165: Chapter 164 Blueprint Stripped Away and Painful Outburst

System Status Snapshot (1.5 hours post-assessment passing)

Countdown to Pruning Faction main force arrival: 69 hours 30 minutes.

Defense Knowledge Base decryption progress: 18%. Core threat entries under analysis.

divine remains 'Painful Deflagration' protocol analysis progress: Initial modeling complete. Risk level assessment: Extreme (to the divine remains itself and surrounding space).

Cradle Node permission upgrade: Limited administrative rights activated; can invoke 40% of the node's basic energy and some defensive web-weaving protocols.

Human-divine remains Union status: Provisional member of the Weaver protocol (observation period), granted basic access to the Galactic Public Channel (receive-only).

Inside the command cabin, the atmosphere was even more solemn than during the assessment. If the assessment was a thesis defense, then what was coming was actual combat with live blades and guns, and a massive disparity in strength. Time was being calculated in minutes.

Lin Shen, Chu Yunshen, Zhao Yan, Zhou Zhe, Li Lin, and β-2—who had just recovered most functions and whose Sarah traits were more active in her consciousness—formed the emergency tactical core group. On the holographic projection, three information streams were highlighted at the top:

The first was a core threat overview from the defense knowledge base—[Civilization Blueprint Stripping Array].

“This isn't a conventional fleet battle.” Lin Shen pointed at the parsed text and dynamic diagrams, his voice dry. “The knowledge base describes that the flagships and capital ships of the Pruning Faction's 'Gardener' units are equipped with a giant device called a 'Civilization Dialysis Prism.' They don't fire physical munitions or energy beams for destructive strikes.”

On the screen, a simulation showed several Pruning Faction warships, regular in shape and full of geometric beauty, deploying in specific positions. Their hulls released invisible multi-dimensional information fields that could be marked by special sensors. These fields intertwined to form a massive 'Prism Array' enveloping the target area.

“Once the array is activated,” Chu Yunshen continued explaining with a grim expression, “it performs ultra-high-precision 'scanning' and 'deconstruction' of civilization creations, energy forms, and even conscious activity within the array. Its goal isn't to destroy matter, but to strip and extract the 'information blueprints' from individual and collective consciousness that constitute their uniqueness, creativity, and future potential—including cultural symbols, technological inspiration, artistic imagination, social experiment models, and even the collective yearning for a 'bright future.' After being stripped, the physical entities might still exist, but they will lose all 'soul' and 'direction,' becoming hollow shells or energy bodies following simple physical laws.”

Li Lin shuddered. “Like... taking the color, composition, and mood out of a painting, leaving only the canvas?”

“More thorough than that.” Zhou Zhe stared at the complex schematic. “The knowledge base mentions that the stripped 'blueprints' are encoded, compressed, and transmitted back to the Pruning Faction's rear 'Order Archive.' The remaining 'blank entities,' if they possess energy or material value, are 'recycled' by subsequent forces. If the value is low, they are left to drift or annihilate. It’s an efficient, 'civilized,' and highly profitable form of plunder. Compared to this, the logic bombs and anchor resonators we encountered before are practically toys.”

Zhao Yan’s knuckles turned white. “Damn it, they steal your soul and then use your corpse? Those bastards!”

“The defense is even trickier.” β-2 joined the analysis, her voice a mix of calm and a hint of Sarah's gravity. “According to the knowledge base, conventional energy shields, physical barriers, and even some dimensional space-warping technologies have limited effect against the 'Blueprint Stripping Array.' This is because it operates on the 'information state' and 'conceptual layer.' Most civilizations that have successfully resisted or interfered with the array in history possessed one of these traits: a highly unified collective consciousness firewall (though easily assimilated as a whole), an extremely chaotic and hard-to-parse consciousness structure (like certain nebula organisms), or... possession of some 'non-standard information virus' that can contaminate or disrupt its dialysis logic.”

“Non-standard information virus...” Lin Shen looked at the second highlighted piece of information—the 'Painful Deflagration' protocol data provided by the divine remains.

The second was the divine remains' 'dangerous trump card.'

β-2 pulled up a preliminary analysis model. It was a set of extremely complex and dangerous chaotic energy conversion protocols. Simply put, the divine remains could, in a short period, actively gather and compress the core and most intense 'pain' energy within its vast Chaos Domain and perform a one-time, controlled (or semi-controlled) chain conversion release.

Model simulations showed that what this 'deflagration' released would not be simple explosive energy, but a highly specialized information-energy hybrid torrent carrying all the 'pain essence' and 'chaotic attributes' of the divine remains. It was sufficient to create an 'absolutely unparsable' chaotic information pollution zone over a vast area. Any array or technology attempting fine information dialysis within it would suffer severe interference or even backlash.

“It’s like... throwing a whole bucket of paint mixed with every color, highly corrosive, and full of random noise into a precision spectrometer.” Zhou Zhe tried to understand it as an engineer.

