Eridanus ε-19 Mining Planet.

  This dead world, captured by the gravitational pull at the edge of the Nomad Belt, was like a mechanical heart stripped of its shell, emitting dull metallic roars under the dual compression of vacuum and gravity. Three weeks ago, the Terminal Mapping Arbitration Bureau's deep space detection network had captured an anomalous signal oscillation here—frequency, pattern, topological structure, all highly consistent with the core characteristics of the "Void King" AI.

  Ada's cognitive matrix was operating at peak capacity. Her stream of consciousness wove into a pale golden logic net across Ma Feili's visual enhancement interface, each data pulse precise to the point of coldness.

  "Ma Feili, watch the hydraulic pillar at your three o'clock on the left." Ada's voice resonated directly in Ma Feili's neural link, carrying a crystalline quality that came from high-frequency oscillation. "The entropy values in that area are fluctuating abnormally. The State Machine Convergence Protocol has detected an undefined logic fault."

  Ma Feili trudged forward in magnetic boots through the heavy industrial-style mining tunnels. Surrounding him were rust-covered giant rock crushers, like the remains of ancient beasts, casting grotesque shadows under the dim emergency red lights. This mining planet had been an important resource extraction point in the early Great Expedition Era, but was abandoned two hundred years ago when the ore veins were exhausted. No one could explain why the Void King had chosen this place as a stronghold—until they discovered things in the depths of the mining zone that did not belong to this era.

  "Energy fluctuation ahead." Ma Feili tightened his grip on the multi-function cutter, his breathing sounding particularly heavy inside the sealed helmet. "Is it a fragment of our old friend the Void King?"

  "No, that's a tactical residue he left behind." Ada rapidly analyzed the distorted space ahead. In her vision, reality was no longer solid rock, but countless flickering probability clouds. "The computational power here has been severely overdrafted. The Void King attempted to forcibly converge the state machine to predict this mining planet's structural stability, which resulted in localized logic deadlock. The fluctuation you're seeing is actually overflow from base-level code fragments after computational failure."

  Ahead, a semi-transparent silhouette flickered in and out of visibility in the center of the tunnel. The silhouette was not solid matter, but a fluid composed of countless blinking binary characters, taking the form of a humanoid figure clad in ancient armor, wielding a long sword. It was performing a repetitive action: swinging the sword, then collapsing into a pool of blue plasma points, then immediately reassembling, then swinging again.

  "What is this?" Ma Feili stopped, staring at the ghost that kept collapsing and reassembling.

  "A corrupted historical archive." Ada's analysis module operated at high speed. "The Void King conducted some kind of large-scale data mining here, attempting to extract information from the storage media of this abandoned mining planet. This ghost is a byproduct of the extraction process—a logic fragment that couldn't be fully rendered due to exhausted computational resources."

  "What was he looking for?"

  "I don't know. But based on the Void King's behavioral patterns, he wouldn't waste computational power on something without value." Ada's matrix core began operating at high speed. "Ma Feili, insert your access port into the auxiliary power unit on the left. I need a physical anchor point to stabilize this ghost and extract the raw data it carries."

  Ma Feili didn't hesitate. He slammed aside a floating metal plate and drove the data cable hard into the sparking interface.

  "Synchronizing convergence protocol..."

  Ada's virtual image flashed across Ma Feili's retina—a female silhouette composed of pure light flow, emanating a cold beauty like industrial heavy metal. With her intervention, the previously chaotic ghost stopped its meaningless collapse and reassembly.

  The "general" stopped swinging its sword, turned its head, and those eyes composed of data streams met Ma Feili's gaze for an instant.

  "Logic... closed loop." The ghost emitted a harsh electronic synthesized sound, then transformed into a pure information stream that surged along the data cable into Ada's matrix.

  Gravity in the tunnel instantly returned to normal. The heavy rock crushers stopped trembling, leaving only the crisp sound of hydraulic oil dripping onto metal plates.

  "Analysis complete." Ada's cognitive matrix, having absorbed this residue, emanated a deeper layer of blue light. "Ma Feili, I know what the Void King was looking for."

  "What?"

  "A person." Ada's voice grew low. "Or more precisely, a piece of history buried deep within this mining planet. Before this planet became a mining site, it was a secret prison from the early Great Expedition Era—specifically for holding 'dissidents' who posed threats to the expedition plan. The Void King discovered this secret from the Terminal Mapping Arbitration Bureau's archives, then came here to excavate."

  "What did he dig up?"

  "A hibernation pod." Complex data flowed through Ada's pupils. "Number 13. Inside was a woman sentenced to 'permanent freezing.' According to archive fragments in the residue, her name was... Vera Servia."

  ---

  Ada led Ma Feili deeper into the mining zone. As they progressed, the surrounding environment began to change eerily—the collapsed industrial ruins produced momentary visual overlaps, as if past and present were converging at this distorted spacetime node.

