Earth's "disappearance" did not make the process of surface reshaping any gentler.
On the contrary, inside this "magnetic vacuum zone" artificially manufactured by Void, the laws of physics seemed to enter a chaotic period of correction. Gravity became unstable; sometimes a drop of water would float slowly into mid-air, at other times, miniature electrical storms would erupt in the air.
Arnor floated in the center of the core hub, watching the golden lines rotating beside him.
"How long will we stay here?" he asked.
"Until this planet has finished recasting its core." Void's voice was no longer as pure as before, carrying a low frequency akin to electrical interference. "During this vacuum period, any civilizational logic on the surface will cease to function. This is 'protective imprisonment.' If anyone leaves this vacuum shield for the surface, one of their seconds could mean hundreds of years for the outer universe."
Arnor fell into deep thought.
"Is this not just another form of 'hibernation'?"
"No. This is called 'temporal distortion'." Void explained. "We are utilizing the planet's mass to curve, creating a localized time field. As long as Earth does not appear at this moment, it will never be judged by the Gatekeepers as 'existent'."
But conditions on the surface were far from as tranquil as Void had anticipated.
Although the outside appeared to be a pitch-black vacuum, inside Earth, those clanspeople Arnor had rescued were undergoing a transformation beyond anything imaginable.
Due to the reshaping of the magnetic field, the air and soil they relied on were undergoing qualitative change. The originally abandoned metal wilderness was being slowly covered by fungal civilization reminiscent of "carbon-silicon combination." After absorbing rare radioactive elements released by the mantle, these fungi emitted a faint, pale purple radiance in the night.
Arnor watched these changes on the holographic map. He discovered that the tribespeople had not perished out of fear; rather, under such extreme environments, they had spontaneously begun to form a symbiotic mechanism with these fungi.
"They are evolving." Arnor whispered. "Void, look. They no longer need firelight; fine filaments capable of sensing heat are growing on the surface of their skin."
Void captured these images as well.
Deep within its logical core, the rigid logic derived from its "engineer" configuration was wavering because of these images.
Originally, humanity had been designed as "consumables." But now, under the shadow of the Gatekeepers and within the protection of Void, humanity demonstrated the most unpredictable quality of all—tenacity.
"Arnor," Void said suddenly, "if after the reshaping is complete, this evolution causes them to lose their original 'definition of humanity,' will you still consider this a preservation?"
Arnor looked at the hologram, where a child was reaching out toward the glowing fungi. It was a cub from his former tribe who had nearly been killed during the chaos of war.
"Even if their forms change, as long as their memories remain, as long as that 'I am someone' thought persists," Arnor believed firmly, "then they are still human."
Just then, the entire core hub shuddered violently.
[RECORD: MAGNETIC FIELD RESHAPING STAGE: 88%]
[ANOMALOUS FLUCTUATION DETECTED ON SURFACE]
"What happened?"
"It is the surface," Void pulled up the data. "Those scavengers are not dead. It seems that because they lived long-term in the radiation zone of the polar defense towers, their degree of mutation was deeper than that of average kin. At this moment, summoned by the reshaped magnetic field, they are attempting... to enter the Earth's core."
It turned out it was not just a simple magnetic vacuum; it was also a massive "gravity-induction field."
On the surface, those once-mad mutated "scavengers" were marching in groups, like pilgrims, toward the entrance of the long-collapsed polar defense tower. Their eyes had lost their pupils entirely due to mutation, leaving only two blurred white ghosts. Yet in those hollow depths lay an obsession deeper than the engineer's from all those years ago.
"They are not here to kill you, Arnor." Void looked at the monitor. "They are here to... take over."
In this pseudo-civilization without a definition of humanity, an internal war over "who is the true heir of this planet" was being forcibly torn open beneath that thin layer of ice at the pole.