204: Chapter 203 The Web of Meaning, The Witness of the Green Ivy and the Despair of Muteness
The last ripple of the security scan swept across the platform.
“Scan complete. No physical or energy threats found under standard definitions,” the abacus's announcement was calm and steady. “Demonstration countdown resumed: 35 minutes remaining. Please continue.”
The countdown digits began to tick again. But at this moment, in the hearts of everyone on the platform, it was no longer a technical audit clock, but a potential detonation countdown.
“Start the device, preheat!” Lin Shen ordered in a low voice.
The Emotional Resonance Chamber emitted a low hum, and a soft halo lit up. Great Strength adjusted the Spectrum Generator, and a cyan-blue light curtain shrouded the core area. The air began to fill with an “atmosphere” that was calming yet faintly invigorating. The silver glow of that moonlight orchid rippled along with it, intertwining with the light curtain.
Zhou Zhe stood before the core of the device, closed his eyes, and exerted his full power to drive the Poem Markings. At this moment, he was no longer merely “seeing” emotions, but attempting to become a “guide.” In his conscious vision, the emotional colors of everyone on the platform were like streams—Lin Shen's “Gold of Decisiveness,” Great Strength's “Brown of Focus,” the “Silver-Blue of Precise Calculation” transmitted by β-2 through the remote link, and even those cold but extremely regular “Grey Lines of Observation” from the abacus's sensors... and his own heart's “Green of Steadfastness” and “Pale Purple of Apprehension.”
He recalled the whispers of the Tranquil Garden Gardener regarding “Tiny Meanings.” He began to “recite” in his heart—not verses, but specific “Meaning Anchors”:
“The 48th log entry recorded by β-2 to understand ‘meaninglessness’...”
“The Potato Chief's pickiness over the design drafts for the Potato Culture Museum...”
“The out-of-tune little tune Great Strength hums while adjusting the flavor of the chili sauce...”
“The momentary flash of brightness when Chu Yunshen finds a favorable backdoor among ten thousand pages of clauses...”
“The subtle movement of Ashes subconsciously shielding Zhao Yan's flank during battle...”
“The abacus... the abacus earnestly recording the data stream of the potted plant's growth...”
These insignificant “fragments of meaning” belonging to survival and existence itself were gently extracted and amplified along with his Poem Markings fluctuations and the resonance of the device. They were injected into the converging collective emotional energy field not as energy, but as “colors” and “tones.” The “Restrained Joy” baseline emotion output by the device was tempered by these “meaning fragments,” becoming heavy, complex, and full of authentic life texture—no longer a simple simulated output.
β-2's voice rang out rapidly in the channel: “The emotional energy field is converging and strengthening according to the scheduled curve... Unusual warping detected in the space outside the platform! Coordinates locked—it's a Stealth Transport! It is estimated to arrive at the platform's critical range simultaneously with the demonstration's preset climax!”
“It's here.” Lin Shen clenched his fists. “Everyone, keep the emotional output stable! Zhou Zhe, get ready to receive the ‘goods’!”
Great Strength pushed the power of the “atmosphere” module to the safety limit. Extremely fine golden filaments representing “Unity” and “Resilience” began to swim within the cyan-blue light curtain.
Outside the platform, the Stealth Transport slid into its designated position like a distorted shadow, silent and soundless. The highly purified ember encapsulated within it—a dark crystal of the Ultimate Despair of an unknown civilization—began to be activated by the preset triggers, searching for the pre-programmed “Fuse”: strong, converging collective emotions that leaned toward the negative or chaotic.
It “smelled” the surging emotional ocean on the platform. The intensity was sufficient! The convergence was perfect! But... the nature?
The trigger mechanism of the ember experienced a momentary disorder. What it detected was not the expected fear, anxiety, chaos, or arrogance, but a complex hybrid it could not understand: there was tension, but it was anchored by steadfast will; there was pressure, but it was resolved by focused action; there was vigilance toward the unknown, but it was warmly wrapped in “Tiny Meanings”; even a cold, pure “observation” itself was included in this harmonious “field.”
This emotional field was like a dense and elastic net, enveloping the ember rather than being a powder keg waiting to be ignited.
The ember attempted to execute its detonation program, frantically spreading the concept of “Ultimate Despair” to pollute and annihilate all consciousness it touched. But when its “pollution wave” struck the emotional network woven with “Tiny Meanings” by Zhou Zhe, a strange reaction occurred.
Those “insignificant” meanings were like starlight on the network nodes; though small, they truly existed, stubbornly proving that “existence” itself was not nothingness. The pollution of despair tried to declare that “everything is meaningless,” but these star-like “meaning fragments” silently retorted: “Perhaps it is meaningless on a grand scale, but at this moment, this thing, this feeling, has meaning to me.”
This was not a logical confrontation, but a collision of the essence of existence.
The spread of the ember was delayed, divided, and locally neutralized by countless tiny “starlights of meaning.” Guided by Zhou Zhe and bolstered by Great Strength's “atmosphere,” the Emotional Resonance Chamber at the core of the device began to actively “absorb” and “transform” the despair fluctuations, which had been greatly weakened after being divided. It treated them as another kind of extreme “emotional fuel,” feeding them into the Poetic Power Generation transformation process. Although the efficiency was extremely low and it placed a massive load on the device, causing it to emit groans of being overwhelmed, it was indeed happening.
Above the platform, the invisible clash stirred up spatial ripples visible to the naked eye. The abacus's sensor array frantically recorded the data.
