27: Ancient Guardian? A thrilling encounter within the ruins!

"Deep Blue! Main Cannon Salvo! Coordinates: Directly above the Ruin's dome! Tear it open for me!" Lin Feng's roar echoed through the narrow passage, almost drowning out the heavy footsteps of the mechanical beast.

"Main Cannon loading! Target locked! Fire!" Chen Hai's shout exploded from the communicator!

Boom—!!!!

The ground shook! The entire Ruin seemed to be struck by a giant's hammer! The violent tremors made everyone lose their footing! The alloy dome above groaned under the strain, spiderweb cracks instantly spreading, accompanied by an ear-splitting metallic tearing sound! Then—

Crash!!!!

Large chunks of alloy plates covered in thick ice were blasted away by the furious bombardment! The blinding, pale Antarctic sunlight poured in like a cascading waterfall, roaring into this thousand-year-old dark passage!

"Now!" Lin Feng's eyes flashed with a sharp glint, and his "Cold Hell" Cryo-Cannon hummed at maximum power! The pale, ultra-low temperature liquid nitrogen stream was no longer a spray, but condensed into a pale beam, like a high-pressure water jet, accurately striking the Guardian's joint, where an eerie blue energy node was furiously gushing!

Sizzle—!!!!

The collision of extreme cold and scorching Pioneer energy erupted in a teeth-grinding shriek and blinding white mist! The Guardian's leg joint, covered in heavy Pioneer alloy, was instantly encased in several meters of solid ice! Its mountain-like forward momentum abruptly halted, and the immense inertia caused it to lurch forward, its three chainsaw-blade tail whips furiously lashing the ground, plowing deep furrows!

"Joint frozen! Concentrate fire! Shatter it!" Lei Lie seized the fleeting opportunity, roaring hoarsely! All firepower—electromagnetic rifles, Gauss weapons, even the Pioneer energy gun wreckage picked up by the Ark's remnants—poured down like a storm onto the ice-sealed joint connection!

Bang! Crack! Crash!

The solid ice, mixed with the frozen and brittle alloy joint, shattered with a roar under the furious firepower! One of the Guardian's support legs completely broke off at the knee! The unbalanced giant let out a deafening electronic wail, like metal grinding against a soul, and its massive body crashed to the ground! The stirred-up ice dust and metal fragments resembled a storm!

"It's done!" The scarred officer was ecstatic.

"Don't celebrate too soon!" Lin Feng's eyes were cold as he stared intently at the fallen behemoth. Its remaining five legs were still frantically scrabbling, and the three chainsaw tail whips, like dying vipers, spun at high speed, cutting through the air and ground, covering the entire passage! Even more terrifying, the armor plates on its chest and abdomen were slowly opening, revealing a furiously spinning, eerie blue core radiating destructive energy fluctuations!

"It's charging up to self-destruct! It wants to take us all down with it!" Old Zhao shrieked a warning through Deep Blue's energy detector, "Energy readings are soaring! Far exceeding the main cannon's yield!"

"Control Room! We must shut down its energy source!" Lin Feng's gaze swept to the end of the passage, to the tightly shut alloy door, covered in complex energy patterns—that was the Ruin's core control room!

"I'll take people!" Chen Hai's voice was decisive, "Lei Lie! Cover the Captain!"

"Charge with me!" Lei Lie didn't hesitate, leading a squad of Marines, braving the deathly shriek of the chainsaw tail whips cutting through the air and the flying metal fragments, bravely charging towards the fallen Guardian, using their firepower to draw its attention!

"Ark people! If you want to live, help clear the way!" Lin Feng yelled at the scarred officer, simultaneously throwing his last high-explosive magnetic mine at the Guardian's exposed chest and abdomen core!

A struggle flashed in the scarred officer's eyes, then turned into ruthlessness: "Team A! Suppressive fire! Team B! Cover him with me!" The remaining Ark soldiers erupted with their final ferocity, their firepower weaving into a net, briefly clearing a path for Lin Feng to the control room door!

