142: Brother Mo, I'm scared! Little Loli sneaked into the room late at night, just to...

The scattered fragments were the Phantom Shark's only epitaph left in this world.

Inside the Bridge of the Natural Selection, the miraculous emerald green light net slowly receded.

The brief silence was broken by a stream of data flickering on the main screen.

It was the only data core that survived the Phantom Shark's wreckage, precisely captured by the 'Root of the World Tree'.

Lin Mo's consciousness sank into it.

What he 'saw' was no longer dry code.

Instead, it was an information ruin filled with screams and fear.

Countless fragmented images, encrypted commands, and the desperate cries of crew members before their deaths, like a mental storm, roared through his vast sea of consciousness.

The powerful computing power of the antimatter core, like an invisible giant hand of a god, forcibly salvaged the most crucial and robust intelligence fragments from this chaotic storm, piecing them back together.

"They are not Leviathan's people."

Lin Mo opened his eyes, his voice low, yet it made Gu Zhixia, who had just recovered from the shock, feel a sudden tightening in her heart.

On the main screen, several repaired commands were highlighted and projected.

A ferocious white tiger head emblem, composed of countless sharp swords, exuded a cold killing intent.

"Target: Divine Battleship 'Natural Selection'."

"Mission Level: Highest Priority Reconnaissance."

"Command Source: White Tiger Guild, Seventh Executive."

"Mission Requirement: Only conduct long-range observation and intelligence gathering; any form of contact or provocation is strictly prohibited!"

The command was clear and devoid of emotion, but beneath it, there was another encrypted action plan, violently cracked, from the Phantom Shark's commander himself.

"Plan B: If the target is a lone ship, attempt 'Phase Stealth' and 'Mental Impact'. Success... will be mine!"

"Heh, a fool whose brain was burned by greed."

Gu Zhixia looked at the plan, a cold sneer playing on her lips.

But deep in her eyes, a complex emotion, which she herself hadn't noticed, flickered.

It turned out that the enemy was merely a scout ordered to reconnoiter, but due to his eagerness for success, he advanced rashly, turning himself and the entire ship into cosmic dust.

While this gave her a sense of satisfaction, it also brought a deeper unease.

White Tiger Guild... another unfamiliar name.

The game Lan Yue spoke of was far more crowded than they had imagined.

This chaotic sea area was like a huge, bloody bait field.

They were the choicest bait.

"Are... are bad guys coming to catch us again?"

Gu Nianqiu had approached at some point, her small body almost pressing against Lin Mo, her voice filled with an undisguised tremor.

That invisible enemy and the brain-piercing noise had clearly left a huge psychological shadow on her.

She wasn't afraid of visible steel behemoths, but she feared this ghost-like, silent, unknown threat.

"Don't worry."

Gu Zhixia walked over, embracing her sister, and spoke with an undeniable certainty, belonging to an older sister.

"With me here, with... him here, no one can harm you."

Despite her words, Gu Nianqiu's small face was still pale, and one tiny hand gripped Lin Mo's clothes tightly, like a frightened kitten that refused to let go, her eyes red-rimmed, clearly terrified.

Lin Mo stood up, walked over to her, and reached out to ruffle her fluffy head.

His warm, dry palm carried a reassuring strength.

"The threat has been eliminated."

His voice was calm and firm.

"Go back to sleep, I'll be here."

Gu Zhixia glanced at her still-shaken sister, then at Lin Mo's unperturbed face, and nodded.

She knew that having him stand guard was indeed the safest arrangement at the moment.

"Come on, Xiaoqiu, Big Sister will go back with you."

She took her sister's hand and comforted her softly.

"...Mm."

Gu Nianqiu looked back at Lin Mo every few steps, her small face filled with unease, but she was eventually led away from the Bridge by her sister.

Night returned to silence.

Lin Mo returned to his room, leaned back in a recliner, closed his eyes to rest, his consciousness merging with the entire battleship.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

An extremely faint, almost inaudible footsteps came from outside the door.

Immediately after, his door was quietly pushed open a crack.

A tiny figure in bear pajamas, hugging a giant carrot pillow, like a guilty little squirrel, tiptoed in barefoot.

Lin Mo opened his eyes.

He looked at Gu Nianqiu, who was standing at the doorway, her toes curled in indecision, feeling a little helpless.

"What's wrong?"

Caught red-handed, Gu Nianqiu shivered in fright, almost dropping the carrot pillow she was holding.

She looked up, her large, watery eyes filled with grievance and fear, glistening tears welling up but not falling.

"Brother Mo..."

Her voice was thick with a nasal tone and a hint of a sob, as she spoke softly, almost pleadingly.

"I... I can't sleep alone... I'm scared..."

"Every time I close my eyes, I feel like that invisible bad guy will secretly crawl under my bed..."

As she spoke, she scurried to Lin Mo's bedside, looking at him with eyes that were on the verge of tears and impossible for anyone to refuse, and pitifully tugged at his clothes.

"Can... can I sleep with you tonight?"

She quickly added, afraid Lin Mo might misunderstand.

"I'll just sleep on the floor! Or on a chair! As long as... as long as I can stay in Brother Mo's room, I won't be scared anymore..."

Lin Mo was silent.

He looked at Gu Nianqiu's eyes, pure and untainted, filled only with simple reliance and trust, and the heaviness in his heart, caused by the 'White Tiger Guild', quietly dissipated a bit.

He sighed.

Perhaps, this wasn't so bad.

At least, this warmth and liveliness proved that they were truly 'alive'.

And not cold chess pieces on a chessboard.

"The floor is cold."

He finally spoke, a hint of compromise in his voice that he himself hadn't noticed.

"The bed is big enough for both of us."

"Yay! Brother Mo is the best!"

Gu Nianqiu's crying stopped abruptly; she was like a little kangaroo who had received all the candy in the world, not a trace of tears on her face.

She skipped lightly, pattering towards Lin Mo's large, soft bed.

Then, she sprawled out in a 'big' shape, incredibly boldly.

Her small head rubbed contentedly on the pillow, purring like a kitten.

"Brother Mo! It's so safe here!"

She saw Lin Mo approaching and immediately sat up excitedly, patting the empty space beside her.

"Come on, come on! Let's sleep together!"

Outside the window was the cold, dead universe, and unknown enemies lurking in the darkness.

Inside the window was warm lamplight, and a tiny uninvited guest who had already claimed prime real estate on his bed, patting the pillow and urging him to get in bed quickly.