Chapter 133: Sandstorm Veils the Consciousness
The sandstorm arrived sooner than anticipated.
At first, it was merely fine grains of sand drifting with the wind, pattering against the bulletproof glass of the off-road vehicle with a soft rustle. But in no time, the wind shifted, and a vast expanse of yellow-brown sand fog rolled across the wasteland. Visibility rapidly compressed to less than thirty meters. The gray sky and earth completely merged into one; distant dirt slopes and the outlines of ruins were swallowed by the sand curtain, leaving only the swaying withered yellow weeds and jagged gravel nearby.
"Wind speed is rising; the sandstorm is fully formed." Zhao Kai stared at the vehicle's meteorological detection screen, his voice slightly taut. "Geomagnetic disturbance in the rock strata is beginning to soar. The signal-to-noise ratio of the instruments is plummeting. If this continues, the detectors will be basically useless."
Lu Heng wiped the fine sand that had landed on his brow bone and immediately issued an order over the channel: "All personnel reduce speed. Increase the distance between vehicles; do not leave visual range. Lin Yan, act according to your capabilities. Under sandstorm interference, the load on Sea of Consciousness perception will multiply. If the core trembles, retract your power immediately. Do not tough it out."
Lin Yan acknowledged and sank his mind toward the core of his Sea of Consciousness.
He slowly released a wisp of perception, but the moment it extended outward, he immediately felt a chaotic, disorderly geomagnetic turbulent flow slam into him. The sand grains, carrying fine spores and residual waves from dead fungal hyphae in the rock strata, were churned into a turbid mental noise. It was like pressing his ear against a roaring waterfall; trying to distinguish that stagnant-water-like placid wave of the phantom seed from within had become several times more difficult.
The previous rhythm of low-power scanning was no longer viable. To penetrate this noise and identify the target, he had to slightly increase the output of his Sea of Consciousness.
The moment he raised the perception precision by one level, the familiar dull pain immediately began to seep from his temples. It was the old stress-induced hidden injury left over from his breakthrough in the tunnel, sounding an alarm under the stimulation of overloading. Lin Yan frowned slightly. He didn't forcibly spread large-scale perception; instead, he switched to point-like probing, slowly sweeping the soil crevices and broken walls on both sides of the roadbed section by section.
"The noise is too great; there are chaotic fragmented waves everywhere." Lin Yan reported in a low voice. "I can only confirm them bit by bit. The investigation speed will slow down significantly."
"No rush to cover the route," Lu Heng said. "The most taboo thing now is rushing forward and missing phantom seeds. The matrix likely specifically chose this kind of sandstorm weather to set up its layout. The geomagnetic turbulence covers the phantom seed signals; even with a high-tier Sea of Consciousness accompanying, it's very hard to detect them."
Chen Ye gripped his shock baton tightly, leaning half his body out of the car window, squinting to scan the surroundings through the sand fog. As a second-tier Sea of Consciousness cultivator, his perception was basically useless in this environment. He could only be responsible for visual vigilance, guarding against scaled beast scouts taking advantage of the sandstorm to sneak in. The scaled beasts on the wasteland were familiar with this harsh weather; the sand fog was their best cover.
The off-road vehicle crawled forward at an extremely slow pace, its wheels slipping occasionally as they rolled over the soft sand.
Lin Yan retracted and released in turns. Each perception probe lasted no more than ten seconds before he withdrew the wisp to regulate his breathing for a moment, giving the core of his Sea of Consciousness a chance to catch its breath. He strictly adhered to the bottom line Instructor Wen had emphasized, absolutely refusing to continuously overexert himself. Yet even so, repeatedly penetrating and discriminating within the turbulent flow caused his mental power to be steadily consumed, and the core began to emit imperceptible tremors.
About two hundred meters ahead, a collapsed precast concrete retaining wall lay across one side of the road, a relic of engineering from when the supply line was built in the early years. Large concrete slabs were inserted diagonally into the dirt slope, with crevices digging deep into the soil layer. It was an excellent location for burying seeds.
