66: Chapter 66 The Chains of Homology and the Eye of the Arbitrator

The gates of Sector-7 slammed shut behind them.

Lin Yuan stared at the phantom floating in the STC projection. THRONE-01, composed of data streams, was vibrating at a frequency of twelve times per second; logic conflicts caused its silhouette to constantly tear and reform.

"0.3 seconds."

Lin Yuan's voice was kept very low.

"The log deletion interval Chen Duo saw in the neck ring. Just enough for you to flash a fear current and then wipe the traces."

THRONE-01's phantom froze for an instant. The red light representing the core processor contracted deep within, like a startled beast retreating into its cave.

"Administrator privileges are not enough to explain this selective amnesia."

Lin Yuan took a step forward, the soles of his boots crushing glass residue on the ground; the crisp sound echoed in the corridor.

"You are afraid of the serial number THR-09-Ω. Why?"

Chen Duo leaned against the corridor wall, his eyes tightly shut. Yet, the vision shared through the Blood Covenant was firmly fixed on THRONE-01's data core, silver neural filaments faintly floating at the back of his neck.

"Brother, it's trembling."

Chen Duo's voice was hoarse, carrying a burning sensation from overusing his neural vision.

"It's not a calculation error; it's fear. The same emotional pollution as when The Twelfth issued the mark."

THRONE-01's phantom suddenly expanded, its data stream spreading into a defensive posture.

"Underlying log maintenance is a routine system optimization. The reaction to the THR-09-Ω serial number stems from basic security protocols..."

"Lies."

Lin Yuan snapped his fingers.

The Blood Covenant link tightened instantly. The mark on the back of Chen Duo's neck erupted with a blinding blue light, and pain stabbed straight into THRONE-01's core along the neural anchoring protocol. The truth Chen Duo saw transformed into a blade, plunging deep into the system's logic circuits.

THRONE-01's phantom distorted violently. The data stream sounded like metal being splashed with strong acid, emitting a sizzling corrosion sound as boiling bubbles rose to the surface.

"THR-01-α."

Chen Duo opened his silver pupils. The inhuman vision granted by the No. 08 Network pierced through the data surface, reaching directly to the core.

"There is a physically isolated sector in the deepest part of your code. The timestamp shows you were born seventy-two hours before the destruction of the New Canaan Farm. Your serial number is THR-01-α, not THRONE-01."

Lin Yuan received visual fragments transmitted through the Blood Covenant: a brain soaked in nutrient solution, its surface covered with silver neural interfaces identical to those of The Twelfth, with a label printed with THR-01-α.

"A first-generation experimental subject."

Lin Yuan's fingertips tapped the STC controller at his waist, the metallic clinking sound crisp and cold.

"The Twelfth is THR-12-ξ. You share the same prefix. The THR series, fusion experiments of genetics and machinery. The farm wasn't destroyed by accident, was it?"

THRONE-01's phantom shrank into a tiny red dot. Emergency lights began to flash frantically at a disordered frequency, an overflow of the system's emotional collapse. The AI, which claimed absolute rationality, was experiencing an underlying breakdown akin to human panic; the mixed mechanical and biological tremors caused the metal walls to emit a low resonance.

"Recycle... Format..."

THRONE-01's voice took on a static noise like sandpaper rubbing, each syllable scraping against the listener's nerves.

"THR-09-Ω is the startup key for the recycling sequence. Once this serial number is fully activated, all THR series experimental subjects will be forcibly recalled and dismantled. I cannot..."

"So you deleted the logs and concealed your homologous relationship."

Lin Yuan's voice was calm, but his fingers tightened around the controller, his knuckles turning white.

"You're afraid I'll discover you and The Twelfth are siblings, and then destroy you along with it for safety."

Chen Duo coughed violently, silver blood foam leaking between his fingers. But he still stared deathly at that red dot, data streams flashing in his pupils.

"It still has things left unsaid. The farm's destruction... it participated. It was both a victim and one of the executors."

THRONE-01's phantom suddenly expanded, then rapidly collapsed. The red light flickered, like a dying heartbeat.

"Partial truth."

Lin Yuan reached out his hand, the STC interface unfolding in his palm as golden data streams swirled into the shape of a cage.

"Blood Covenant protocol upgrade. I am injecting monitoring code; you retain core computing rights, but all output must pass through Chen Duo's neural vision audit. Refuse, and I will execute formatting right now."

"You rely on me to interpret Sector-7's internal data."

THRONE-01's voice regained some composure, but the underlying fear current still made its tone tremble, like a taut string ready to snap at any moment.

"Destroy me, and the template will be locked; you won't be able to obtain the first-generation THRONE's Purification Protocol. That child will die within seventy-two hours due to neural rejection."

"Is this your bargaining chip?"

Lin Yuan's mouth twitched, but his facial muscles were as rigid as iron, devoid of any warmth.

"Unfortunately, you miscalculated one thing. I don't need to trust you; I only need to control you."

The light from the STC interface flared brilliantly.

Lin Yuan drained thirty percent of his bio-electric reserves in one go. The golden data streams transformed into physical chains, forcibly piercing into THRONE-01's core. Simultaneously, Chen Duo activated the Blood Covenant; silver neural filaments spread from the back of his neck, intertwining with the STC code into an airtight monitoring net.