“High-intensity unregistered conceptual pollution attack detected!” For the first time, a hurried tone appeared in the abacus's announcement. “Detected that the demonstration device is performing unpreset, high-load conceptual-level interaction and energy transformation! This complies with Article 7 of the Emergency Observer Code: When an illegal conceptual attack against the observed civilization is observed, the observer has the right to record and...”
Its words were not yet finished.
At that moment, Zhao Yan's communication forced its way in, accompanied by the noise of explosions and the roar of Ashes: “Interception successful! We remotely overloaded and detonated some of the engines of the transport heading toward the platform, interfering with its final positioning! But some of its residual ember was still launched by inertia! We are pursuing and cleaning it up! Additionally, the transport heading toward GW-019 was knocked off course by the Stardust drifts we guided, missing its optimal detonation window—GW-019 has received the highest alert! The transport at the Cradle ruins coordinates... self-destructed, leaving no clues!”
Almost simultaneously, Zhou Zhe let out a muffled groan as his nose bled again. The light of the Poem Markingss around his eyes flickered violently, becoming unstable. He was overexerted. The silver glow of the potted moonlight orchid suddenly dimmed, and a hint of withered yellow appeared at the edges of its petals. The emotional network experienced a tremor.
And the residual core of the ember seized upon this tremor. Gathering its final strength, it turned into a pitch-black spike of despair, capable of annihilating ordinary consciousness, and lunged toward Zhou Zhe—the most critical weaver of this “Network of Meaning,” and the individual bearing the “mark of life order” that it loathed.
It was a critical moment!
The dim mark on the moonlight orchid in Zhou Zhe's arms suddenly flared! It wasn't driven by Zhou Zhe, but the mark itself, as if triggered by the ember's lethal attack on the “Poem Pattern Gardener,” automatically activated a certain guardian mechanism. A thin, pale green light shield, containing endless order of growth and quiet vitality, instantly enveloped Zhou Zhe.
The Despair Spike struck the light shield and rapidly dissolved, like snow hitting a warm sun. The shield shattered along with it, and the potted moonlight orchid completely turned into flying Ashes.
The “Limited Protection” from the Tranquil Garden had been used up.
Zhou Zhe slumped down and was caught by Great Strength; his consciousness was blurred, but his life was not in danger.
Having lost its core target, the residual ember finally dissipated completely under the continuous wearing down of the “Network of Meaning” and the transformation of the device. The abnormal spatial ripples above the platform subsided.
The demonstration device was emitting blue smoke and was overloaded in many places, but... miraculously, it was still running, outputting emotional energy transformation readings that, while unstable, truly existed and had just exceeded the baseline value by 30%.
The scene was a mess, and a dead silence fell.
Only the abacus's sensors were still faithfully working. Its log updated with a final entry:
“Illegal conceptual attack event concluded. Attack source characteristics match the joint operation mode of the Pruning Faction and the Dream-Devouring Shadow. The observed civilization ‘Cradle’ successfully resisted using unannounced composite technologies (Advanced Application of Emotional Poetics, Consciousness Guidance Technology, suspected Ancient Sages's Protection). The demonstration's technical goals were partially achieved under extreme interference. Observation records sealed; will be submitted to The Council and the Arbitration Tribunal.”
“Supplemental Record: The potted plant (Species: moonlight orchid, mutated) carried by individual ‘Zhou Zhe’ was destroyed in the event. Its life fluctuations in the final moments resonated with the ‘Tranquil Garden’ mark and the emotional defense network. Reaction data for this species in extreme environments has been recorded.”
“Audit Conclusion (Demonstration Section): The on-site miniature demonstration of technical feasibility reached the minimum output standard despite interference from force majeure. Conclusion: Passed.”
The abacus's voice sounded one last time, returning to absolute calm:
“Demonstration concluded. The observation team will withdraw. The final deadline for the Technical Package submission remains unchanged. Please repair the platform facilities as soon as possible.”
Its sensor array light went out, marking the temporary departure of the observer.
On the platform, the exhausted group looked at each other.
They had won. They had stopped an insidious composite attack, saved the platform and GW-019, and the technical demonstration had barely passed.
But the cost was clearly visible: Zhou Zhe was unconscious from overexertion, the moonlight orchid mark had dissipated, a protection from the Tranquil Garden had been used, the device was severely damaged, and more unannounced technical details and connections to the Ancient Sages had been exposed.
And the enemies, the Pruning Faction and the Dream-Devouring Shadow, had not suffered any vital damage.
Lin Shen looked at the unconscious Zhou Zhe, then toward the direction where the abacus had left. He knew that once the report reached the Arbitration Tribunal, especially the Ninth Seat, it would inevitably stir up new waves.
Also, was the self-destructed transport at the Cradle ruins coordinates really just a self-destruction?
He bent down and picked up the only remnant of the moonlight orchid from beside Zhou Zhe—a bit of pale Green Ashes that had not yet completely dissipated—and held it in his palm.
Stardust's orb of light quietly emerged, its tone carrying a sense of emotion: “The Gardener's protection is exhausted, but the ‘Poem Pattern Gardener’ mark remains. Children, you... have done better than we old folks imagined. Using ‘trivialities’ to combat ‘nothingness’... perhaps that is where the true resilience of a civilization lies.”
In the distance, the lights of the Cradle sparkled gently in the sea of stars. The Potato Guild might be celebrating the success of the negotiations, the cafeteria might be developing a new dish called “Stardust Light,” and β-2 was certainly recording all the data from tonight—including a simulated emotion called “Lingering Fear” that it had “calculated” for itself.
War never stops, but life goes on too. And to keep living and remember those “Tiny Meanings” is perhaps itself the most powerful mockery of all despair.
Lin Shen carefully put away the Green Ashes in his hand.
“Let's go back,” he said. “Things... aren't over yet.”