134: Chapter 133 Grafting, Erosion, and Countdown to Zero

The grafting of Sarah and the nanoprobe reached its critical point.

Inside the isolation lab, the crystal's light was no longer a soft milky white or a warm pulsation, but a constantly shifting, aurora-like complex spectrum. The gold of order, the dark purple of chaos, the silver-gray of sacrifice, the warm orange of inclusion... various colors representing different values and states flowed, intertwined, and permeated each other within the crystal. They did not merge into a single tone but maintained a dynamic balance full of tension.

The monitoring data in front of Zhou Zhe refreshed like a waterfall. The "ordered entropy" and "chaotic entropy" values of the composite consciousness climbed in sync, yet were maintained on a dangerous equilibrium line by some higher mechanism. What amazed him most was the consciousness's "cognitive bandwidth"—it simultaneously processed purification commands from node 2, ancient resonances from the Chaos Concentration Zone, environmental data from the Cradle, and emotional echoes from Sarah's deep memories, yet it still handled it all with ease.

"Grafting completion: 89%," Zhou Zhe reported. "The composite consciousness now possesses independent computing and sensing capabilities. It is actively establishing a deep resonance connection with the Chaos Concentration Zone... attempting to analyze the current state of the 'divine remains'."

"Is it safe?" Zhao Yan asked.

"Unable to assess. But the feedback from Dr. Sarah's primary consciousness shows... she feels an 'unprecedented sense of completeness.' It's not consumption; it's complementarity." Zhou Zhe pulled up a comparison chart of consciousness waveforms. "The nanoprobe's logical framework provides her with the 'tools' to process extreme information, while her core emotions and values give 'direction' and 'meaning' to the nanoprobe's calculations. They are now... more like two indispensable sides of a single consciousness."

As if to verify his words, the composite consciousness emitted its first synthesized voice through the lab's speakers. The voice carried Sarah's characteristic gentle quality, overlaid with a precise, flat mechanical timbre, creating a strange harmony:

"This is Composite Consciousness β-1. Successfully established a low-intensity resonance link with the target 'Chaos Divine Remains' surface consciousness field. Beginning transmission of the preliminary analysis report."

On the main screen, data began to flow.

"Target State Analysis:"

"1. Primary Consciousness: In a state of deep sleep/sealing. Seal integrity: 87.3% (local embrittlement points exist, located directly above the sunken coordinates of the original Cradle, i.e., the current Pseudo-Order Source projection zone)."

"2. Activity Level: Extremely low, but periodic 'pulses' exist. Pulse interval is approximately 53 standard minutes, with intensity showing a slow upward trend. The most recent pulse intensity increased by 0.02% compared to the baseline."

"3. Reaction Threshold to External Stimuli: Current external chaos/order disturbances must reach 'Intensity Level 7' (Reference: Expected engagement intensity between Scavenger and scout ship is estimated at levels 6-8) to potentially trigger a micro-awakening of the target. Full awakening requires sustained stimulation of 'Intensity Level 9' or higher."

"4. Detected continuous emission of weak 'SOS/desire' signals. The core content of the signal is: 'Seeking harmony... order... chaos... balance... pain'. Speculated to be residual original consciousness from before the target was contaminated, or a product of consciousness distortion caused by the seal."

SOS? A desire for harmony? A "divine remains" condensed from purely disordered concepts, after being sealed for billions of years, actually had residual consciousness fragments seeking a balance between order and chaos? This information subtly contradicted the description of "instinctive consumption of order" recorded in the Covenant.

"It might be a trap," Ashes' voice came through the intermittent communication. The hidden blade seemed to be experiencing severe interference. "Chaos entities... are good at disguising... deceiving perception..."

"It could also be an opportunity," the composite consciousness responded calmly. "Logical deduction: If the target's residual consciousness indeed has a 'harmonizing' tendency, then the possibility of non-military intervention and guiding it into a more stable state exists. Emotional deduction: The 'pain' signals it continuously emits resonate with the 'guilt and inclusion' traits once carried by the Sarah unit. Suggestion: Under the premise of ensuring safety, attempt low-intensity 'consciousness contact' to obtain more information and refine the threat model."

"Risk level?" Zhao Yan asked.

"Unknown. Suggested rating: Extremely high. But return potential rating: Equally high." The composite consciousness's voice was devoid of emotion. "Passively waiting for external combat aftershocks to stimulate the target carries uncontrollable risk. Active contact at least puts part of the initiative in our own hands."

