Old Jean could no longer contain himself and eagerly took over, speaking at a rapid clip.
“We’ve preliminarily determined it to be a special energy body with highly invasive and assimilative properties.
It has no fixed form and can erode matter and energy and even affect the minds of living organisms.
It seems capable of absorbing most of our known energy attacks and converting them into a part of itself.
That’s why our conventional weapons have had so little effect.” His voice carried profound frustration.
“Energy absorption and conversion…” Dottore mused.
“It sounds like some sort of inefficient ‘devouring’ authority.
Have you ever attempted psychic attacks or interference at the level of fundamental laws?” “Psychic attacks?” General Victor looked taken aback.
“We do have some weapons targeting cerebral waves, but they’re completely ineffective against the Void Filth.
Interference at the level of laws…
what does that mean?” Dottore did not answer directly.
He merely said coolly, “It seems your research direction has been constrained by your established physical laws.” A preliminary judgment had already formed in his mind.
This energy body likely possessed extremely high resistance to purely physical and conventional energy attacks, but its defenses might prove considerably weaker against something like the [Heart of Fear], which directly influenced consciousness, or the [Heart of the Black Hole], which operated at the level of spatial laws.
Soon they arrived at the central database.
It was a vast circular chamber, its walls lined with blinking indicator lights and archaic light screens.
At its center stood an immense biological computer connected by countless crystalline conduits, one that used a domesticated neural network fungus capable of computation as its core.
“This is the crystallization of our civilization’s wisdom, the ‘Mnemonic Core,'” Old Jean introduced proudly, though his expression quickly dimmed.
“Unfortunately, nearly a third of the database has become inaccessible due to energy shortages and interference from the Void Filth.” “No matter.
We’ll start from the parts that are still accessible.” Dottore walked to the main console.
His pale fingers flew across the unfamiliar interface at a speed that left the nearby technicians gaping.
His formidable mental power extended like tendrils, directly interfacing with the Mnemonic Core at its lowest level and bypassing the cumbersome operating system entirely.
Massive torrents of data cascaded through his consciousness.
The history of K-127, its physical constants, biological atlas, energy technology, and most importantly, the emergence records of the Void Filth, its characteristic analyses, and the data from failed energy confrontation experiments—all were rapidly filtered, absorbed, and comprehended.
“Interesting…
The inertia threshold of this energy is quite high, but not impenetrable.
Its core seems to possess a rudimentary form of ‘collective consciousness,’ inclined toward devouring and ‘unification’…” Dottore murmured to himself, the light of analysis flickering in his eyes.
Several hours later, he left the database and moved to the main energy control room.
The scene here was even more dismal.
The massive energy reactor was outputting less than a tenth of its designed capacity.
At its core, stubborn black energy residue, like spreading veins, could be seen: the Void Filth itself.
It clung like parasitic vines, constantly siphoning the reactor’s power and hindering it from operating at full capacity.
“We’ve tried every method we can think of, but we can’t completely purge these residues.
It’s as if they’re alive and can repair and regenerate themselves,” the energy supervisor reported dejectedly.
Dottore studied the squirming black energy carefully, then extended a single finger.
He did not employ a large-scale destructive ability.
Instead, he guided an extremely faint thread of the [Heart of the Black Hole] with meticulous care, not to devour, but to create an infinitesimally small, localized singularity of spatial distortion.
The moment that thread of Void Filth touched the spatial distortion, it seemed to suffer a fundamental disruption.
Its stable energy structure showed signs of disorder and collapse.
Slow as it was, it was undeniably being “erased.” “Just as I thought.” Dottore withdrew his finger, confirming his hypothesis.
“Its resistance to law-based attacks is relatively low.
Large-scale purging will require a more sophisticated force field design, but it’s not impossible.” This scene made every engineer and scientist present hold their breath, and then their eyes burst with ecstatic light.
The nightmare that had plagued them for decades truly had a solution!
“Mister Dottore!
You must…” Old Jean was so overcome he could barely speak.
Dottore raised a hand to cut him off.
“The purging work will take time and energy.
Now, take me to see the special minerals and samples you’ve collected from the Void Filth’s active zones.” In the stronghold’s treasure repository, Dottore finally discovered something that piqued his interest.
Deep within a piece of ore collected from the most heavily polluted area, as transparent as obsidian yet brimming with chaotic energy currents inside, he sensed an extremely faint but fundamentally high-grade temporal fluctuation.
“This is…
Temporal Resonance Ore?” Dottore picked up the ore and carefully examined it.
“Although the quality is crude and the impurities are numerous, far from meeting the standard of Sands of Time, it does contain time-attributed energy.
The timeline of this world may have been shaken by some cause in the past…” This was undoubtedly good news.
It meant the possibility of finding an “Eternal Moment” had increased.
At the same time, he collected a large number of active samples of the Void Filth, as well as some crystals unique to this world that showed excellent conductivity for elemental power.
The initial harvest was quite bountiful.
A few days later, in Dottore’s temporary workshop, which had been hastily converted from the stronghold’s best laboratory, he presented his first piece of “sincerity” to General Victor and Old Jean.
“This is a prototype ‘Elemental Purification Array,’ designed based on your existing energy systems and materials, combined with my own technology.” Dottore gestured to a complex device whose core was inlaid with Delusion fragments and locally sourced energy-conducting crystals.
“It can emit a high-frequency oscillating elemental force field.
While it cannot completely eradicate the Void Filth, it can effectively suppress its activity, purify lightly contaminated areas, and provide more efficient energy conversion for your shields and weapon systems.” Old Jean looked as though he had found a priceless treasure, circling the device several times.
“Exquisite!
This energy circuit design…
it’s completely beyond our imagination!” “Furthermore,” Dottore produced another blueprint.
“This is a preliminary design for an improved Delusion, adapted to your circumstances.
It lowers the threshold for use and reduces the erosion of life force while increasing its power by roughly thirty percent.
It can serve as the foundational product for our future arms trade.
Naturally, the core materials will need to be supplied from my world, unless you can find equivalent substitutes.” General Victor stared at the design on the blueprint, so full of otherworldly style.
He drew a deep breath and accepted it with solemn gravity.
“Thank you for your assistance, Mister Dottore.
We will immediately organize our personnel and cooperate fully with your purification plan.
We will also begin preparing the first list of resources for the trade.” Cooperation seemed to be progressing on track.
While acquiring knowledge and resources, Dottore was genuinely advancing the resolution of this world’s crisis.
However, just as Dottore was absorbed in analyzing a newly delivered ore fragment that exhibited unusually strong temporal fluctuations, the dual-layered weight-rate and velocity-rate force field of [Gravity Modulation] he had left at the stronghold’s perimeter transmitted a ripple.
Something was forcefully crashing against it.
At the same moment, piercing alarms once again blared throughout the stronghold.
“Warning!
High-energy reaction detected!
Unknown large entity approaching the outer force field!
Energy level…
incalculable!” Dottore looked up, a cold gleam flashing through his eyes.
It seemed this world’s “troubles” were a bit greater than he had anticipated.
He set down the ore and straightened his robes.
“Lead the way,” he said simply to General Victor, who had come rushing over upon hearing the news.
“Let us go and see what manner of thing dares to interrupt my research.” Amid the urgent blare of alarms, General Victor’s expression was grim as he hurriedly accompanied Dottore to the observation platform on the stronghold’s outer wall.