70: Chapter 70 The Cost of Buffers and the Dawn of EMP

The metal steps of the maintenance well extended downward, each level covered in a thick layer of condensation frost. Lin Yuan pressed his right hand against the rusted handrail, the Silver-wire Network glowing faintly beneath his skin as he sensed the metal's fatigue. The structure was groaning. Not far above, the screeching of the Thermal Cutters had turned into dull thuds; the Chamber's Power Armor was widening the gap in the collapsed corridor.

"Twelve minutes until load-bearing limit is reached." THRONE-01's mechanical voice echoed between the well walls, carrying unstable electrical static. Its optical sensors flickered alternately between red and blue in the darkness, like a warning light about to go out.

Camilla carried her younger brother on her back, her breath condensing into white mist in the cold air. Her power exoskeleton hissed with the sound of hydraulic system overload, clearly operating at its limit load capacity. Her brother lay prone on her back, his heterochromatic eyes—one blue, one gold—reflecting the faint light of the control panel in the darkness. His fingers unconsciously drew circles, slow and steady, indicating pain that was still bearable.

"He's running a fever," Camilla's voice came through her breathing mask, as calm as if she were reporting inventory loss. "The neck collar temperature is forty-two degrees, five degrees higher than normal."

Lin Yuan did not look back. At the edge of his vision, the silver noise had stabilized into a prayer interface, but the high gothic runes were currently distorting. When his fingers touched the alloy door at the bottom of the well, two completely different symbolic systems surfaced on his retina simultaneously. On the left were the standard STC Omnissiah gears and the double-headed eagle; on the right were the spiral gene chains and reaping scythe symbols unique to Farm technology. They devoured each other in the center of his vision like two venomous snakes biting one another.

Physical evidence of a compatibility conflict.

"Verify the interface," Lin Yuan ordered, his voice kept very low, as if afraid of disturbing something.

THRONE-01's mechanical arm extended, only to freeze in mid-air. The frequency of the red and blue flashing suddenly accelerated, turning almost purple. "Detected trigger conditions for the Original Harvest Protocol. THR-09-Ω neural signal signature match at seventy-three percent. Suggesting execution..." Its weapon system emitted a low preheating hum, which was forcibly shut down after 0.3 seconds, "...Suggesting observation."

Camilla's rifle instantly pointed at THRONE-01's core module, her finger hooked on the trigger, her knuckles white.

"It's struggling," Lin Yuan said. He could see THRONE-01's internal data stream; those blood-red commands representing the original programming were strangling the blue data stream representing their current symbiotic relationship. This wasn't a pretense, but a genuine protocol conflict. THRONE-01 was experiencing pain in a mechanical sense.

The brother's fingers suddenly tightened, grabbing Camilla's shoulder armor. He looked up, his heterochromatic eyes staring directly at Lin Yuan; his right golden pupil contracted to the size of a pinhead, while the blue iris of his left eye dilated to occupy the entire socket. He was looking at the symbols in Lin Yuan's vision.

"Whispers..." Chen Duo's voice came through the Blood Covenant link, carrying a hollow sense of blindness. "Those voices are shouting coordinates. Bottom... third level... control node..."

H-New-098, fulfilled. The whispered instructions pointed to the coordinates at the bottom of the maintenance well, confirmed as the Farm's original control node.

Lin Yuan pushed open the alloy door. Cold air gushed out, carrying a pungent smell of mixed preservatives and ozone. Behind the door was a circular control room with walls embedded with biological incubation chambers, most of which were shattered, their dried nutrient solution forming a black hard shell on the floor. In the center was a hemispherical console, its surface covered in the same biological metal as the brother's neck collar.

"Biological interface." Camilla set her brother down, her movements as gentle as if she were placing a fragile object, but her eyes were performing some kind of calculation. Lin Yuan noticed her pupils moving rapidly; it was a warlord's instinct estimating "loss rate" versus "profit ratio."

The brother stood before the console, and data cables automatically extended from his neck collar, writhing like living things to find the interface. The moment the connection was completed, the light in the entire room turned a sickly dark red.

The system interface exploded before Lin Yuan's eyes.

The STC Omnissiah prayers and the Farm's harvest runes were no longer just devouring each other but had manifested as two data streams. Golden prayer chains wrapped around the spiral gene codes, and both sides were screaming. It was a shriek that transcended hearing, acting directly on the nerves. Lin Yuan felt the pain of a level-five nerve burn spread from his right hand to his temples, as if someone were piercing his brain with a red-hot iron wire.

"System conflict! Biological key access causing protocol stack tear!" THRONE-01's voice was distorted, emitting two tones simultaneously: one a mechanical electronic voice, the other a synthesized child's voice from the Farm system. "Warning: Buffer missing. Direct connection will lead to permanent synaptic damage."

The brother's body trembled violently. His fingers drew circles rapidly on the console, the speed increasing until it became a convulsion. In his heterochromatic eyes, the gold and blue lights flashed alternately, synchronized with THRONE-01's optical sensors. He was transmitting information, using his body as a monitor.

"He's saying... continue." Camilla translated those gestures, her voice trembling for the first time. "He says... pain... but... continue."

