187: Section 187

Jing Yuan rested in his room for less than two hours, and in his dreams, he actually saw Master Lai!

Jing Yuan looked at Master Lai in confusion and asked, "Is this a dream? Or... are you communicating with me mentally?"

"I am communicating with you through Mental Force!"

Jing Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "Is there something that can't wait until I wake up? The Phage Beasts shouldn't have attacked yet!"

"No! But it's coming soon!" Master Lai looked at Jing Yuan and said directly, "Just now, I sensed that after you pierced the Phage Beast's spirit seed, the Phage Beast's source essence disappeared!"

Jing Yuan's eyes darted; why would Master Lai notice this?

"Normally, even if a Phage Beast's spirit seed is shattered, that source essence should return to the ecology! But for it to disappear so suddenly is very abnormal!"

Jing Yuan stared at Master Lai, "What are you trying to say?"

"Just now, I also sensed a large number of Phage Beasts gathering toward you. It seems you've done something to anger them!"

Jing Yuan remained silent.

Master Lai said bluntly, "I suspect that the missing source essence was absorbed by you!"

Chapter 189: Connecting to clotho

Jing Yuan stared at Master Lai, many thoughts racing through his mind.

Jing Yuan suddenly smiled and said, "Master Lai, think about it. How can a human absorb life source essence?"

"The nature of source essence is also a form of energy. Energy is not created out of thin air, nor does it disappear; it only transfers."

"Right, then it might have transferred into the air, just like normal energy consumption!"

Master Lai shook his head. "Now that the entire Earth is controlled by the mana ecology, source essence will not naturally dissipate; it will only be reabsorbed by the ecology!"

"So..." Jing Yuan had a guess, "Generally, the mana ecology doesn't care whether a Phage Beast is dead or alive. But if the source essence disappears, it cares very much!"

"Yes!"

"If..." Jing Yuan said quickly, "I mean if... the Phage Beast's life source essence really was stored by me in some way, what would happen?"

Jing Yuan used the word 'stored'; he didn't want to expose his ability yet.

It was hard to see any expression on Master Lai's face as he replied, "If it really was absorbed by you, that would explain this Phage Beast riot! To the ecology, source essence is its everything. These Phage Beasts you see are all part of the ecology, and the Phage Beast's source essence is also the ecology's source essence. By absorbing it, you are essentially stealing source essence from the ecology. When you steal too much, the ecology will naturally sense it!"

Master Lai's words sent a shock through Jing Yuan's heart!

So that was it!

"If the ecology senses it, what will it do?"

"Naturally... purge!"

"You mean it wants to purge me? Then it should just target me alone. Why surround Dragon Bone Village?"

Master Lai said expressionlessly, "You can understand the entire ecology as a human body, and the Phage Beasts are its white blood cells; they will devour anything harmful to the ecology. When you absorb a large amount of source essence in one place, the ecology will dispatch many Phage Beasts to that location to investigate."

"You must have absorbed a large amount of source essence near Dragon Bone Village. The ecology reacted and came to investigate, and then... they discovered an unsearchable area like Dragon Bone Village! If you were the ecology, wouldn't you also focus your inspection on this area?"

Jing Yuan looked at Master Lai, "Then what can be done now to save Dragon Bone Village?"

"Dragon Bone Village's shielding system is still effective. It's just that this time the ecology is personally directing the investigation with higher authority. But when it finds nothing here, it might give up and leave. Alternatively, draw the ecology's attention elsewhere. Then, they can return to The Surface!"

Jing Yuan nodded, thinking this was the only way.

However, the immediate priority was still to regain control of the Lighthouse and fly it into the sky; only then could they remain invincible.

Jing Yuan looked at Master Lai and asked, "Master Lai, since you were originally inside clotho, why did you transform into a Phage Beast to come out?"

Master Lai also looked at Jing Yuan, "The ecology is not as simple as you think. Long ago, it blocked the primal body from accessing the mana network. Although the original Ash entered the primal body's brain, the information obtained was very limited! Later, the struggle between Ash and the primal body's consciousness within the giant brain gradually formed me! To seek more information, I attempted to break into the mana network, but unfortunately, I was discovered by the ecology and forced to transform into a Phage Beast!"

