"Sigaochin, how's the site?"
Sigaochin, who was leading soldiers out of the core area, heard Yelanka's voice through her earpiece.
She raised a hand to her headset. "Sorry, Administrator. The soldiers in the core area suffered heavy casualties. This is my failure as the commanding officer."
"Don't bla yourself. This wasn't sothing you could control. The enemy's plot was so deep even the Human Consortium couldn't detect it in advance. What could you have done as the field commander... Sigaochin, are you hurt?"
"Thank you, Administrator. I'm fine. I'm evacuating the wounded from the core area now, and then I plan to return with reinforcents from the periter."
"Return? Why?"
"I need to supervise and confirm the alien intelligence's feeding status. If the parasitized forms left on site aren't enough, and Guan Tong's living dead can't make up the shortfall, we'll need to order nearby town residents to evacuate!"
"Was Teacher not with you? And why isn't he on this comms channel?"
"His communicator may have been damaged in the fighting. He said he'd stay behind to look for an opportunity to ask questions. Administrator, don't worry. He saved many soldiers this ti. I'll do my best to ensure his safety."
"Mm. Be careful. Rember, if the situation is untenable, withdraw in ti. Survival matters above all."
"Yes, understood."
At that mont, soldiers from several periter defense lines arrived to assist, and Sigaochin imdiately started issuing orders.
She arranged for the intact n on the periter to escort the wounded from the core area to the nearest dical center, and she herself took a full company of troops back into the core area.
As the Landing Site commander, abandoning the core area without knowing the alien intelligence's level of threat would be abandoning her duty.
Her earlier decision to leave had been solely to get the large number of casualties out. Without a commanding officer accompanying them, the troops might have collapsed from low morale.
Now that the wounded were being taken care of, she naturally had to return.
Before departing she specifically went to Uenoshi.
"I'm worried about elite Ascendant ambushes or strikes en route. I'd like you to leave with the wounded. With your strength you can protect them."
She had expected Uenoshi to refuse and insist on accompanying her back into the core, so she had prepared persuasive argunts.
Surprisingly, Uenoshi nodded and agreed without insisting on going back to find Guan Tong.
That made Sigaochin realize Guan Tong and his companion with the strange snake-like pupils worked well together; each knew their role.
After seeing everyone off, she imdiately led the heavy-fire company back, her gaze resolute.
If the parasitized Ascendants' attack caused a severe shortage of food, and Guan Tong's living dead couldn't fill the gap... then she had to buy ti for nearby towns to evacuate.
That was why she returned with a heavy company. If it ca to that point, even if human weapons couldn't destroy the alien intelligence, they could at least delay it.
...
Core area of the Landing Site.
Guan Tong watched the alien intelligence steadily devour the remaining parasitized forms, ntally calculating the leftovers.
For this questioning, the Human Consortium had made full preparations; the nations and the joint forces transported nearly one hundred thousand parasitized forms to the front.
The enemy clearly knew the Consortium's plan, so they had dispatched hundreds of parasitized Ascendants carrying large numbers of Mind Power bombs disguised as ordinary parasitized forms, successfully infiltrating the Landing Site and causing chaos.
Such a brazen all-in move ant the parasitized leaders had long had so grip on human intelligence.
"It could be that the top levels of so Human Consortium mber state were infiltrated by parasitized forms, or the Fire Thief Worship Cult obtained intelligence and shared it with the parasitized leaders," Guan Tong guessed. In any case, he thought the Consortium would need a serious internal purge after this incident.
But for now, too many parasitized forms had been killed by Mind Power bombs and poison gas shells, and whether the remaining ones were sufficient for the ritual was unclear.
If consumption this ti matched the last, the numbers might still suffice. If it exceeded the previous loss, then living dead would have to be summoned to fill the gap.
The Corpse Whistle consus 20 Mind Power to summon three living dead.
Although weak, the living dead had helped Guan Tong a lot in his early days, and since there was no cooldown, he had kept the item.
With reserve Mind Power, every 20 points summons three. If he used ten thousand reserve Mind Power, he could create fifteen hundred living dead to serve as food for the alien intelligence.
Fifteen hundred might not be huge, but Guan Tong had more than just ten thousand reserve Mind Power. His earlier plan had been that summoning living dead from reserve Mind Power plus the parasitized forms left on site should be sufficient.
But now...
Huh?
Guan Tong noticed that when four or five transport crates of parasitized forms remained, the alien intelligence stopped consuming and completed its feeding process.
He didn't approach rashly, instead sending Shadow to get close and listen for the answer.
He was, of course, very curious about what the answer to "What is the sixteenth Doomsday Rule?" would be.
Like the Consortium committee mbers, he wasn't only curious about the wording, but about whether the answer implied it could foresee the future.
If the alien intelligence really gave an answer, Guan Tong had no doubt the Consortium would go into a frenzy of questioning during the remaining two or three days of the Rule Period.
"What is the seventeenth Doomsday Rule? The eighteenth? Nineteenth? Twentieth..." As long as food lasted, they might try to ask all forty-nine rules.
Even if that ant large numbers of humans would be used as food beyond the parasitized forms... that wouldn't stop high-ranking decision-makers from acting.