“And the cost?” Zhao Yan went straight to the heart of the matter.

β-2 paused for a moment. “According to model projections, executing the 'Painful Deflagration' protocol will cause massive consumption and irreversible damage to the divine remains itself. Its Chaos Domain scale could permanently shrink by 30% to 50%, and its core consciousness would fall into an extremely long period of weakness, possibly even losing some 'memories' or 'traits.' In the worst-case scenario, its consciousness structure might partially collapse due to the inability to withstand the conversion load. This is indeed a 'life-risking' strike.”

Everyone fell silent. By handing this over, the divine remains had essentially placed half its life in their hands.

“It trusts us.” Zhou Zhe said softly, his feelings complicated. “It trusts that we can find a way... to use its power without completely destroying it.”

“Or, it just doesn't care anymore.” Chu Yunshen sighed. “Imprisoned and tortured for perhaps eons, rather than continuing to be harvested as a 'specimen' by the Pruning Faction, it would rather 'bite' them spectacularly.”

The third was their own pitiful 'hand.'

Aside from the Cradle Node they had just gained limited, primarily defensive access to, and the pioneer—a research vessel that was a mere 'dinghy' on an interstellar scale—all they had were their own 'non-standard' thoughts that hadn't been tested in actual combat, and concepts like the 'Empathy Confusion Coding' and 'Mercy Paradox Chain' that β-2 was developing, which sounded more like psychological warfare than military operations.

Time ticked away second by second. The massive disparity in power hung over everyone's hearts like a shadow.

“We can't fight them head-on.” Zhao Yan was the first to break free from the oppression, his military instincts kicking in. “We must play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. Their array is powerful, but it takes time to start up, requires stable positioning, and needs to 'envelop' the target. What do we have? First, we know they are coming and roughly when. Second, we have the 'pollution card' of the divine remains. Third, we are familiar with this area, especially the divine remains' Chaos Domain. Fourth, we... don't play by the rules.”

“Be specific,” Lin Shen urged.

“My thinking is,” Zhao Yan marked several areas on the holographic star map, “don't fight a defensive positional war; fight a 'pollution guerrilla war' and 'cognitive interference war.' Use the divine remains' Chaos Domain as home-field cover and a pollution source. Before their array deploys, or during the deployment process, use every means possible to harass, mislead, and pollute their perception and judgment. Isn't that what β-2's 'Confusion Code' and 'Paradox Chain' are for? We want their 'Dialysis Prism' aimed at a pile of garbled code and self-contradictory signals, or... aimed at themselves!”

“Decoys?” Chu Yunshen’s eyes lit up.

“Exactly! Use part of the Cradle Node's computing power, combined with the energy signatures we obtained from the divine remains, to create a large number of 'decoy targets' carrying fake 'high-value blueprint' signals and scatter them throughout the chaos zone. At the same time, use our new Weaver provisional member permissions to target the 'junk information bands' of the Galactic Public Channel (even if it's just receiving) with 'leaked news' processed by 'Confusion Coding' about 'unstable high-dimensional ruins discovered in the Cradle area' or 'agitated unknown civilization heritage.' This will further disrupt their preliminary reconnaissance and judgment.” Zhao Yan's ideas became clearer and clearer. “Core objective: delay, interfere with, and drain the efficiency and precision of their array deployment. Buy the best timing and position for the divine remains' 'deflagration,' and... create conditions for any 'follow-up' we might have.”

“Follow-up?” Zhou Zhe asked.

Zhao Yan looked at Lin Shen and β-2. “The two of you—one manages the technology tree most likely to dig up a miracle, and the other is becoming a super information warfare expert. In 71 hours, besides setting tactics and placing decoys, can you get me something that can 'twist the knife' from the knowledge base, the divine remains data, and those pitiful permissions in the Covenant Network? Even if it's just something that makes their array 'stutter' or overloads a capital ship's 'prism' for a split second?”

Lin Shen and β-2 looked at each other (if β-2 had eyes).

“Deciphering the knowledge base faster needs more computing power. The new Cradle Node permissions might be able to call on some.” β-2 calculated rapidly. “Based on the energy structure data of the divine remains, combined with the technology tree system's reverse-engineering models for 'information-state attacks,' there is a possibility of developing a 'Directional Chaotic Information Pulse.' But the success rate is below 35% and requires high cooperation from the divine remains for testing.”

“I'll handle the communication with the divine remains.” Zhou Zhe volunteered; he felt his connection with β-2 and the divine remains was the closest.

“I'll coordinate Earth's resources to fully support your information warfare and decoy manufacturing,” Chu Yunshen said.

“Li Lin, you’re responsible for monitoring all external signals, especially any preliminary reconnaissance by the Pruning Faction, and... keep an eye out for any news from Ashes.” Zhao Yan assigned the tasks. “Now, meeting adjourned! Execute immediately! We have less than 70 hours!”

