36: A glimpse of power and the rise of shadows

The dead silence in the valley eroded one's will more than any clamor. The wind was the sole master here, weaving through jagged rocks and skeletal trees, playing an eternal elegy. The transport plane, a gray fin shark, lay quietly in the shadow of the cliff, like a wounded metal beast, temporarily sheathing all its sharp edges.

Inside the cabin, Wu Yong and Xiao Li were carefully changing bandages and feeding water to the injured female researcher, whose name was Su Xi. Thanks to Lin Mo's earlier use of editor energy to slightly stabilize her vital signs, coupled with the Shelter's efficient hemostatic agent, her injuries had not worsened. However, the weakness caused by excessive blood loss kept her in a semiconscious state for most of the time.

Lin Mo did not stay in the relatively comfortable cabin. He sat cross-legged on a relatively flat rock beside the transport plane, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and steady. He appeared to be resting, but in reality, his entire mind was immersed in the depths of his consciousness.

After merging with the seed of source blood fragments, the World Editor had undergone significant changes, and he needed time to familiarize himself with and master them. The black jade slip floated in the center of his consciousness, its volume seemingly increased by a third. The ancient, intricate patterns on its surface flickered like breathing, flowing with a luster that intertwined milky white and deep darkness. It was no longer merely a passive tool but more like an organ coexisting with him, possessing a faint 'vitality'.

He first tried to mobilize energy. With a thought, a cool yet profound energy flowed from the jade slip, circulating throughout his body along some mysterious path. This energy was more 'nourishing' than the energy purely generated by the editor before, possessing a characteristic of repair and stabilization. The meridians on his body, which ached faintly from excessive consumption, were quickly soothed under the nourishment of this energy, like dry land receiving irrigation.

"Not only has the energy reserve increased, but the 'quality' of the energy has also changed," Lin Mo realized. "The seed of source blood represents 'existence' and 'stability'; its power greatly complements the editor's original authority, which leaned towards 'information' and 'definition'."

He extended his finger, concentrating his thoughts. In front of his fingertip, a small patch of air suddenly became 'viscous,' and light passing through it underwent a subtle refraction. This was not creating a barrier, but temporarily and locally increasing the density and refractive index of the air.

【Reality editor · Local Material Property Micro-adjustment】

A simple test, consuming minimal energy, yet the effect was immediate. Previously, this would have required more complex instructions and greater energy output.

Next, he directed his perception to the ground beneath his feet. This time, he no longer merely 'scanned' the structure but tried to 'understand' the 'history' of this land. The editor's energy, mixed with the resonance of the seed of source blood, permeated the soil and rocks like the finest probe.

In an instant, a torrent of fragmented information flooded his mind:

— — Billions of years of geological sedimentation, the squeezing and uplifting of tectonic plates... — — The roar of ancient human machinery, mining drills tearing through rock layers, greedily extracting resources from the earth... — — Then came The Great Erosion, not accomplished in an instant, but a wave of foul, reality-distorting energy sweeping through, like an eraser wiping across a painting, smearing the original physical rules into chaos. Minerals mutated under The Shock of energy, the soil lost its fertility, and even the sense of time here became somewhat disordered... — — Finally, a long period of dead silence, with only traces of wind and sand and the occasional contaminated creatures that intruded...

Lin Mo abruptly withdrew his perception, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. This deep 'reading' of environmental historical information placed an immense burden on his mental power, far exceeding simple structural scanning. But his gains were enormous. He not only confirmed that this place was safe for the long term, but more importantly, he 'saw' certain fragments of when The Great Erosion occurred—it was not a purely natural disaster, but more like a... malicious 'overlay' or 'contamination' from a higher dimension.

"editor, combine the seed of source blood database to analyze the essence of The Great Erosion's energy," he tried to issue a higher-level command.

The jade slip flickered rapidly, and after a moment, the feedback information flow was still incomplete: "Database severely damaged... Energy characteristic analysis: possesses high-dimensional interference properties, extremely high reality distortion priority, repels primordial (stable anchor) power... Suspected... remnant of the tide of delusion..."

"The tide of delusion?" Lin Mo memorized this unfamiliar term. This seemed to be the name for this disaster in the editor's, or rather, the seed of source blood's memory bank. Just the name itself exuded an unsettling aura.

He temporarily suppressed the urge to investigate further and turned his attention to more practical matters—survival.

