder than the outside and smelling of stale metal and dust, slowly billowed out from deep within the pipe.

"I'll go first," Lei Kun said in a low voice. Without hesitation, he checked his weapons and equipment and was the first to bend over and crawl inside. The interior of the pipe was pitch black, extending steeply downward.

Lin Feng entered second. >> Activating Low-Light Enhancement. His vision switched to a hazy greenish-gray. The inner walls of the pipe were covered in a thick, unpleasant layer of greasy dust. After climbing down about a dozen meters using both hands and feet, the pipe leveled out, though it remained narrow and oppressive.

Ling Yue entered last, carefully restoring the debris at the entrance to its original state to cover their tracks.

The horizontal pipe seemed to have no end. The three of them crawled in silence for a long time, with only heavy breathing and the rustle of clothing against the pipe walls. Lin Feng continued to scan ahead. >> No Biological Threats Detected. Structural Integrity: Stable but Ancient. No living creatures were found for the time being, but the antiquity and silence of the pipe itself felt like an invisible pressure.

Suddenly, >> Energy Anomaly Detected Ahead. Pattern: Fluctuating, Non-Standard. Lin Feng stopped abruptly and raised his hand to signal.

Almost simultaneously, Ling Yue's extremely low voice came through the trio's micro-communicators: "There's an energy barrier ahead. It's weak, but the structure is very strange... it doesn't look like a modern defense system, more like... some kind of spontaneously formed energy accumulation?"

Lei Kun also felt the subtle fluctuation in the air ahead that made his skin prickle. He slowly drew his old Pulse Pistol and signaled Lin Feng to try and disable or bypass it.

Lin Feng concentrated, extending his perception. >> Analyzing Energy Field... Composition: Decaying Photonic Resonance, Mixed with High-Energy Particle Decay Byproducts. Unstable.

Suggestion: Do Not Disrupt. Attempt to Synchronize Personal Energy Field to Pass Through Gently. Source provided an unexpected solution—not destruction, but synchronizing his own energy field to pass through gently.

This required extremely fine control. Lin Feng signaled Lei Kun and Ling Yue to wait a moment. He took a deep breath and slowly crawled forward, while fully operating the power of Source to adjust the frequency of his bioelectricity and that faint energy field.

The closer he got, the stronger the prickling sensation became. When he touched that invisible energy membrane, it felt like passing through a layer of cold, viscous gel, making the hair on his entire body stand on end. But he succeeded without triggering any violent reaction.

He followed the same procedure, guiding Lei Kun and Ling Yue to pass through carefully one by one. After they crossed, the energy membrane seemed to ripple slightly before returning to its original state.

"Strange place..." Ling Yue murmured in the communication channel.

After continuing for a short while, the pipe finally reached its end. A hollow echo came from below. Lin Feng carefully peeked out. >> Activating Wide-Spectrum Scan. Below was a massive, pitch-black space. The structural feedback from the scan was complex beyond imagination. His low-light vision could only see some massive, twisted metal structures and bookshelf-like shadows nearby, while the further reaches were swallowed by deep darkness. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and a... strange scent similar to a mixture of ancient paper and burned electronic components.

This was the Abyss Library.

According to the map, they needed to descend to the Corridor District below and then cross it to reach the Archive Tower located in the core area of the Library.

Lei Kun lowered the suspension cable, and the three of them descended silently onto the cold, hard floor one by one. The ground was covered in a thick layer of dust, making no sound when stepped upon. It was terrifyingly quiet here; even the sound of dripping water had vanished, leaving only the sound of their own heartbeats thumping against their eardrums.

Their location was like the edge of an immensely large corridor. On both sides were metal bookshelves that seemed to have no top and no end, but what was placed on the shelves were not books, but black metal cubes of various sizes and shapes, crystal pillars, or strange, unrecognizable creations sealed in transparent containers. Everything was covered in thick dust, and many places had collapsed and been damaged, forming massive piles of ruins.

Environmental Data: Gravity: 1.02G Standard. Atmosphere: Thin, High Inert Gas Content. Ambient Temperature: 4.2°C. Energy Reading: Background Radiation Elevated, Multiple Faint Anomalies Detected. Warning: Local Space-Time Metrics Show Minor Fluctuations. Caution Advised.

The warning from 'Origin' made Lin Feng's heart skip a beat. Space-time metric fluctuations? This place was indeed eerie.

Lei Kun made a gesture, and the three of them formed a tactical formation, beginning to advance cautiously deep into the massive 'corridor.' Lin Feng was responsible for using the power of 'Origin' to probe the path ahead for energy anomalies; Ling Yue used her sensors to scan the 'collections' on the bookshelves and the structural data of the surrounding environment, searching for clues or traps; while Lei Kun remained tense, acting as the most vigilant sentry, guarding the flanks and rear.

Every step felt like treading upon a tomb of history, filled with unknown dangers.

After walking about a hundred meters, Lin Feng raised his hand to stop again.

"There's... something moving up ahead," he said in a dry voice over the communication channel. In his 'Origin' perception and low-light vision, the dust not far ahead was moving without wind, as if something invisible was sliding across the ground.

Ling Yue immediately pointed her sensors in that direction. "No thermal signal... no energy reaction... but... the mass sensors detected something there! It's moving very slowly!"

The moment the words left her mouth!

Swish—!

An extremely subtle, almost inaudible sound of something cutting through the air attacked!

Lei Kun's reaction was astonishingly fast, suddenly shoving Lin Feng beside him to the side! Simultaneously, he rolled toward the other side!

Chiss!

With a soft sound, an extremely thin and deep small hole appeared on a metal bookshelf behind where they had just been standing, the edges of the metal instantly showing signs of melting from high heat!

