123: Chapter 123 The talisman spontaneously combusted, and the rising blue smoke transformed into a beam of light that shot straight into the sky like an arrow piercing through the clouds.

The light in the tunnel dimmed for a moment.

It wasn't that the illumination talisman had gone out; it was that the spreading spores had obscured the glow of the spirit-patterned board.

Chen Wuwang stood before the command center, his fingertips swiping three commands across the terminal, his knuckles tight.

The image on the communication Formation Plate flickered intermittently; one could only see blurry figures, a flash of sword light, and green fluid splashing onto the rock walls—before the next frame went black again.

He didn't wait for the image to recover, directly striking the button for the global alert.

"Seal off the outer tunnels three, five, and seven, reinforce the main tunnel rock strata, and activate the B-grade backup Spirit Stone array." His voice was not loud, but every word felt like a stake driven into the ground. "Now."

The command talisman lit up, and a series of responses came from all directions: "Number three sealed!" "Number five reinforcement complete!" "B-array power supply normal!"

He stared at the 3D projection of the main tunnel, his brows locked tight.

That tunnel leading ninety zhang deep was being slowly swallowed by a gray-green contaminated zone.

A warning popped up in the data stream: "Spore fluid corrosion rate exceeds estimates by 37%, structural stability has dropped to critical levels."

This wasn't a raid; it was an extermination.

He raised his hand to press on his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye, switching to thermal scanning mode.

In the image, several faint heat sources were still moving, trending toward gathering, but their speed was getting slower and slower.

Stamina was being depleted, toxins were spreading, and the retreat path was solidifying.

They couldn't rely on manpower to hold out any longer.

He drew a dagger from his waist, carved a deep mark into the stone table, and immediately activated the Elder summons talisman.

The talisman paper self-ignited, blue smoke rising to transform into a beam of light like a sky-piercing arrow that shot straight into the heavens.

Three breaths later, the sound of mecha tracks rolling over gravel came from the distance.

Ling Zhenzi had arrived.

The old guy was draped in a gray robe, carrying a nine-palace spirit-patterned box on his shoulder, and without stopping his pace, he stepped directly into the command area.

He glanced at Chen Wuwang, didn't ask about the situation, and just nodded.

That one look was enough.

Chen Wuwang synchronized the geological map and Spiritual Qi fluctuation data to the other's terminal; the screen flashed, Ling Zhenzi narrowed his eyes, and cursed in a low voice:

"Damn it, this place was long ago infiltrated by the insect race's plasma; even the earth veins are poisoned."

"That's why I need you," Chen Wuwang said, standing by his side and pointing at the center of the projection. "Here, the main mining area—I need an array that can withstand high-intensity impacts, prevent mental interference, and evaporate spore fluid."

Ling Zhenzi bared his mouth, revealing a set of yellow teeth: "You really dare to ask."

But he had already crouched down, opened the box, and taken out twelve mysterious crystal nails.

Each one was engraved with dense runes, its surface glowing with a cold blue light.

"First, I'll set up the warning perimeter," he said, flicking his wrist. The first crystal nail shot out, "clacking" into the left rock wall. Immediately after, the other eleven were released in succession, so fast their trajectories were almost invisible.

Hum—

A pale blue halo spread from the twelve points, weaving into a net and forming a spherical barrier with a radius of ten zhang.

Just as it formed, a drop of viscous fluid suddenly dripped from a rock crevice above to the right. The moment it touched the light shield, it "hissed," let off white smoke, and was immediately bounced away.

"Works well," Ling Zhenzi hummed. "At least it can hold out until I finish drawing the main array."

Chen Wuwang didn't respond, instead swiping his fingers across the terminal to bring up the underground micro-Spiritual Qi flow map.

He pointed to a sunken area: "Place the array core there. Borrowing the earth vein's backflow force as a power source is more cost-effective than just using Spirit Stones."

Ling Zhenzi looked up and glanced at him: "You understand arrays?"

"I don't," Chen Wuwang said, looking at the screen. "But I know how to make things last longer."

The old guy smiled, said nothing more, walked to the designated position, crouched down, and pressed his right index finger directly onto the rock.