Boom!

The high-explosive magnetic mine exploded near the Guardian's core, and the violent shockwave caused its charge to falter! Lin Feng seized this less-than-a-second gap, dashing towards the control room door like a leopard! In his hand, he clutched the "Pioneer Key" glowing with an eerie blue light, which he had exchanged from the system—the insignia he had confiscated from the pirate leader!

The Guardian seemed to sense the threat to its core area, and its remaining compound eyes were dripping crimson! One chainsaw tail whip abandoned attacking Lei Lie's squad, and with a shriek that tore through space, it pierced towards Lin Feng's back at a terrifying speed exceeding the speed of sound!

"Captain!" Lei Lie's eyes were splitting with rage, but he was too late to help!

In the nick of time!

Lin Feng didn't even look at the fatal attack behind him, pouring all his will into the insignia in his hand, and fiercely pressed it into a recessed, perfectly matching slot in the center of the door!

Hum—!

The moment the insignia touched the slot, a soft yet vast eerie blue light erupted! The energy patterns flowing on the door were instantly activated, swirling rapidly like living things! Accompanied by the heavy grinding sound, like an ancient sigh, the thick alloy door silently slid open inwards!

At the same time, the tip of the deadly chainsaw tail whip was less than half a meter from Lin Feng's back! The high-speed rotating saw teeth had already torn the back of his combat suit!

Whoosh!

A scorching Gauss sniper bullet whizzed past Lin Feng's head! It accurately struck the connecting shaft between the chainsaw tail whip and the Guardian's body!

It was the scarred officer! Smoke billowed from the muzzle of his Gauss sniper rifle!

Crack!

The crucial connecting shaft was instantly melted! The out-of-control chainsaw tail whip flew past Lin Feng's shoulder, smashing violently against the nearby wall, sending sparks flying!

Lin Feng didn't look back, stepping into the control room!

---

[Ruin Control Room]

This felt like another world. There was no smoke of battle, only a suffocating eerie blue. A massive circular control console floated in the center, made of pure energy, with waterfall-like, incomprehensible Pioneer runes flowing across it. The control room's dome was transparent, revealing the millennia-old ice and the pale polar daylight outside, casting cold pillars of light.

In the center of the control room, a slowly rotating, basketball-sized eerie blue multifaceted crystal floated. It emitted gentle yet immense energy fluctuations, and it was the energy source for the entire Ruin, and even the Guardian outside!

And below the control console, two corpses lay slumped. One wore a tattered "Observer" uniform, the other a much older research robe with the Ark's emblem, tightly clutching a silver-white data storage column—the Eye of Heaven Core Backup!

"Ark Chief Archaeologist... Su Yuanshan?" Lin Feng instantly recognized the nameplate on the research robe; it was Dr. Su Jin's father! He had indeed died here!

No time for sentiment, Lin Feng's gaze locked onto an interface on the control console that was constantly flashing red warning runes—it was the Guardian's self-destruct countdown! Only 30 seconds left!

"System! Access the control console! Terminate the self-destruct program!" Lin Feng placed his hand on the energy-formed interface.

[Command received! 'Pioneer' master control protocol detected! Permission verification in progress...]

[Detected Host holding 'Subordinate Permission Key' (Pirate Insignia).]

[Permission Level: Temporary Visitor (D-Class).]

[Warning: D-Class permission cannot terminate Core Guardian self-destruct protocol! Suggestion: Forcibly extract core energy, overload its energy circuit!]

"Then drain it!" Lin Feng's gaze locked onto the floating eerie blue core crystal, "How do I do it?"

[Host needs to insert the key into the core crystal's base! The System will guide the energy backflow! Risk: Energy backlash may cause the core to explode!]

Countdown: 15 seconds!

Lin Feng didn't hesitate for a moment, pulling out the insignia inserted into the door and rushing towards the central crystal! The base was right in front of him, an inconspicuous slot!

The Guardian's dying roar and the intense gunfire outside seemed to be isolated. In Lin Feng's eyes, there was only the ticking countdown and the eerie blue crystal. He raised the insignia and fiercely inserted it into the base!