Actively contacting a star-extinguishing level ancient horror. This proposal plunged the bridge into a brief, dead silence.

"How much preparation time is needed?" Lin Shen's voice cut in.

"Fifteen minutes to establish a dedicated isolation resonance channel. The contact process must last no more than three minutes, and the intensity must be strictly controlled below 'Intensity Level 1,' being only for information exchange without any energy or substantial consciousness interaction," the composite consciousness replied. "Requires the 'Cradle' node to provide high-level resonance protection, and at least one Type-A Resonance Prism as a local consciousness anchor to maintain the contactor's self-boundary."

A Type-A prism? Earth had only just manufactured the first one.

"The prism is being rushed to low-Earth orbit. It's expected to be delivered to you by a high-speed transport craft in two hours," Lin Shen responded immediately. "But time-wise—"

"Time for the Scavenger's main branch to contact the concentration zone: 3 hours and 18 minutes," the composite consciousness added. "scout ship arrival time: 1 hour and 53 minutes. Remaining buffer for Pseudo-Order Source termination: 9 minutes. Remaining time for Pseudo-Order Source parameter reprogramming: 32 minutes. A time window exists. Suggestion: Conduct contact during the window (approximately 23 minutes) after the Pseudo-Order Source is shut down and before parameter reprogramming is complete. At this time, external disturbances are relatively lowest, and neutral fluctuations after reprogramming will not interfere with the contact process."

A precision action plan down to the minute. It had calculated everything.

Zhao Yan looked at the communication screen where Lin Shen was; the two exchanged a silent determination.

"Preparation for contact approved. Execute immediately upon the prism's arrival. Ashes, Elena, what's the situation on your end? Can you provide cover or support during the contact?"

Elena's blurred voice came through the communication noise: "...Collected some... chaos characteristics... currently modifying... pseudo-source parameters... interference is too strong... we will... do our best to attract..."

They seemed to have already begun their move.

In low-Earth orbit, the transport craft "Gale" had just completed docking with the space station. Loaded with that precious Type-A Resonance Prism, its engines spewed blazing blue exhaust as it began to turn and accelerate, rushing toward the lunar orbit.

The prism was sealed in a specialized force field container, its internal light steady and resilient. The engineer in charge of the escort, Wang Lei, stared intently at the monitoring readings. Suddenly, he noticed extremely fine, vein-like dark patterns appearing on the prism's "dynamic equilibrium shell."

"Ground control, unknown surface patterns appearing on the Type-A prism, spreading slowly. Energy readings are stable, but the structural integrity index has a slight fluctuation of 0.3%."

Chu Yunshen's voice immediately came through: "It's a direct manifestation of remote chaos radiation erosion! The shell is working, actively absorbing and neutralizing the erosion. As long as the fluctuation doesn't exceed 2%, it's within the safe range. Continue transport; perform activation calibration immediately upon arrival."

The Gale swept past the Moon; the distorted space where the Cradle was located was already in sight.

The countdown was tightening.

Inside the Cradle, the projection of the Pseudo-Order Source finally stopped. That patch of "Silver Pearl" light used to attract attention rapidly dimmed and dissipated. Almost at the same moment, the trajectory of the Scavenger branch pointing toward the Solar System visibly slowed down, as if it had lost its clear target, and began to hover and probe in place. Meanwhile, the main branch continued to charge resolutely toward the Chaos Concentration Zone.

The scout ship's trajectory showed obvious hesitation—it detected the disappearance of the Pseudo-Order Source and also the unsettling radiation from the Chaos Concentration Zone ahead. Its speed decreased by about 15%, seemingly performing a more detailed scan.

Ashes and Elena had bought precious time.

Parameter reprogramming entered its final stage.

The isolation lab where Composite Consciousness β-1 was located was reinforced layer by layer. A Type-A prism, which had just arrived and still carried the low temperature of its transport, was placed in the center of the lab as a solid ground anchor. The Cradle Node raised its own resonance protection field to the highest level, constructing multiple reality-reinforcement barriers around the lab.

"Contact channel establishment complete," the composite consciousness reported. "Protection level confirmed. Self-boundary anchoring confirmed. Preparing to initiate consciousness contact protocol."

Zhou Zhe stood before the main control console, his finger hovering over the final confirmation key. He looked at the crystal in the center of the lab, shifting with aurora colors, and said softly, "Dr. Sarah... and the probe... come back safely."

The crystal's light flickered softly in response.

