In Dragon Ball: A brutal beating of Frieza at the start

Page 268

They traversed the wreckage of the monster, crossed a chaotic living area, and finally arrived at a tightly closed metal door covered in dark red veins. The original control panel on the door was no longer functional and had been covered by proliferating growths.

“The first control node is behind the door.” Lin Ye looked at the location marked on the structural diagram, “but these growths are blocking the entrance.”

Lisa observed the pulsating tissue on the door: "These things look more...active than before. Would it be dangerous to destroy them directly?"

"Let me try." Lin Ye stepped forward and pressed the fragment of the Key of Creation onto the door.

"laugh--"

Like a red-hot iron branding ice, a wisp of blue smoke rose from the point where the fragment touched the proliferating growth. The dark red tissue rapidly contracted, withered, and detached, revealing the relatively intact door behind it. The light from the fragment seeped in, and the sound of a mechanism turning could be heard from inside the door.

"It works!" Li Sha said with delight.

As the growth receded, the control panel on the gate gradually became visible. Although some damage remained, the main structure was still relatively intact.

"Sentinel, can we connect to this control system?" Lin Ye asked.

The sentry connects the robotic arm to the control panel: "Attempting to connect... Some system functions are still available, but permission verification is required."

Just then, a faint but familiar mental message entered their minds again: "Access... granted... thank you... clear the guards..."

It was the voice of "Radiance of Annihilation," weaker than before, but with a hint of relief.

"Click."

The heavy metal door slid open slowly inwards, revealing the first control node.

The space behind the door was much larger than they had imagined. In the center of the room was a cylindrical control console, surrounded by multiple display screens and data interfaces. But the most striking feature was the constantly pulsating dark red energy core in the center of the console—it was like a living heart, connected to the entire system through several energy conduits.

"Is that the protocol node?" Li Sha asked, her voice tinged with wariness.

Lin Ye nodded. He could feel that the chaotic fluctuations emanating from that energy core were exactly the same as the pain transmitted by the "Radiance of Annihilation".

“Be careful,” he warned, “this node is severely corroded.”

Just as they were preparing to investigate further, the sentry suddenly sounded an alarm: "Multiple high-speed life signals detected approaching! Number... a lot!"

From the direction they came, came a dense, unsettling crawling sound, and the sound was rapidly approaching.

“They were drawn here by the fight just now!” Lisa immediately raised her gun and pointed it at the door.

Lin Ye quickly made a decision: "Li Sha, Sentinel, guard the entrance! I'll handle this node!"

“Are you sure?” Lisa looked at the pulsating energy core with concern. “That thing looks dangerous.”

“There’s no other choice.” Lin Ye had already walked towards the control panel. “We have to shut it down as soon as possible. Trust me.”

Li Sha and the sentry exchanged a glance, then quickly established a defensive line at the entrance. Lin Ye took a deep breath and reached for the pulsating dark red energy core.

Chapter 559 Node Core

“They’re here!” Lisa’s voice trembled slightly in the communication channel, but her energy rifle was steadily pointed at the dark passage from which crawling sounds were coming from.

The sentry's mechanical body had already taken up a favorable position on the other side of the doorway, its shoulder-mounted miniature rapid-fire cannons humming as they warmed up. "Quantity confirmed: twenty-seven... thirty-four... still increasing. Threat level: high. Quick action recommended, Commander."

Lin Ye glanced back at the two men standing guard at the door, and at the increasingly loud, chilling rustling sounds outside. Without hesitation, he ordered, "Hold the door! Buy me some time!"

He whirled around, focusing all his attention on the pulsating, dark red energy core in the center of the control panel. The closer he got, the more chaotic and painful it seemed to emanate from within, as if countless souls were screaming within it. The stench of decay and engine oil in the air became exceptionally strong here, almost tangible.

"The corruption of the Whispering Shadows has penetrated deep into the core of the node..." Lin Ye could feel the fragment of the Key of Creation in his arms getting hot, creating a strong repulsive reaction with the filthy energy emanating from the core.

He didn't rashly touch the pulsating core with his bare hands, but instead raised the fragment again. Soft, pure white light poured down like mercury onto the dark red energy core.

"Sizzle—sizzle!"

The reaction was far more violent than when it was outside the door! The dark red core, like an enraged creature, boiled and churned violently on its surface, spewing out thick, blood-like smoke, and a more pungent smell, like burnt flesh mixed with circuit boards, filled the air. The core's pulsation suddenly accelerated, emitting a dull, booming sound like a runaway engine.

The entire control room then shook slightly, and dust and fine metal shavings fell from above.

"Lin Ye! The outside is holding up, how's it going on your end?" Li Sha's voice came through the sounds of energy rifle fire and the screams of monsters being shattered.

