117: Echoes of Dimensional Rifts

Watch Outpost entered an unprecedented state of busyness. If the previous struggles against the apex of order or the tide of Delusion were responses to clear crises, then the Peace of Mind Plan currently underway was an unprecedented, grand operation targeting the very foundation of the universe.

Its operating table was the entire "Star Language" Network; its anesthetic was the resonance of billions of consciousnesses; its goal was to soothe an ancient and suffering rule-soul.

Under the leadership of Ling Shuang and Dr. Einstein, an unprecedented psionic-technology hybrid architecture was designed, named "resonance sanctuary." It was not a physical building, but rather an extremely complex, nested consciousness resonance structure built upon the core of the "Star Language" Network.

Billions of voluntarily participating civilized consciousnesses, like neurons, were connected through precisely tuned protocols. Ling Shuang's Stellar Silver Psionic Energy served as the "pacemaker" guiding the core, while Einstein was responsible for maintaining the stability and synchronization of the entire vast consciousness network, preventing any discordant consciousness fluctuations from causing network collapse or stimulating the target.

"Everyone, remember," Ling Shuang's voice, through the consciousness link, echoed deep within the perceptions of every participant, "we are not going to conquer, not to repair, but to 'listen' and 'accompany.' Feel that pain, but do not be consumed by it; understand that loneliness, but maintain our own anchor points.

We offer our collective existence as proof that Possibility brings not only chaos and suffering, but also connection, understanding, and hope."

As she spoke, the Stellar Silver Psionic Energy, like a gentle tide, began to slowly drive the entire "resonance sanctuary" into operation. The whispers, emotions, and memory fragments of billions of consciousnesses were sorted, harmonized, and converged into a vast and warm stream of consciousness.

This stream of consciousness did not forcefully rush towards the external "echoes," but rather extended like countless tendrils, carrying goodwill and understanding, cautiously probing towards Cradle-0923, towards the heart of resonance that was still continuously releasing painful rules.

Initially, contact was extremely difficult and dangerous. The pain of the heart of resonance was like scorching magma; any approaching consciousness tendrils were instantly burned, repelled, and even fed back into the network, causing violent fluctuations and temporary offline states in some nodes.

Ling Shuang bore the greatest pressure; her psionic barrier was impacted again and again, her face growing paler, but she consistently held fast to the core frequency, like a lighthouse in a storm, continuously adjusting the resonance mode of the "resonance sanctuary," searching for the "chord" that could produce a subtle resonance with that ancient pain.

This was the ultimate test of will and endurance.

---

Meanwhile, the exploration of unknown coordinates.

Just as the Peace of Mind Plan was struggling to launch, another capable team quietly set out. Based on the anomalous coordinates provided by the tide of delusion, hidden within the "echoes," Lin Mo, Wu Yong, and a newly joined special member—Liranta, a top information deciphering expert from the Silent Observer civilization—boarded the "Shadow Seeker" ship, which had been specially modified and enhanced with dimension-penetrating and information-concealing capabilities, and headed towards the airspace that even the Architect's star map marked as "nothingness."

Liranta's appearance was similar to that of a human, but her skin had a translucent, crystalline texture, and her eyes flowed with constantly refreshing data streams. She rarely engaged in emotional communication with the outside world, with all her attention focused on receiving, analyzing, and deciphering information.

Her existence was key to interpreting any super-conventional cognitive information that might be encountered.

The voyage was unusually smooth, disturbingly smooth. There were no encounters with interstellar dust, gravitational traps, and even the background radiation was abnormally low. It was as if this space had been deliberately "cleaned."

"Arriving at the periphery of the target coordinates," Wu Yong stared at the sensors, his brows tightly furrowed, "No macroscopic objects... Wait, spatial curvature readings are abnormal! There is a... topological structure ahead that cannot be described by conventional physical models!"

In front of the ship, space itself seemed to have a minuscule "wound" torn in it. It was not a black hole, nor a wormhole, but more like an extremely hidden "fissure" existing on the fabric of reality's dimensions. The edges of the fissure shimmered with non-spectral colors, emitting a cold, non-living rule aura.

