71: The Sea of Rules and Echoes of Trauma
Lin Mo's consciousness, like a lone ark stripped of its physical body, actively sailed towards the chaotic and violent sea of rules emanating from the void cocoon. This was not a physical approach, but an 'intimacy' at the information level, a fundamental essence of existence. His Mental Image Closed Loop acted like the most precise filter, protecting his core consciousness from being assimilated by external chaos, while also subtly adjusting his 'frequency' to try and synchronize with that painful 'song'.
The process was like traversing a thunderstorm, every step fraught with the risk of being completely torn apart. Countless contradictory rule fragments, paradoxical logic full of destructive meaning, and turbulent flows composed purely of alien information, like billions of invisible files, frantically scraped and impacted his consciousness barrier. If his Mental Image Closed Loop hadn't been reshaped, becoming tougher and more adaptable, it would have probably collapsed the moment of contact.
What he 'heard' was no longer just a low 'song,' but a mixture of countless sharp, howling, crying, laughing... 'sounds.' These 'sounds' were not language, but the 'wails' of rules themselves in violent conflict. What he 'saw' was no longer a dark void cocoon, but an boundless, boiling ocean composed of countless broken, twisted, and mutually crushing geometric symbols, mathematical formulas, and physical laws!
Is this the interior of a resonator? A microscopic universe where rules have completely lost control and are heading towards their demise?
Lin Mo endured the pain of his consciousness being torn apart, carefully extending his perception like tendrils into the depths of this turbulent flow of rules. The power of the editor and information-side fragment was pushed to its limit; it was no longer about forced analysis, but like the most patient archaeologist in a ruin, trying to piece together the 'historical truth' that led to all this.
Fragmented information poured in like a torrent:
A perfectly ordered, harmonious network of rules radiating a soft white light... (This seemed to be the resonator's original state? A stable, self-consistent rule system?)
The opening of an indescribable 'rift,' transcending the concepts of color, shape, and even 'existence' itself... (Forced contact?)
Like ink dripping into clear water, a large amount of unfamiliar, aggressive, and exclusionary alien rules were injected like a virus... (Rules from another universe?)
The original rule network struggled violently under the contamination, twisting, trying to assimilate or repel these alien rules... (The universe's immune response?)
The conflict spiraled out of control... order collapsed, logic chains broke, cause and effect inverted... (The birth of the tide of delusion?)
A part of this rule system, in complete collapse, was forcibly 'torn' from the main body, yet because the residual alien rules within could not be completely cleared, it formed a constantly self-conflicting, self-destructing... 'abscess' or 'scar'... (Is this the essence of the resonator?)
Lin Mo's heart was in turmoil!
Dr. Einstein's conjecture was confirmed! The resonator was indeed a fragment of cosmic rules, torn off by 'forced contact' and severely 'infected'! It was a scar of rules, a wound that constantly festered and could never heal! The 'song' it emitted was a wail of pain and chaos, and its distortion of the surrounding reality was the inevitable 'radiation' of its internal rule conflicts!
It was not an active aggressor; it was itself a victim, a diseased tissue of the universe itself, trapped in eternal suffering!
So, what about the tide of delusion? Was it an overly aggressive and out-of-control 'immune cleansing' program initiated by the cosmic main body to eliminate these 'scars' that couldn't heal on their own? Trying to cover and annihilate these diseased areas with pure 'nothingness' and 'paradox,' but leading to a wider disaster?
This realization filled Lin Mo with a suffocating sense of heaviness. What they had been fighting against was not just external malice, but a tragic process of a sick universe trying to 'heal itself' but going to extremes!
Just as he was absorbed in this astonishing discovery, a deeper, older, collective will, filled with endless sorrow and fatigue, slowly spread from the deepest part of this turbulent rule current, like a giant beast awakening in the deep sea, making contact with Lin Mo's consciousness.
This will did not come from a single individual, but was an echo formed by the convergence of all residual 'marks of order' belonging to this universe's original state within the broken rules inside this resonator.
A blurry phantom, composed of countless faint light spots, similar to the will of a logic anchor, slowly emerged in Lin Mo's consciousness perception. It exuded an air of decay, as if on its last legs, yet still carried a trace of the last dignity of order.
'...Latercomer...can you...hear...us...' The will was intermittent, full of pain and difficulty.
