107: Chapter 107 Silver Star, the Information Hoarder, and the Gatekeeper's Dilemma

Light dust in the Core Area still floated with the breeze, but Zhang Hao had already retreated with Silver Star to the shade of a giant tree in the corner. His fingertips brushed against Silver Star's translucent scales, clearly feeling the warmth that rose and fell with its breathing. Within the Chaos-colored pupil of the [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)] on his forehead, silver light filaments were slowly intertwining, as if silently organizing the massive amount of data just synchronized to the Information Crystal Tablet.

"Silver Star, adjust Information Mode." Zhang Hao's voice was very soft, but it carried a clear command. "Store all real-time collected information—whether it's energy fluctuations in the environment or everyone's movement status—into the [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)] first. Don't actively transmit it to my consciousness. Unless I search for keywords or encounter danger that could threaten me, then wake the data."

Silver Star's small body paused slightly, and then the [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)] suddenly lit up, the silver filaments within the Chaos-colored pupil spinning rapidly. In the next second, Zhang Hao felt the faint "static" at the edge of his consciousness completely vanish—the subtle electric hum of Chen Rui debugging the Crystal Tablet and the woody friction of Zhao Hu rubbing his axe handle, which he could vaguely perceive before, were all isolated, leaving only a refreshing "blank space." The silver light points on its spinal line lit up one by one along its back, as if marking information partitions. When the last light point flashed, the glow of the [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)] slowly receded, leaving only a faint silver halo around the outer ring of the pupil, indicating the adjustment was complete.

"That's more like it." A faint smile tugged at the corner of Zhang Hao's mouth. Previously, Silver Star's real-time information transmission allowed him to grasp the overall situation, but it would always suddenly insert interference while he was deducing Logic. Now that "collection" and "retrieval" were separated, he had truly put this ability to its proper use.

He looked down at Silver Star's chubby hamster-like form, where subtle energy flows could be seen beneath the translucent scales—at that moment, a spark of logical association suddenly exploded in his mind. Silver Star was a hamster, and its core function was to "store information"; what about himself? From crouching in the secret room recording clues during the novice mission to sifting through the fate trajectory and Chaos rules on the panel in the [Numerology Maze], he was essentially "hoarding information." Hamsters hoard food for fear of going hungry, and he hoarded information for fear of encountering unknown risks; hamsters hide nuts in different burrows, and he had Silver Star categorize and store data by "environment," "energy," "status," and so on—even the behavioral Logic was identical, all about "preparing in advance and using as needed."

"So your appearance is a reflection of my 'information hoarding.'" Zhang Hao's fingertip lightly tapped Silver Star's back. The little fellow immediately looked up and rubbed his finger with its tiny paws, the [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)] flashing twice as if in agreement.

"Hao-zi! Li Mubai is calling you over, says the matter with the Dream Gate is settled!" Zhao Hu's booming voice came from the direction of the Core Area, interrupting Zhang Hao's thoughts.

He walked back with Silver Star. As soon as he approached the Crystal Tablet, he saw Wang Jingjing projecting a virtual panel in mid-air, with the words "Team Exclusive Dream Gate" particularly eye-catching. "You're finally here; we just finished calibrating." Li Mubai raised his hand and pointed at the panel. "While you were doing the exclusive mission, we collected one D-rank and two E-rank unbound gates outside. Combined with the team's original C-rank gate, they've just been synthesized into B-rank."

Zhang Hao's gaze fell on the panel, which clearly listed the gate's parameters:

[Dream Gate (B-rank)]

[Status]: Bound, Passable

[Passage Rules]: Daily passage count: 20 (both entry and exit count, resets at 0:00). Absolute passage restriction: Only lifeforms with a comprehensive energy level ≤ B-rank are allowed to pass.

[Stability]: High]

He hadn't even had time to think further when Li Mubai's words were like a bucket of cold water: "But there's a problem—your Talent is already A-rank, and the passage limit for this B-rank gate is B-rank. According to the rules, you can't return to reality through it and can only stay in the Exclusive Space for now."

"What? Can't go back?" Zhao Hu was the first to get anxious, thumping the giant axe he carried onto the ground. "Then what do we do? We can't just stay here forever, can we?"

Lin Wan also furrowed her brows, a wisp of pale green Life Energy condensing at her fingertips before quickly dissipating. "We've searched for a long time. Most gates we encounter in reality are E-rank, D-ranks are rare, and A-rank gates are nowhere to be found."

Zhang Hao didn't panic. He reached out and pressed Silver Star's little head, stopping it from automatically retrieving data—per their previous agreement, it wasn't to actively transmit information unless necessary. He looked at the projection of the B-rank gate on the panel. The edges of the pale blue door were wrapped in energy patterns more condensed than when it was C-rank, yet it felt like an invisible wall, separating him from reality.

"Staying in the space is fine." He looked up at everyone. "I'll take this time to organize the information on B-rank mission worlds, prioritizing those with unique rules—I want to test my Talent's new abilities. As for returning to reality, we'll wait until we find an A-rank gate."

Wang Jingjing immediately nodded. "I'm already pulling up the list of B-rank worlds. I'll sync it to Silver Star for storage in a bit; you can just search for keywords whenever you need to check." Lin Wan also breathed a sigh of relief. "The Ecological Zone in the space can produce Public Dream Power, which is enough for our information research and to maintain daily consumption."

Zhao Hu scratched his head and felt relieved as well. "Alright! Then I'll practice more with B-rank Simulation Monsters during this time. When you can return to reality, I'll be ready to go out on missions with you!"

Zhang Hao looked down at Silver Star on his wrist. The little fellow was lying on his wrist, and within the Chaos-colored pupil of the [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)], it was continuously collecting various information. The silver light points on its spinal line lit up one by one along its back, looking exactly like a hamster organizing freshly hoarded grain in its nest.

For him, this temporary "predicament" wasn't much of an obstacle. The Exclusive Space was a safe foothold, Silver Star was a reliable information container, and the upcoming [Dreamworld Humanity Mission] was the priority. It was the perfect opportunity to verify his Talent and figure out that trace of "Origin" resonance—just as a hamster always hoards enough food before winter arrives, he could calmly prepare his confidence for the next departure within this space.