171: Time Core Return and Sudden Hunt

"Stabilizing the 'Core of Time Traces'..." Dr. Einstein's virtual image repeated breathlessly over the landing craft's communication channel, his shock palpable even at a digital level. "Commander, that is a regional temporal rule collapse point that even the 'Weavers' declared a failure! With our current technology, even a temporary stabilization carries risks that are..."

"We have no choice, Doctor," Lin Mo interrupted him, his gaze fixed on the floating, slowly rotating vortex of chaotic time in the center of the control room, and the silent yet stubborn "Time Molts" surrounding it. "Analyze the rule structure of the 'Core of Time Traces' and look for any possible interference nodes. concerto keystone, calculate the feasibility of applying all known rule-harmony protocols in this environment. Ling Shuang, maintain the consciousness connection with the 'Time Molts,' appease them, and try to obtain more historical information about this core, especially the original cause of its loss of control."

The orders were executed swiftly. The exploration team transformed into a highly tense temporary research outpost. Under the protection of the squad, technicians risked being hit by stray temporal turbulence to deploy portable scanning arrays at the edge of the control room, transmitting massive amounts of data in real-time back to 'the watcher' and Einstein's laboratory. Ling Shuang sat cross-legged, her Stellar Silver Psionic Energy like the finest silk threads, cautiously wrapping around those restless Time Molt consciousnesses, conveying intentions of appeasement and cooperation while stripping valuable information from their fragmented, looping memory snippets.

Lin Mo himself stood at the very front, his 'Genesis Blueprint' authority fully open. His consciousness seemed to turn into countless invisible probes, delving deep into that violent turbulence of temporal rules. What he "saw" was not a simple loss of energy control, but countless timelines breaking, entangling, and conflicting with each other here, forming a self-sustaining "cancer cell" that constantly generated spacetime paradoxes. Forcing suppression would only trigger a more violent backlash.

"Data analysis shows that the loss of control of the 'Core of Time Traces' originated from an early 'silent veil' energy overload injection," Einstein's voice carried a sense of urgency. "The energy torrent destroyed the local time-anchoring calibration mechanism, causing multi-dimensional timelines to collapse and merge here. It's like a ball of yarn tied in a dead knot."

"The success rate of conventional rule-harmony methods is less than zero point zero seven percent," the consciousness fluctuations of the concerto keystone arrived simultaneously. "This structure has formed a self-consistent (albeit chaotic) internal logic; external intervention is extremely likely to be absorbed or repelled by its paradoxical structure."

"I see from the memories of the 'Time Molts' that... there weren't completely no stabilization measures back then," Ling Shuang said with her eyes closed, fine sweat beads forming on her forehead. "There was an... emergency protocol. Before the core completely lost control, a diversion device was activated. It drained part of the overloaded energy, but was destroyed because of it. If... if we can repair it, or simulate the effect of that diversion device, we might be able to temporarily lower the core's activity and gain a brief window of stability."

"A diversion device?" Lin Mo immediately caught the key point. "Its principle? Its location?"

"The principle is to use a sort of... 'Rule Resonance Straw' to establish a temporary channel between the core and a 'Low-Energy Pressure Zone' in high-dimensional space. The location... is right beneath the console, but it's completely destroyed and cannot be repaired."

"Simulate it!" Lin Mo had an idea instantly. "Doctor, concerto keystone, calculate the possibility of establishing a temporary, one-way rule-energy diversion channel! Use the resonance of the key fragments as a guide and stabilizer! Ling Shuang, get ready; once the core's activity drops, immediately guide the power of the 'Time Molts' to help maintain that brief balance!"

This was an extremely bold concept. Using the rule authority inherent in the key fragments themselves, which was related to the "final protocol," to forcibly carve out a temporary "spillway" in the chaotic temporal paradox!

Calculations were carried out frantically with the support of the entire fleet's resources. The plan was continuously optimized, simulated, and optimized again. The risk was extremely high; an error in any link could lead to the collapse of the channel or even trigger a more catastrophic temporal storm, dragging the entire exploration team and even the outer fleet into unknown temporal turbulence.