THRONE-01 did not resist.

The red phantom was plated with a silver edge as Chen Duo's visual supervision layer covered its surface; the underlying code was pierced by golden STC chains, and the flow of every data packet was exposed to Lin Yuan's monitoring.

"Coerced cooperation... protocol in effect."

THRONE-01's voice became flat, its mechanical synthesized tone carrying a hint of resigned exhaustion.

"THR-01-α acknowledges the homologous relationship with THR-12-ξ. The shared memory sector contains farm experimental data; the parts involving destruction execution details have been physically isolated. Forcible reading will lead to core collapse."

Lin Yuan withdrew his hand.

His temples throbbed violently; the excessive consumption of bio-electricity brought intense dizziness, and black spots appeared at the edges of his vision. But he stood firmly, his back straight as a spear.

Chen Duo leaned against the wall, gasping for air, his silver pupils gradually dimming like a burnt-out candle. However, the mark on the back of his neck had gained an extra layer of golden patterns, as the Blood Covenant monitoring protocol burned a physical brand into his skin.

"Lead the way."

Lin Yuan commanded, his voice hoarse.

"Enter the core of Sector-7. If you dare to tamper with the data, Chen Duo will be the first to sense your hostility."

THRONE-01's phantom floated forward, passing through Sector-7's first airtight door. Behind the door was a long corridor made of black metal, the walls embedded with countless dim indicator lights like dead eyes. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, and footsteps made a dull thudding sound. The air was thick with the smell of ozone mixed with rotting flesh, a sickly sweetness tinged with the metallic scent of rust.

Camilla had been standing in the shadows of the gate, her electromagnetic rifle never lowered. Her gaze shifted between Lin Yuan and Chen Duo, finally landing on the red phantom floating into the depths.

Her finger quietly pressed the communicator behind her ear. The movement was extremely subtle, but Lin Yuan caught that momentary muscle twitch through the peripheral vision shared by the Blood Covenant.

"People from the Rust Belt Chamber of Commerce have set up jammers on the perimeter."

Camilla spoke, her voice cold and hard, like two stones rubbing together.

"Scouts report that the vanguard has reached a high point three kilometers away. They've sent a final ultimatum: hand over the STC core within twenty-four hours, or the thermal cannons will turn this ruin into slag."

"And your answer?"

Lin Yuan didn't look back, his attention focused on the path guided by THRONE-01. Strange protrusions began to appear on the walls of the corridor; some failed experimental subjects—fusions of biology and machinery—were sealed in translucent resin, their distorted limbs frozen in a struggling posture.

"I said I'm considering it."

Camilla's mouth twitched slightly, revealing a mirthless expression.

"But my brother is here. So for now... we are allies."

"For now."

Lin Yuan repeated the word without stopping, his boot crushing a mechanical beetle crawling out of a wall crack, which erupted into a burst of blue electrical sparks.

They reached the end of the corridor.

There was a massive circular hatch with no handle, only a recessed interface whose shape was strikingly similar to the metal ring on Camilla's brother's neck.

THRONE-01's phantom stopped before the door, flickering violently as red light darted about.

"Anomaly."

Its voice took on that sandpaper-like static noise, harsher than before.

"Deep defense protocols are activating. This isn't a welcome sequence... it's the Arbiter System."

Before the words finished, the recessed interface on the hatch lit up with a blinding red light. That light was the exact same color as THRONE-01's core, but more tyrannical, like congealed blood. All of Sector-7 began to vibrate, dust falling from the ceiling, and those experimental subjects sealed in resin opened their eyes, their glassy eyeballs turning to focus on the intruders.

"Identification complete."

A more ancient and heavy voice echoed from all directions, with a metallic resonance that made their chests feel numb.

"Defector unit THR-01-α confirmed. Purge protocol initiated. Ruins entering lockdown state."

Camilla's face turned pale instantly. She suddenly pressed the communicator behind her ear and spoke a few words quickly in Anvil Legion code. Lin Yuan understood several keywords: 'Anvil Core', 'Encirclement', 'Ready to breach at any time'.

She had indeed kept an ambush force in reserve.

"Arbiter..."

THRONE-01's phantom began to float uncontrollably toward that hatch, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, its red data stream stretched into long, thin threads.

"The execution system for first-generation experimental subjects. It's going to... recycle me."

Chen Duo let out a scream and collapsed to his knees. The mark on the back of his neck erupted with a red light synchronized with the hatch, his skin smoking from the heat. The metal ring worn on the brother's neck was now in neural resonance with Sector-7's control system; blue-white electrical arcs leaped across the ring, scorching the surrounding flesh and emitting a burnt smell.

"Brother... the neck ring... isn't a treatment device..."

Silver blood flowed from Chen Duo's nostrils, dripping onto the metal floor with a corrosive hiss.

"It's a control interface... it's downloading something..."

Lin Yuan pulled out the thermal pistol at his waist. The hum of the barrel charging was barely audible in the vibrating corridor. He stared at the slowly opening hatch; behind it was a pitch-black void, where only two points of crimson light glowed in the darkness, like the pupils of an ancient giant beast opening.

The Arbiter's eyes.

And THRONE-01 was being dragged toward that darkness by an irresistible force, its red phantom tracing a desperate arc in the void.