46: Information Vision and the Echoes of Law

The gray fin shark transport plane ascended again, leaving behind the underground facility where sorrow and salvation were buried.

A post-disaster silence, mixed with an unshakeable weariness, permeated the cabin.

Lin Mo leaned against the pilot's seat, his eyes slightly closed, his face still pale, but his breathing had become much steadier.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, a silent transformation was underway.

The cracked information-side fragment floated between the black jade slip and the halo of the seed of source blood, like a wounded third eye still radiating wisdom.

Instead of directly merging to enhance energy like the seed of source blood, it transformed into countless tiny, data-streaming light bands, slowly intertwining and weaving into the ancient patterns on the surface of the jade slip.

The editor was “digesting” this fragment.

The process was not a surge of energy infusion, but a more internal upgrade of its knowledge base and processing architecture.

A vast amount of data about Old World civilization technology, history, and even early observations of the “tide of delusion” surged into the editor's database like an unsealed flood, filling previous gaps and omissions.

More importantly, a deeper understanding and control over “information” itself was gradually being unlocked.

Lin Mo could feel his perception subtly changing.

When he extended his perception outwards again, it was not just energy flows and material structures, but even radiation dust floating in the air, chemical traces remaining in the soil below, and even some electromagnetic signals so faint they were almost non-existent… all seemed to transform into text and data streams that could be directly “read.”

“Information Perception” was the new ability naturally derived after integrating the fragment.

In his “eyes,” the world, in addition to the material and energy layers, gained an omnipresent “information layer.”

He could see the decay data representing “life extinction” contained in the grayish-white dust of the Withered Land; he could “read” the chaotic physical law encodings contained in the distant energy turbulence; he could even vaguely capture the outline of a more complex and vast information package carried by the pulling sensation from the far eastern direction.

This perception was not omnipotent; the information was complex and chaotic, requiring the editor to filter and analyze it, which also placed a considerable burden on his mental power.

But its strategic significance was immense—it meant he could detect hidden threats earlier, decipher the secrets of the environment, and even… understand the operating mechanisms of certain Corruptors or anomalous phenomena.

“How are you feeling?” Ling Shuang’s voice sounded beside him, filled with concern.

She handed him a small bottle of light-blue potion, specially made by Spirit Craftsmen, that could slowly restore mental power.

Lin Mo took the potion and drank it; a cool sensation spread, slightly alleviating the fatigue deep within his soul.

“I’m fine, I need time to adapt.”

He glanced at Ling Shuang, attempting to use his new Information Perception ability.

Around Ling Shuang, he “saw” highly ordered blue psionic data streams pulsating like breathing.

These data streams were closely intertwined with the core of the short staff in her hand and her own life information, forming a complete and harmonious system.

He could even vaguely “read” the data of her current state: psionic reserve restored to 65%, moderate mental fatigue, emotional keywords: concern, vigilance, curiosity.

This was not prying into her mind, but an intuitive reading of superficial life and energy information.

“Your psionic system is very… elegant.”

Lin Mo chose his words carefully.

“It’s like a meticulously written, self-consistent program.”

Ling Shuang was slightly startled, then understood something, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes: “You can ‘see’ the structure of psionic energy?”

“It’s a new gain from integrating that fragment.”

Lin Mo did not elaborate, turning his gaze back to the navigation screen.

The energy reading showed a recovery to 48%; the corrosion left by Zhou Weian was still slowly consuming energy, but the speed seemed to be slightly suppressed by some stabilizing effect brought by the information-side fragment.

“We are about to enter the core area of the Withered Land.”

Ling Shuang pointed to the darker, even eerily turbulent energy region ahead on the screen.

“According to the records of the holy core and the intelligence gained by previous generations of Spirit Craftsmen with their lives, that is the site of a final defensive battle in the Old Era, and one of the strongest nodes of the ‘tide of delusion’s’ power projection.

Rule distortion phenomena will become more frequent and dangerous, and even… ‘Law Echoes’ might appear.”

“Law Echoes?” Wu Yong couldn't help but interject, his voice tinged with fear.

“They can be understood as ‘historical echoes’ left behind when certain powerful forces collided or rules were forcibly distorted in the past,” Ling Shuang explained.

“They don’t directly affect thought like cognitive traps, but temporarily and locally alter physical laws.

You might suddenly walk into an area where gravity is ten times that of the outside, or step into a space where time flows a hundred times faster, or even encounter an area where material stability is greatly weakened, shattering upon touch…”

This was even more unpredictable than cognitive traps!

Cognitive traps could be resisted by strong will and special abilities, but changes in laws were objective; once entered, one could be instantly crushed into a meat paste, aged to death, or disintegrated along with the environment!

Lin Mo’s expression also became solemn.

The editor, combined with Information Perception, could indeed capture data characteristics of rule anomaly zones in advance, but the level of rule chaos here was too high; many anomalies appeared and disappeared instantly, leaving extremely short warning times.