Lin Yan concentrated, sending a wisp of perception carefully toward the base of the retaining wall.
Amidst the chaotic geomagnetic noise, an extremely faint, extremely steady wave lay quietly dormant, identical to the Corridor Phantom Seeds they had cleared before. It seemed to have been waiting here for the sandstorm to descend, using the漫天 (all-over) turbulence to perfectly conceal its existence.
"Below the retaining wall, another phantom seed." Lin Yan spoke, suppressing the swelling ache in his mind. "It's buried in the crevice where the slab and the dirt slope are pressing against each other. If the sandstorm hadn't come, there might have been a chance to sweep it out. But in this weather, any other cultivator would have absolutely no way to discover it."
Lu Heng immediately halted the vehicle: "Hold position and警戒 (guard). All personnel disembark and form a circular defense. Zhao Kai, report the coordinates and notify the disposal team. Tell them the sandstorm interference is severe, making travel difficult, and to be careful of the road conditions ahead."
The four disembarked one after another, pulling up their windproof masks to block the sand blowing into their faces. The wind, carrying sand, lashed against their combat suits with a crackling sound; everything in view was a昏黄 (dim yellow) haze. Chen Ye and Zhao Kai guarded the left and right flanks, their gazes fixed dead-set on the depths of the sand fog, guarding against sneak attacks.
Lin Yan stood in a relatively wind-sheltered position, leaving only one wisp of perception to lock onto the phantom seed's anchor point from afar, not daring to get close.
He could clearly feel that this phantom seed's state was slightly different from the previous ones. Those found before were purely dormant, waiting for touch to trigger. But this one's anchor point was faintly connected to an extremely thin, even deeper-buried fungal hyphae branch. The branch was very weak, almost on the verge of breaking, yet it proved it wasn't a completely independent seed—the main underground network could still weakly link to it.
"Something's wrong." Lin Yan suddenly spoke. "This phantom seed has a weak uplink, still connected to the underground hyphae. The matrix can remotely trigger it; it doesn't need us to actively step into range to activate it."
Lu Heng's expression changed: "Meaning it can be started at any time?"
"Yes." Lin Yan nodded. "Usually, it's no different from ordinary dormant phantom seeds. But once the matrix senses us approaching, it can remotely send a signal to directly open the corridor. The sandstorm blocks vision and interferes with instruments; even if we discover it, the window to retreat is very short."
This sentence sent a chill down everyone's spines.
Previously, they thought phantom seeds were passive traps, triggered only when stepped on. Now, the matrix had directly upgraded the mechanism, retaining remote activation authority. It meant it could watch humans approach step by step through the rock strata and press the switch at the most appropriate moment.
"Do not approach the retaining wall!" Lu Heng quickly retreated half a step, pulling back to a safe distance of fifty meters. "Wait in place for the disposal team. No one is to approach that dirt slope. Lin Yan, keep watching the anchor point's waves. Once it shows any fluctuation, warn immediately."
"Understood."
Lin Yan steadied his mind, his perception thread firmly trailing that phantom seed wave. The pain in his temples grew increasingly distinct, and the tremor of the Sea of Consciousness core slowly intensified. He gritted his teeth and endured, not daring to withdraw his vigilance. This was the mission, and also a gap in the defensive line; he couldn't back down at this moment.
The sandstorm grew denser, and the wind from afar turned into a low, mournful wail.
A reply from the disposal team came through the channel. The wind and sand were too heavy; their vehicles had been forced to slow down. They would arrive in at least fifty minutes. The long wait was infinitely stretched amidst the漫天 (all-over) yellow sand.
Chen Ye lowered his voice and leaned close to Lu Heng: "Captain, what if the matrix activates the phantom seed right now? All four of us could be trapped in the corridor of consciousness in an instant. The sandstorm outside has sealed off vision; even if support receives the signal, it will be very hard to quickly locate and rescue us."
