169: Time's Holes and the Lock of Cause and Effect

The coordinates of the "Reverse Time Vortex" pointed to a region of space where even the starlight appeared distorted and bizarre. Before they had even fully arrived, the fleet's sensors began reporting errors, clocks became disordered, and the logic systems issued paradox warnings. The space here itself seemed like a massive, slowly rotating fluid, churning light, gravity, and information flows into fragmented pieces.

When "the watcher" and its escort fleet finally dropped out of FTL travel and hovered at the edge of the vortex, the sight before them still delivered a powerful cognitive shock, even to those who had witnessed the negative entropy of the "memory ark" and the deathly silence of the "Civilization Tombstone."

It was not a vortex composed of matter, but a massive "scar" spanning the universe, interwoven from countless shattered, backward-flowing, and looping fragments of time. One could see stars being born and then abruptly extinguished within it in an instant, nebulae condensing and exploding within a single breath, and even glimpse fragments of celestial bodies illogically "reverting" through the process of their own destruction. There was no clear boundary between past, present, and future here; every timeline was like a tangled ball of yarn—entwined, broken, and recombined.

"All units, activate highest-level Temporal Protection Protocols! Lock internal time benchmarks and cut all non-essential connections with external irregular time flows!" Dr. Einstein's voice carried an unprecedented tension. "Any matter or energy that enters this region without protection could be randomly cast into a certain point in the past or future, or... be directly annihilated in a time paradox!"

After entering this airspace, the key fragments exhibited a reaction completely different from before. They no longer emitted sorrowful or joyful resonances but instead fell into a strange "silence," the halo on their surfaces flowing extremely slowly as if frozen. Only the stable triangular structure formed between the three fragments maintained a faint energy connection, like the only calm point in the eye of a storm.

"The fragments are being suppressed by the chaotic time rules here." Ling Shuang sensed the state of the fragments; her psionic power was also greatly interfered with here, as if she were in the middle of countless overlapping, noisy echo chambers. "We cannot rely on them for guidance."

"Is there any record of 'Time Worms' in the knowledge of the Kasar civilization?" Lin Mo asked. He was operating his "Genesis Blueprint" authority at full capacity, attempting to establish a small, stable rule "anchor point" within the surrounding violent temporal turbulence for the fleet to temporarily reside in.

"There is, but it is very vague." Ling Shuang closed her eyes, searching through the vast ocean of new knowledge in her mind. "They are described as 'tiny existences that nibble on timelines,' 'born of paradox, residing in the cracks,' and 'sensing causality rather than following it.' They are not living beings in the traditional sense, but more like... 'parasites' or 'scavengers' of the time rules themselves."

"How do we find them?" Wu Yong stared at the bizarre, dizzying Time Vortex on the main screen, his brow furrowed. Searching in a place like this was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack, and this "haystack" was composed of shattered time.

"Perhaps... we shouldn't 'search'." A consciousness fluctuation from the concerto keystone came through; it also seemed to be struggling to adapt to the extreme rule environment here. "According to Kasar records and current environmental analysis, 'Time Worms' do not exist fixed at a specific coordinate. They are attracted by 'abnormal' temporal activity, especially... intense, man-made temporal disturbances."

"Man-made temporal disturbances?" Dr. Einstein understood immediately. "We have to... create a sufficiently large 'time paradox' or 'Causality Anomaly' here? That's too dangerous! We might get sucked in ourselves!"

"This is the only clue." Lin Mo said in a heavy voice, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "We need a controllable, localized, but sufficiently intense temporal anomaly experiment. Dr. Einstein, use some of the time theories we just obtained from the Kasar database to design a plan. The goal: create a brief, small-scale 'Closed Time Loop' ten thousand kilometers ahead of the fleet."

This was an extremely bold and insane command. In a region where time rules were already chaotic, actively creating a time loop was no different from lighting a fire in the eye of a storm.