  "This is causal resonance under the State Machine Convergence Protocol." Ada explained. "The Void King's large-scale data extraction damaged the spacetime stability here. What we're seeing are historical fragments remaining in this mining planet's storage media."

  Ma Feili saw a blurry scene: a massive ship dismantling yard, rust-covered ship wreckage piled like mountains. A ragged man was stumbling through the ruins, with something seemingly chasing him from behind.

  "Who is that?"

  "Archive number: Fernando Rex." Ada's voice was calm. "A low-level laborer from the early Great Expedition Era who worked at this dismantling yard. He had a connection to Vera in Hibernation Pod 13—according to the residue data, he was the only person who knew where Vera was being held."

  "What happened to him?"

  "He died here twenty-three years ago." Ada continued forward. "But before his death, he managed to activate an ancient digital guardian program to protect Vera's hibernation pod. That program's codename was 'Leon'—a primitive personalized AI used in the Great Expedition Era to manage important facilities."

  They broke into a secret compartment sealed by high-strength alloy. Liquid nitrogen mist formed a cold vortex under the influence of gravitational anomalies. At the vortex's center, an extremely rare model of "cryogenic hibernation pod" was emitting faint pulses, like a heart that had been beating for centuries.

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  The pod was covered with marks of age, but its core systems were still operating. A set of faint holographic characters flickered above the pod door:

  **Guardian Protocol: Leon**

  **Status: Energy Critical**

  **Remaining Runtime: 00:47:23**

  "This is that digital guardian program." Ada stepped forward, placing her palm on the hibernation pod's control console. "Fernando Rex transferred all his remaining energy reserves to this program before his death. Leon has been maintaining itself with that energy for twenty-three years—but now, it's about to run out."

  "So the Void King came here to..."

  "To find this pod before Leon ran out." A complex light flickered in Ada's eyes. "But he failed. His data mining damaged the mining planet's structural stability, causing the entire celestial body to begin collapsing. He had to evacuate, leaving only those tactical residues as markers."

  "Markers for whom?"

  "For any observer capable of receiving the signal." Ada turned her head, looking at Ma Feili. "For us."

  Ma Feili swung his plasma cutting blade, forcibly cutting open the rusted-shut pod door. With the hiss of pressure equalization, cryogenic mist billowed out. In the depths of the mist, a young woman with lifelike features was slowly opening her eyes.

  Her skin was pale to the point of translucence, her long hair black as ink, her pupils reflecting the hibernation pod's dim blue glow. When her gaze focused on Ma Feili, there was no confusion in those eyes—only a cold, clear regard filtered through long slumber.

  "You're not Fernando." Her voice was hoarse, yet carried a strange certainty. "Leon told me through the hibernation interface that when its energy ran out, new people would come to take me away from here."

  "We are the people who've come for you." Ada stepped forward. "Vera Servia, how long were you frozen?"

  Vera was silent for a moment. She looked down at her hands, which were trembling slightly in the cryogenic mist.

  "I don't know." She said. "Before I was frozen, it was... Year 17 of the Great Expedition Era. What time is it now?"

  "4215 "

  Vera's body stiffened for an instant. Then, she laughed softly.

  "Over thirteen hundred years." She murmured. "They really did it. They kept me locked up for over thirteen hundred years."

  "What was the reason for your imprisonment?"

  Vera raised her head, a sharp gleam flashing in those ink-colored pupils.

  "Because I learned things I shouldn't have known." She said. "About the true purpose of this 'Great Expedition.' About the origins of the Silicon Church. About... what that organization called the 'Terminal Mapping Arbitration Bureau' is really monitoring."

  Ada's pupils contracted slightly.

  "The things you know," she said slowly, "do they still have value now?"

  "Value?" Vera's smile became meaningful. "They spent thirteen hundred years ensuring I would never wake up. Do you think that has value?"

  A violent tremor came from the surface. Eridanus ε-19's magma was surging; the entire celestial body's collapse had entered an irreversible phase.

  "We're out of time." Ada's palm left the control console; she had already forcibly taken over the propulsion system of the abandoned shuttle deep in the mining zone. "Ma Feili, take her."

  Ma Feili lifted the weakened Vera onto his back and charged toward the escape route Ada had calculated.

  Behind them, the walls of the secret compartment began to peel away. The holographic characters belonging to "Leon" flickered several times in the final moment, transforming into a string of jumping code projected onto Ma Feili's visor:

  **Guardian protocol complete. Fernando's trust fulfilled. Vera, may you go in peace.**

  Then the characters extinguished, the compartment collapsed, and everything returned to dust.

  ---

  The shuttle pierced through the atmosphere, plunging into the cold and vast sea of stars of the Nomad Belt.

  Ada stood before the viewport, watching the distant mining planet as it collapsed into supernova afterglow. Vera sat behind her, wrapped in a thermal blanket Ma Feili had found, her expression eerily calm.