"Then do you know how to retake control of the Lighthouse from clotho?"

"That, I'm afraid, requires entering the giant brain once again."

Jing Yuan frowned. Entering the giant brain?

"Then that would..."

Before Jing Yuan could finish, Master Lai disappeared.

Jing Yuan knew he had proactively disconnected the mental link.

Jing Yuan opened his eyes and sat up from the bed.

He glanced around the room; Penny was still asleep on the sofa, and the food she had brought him sat on the table nearby.

Jing Yuan covered Penny with a blanket, not disturbing her.

After the long day, she was exhausted.

Jing Yuan picked up the milk and bread from the table and walked out of the room while eating.

The Lighthouse had returned to its usual calm. As Jing Yuan walked along, both Upper Citizens and Dust Citizens bowed respectfully to him.

Jing Yuan frowned. Since Mark took power, many formal rules, such as bowing, had been abolished.

Looking at the expressions in their eyes, Jing Yuan wondered: were they afraid of him?

But Jing Yuan had no time to worry about these minor details of etiquette on the Lighthouse, nor could he control what these people thought!

The impact of Jing Yuan's final slaughter of all the rebels was simply too great for the people of the Lighthouse.

In the Lighthouse Navigation Control Room, Mark and Jing Nan were still trying to find a way to unlock the controls.

Jing Yuan walked in and said to Mark and Jing Nan, "I just spoke with Master Lai. He said we need to enter clotho to regain control of the Lighthouse."

Mark looked puzzled, "Enter clotho? How?"

"I don't know. I didn't have time to ask before he left!" After waking up, Jing Yuan had searched the entire Lighthouse with his Mental Force but found no trace of Master Lai.

Hearing Jing Yuan mention entering clotho, Jing Nan said subconsciously, "Do you mean to enter clotho through a direct neural link between a human brain and clotho?"

"A direct link with clotho?" Jing Yuan asked in confusion. "Why would you suggest such a plan?"

"Since discovering earlier that clotho holds the highest authority over the Lighthouse, I've been gathering data on it. In the Lighthouse records, someone once planned an experiment for a direct human-brain-to-clotho link in order to awaken clotho."

"What were the results?"

"The results were not recorded!"

Mark looked at Jing Nan, "Who was the person who conducted the experiment? Dr. Carrie?"

Jing Nan shook her head. "No. It was a man named Flynn."

"How come I've never heard of him?"

"He was imprisoned by Morgan a long time ago. I heard it was because he conducted unauthorized neural link experiments."

"Where is he being held?"

"Follow me!"

Jing Nan turned and walked out, with Jing Yuan and Mark following behind her.

Jing Nan led them to a place called the Restricted Data Management Room.

As the three entered, a mixture of alcohol and foul odors hit them.

Behind the main door was a culture tank containing a worm, and behind the tank was a silhouette.

Jing Nan walked in first, "This is my first time here, too!"

Ahead, a robot split into two halves lay on a workbench.

It was a female robot with short hair and meticulous bionic skin that was even fairer than a human's. Her face was exquisite and cute, but below the neck, she was entirely mechanical with no human skin.

Jing Nan was drawn to the robot at first sight.

She hadn't expected there to be such a robot on the Lighthouse.

Jing Yuan was momentarily stunned when he saw it.

Wasn't this Ash?

To be precise, this was Ash's physical body.

So she was on the Lighthouse.

Jing Yuan carefully recalled the plot; when Greg stole the giant brain, he seemed to have taken Ash's body along with it.

Jing Nan couldn't help but touch Ash's face.

Suddenly, a frivolous voice came from behind: "Don't you know what should be touched and what shouldn't?"

Then, a white-haired old man walked out from within. There were even shackles on his feet?

"There shouldn't be anything on this Lighthouse that we aren't allowed to touch!" Jing Yuan looked at the old man and asked, "Are you Flynn?"

Flynn glanced at Jing Yuan and snorted coldly, "What arrogant words! Who are you?"

Chapter 190: Flynn's Neural Link Plan

Jing Yuan looked at the old man with the frivolous expression and said coldly, "I'm asking you, are you Flynn?"

Flynn chuckled, "Are kids these days all so impolite?"