"I'm purifying the node! It takes time!" Lin Ye shouted back, while simultaneously activating the power of the fragments to the fullest extent. White light and dark red light clashed fiercely in the center of the control panel, eroding each other and emitting a teeth-grinding sound of tearing energy.

He could sense that this node was not just part of the "Radiance of Annihilation" protocol, but more like a "tumor" rooted in its system. The dark red energy structures were mixed with extremely stubborn whispering wills that were resisting and fighting back.

A jumbled, malicious fragment of thought attempted to impact Lin Ye's consciousness along the energy connection.

"...merging into...eternal harmony..."

"...Resistance...is pointless..."

*“...become a part of...”

Cold, viscous thoughts, like venomous snakes, coiled around his mind. Lin Ye groaned, feeling a sharp pain in his temples. But he immediately steadied his mind, pressing the fragment of the Key of Creation to his forehead. The warmth and sense of order emanating from the fragment instantly dispelled the invading force.

"Get out!" Lin Ye roared, a fierce glint in his eyes. He was no longer satisfied with external purification, but instead tried to carefully pierce the boiling dark red core with a fragment of the original power, like a probe.

boom!

More fragments of imagery flooded his mind—

He saw a blurry, silvery, radiant colossal consciousness (Radiance of Annihilation) violently colliding in the endless dark void with a boundless, maniacally colored, twisted shadow (Whispering Node)... The silver consciousness was severely damaged, its light dimmed, and it plummeted towards the star... In an attempt to repair itself and protect itself, it instinctively activated a program (Purification Protocol), but due to core damage and logical errors, the program distorted. The signal it emitted was no longer the orderly ripples that banished the shadows, but instead became... a distorted invitation, bearing the mark of its own pain? Or even... a tribute?

This distorted signal resonated with the distant whispering node, like a beacon lit in the darkness. The power of the whispers followed the signal, like a parasite, beginning to attach to and erode the already weakened "Radiance of Annihilation." This control node was the "bridgehead" where the whispering power had most deeply eroded it, attempting to transform it into its own extension!

"So that's how it is... It wasn't that you actively aided the enemy, but rather that you were taken advantage of after being injured, and the flawed agreement became their channel of invasion..." Lin Ye realized, and at the same time gained a deeper understanding of the "Radiance of Annihilation's" predicament. This was not betrayal, but a cruel infection and torment that had lasted for countless years.

“Terminating the agreement means cutting off this infection channel!” Lin Ye’s will hardened, and he activated the power of the Key of Creation, like a precise scalpel, to begin cutting through the energy structures within the node core that were deeply bound to the Whispers.

Outside the door, the battle had reached a fever pitch.

"Too many! Can't we kill them all?" Li Sha emptied an energy magazine, quickly replaced it, and her breathing became rapid. At the end of the passage, the aberrations surged in like a tide. Most of them were mechanical remains covered in biological tissue, but mixed in were some individuals with even more bizarre shapes, seemingly composed of pure shadow and broken metal. They were faster and more lethal.

The Sentinel's rapid-fire cannon had overheated, so it switched to its arm-mounted high-frequency cutting blade. The mechanical arm swung in a flash of silver light, slicing the onrushing aberrations into pieces. The energy shield flickered under repeated impacts, its strength slowly decreasing.

"Hold on! The commander needs time!" The sentry's voice remained calm, but its movements noticeably quickened, indicating immense pressure.

A shadowy tentacle, like a whip, suddenly descended from the ceiling, silently coiling towards Lisa's ankle! Lisa's psionic senses alerted her at the last second; she leaped away, firing her energy rifle upwards in rapid succession, scattering the shadowy tentacle.

"Be careful! These guys can be dirty!" she shouted, still shaken.

Inside the control room, Lin Ye's "surgery" had reached its most critical moment. He had located the main energy circuit inside the node core that represented "protocol maintenance," but this circuit was tightly wrapped and protected by an extremely thick, constantly regenerating dark red biological tissue.

The tug-of-war between the power of the fragments and the corrosive whispers reached its climax. The light of the entire crimson core flickered erratically, pulsating as if it were about to explode. Some screens around the control panel crackled and sparked, and several energy conduits even melted due to overload, spewing out scorching steam.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Lin Ye's forehead; the strain of intense concentration made him feel dizzy. He knew he couldn't delay any longer. Although the gunfire and screech outside were still intense, Li Sha and the sentries' defensive perimeter could be breached at any moment.

"Disconnect it...!"

He let out a low shout, no longer holding back, and channeled the power of order contained within the fragment of the Key of Creation into a solid, blazing spear of light, which fiercely pierced the protected core circuit!

“Ouch——!!!”

A piercing scream, filled with pain and rage, that did not travel through the air but resounded directly through the mental realm, erupted from the core of the node! The sound seemed to be a collection of the wails of countless twisted consciousnesses, so powerful that Lin Ye's vision went black and he almost lost his balance.