"Under attack! Find cover!" Lei Kun growled, instantly ducking behind a piece of massive metal wreckage. Lin Feng and Ling Yue also immediately lunged for nearby cover.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

More attacks followed in quick succession! No energy beams could be seen, nor could any gunfire be heard; there was only that subtle sound of breaking air and the continuous appearance of melted puncture holes on their cover! The attacks were precise and lethal!

"What is it?!" Lin Feng pressed himself against the cold metal cover, his heart pounding wildly.

Scanning Attack Pattern... Projectile: Ultra-High-Density Metastable Particle. Velocity: Extreme. Origin: Fluctuating, Multiple Points. Hypothesis: Autonomous Guardian System - Phase-Cloaked Sentinel Units.

The analysis results from 'Origin' were terrifying—Phase-Cloaked Sentinel Units! Firing ultra-high-speed, high-density metastable particles!

Ling Yue hid behind another piece of cover, quickly operating the sensors on her arm, her face pale. "There's more than one! At least three units are using crossfire! I can't crack their cloaking technology at all! I can't jam them!"

They couldn't see them, couldn't lock onto them, and couldn't jam them! Yet the enemy's attacks were incredibly precise! They were being completely suppressed!

"We can't stay here!" Lei Kun's voice came through the communicator, still calm but speaking very rapidly. "Their attacks are wearing down our cover! Lin Feng! Can you find them?!"

Lin Feng gritted his teeth. >> Overriding Safety Limits. Initiating Broad-Spectrum Resonance Scan. Cognitive Load: Extreme. He forcibly boosted the scanning intensity of 'Origin,' attempting to use broad-spectrum resonance to detect the presence of those cloaked units!

Buzz—!

His brain felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer; a sharp pain surged, and blood poured from his nose again! But he succeeded! In his vision, he barely captured three blurred, slender humanoid outlines flickering rapidly between physical reality and phantom images! They moved soundlessly between the bookshelves like ghosts, constantly changing positions while their weapons continuously spat out lethal streams of particles!

"Three o'clock! Second shelf shadow! Eleven o'clock! Behind the collapsed metal pile! And another one is... moving on the overhead beam!" Lin Feng endured the agonizing pain, struggling to call out the positions!

Almost the instant he called out the locations!

Bang! Bang!

The Pulse Pistol in Lei Kun's hand let out two muffled roars! He didn't aim for the enemies' bodies—they moved too fast and flickered in and out of existence—but instead fired precisely at the bookshelf layer Lin Feng indicated for the first enemy and the metal pile where the second was hiding!

Boom! Crash—!

The bookshelf was blown to pieces by the pulse energy! The metal pile was also blasted open! Debris and dust flew everywhere!

This crude attack didn't directly hit the targets, but it instantly destroyed the firing positions and concealment of those two cloaked sentinels! Their phase flickering suffered a brief moment of turbulence!

In that very instant!

Ling Yue moved! Her new mechanical arm snapped up; instead of a weapon, it fired an extremely fine and thin metal net flickering with faint electrical sparks! The net expanded rapidly in the air, accurately enveloping the sentinel that had briefly materialized due to the bookshelf's destruction!

Simultaneously, her intact left hand pulled a Non-lethal Sonic Vibration Grenade from her waist and threw it toward the direction where the second sentinel was exposed by the blasted metal pile without even looking!

Sizzle! High-frequency current flashed as the first sentinel was caught in the metal net. Its body erupted in a burst of electrical sparks, its phase flickering completely failing, revealing its smooth, faceless, metal statue-like form, frozen in place!

Thump! The sonic grenade exploded near the second sentinel. The invisible shockwave instantly disrupted the space around it, causing it to also briefly manifest and stagger for a fraction of a second!

Now!

Lei Kun did not miss this fleeting opportunity! He pounced from behind his cover like a tiger, not using his gun, but throwing his combat knife instead! The knife turned into a streak of cold light, accurately embedding itself into a joint-like gap in the neck of the second revealed sentinel!

Meanwhile, Lin Feng also endured his headache. >> Focusing Energy Distortion on Target 3! He concentrated the power of 'Origin' to interfere with the energy field around the third sentinel on the overhead beam that had just raised its weapon!

The light of the energy gathering at the sentinel's weapon muzzle flickered violently, and its shot was delayed!

Bang!

Lei Kun's Pulse Pistol rang out again. The third energy bolt accurately hit the overhead beam, sending stone fragments flying and forcing the third sentinel to move its position, interrupting its attack once more!

In the blink of an eye, relying on Lin Feng's precise perception, Lei Kun's decisive violent destruction and lethal blow, and Ling Yue's precise auxiliary control and interference, the three of them temporarily resolved this first deadly encounter!

The first sentinel was paralyzed by the power grid, falling to the ground emitting black smoke. The second sentinel lay on the ground twitching with a knife in its neck, chaotic arcs of electricity flickering beneath its smooth metal shell. The third sentinel vanished into the shadows, seemingly retreating for the moment.

A deathly silence temporarily returned to the passage.

The three of them panted heavily, leaning against their cover, watching the surrounding darkness with vigilance.

"Are they... the guardians of the Library?" Lin Feng wiped away his nosebleed, his voice somewhat weak.

"More like... The Cleaners." Ling Yue checked the wreckage of the paralyzed sentinel on the ground, her brow furrowed. "Ancient... but efficient. Their energy cores and logic of operation... I've never seen anything like them."

Lei Kun walked over, silently pulled the knife from the second sentinel's neck, wiped the blood clean, and his gaze grew even more solemn. "This place is more dangerous than marked on the map. We must move faster."

They had won the first battle, but they had consumed a lot; Lin Feng had suffered mental trauma, and the deep darkness of the Library had only just revealed a tip of the iceberg to them.

The fragments of the 'initial protocol' remained hidden even deeper within this realm of death.