65: Desperate Standoff and Shadow Warlord

The intense discomfort of space being forcibly folded and torn lasted only a brief moment.

The Ark of Order, as if thrown violently from the void by an invisible giant hand, emitted a grating metallic groan the instant its hull exited warp.

The ethereal blue warp trail had not yet completely dissipated, but outside the viewports, a hellish scene had already replaced it.

They had jumped directly into the core area of the Shadow Kin encirclement!

Straight ahead, less than five kilometers away, a massive but derelict vessel hung silently.

Its once sleek silver-white lines were now covered in impact dents and charred marks from energy burns, with several armor plates unnaturally warped, exposing complex and dim internal piping structures.

A massive tear in the midsection of the hull was the most shocking, with edges still showing signs of corrosion as if by some acidic substance.

Several thrusters were completely extinguished, with only a few attitude adjustment nozzles occasionally emitting faint ion streams, barely keeping the hull from tumbling.

Most of the bridge observation windows were shattered, and the interior was dark, with only a few emergency lights flickering like ghost fires.

This was the Dawn, a dying behemoth, exuding an aura of despair.

And around this behemoth, in the void, dozens of Shadow Kin of various forms floated densely.

They were no longer the small, hound-like forms first encountered, but presented more diverse, more aggressive postures: some were like multi-limbed shadow centipedes, coiled around the Dawn's hull, scraping its armor with sharp appendages; others condensed into spheres, constantly releasing disruptive paradoxical ripples, eroding any remaining defensive systems of the Dawn; and a few, exceptionally large and more stable in form, like cruising dark jellyfish, extended countless prey-capturing tentacles from beneath their bells, slowly circling the Dawn, radiating a terrifying sense of oppression.

The sudden appearance of the ark was like a giant stone thrown into a calm (albeit malicious) lake!

All the Shadow Kin, after a hundredth of a second of surprise, collectively 'turned' towards this uninvited guest radiating a strong aura of order!

That cold, destructive malice instantly enveloped the Ark of Order like a tangible shockwave!

"High-intensity hostile lock detected! All Shadow Kin unit reaction levels elevated to maximum!" the editor issued a shrill warning.

"They're coming!" Wu Yong watched the tactical screen instantly overwhelmed with red markers, his voice tight.

The fastest were the spherical Shadow Kin; they instantly released dense, visibly dark-red paradoxical energy projectiles, raining down like a storm!

Following closely were the shadow centipedes; they detached from the Dawn, rocketing towards the ark like arrows from a bow!

And those several massive 'dark jellyfish' spread their light-devouring bells, and a powerful gravitational field with space-confining effects began to generate, attempting to restrict the ark's maneuverability!

"Evade! Full firepower interception!" Lin Mo ordered sharply, his hands a blur on the control panel.

The ark's engines roared frantically, executing an almost extreme lateral maneuver, narrowly avoiding the densest first wave of energy barrages.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

Pulse autocannons and Information Disruption emitters fired at full power, blue plasma barrages and invisible disruption ripples weaving a defensive net, blasting several of the leading shadow centipedes apart mid-air, dark matter fragments scattering.

But the number of Shadow Kin was too great! And their attack methods were more cunning.

Several Shadow Kin even used the Dawn's wreckage directly as cover, launching sneak attacks from tricky angles.

A dark-red energy beam grazed the ark's bridge; although it didn't hit directly, the contained paradoxical contamination still caused the localized rule resistance field to ripple violently, emitting a harsh "sizzle" sound.

"Shield energy dropping! Portside number three disruption emitter overloaded and damaged!" Wu Yong reported battle damage urgently.

"Their coordination... is very methodical! Not as chaotic as before!" Xiao Li piloted the ark through difficult evasions, feeling immense pressure.

Lin Mo also keenly noticed this.

These Shadow Kin attacks were not a chaotic swarm, but had clear layers and divisions of labor: small units for harassment and attrition, medium units for frontal suppression, and large units for area control and fatal blows.

Behind this, there must be a unified command node!

His information perception swept the battlefield like radar, instantly locking onto the more condensed, colder consciousness source hidden behind the many Shadow Kin auras—a being located at the edge of the battlefield, with a form completely different from other Shadow Kin.

Its size was similar to the 'dark jellyfish,' but its form was more... regular.

It was not an irregular biological form, but more like a geometric polyhedron constructed of pure shadow, with sharp edges, its surface flowing with eerie green data streams like circuit board patterns.

It did not participate in direct attacks, but merely hovered there silently, countless tiny 'data streams' made of shadow extending from it, connecting to almost every Shadow Kin unit on the battlefield.

It was the brain of the entire Shadow Kin swarm—the Shadowkin Warlord!

"Found it!" Lin Mo shared the Shadowkin Warlord's coordinates with everyone, "We must interfere with or destroy it, otherwise we will be slowly worn down to death here!"