Guan Tong, having lived through so much as part of humanity, understood how crazy a group could get.
"The sixteenth Doomsday Rule."
A low voice arose from within the alien intelligence. Guan Tong heard it through the shared auditory channel from Shadow, and his pupils narrowed.
Could it really...
"The sixteenth Doomsday Rule."
It repeated the phrase, and Guan Tong was slightly taken aback. Then things started going wrong.
"The sixteenth Doomsday Rule. Error, detecting... error, self-check initiated... error..."
What was happening?
Guan Tong watched the patch of alien black sludge churn and roll on the ground like a broken machine repeatedly rebooting.
Could questions about the Doomsday Rules cause it to malfunction? Is this thing... a machine? But the rules describe it as an "intelligence" — what was the truth...
"Error, self-check failed... forcing restoration..."
The alien intelligence kept emitting strange sounds; besides the words Guan Tong could understand, it also made noises in a language he couldn't parse.
It showed signs of collapse or mutation, and yet his own question hadn't even been answered!
He had gone to great lengths for this chance, even agreeing to stay in Xisiya to protect Yelanka for a ti. If after all that he couldn't ask his question, these two weeks would be wasted!
Guan Tong's eyes hardened. Whatever the alien intelligence's problem, he would force his plan through.
"Shadow Domain."
A tide of shadows spread outward, covering the area containing him and the alien intelligence, forming a dark space that blocked outer satellite observation.
Then he took the book from his chest and asked directly, "Is my ti-space crossing related to this Wordless Book?"
This was the question he most wanted answered now. He didn't ask whether it was related to the Fire Thief, because he had long suspected the Wordless Book's power was extraordinarily unique, entirely different from other Mind Power items.
A tool that, given sufficient Mind Power upper limit, could create almost anything and let its user have "wishes co true" was incomparable to ordinary items.
If the Wordless Book had been prepared for him by the Fire Thief, what was the reason? What made him special?
If the book wasn't from the Fire Thief, might there be a deeper reason linked to his crossing?
From the mont the Doomsday Rules arrived, he had resolved to investigate every truth, including his own ti-space jump. Founding the Trace Origin Travel Troupe was part of that goal, and that explained his indifference to the wealth and fa many others chased.
Nearly two years had passed since that decision, with little to show for the search.
So even if the hope was slim, he posed the question, hoping this advanced-civilization-like individual that seed to have star-drive technology could offer answers.
He wasn't worried about exposure; if the Fire Thief had been watching, they would surely know of the Wordless Book's power, seeing as he had already "cheated" with it a number of tis.
So... would there be an answer?
Guan Tong watched expectantly as the sludge-like alien intelligence churned. The viscous black mass suddenly stiffened after hearing his question.
What was wrong?
Normally, after a question is posed, the alien intelligence would first consu food and then give an answer.
But this ti, after his question, it didn't follow that logic; instead it froze as if jamd.
Guan Tong frowned slightly as the black sludge suddenly rolled toward him!
"!"
Startled, he sprinted backward.
Wasn't this thing supposed to not attack questioners? And there were so many parasitized forms between us... is it because of my question?
The alien intelligence's mutation surprised Guan Tong. He kept running to put distance between them, while manipulating Shadow to grab parasitized forms and hurl them at it, but it ignored the thrown food and instead pursued him!
It wasn't incredibly fast, but seed to have boundless stamina. Guan Tong tried using Body Swap with a shadow far in the opposite direction, only to find it imdiately turned and chased him.
If it wouldn't stop...
Guan Tong inhaled deeply to calm himself.
He watched the black sludge surge toward him, raised his palm, preparing to condense a Small Space and fight to the death.
Then, on a second thought, a talisman appeared in his open hand.
It was the Silver Doppelganger Talisman he had previously obtained from a box, capable of creating a duplicate possessing one-fifth of his Mind Power.
He didn't know if it would work, but he had to try.
Guan Tong used the item, and a duplicate of himself instantly appeared.
The original and the duplicate ran off in different directions, but in the next mont Guan Tong realized it was useless — the intelligence seed to have discrimination ability and kept chasing the original!
Why?
The duplicate and the original were identical in many ways, only differing in Mind Power. How could it tell them apart?
Wait, was it actually chasing ?
Guan Tong thought of his question and how the intelligence had pursued the original without hesitation.
He glanced at the Wordless Book tucked inside his chest.
Could it be that the alien intelligence was after the book, not him?
The Silver Doppelganger Talisman's duplicate didn't have the Wordless Book, so a quick test would answer this.
Guan Tong took the book out and summoned Shadow to hold it while running to the other side. Sure enough, the black sludge abandoned its chase of him and instead pursued Shadow.
Seeing that, Guan Tong imdiately recalled Shadow. After taking back the Wordless Book, he stored it directly into the Storage Box on his terminal panel.
The Storage Box is a non-physical space that exists only in the panel. He wanted to see how the alien black sludge would follow.
The instant the Wordless Book vanished from his hand, the alien intelligence stopped in place and, with a soft slapping sound, went limp onto the ground...
Guan Tong halted, looking at the sludge collapsed on the ground, his brow furrowed as he sank into deep thought.
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