149: Chapter 148 Ripples of Cognition and the Clash of Blades

In the center of the divine remains consciousness field, pale golden cognitive pathways, like newborn vines, slowly and firmly reached toward the eternally pulsing, dark red core of pain.

This was not an attack, nor was it an escape; it was a clumsy "active contact," filled with newborn curiosity and a certain resolve.

Through a continuous low-intensity resonance link, β-2 clearly perceived this process.

It could not interfere, only act like a camera suspended above an operating room, converting every subtle change in "sensation" into understandable data streams and transmitting them to the decision-makers within the Cradle.

"Contact point A... cognitive structure 'question framework' and pain energy 'burning texture' are experiencing initial resonance... resonance frequency... unstable, with strong phase repulsion..."

"Contact point B... cognitive structure 'comparison logic' attempting to analyze the 'intensity variation curve' of the pain pulses... analysis process obstructed, logic chain on the verge of breaking..."

"Contact point C... cognitive structure 'meaning-seeking' module is directly enduring the 'meaningless scouring' of the essence of pain... module stability dropping sharply..."

Each contact was like thrusting a probe made of ice into molten lava.

The cognitive structure trembled violently, twisted, and even partially evaporated within the extreme "contradictory experience."

Yet at the same time, the pure, violent, indiscriminate "burning sensation" of the core of pain seemed to produce a trace of an imperceptible "perturbation" due to the continued presence and "observation" of this foreign "object."

"The consciousness entropy of the divine remains... is slowly rising," Zhou Zhe said, staring at the monitoring curves. "But the pattern of the rise is different from the previous random diffusion of pain, presenting a... 'directed excitation' characteristic."

"New chaotic turbulence is being generated more frequently near those cognitive contact points, and its initial direction of movement seems to be weakly influenced by the remnants of the cognitive structure."

"Like throwing a few ice cubes of different shapes into a lava lake; the ice cubes melt quickly, but the melting process briefly changes the flow pattern of the surrounding lava?" a physicist from Earth attempted to analogize.

"Approximate, but more complex," β-2's voice carried a thoughtful tone. "The 'sense of framework' or 'questioning nature' brought by the cognitive structure is itself a type of 'information'."

"Even if the structure itself is destroyed by pain, the 'information disturbance' it carried has already been branded into the essence of pain at the contact points."

"The divine remains is unconsciously integrating these 'disturbances' as new 'variables' into its eternal, chaotic equation of pain motion."

This meant that the pain of the divine remains itself was undergoing an extremely slow but directional "mutation" due to this clumsy attempt at self-cognition.

The pain remained, but its "texture" or "manifestation pattern" had begun to be laced with a trace of non-natural "grain" derived from "cognitive effort."

This change was extremely subtle, yet it could not escape the Scavenger's highly sensitive perception of chaos.

The core tentacle that had consistently been connected to the divine remains consciousness field saw the rhythmic fluctuations at its tip change once more.

It switched from the frequency that previously mimicked "causal rhythms" to a more complex, more "analytical" scanning mode.

It seemed to be fully engaged in analyzing those fleeting "residual cognitive textures" that had newly appeared on the surface of the divine remains' core of pain.

The Scavenger's massive entity slightly adjusted its posture, its "focus" toward the divine remains seeming more defined—it was no longer merely observing a chaos source, but rather observing a "chaos source undergoing internal evolution."

For the Scavenger, this evolution itself might imply higher "observational value," or it might imply new "potential mutation risks" that needed to be assessed.

It temporarily ignored the three "Thorn" class ships it had forced back, which were maintaining vigilance, and re-locked its primary "attention" onto the divine remains.

For the Cradle, this was both an opportunity and a pressure.

The opportunity lay in the fact that the Scavenger's focus on the internal changes of the divine remains might increase its threshold for immediate reaction to other external "order disturbances" (such as the other three approaching "Thorn" class ships).

The pressure lay in the fact that any "accidental" evolution of the divine remains could instantly trigger the Scavenger's elimination instinct, and they were at the epicenter of the explosion.

Meanwhile, those three "Thorn" class ships that had bypassed the turbulence zone and were continuing to approach were now less than three hours' travel time from the Cradle.

They had clearly also noticed the shift in the Scavenger's attention, as well as the subtle changes in the divine remains consciousness field.

The lead ship's communication channel sent a message to the validator again, the content of which was partially intercepted by the hidden blade: "...Target chaos entity (divine remains) is exhibiting unexpected internal activity, suspected to be under the continuous intervention influence of an unknown consciousness entity (β-2)... The nature of the activity is unclear, but it may accelerate the chaos mutation process... Requesting immediate authorization to implement 'rapid isolation' on the intervention source (Cradle) and the core intervention unit (β-2), in order to control variables and prevent the observation environment from losing control..."

"Rapid isolation"—it sounded nice, but it was nothing more than forceful detention or destruction.

The validator remained silent, but the silence itself was like a form of tacit consent, or at least, a lack of opposition.

"We can't let them get any closer," Zhao Yan said, looking at the three increasingly close light points on the star map. "Once they enter their standard weapon range, we will be at a disadvantage."