The transport plane had less than forty percent of its energy left, and food and purified water reserves were also extremely limited. They could not remain trapped in this valley indefinitely.

He stood up and walked to the rock face on one side of the valley. The rock surface was rough, covered with traces of weathering. He stretched out his hand and gently pressed it against the rock face.

【Material Reconstruction · Basic】

This time, he was not trying to destroy, but to 'create'. The editor's energy, guided by his will, penetrated the microscopic structure of the rock like the finest carving knife. He 'ordered' certain silicate components in the rock to rearrange and combine according to his thoughts.

Under his palm, the rock face seemed to come alive, slowly wriggling! Rock powder rustled down, and a rough, but clearly man-made, groove gradually formed, its interior becoming relatively smooth. He continued to operate, the energy carefully controlling the structural changes, and finally, a simple stone cave, large enough for one person to curl up and Shelter from the wind and sand, appeared on the rock face.

Completing the excavation of this less than one cubic meter space, Lin Mo felt that the consumption of mental power was more than ten times greater than fine-tuning the air density earlier! His breathing became slightly hurried.

"Changing the form of matter, especially creating something out of nothing (changing structure is also a form of creation), consumes far more than fine-tuning existing rules," he concluded. "Editing 'information' and 'rules' is relatively less strenuous, while directly editing 'matter' comes at a high cost."

But this was still a revolutionary step. It meant that in extreme environments, he could at least create temporary Shelters, and perhaps... if energy was sufficient, he could even try to synthesize basic water and food?

This thought warmed his heart. He tried to gather the sparse water molecules in the air, but immediately realized that aggregating and purifying dispersed hydrogen and oxygen atoms would require an astronomical amount of energy, far beyond what he could currently bear. Synthesizing food was even more out of reach.

"There's still a long way to go..." He sighed, suppressing his impractical fantasies. The most practical task at hand was to repair the transport plane and find external resources.

He returned to the transport plane and placed his hand on a deep scratch on the fuselage. Energy permeated inward, sensing the internal mechanical structure and energy lines.

"Damage assessment: multiple tears in the external armor plates, slight deformation of the number three thruster's vector nozzle, fifteen percent decrease in energy buffer efficiency, partial crystal shattering in the navigation module's core sensor array..."

There were many problems. Complete repair would require professional tools and replacement parts, as well as a large amount of energy. All he could do at the moment was to temporarily 'reinforce' the most severely damaged armor joints with editor energy to prevent disintegration during the next flight, and slightly calibrate the deformed thruster nozzle.

Just as he was focused on the repair work, an extremely faint, yet distinctly malicious energy fluctuation, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, was suddenly captured by his superhuman perception!

This fluctuation did not come from outside the valley, but from... the direction they had escaped from, from the ruins of the Seventh Shelter, which had already become a tomb!

The fluctuation was extremely subtle, filled with pain, resentment, and a kind of... greedy hunger. It flashed and disappeared, as if it were just an illusion.

But Lin Mo was sure it wasn't an illusion. The editor even marked the residual energy signature of that fluctuation, carrying strong negative emotions, in his mind.

Was it Zhou Weian? Or had something else terrifying spawned in the Shelter ruins?

He stood up, his gaze sharp as he looked towards the southwest, towards the dust-shrouded area. A cold premonition lingered in his heart—trouble had not been completely buried. It was drawing nourishment from the bed of death, ready to break out at any moment, bringing new bloodshed.

He had to act faster.

"Wu Yong, Xiao Li." He turned and walked towards the transport plane's cabin door. "We might need to leave here earlier."

Upon hearing this, the two people in the cabin, whose nerves had just relaxed, tensed up again.

Meanwhile, deep within the distant ruins of the Seventh Shelter, inside a 'cocoon' made of twisted metal and solidified blood clots, Zhou Weian—or rather, a consciousness that had occupied his broken body—let out a silent roar. His body was undergoing terrifying mutations, supported by corrupted energy and intense obsession. Broken flesh merged with the surrounding metal debris, forming an ugly, living-armor-like structure. His eyes were reduced to two hollows burning with eerie green flames.

He could feel that the power that had resurrected him, and that he craved so intensely, was in the northeast direction. Not far away.

"Find... you..." His broken vocal cords grated out a teeth-grinding sound. "Devour... evolve..."

Shadows had already begun to breed, casting their first faint pall over the dawn.