'...Pain...eternal...conflict...'
'...We...were once...part of...order...'
'...Torn apart...contaminated...unable...to return...'
'...Cleansing...program... (pointing to the tide of delusion)...too...violent...wrong...'
'...Need...purification...not...annihilation...'
'...Help...us...find release...or...heal...'
This surviving collective will was asking Lin Mo for help! It acknowledged its own 'disease,' but what it desired was not to be completely destroyed by the tide of delusion, but to receive 'purification' and 'healing,' or at least... peaceful 'release'!
Lin Mo's consciousness trembled violently. He felt the despair and plea that spanned long years of suffering. Destroying this resonator might temporarily eliminate a threat, but was this really the right path? This would be tantamount to removing an entire organ to clear a lesion, and might even exacerbate the universe's 'overactive immune' response.
Could it be possible... to cure it?
Just as Lin Mo was engaging in this communication beyond language with the collective will, the crisis in external reality reached its peak!
'Lin Mo! Come back! We can't hold on!' Ling Shuang's anxious cry came through the mental link, carrying unconcealed pain and weakness.
The ark was at its limit under the endless assault of the 'void ephemera' and the continuous rule pollution from the void cocoon. The psionic barrier flickered, the rule resistance field energy had dropped to 30%, and multiple armor sections showed severe damage. Wu Yong and Xiao Li desperately controlled the weapons and engines, but the number of ephemera seemed endless.
Even worse, it seemed that Lin Mo's deep contact had stimulated the void cocoon; the 'eyes' on its surface spun even more frantically, and the rule impact it emitted became more violent and targeted! A dark red energy beam, imbued with the meaning of 'existential negation,' shot towards the ark's engine core like the gaze of death!
'No!' Ling Shuang shrieked, trying to intercept it with psionic energy, but the rule level contained in that energy beam was too high; her barrier was pierced like paper!
In the nick of time, Lin Mo's consciousness suddenly withdrew from the sea of rules! Carrying The Shock and enlightenment from contacting the resonator's collective will, and a faint, instinctive affinity for 'order' originating from that remnant mark of order, he instantly poured all his mental power, mixed with the authority of the information-side fragment, into the 'Order Projector' at the bow of the ship!
He did not fire an aggressive seed of order, but instead projected a condensed stream of order information imbued with the intent of 'calm,' 'stability,' and 'understanding'!
This information flow was not an attack, but like gentle moonlight, it sprinkled upon the violent void cocoon and the surging tide of ephemera.
A miracle occurred.
The dark red energy beam aimed at the engine, the moment it touched this order information flow, its violent 'negation' meaning actually paused slightly, its power sharply decreased, and it was finally barely deflected by the ark's remaining rule resistance field, leaving only a deep scorch mark on the armor.
And the surrounding frantic 'void ephemera' also showed noticeable sluggishness and confusion in their movements; their pure chaotic nature seemed to have an instinctive... hesitation... towards this aura of order imbued with 'understanding' and 'calm'?
Even the void cocoon itself, its internal chaotic 'song' experienced an unnatural change in pitch for a moment, as if the deeply hidden collective will was desperately suppressing the violence of the diseased rules.
This brief moment of respite was enough for the ark!
'Now! Full power! Disengage!' Lin Mo roared with his last ounce of strength.
Xiao Li unhesitatingly pushed the engine overload to its limit, and Wu Yong maneuvered the ark at an extremely tricky angle, forcefully tearing a gap through the thinning tide of ephemera, frantically fleeing in the direction they came from!
The void cocoon did not pursue. The 'eyes' on its surface slowly closed, and the chaotic 'song' gradually returned to its previous low and regular rhythm, as if the previous frenzy was just a brief nightmare.
The ark, trailing thick smoke and flashing electrical sparks, embarrassingly rushed out of the Silent Corridor's dark matter dust belt, leaving the airspace filled with endless pain and secrets far behind.
Inside the bridge, there was a deathly silence after surviving the ordeal.
Everyone collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Lin Mo leaned against the pilot's seat, his face paler than before, but his eyes burned with an unprecedented, complex light.
He knew.
He knew the truth of the resonator.
He knew the other side of the tide of delusion.
He knew that their future path might not just be about battle and destruction.
There was also a more difficult path, but one that could lead to a true cure—
Healing the stars.