Dr. Einstein took a deep breath, knowing there was no way back. He immediately gathered all scientists in relevant fields and threw them into intense calculations and simulations. The Kasar civilization's research on time far exceeded the current level of the Star Language Alliance, but it was also full of unknown risks.

Several standard hours later, a highly complex plan requiring precise coordination of the fleet's multiple energy emission arrays was formulated.

"All units attention, calibrate energy output frequency and phase according to the 'Temporal Disturbance Alpha' plan! Start the countdown!" Wu Yong personally commanded this special "operation."

As the countdown hit zero, several specially modulated energy beams, containing faint temporal rule manipulation techniques, shot out from ships at different positions in the fleet, converging precisely at the predetermined coordinates.

There was no earth-shattering explosion. The temporal structure of that airspace began to violently distort and fold, like the surface of water after a stone is thrown in. A visible "bubble-like" region about several hundred meters in diameter formed, and the light inside refracted and looped in a bizarre way, as if it were a segment of video cut out and played on a continuous loop.

The Closed Time Loop was successfully created!

Almost the instant the loop was formed, a change occurred!

From the depths of that chaotic Time Vortex and from the shattered time fragments around the fleet, countless tiny, translucent creatures resembling jellyfish or mayflies emerged out of thin air. They had no fixed form; their bodies were composed of ever-shifting temporal light, emitting a faint "ticking" sound as if a second hand were moving. They were attracted by that newborn, man-made time loop "bubble," converging toward it from all directions like a swarm of bees smelling flower fragrance—they were the "Time Worms"!

They surrounded the time loop "bubble" and began to "nibble" at its boundaries with invisible mouthparts. The loop "bubble" became unstable and shrank at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Now!" Lin Mo shouted.

Ling Shuang was already prepared. Her psionic power no longer tried to resist the temporal turbulence but instead mimicked the unique frequency of the "Time Worms" that existed in the cracks of time. Like the softest gauze, it covered the gathering swarm of Time Worms, transmitting pure information requests containing concepts such as "key fragment," "final protocol," and "Seventh Fragment."

At first, a commotion broke out among the Time Worm swarm, and some individuals looked toward the fleet warily. But they did not seem to sense hostility; instead, they developed a strong interest in the unique causal aura regarding the "key fragment" and the "protocol" carried within Ling Shuang's psionic power.

After a few minutes of standoff and "communication," several Time Worms that were slightly larger and had relatively more stable forms detached from the swarm and slowly floated toward "the watcher." They ignored the battleship's physical shields and armor, penetrating through like phantoms and appearing directly outside the isolation field where the key fragments were located.

They rotated around the three fragments, emitting a clearer ticking sound as if they were "reading" or "parsing" something. Under their encirclement, the suppressed halos of the fragments actually began to become active again, emitting an unprecedented rule fluctuation involving "Causality" and "Possibility."

Finally, the lead Time Worm touched its tiny temporal light tentacle gently against the isolation field. An incredibly complex "information package" composed entirely of causal logic chains was injected directly into the consciousness cores of Lin Mo, Ling Shuang, and the concerto keystone. It was not language, but a pure transmission of concepts:

The Seventh Fragment, neither real nor virtual, is the "Lock of Causality."

Its key is not an object, but a "Choice."

It locks the core authority of the "final protocol" to prevent the protocol from being misused or misinterpreted.

Unlocking requires satisfying a specific "Causality Condition Set":

1. Collect at least six physical fragments to form a stable resonance network.

2. Activate the resonance at the "Protocol Node" (the final execution site preset by the "Weaver").

3. At the moment of activation, the "Protocol Execution Candidate" (the leader of the fragment collection) must make a far-reaching "Ultimate Choice" that conforms to the core principles of "Maximum Development Potential of Life" and "Diversity Guarantee."

This "Choice" will serve as the final "key," working together with the resonance of the six fragments to awaken the Seventh Fragment and fully activate the "final protocol."

Warning: The "Choice" must be pure; any personal desire or partiality toward a single civilization will lead to an unlocking failure, or even the permanent closure of the protocol.