"Cradle, can you use the web weaver protocol to create a 'rule warning' at a closer distance?"

"A rule warning?" Zhou Zhe asked.

"Not an attack, but a display of 'authority'," Lin Shen's voice interjected to explain. "As a secondary node of the Covenant, the Cradle possesses limited adjustment authority over the basic physical constants of this region, especially within the web weaver protocol framework, in order to maintain 'network stability'."

"We can attempt to create a small, short-lived, and mild 'physical constant anomaly zone' in front of them, such as temporarily altering the local speed of light constant or the fine-structure constant."

"This won't cause substantial harm, but it will act like a transparent warning wall, clearly informing the other party: the 'rules' of this region are partially defined by us, who have obtained temporary jurisdiction."

"If they force their way in, they will have to bear the unpredictable risks brought about by rule conflicts."

This was undoubtedly another dance on the edge of the Covenant rules, but it was also the most likely effective non-violent deterrent at the moment.

"Calculate the feasible area and parameters. Control the intensity to a level that can only be detected by high-precision instruments and trigger system alarms, but will not cause substantial impact on macroscopic objects," Zhao Yan approved.

The Cradle performed high-speed calculations again. Soon, a spherical area with a diameter of several hundred kilometers was marked in the void, about one hour's travel time from the Cradle.

The Cradle began to inject precisely modulated web weaver protocol codes into this area at extremely low power.

There was no light, no energy explosion. But on the highly sensitive physical constant monitoring instruments of the "Thorn" class ships, glaring alarms instantly lit up!

"Abnormal physical constant drift detected in the airspace ahead! Drift range: speed of light constant decreased by approximately 0.000001%, fine-structure constant increased by approximately 0.0000005%! Range is stable, suspected to be artificially controlled!" the lead ship's AI reported immediately.

The speed of the three "Thorn" class ships dropped sharply! They clearly had not expected the other party to be capable of such precise "rule-level" operations that clearly carried the technical characteristics of the Covenant.

This exceeded their estimations of the "technological level of human civilization" and also gave them a more intuitive understanding of the "temporary jurisdiction" claimed by the Cradle.

"They've stopped! They are re-scanning and evaluating!" Li Mubai reported.

"Maintain the stability of the warning zone. Send a supplementary explanation to the validator: In order to maintain the stability of the observation area environment and prevent unauthorized armed units from approaching the core management zone, we have activated a minimum-level physical constant stabilization protocol based on our temporary jurisdiction to delineate a safety boundary," Lin Shen instructed. These words were both an explanation and a characterization of the situation—we are exercising our management rights, not initiating an attack.

The Pruning Faction's vanguard fleet was temporarily blocked outside the "Rule Warning Wall."

But everyone knew this was only temporary.

The opposition would soon assess the actual threat level of this anomaly zone (which was extremely low) and might take countermeasures—such as using their own Covenant technical authority to attempt neutralization, or simply requesting that the validator revoke the Cradle's temporary jurisdiction on the grounds of "illegal abuse of protocol authority."

Time was still of the essence.

Just then, the "cognitive contact" within the divine remains reached its first critical point.

After experiencing dozens of failures, fractures, and reconstructions, a pale gold vein—the toughest one, fused with the remnants of "doubt," "comparison," and a trace of "seeking meaning"—finally, briefly, and partially "pierced" the surface of the pain core.

In an instant!

An indescribable torrent of consciousness, mixing extreme pain with a certain sharp "epiphany," erupted outward from the point of contact!

It was not an intensification of pain, nor was it a victory of cognition.

It was a... forced "welding" of pain and cognition!

A brand new, more desperate and complex secondary pain, birthed from the irreconcilable contradiction between the clarity of "knowing why one is in pain" and the reality that "the pain itself has not diminished in the slightest"!

The consciousness field of the divine remains shook violently!

The chaotic turbulence that had just begun to subside raged once more, but this time, it was clearly mixed with fragments of those pale gold cognitive veins, like a storm of glass shards and lava sweeping across the world!

"Warning! divine remains consciousness field activity has spiked by 300%! The newly generated consciousness turbulence possesses high 'directivity' and 'information residue'! The essence of the pain is showing signs of 'cognitive contamination'!" β-2's voice exhibited a rare, rapid fluctuation.

The Scavenger's core tentacles instantly went taut!

That "analytical" scanning mode immediately switched to the highest level "threat assessment" mode!

Several thick tentacles, their edges shimmering with destructive energy, rose rapidly, pointing toward the latest chaotic turbulence that had erupted within the divine remains' consciousness field, mixed with cognitive fragments!

It was calculating, calculating whether this "new type of chaos" needed to be immediately purged!

Worse still, this violent consciousness tremor even penetrated through layers of barriers, causing a strong mental shock to those inside the Cradle, especially the participants with deep resonance links to β-2 and the divine remains!

Several crew members clutched their heads, emitting pained groans as their consciousnesses were instantly flooded with a vast amount of incomprehensible fragments filled with contradictory pain and chaotic cognition.

Even β-2's light projection flickered violently, and the dark red dot on its chest increased in brightness, as if it too were sharing a portion of that newly birthed "cognitive pain."