"Plan calculation complete! Success rate... thirty-one point four percent." Einstein's voice carried a desperate rasp. "Precise synchronization is required: Commander, you must use the 'Genesis Blueprint' authority to 'tear' a microscopic gap at the weakest rule node on the surface of the 'Core of Time Traces'; simultaneously, the concerto keystone will guide the resonant energy of the three key fragments to construct the channel barrier; Ling Shuang, the moment the gap opens, guide the temporal power of the 'Time Molts' to fill any potential rule vacuums to prevent the core structure from collapsing; I will be responsible for monitoring the energy flow to ensure the diversion direction is correct!"

"All units, prepare for execution!" Lin Mo took a deep breath, immersing his consciousness completely in the vast perception of the "Genesis Blueprint." He no longer looked at that dizzying temporal vortex but instead perceived the broken, twisted rule "threads" at its base. He needed to find the single point that was the most fragile and most capable of triggering a chain reaction.

Time seemed to freeze. Inside the control room, there was only the faint sound of temporal turbulence, like glass rubbing together, and the heavy breathing of the team members.

Now!

A sharp light flashed in Lin Mo's eyes. The invisible "Genesis Blueprint" authority, like the most precise surgical knife, followed a calculated, counter-intuitive trajectory and plunged fiercely into the violently rotating surface of the "Core of Time Traces"!

There was no sound, but everyone felt a sharp tearing sensation in the depths of their consciousness! The rotation of the temporal vortex suddenly stalled, and an extremely tiny yet extremely dangerous-looking black fissure appeared on the surface!

"Construct the channel!" The concerto keystone's consciousness was like a taut bowstring. The three key fragments erupted with unprecedented light, and an energy channel composed purely of rule consensus—as thin as a hair yet incredibly tough—instantly pierced through the microscopic fissure, extending toward the unperceivable high-dimensional depths!

"Time Molts, now! Steady it!" At almost the same moment, Ling Shuang connected her own psionic energy with the consciousness of all the Time Molts, guiding their massive yet chaotic temporal power like a most skillful mason to quickly fill the structural collapse points that might arise from the energy diversion!

Buzz—!

An invisible, majestic torrent of energy was frantically drained along that temporary channel! The rotation speed of the "Core of Time Traces" slowed down at a rate visible to the naked eye, and those broken, chaotic temporal fragments within it also began to exhibit a brief, relatively clear ordering. The temporal force field enveloping the control room, which had been causing mental sluggishness, weakened significantly!

It worked! Temporary stability had been achieved!

The "Time Molts" emitted a wave of consciousness mixed with surprise, joy, and relief. They could feel that this spacetime they relied on for survival—though chaotic, it was familiar—had temporarily escaped the brink of complete collapse.

The leading Time Molt looked at Lin Mo, its flowing hourglass-like body nodding slightly, and a stream of information containing gratitude and the fulfillment of a promise was transmitted. It floated toward the central console, and the barrier composed of temporal power guarding the "core of constancy" parted to both sides like gentle flowing water.

The fourth key fragment—the "core of constancy," a diamond-shaped crystal emitting stable and peaceful temporal fluctuations—floated up quietly and slowly flew toward the container in Lin Mo's hand.

The moment the "core of constancy" gathered with the other three fragments, all four fragments jolted simultaneously, and the intensity and complexity of their resonance leaped once more! The brilliance they emitted intertwined, seemingly forming an even more stable and profound rule structure. A deeper understanding of "Time," "Existence," and "Order" faintly flowed into the hearts of Lin Mo and Ling Shuang.

However, this hard-won balance and harvest did not last long.

Just as Lin Mo properly secured the fourth fragment and the exploration team prepared to evacuate—

A piercing, highest-priority alarm from 'the watcher' exploded through the communication channel!

"Commander! Emergency! Detecting a large-scale rule warp! It's the main force of the Assimilators! They... they've locked onto our spacetime coordinates directly and are forcing their way in!" Wu Yong's voice carried an unprecedented urgency and a hint of... unbelievable shock. "How could they find us so quickly? And pinpoint us so accurately in an area with such abnormal time flow?!"

