148: yield

Inside the emerald cave, time seemed to stand still.

The authority fluctuation emitted by the exploration robot was not a dazzling light explosion, but a deeper, more fundamental pressure.

It was like an invisible king's scepter, forcefully piercing into the core of that violent mental impact!

"Buzz—!"

There was no loud noise, only a deep hum that pierced the soul's origin, caused by the violent friction at the rule level.

The mental tsunami, full of wild devouring desire, emitted by the flesh and blood aggregate, upon touching this authority fluctuation, was like a tide hitting an invisible dam, rolling back with a roar!

Its dozens of eerie green eyes simultaneously contracted violently, reflecting the outline of the exploration unit, which radiated majestic brilliance.

Its massive and hideous body froze for the first time; the movements of the wriggling flesh and wildly dancing roots became stiff, as if encountering a suppression ingrained in its instincts, coming from the apex of the life sequence.

"Roar...?"

What it let out was no longer a pure roar; the sound was mixed with incredible confusion, a tremor originating from its life level, and a hint of offended fury.

It tried to re-gather its strength, eerie green light flashed wildly across its body, and its roots fiercely plunged into the crystalline ground below, drawing out more massive life source essence, wanting to crush this existence that dared to usurp its authority.

However, the pressure of that authority was like a persistent curse, firmly imprinted in its perception.

The process of it mobilizing power became incredibly difficult, as if the entire cave, and even the countless life streams connected to the cave, were subtly rejecting its commands, instead leaning towards obeying the fluctuations emitted by the outsider.

Just then, on the surface of the exploration robot, an extremely subtle, yet eerie purple light, which made all the eyes of the flesh and blood aggregate suddenly shrink to pinprick size, quietly lit up.

[Life Sequence Disintegration Ray]! Preparation for activation!

The light was not dazzling, but it exuded an absolute sense of finality, aimed at the very form of life's existence.

It locked onto several critical nodes of the flesh and blood aggregate's energy circulation, like the fingertip of death, gently tapping its vital point.

All movements of the flesh and blood aggregate completely froze.

Fury, confusion, and unwillingness were ultimately covered by a deeper, instinctive fear of extinction.

Its massive body began to tremble slightly, the fierce light in its eerie green eyes rapidly receded, replaced by an incredible... awe and submission.

The energy fluctuations around its body receded like a tide, and the wildly dancing roots and tentacles slowly drooped, clinging to the ground.

Even the frequency of its pulsation began to unconsciously mimic the rhythm of authority emitted by the exploration robot.

It, surrendered!

It did not surrender to brute force, but to the rule itself, which represented a higher life level and possessed the right to define and control their entire network.

Inside the azure thunder, Spirit Eye breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Master, the target unit has ceased hostile behavior and shows signs of submission and recognition. The 'Life Affinity' verification, it seems, has been... passed in this way?"

In the main tower's combat room, Brian looked at the returned images, his eyes devoid of any surprise, only cold calculation.

"Record its energy spectrum and life fluctuation pattern during its submission. This is valuable data for authority application. This proves that our direction is completely correct—for such a life network built on specific rules, authority is power."

"Have the exploration unit attempt to establish a connection with the central light cluster. Since the guardian has acknowledged our qualification, let's see if we can obtain more information about the essence of the life network from the core of this forbidden life zone."

"Understood!"

The eerie purple light on the surface of the exploration robot quietly receded, but the majestic fluctuations representing authority did not diminish; instead, they became purer, closer to the essence of the life source essence here.

It no longer paid attention to the prostrate flesh and blood aggregate, floating directly towards the slowly pulsating emerald light cluster in the center of the cave, as if ignoring a pebble by the roadside.

As the exploration robot approached, the emerald light cluster seemed to sense something, its pulsation rhythm slightly quickening, emitting a softer and more ancient light.

The countless emerald light streams connected to it also gently brushed against the exploration robot's shell like docile ribbons, no longer carrying any hostility, but instead conveying a vague sense of closeness mixed with curiosity and anticipation.

Spirit Eye controlled the exploration robot, cautiously extending its sensory tendrils towards the light cluster.

In an instant, a larger, more ancient, and closer to the root of the life network information torrent, like a breaching river, surged into her mind... The exploration of the forbidden life zone was advancing towards deeper secrets in a way that exceeded expectations, yet was still within their calculations.

The exploration robot hovered before the emerald light cluster, like dust orbiting a star.

The moment Spirit Eye's sensory tendrils touched the light cluster, it was not a simple information transfer, but an almost enlightening infusion.