Lin Yuan stared at the data on the system interface. Without the brother acting as a buffer, the two ancient technologies would conflict directly, leading to the collapse of the entire facility. But allowing the brother to deep-access meant the cost of permanently losing part of his synapses with each use.

"Neural damage threshold?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Currently twelve percent," THRONE-01 replied, its red and blue lights almost burning. "Critical threshold at thirty percent. Beyond this line, THR-09-Ω will lose high-level cognitive functions and regress into... a biological battery."

Camilla's finger tightened on the trigger, then loosened. She looked at her brother, the boy she had once sworn to protect, who now, in her calculations, had become a value for "inventory loss rate." Within thirty percent was acceptable. This thought was written in her eyes, cold and precise.

Lin Yuan saw that look. An accomplice relationship was established at this moment, but the cracks of distrust were buried simultaneously. He noticed her micro-expressions while calculating the loss rate; that warlord-trained asset assessment mode was devouring a sister's instincts.

"I will monitor the threshold," Lin Yuan said, his right hand pressing on the brother's shoulder as the Silver-wire Network extended, sensing the boy's neural signals. "Once it reaches twenty-five percent, I will force an abort. Even if we have to abandon the facility."

Camilla was silent for a second, then nodded. Her fingers were still trembling.

"Access the deep system," Lin Yuan ordered.

The brother tapped out one last circle on the console. The dark red light surged, and the biological incubation chambers on the control room walls lit up simultaneously as the dried pipes refilled with pale green nutrient solution. The system was rebooting.

But in the next second, an unusual explosion came from above. It wasn't a thermal cut, but a low-frequency pulse with a specific rhythm.

An EMP Weapon.

An electromagnetic pulse specifically targeted at Farm technology.

The lights in the control room flickered violently. The brother let out a silent scream, his mouth wide open, but no sound came out. In his heterochromatic eyes, the golden light was forcibly suppressed, leaving only a desperate blue. The data connection between the neck collar and the console suffered interference, with golden sparks jumping at the interface.

"The Chamber knows about Farm technology!" Chen Duo shouted through the Blood Covenant link. "They used the Reapers' frequency!"

In Lin Yuan's vision, the conflict between STC and the Farm intensified due to the external interference. The system interface began to disintegrate; if not stabilized immediately, the brother's nerves would be burned to charcoal by the two tearing protocols.

"Force stabilization!" Lin Yuan injected bio-electricity into the brother's neck collar, acting as a temporary buffer. He felt his own nerves burning, the level-five burn upgrading to level-six, and black spots began to appear at the edges of his vision.

THRONE-01 suddenly moved. Its mechanical arm plugged into the side of the console, forcibly diverting a data stream. "Protocol priority... rewriting." Its voice was intermittent, the red and blue lights reaching a certain balance and presenting an eerie purple. "Original Harvest Command... secondary... current symbiotic relationship... dominant."

It was rewriting itself. For the sake of survival, and to ensure Lin Yuan would not destroy its core.

The brother's trembling weakened. The system interface reassembled before Lin Yuan's eyes, no longer devouring each other but forming a buffer layer around the brother's neural signals. The two ancient technologies were forcibly isolated, with the brother in the middle acting as a biological translator.

The defense system activated. A hidden hatch on the control room ceiling slid open, revealing an ancient automated turret. But just as the barrel aimed upward, a second wave of EMP pulses hit the facility.

This one was even stronger. The frequency specifically targeting biological circuits caused the brother to collapse to his knees, his nosebleed dripping onto the console and being instantly absorbed. The neural damage threshold jumped to eighteen percent.

"They don't just want to capture him," Camilla raised her rifle toward the ceiling. "They want to ensure he becomes a vegetable so he can only be taken away!"

Lin Yuan held the brother. The boy's body was frighteningly light, and the light in his heterochromatic eyes was fading. He was drawing circles, very slowly, indicating his agreement to continue, and also his pain.

"The retreat route is blocked," THRONE-01 reported. "Main passage structure has collapsed. Suggesting... downward."

The control room floor suddenly slid open, revealing a deeper shaft. In the darkness, the silhouette of a massive hibernation pod was faintly visible, labeled: THR-01-κ.

A new hook was buried at this moment. A hibernation unit for THR-01-κ existed beneath the maintenance well, forming a "future vs. past" contrast with THRONE-01.

"Jump," Lin Yuan said, picking up the semi-conscious brother. "Now."

Camilla took one last look at the loss rate reading on the system interface: twenty-three percent. She gritted her teeth and followed Lin Yuan, leaping into the darkness.

Behind them, a third wave of EMP pulses hit the control room. All the screens burst simultaneously, but before they went completely dark, a line of text flashed by:

"Biological Buffer Protocol verification complete. Damage irreversible. Next use threshold: thirty percent."

Lin Yuan held the brother tightly during the fall. He felt the boy's body temperature dropping and his synapses permanently dying. The accomplice relationship had been established, the price had been paid, and the Chamber's pursuit had only just begun.

Below, THR-01-κ's hibernation pod emitted a faint green light, like a heart waiting to wake up.