The team went into high gear again, everyone knowing this might be the countdown to the survival of their civilization.

Countdown remaining: 68 hours 10 minutes.

Knowledge base decryption progress: 35% (unlocked more info on 'Dialysis Prism' frequency bands and array weak points).

Weaponization projection for 'Directional Chaotic Information Pulse' initiated; joint modeling by technology tree system and β-2.

Decoy manufacturing plan 'Mirage' launched; Cradle Node computing power diverted.

Preparation for broadcasting to the Galactic Public Channel junk information band; content meticulously 'compiled' by β-2 and Sarah, striving for a hint of credible temptation within the absurdity.

Through the Silent Veil, Zhou Zhe once again connected deeply with the divine remains. He transmitted the threat of the Pruning Faction, the terror of the array, and the team's tactical concepts through the most direct thoughts and imagery. He emphasized the risks of the 'Painful Deflagration' protocol and asked the divine remains if there was a more precise, less costly way to assist in interference or attack.

The consciousness of the divine remains sent back a dull wave, like the grinding of giant stones. It understood the threat and felt the 'reluctance to let it sacrifice itself' that Zhou Zhe transmitted. After a long while, a more refined but also more fragmented data stream arrived. it was about identifying and independently exciting several specific 'pain resonators' within its Chaos Domain. These 'resonators' were like special 'vortices' in its ocean of pain; exciting a few of them individually could produce localized, more directional 'pain pollution ripples.' While far less powerful than a total 'deflagration,' they were highly controllable, low-consumption, and could be used multiple times, like precision 'stingers.'

“It’s... teaching us how to use its 'pain' as a weapon...” Zhou Zhe’s heart was heavy, filled with both the joy of gaining a new tool and an unspeakable sense of pity.

“At the same time, it provided a key piece of information.” β-2 joined the communication. “The divine remains perceives that the 'golden light cluster' inside it has a strong 'rejection' reaction to the 'order assimilation radiation' that the 'Dialysis Prism' might emit. Suggestion: when creating decoys or performing information interference, try to simulate or carry trace amounts of the 'golden light cluster's' resonance characteristics. It might have a miraculous effect on attracting or disrupting the Pruning Faction's array.”

The golden light cluster... that bit of 'erroneous' but different light from ancient times.

Lin Shen immediately incorporated this characteristic into the weaponization projections and decoy design parameters.

Just as the various preparations were in full swing, unexpected news came from Li Lin.

“Captain! Chief Engineer Lin! I've received an... extremely strange encrypted signal! It's not from the Pruning Faction, nor the Covenant general channel. The signal is very weak, using multiple layers of dynamic frequency hopping and disguises, but one segment of the checksum... has a 92% match with the emergency contact backdoor signature Ashes left us!”

Ashes?! There’s finally news from him?

“Decrypt it! Fast!” Zhao Yan ordered.

The signal was quickly deciphered. The content was brief and full of static, as if the sender had sent it hastily in an extremely dangerous and unstable environment:

“Humans... listen... Pruning Faction main force 'Scythe of the Gardener' fleet confirmed, flagship 'Unifier.' Internal intel... fleet carries... 'Pre-loaded Harvest Protocol'... target area parameters... partially based on... your assessment period data! Be careful... their array... might have already... performed... adaptive pre-tuning... for your 'non-standard' patterns! Repeat... they are not... coming blindly! Also... inside the Covenant... there are 'Acquiescers'... validator... under immense pressure... cannot... provide more... help... take care... if... you can survive... the clues to the 'Dream-Devouring Shadow'... are... deep in... the Pruning... 'Archive'... bzzzt...”

The signal cut out.

Inside the command cabin, the little bit of hope that had just risen was completely extinguished by these words, replaced by an even deeper chill.

The Pruning Faction wasn't just coming; they were coming with a 'Pre-loaded Protocol' optimized specifically for their traits!

There were factions within the Covenant acquiescing to or even supporting this action!

The validator might have been sidelined!

And Ashes seemed to have paid a great price just to transmit this intelligence.

“Pre-loaded Harvest Protocol...” Lin Shen chewed on the words. “They used our reaction data from the assessment as a 'training set' to optimize their attack algorithms? Our 'non-standard' nature actually became the whetstone for them to sharpen their scythe?”

A sense of absurd and cold despair gripped everyone's throats.

The enemy is more powerful than you imagined, more cunning, and has already studied you.

How can this battle even be fought?

Zhao Yan stared fixedly at the dwindling countdown on the screen, the bloodshot veins in his eyes like burning flames. After a long while, he said in a raspy voice, word by word:

“So... what?”

“They studied us? Fine! Then we'll show them... a 'new chapter' that wasn't written in their research report!”

“The plan remains unchanged! Accelerate execution! Also, β-2, Lin Shen, find a way for me! In their 'Pre-loaded Protocol'... bury a 'surprise' for me! Use our most 'non-standard' way possible!”