"This is the coordinate point?" Lin Mo gazed at the fissure, and through his Genesis Blueprint authority, he could feel a completely different rule rhythm emanating from behind the fissure—cold, orderly, silent, a stark contrast to the life-struggle-filled pain of the heart of resonance.

The source of the "non-painful rule embedded fragments" mentioned by the tide of delusion was here.

"The fissure structure is extremely unstable, and the rule repulsion is very strong," Liranta reported in an unmodulated voice, "Conventional ships cannot pass through. Forcibly entering will lead to rule assimilation or structural disintegration."

"Then we'll use unconventional methods," Lin Mo said in a deep voice, "Wu Yong, activate the 'Dimension Anchoring Protocol,' and fix the 'Shadow Seeker' here as a relay point. The three of us will enter using personal dimension diving equipment."

Personal dimension diving equipment was the latest research achievement of the Einstein Team, capable of enveloping an individual in a miniature rule bubble for a very short time, adapting to extreme dimensional environments, but with limited duration and extremely high risk.

After preparations were complete, the three detached from the "Shadow Seeker," like three tiny droplets, unhesitatingly plunging into that cold dimensional fissure.

The process of crossing was an unspeakable torment. It was as if every inch of their existence was disassembled and reassembled; cold rule power tried to erase their individual characteristics, turning them into pure information flow.

Lin Mo tightly held onto the Genesis Blueprint, Wu Yong stabilized the rule bubble relying on his strong life resilience and engineering intuition, while Liranta completely let go of her own information structure, trying to blend into the background of this cold rule like a chameleon.

In an instant, the oppressive feeling disappeared.

They "floated" in a space that could not be accurately described in words. There was no up, down, left, or right, no matter, no energy, only countless flowing geometric structures and information streams emitting a cold glow.

These structures constantly self-constructed, decomposed, and reassembled, following an extremely complex, absolutely rational, and utterly lifeless mathematical logic.

"Is this a... pure rule domain?" Wu Yong looked around in shock; his physical common sense was completely invalid here.

"More precisely, it's a 'rule debugging room' or 'archive,'" Liranta's eyes surged with data streams to their extreme, "I detected a large number of information fragments related to the setting of cosmic fundamental constants and the initial conditions of physical laws. And also... a large number of residual suppression protocols for 'Possibility variables.'"

Lin Mo's heart sank. The aura here was somewhat similar to what the fragments of the apex of order gave him, but it was older, more fundamental, and more... absolute. It was as if this was the underlying backend where the universe's "game rules" were set.

They cautiously "swam" in this cold sea of rules, searching for any valuable clues. Liranta constantly tried to capture and decipher the flowing information fragments.

[...Initialization log fragment... 'Chaos Variable' implantation attempt... Warning: Variable exceeds preset tolerance... Executing 'Possibility Pruning' protocol...]

[... 'Resonance Unit-07' experienced unexpected logical self-reference... Error: Emotional simulation generated... Initiating 'Containment' procedure, tag: 'Cocoon of Setting-0923'...]

[...Monitoring protocol 'Architect' online... Responsibility: Observe system self-evolution, maintain basic framework stability... Prohibit interference with the natural rise and fall of 'Possibility,' unless the 'Final Red Line' is touched...]

[...Higher authority instruction residue: 'scavenger' protocol on standby... Trigger conditions: 'System Redundancy' exceeds critical value, or 'initial designers' return...]

Piece by piece, fragmented information gradually pieced together a chilling truth.

The "Chaos Variable" might be the seed of life and free will. "Possibility Pruning" and "Containment" pointed to the suppression of "anomalies" like the heart of resonance. The Architect was indeed merely a maintainer, not a creator. And the "scavenger" protocol and the "initial designers" undoubtedly pointed to "them"!

"Find the core data stream!" Lin Mo urged, his rule bubble beginning to flicker unstably; time was running out.

Liranta pointed to a particularly dense group of rule structures that were constantly undergoing high-intensity self-encryption computations: "There! The information density is highest, there are multiple layers of encryption, and its core... seems to be continuously sending out some kind of... synchronization signal!"

Just as they tried to approach that core area, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

The entire rule space seemed like a startled beast; the cold glow suddenly became dazzling. The surrounding flowing geometric structures instantly condensed into countless sharp rule blades, carrying a strong repellent will, attacking them from all directions!