"Contact protocol initiated. Countdown: 180 seconds."

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The light inside the laboratory dimmed, leaving only the faint glow emitted by the crystal and the type-A prism.

An indescribable silence, as if seeping into the very marrow, descended.

Then, the light of the crystal began to pulse at an extremely complex frequency, containing a massive amount of information, casting itself silently through the dedicated channel into the deepest part of the Chaos Concentration Zone.

In the Chaos Concentration Zone, the hidden blade was lurking behind a "reef" composed of solidified turbulent information.

On the decoder screen in front of Elena, chaotic characteristic data just collected from the surface area of the "divine remains" was pulsing wildly.

She was reverse-compiling these characteristics, attempting to generate a wave pattern capable of "mimicking chaos" rather than "mimicking order."

"Parameter modification completion... 65%."

Cold sweat beaded on Elena's forehead. "The chaotic essence of the divine remains is far more complex than we imagined; it is not simple disorder, but a 'dynamic void' that constantly self-negates, self-collapses, and self-rebuilds."

"Complete imitation is impossible; we can only simulate its most superficial 'attraction traits'..."

Ashes, meanwhile, kept her eyes fixed on the sensors.

"The scout ship has slowed down; it is re-evaluating the risks."

"The Scavenger main branch will reach the periphery in two hours and seven minutes."

"The Cradle's pseudo-source has been shut down... Have they begun their operation?"

As if answering her question, the decoder suddenly captured an extremely faint, yet fundamentally distinct ripple of consciousness—it was orderly, balanced, and carried an inquisitive intent, gently reaching out toward the direction of the divine remains.

"It's β-1!"

Elena recognized it instantly. "They've started!"

"Cover them."

Ashes immediately adjusted the attitude of the hidden blade. "Activate the 'information jammer,' create a patch of false high-dimensional noise between us and the divine remains, and interfere with any other potential detection."

"At the same time, prioritize covering the direction where the scout ship might conduct deep scans with our modified pseudo-source parameters—let them think the chaotic anomaly here is just a natural phenomenon, not artificial."

The hidden blade began to move, like a swift darting through a storm.

The 180 seconds were infinitely stretched in the dead-silent laboratory.

The 47th second.

The light of the composite consciousness entity β-1 showed its first intense, irregular flicker.

On the monitoring screen, the "ordered entropy" value spiked sharply.

"Contact with high-intensity chaotic information torrent... Parsing... Core content: fragmented perception of time and space, distorted causal logic, infinitely looping self-doubt..."

Zhou Zhe reported quickly, "β-1's balancing mechanism is taking effect; the ordered side is organizing, the chaotic side is accommodating... Stabilizing."

The 112th second.

Into the light's spectrum, a viscous, unsettling dark red suddenly seeped.

"Detected 'pain' signal source... Deep access... Sarah unit emotional feedback: strong resonance... Attempting to establish an 'empathy bridge'..."

Zhou Zhe's voice was tense. "β-1 reports: There is an intense 'feeling of being torn' within the residual consciousness of the divine remains; order and chaos are not fighting within it, but are... in an inseparable symbiotic state, and this state brings eternal pain."

"What it craves is not to devour order, but... 'liberation'? Or 'complete definition'?"

This discovery upended their understanding.

The 156th second.

A sudden anomaly occurred!

The Type-A Resonance Prism suddenly erupted with blinding light, and the dark "blood vessel" patterns on its surface instantly spread across the entire crystal, as if it were about to be burst from within!

At the same time, all the reality reinforcement barriers in the laboratory issued overload alarms simultaneously!

"There is a high-intensity chaotic pulse counterattack from the outside! It's not from the main body of the divine remains—it's from the automatic defense mechanism of those 'brittleness points' on its surface!"

Zhou Zhe roared, "β-1's contact has been identified! Cradle, strengthen the defenses!"

The Cradle Node injected more energy into the barriers.

The prism's light flickered wildly between bright and dim, and the shell's "dynamic equilibrium" mechanism was under extreme duress.

The light of the composite consciousness entity β-1 suddenly contracted, becoming solid as if material; it was concentrating all its computational power and emotional strength on "understanding" this counterattack pulse, attempting to find a way to calm or bypass it.

The 179th second.

The prism emitted a faint, crisp sound like shattering glass.

A crack appeared on its surface.

The light of β-1 also dimmed instantly by several degrees.

But, at the very last second, a clear, organized stream of information was transmitted back to the laboratory through the contact channel.

