"Automated sentries left behind by the Old Observers,"
Bai Cheng stood before the main console, the book of commonality hovering by her hand. On its pages, the records concerning the Active Silence Zones were automatically completing themselves.
"But what is their instinct? To maintain silence? To purge anomalies? Or..."
She paused, her silver eyes looking out the porthole toward the deeper, denser darkness of the Silent Quadrant.
"...To protect something?"
The ship's sensors emitted a soft notification chime at that moment. Leng Ningxue's remote communication request came ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ through, and an ice-blue holographic image appeared in the center of the bridge.
"The Mirror Eye has captured new developments," her voice was as calm as ever, but the data streams in her icy eyes were moving faster than usual. "The exception you rescued has triggered a chain reaction."
Several ice mirrors unfolded beside her, reflecting scenes from different regions.
In the first mirror was the Pendulum of Eternal Recurrence.
The massive energy structure, which had been operating regularly, now showed faint ripples in its core region around the erroneous individual implanted with the Resonance Seed. The ripples were weak, but they were spreading outward at a slow but steady pace.
"The pendulum's error is beginning to accelerate," Leng Ningxue explained.
"After the Resonance Seed was implanted, its diffusion rate increased from 0.001 millimeters per hour to 0.01 millimeters.
Though still extremely slow, the efficiency has increased tenfold. Moreover, it has begun to teach the surrounding frequencies how to be irregular."
In the second mirror was the Starfire Archives.
The light of the keystone was brighter than it had been three days ago, and the structures constructed from various civilization concepts around it were accelerating in growth.
New branches had grown beside the green vine pillars, more lightning runes had surfaced on the dark gold load-bearing beams, and the iridescent edges of the Windows of Reflection had begun to spontaneously sprout tiny, vine-like patterns.
"The Archives is learning," Leng Ningxue said. "With every new echo brought back and every new story recorded, its resonance network becomes a degree more complex.
Now, it has even begun to actively 'invite' faint existences from nearby star systems through the extended frequencies of the river of light."
The third mirror, however, was a blur.
Only distorted light and shadows were visible in the mirror, as if shrouded in thick fog.
"This is the Rule Disturbance Zone where Zi Yuan and Qingniao are located," Leng Ningxue's voice grew slightly grave. "My Mirror Refraction cannot fully penetrate that layer of interference.
But it is certain that a high-intensity confrontation is occurring there.
Judging by the energy fluctuation signatures, Qingniao's lightning light has erupted fully at least three times, and Zi Yuan's blade intent has five recorded strikes. The traps they've encountered are more troublesome than expected."
Bai Cheng frowned slightly. "Can you establish stable communication?"
"I've tried, but the signal is severely jammed.
The only certainty is that they are still alive and still fighting." Leng Ningxue paused. "Do you need support?"
Bai Cheng fell silent for a moment.
The book of commonality grew slightly warm in her palm, its pages automatically turning to the one recording Zi Yuan and Qingniao's mission.
The light of the oath of starlight flowed between the lines, attempting to sense the resonance further away.
"Trust them for now," Bai Cheng finally said. "Zi Yuan and Qingniao are not recruits who need constant supervision. But if stable communication still cannot be established in twelve hours, I will go there personally."
She turned to Lu Duo and Yu Nian. "Our mission remains unchanged. How many similar voids and pendulums are there in the Silent Quadrant?"
Lu Duo closed her eyes, and the Emerald Network expanded once more.
This time, she did not pursue depth, but breadth, like casting a massive web of perception into the night.
A few minutes later, she opened her eyes, a complex projection of a star chart reflecting in her emerald-colored pupils.
"Thirty-seven locations," her voice carried a hint of fatigue. "There are thirty-seven areas I can perceive with distinct, unnatural silence characteristics.
Among them, there are nineteen solidified structures similar to the Pendulum of Eternal Recurrence, twelve Active Silence Zones similar to the Existence Negation Void, and six more..."
"I cannot accurately define them. Their frequencies are very strange, like chaotic products of multiple overlapping silence technologies."
Yu Nian's pure heart vine gently touched Lu Duo's shoulder, and gentle life energy slowly flowed in.
"Rest first," she said softly. "Perceiving so much silence is too heavy a burden for a Resonator."
Lu Duo nodded, but she did not stop her movements.
She called up the star chart on the main console and marked the thirty-seven coordinates one by one.
On the star chart, the previously sparse Silent Quadrant was now filled with crimson and dark gold light points.
Crimson represented Active Silence Zones, dark gold represented solidified structures, and those six undefinable areas were marked with shifting grey.
"The nearest chaotic product," Lu Duo pointed to a grey dot on the edge of the star chart, "is only a two-hour voyage away. But from the frequency characteristics... it's very hungry."
"Hungry?" Bai Cheng asked.
"It's like a void, but it doesn't just negate existence; it's more like it's... actively devouring surrounding echoes, energy, and even possibilities."
Lu Duo's brow was tightly knit. "When I perceived it, a small branch of the Emerald Network was almost pulled in by it. That feeling wasn't being negated, but being digested."
A brief silence fell over the bridge.
Then, Bai Cheng made a decision.
"We'll go there."
Yu Nian looked at her. "Won't it be too dangerous? We just escaped from one void, and now we're actively going to an even weirder 'chaotic product'..."
"It is precisely because it's dangerous that we need to see it clearly," Bai Cheng's voice was calm.
"The Old Observers left too many legacies in this quadrant. If we only pick safe places to explore, we will never understand what they actually did back then, nor will we truly be able to help those trapped echoes."
She looked at the point of light flickering in the container.
"Besides, the existence of this little fellow itself is a rebellion against silence. Taking it along might serve as some kind of... resonance key."
Lu Duo took a deep breath, the light of the Emerald Network stabilizing once more. "I need time to recover. A two-hour voyage is enough for me to adjust to my best state."
"Then we depart in two hours." Bai Cheng turned to Leng Ningxue's hologram. "How are things at the Archives?"
"Stable," Leng Ningxue replied. "Chi Yan and the others received three new echoes this morning: one from the last singer of a perished civilization, one from an abandoned ecosphere consciousness after a failed experiment, and another..."
"...is a piece of pure mathematical beauty, born from a civilization's collective meditation on perfect geometry."
They have all been settled and are learning how to resonate with the other existences in the Archives."
She paused, her icy eyes looking at Bai Cheng. "Do you need me to finish the construction of the Mirror Corridor early and come to support you?"
"No," Bai Cheng shook her head. "The eyes of the Archives are equally important."
"We need to know what is happening across the entire Star Abyss, not just the Silent Quadrant before us.
Continue your work, Leng Ningxue.
Only when the Thousand Mirror Eye are fully completed can we truly see where this river of light extends to."
The communication ended.
The dawn entered cruise mode, sailing steadily toward that chaotic product.
