12: Echoes of the Abyss

A scratching sound.

Sharp, piercing, like a rusty saw repeatedly tearing at nerves. It came unhurriedly, continuously from beyond the heavy metal door, each scrape making Lin Mo's heart twitch. This sound contained a cold malice, a pure obsession born of destructiveness and an unknown hunger, far more chilling than any beast's roar.

The emergency lights in the underground library cast a steady white glow, stretching the shadows of the towering bookshelves long and twisted, like a silent Stele Forest. The air was filled with the smell of old paper, ink, and dust, but now it was mixed with an indescribable, strangely sweet and sulfurous odor that seeped in through the door crack.

Lin Mo leaned against the cold metal bookshelf, sliding to the ground, his hands clamped over his ears, but the scratching sound seemed to echo directly inside his skull. The editor interface's alarm had turned into a continuous low-frequency hum, and the energy reserve pitifully displayed 0.3 units, as if mocking his desperate situation.

The jade slip was still burning hot, pressed tightly against his chest, like a scorching ember. The intermittent fragments of terrifying information—"Epoch Firewall damaged," "Cleanup Protocol," "Error," "They are awake"—swirled in his mind like a curse, intertwining with the scratching from outside the door to form a doomsday symphony.

Fear, like an icy tide, repeatedly crashed against the defenses of his sanity. He thought of his parents, of the chaotic world outside the library, of the possibility that he might soon die silently in this dark underground tomb, becoming a burial object for those ancient texts. A sense of despair coiled around him like vines, threatening to consume him.

No! He couldn't give up!

The instinct for survival let out a sharp roar. He suddenly released his hands from his ears, his fingernails digging deeply into his palms from the force, the pain bringing a brief moment of clarity. He couldn't die here! He hadn't yet figured out the truth of the editor, hadn't seen his mother enjoy her old age, and hadn't even truly begun his journey of “editing” this world!

He had to do something! Even if it was just a futile struggle!

He once again sank his consciousness into the editor interface. The interface light was dim, many function icons had turned gray, and only the most basic [Reality Deduction] and the [Information Analysis] that had faintly flickered due to the jade slip's anomaly were still available.

Deduct the specific form of the threat outside the door? Insufficient energy, and deducing unknown high-dimensional existences carried extremely high risks.

Analyze the complete information transmitted by the jade slip? This also required a massive amount of energy, and could lead to unpredictable consequences.

His gaze was fixed on the 0.3 units of energy. What could this little energy do? Perhaps... just enough for one minimal, shortest-duration deduction, or one shallowest contact analysis.

He had to take a gamble! He had to!

He locked his target onto the continuous scratching sound. Not to deduce its true form, but only its behavioral pattern! Even if he could only deduce the next thirty seconds! Understanding its attack pattern might allow him to find a glimmer of hope!

"[Deduce: The behavior pattern and attack intent of the entity outside the door within the next 30 seconds. Maximum precision.]"

"[Instruction received. Consuming 0.25 units of energy! Warning: Energy is about to be depleted!]"

0.25 units! Almost his entire reserve! But Lin Mo, with bloodshot eyes, roared his confirmation: "Execute!"

Buzz!

His consciousness was forcibly drawn away, plunged into a chaotic scene filled with interference static. The deduction image was extremely blurry and unstable, like a television with poor signal. He could only vaguely "see" a distorted, shapeless shadow, pressed against the metal door, using several sharp, limb-like appendages made of condensed shadow to continuously and rhythmically scratch the door panel. Its movements seemed to follow a specific frequency; each scratch targeted the door lock mechanism and metal fatigue points!

The thirty-second scene flashed by quickly. The deduction result showed: The entity did not possess the ability to break through the door instantly, but it was extremely patient, and its attack contained a weak energy erosion that would continuously weaken the door's structure. At the current speed, it was estimated that the door lock mechanism would fail in 1 hour and 12 minutes! And in the last few seconds of the deduction, the image captured that the shadow seemed to have developed a stronger interest in something inside the storeroom... Its movements showed a barely perceptible shift in direction... directly towards his chest where he kept the jade slip!

The deduction ended, and Lin Mo felt a violent headache and exhaustion, his energy reserves plummeting to 0.05 units, the editor interface flickering, almost dying out.

One hour and twelve minutes! He had a definite time point! And that thing was interested in the jade slip!

Was it because the jade slip shared the same origin as this disaster? Was the jade slip part of the "firewall," and the thing outside the door a "bug" or "cleaner" that broke through the firewall? Was that why it was attracted?

This guess sent shivers down his spine, but he also saw a faint glimmer of hope. Perhaps... the jade slip was not only the fuse of disaster, but also potentially the key to survival?

He tremblingly pulled out the increasingly hot black jade slip. It was scorching to the touch, and the fine silver patterns on its surface now glowed like molten silver threads, slowly flowing within. He tried to focus his remaining mental power, communicate with the editor, and perform the shallowest contact analysis on the jade slip. This was his last gamble!

"[Contact Analysis: Current state of the carrier (jade slip) and its potential connection to the entity outside the door.]"

"[Analyzing... Insufficient energy... Forcibly extracting host mental power...]"

"Ugh!" Lin Mo felt as if his temples were being drilled through, his vision went black, and he nearly fainted. The editor was actually overdrawing his mental power to complete the analysis!

"[Analysis complete (partial). Information obtained:]"

"[1. The jade slip is currently in a 'passive resonance' state, receiving and filtering the scattered information flow from the 'firewall breach zone'.]"