The transport plane cautiously entered the core area.

The sky here was no longer dull yellow, but a bizarre, constantly shifting purplish-red, like a festering wound.

More grotesque sights appeared on the ground: shattered mountain peaks suspended in the air, sand waterfalls flowing upwards, and distorted light and shadows, like mirages, endlessly repeating certain war scenes—these were “information afterimages” of past battles, solidified by chaotic laws.

Lin Mo fully maintained his Information Perception; the editor, like a high-speed processor, frantically analyzed the data stream of every inch of space ahead.

“Turn left 15 degrees! Space wrinkle index abnormally high three kilometers ahead!”

“Climb! High-intensity entropy increase area detected below, material disintegration speed exceeded!”

“Slow down! Time flow anomaly bubble detected on the right, internal flow rate estimated to be 80 times that of the outside!”

Under his precise command, the gray fin shark danced through the minefield, narrowly avoiding one invisible death trap after another.

Ling Shuang also cooperated fully; although her psionic energy could not directly counter law changes, she could sense certain rule distortions based on energy level changes in advance, providing supplementary information to Lin Mo.

However, the malice of the Withered Land’s core far exceeded imagination.

Just as they were passing through a relatively “calm” area filled with giant crystal clusters, the editor suddenly emitted its sharpest alarm!

“Detecting super-high intensity law distortion field generation! Range: pervasive! Type: causality perturbation! Cannot evade!”

Causality perturbation?!

Lin Mo didn’t even have time to react before he felt the entire transport plane, along with everyone inside, captured by an indescribable, irresistible force!

The scene outside the porthole hadn’t changed, but he could clearly “read” that the data flow of the surrounding space instantly became incredibly chaotic and… contradictory!

It was as if something was forcibly altering “facts” that had already occurred or were about to occur!

Immediately after, something bizarre happened!

The scar on the tail of the transport plane, corroded by Zhou Weian, suddenly began to “heal” at a visible speed!

The rust faded, the metallic luster returned, and even the unsettling energy corrosion traces rapidly dissipated!

It was as if… that battle had never happened?

“What… what’s going on?” Wu Yong and Xiao Li stared dumbfounded at this “miracle.”

But Lin Mo and Ling Shuang instantly felt their hair stand on end!

“No!” Lin Mo growled, “This isn’t healing! This is… ‘causal overlay’! Some power is forcibly imposing the ‘result’ of ‘the transport plane was not corroded’ onto reality!”

Almost the instant he finished speaking, something even more terrifying happened!

The “healed” tail armor suddenly, without warning, violently collapsed and twisted inward, as if crushed by an invisible giant force!

Metal emitted a teeth-grinding tearing sound!

Structural damage even more severe than before instantly appeared!

It was as if, to “compensate” for that unreasonable “healing” just now, reality performed a “correction” in an even more violent manner!

“Pfft!” Lin Mo suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood!

It wasn’t a physical attack, but the power that forcibly twisted causality and then violently corrected it directly acted upon him, who was deeply connected to the transport plane!

The jade slip and the seed of source blood, which had just stabilized in his Sea of Consciousness, shook violently, and the light of the information-side fragment flickered erratically!

Ling Shuang also grunted, her face pale; her psionic system was closely related to ordered causality, and this brutal perturbation caused her a huge shock.

“We must leave this force field immediately!” Lin Mo endured the soul-tearing pain, controlling the almost out-of-control transport plane, attempting to rush towards the edge of the force field.

However, the surrounding causality was completely chaotic!

They flew forward, but the result might be that they were moving backward; they tried to climb, but their altitude was decreasing!

The navigation system completely failed, and even the editor’s path calculation based on Information Perception began to show logical errors!

They seemed to be trapped in a labyrinth made of paradoxes!

Just then, Lin Mo’s Information Perception captured the core source of the force field—at the center of that crystal cluster, a strange crystal, dozens of meters tall, like a black tombstone, was emitting waves that twisted causality!

Inside the crystal, a struggling, dark-red energy body radiating endless resentment was sealed—it was an incredibly powerful psionic user (perhaps a guardian of the Old Era) who had fallen in the final defensive battle.

His unwillingness and despair before death, mixed with the power of the “tide of delusion,” formed this terrifying “Causal Curse” here!

Break it!

They had to break that cursed crystal, otherwise, they would be trapped and killed in this paradoxical space, completely torn apart by constantly correcting causality!

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Mo’s eyes.

He no longer tried to escape but turned the plane around, injecting all remaining energy into the weapon system and the editor!

“Ling Shuang! Help me lock onto that black crystal! editor, calculate the optimal attack vector, and simultaneously activate the Information Disruption protocol, target: interfere with the information stability of the curse core!”

He intended to use his authority over information to counter this twisted causality!

A battle concerning the very foundation of existence suddenly erupted!