Chapter 43 Unexpected Discovery

Inside the space station, energy beams and bullets intertwined into a brilliant yet lethal web of light. Searing energy torrents scorched hideous ravines into the metal bulkheads, each burn mark venting wisps of acrid smoke. The pungent stench of scorching material, mingled with the smell of gunpowder, filled the air, making it difficult to breathe.

Lin Yu rolled and maneuvered through the dense barrage. His tactical visor kept emitting a shrill alarm, the vibrating sonic waves nearly piercing his eardrums, and tiny streaks of blood even seeped from his ears.

The moment he pulled the trigger of his pulse rifle and dropped a robed figure, the energy blade swung by the falling assailant brushed past his cheek, leaving a burning trail of pain.

At that exact moment, his peripheral vision swept across the center of the altar. The crystal embedded in the groove of the spacetime prism was pulsing eerily as the ritual advanced. Its deep blue glow, like flickering phosphorescence in the deep sea, blinked on and off. Amidst the seemingly random arrangement, a profound and arcane rhythm was hidden, as if whispering an ancient and dangerous secret.

"Something's wrong!" Lin Yu pressed his back tightly against the collapsed console. The residual heat of the metal radiated through his tactical suit, scorching his skin and making him frown slightly.

His temples throbbed violently. His brain, operating like a high-speed quantum computer, rapidly retrieved all past intelligence regarding the mysterious organization.

Those once-ignored fragments—the faded gold dust still clinging to the edges of incomplete star maps in ancient texts, the lines of code in captured equipment that read like mystical incantations, the informant's nervous gaze and trembling voice during their vague descriptions—now rushed together like iron filings drawn to a magnet, rapidly piecing themselves together in his mind.

He stared fixedly at the crystal without blinking. His pupils contracted slightly in shock: the flashing frequency of those alternating lights maintained a horrifying synchronization with the expansion rate of the spacetime rift thousands of miles away, as if some mysterious bond tied the two together.

"Su Yao! Watch the crystal array on the prism!" Lin Yu's roar, mixed with static noise, exploded through the communicator, his voice sounding somewhat rasped by tension.

At that moment, Su Yao was locked in close combat with two robed figures. The blue arcs traced by her oscillating dagger clashed violently with their energy swords, each collision erupting into a string of blinding sparks that splattered onto her arm, leaving tiny burns.

The instant she heard the call, she sidestepped a fatal blow. As her body twisted mid-air, her tactical boots scraped against the floor with a harsh friction sound. Catching sight of the altar from the corner of her eye, her pupils abruptly constricted: "This arrangement... it matches the ancient star map nodes of the Pamir Star ruins perfectly!" Before her voice faded, her dagger had precisely pierced an enemy's carotid artery. Warm blood sprayed onto her visor, instantly vaporized into white mist by the energy field while emitting a thick, bloody stench.

Lin Yu's heart hammered frantically in his chest, as if desperate to burst through. He risked sticking out half his torso, the scanning beam of his tactical visor acting like an invisible scalpel cutting into the core structure of the crystal array.

As data streams rolled wildly, a series of shocking information exploded across his retina: these crystals were not mere energy conductors, but rather constructed an intricate spacetime equilibrium matrix based on ancient astrological laws.

Every node of the matrix corresponded to a mysterious constellation in the universe, and those complex circuits interconnected like a neural network.

Yet, the forced activation by the mysterious organization was like brutally snapping the gears of a clock, plunging the entire system into an out-of-control rampage. The once-stable energy flow became chaotic and disordered, overflowing in all directions like a breached flood.

"Change the crystal arrangement order! We can restart the equilibrium mechanism!" Lin Yu's voice trembled with excitement. His fingers danced rapidly across the control panel, his knuckles turning slightly pale from exertion, as he beamed the scan data and analysis report through quantum-encrypted channels to all combat squads.

"This is the key to turning the tide!" The moment the message was sent, the space station's energy field trembled violently. The runaway current lashed through the compartment like a silver python, and the circuits along the walls exploded into successive fireballs. Fragments from the exploding fireballs scattered everywhere, one grazing his shoulder and burning a hole in his tactical suit.

Realizing the crisis, the robed figures formed a human wall and rushed frantically toward the altar. The weapons in their hands spewed crimson beams of death, twisting and warping the air wherever they passed.

Lin Yu and Su Yao exchanged glances, a resolute flame igniting simultaneously in both of their eyes.

"Hold this position!" Lin Yu slapped the final energy magazine into his rifle, the metallic click crisp and firm, sounding like a clarion call to declare war on the enemy.

The team members dispersed into a fan formation, forming a flesh-and-blood defense line with their bodies and charging head-on into the tide-like enemy.

Amidst the flying hail of bullets, the crystals on the altar still gleamed with a mysterious light, while humanity's game of chess against the spacetime disaster thus welcomed its pivotal turning point.

Every team member knew that their steadfast defense at this very moment would determine the destiny of all spacetime. They could not retreat, nor would they ever retreat.