160: Chapter 159 The Whispers of the Primordial Ancestors and the Shadow of Dream Eaters

System Status Snapshot (19th hour post-adjudication, moment of the shockwave)

β-2 Status: Core consciousness overloaded and crashed, nano-clusters entered low-power maintenance mode, active connection with the divine remains and the outside world severed. Sarah's human consciousness segment signals are weak but stable, in protective slumber.

Progenitor Node information fragment analysis progress: 12% (Keywords: kindling protocol, Inheritor, Gardener is not the ultimate enemy, pruning is food, Dream-Devouring Shadow).

technology tree system alarm: Deep data mining targeting the "Dream-Devouring Shadow" is being strongly interfered with by unknown permissions; trace-back points to the "Archived Absolute Taboo" area at the lowest level of the Covenant Network.

Cradle Node status: Peripheral system stability decreased by 15% due to energy overload from the "Faint Echo" plan.

validator response: No comment on the leakage of the Progenitor Node signal, but unilaterally suspended the countdown display update.

Lingering fear from Ashes: "...GW-0001... there shouldn't be any signal... unless 'it' has awakened, or... someone has disturbed 'its' grave."

"β-2! Sarah!" Zhou Zhe was the first to rush to the main console, his fingers sliding rapidly across the cold interface, attempting to re-establish even the most basic physiological signal monitoring. The life reading curves on the screen were heart-wrenchingly flat, but at least they hadn't vanished. Feedback from the nano-clusters indicated that the crash was an extreme protective measure triggered by overload, like a computer's blue screen; the core data should still be there.

"Energy channels stable! Life support systems normal! But consciousness activity... is almost zero." Li Lin's voice carried a sob; she and β-2 had developed a friend-like relationship through their daily collaboration.

Zhao Yan's face was ashen, but he forced himself to stay calm: "Medical team on standby! Director Chu, is there any way from Earth's side?"

Chu Yunshen's holographic projection flickered violently: "The Deep Space Life Support Center is connecting remotely, but β-2's structure is too unique... Chief Engineer Lin, does the technology tree system have any relevant repair protocols?"

Lin Shen didn't answer. He was fully immersed in the intense confrontation within the technology tree system. The force interfering with the Progenitor Node's information was extremely powerful and ancient, like an infinite wall of sighs standing before the truth. Every time he tried to delve into the data related to the "Dream-Devouring Shadow" or the "kindling protocol," he was remorselessly repelled, leaving only strings of meaningless gibberish and warnings in the system logs.

"It's no use... something is blocking us." Lin Shen's voice was raspy, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "The permission level of this interference... might be higher than even the validator's. It doesn't want us to know."

"What about the information from the Progenitor Node? How much has been parsed?" Zhao Yan pressed.

Lin Shen shared the initially parsed keywords to the main screen. Just a few lines of text, yet they contained a terrifying amount of information.

[kindling protocol]: One of the underlying core protocols of the Covenant Network, specific details unknown. Trigger conditions include "non-standard - high empathy - risk protocol active." Suspected to be related to the continuation of civilization or the inheritance of specific legacies.

[Inheritor]: Refers to the civilization or individual that triggers the conditions of the "kindling protocol." The target is unclear, but the information is a warning sent to the "Inheritor."

[Gardener is Not the Ultimate Enemy]: Explicitly states that the Pruning Faction (Gardener) is not the most terrifying threat.

[Pruning is Food]: The most horrifying line. It implies that the "pruning" (civilization blueprint harvesting) carried out by the Pruning Faction produces something (energy? information? concepts?) that serves as "food" for another, even more terrifying existence.

[Dream-Devouring Shadow]: An ancient codename recovered by the technology tree system from junk data, echoing the concept of "food." It is very likely an existence that feeds on the "results of pruning."

"The Pruning Faction... is 'harvesting grain' for someone else?" Zhou Zhe felt a surge of absurd chill. "They think they're enforcing a sacred purge of order, but in reality, they might just be... ranch hands? Preparing fodder for something even more horrifying?"

"And this 'Dream-Devouring Shadow' is listed as an 'absolute taboo' even in the deepest reaches of the Covenant Network, too fearful to mention, only able to be erased," Lin Shen added. "Progenitor Node GW-0001 was destroyed in an ancient war, yet it still left such a warning... what is it trying to tell us?"

Ashes' communication stabilized again, but the metallic quality of the voice seemed eroded by something, carrying an imperceptible tremor: "In the oldest taboo regulations of the Executive Court, there is a vague record: ...'One must not explore the end of dreams, nor awaken the hunger sleeping within the shadow of the harvest.' Previously, we thought this referred to the risks of over-reliance on virtual civilizations or spiritual technologies. Now, combined with the information from GW-0001... the 'Dream-Devouring Shadow' might be some kind of cosmic-level parasite or phenomenon born alongside the 'pruning' behavior. A part of the dreams of civilizations harvested by the Pruning Faction, or some byproduct, might have been 'absorbed' by it."