"So we can't give it the chance." Lu Heng gripped his rifle, his knuckles tightening slightly. "Once Lin Yan reports any anomaly with the phantom seed, we all get in the car immediately and retreat at full speed. Abandon this phantom seed; prioritize saving people. We can come back for the sample next time. If people are trapped in the corridor, they can't be saved."
This decision was cruel. Leaving the phantom seed in place would continue to threaten all passing teams in the future. But compared to the risk of staying behind to gamble, this was the most rational choice.
Time flowed minute by minute.
A thin layer of sweat seeped from Lin Yan's temples, half from the cold brought by the wind and sand, half from the fatigue of continuous Sea of Consciousness consumption. He constantly recited Instructor Wen's harmonization mantra in his mind, trying to steady the restless core and suppress the stabbing pain within a controllable range. He knew clearly that if he continued to maintain perception at this high intensity, it wouldn't be long before the old stress-induced hidden injury would completely solidify.
Just then, the locked phantom seed wave suddenly gave a light jump.
It wasn't a violent outbreak, merely a very slight undulation, like something sleeping had turned over.
"It moved! The matrix is trying to activate it!" Lin Yan's voice sank. The core of his Sea of Consciousness suddenly tensed, and the swelling pain exploded instantly.
"All in the car! Now!" Lu Heng roared.
The other three didn't hesitate, turning and sprinting toward the off-road vehicle. Zhao Kai yanked open the rear door, Chen Ye vaulted in, and Lu Heng got in last, slamming the door shut behind him. The engine roared, the wheels slipped in the sand, the front of the car turned, and it sped toward the bastion at full throttle.
Lin Yan sat in the passenger seat, still maintaining perception, watching the wave behind them in the direction of the retaining wall.
After that undulation, the phantom seed returned to silence, not fully unfolding the corridor. The matrix seemed to have merely been testing; seeing them retreat rapidly, it temporarily withdrew the trigger signal.
"It's testing our bottom line." Lin Yan panted, slightly retracting his perception thread to ease the burden on his Sea of Consciousness. "Seeing if we dare to gamble, seeing if we'll stay behind and hold our ground."
Lu Heng stared at the dim yellow sand road ahead, his expression grave: "It has already turned phantom seeds into remotely controlled traps. From now on, the risk level of investigations has gone up another notch."
The off-road vehicle struggled to speed through the sandstorm, leaving the retaining wall hiding the phantom seed far behind in the yellow-brown fog curtain.
Lin Yan leaned against the seat, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. The tremor of the Sea of Consciousness core couldn't settle for a long time, and the dull pain in his temples surged in waves. This trip today had already exceeded the load of his current stage of steady cultivation.
Deep beneath the earth, in Rift No. 79.
The massive fungal carpet of the matrix undulated slowly. The feedback from that remote test just now traveled back along the hyphae.
It saw the human squad retreat decisively, not staying in the trap.
No anxiety, no anger.
It noted this reaction and silently adjusted the deployment logic of subsequent phantom seeds.
Remotely triggered Corridor Phantom Seeds would continue to be deployed outward. Next time, it would choose a place where the human squad had no choice but to face it.
End of Chapter.
At first, it was merely fine grains of sand drifting with the wind, pattering against the bulletproof glass of the off-road vehicle with a soft rustle. But in no time, the wind shifted, and a vast expanse of yellow-brown sand fog rolled across the wasteland. Visibility rapidly compressed to less than thirty meters. The gray sky and earth completely merged into one; distant dirt slopes and the outlines of ruins were swallowed by the sand curtain, leaving only the swaying withered yellow weeds and jagged gravel nearby.