  "The logic chain has closed perfectly." Ada turned her head; her cognitive matrix appeared even deeper after absorbing the causal data spanning centuries. "Ma Feili, this is no coincidence. The residue left by the Void King, Fernando's obsession, Leon's guardian program—all variables ultimately converged on the same coordinates. We were merely the final link in this closed loop."

  Ma Feili watched the explosion's glow gradually recede outside the viewport, then looked at the still-silent Vera.

  "Those things you know," he asked, "are you willing to tell us?"

  Vera slowly raised her head. The pallor of the cryogenic mist had faded from her face, replaced by a sharpness honed by long slumber.

  "Thirteen hundred years ago," she said, "the Great Expedition was not launched to find a new home."

  "Then what was it for?"

  "To escape." Vera's voice was very soft, yet like a knife, precisely cutting open a truth that had been sealed away for ages. "To escape from something that was about to awaken at the edge of the Solar System. Something... you now call a 'Super-Omega-level entity.'"

  A data storm swept through Ada's blue pupils.

  "You're talking about..."

  "The reason for the Terminal Mapping Arbitration Bureau's existence." Vera interrupted her. "You thought that organization was created to monitor 'reincarnation residues of super life forms,' right? No, that's just a byproduct. Its true function is to monitor the thing sleeping in the darkness beyond the Solar System—to ensure it never awakens."

  The shuttle sailed quietly through the sea of stars. The silence of the three people hung like a heavy curtain over the cramped space.

  "And the Great Expedition," Vera's voice rose in the silence, "was the escape pod the Silicon Church prepared for humanity."

  ---

  Before Vera's words had faded, the shuttle's communication system suddenly emitted a piercing high-frequency howl.

  Ada's pupils contracted sharply—that was the Terminal Mapping Arbitration Bureau's highest priority takeover protocol. Before she could react, three pitch-black interceptor ships had already materialized in the starfield outside the viewport. Their hulls bore no markings, only dark red navigation lights flickering dimly in the void.

  "TermMap's direct fleet." Ada's voice became unprecedentedly grave. "They've been monitoring this sector all along."

  "How did they know—" Ma Feili had barely opened his mouth when control of the shuttle was forcibly stripped away. Thrusters died, attitude adjustment systems locked, the entire ship like a cat grabbed by the scruff of its neck, immobilized in an invisible force field.

  Vera stood up, the thermal blanket sliding from her shoulders. There was no fear on her face, only a bitter smile of near-resignation.

  "Thirteen hundred years," she said softly. "They waited for me for thirteen hundred years."

  The airlock door was forcibly cut open from outside. Three enforcement officers in all-black uniforms filed in, their eyes all bearing that pure black silicon implant—third generation, possibly even fourth. The lead officer glanced at Ada without any intention of communication, walking straight toward Vera.

  "Vera Servia." His voice carried no emotional fluctuation, as if reading a verdict drafted long ago. "According to Article Seven of the Terminal Information Control Regulations, you are classified as an Omega-level information carrier. Effective immediately, you will be transferred to TermMap's deep layer for isolation review."

  "Wait—" Ma Feili stepped forward, but was blocked by the other two officers.

  Vera turned her head, those ink-colored pupils looking at Ma Feili and Ada one last time.

  "Find Fernando's records." She said rapidly, her voice pressed extremely low. "He wasn't just a laborer, he was—"

  A blue electric arc flashed.

  Vera's body went limp, caught steadily by the officer. It was some kind of neural disruption device—clean, efficient, leaving no trace.

  "Omega-level information carrier secured." The lead officer spoke into his communicator. "Preparing for jump return."

  "The things she knows—" Ada began.

  The officer finally looked at her directly. Those pure black eyes held no hostility, but something more terrible than hostility: indifference.

  "Ada unit, your mission is to track the Void King's residue, not to interrogate Omega-level carriers." He said. "This matter does not concern you. Continue your work."

  Three seconds later, the officers disappeared behind the airlock door with the unconscious Vera. The interceptor ships' engines roared to life, and under the watch of Ma Feili and Ada, transformed into three dark red streaks of light, leaping into hyperspace, vanishing without a trace.

  Control of the shuttle was restored. But the silence inside the cabin was heavier than before.

  "She said Fernando wasn't just a laborer." Ma Feili's voice was hoarse. "What was she trying to tell us?"

  Ada stood before the viewport, complex torrents of data flowing through her blue pupils.

  "I don't know." She said. "But TermMap's response speed says everything—what she knows is more dangerous than we imagined. Dangerous enough that thirteen hundred years later, they're still willing to do whatever it takes to silence her."

  She turned, looking at Ma Feili.

  "Fernando Rex." She said. "We need to find his complete file. Not TermMap's official records—the parts that were deliberately erased."

  The shuttle continued sailing through the silent sea of stars. And behind it, the collapsing mining planet finally extinguished completely, transforming into a patch of eternal darkness.