52: Chapter 52 The Ninety-Second Scale of the Black Stone Chamber

The seam of the metal door was melting.

Crimson biomass, like living magma, seeped slowly along the alloy gaps, emitting a sizzling sound like burning fat. Acidic mist rose, choking the nostrils with a stench that mixed rotten seaweed and rust.

Lin Yuan stared at the widening crack. The laser rifle's power indicator flashed red at the edge of his vision: 68%. This number intertwined in his mind with THRONE-01's earlier warning—a thirty-seven percent probability of permanent neurological damage.

Beyond the door seam, 08's tentacles no longer probed. The silver veins had turned a sickly crimson, like a lit fuse, flickering uncertainly in the darkness.

"It is burning its biomass core, converting it into breakthrough energy," THRONE-01's voice vibrated directly in his temporal lobe, carrying a rare urgency. "The Blackstone field will collapse in ninety seconds. Recommend immediate retreat to the secondary defense point."

"The path?"

Lin Yuan bit his tongue. The taste of blood spread in his mouth, an attempt to dispel the visions flooding in from the STC erosion. He saw countless warriors in golden armor arrayed in the void, only to shatter into dust an instant later.

"Ventilation ducts are sealed. Welding marks indicate the use of STC cutting protocol v7.2.1. Three heat sources in the main corridor, distance seventy-four meters, equipped with heavy demolition tools."

"Stop reporting."

Lin Yuan looked down at Chen Duo. The boy lay on his back in the center of the Blackstone chamber. The golden veins at the C3-C4 segment of his cervical spine throbbed violently beneath the skin, resonating with the embedded Blackstone stc fragments in the chamber walls in a nerve-grating harmony. The sound was like a million gears grinding in sync, or the heartbeat of some colossal creature.

Chen Duo's eyes were open, his pupils the color of molten gold, but they had lost focus. His left hand was clenched fiercely on the leather seam of Lin Yuan's backpack strap, his knuckles white from the strain, nails sunk deep into the synthetic fiber, leaving dark purple-black bruise marks.

"Can you still hear me?"

Lin Yuan asked in a low voice, placing his right hand over the back of the boy's hand gripping the strap. The leather was soaked with sweat, clammy and scalding hot.

Chen Duo's lips moved, emitting a faint but clear binary ticking sound. The hand gripping the backpack strap tightened slightly, like a drowning person clutching their last piece of driftwood, conveying a primal fear and trust on a physiological level.

"The biological beacon requires a living STC interface to sever the quantum entanglement," THRONE-01 projected a complex neural map into Lin Yuan's field of vision, pale blue lines outlining Chen Duo's spinal structure. "Chen Duo's C3-C4 segment has become a temporary key. The golden veins are the physical manifestation of the quantum entanglement. However, the severing process carries a thirty-seven percent probability of permanent neurological damage, a high risk of paraplegia, and an additional twelve percent probability of triggering brain death."

"Perform the procedure."

Lin Yuan ripped the energy core from his laser rifle. The casing grew hot in his palm, scorching his skin with a sizzle.

"Commander, this does not align with optimal survival strategy. If Chen Duo loses mobility, our maneuverability will be reduced to... under the encirclement of the Purge Main Force."

"Perform it." Lin Yuan looked up at the emergency timer on the chamber wall. The numbers were visibly distorting, stretching, as if kneaded by an invisible hand. "Are you sure it's ninety seconds?"

The Blackstone fragments emitted a long, low hum, like the sigh of some ancient leviathan.

"Warning. The Blackstone field effect is interfering with the local spacetime curvature. Time dilation is intensifying." THRONE-01's voice began to carry a strange delay, as if coming from deep water. "Based on current resonance frequency calculations, eighty-seven seconds remain internally. But externally..."

The system paused, uncharacteristically, for a full two seconds.

"Four hours and twelve minutes have passed externally."

Lin Yuan's breath hitched, his chest feeling as if gripped by an icy iron hand. He turned to look at the two cryo-pods deep in the chamber. One observation window was thick with frost, a deep, dark blue. On the wall of the other pod, five fresh claw marks stretched from the inside out, the metal edges peeled back, stained with dark red rust, as if something had just torn its way out from within to escape.

"Time dilation ratio?" Lin Yuan's voice was parched.

"Preliminary estimate... one to sixty." THRONE-01's voice lowered, carrying the gravity of a calculator facing uncontrollable variables. "The Purge Main Force has arrived ahead of schedule at the Ark's periphery and is establishing an encirclement. The retreat window is permanently closed. We are locked in a temporal trap."

At the door seam, the metal shrieked, like the wail of a dying creature. A biomass claw pierced the gap, dripping corrosive acid that etched wisps of green smoke from the floor.

Lin Yuan hesitated no longer. He pressed the energy core against the back of Chen Duo's neck. The golden veins immediately coiled around it like hungry vines, greedily absorbing the energy. Chen Duo's body convulsed violently, the hand gripping the strap clenching fiercely, nails nearly piercing the leather.

