266: Security checks for all staff and the "soul filter" plan

The accident where the "Qianlong" ship spirit's consciousness was eroded by the "mark" was like a bucket of ice water waking everyone up from the joy of creation.

Although those few wisps of grey-black, seemingly sentient malicious energy were successfully purified, the chill they brought lingered for a long time.

"We're building a spaceship while sitting on a powder keg," Senior Brother Li said, wiping cold sweat from his forehead with lingering fear, pointing to the energy comparison chart of "Qianlong" before and after purification.

"Who would have thought that the 'scrap metal' we picked up might hide such insidious stuff? If we had only discovered this after 'hope' was half-built, the trouble would have been huge."

Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, his expression behind the lenses more serious than ever: "It's not just the Materials. The question raised by Senior Sister Mu is crucial—are we, the people from the Ranch World, the 'source of pollution' ourselves?

Our Cultivation Technique System originates from the spirit net, our Heart-Nature growth is accompanied by Heart Demons, and even... some of us may have been potential targets of the 'child of destiny' project.

Do these experiences leave some kind of 'mark' or 'backdoor' deep in our Souls?"

This question left everyone silent.

Yes, they were resisting the Reapers System, but they were products of that very System.

The spirit net had permeated every aspect of their early Cultivation like air, the Heart Demon System had subtly influenced their emotions and thinking, and even their ability to reach this point had, to some extent, utilized the struggles and opportunities in the "involution" environment.

Wen Youyi took a deep breath and broke the silence: "Fear is useless. We are like a group of people who escaped from a polluted area.

The first thing we need to do is not to suspect each other, but to establish a set of reliable 'quarantine' and 'purification' procedures.

Find out the situation first, then figure out how to solve it."

He looked at "Qianlong," which had just undergone purification and was now sending back steady and slightly curious fluctuations: "This incident has also given us a valuable 'sample' and 'detection tool'.

The key has a strong repulsion and purification reaction to the 'mark', and "Qianlong"'s ship spirit consciousness can also directly perceive the 'discomfort' brought by the 'mark'. We can use this."

A comprehensive security inspection and purification plan named "Starfire Dust-Clearing" was quickly formulated.

Step 1: Environmental and material screening.

All construction Materials, energy crystals, and even daily supplies, whether already in storage or waiting to be stored, must undergo strict testing.

The detection method was simple and crude—let a small ball of "Flowing Silver" in an active state come into contact with the sample, while using the key to "supervise" on the side.

If "Flowing Silver" showed repulsion, unease, or the key issued a warning fluctuation, that piece of material would be immediately marked, isolated, and depending on the situation, either deeply purified or directly discarded.

This work was handed over to Wang Wu and Mo Chen, who were known for their meticulousness.

Soon, the warehouse area became lively.

"This piece of 'star pattern gold' raw ore, pass!"

"This box of 'condensed crystals' found deep in the wreckage, no! The Flowing Silver is going around it, and the key is sending out warnings! Isolate it!"

"Huh? This barrel of 'thousand-year grease' used for lubrication, the Flowing Silver seems... to like it? It even rubbed against it? The key isn't reacting... it should be safe, right? Wait, did it eat the grease as a snack? Xiao Wu! Control your Flowing Silver!"

"The edge of this armor plate is a bit wrong, the key's reaction is weak, but the Flowing Silver doesn't feel anything... mark it for 're-examination', it might need a more precise 'Soul Filter' scan."

The screening results were shocking.

About three percent of the inventory Materials were detected to contain varying degrees of "mark" contamination, especially those Materials from deep within the wreckage, of great age, or with obvious signs of battle, which had a higher contamination rate.

This made Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang break out in cold sweat; fortunately, they discovered it early, otherwise, if these "poisonous Materials" were used in critical parts of the starship, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Step 2: Personnel screening and "Soul Filter" research.

This was the real difficulty and sensitive point.

Testing dead objects could be done with Flowing Silver and the key, but how to test a living person, especially the Soul of a companion?

Just have the key scan them?

Not to mention whether it would be effective, that feeling of being completely "seen through" was prone to causing trust crises and internal resistance.

"This can't be done forcefully," Mu Wanqing offered a key suggestion, "We need a gentler, more indirect method, one that even allows the person being tested to participate in the perception.

It's like... shining a special 'mirror' on the Soul, allowing the person themselves to see the potential 'stains'."

This concept of a "mirror" gave birth to the "Soul Filter" plan.

The core idea was: do not directly probe the Soul itself (that was too offensive and could trigger unknown risks), but instead create a highly pure resonance environment filled with the Origin fluctuations of the "Star People" using the key and Star Core Power.

Then, have the subject enter this environment, meditate deeply, and circulate their own Cultivation Technique.

The principle was that if there was a "Reapers mark" in the subject's Soul or energy core that was repulsive to the "Star People" Origin, then in this pure resonance environment, the "mark" might, like a drop of ink falling into clear water, reveal subtle abnormal fluctuations because it was "out of place".

On one hand, this abnormal fluctuation might be vaguely perceived by the subject themselves (such as sudden restlessness, energy stagnation, or recalling certain uncoordinated Cultivation fragments), and on the other hand, it could also be captured and amplified by an external, high-sensitivity "Flowing Silver - Star Pattern" sensing array.