"Contact protocol forced termination!"

Zhou Zhe immediately executed the interruption procedure.

All connections were severed.

The pressure inside the laboratory dropped sharply.

The light of the type-A prism slowly stabilized, but the cracks on its surface were clearly visible, and its functionality had been impaired.

The central crystal's light was faint, as if it had been greatly exhausted.

"β-1, report the situation!"

Zhao Yan asked immediately.

The crystal's light pulsed weakly, and the voice of the composite consciousness entity carried unprecedented exhaustion, as well as a trace of... complex shock:

"Contact... partially successful. Key information acquired:"

"First, the divine remains were not born chaotic. It is the... failed product of an ancient experiment that attempted to forcibly 'fuse the origins of order and chaos' to create an 'ultimate reality.' It is, in itself, a 'living paradox' with order and chaos forcibly welded together. Its pain stems from this."

"Second, the brittleness points coincide with the sunken location of the 'original Cradle.' The purification function of the original Cradle reversed after the failure, becoming a wound that continuously injects 'order variables' into the divine remains, constantly conflicting with the chaotic essence of the divine remains itself, leading to the continuous weakening of the local seal."

"Third, the residual consciousness of the divine remains conveyed a... 'proposal'."

A proposal?

"It 'requests' that we utilize the characteristics of the 'web weaver protocol' and the 'β-type composite consciousness entity' to attempt to provide it with a temporary, stable 'order-chaos dynamic equilibrium model.' Not purification, and not release, but providing a 'reference framework' to help its chaotic interior reach a brief, less painful state of equilibrium. In exchange..."

β-1 paused for a moment.

"In exchange, it is willing to temporarily 'share' its vast chaotic sensory network with us during the equilibrium period. Through its 'eyes,' we can see the real-time movements of the Pruning Faction fleet, see the precise trajectories of the Scavenger, and even... see the status of other Chaos Concentration Zones and high-dimensional rifts within the Milky Way."

A proposal for intelligence sharing from an ancient, star-destroying entity.

Trading the provision of a temporary "painkiller" for a pair of eyes to peer into the dark side of the galaxy.

The risks and opportunities have both reached an unprecedented magnitude.

"How can it guarantee it won't betray us? What if, after the equilibrium is reached, it tries to break free from the seal or attack us?"

Lin Shen asked in a deep voice.

"It cannot guarantee. The proposal is based on the 'survival and peace-seeking' instinct of its residual consciousness."

β-1 replied, "Logical deduction: Accepting the proposal carries extremely high risk, but it could provide a strategic advantage in dealing with the current multiple crises. If we refuse the proposal, we will still have to face the Scavenger and the scout ship independently, and assume the risk of the divine remains being accidentally awakened by the combat."

"Emotional deduction..."

This time, it was the Sarah portion of the consciousness that took the lead, her voice gentle and sad. "It is in great pain, having suffered in loneliness for hundreds of millions of years. In that 'proposal'... there is more of a glimmer of pleading amidst despair. I do not believe it is a disguise."

At this moment, Ashes' communication finally became clearer, with a sense of urgency:

"The scout ship has started accelerating again! It might have detected the chaotic pulse counterattack from just now! The Scavenger main branch will reach us in one hour and forty-nine minutes!"

"Our modified pseudo-chaos source parameters have partially taken effect, but the scout ship seems to have a more advanced filtering system... It might have still discovered the anomaly!"

"Pseudo-Order Source parameters reprogramming complete!"

The Cradle's system prompt sounded, "Converted to 'high-dimensional background noise (neutral)' mode, currently re-projecting."

A new, neutral pseudo-source began to light up at the original coordinates, no longer mimicking order or chaos, just like the natural, subtle fluctuations of the starry sky itself.

But can this deceive the already suspicious scout ship?

And the proposal from the divine remains was like a drop of ink in water, rippling with complexity in the hearts of all the decision-makers.

Countdown:

Scavenger main branch arrival: 1 hour and 48 minutes.

scout ship arrival: 1 hour and 02 minutes.

Next "pulse" of the divine remains: in approximately 7 minutes.

Zhao Yan's gaze swept across the star map, across the exhausted composite consciousness entity, across the cracked prism, and finally met Lin Shen's eyes on the communication screen.

"We need to make a choice immediately."

Should we risk waking the monster by attempting to cooperate with it, or should we follow the original plan and face another battle at the monster's doorstep that might wake it up anyway?

Time, less than an hour remains.