Hiss—

His fingertip slid across the rock surface, leaving behind a smoking, blue-tinged groove.

He began to draw the array; not with a pen, but by channeling Spiritual Qi into his fingertips, forcefully carving rune circuits into the granite.

With every stroke, his fingers trembled slightly, and beads of sweat quickly seeped from his forehead.

Chen Wuwang stood by, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye continuously refreshing the data stream.

He saw the array diagram taking shape—a triple-ring structure: the outer layer was a shock shield pattern, the middle layer was an energy absorption circuit, and the inner layer was a resonance amplification array eye.

The entire pattern looked like a sleeping metal flower, lying quietly in the underground.

"What is it called?" he asked.

"Triple-Layer Shield · Earth Vein Resonance Array," Ling Zhenzi panted. "A thing passed down from the ancestors; it was originally used to prevent earthquake rifts, never thought it would be used today to keep bugs from blocking the door."

"The name isn't important," Chen Wuwang said, staring at the last section of the circuit. "Can it withstand the formation of the spore core?"

"If I couldn't withstand it, I wouldn't have come," Ling Zhenzi spat. "But you must guarantee—don't let anyone get within thirty paces of the array core later, especially those who are injured. This array borrows the earth vein's recoil force; living people standing too close will be injured by the shock."

"Understood," Chen Wuwang immediately ordered. "All remaining personnel, retreat to the safety zone; do not enter the core area unless necessary."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ling Zhenzi completed the final stroke.

Boom!

Seven beams of light erupted from the array eye, shooting straight to the tunnel ceiling, then converging in mid-air to form a hemispherical shield.

The light curtain flowed like rippling water, completely shrouding the entire mining area.

The moment the shield formed, the spore fluid dripping from several rock crevices just touched the barrier before "crackling" and exploding, dissipating into a wisp of black smoke.

The ground, originally pitted by corrosion, also began to slowly precipitate a crystalline substance; that was the residue left after the spore fluid was thoroughly purified.

"It's through," Chen Wuwang said in a low voice.

The passage was open again.

He walked to the edge of the shield and reached out to touch the light curtain. A gentle vibration traveled through his fingertips, as if the earth were breathing.

"The array is stable," Ling Zhenzi said, sitting on the stone slab at the array core and taking a swig from the water skin at his waist. "It can hold for at least three days. If the insect race comes for another wave, I suggest you let them taste the 'Recoil Thunder'."

Chen Wuwang didn't smile, just nodded: "That's enough. Three days is enough for us to finish improving the drill."

He stood in place, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye continuously refreshing the shield's operational data: energy fluctuations stable, earth vein conduction efficiency 91.6%, external corrosive matter removal rate 100%. Everything was normal.

But he knew that the real crisis was never right in front of him.

He looked back at the tunnel leading into the depths. It was still dark, communication remained interrupted, and the six people's fates were unknown.

But he couldn't rush in to save them—he could save them once, but not a second time.

Defense had to become the norm.

"Ling Zhenzi," he suddenly spoke. "After this wave passes, I want to lay out a linked early warning network across the entire territory, using Spirit Array + mecha sentry towers + underground sonic detection to create a closed-loop System."

The old guy narrowed his eyes: "You want to turn the entire Eastern Wasteland into one giant array?"

"Yes," Chen Wuwang said, looking at the spore fluid residue gradually solidifying outside the shield. "From now on, whoever wants to mess with us will first have to ask the underground if it agrees."

Ling Zhenzi was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "You kid... are truly crazy."

He pushed off his knees to stand up, patting the dust off his gray robe: "Fine, count me in. But it's going to cost extra."

Chen Wuwang also smiled: "If we win, I'll give you a thirty percent technical share."

"Deal."

The two said no more. One crouched at the array core calibrating the last Spirit Crystal, sweat sliding down his forehead; the other stood at the edge of the shield, his right hand lightly touching his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye, continuously monitoring data fluctuations.

The mining area quieted down, with only the faint hum of the flowing light curtain.

In the distance, the sound of mecha tracks rang out again, carrying a new batch of Materials toward the work area.

The engineering work hadn't stopped.

The battle hadn't ended either.

But the defensive line had already been established.