"[2. The entity outside the door is a 'Low-Tier Cleanup Unit' (incomplete), driven by instinct to eliminate all 'firewall' related existences and anomalous information nodes. The jade slip is its high-priority target.]"

"[3. The jade slip can release faint 'authority ripples' that produce a temporary dispersal or confusion effect on Low-Tier Cleanup Units (effect intensity is directly proportional to energy input).]"

"[Warning: Releasing authority ripples will greatly consume the jade slip's energy and may expose the host's coordinates to higher-level existences.]"

"[Host mental power is severely overdrawn, it is recommended to immediately terminate all operations!]"

Authority ripples! Dispersal effect!

Lin Mo's eyes erupted with the light of a desperate man finding a way out! There was a way! Although the risk was enormous, this was his only path to survival!

Exposed to higher-level existences? That was a problem for later! If he couldn't even get past this immediate hurdle, there would be no later!

His current problem was that his energy reserves were almost at zero, and the editor itself was on its last legs. How could he "input energy" into the jade slip to release the ripples?

Mental power! The editor had just extracted his mental power to complete the analysis! This meant that the host's mental power itself was a form of energy that could be utilized!

He recalled that when he had activated the editor and performed deductions before, in addition to consuming energy units, he would also feel mentally exhausted. He had always thought that was just a side effect, but now it seemed that mental power itself was one of the fuels driving this extraordinary power, only usually supplied primarily by the jade slip and absorbed emotional energy.

Now, the jade slip's energy was active due to resonance, but it seemed unable to be directly used to release ripples, requiring an external "catalyst"? And with the editor's energy depleted, the only thing that could act as a catalyst was his own mental power!

This was like cutting flesh to patch a wound, or drinking poison to quench thirst! But besides this, he had no other choice!

Outside the door, the scratching continued, like the countdown of death. More than twenty minutes had already passed.

Lin Mo sat cross-legged, gripping the scorching jade slip tightly in his palms, pressing it against his forehead. He closed his eyes, cast aside all distracting thoughts, no longer listening to the maddening scratching, no longer pondering the terrifying truths, and concentrated all his consciousness, all his will to survive, trying to guide his own mental power, which was meager due to fear and overexertion, into the jade slip.

This process was more painful and difficult than he imagined. Mental power was not a tangible energy; it was an ethereal existence. He could only rely on feeling, imagining the light in his mind, like a trickling stream, flowing with difficulty towards his hands, and then into the jade slip.

At first, there was no reaction. The jade slip remained scorching hot, but his mental power was like a mud ox entering the sea. Despair struck again.

No! He couldn't give up!

He thought of his mother's kind smile, of the faint glow when he obtained the editor, of the homeless man he had saved... The desire to survive, the obsession to protect, and the unwillingness to accept the unknown, at this moment, transformed into the purest mental fuel!

"Come on... move!" He let out a silent roar in his heart!

As if breaking through a certain critical point, he felt the scorching sensation of the jade slip in his palm suddenly change! It was no longer simply burning; instead, it became a kind of... absorption! He felt his consciousness, his energy, being greedily drawn in by the jade slip! Waves of intense dizziness and weakness surged over him, threatening to completely engulf him.

But at the same time, the silver patterns inside the jade slip glowed brightly! A faint, but undeniably present, strange fluctuation, centered on the jade slip, spread out like ripples on water!

This fluctuation was silent, yet it seemed to carry some invisible authority.

In an instant!

The scratching sound outside the door... abruptly stopped!

It disappeared? Had he succeeded?

Lin Mo dared not relax, still clutching the jade slip tightly, maintaining the flow of mental power, even though he felt like a candle about to burn out. He held his breath, listening intently.

Outside the door, there was dead silence.

A few seconds later, a low, confused whimper, like a beast disturbed during feeding, faintly drifted in. Following that, there was a rustling, as if something was dragging itself away. The sound gradually receded, finally disappearing at the end of the corridor.

It... left?

Lin Mo still dared not be careless, and continued to channel mental power for a few more minutes, until he could no longer sustain it. His hands went limp, the jade slip fell to the ground, and his vision went black as he collapsed, only having the strength to gasp for breath.

The editor interface was almost completely dim, its energy reserve showing 0.01 units, on the verge of complete collapse. As for himself, his mental power was severely overdrawn, making it difficult even to move a finger.

But... he was still alive.

That suffocating malice outside the door had temporarily receded.

The relief of surviving a disaster mingled with immense exhaustion. He lay on the ground, looking at the cold fluorescent lights on the ceiling, a twisted, difficult smile on his lips.

He survived... for now.

But the truth revealed by the jade slip, the monster that had retreated from outside the door, and the terrifying energy field still present above the city, all indicated that this disaster was merely the beginning. What he had glimpsed was just the tip of the abyss.

"Epoch Firewall damaged... Cleanup Protocol... They are awake..." He murmured, his voice hoarse and weak.

What terrifying secrets did this world hide? And what role would he, a librarian who unexpectedly obtained the "editor," play in the coming storm?

He laboriously raised his hand and re-gripped the jade slip that had fallen to the ground. A cool sensation came from it, but the flowing silver light within seemed a little weaker than before.

The road ahead was still dark. But at least, he had not been completely swallowed by the darkness.

He had to recover his strength as soon as possible, and he had to uncover more truths. In this increasingly strange and dangerous world, knowledge... no, the power to create and edit knowledge, might be the only dawn.

With endless questions and heavy fatigue, Lin Mo's consciousness finally gave out, sinking into the darkness of sleep. The underground library returned to dead silence, with only the pale light of the emergency lamp illuminating his pale, resolute face.