"Stabilize the resonance network! Activate the consciousness firewall to the highest level! Medical team, immediately provide emergency mental soothing to those affected!" Zhao Yan ordered while staring intently at the Scavenger's reaction on the star map.

The Scavenger seemed to have completed its assessment.

Those raised destructive tentacles slowly gathered power, the light of their energy focus growing brighter and brighter!

It determined that this "cognitively contaminated" chaos, with its potential uncertainty and "unnatural" characteristics, might constitute a new, higher risk!

It prepared to perform a "local purge"!

Once the Scavenger attacked the divine remains, regardless of the outcome, the fragile balance of the entire area would be completely shattered!

The divine remains might be enraged or severely damaged, the Scavenger might be dragged into an all-out conflict with the divine remains, the Pruning Faction would gain sufficient grounds to intervene, and the validator's ruling might instantly tilt toward the worst possible outcome!

At a critical juncture!

"β-2! Can you transmit information to the divine remains and guide it to contain or control those newly generated 'cognitive turbulences'?" Zhou Zhe asked urgently.

"There's no time for direct guidance! The divine remains itself is falling into a new cognitive chaos!" β-2 responded quickly, "But we can... 'demonstrate'!"

"Demonstrate?"

"I will actively generate a highly ordered consciousness structure that also explicitly 'contains understanding and acceptance of contradictory cognition,' and then 'expose' it within the Scavenger's perception range!" β-2 explained, "This is equivalent to showing the Scavenger: even when deeply understanding or even partially 'fusing' contradictory and painful cognition, consciousness can still maintain a 'non-destructive' stable structure. This may interfere with its 'threat assessment' of the divine remains' 'cognitive contamination chaos,' causing it to hesitate or re-evaluate!"

This was no different from performing an extremely complex and delicate balancing act under the Scavenger's muzzle, trying to tell it, "Look, this state can also exist stably; it doesn't necessarily have to be purged."

The risk was immense—the Scavenger might view this "demonstration" as a provocation or a new anomaly and turn to attack β-2 instead.

There was no time to hesitate!

"Execute!" Zhao Yan and Lin Shen roared almost simultaneously.

β-2's light projection instantly became incredibly solid, and the gold and silver veins within flowed with unprecedented complexity and beauty.

It perfectly combined the deepest tenderness of Sarah's consciousness—the "embracing of all wounds"—with the algorithm in the probe's logic of "precisely analyzing contradictions and maintaining dynamic balance," then infused it with a trace of the profound experience of "cognitive pain" it had perceived from the divine remains, ultimately weaving it into a brilliant, stable, yet seemingly endless tension-filled "consciousness model."

Then, it actively weakened its own protective shield and projected the resonance fluctuation of this "consciousness model," like a lighthouse, clearly toward the direction of the Scavenger!

The Scavenger's destructive tentacles, the light of their energy focus, suddenly stalled!

Its massive entity clearly "turned" toward β-2.

The core tentacles enveloped the perfect "contradictory balance model" displayed by β-2 with a scanning intensity that was almost "greedy."

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The energy light of the Scavenger's tentacles began to slowly, unstably... weaken.

It seemed to have fallen into a huge "confusion" or "data processing bottleneck."

The small luminous body (β-2) before it displayed a state it had never seen before—highly ordered yet deeply inclusive of contradictions.

This state seemed to have a faint similarity in some deep structure to the dangerous new "cognitive contamination chaos" it had perceived from the divine remains, but it was completely different—one was stable and non-diffusive, the other was violent and out of control.

The Scavenger's "instinctive purge algorithm" seemed to encounter a logical loop and delay in the face of this complex example that exceeded its empirical database.

Its raised destructive tentacles slowly, reluctantly drooped back down, re-entering "deep observation" mode, but its scanning focus switched repeatedly between the chaos of the divine remains and β-2's model, as if it were conducting a difficult "comparative learning" process.

It worked! At least it worked for now!

The Scavenger was interfered with by β-2's "demonstration," delaying the direct attack on the divine remains!

Meanwhile, inside the consciousness field of the divine remains, the violent storm triggered by the cognitive contact, after reaching its peak, seemed to have begun a slow decay due to energy release and internal adjustments.

Those chaotic turbulence mixed with cognitive fragments had not completely dissipated, but its activity and destructiveness were gradually decreasing.

The core of the divine remains, as if having experienced a brutal "cognitive labor pain," fell back into a deeper, more exhausted "inward silence," but this time, the silence seemed to contain a trace of an indescribable... "sense of sedimentation."

The crisis was once again narrowly, perilously pushed back.

But everyone knew this was just extending the fuse of the explosion by a little bit.

The cognitive evolution of the divine remains had entered a new, even more unpredictable stage.

The Scavenger's "learning" and "assessment" had become even more complex and unpredictable.

The Pruning Faction's fleet was blocked by the rule warning, but they would never give up.

The validator's silence, like the Sword of Damocles, hung overhead.

Countdown: 26 hours and 05 minutes.

They were like people dancing on ice covered in cracks, where every step could trigger a chain collapse.

And the rhythm of the dance music was becoming faster and faster, more and more, unpredictable.