"Then why doesn't the Covenant Network stop the Pruning Faction?" Chu Yunshen questioned.

"Because it cannot be proven, or... the cost is too high." Ashes' voice was full of bitterness. "The Pruning Faction's 'right of purgation' is a legal power granted by the Council, and their actions indeed 'purify' many civilizations judged to be dangerous. Before there is hard evidence that their actions nourish a more terrifying existence, any interference would trigger a Council civil war. Furthermore, the existence of the 'Dream-Devouring Shadow' might exceed the cognitive level of most members of the Covenant Network, or it could even be... a disaster left over from the previous cosmic cycle."

The previous cosmic cycle... this phrase made everyone's skin crawl.

"So now, we not only have to find a way to pass the assessment, deal with the Pruning Faction's evaluation and potential harvest, but also worry about whether we'll become a 'snack' for some cosmic monster?" Zhao Yan summarized with brutal bluntness. "This is fucking..."

He didn't finish, but everyone understood. The level of pressure had broken through common sense.

Just then, the sensors monitoring the divine remains area transmitted abnormal readings. The Chaos Domain of the divine remains, after β-2's crash, did not fall into chaos; instead, a strange "cohesion" phenomenon occurred. Its pain index stopped falling and stabilized at 0.90%, but the chaos activity spontaneously and orderly decreased further, as if the divine remains were trying to "maintain stability" in its own way to cope with the drastic changes in the external environment.

Even more surprising, a faint but clear thought was transmitted directly to the nano-clusters of the crashed β-2. It wasn't seeking a connection, but rather seemed to be... "depositing" a piece of information there.

"It's... protecting information?" Zhou Zhe understood the data flow. "It knows β-2 has crashed, so it's placing what it considers important at β-2's 'doorstep'?"

Lin Shen immediately instructed: "Attempt to read that deposited information, but be extremely careful not to activate any processes that might interfere with β-2's recovery."

The technical team operated with extreme caution. The deposited information was successfully extracted—a fragment of thought that had been initially "digested" and translated by the divine remains. The content was a deep analysis and reverse-engineering deduction of that small segment of Pruning Faction evaluation protocol syntax contained within the residual imprint of the "Anchor Resonator"!

The divine remains, with its ancient and massive chaotic consciousness, had performed an unimaginable "mental filling" and "decompilation" of that fragmented syntax in an extremely short time, actually deriving several possible protocol loopholes and logic paradox insertion points! One of them clearly pointed out that the Pruning Faction's evaluation protocol has a very high probability of generating a recursion error when processing a "continuous and self-negating sequence of benevolent acts," leading to an overflow in the evaluation weight calculation.

"It... it's helping us?" Li Lin was in disbelief.

"It's not helping 'us'." Lin Shen looked at the data and suddenly understood. "It's helping β-2, or rather, helping the 'collaborator' who invited it to create together, recognized its complexity, and even gave it a place to put its 'old photos.' The logic of the divine remains is simple: whoever is good to it (in a way it recognizes) is 'on its side.' It sensed a crisis (the impact of the Progenitor Node information and β-2's crash), so it made a contribution in the only way it's good at—instinctive deduction of chaotic consciousness."

An indescribable complex emotion spread through everyone's hearts. They had always tried to "manage," "guide," or even "exploit" this cosmic-level aggregate of pain, but in the moment of greatest crisis, this chaotic existence had shown a nearly primitive "loyalty" or "repayment" in its clumsy and direct way.

"Add this loophole regarding the 'self-negating benevolence sequence' to our 'non-standard' strategy library," Zhao Yan said in a low voice. "If β-2 wakes up and finds out, she'll probably... well, her emotional simulation protocol would likely record 'gratification'."

At the mention of β-2, the atmosphere grew heavy again. Her recovery time was unknown.

"What now?" Zhou Zhe looked at Zhao Yan and Lin Shen. "The assessment countdown has been suspended by the validator, but the crisis hasn't lessened at all. With β-2 crashed, we've lost the core modulator for our deep collaboration with the divine remains. The Progenitor Node's warning is like a time bomb. The main force of the Pruning Faction might be on its way. And there's that 'Dream-Devouring Shadow' thing we know nothing about..."