"Protocol Node" coordinates: [Attached is a segment of extremely complex encrypted data involving high-dimensional spatial parameters]

The information transmission complete, those few Time Worms quietly retreated as if they had finished a transaction, merging back into the external temporal turbulence to continue "nibbling" on the soon-to-dissipate time loop "bubble."

Silence filled the bridge.

The truth of the Seventh Fragment was actually a "Conceptual Lock" that required specific causal conditions to activate! And the key to unlocking it actually fell upon an "Ultimate Choice" that Lin Mo (or the leader of the fragment collection) would need to make in the future!

"A... far-reaching choice that must be purely for the sake of life and diversity..." Ling Shuang murmured to herself, feeling the weight of that information. This was more pressuring than any specific enemy or dangerous situation.

"And we need to gather six fragments and reach that 'Protocol Node'." Dr. Einstein quickly recorded and began to decrypt those coordinates. "This means we still have three fragments to find, and our final destination is now clear."

"At least we now know the final goal and conditions." Lin Mo's voice pulled everyone back from their deep thoughts. "This is much better than searching aimlessly. Doctor, parse the 'Protocol Node' coordinates as quickly as possible. Commander Wu, prepare to evacuate this area; the rule environment here is too much of a burden on the ships and personnel."

"Understood!"

"Calculating safe evacuation path!"

However, just as the fleet began to adjust its posture and prepare to evacuate this temporal danger zone, the most worrying situation occurred.

The sharp sound of alarms rang through the bridge once again!

"Large-scale rule matching signals detected! It's the Assimilators! They've tracked us here!"

"Signal sources... more than one! They are using the instability of the Time Vortex to emerge from multiple time points simultaneously!"

Around the fleet, several silver, ever-changing Assimilator ship groups "emerged" from the shattered time fragments like ghosts. They seemed to have also mastered methods to use the chaotic rules here to a certain extent, completing their encirclement of the star language fleet!

The lead mothership once again condensed that heart-palpitating "Rule Erasure" dark energy, but this time, its target did not seem to be a direct attack on the fleet, but... it was locked onto the three key fragments floating in the isolation field!

They wanted to erase the fragments directly!

"Stop them!" Lin Mo roared.

Everything happened too fast; the Assimilators' attack had already been launched! A distorted "Rule Blank" shot directly across space toward the key fragments!

At this critical moment, another change occurred!

Perhaps it was the Assimilators' rule attack, filled with "Unification" and "Deathly Silence," that intensely stimulated this already sensitive and chaotic Time Vortex, or perhaps it was the key fragments themselves producing some unknown interaction with the "Reverse Time Vortex" upon sensing the threat of extinction—

With the key fragments as the center, an unprecedented, massive Time Vortex was generated out of thin air! This vortex did not spread outward but instead produced a powerful "suction" pointing toward the depths of the vortex!

The first to be hit was that "Rule Erasure" attack, which was instantly swallowed and decomposed by the Time Vortex like a stone dropped into the ocean. Immediately afterward, several small Assimilator vessels closest to it, along with the attacks they had launched, were also ruthlessly dragged into the vortex, disappearing into different timelines.

The star language fleet was also affected! "the watcher" vibrated violently, pulled by the powerful attraction as it slid toward the center of the vortex!

"Engines overloaded! We can't break free!"

"Rule shields are being eroded by the time flow!"

"Give up resistance!" Lin Mo made a shocking decision amidst the violent shaking. "Adjust the ship's posture and turn this to our advantage! Everyone, secure yourselves and prepare for... a Forced Time Jump!"

He saw it; although this suddenly generated Time Vortex was dangerous, it was perhaps the only chance to escape the Assimilators' encirclement and go directly to the next fragment's coordinates! This was a massive gamble!

The fleet gave up resistance and, like a boat going with the current, was completely swallowed by the massive Time Vortex. In the final moment before his consciousness was crushed by the chaotic torrent of time, Lin Mo saw on the main screen that those few key fragments erupted with a blinding light in the center of the vortex, as if they were actively guiding this crazy journey...