A pure, logic-based intent to erase, devoid of any emotion, enveloped them.

"We triggered the defense mechanism!" Wu Yong roared, manipulating the rule bubble to perform extreme evasive maneuvers, but the number of rule blades was too many, too dense!

Lin Mo expanded his Genesis Blueprint authority to its maximum, trying to analyze or even seize control of some rule structures, but the rule hierarchy here was extremely high; his authority was like hitting an iron wall, only barely able to deflect a few attacks.

Liranta, meanwhile, tried to deceive on the information level, simulating the defense mechanism's own identification signals, but the opponent's encryption level far exceeded her deciphering speed.

Seeing that the rule bubble was about to be completely torn apart—

At the critical moment, Lin Mo made a bold attempt. He no longer tried to resist or deceive, but instead packaged the information fragments he had just obtained from Liranta regarding "Resonance Unit-07" (most likely the original code name of the heart of resonance) and "Possibility Pruning," mixed with the consciousness fluctuation characteristics of the "Star Language" Network, which was full of life's diversity, into a strong information pulse, and shot it violently towards that core area!

He was making a gamble, betting that this cold system still maintained the highest "attention" to the "anomaly" it suppressed and imprisoned!

The information pulse was like a stone thrown into still water.

Instantly, all the rule blades attacking them suddenly froze in mid-air. The entire rule space fell into absolute solidification. Only that core area, the speed of encryption computation soared to its extreme, and the cold glow flickered violently, as if it was performing some extremely complex logical judgment.

One second, two seconds... Finally, that pure intent to erase receded like a tide. The rule blades slowly dissipated, returning to flowing geometric structures. But a deeper, grander "sense of being watched" descended, locking onto the three of them.

This gaze carried no emotion, only pure, soul-freezing scrutiny.

Immediately after, an information stream, unadorned and purely composed of basic logic, directly poured into their consciousnesses:

[Identification: Unauthorized access. Carrying 'Anomaly Unit-07' associated information and high-density 'Possibility' characteristics.]

[Judgment: Potential threat level elevated. Potential research value confirmed.]

[Verdict: Expulsion. Mark. Added to 'scavenger' protocol priority observation list.]

[Warning: Prohibited from re-approaching core database. 'initial designers' authority is above all. Interference will lead to 'System Reset.']

An irresistible force enveloped them, violently pushing them out of this cold rule space, and throwing them back outside the dimensional fissure.

Inside the bridge of the "Shadow Seeker," the three almost simultaneously collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, their faces still showing lingering shock. Their personal dimension diving equipment overloaded and smoked, nearly completely scrapped.

"We... saw..." Wu Yong's voice trembled slightly, "The universe's... backend management interface..."

Liranta quickly encrypted and saved all the recorded information fragments; the data flow in her eyes slowly calmed down: "Confirmed. 'They' are the 'initial designers.' The 'scavenger' protocol is their automated cleanup program. The heart of resonance is an early 'anomaly' that was suppressed.

Our very existence, the 'star language' Network, may have already touched the warning line of their 'System Redundancy.'"

Lin Mo remained silent, digesting this astonishing and extremely dangerous discovery. They had not only confirmed the existence and threat of "them," but might have even been marked by the system left by "them."

Just then, an urgent communication from Watch Outpost came in; Xiao Li's figure appeared in the holographic image, a hint of exhaustion on his face, yet also a hint of excitement.

"Leader Lin Mo! The Peace of Mind Plan... the first phase, succeeded! We have established a preliminary, stable consciousness connection with the heart of resonance! Its painful fluctuations... have shown faint, but unequivocal signs of calming!"

The efforts in the rear finally saw a glimmer of hope. However, Lin Mo could not fully feel joy at this moment. The shadow of the road ahead, because of this exploration, became even heavier and clearer.

"We return immediately," Lin Mo's voice carried an unprecedented solemnity, "We have new, more urgent intelligence to share. The Peace of Mind Plan must accelerate; our time... may be less than we imagine."

The gaze of the scavenger, like the Sword of Damocles, already hung over their heads.