No longer fragmented emotions and instinctive records, but highly condensed fragments of underlying code regarding how life source essence is woven, circulated, and evolved.

Countless emerald, ancient runes composed of pure information flowed through the exploration unit's processing core as if alive, imprinting the primitive laws of growth, repair, and adaptation.

The exploration unit's shell, those silver-white and arcane purple intertwined coatings, even began to autonomously and subtly adjust their molecular arrangement, simulating structural characteristics closer to the life source essence of this place, further reducing the sense of rejection from the surrounding environment to freezing point.

[Obtained "Life Weaving" basic protocol fragment...]

[Obtained "Adaptive Evolution" blueprint (incomplete scroll)...]

[Life affinity judgment: significantly increased.]

Spirit Eye quickly compressed and translated this information torrent, synchronously transmitting it back to the azure thunder and the main tower.

"Master, a large amount of underlying life network construction information has been received! Although incomplete, its value is extremely high! Our authority application model can be optimized by at least 37% based on this!"

Spirit Eye's voice trembled slightly from information overload and excitement from finding a treasure.

Brian, deep within the main tower, watched the complex energy models flowing across the light screen, full of the beauty of life, his eyes gleaming.

"Very good. Record all data, especially the patterns and logic of energy flow. This is not just knowledge, but the cornerstone for us to completely control the life network of this world."

"How is the exploration robot's status? Can it withstand deeper levels of information interaction?"

"Structural stability, energy consumption within expected range. Deeper connection can be attempted, but the risk of assimilation increases to 15%," Spirit Eye quickly assessed.

"Risk is controllable. Continue, try to access its core records, looking for direct information related to the 'Sanctuary', the key, or that ancient catastrophe," Brian ordered.

The light on the exploration robot's surface changed again; the magical purple glow and the emerald green of life began to intertwine in a more complex way, as if performing a precise double helix dance.

It was no longer passively receiving, but actively extending its simulated authority fluctuations, like a key, towards the deepest, dormant, heavy information barrier within the light cluster.

The light cluster's pulsation suddenly accelerated!

This time, what surged in was no longer basic construction rules.

Instead, it was a series of grander, yet more fragmented images, accompanied by a desolate and tragic emotional impact:

First image:

Above the firmament, there were not sun and moon, but countless gigantic "Pillars of Heaven" extending like veins, radiating a gentle emerald green light, nourishing the entire plane.

Suddenly, one of the thickest Pillars of Heaven inexplicably broke in the middle, burning with strange green flames, falling from the sky like a dying giant whale!

Second image:

The earth cracked, and the green ocean visibly withered and evaporated at a rapid speed, revealing a dry, cracked seabed.

Countless strange creatures turned to dust in wails, and life force drained from the world like a receding tide.

Third image:

The remaining, most powerful life origins emitted their final resonance in despair.

They abandoned their independent forms, wildly converging and merging like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, and a vague, vast collective will—the convergent will—was forced into existence on the ruins of destruction.

Fourth image:

Remaining energy was gathered at all costs, constructing a huge, glowing Sanctuary—the prototype of the Sanctuary.

And the core of the Sanctuary was injected with an extremely complex instruction and authority, containing ultimate hope, which might be the prototype of the key.

A powerful guardian program was also activated, silently guarding by its side.

The images abruptly ceased here, and a powerful repulsive force gently but firmly pushed the exploration robot's perception out.

The emerald light cluster's pulsation slowly subsided, returning to its previous rhythm, as if the intense information eruption just now was merely a dream.

The exploration unit hovered quietly, the light on its surface gradually stabilizing.

"Master, information flow interrupted. The obtained information confirms our speculation—the catastrophe led to the birth of the 'convergent will', and the Sanctuary is the last refuge and hope project. The 'key' is very likely the core authority command to activate or control the Sanctuary."

Spirit Eye reported, her voice carrying the aftershock of awe.

"That's enough," Brian's voice remained calm.

"Recall the exploration robot. Our verification of the forbidden life zone was not only passed, but exceeded. Now, it's time to go to that middle area—what I call the 'Chaos Void'."

The azure thunder received the command and shot out a tractor beam, retrieving the considerably depleted exploration robot into the tower for maintenance and data analysis.

The massive secondary tower slightly adjusted its direction, and the Qing Ting light at its top focused on the next target—the constantly swirling, chaotic-colored energy vortex.

The first trial concluded perfectly with an understanding of rules and a declaration of authority.

The next will be a test of pure power and control.