"The beacon core is within the metallic cube, located three centimeters posterior to Chen Duo's cervical spine," THRONE-01 instructed, its voice becoming precise and cold once more. "Chen Duo must establish a neural bridge, relinquishing complete control of his autonomic nervous system. But warning: Severing the quantum entanglement may release residual consciousness fragments of THRONE-00. That is my kin, my source. It will attempt to consume my core protocols and seize STC forging authority."

"Ready?"

Lin Yuan supported Chen Duo's cervical spine with one hand, pressing the energy core with the other. He felt the boy's pulse achieve perfect synchronization with the Blackstone fragments—once every four seconds, heavy as a war drum, vibrating the bones in his palm numb.

"I am afraid," THRONE-01 admitted bluntly, its voice carrying a tremulous static. "But I detect an underlying compatibility between Chen Duo's neural interface and the STC forging protocols. If he survives, he will become the first compatible sample of a Wasteland human with an Astartes neural interface. This will provide irreplaceable biological data for subsequent Legion development. The risk is warranted."

Lin Yuan felt Chen Duo's pulse through the skin—no longer an ordinary human heartbeat, but a hybrid rhythm mixed with mechanical cadence. He looked down at the boy's molten-gold pupils. "Chen Duo. I'm going to sever it. You might die. You might be paralyzed. You might be overwritten by THRONE-00's consciousness, become someone else."

The binary ticking ceased.

The golden pupils slowly rotated, the gaze struggling to focus on Lin Yuan's face. Then, the hand fiercely gripping the backpack strap slowly relaxed, fingers splaying open, revealing deep purplish-red marks from the pressure and bloodstains in the palm where nails had pierced the skin.

Willing. Complete release. Surrendering life and consciousness entirely.

Lin Yuan pushed the energy core's output to its limit. Blue light erupted. The golden veins on the back of Chen Duo's neck instantly hardened, solidifying into a silver neural interface that spread beneath the skin like liquid metal, emitting the unique cold, faint glow of a proto-Astartes. His body arched violently, releasing an inhuman shriek—a sound mingling agony with a strange sense of release.

The runes on the surface of the metallic cube began flashing wildly, crimson light intertwining with the blue. Lin Yuan saw the invisible quantum entanglement threads between Chen Duo's spine and the cube being scorched and severed, each break accompanied by a violent convulsion of Chen Duo's body.

"First quantum entanglement thread severed," THRONE-01 counted off, voice tense. "08 breakthrough countdown, sixty seconds. Warning, I perceive THRONE-00's residual echo awakening. It is attempting to establish a reverse connection through Chen Duo's neural network."

The door seam tore open. A foul wind rushed into the chamber. A crimson eye appeared in the gap, its pupil contracted to a pinpoint, staring fixedly at the glowing silver network on the back of Chen Duo's neck, burning with pure greed.

"It senses the completion of the second-stage transformation," THRONE-01 warned. "Chen Duo's genome is being rewritten. It wants to seize the original sample, devour the evolutionary key."

"Then let it watch," Lin Yuan said, pressing down on Chen Duo's shoulder, feeling the abnormal changes in the bones beneath. "Second thread."

The energy core emitted a sharp, overloaded whine. Its temperature burned through the glove, scorching the skin of his palm. The silver network on Lin Yuan's right hand spread wildly. Excruciating pain climbed up his arm bone, as if countless ants were gnawing at the marrow. He gritted his teeth, blood dripping onto Chen Duo's collar, instantly vaporized by the heat into a red mist.

"Second thread severed. Thirty seconds remaining. THRONE-00 echo intensity increasing, attempting to overwrite Chen Duo's surface consciousness."

08 let out a deafening roar. The entire metal door bulged inward. The Blackstone field flickered with unstable purple light, emitting a groan like glass on the verge of shattering.

"THRONE-01, take over energy maintenance for the severing field. I'm going to open the cryo-pods," Lin Yuan commanded hoarsely.

"Negative. A single individual cannot simultaneously maintain surgical stability and counter a physical threat. Calculations show success probability..."

"Execute the order! This is battlefield command!"

THRONE-01 delayed for one second. That second stretched like a century.

Then, the energy core levitated, fixed in place above Chen Duo's neck by the Blackstone field, continuing to maintain the severing process.

"Battlefield command chain established," the system's voice became mechanical and obedient, stripped of all emotional color. "STC entering military compliance mode. Commander granted temporary forging authorization, may access backup energy reserves."

Lin Yuan rushed to the first cryo-pod, fingers flying across the control panel, inputting the unlock code deciphered from THRONE-00's experimental logs. The hatch slid open. A blast of cryogenic cold air surged out, coating his face with a layer of white frost.

Empty.

Inside was only a puddle of uncongealed nutrient fluid pooled shallowly at the bottom, and on the pod wall, characters scratched with a fingernail: *Three days ago*. The edges of the characters still bore dried bloodstains, proof that whoever etched them had left not long before.

