141: interference

Three elite reconnaissance teams, composed of annihilators and specialized sky patrollers, infiltrated the eastern interference zone, where command broadcasts were blocked, like invisible ghosts, silently and stealthily.

Upon entering this area, the environment immediately changed.

The concentration of life source essence in the air was higher, even forming a faint green mist.

The ground's fungal mat no longer pulsed unconsciously but rose and fell as if it had a heartbeat.

The postures of the construct creatures that had entered standby mode also became more... devout?

As if they were prostrating themselves before an unseen entity.

The annihilators activated their Optical Phase Camouflage to the extreme, moving like distorted light and shadow through the strange metal trees and pulsating flesh carpets.

The sky patrollers hovered high in the sky, carefully scanning below, while resisting the omnipresent information interference.

They transmitted the reconnaissance data back in real-time.

"Master, the interference source has been confirmed!"

Spirit Eye's voice carried the excitement of a new discovery:

"It's not a single source! There are many, many of them! They are distributed underground in this area, like... like small biological servers! They form a distributed network, collectively resisting our commands!"

On the holographic sandbox, countless dense, pale red light points, like a neural network, lit up within the eastern interference zone.

"Just as I thought."

Brian looked at the complex network structure, "Have you found their core exchange node? Or, is there any node that looks particularly special?"

"Analyzing energy flow vectors... Wait!" Spirit Eye suddenly exclaimed:

"One of the nodes! Its energy fluctuation... is similar to the core life source essence we are researching at the base! Although much weaker, the characteristic code is very close!"

On the sandbox, a node located towards the center of the interference zone was highlighted, its glow deeper than other nodes, and its pulsating rhythm carried a unique cadence.

"Lock onto it." A sharp glint flashed in Brian's eyes, "This could be a regional sub-core, or a connection point or pathway to the true main core."

He pondered for a moment before issuing new instructions:

"Reconnaissance team, slowly approach this node, collect more detailed data, but absolutely do not expose yourselves."

"Spirit Eye, concentrate computing power, try to use this node's characteristic code as a springboard for deeper authority cracking. See if we can bypass the distributed network's collective defense and establish a direct connection with this pathway."

"Yes, Master! Hehe, watch Spirit Eye make a single-point breakthrough!"

Spirit Eye rubbed her hands together, and the main body's computing resources began to shift towards this newly discovered critical node.

The conquest did not stop due to resistance; instead, it became more precise and strategic.

A silent infiltration war on the information and network level quietly escalated on this alien land, where life and death coexisted.

Commands focused, computing power surged.

The Spirit Eye main body acted like an invisible drill, concentrating its firepower on the marked special node.

Pale blue data streams flashed frantically on the tactical sandbox, clashing fiercely with the pale red light points representing the enemy network.

"Interference strength is increasing! They are collectively defending!"

The Ling Tong Main Avatar's voice carried a hint of focused tension:

"This node... is indeed unusual! It is actively changing encryption protocols, trying to shake off our lock!"

Brian stared at the flickering highlighted node on the sandbox, his eyes sharp: "Can you keep up with its changes?"

"A bit troublesome, but no problem!" Spirit Eye's tone became light again, with the excitement of a challenging problem: "Its protocol library is vast, but the changes are regular! Watch Spirit Eye give it a 'protocol prediction'! Hmph, trying to run?"

On the sandbox, the blue data threads representing Spirit Eye's cracking progress no longer passively chased but began to anticipate the node's encryption changes, wrapping around it as if clairvoyant.

"Success! We have established an unstable one-way data channel!"

A few minutes later, Spirit Eye cheered:

"Although we haven't obtained higher authority yet, we can now receive its surface information flow!"

A large amount of data began to pour in, and after Spirit Eye's initial screening, it was presented to Brian.

This information was chaotic and primitive, full of records like biological instincts:

...threat... foreign command... overwrite... learn... metal construct... energy signature... record... core... call... no response... silent... survival... must adapt... must evolve... east... Sanctuary... ancient guardians... inviolable...

The fragments of information pieced together a vague picture:

This distributed network indeed possessed a certain collective intelligence.

It was passively learning everything about Brian's army.

At the same time, it held extremely high reverence for an existence to its due east, referred to as "Sanctuary" or "ancient guardians."

And that core seemed to be in an abnormal silent state.

"Sanctuary... ancient guardians..."

Brian mused: "It seems that's the key. Can you locate this 'Sanctuary'?"

"There are no specific coordinates in the information flow, but all information about it carries a strong directional indication, and the energy flow also vaguely converges towards a direction slightly northeast of due east."

Spirit Eye marked a vague vector line on the sandbox, passing through the interference zone and pointing towards a deeper unknown.

"Very good. Reconnaissance team, adjust your direction and proceed cautiously along this vector line." Brian ordered:

"Spirit Eye, maintain the data channel, continue monitoring, and try injecting some harmless 'inquiry' information packets, such as 'historical records' or 'functional descriptions' about the 'Sanctuary,' to see if we can induce them to reveal more information."

"Understood! Commencing 'information bait' deployment!" Spirit Eye responded playfully.

Meanwhile, about 3,200 kilometers east of Anvil Base, an elite reconnaissance team was quietly advancing according to new instructions, following the direction of the energy flow.

The leading annihilator flickered like a wraith through the twisted metal forest.

The sky patrollers scanned at the lowest power from high altitude to avoid attracting attention.

Suddenly, the leading annihilator stopped, its energy sensor detecting a trace of anomaly.

It issued a warning signal towards a depression slightly ahead and to the side, which looked no different from other places, covered in thick purple moss.

The team immediately entered maximum alert, dispersing and concealing themselves.

A subtle humming sound, almost blending with the environment, came from deep within the depression.

Immediately after, the moss and fungal mat in the center of the depression peeled open to both sides like living things, revealing an opening about five meters in diameter.

The cave was not pitch black but emitted a soft, pulsating emerald light.