"It's like washing a piece of cloth with a stream of pure water; if there are stubborn stains on the cloth, the water flow will encounter resistance, and the cloth itself will feel 'uncomfortable'," Senior Brother Zhang explained, "We aren't doing a forced 'fluoroscopy', but creating conditions for the 'stains' to expose themselves."

The theory was feasible, but implementation required extreme caution.

The first to volunteer for the test was Wen Youyi himself.

"I am the team leader and the main user of the key and the Star Core, if even I have problems, then the subsequent work is out of the question." His reasoning made it impossible to refute.

The test was conducted in the most core and heavily guarded quiet room of the base.

Wen Youyi sat cross-legged in the center, surrounded by a complex Star Pattern array constructed by a large amount of "Flowing Silver" guided by the key, emitting a soft and pure silver radiance.

Senior Brother Li, Senior Brother Zhang, Mu Wanqing, and others monitored the data nervously from the periphery.

Wen Youyi took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, let his own spiritual power circulate naturally, and simultaneously tried to resonate with the surrounding pure starlight.

At first, everything was calm.

He could feel the familiar, warm fluctuations of the key, and he could also feel the "Flowing Silver" array "watching" him like countless gentle eyes.

But gradually, as he sank his consciousness into the core of his own Cultivation, recalling his early experiences in the Qingxuan Sect relying on the "spirit net" to inhale and exhale Spiritual Qi, fighting against "Heart Demons" under pressure, and even utilizing "involution" rules to climb up step by step... an unusual feeling appeared.

It was an extremely subtle "stagnation" feeling, like a deep-sea undercurrent.

It wasn't pain, it wasn't interference; it was more like walking in a clear stream and occasionally touching a few slippery stones underfoot that had a texture completely different from the surrounding pebbles.

When he tried to use his current cognition to examine certain choices from the past, or moments of sudden anxiety or obsession, this "stagnation" became slightly more obvious.

At the same time, on the externally monitored Star Pattern array, a few nodes corresponding to his energy core showed extremely weak, fleeting grey ripples.

Although they were instantly swallowed by the silver radiance, they were indeed captured.

Wen Youyi opened his eyes, his expression grave.

"There are abnormal fluctuations, but they are very weak and latent; they only appear when you deeply trace back core experiences related to the spirit net and the Heart Demon System." Senior Brother Li looked at the data, his brows furrowed, "This isn't like the concrete 'black threads' on the 'Qianlong' Materials; it's more like a kind of... 'incoordination mark' or 'thinking inertia residue' deeply planted in your Cultivation cognition and emotional response patterns."

Senior Brother Zhang added: "It doesn't seem to control you directly, but it might subtly influence your judgment at certain critical moments, making you more prone to falling into anxiety, suspicion, or subconsciously adopting certain competitive strategies that conform to 'Ranch World rules'."

Wen Youyi was silent for a moment, then nodded: "I felt it. It's like having some corners in my heart that are always covered with a layer of dust that can't be wiped off.

It doesn't affect daily life, but when absolute clarity and firmness are needed, it might become a flaw."

Subsequently, core members like Zhao Iron Pillar, Mu Wanqing, Wang Wu, Xiao Wu, and even other volunteers from the base, one by one, accepted the "Soul Filter" test.

The results were much the same.

Everyone detected that "grey ripple" to varying degrees, only the intensity, manifestation, and associated memory fragments were different.

Zhao Iron Pillar's abnormal fluctuations were associated with certain near-self-destructive "stubborn" emotions accumulated when he relied solely on hard training and instinct to resist pressure in his early days.

Mu Wanqing's were associated with her potential excessive anxiety about subtle "impurities" caused by the "Heart Demon System" amplification when she, as an alchemist, pursued the purity and perfection of Medicinal Pills.

Wang Wu's abnormality was reflected in his intelligence work, where he sometimes had a tendency to be overly sensitive to "uncertainty" and "potential threats".

Xiao Wu's was the most interesting; his "grey ripples" were actually related to the impatience he felt occasionally when teaching the "Flowing Silver", worrying that "they wouldn't learn".

No obvious, active, malicious "backdoors" or "control marks" were found.

But everyone was like someone who had crawled out of a mud pit, with mud spots on them to varying degrees; some mud spots had seeped into the fabric weaves, becoming imperceptible stains.

This result both made people breathe a sigh of relief (no "traitors" or "time bombs" were found) and made people feel heavy.

They were resisting the System, but the System had long since left its brand on them.

The road to freedom and the sea of stars was not just about fighting external enemies, but also about constantly guarding against and cleaning up the shadows from within and from the past.

"It seems that the 'Dust-Clearing' plan needs to be adhered to for the long term." Wen Youyi looked at the test report, his tone firm, "Not only do we need to purify the environment and Materials, but each of us also needs a 'Soul purification' that runs through to the end.

The key and Star Pattern resonance environment can become a tool for us to 'introspect' and 'cleanse thinking stains' regularly."

He looked at everyone: "This is not out of distrust, but to make us purer and firmer, to make us worthy of being the sparks of the 'Star People', and worthy of the future we want to create."

"Qianlong" sent a wave of support: [Together... wash clean... shiny!]

Everyone looked at each other and smiled, the haze in their hearts dispelled quite a bit.

Yes, discovering problems and solving them, wasn't that their style all along?

The road ahead was long, but at least they had seen some of the thorns at their feet and found tools to clear them.

(End of chapter)