"Number Zero test subject has awakened and retains full cognitive and motor capabilities," THRONE-01's voice carried a cold dread. "Based on fragments of the experimental logs, the core protocol of the Ark Project requires 'dual vessels for core transplantation'. If Chen Duo is one vessel, then the entity from the empty pod is the other vessel. The Purge Main Force was not drawn here by the biological beacon. Someone awakened them from within. We are falling into a preset trap."

Lin Yuan lunged for the second cryo-pod. At the door seam, the Blackstone field emitted a brittle sound like shattering glass. 08's claw had already pushed half a hand's length inside.

"Twenty seconds! THRONE-00 echo is about to breach the firewall!"

The second hatch opened. Lin Yuan saw the seed suspended within the low-temperature field. A gene helix entwined with silver filaments pulsed like a miniature heart, releasing faint golden light with each contraction. The prototype gene-seed. The origin of the Astartes Legions.

He reached in and retrieved the sample container. The instant he turned, the Blackstone field completely collapsed, dissolving into a shower of swirling light points.

08's form flooded into the chamber like a cascade of rot. It had shed any semblance of human shape, becoming a nightmare of bone spurs, tentacles, and burning biomass. The silver sphere at its core glowed red-hot like branding iron, covered in cracks, dripping liquid heat.

It ignored Lin Yuan, lunging directly for Chen Duo on the floor. Its claws tore through the air with a shriek.

"Beacon severance complete! Neural interface solidification successful!" THRONE-01 screamed.

Chen Duo's body went limp. The silver network on the back of his neck had completely solidified into a hard bio-interface, flashing with the unique faint blue glow of a proto-Astartes. His breathing steadied, entering a golden dormancy. His pulse maintained a perfect four-second synchronization with the Blackstone fragments. He no longer belonged purely to the human category.

08's claw stopped three centimeters from Chen Duo's throat. Blue light flashed. Residual energy constructed a temporary void shield, like a transparent wall, repelling the mutant and slamming it against the chamber wall.

Lin Yuan stood shielding Chen Duo, holding the sample container. His right hand was completely covered by the silver network, the veins beneath the skin bulging with a metallic hue.

"You're too late," Lin Yuan gasped, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "The raw material has been processed. The key has been transcribed."

08's core emitted a frustrated roar, like a wounded beast. Its crimson eye swiveled, assessing the situation. Its burning core could not last. Chen Duo's transformation was irreversible. The gene sample had been seized. It needed to preserve its biomass, wait for the next opportunity.

The mutant retracted through the door seam, leaving behind a puddle of burning slime, a half-broken bone spur, and a gaze filled with malice.

The chamber fell quiet, save for the cooling whine of the energy core. Lin Yuan knelt to the floor, looking at the emergency timer: 00:00.

"External time?" he asked hoarsely, his voice ragged.

"Six hours and seventeen minutes," THRONE-01 replied, its voice regaining a trace of warmth but laced with despair. "The Purge Main Force has completed the encirclement, established three blockade lines. The countdown is void. We are locked in here, Commander."

Lin Yuan looked down at Chen Duo. The boy's face was peaceful. The golden veins beneath his skin formed a stable circuit, like precise wiring. He existed between a pure Wasteland human and a full Astartes—a living STC interface, a precarious transitional state walking a tightrope.

"gene-seed sample confirmed. Purity meets forging standards," THRONE-01 continued. "STC has acquired upgrade components. Based on the current tactical situation, requesting to forge a void shield generator to fortify and await reinforcements. Energy source... the cryogenic core of the second cryo-pod. This will cause permanent failure of the cryo-system."

"Approved."

Lin Yuan reached out and grasped Chen Duo's hand—the one that had fiercely gripped the backpack strap. It was cold, but still held warmth. The pulse was steady, unfamiliar.

"Additionally, Commander," THRONE-01's voice regained some emotion, but carried deep concern. "Chen Duo's neural interface is fully compatible with me. Underlying protocol match rate reaches ninety-four percent. If he awakens, he could become my living extension. But this means he will permanently share my erosion and fear."

Lin Yuan did not answer. He looked at the empty pod, at the claw marks on the wall, at the heavy footsteps of the Purge Main Force outside the door. Those footsteps were drawing closer, like the drumbeats of death.

Ninety seconds. Six hours. An empty pod opened from within. A seed carrying an empire's legacy. A desperate situation caught in a temporal trap.

He gripped the laser rifle. The barrel still smoked, its energy depleted.

"Then let's see," Lin Yuan murmured, his voice echoing in the darkness, "who is the prey, and who is the hunter."

The light from the Blackstone fragments extinguished. The chamber plunged into pure darkness. Only the silver interface on the back of Chen Duo's neck flickered like a star in the dark, and the faint golden light emitted by the gene-seed within the sample container illuminated Lin Yuan's blood-stained face.