89: Spectators in the shadows

Nightfall did not arrive.

The dome light screen of the Golden City constantly emitted a steady, daylight-like glow. Here, time seemed to have lost its meaning.

But the electronic watch on Lin Feng's wrist faithfully recorded the passage of every second.

Six hours had passed since Osiris entered the Golden City.

During these six hours, he and Wang Dalong had been lurking motionless in the shadows of the building's top floor like two statues, sustaining their strength only with the few remaining energy bars and water in their backpacks.

Wang Dalong had gone from his initial nervousness and anger to a state of numbness. Leaning against the corner, his eyes were barely open as he muttered softly, "Are these bastards part of an engineering corps? Why aren't they taking a break yet..."

Lin Feng's energy, however, was highly focused.

His gaze remained locked on the entrance of the distant Golden Spire.

Osiris's technical team displayed a level of professionalism completely different from the Scorpion Squad. They didn't use any violent means; instead, they set up a Circular Force Field Generator composed of dozens of modules at the spire's entrance.

Countless pale blue data streams flashed rapidly across the generator's screen. They were analyzing and cracking the spire's defense system in a way Lin Feng couldn't comprehend.

Meanwhile, in the city, the Scorpion captain's search operation was also in full swing.

They had clearly learned their lesson, moving in groups of three, covering each other with caution and efficiency. The entire city was divided into several grids and was being screened one by one. Several times, search squads passed right under the building where Lin Feng and the other were hiding; the hurried footsteps and calls over the walkie-talkies made Wang Dalong's heart leap into his throat.

Fortunately, they didn't come upstairs. Perhaps in their eyes, such ordinary "residential buildings" had no value for searching.

"Brother Feng, they are about to find it." The system's prompt sounded in Lin Feng's mind.

During these six hours, the system had not been idle. It had been using the Golden City's remaining mental network to monitor every move of the Osiris team.

Thanks to the intelligence gained from the illusions!

[They are cracking the spire's power supply protocol. It is estimated that it will take another two hours to obtain low-level control permissions for the spire.]

Lin Feng's heart sank.

Two hours.

Time was running out.

He glanced at the distant spire, then at the teams still searching below.

He knew he couldn't wait any longer.

"Dalong, wake up." He gently nudged Wang Dalong beside him.

"Ah? What's wrong? Are they attacking?" Wang Dalong jolted, instantly awake.

"Not yet." Lin Feng shook his head. "But we must act. You stay here and continue monitoring; don't expose yourself unless absolutely necessary. I need to go somewhere."

"Where are you going?" Wang Dalong asked nervously. "It's too dangerous alone!"

"I'm going to the city's Energy Control Center." A light of wisdom intertwined with madness flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. "Since they want to control the spire, I'll pull the rug out from under them."

"Energy Control Center?" Wang Dalong was stunned. "Where is it?"

"Right under our feet."

Lin Feng pointed to the building they were in.

Wang Dalong was dumbstruck.

He never would have imagined that the hiding spot they had chosen at random was actually one of the most critical vital points of the entire city!

"This... this is too much of a coincidence, isn't it?"

"It's not a coincidence," Lin Feng explained. "In the city planning of the Zhuojin Star People, energy centers were usually disguised as the most inconspicuous civilian buildings; this was a defense strategy of theirs during wartime. I chose this place precisely because it fits that characteristic."

Having finished speaking, he hesitated no longer and left his backpack with Wang Dalong.

"There's remaining food and water in here. Remember, no matter what happens, protect yourself and that camera."

After giving his instructions, Lin Feng turned and, like a nimble cat, vanished silently into the darkness of the stairwell.

Relying on the architectural blueprints in his mind, he didn't use the stairs but instead slid directly into the deep underground of the building through a hidden ventilation duct.

The further down he went, the richer the energy particles in the air became.

Finally, he arrived at a massive underground space filled with a roaring sound.

This was the "heart" of the Golden City.

Countless thick energy conduits made of gold and crystal converged here like giant pythons, finally feeding into a rotating polyhedral crystal suspended in mid-air.

That was the city's Central Energy Core.

The entire space was enveloped in a layer of pale blue energy shielding, preventing anyone from approaching.

Lin Feng stood outside the shield, looking at the magnificent energy core, and took a deep breath.

He knew that his next move might cause this city, which had slept for tens of thousands of years, to become completely paralyzed or even... destroyed.

But he had no choice.

He raised his hand, and in his field of vision, a virtual operation interface emerged on the energy shield.

That was a backdoor program of Zhuojin Star technology. Thanks to his experiences in the illusions, operating these was very easy for him.

His fingers began to tap and swipe rapidly on the virtual interface, inputting a series of incredibly complex commands.

He was modifying the energy core's output protocol.

What he wanted to do was not cut off the energy.

That would be too easy to discover.

What he wanted to do was have the energy core perform an overloaded, destructive energy output in a short period of time!

He wanted to precisely inject a massive amount of energy, sufficient to melt the entire spire, into the spire at the exact moment Osiris's team took over control!

The system was too old, and the remaining energy was low; this action could only be performed once.