Hum—!!!!

The light in the entire control room instantly became blinding! The eerie blue crystal pulsed violently like a heart! A violent, chaotic, destructive torrent of energy surged through the insignia, fiercely rushing into Lin Feng's arm!

"Ugh ah!" Lin Feng felt his entire right arm being pierced by billions of red-hot steel needles, while simultaneously being thrown into liquid nitrogen! Extreme cold and extreme heat energy frantically tore at his flesh and nerves! The system interface flashed warnings wildly!

[Warning! Pioneer energy backlash! Physical damage 12%... 17%...]

[Energy backflow guiding! Core overload rate 45%... 68%...]

Countdown: 5 seconds! The Guardian's core light had already reached its peak brightness!

Outside, Lei Lie's desperate roar and Chen Hai's main cannon charging hum could be heard!

"Stop... for me!" Lin Feng's eyes were splitting with rage, using all his will to fight against the tearing pain, pressing his left hand firmly onto the base as well, as if to forcefully pour his own will into it!

Hum—!!

At the blood-stained palm print of Lin Feng's left hand on the base, a faint, distinctly different golden light suddenly lit up! Although this light was weak, it carried an indescribable ancientness and majesty, instantly causing the violent eerie blue energy torrent to momentarily stagnate!

[Unknown high-dimensional gene marker detected (extremely faint)! Triggering Pioneer protocol bottom-level response!]

[Permission temporarily elevated to: B-Class (Emergency Evasion)!]

[Self-destruct protocol... forcibly terminated!]

Beep—

The ear-splitting alarm sound abruptly stopped! The frantically flashing red light on the control console instantly extinguished! Outside, the destructive light of the Guardian's core rapidly dimmed, finally extinguishing completely, leaving only the flickering electrical sparks on its wreckage.

Lin Feng collapsed to his knees, exhausted, his right arm charred black and covered in icy cracks, while his left palm retained a faint, fading golden spiral imprint. The intense pain almost made him faint. System prompts flashed wildly:

[Self-destruct terminated!]

[Obtained "Pioneer Energy Core" (Eerie Blue Crystal)! Deep Blue's energy reserve limit permanently increased by 200%! Currently automatically charged to 100%!]

[Obtained "Eye of Heaven Core Backup" data column!]

[Obtained "Ark Ruin Research Log" (Su Yuanshan)!]

[Warning: Abnormal high-dimensional gene marker activation residue detected! Source unknown! May trigger special responses from Pioneer facilities!]

He struggled to look up, at the much dimmer but still slowly rotating eerie blue crystal, and then at the disappearing golden imprint on his left palm.

"B-Class permission... unknown gene marker..." He gasped, his gaze falling on the data column tightly clutched in Su Yuanshan's corpse, then looking at Lei Lie and Chen Hai and others who were pouring in from outside the door.

Deep Blue's energy crisis was solved, and it even received a leap-forward improvement.

The Eye of Heaven backup data was in hand.

The Ark's most core Ruin research results also fell into his hands.

And even... triggered some kind of "high-dimensional gene marker" that even the system couldn't identify?

This should have been a huge victory, but Lin Feng felt no relief. The Guardian's power, Su Yuanshan's bizarre death, the mysterious gene marker, and the system's final warning...

"Captain! Are you alright?" Lei Lie rushed in to help him up.

"I'm fine." Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the surging blood and intense pain, pointing at the eerie blue crystal and the data column on the ground, "Take all the spoils! Evacuate immediately!"

He took one last look at the control room, his gaze sweeping over Su Yuanshan's corpse and his left palm, which glowed with the last trace of golden light.

The key to the Antarctic was obtained, but what it opened seemed to be a door to a deeper, more dangerous maze.

"Deep Blue, prepare to return." His voice carried a hint of imperceptible fatigue and heaviness, "It's time for us to go home... Some 'answers,' I'm afraid, are even more... astonishing than we imagined."