At the same time, the mutant army outside the door seemed to be stimulated by something, and their offensive suddenly became more frenzied, charging forward without any regard for casualties!

"They've gone berserk!" Li Sha exclaimed, the muzzle of her energy rifle already slightly red from continuous firing.

After enduring several suicidal impacts, the Sentinel's energy shield finally let out a mournful cry and went out completely. A mechanical arm that had mutated into a giant pincer slammed into the Sentinel's chest, producing a dull metallic clang and causing it to stagger back half a step.

Inside the control room, as the mental shriek rang out, the dark red core suddenly expanded, countless cracks appeared on its surface, and the violent energy was about to get out of control!

At this critical moment——

"Crack!"

A clear, crisp sound, like shattering glass, came from within the core.

The spear of light, condensed from the power of the Key of Creation, finally pierced through the protective layer and struck the deepest protocol circuit!

The expanding core abruptly halted, and the energy streams that spewed from the surface cracks were no longer dark red, but mixed with pure white light. The nauseating pulsation rapidly weakened, and the dark red faded and dimmed at a visible speed, like embers after a fire had burned out.

The pulsating dark red veins around the control panel instantly lost their luster, becoming dry and withered. The pervasive sense of oppression and whispering thoughts in the room also receded like the tide.

The remaining proliferative tissue on the door and walls withered and peeled off.

The node has been shut down.

Lin Ye let out a long sigh of relief, feeling utterly exhausted, and almost collapsed to the ground. He forced himself to look towards the door.

The hissing and crawling sounds outside the door did not stop, but the movements of the mutants became noticeably slower and more chaotic, and the dark red biological tissues on their bodies began to lose their activity, as if their life force had been drained away.

"The node is closed! These guys have become weaker!" Li Sha keenly sensed the change, her spirits lifted, and her shooting became more accurate.

The sentry seized the opportunity, wielding his cutting blade to clear out several stiff-moving aberrations in front of him. "Threat level down. Commander, mission complete."

Lin Ye walked to the doorway, looked at the mutated creatures in the passageway that were bumping around like headless flies, and then gradually stiffening and collapsing to the ground, and nodded: "The first node is resolved. How does 'Radiance of Annihilation' feel?"

He tried to ask questions of that vast consciousness.

After a moment of silence, a thought, much clearer and more stable than before, though still weak, but lacking the tearing pain, came through:

"...Thank you...to the holder of the key...the first shackle...has been removed...the pressure...has eased..."

"...However...a warning must be given...to the other two nodes...especially the master node...the whispers' corruption is deeper...and the guards...are much stronger..."

"...My consciousness...has recovered a portion...Memory data...transmitted to you...Perhaps...it will be helpful to you..."

A massive influx of information flooded Lin Ye's mind, primarily consisting of a more detailed map of the internal structure of the "Radiance of Annihilation" (though still incomplete), as well as the specific locations of the other two control nodes and their possible defense mechanisms. There were also scattered fragments of memories about the "Purifier Sequence" and the "Whispers of the End."

Lin Ye quickly scanned the information, his expression gradually becoming serious.

He looked at Lisa and the sentry: "Rest for five minutes, check your equipment, and replenish your energy. Then we'll set off immediately for the second node."

He paused, then added, "'The Radiance of Annihilation' tells us that the next place is the 'Ecological Cultivation Zone'...and the situation there may be even worse than here."

Li Sha looked at the still deep darkness at the end of the passage and swallowed hard: "Ecological cultivation area? The name itself doesn't sound like a good place."

The sentry silently began cleaning the rapid-fire cannon's barrel and replacing the energy battery. His cold, mechanical eyes scanned the temporarily silent corridor, ready to deal with any new threats that might arise.

Inside the control room, only the completely dim, cracked energy core and the lingering burnt smell in the air testified to the perilous purification that had just taken place.

The road ahead remains unknown and long.

Chapter 560 A Rotting Breeding Ground

The five-minute break passed in the blink of an eye.

Lisa replaced the last spare magazine on the energy rifle and checked the seal of the breathing mask. Her face was still a little pale, but her eyes had regained their resolve. The dent in the Sentinel's chest had been slightly smoothed out by the nanobots. The energy shield generator needed more time to cool down and was temporarily unusable, but it had been loaded with a spare weapon module. A pair of high-frequency vibrating particle claws ejected from the arm armor.

"Energy level maintained at 10 percent, weapon systems ready," the sentry reported, his cold, mechanical voice echoing in the silent control room.

Lin Ye frowned as he processed the fragmented memories transmitted by the "Radiance of Annihilation." The information about the "ecological cultivation zone" was scattered, but several keywords kept recurring: "uncontrolled proliferation," "biomass fusion," and "highly corrosive environment." This sounded even more troublesome than the corridor filled with distorted machinery.