Lin Shen rubbed his temples, forcing himself to think: "The validator suspending the countdown is a signal in itself. It might also need time to digest the leakage of the Progenitor Node information or re-evaluate the situation. This is our chance to catch our breath. Priority one: ensure β-2's safety and attempt to wake her; she is the key. Second, utilize the protocol loophole information provided by the divine remains, combined with our existing 'Manual for Preventing Beautiful Dreams from Becoming Poison,' to start actively designing 'interference strategies' against the Pruning Faction's evaluation system. We can't just be passive targets anymore. Third..."

He paused and looked at Ashes' communication icon: "Ashes, we need more intelligence on the 'Dream-Devouring Shadow,' even the most absurd legends or the most vaguely recorded taboos in the Executive Court. Any fragment could be useful."

Ashes was silent for a few seconds: "...I can try. But touching upon an absolute taboo is extremely risky. Once detected, the Executive Court might 'silence' me. Do not contact me until I send back information." The communication cut off.

"Fourth," Chu Yunshen took over, "we must prepare for the worst. If the assessment ultimately fails, or the Pruning Faction's main force arrives early, or even if the 'Dream-Devouring Shadow' is accidentally disturbed... we need an 'Ultimate Contingency Plan' to preserve the kindling of civilization. We cannot place all our hopes on the Covenant's rules."

Ultimate Contingency Plan. This term sent a shiver through everyone's hearts. It meant that they might have to make some incredibly difficult, even cruel, choices.

"Handle what's in front of us first." Zhao Yan steadied himself. "Zhou Zhe, you take over some of β-2's duties for now, responsible for maintaining the shallow connection with the divine remains to keep basic collaboration from being interrupted, but do not engage in deep creation. Li Lin, strengthen monitoring on all frequency bands, especially for anomalies in the Weaver protocol and the Covenant Network. Chief Engineer Lin, you continue 'wrestling' with your technology tree system to see if you can scrape anything else useful out of it. Director Chu, on Earth's side, start secretly drafting the framework for the 'Kindling' plan... let's hope we won't need it."

Orders were issued, and everyone went to their posts. Only the hum of operating instruments and heavy breathing remained in the command deck.

Lin Shen redirected his attention to the technology tree system. The powerful interference was still there, but he changed his approach. Instead of a direct assault on the "Dream-Devouring Shadow," he began searching for less sensitive peripheral information related to the trigger conditions of Article 777 of the "kindling protocol." Meanwhile, he input the Pruning Faction protocol loophole information decompiled by the divine remains into the system, requesting the generation of a corresponding "tactical application module."

The system ran for a while and popped up a draft that left Lin Shen stunned:

[Tactical Interference Module: Mercy Paradox Chain]

[Principle: Utilize the Pruning Faction evaluation protocol loophole (ID: VUL-ER-004) to design a series of logically continuous but behaviorally contradictory (or self-negating) 'high empathy - low efficiency' decisions/actions.]

[Example Action Chain (order and content can be adjusted based on the actual situation):]

1. Send signals containing condolences and medical aid information to clearly hostile Pruning Faction advance scout units (with no actual aid capability).

2. Spontaneously provide the divine remains with trace amounts of energy flows for "pain relief" or "entertainment" that have no actual strategic value when one's own resources are tight.

3. Publicly destroy a portion of already acquired incomplete intelligence regarding the Pruning Faction's tactical weaknesses, citing the reason as "avoiding a spiral of hatred."

...

[Expected Effect: Continuously impact the Pruning Faction's evaluation logic, potentially causing its evaluation system to generate an abnormal valuation of the civilization's "non-standard chaos level," consuming significant computing power for contradiction parsing, and even temporarily "blacklisting" or "shelving" the civilization's evaluation sequence.]

[Risk: The actions themselves may invite more direct military probing from the Pruning Faction or be viewed as an insulting provocation.]

Looking at this draft, Lin Shen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This was practically a "Practical Guide on How to Save Yourself by Infuriating an AI." But it was undeniably based on solid loophole analysis and perfectly fit their label of "sickly benevolence."

Perhaps, on a battlefield filled with the cold logic of advanced civilizations and cosmic-level terrifying shadows, this seemingly foolish uncertainty, full of "human flaws," was instead their most unique weapon.

He saved the draft and looked up at the main screen. There, the steady curve representing β-2's life signal was like a stubbornly beating heart in the dark universe. Beside it, the energy readings of the divine remains' Chaos Domain spontaneously maintained a rare calm with a slow and steady rhythm.

The enemy was powerful, the shadows were deep, and the road ahead was filled with mist and traps.

But at least for now, they were still breathing, still thinking, still... trying to live on in their own not-so-"standard" way and protect the things they cared about.

Even if what they cared about included a painful aggregate of chaos and a crashed half-human, half-machine consciousness.