However, to directly target the core warlord amidst dozens of furiously attacking Shadow Kin, how easy could that be?

"Lin Mo! The Dawn is reacting!" Ling Shuang suddenly shouted.

Her psionic perception had always kept a portion focused on the damaged research vessel.

The indicator light of a previously dim docking hatch on the Dawn's underside suddenly flickered weakly with a green light!

At the same time, an extremely faint, intermittent universal distress code was transmitted: "...docking...permission...granted...hurry..."

Survivors of the Dawn were still alive! In their final moments, they opened the door to survival for them!

The opportunity was fleeting!

"Change of plan!" Lin Mo decided immediately, "Wu Yong, Xiao Li, provide full cover! Ling Shuang, prepare psionic link, stabilize the docking channel! We are forcibly docking with the Dawn!"

"Understood!"

The ark no longer entangled with the Shadow Kin, pushing its engine power to the maximum, rushing desperately towards the flickering docking hatch on the Dawn's underside!

This action undoubtedly exposed its vulnerable flanks and stern to the Shadow Kin's firepower!

"For Order!" Wu Yong roared, controlling all remaining weapons to unleash firepower on the pursuing Shadow Kin, attempting to slow them down.

Xiao Li pushed ship control to its limit; the ark, like a drunken dancer, weaved through dense energy beams and shadow tentacles, each evasion incredibly perilous.

Several dark-red energy beams fiercely struck the ark's stern rule resistance field, exploding into large clouds of corrosive energy, and the shield energy readings plummeted!

The gravitational field of one of the 'dark jellyfish' finally captured the ark; the hull suddenly stalled, and its speed sharply decreased!

More Shadow Kin, like sharks smelling blood, swarmed from all directions!

"Hurry!" Xiao Li looked at the docking hatch, so close yet seemingly far away, veins bulging on his forehead.

Just at this critical moment, Ling Shuang's eyes shone with Stellar Silver Psionic Energy!

She pointed her short staff at the Dawn's docking hatch, and a condensed Stellar Silver Psionic Energy extended like a bridge; it was not an attack, but 'reinforcement' and 'guidance'!

The psionic energy wrapped around the docking hatch, forming a temporary, relatively stable order zone, to some extent counteracting the rule disturbances and gravitational field effects caused by external Shadow Kin attacks!

At the same time, Lin Mo also made his move!

He couldn't spare the focus for complex 'seed of order' projections, but he mobilized the power of the information-side fragment, launching several highly compressed, pure logical paradox information packets at the several Shadow Kin pursuing most closely from behind!

These information packets themselves contained no energy attacks, but the self-contradictory logic within them was akin to potent poison for the Shadow Kin, who relied on specific logic to operate!

The movements of those several Shadow Kin instantly became extremely chaotic, even colliding and attacking each other, temporarily slowing their pursuit.

Taking advantage of this precious interval, the Ark of Order finally, precariously, almost scraping the Dawn's outer shell, forcibly embedded itself into the flickering green docking hatch!

"Bang! Boom—!"

Violent metallic crashing sounds and the roar of energy coupling transmitted through the hull structure, numbing everyone's eardrums.

The docking indicator finally turned from red to green, showing hard docking successful!

"Docking complete! Initiating internal pressure equalization and channel opening procedures!" Wu Yong shouted hoarsely, almost collapsing.

However, the crisis was not over.

Outside, the Shadow Kin, having lost their target, became even more frenzied; they began to furiously attack the two connected vessels!

The Dawn's already fragile armor groaned under the assault, and the Ark of Order's rule resistance field was also under continuous pressure, its energy reserves rapidly depleting.

What was worse, the Shadowkin Warlord, which had been observing coldly, seemed to be truly enraged by the escape of its prey.

Its geometric polyhedral body began to spin at high speed, and the eerie green data streams on its surface flared brightly!

A terrifying energy, far more powerful than any previous Shadow Kin, with 'logic annihilation' properties, was rapidly condensing in its core!

It was about to unleash a fatal blow capable of destroying both vessels!

"Channel opening still needs time! That big guy outside is about to unleash its ultimate move!" Xiao Li looked at the alarming energy readings on the sensors, his face pale.

"Ling Shuang, Wu Yong, follow me! Xiao Li, you hold this position, maintain channel stability, and be ready to provide support and initiate emergency disengagement procedures at any time!" Lin Mo didn't hesitate for a moment, grabbing a short blade made of order alloy, inscribed with simple information-enhancement runes, and rushed first towards the newly opened airtight door connecting to the Dawn's interior.

They had to enter the Dawn, find the survivors, and before the research vessel was completely destroyed, find a way to deal with the Shadowkin Warlord, or... seize the crucial Ark Project database!

On the other side of the door lay unknown darkness, potential survivors, and... impending destruction.