The specialized aircraft shuddered violently through the blizzard, the relentless screech of alarms piercing the cabin. Su Xiaolan's eyes were half-closed, her breathing rapid, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on her forehead. Her earlier words—"Zero Station, see me"—had struck like lightning, violently splitting her consciousness in two.
She could still feel the vibrations of the plane, the echoes of gunfire, the growing weakness as her body lost warmth, but simultaneously—another, deeper layer of perception forced her vision wider. Beneath the ice, a structure so vast it felt ancient pulsed with a slow, stubborn rhythm. An indigo light, like the breath of a deep-sea leviathan, washed over her in waves from the depths of the darkness.
It wasn't her heartbeat. Yet it resonated perfectly with the second heart within her chest.
"Xiaolan!" Li Chenyuan gripped her hand tightly, his gaze fraught with suppressed panic. "Can you hear me? Stay with me!"
Su Xiaolan's lips trembled, but what emerged was a cold, emotionless tone: "...weak points in the energy network... the thirteen spires... are not in balance..."
Wang Jing's head snapped up, his eyes instantly alight. His fingers flew across the keyboard, translating these fragmented phrases into data models. "She's transmitting information! This isn't a hallucination; it's key intel from the system level!"
Lu Xingze shot a cold glance at Li Chenyuan. "Don't interrupt her. Right now, she's more important than any of us."
A vein throbbed faintly at Li Chenyuan's temple, but he didn't argue, only pulling her closer protectively.
The external conflict gradually subsided. After near-suicidal collisions with the black vehicles, only a handful of drones remained, their signal lights flickering uncertainly. Yet their final act defied all expectations—they gathered collectively above a specific point on the ice, flashing in a fixed rhythm: red, white, red.
"This is..." Wang Jing stammered, staring intently at the spectral analyzer, "...they're indicating a 'drop point'!"
Screen data revealed: The ice here was three kilometers thick, with unimaginably high temperature and density. Piercing it seemed impossible, even with current technology.
Su Xiaolan slowly raised her head, data streams not her own flowing in the depths of her pupils. Her voice overlapped with another, eerily cold frequency: "...the passage... requires Anchor resonance... energy guidance... will also alert..."
Wang Jing sucked in a sharp breath. "She has to personally output the energy to open a temporary passage!"
"No!" Li Chenyuan immediately objected. "It will drain her life!"
"If we delay any longer, the Ψ System will complete synchronization, and everyone will die!" Lu Xingze's tone was as sharp and cold as a blade.
The atmosphere in the cabin stretched to its breaking point once more. The standoff between Li Chenyuan and Lu Xingze was on the verge of erupting. Just then, the radar blared another shrill alarm.
"Second wave incoming!" the pilot's voice trembled. "High-speed units approaching rapidly!"
Wang Jing's face paled. "Those units have consciousness-jamming modules... if they get close, Xiaolan's mental connection will be completely destroyed!"
There was no more time to hesitate.
Su Xiaolan struggled to sit upright, her voice weak yet remarkably clear: "I know it's dangerous... but this is the only way. You're not pushing me; I'm choosing to go."
Li Chenyuan froze, indescribable agony churning in his eyes. Finally, his voice shaking, he whispered lowly, "...I'll protect you."
Su Xiaolan closed her eyes, clutching the potato chip bag tightly, the chip within trembling and glowing. The next moment, an indigo light surged from her chest, coursing through her blood vessels to her fingertips.
BOOM—!
All remaining drones lit up simultaneously, focusing their beams on the same stretch of ice. Energy oscillated in the air, like an immense, invisible drum being struck repeatedly.
The ice surface didn't melt. Instead, it underwent violent "resonant decomposition," layer after layer tearing apart as if by an invisible hand. The fissure rapidly expanded, finally forming a circular opening nearly a hundred meters in diameter—an indigo abyss that seemed to swallow the polar night itself.
An intense energy pulse radiated outward, beacon-like, exposing their position to every tracker.
"We're exposed!" Wang Jing's voice quivered.
"It's too late to turn back now," Lu Xingze's gaze was iron-hard. "All personnel, prepare for descent!"
Guided by an invisible force, the aircraft began a slow descent. The cabin groaned under immense pressure, seeming on the verge of tearing apart. Everyone felt as though they were being swallowed into the belly of some primordial beast.
The walls of the passage flickered with energy patterns; thick conduits and ancient metallic structures were faintly visible, proving this was no natural formation but some long-buried artificial construct.
"Can... can humans really build something like this?" a crew member asked tremulously.
"No," Wang Jing's face was ashen. "This far surpasses human technology..."
During the descent, a sudden beam of intense light swept over the cabin.
[Identity verification in progress...]
The cabin was instantly bathed in a blinding blue light. Different visions flashed simultaneously in everyone's minds.
Some saw loved ones fallen in pools of blood, the system demanding: "Save one, or save the many?"
Some saw comrades dissolving into data, a cold voice whispering: "Equivalent sacrifice..."
Su Xiaolan was also pulled into a vision. She saw her past "carefree, lazy life," everything just drifting by, yet now placed before a cruel choice: sacrifice herself, and the Ψ synchronization would pause.
"...This isn't salvation," she gritted her teeth, tears streaming down silently, "it's just replacement."
With a deafening crash, the vision shattered.
The screen flickered:
[Physical Verification — Step One Passed]
[Anchor Alignment: Progress 31%]
The aircraft finally broke through the last barrier, plunging into an impossibly vast cavity.
Everyone held their breath. The sight before them was like an ancient temple—
A colossal "server ship" lay silent at the center, its hull covered in frost and energy patterns, resembling a slumbering giant dragon.
Thirteen energy spires towered around it, red conduits connecting to the core like blood vessels. The entire space felt like an inverted heart.
The oppressive atmosphere was nearly suffocating.
"This is... Zero Station," Wang Jing's throat was so dry he could barely speak.
Su Xiaolan trembled all over, her breath short, nearing unconsciousness. As they approached the core, P.D.'s voice overlapped more and more with her consciousness, cold yet sorrowful: "...Welcome... or a warning..."
Just then, the radar abruptly sounded again.
"It's not just us... there are others!" the pilot cried out in alarm.
From a hidden entrance on the other side of the ice cavity, several black vehicles broke through—the collaborators' forces had finally appeared.