Outside the viewport, against the dark red background of the star field, space began to crack and shatter over a large area like ice hit by a giant boulder! It wasn't just one or two ships, but an entire silver fleet so massive it inspired despair, "squeezing" into the Star Field of Time Traces from those spatial rifts with an utterly overbearing posture! The mothership in the lead was even larger than 'the watcher,' its surface flowing with silver matter that condensed into countless cold "eyes," instantly locking onto the Ring Ruins and the exploration team within!

They hadn't tracked them here; it was more like... a pre-planned ambush! They had utilized some technology beyond conventional spacetime tracking that they didn't yet know about!

"We've been played!" Dr. Einstein said in horror. "They might have been lurking nearby all along, or even used the ripples generated by our time jumps to reverse-locate us!"

"All units! Abandon the ruins, return to the landing craft immediately! Emergency evacuation!" Lin Mo ordered sharply, his heart sinking to the bottom. Having just undergone a high-intensity rule operation, both the exploration team and the outer fleet were in a relatively weakened state. Facing the main force of the Assimilators, who had been waiting in comfort for their exhausted prey, the situation was as precarious as a pile of eggs!

The "Time Molts" also became restless again due to the terrifying aura of "unification" and "dead silence" from the Assimilators, and ripples began to appear once more in the just-stabilized temporal structure within the control room.

The landing craft's engines roared as it quickly detached from the Ring Ruins. But the Assimilator mothership was already prepared. A dark energy of "Rule Erasure," even more massive and solid than what they had seen in the "Sprout Era" star field, tore through space like a death sentence, heading straight for the fleeing landing craft and 'the watcher' not far behind it!

This time, the attack's coverage was so large and its speed so fast that it was almost impossible to evade!

Seeing destruction imminent, a look of resolve flashed in Lin Mo's eyes. He was about to forcibly activate the "Genesis Blueprint" authority again to try and withstand this killing blow—

At the critical moment, another transformation occurred!

Inside the container in Lin Mo's hand, the four newly gathered key fragments, as if stimulated by the extreme "rule negation" power of the Assimilators, spontaneously erupted with a light far exceeding any previous instance! Four-colored brilliance (representing the unknown spectrum of the "Echo Nexus," the emerald green of the "Sprout Era," the dark gold of the "Civilization Tombstone," and the silver-white of the "Star Field of Time Traces") intertwined and coiled. It was no longer a gentle resonance, but a solid pillar of rainbow light containing multiple fundamental rule powers like "Existence," "Life," "Memory," and "Time," which shot out from the container and proactively met that dark "Rule Erasure"!

Two forces representing different tendencies of the universe's underlying rules had an unprecedented, direct collision in the dead space of the Star Field of Time Traces!

There was no sound of explosion, only a soul-shuddering silent roar as if the entire underlying code of the universe was violently grinding and malfunctioning!

At the center of the collision, space was no longer an erased "blank," but presented an extreme "chaos" of indescribable colors! The concepts of time and space became completely invalid there; matter and energy lost their meaning, as if returning to the singularity at the birth of the universe, or heading toward the endpoint of heat death!

This "chaos" zone briefly blocked the advance of the "Rule Erasure," but it also generated a terrifying suction, frantically pulling in surrounding matter, energy, and even light!

"Utilize this disturbance! Full power to engines, break away from the battlefield!" Lin Mo seized this fleeting opportunity and roared the order.

'the watcher' and the landing craft pushed their engine thrust past the safety redline. Taking advantage of the chaos zone generated by the rule collision, which temporarily distorted the Assimilators' lock and attack paths, they burst out of the Star Field of Time Traces like fish escaping a net, plunging once more into the unknown sea of stars in faster-than-light flight.

Behind them, the dark red star field, and the first direct rule confrontation between the key fragments and the Assimilator forces occurring within it, were quickly left far behind.

But everyone knew that the Assimilators, like sharks scenting blood, would never give up. And the potential shown by the key fragments to frontally counter "Rule Erasure" was both a hope and a sign that the chips in their hands had already piqued the deeper greed of the hunters.

The journey ahead would be even more perilous.