"Wind speed is rising; the sandstorm is fully formed." Zhao Kai stared at the vehicle's meteorological detection screen, his voice slightly taut. "Geomagnetic disturbance in the rock strata is beginning to soar. The signal-to-noise ratio of the instruments is plummeting. If this continues, the detectors will be basically useless."
Lu Heng wiped the fine sand that had landed on his brow bone and immediately issued an order over the channel: "All personnel reduce speed. Increase the distance between vehicles; do not leave visual range. Lin Yan, act according to your capabilities. Under sandstorm interference, the load on Sea of Consciousness perception will multiply. If the core trembles, retract your power immediately. Do not tough it out."
Lin Yan acknowledged and sank his mind toward the core of his Sea of Consciousness.
He slowly released a wisp of perception, but the moment it extended outward, he immediately felt a chaotic, disorderly geomagnetic turbulent flow slam into him. The sand grains, carrying fine spores and residual waves from dead fungal hyphae in the rock strata, were churned into a turbid mental noise. It was like pressing his ear against a roaring waterfall; trying to distinguish that stagnant-water-like placid wave of the phantom seed from within had become several times more difficult.
The previous rhythm of low-power scanning was no longer viable. To penetrate this noise and identify the target, he had to slightly increase the output of his Sea of Consciousness.
The moment he raised the perception precision by one level, the familiar dull pain immediately began to seep from his temples. It was the old stress-induced hidden injury left over from his breakthrough in the tunnel, sounding an alarm under the stimulation of overloading. Lin Yan frowned slightly. He didn't forcibly spread large-scale perception; instead, he switched to point-like probing, slowly sweeping the soil crevices and broken walls on both sides of the roadbed section by section.
"The noise is too great; there are chaotic fragmented waves everywhere." Lin Yan reported in a low voice. "I can only confirm them bit by bit. The investigation speed will slow down significantly."
"No rush to cover the route," Lu Heng said. "The most taboo thing now is rushing forward and missing phantom seeds. The matrix likely specifically chose this kind of sandstorm weather to set up its layout. The geomagnetic turbulence covers the phantom seed signals; even with a high-tier Sea of Consciousness accompanying, it's very hard to detect them."
Chen Ye gripped his shock baton tightly, leaning half his body out of the car window, squinting to scan the surroundings through the sand fog. As a second-tier Sea of Consciousness cultivator, his perception was basically useless in this environment. He could only be responsible for visual vigilance, guarding against scaled beast scouts taking advantage of the sandstorm to sneak in. The scaled beasts on the wasteland were familiar with this harsh weather; the sand fog was their best cover.
The off-road vehicle crawled forward at an extremely slow pace, its wheels slipping occasionally as they rolled over the soft sand.
Lin Yan retracted and released in turns. Each perception probe lasted no more than ten seconds before he withdrew the wisp to regulate his breathing for a moment, giving the core of his Sea of Consciousness a chance to catch its breath. He strictly adhered to the bottom line Instructor Wen had emphasized, absolutely refusing to continuously overexert himself. Yet even so, repeatedly penetrating and discriminating within the turbulent flow caused his mental power to be steadily consumed, and the core began to emit imperceptible tremors.
About two hundred meters ahead, a collapsed precast concrete retaining wall lay across one side of the road, a relic of engineering from when the supply line was built in the early years. Large concrete slabs were inserted diagonally into the dirt slope, with crevices digging deep into the soil layer. It was an excellent location for burying seeds.
Lin Yan concentrated, sending a wisp of perception carefully toward the base of the retaining wall.
Amidst the chaotic geomagnetic noise, an extremely faint, extremely steady wave lay quietly dormant, identical to the Corridor Phantom Seeds they had cleared before. It seemed to have been waiting here for the sandstorm to descend, using the漫天 (all-over) turbulence to perfectly conceal its existence.
"Below the retaining wall, another phantom seed." Lin Yan spoke, suppressing the swelling ache in his mind. "It's buried in the crevice where the slab and the dirt slope are pressing against each other. If the sandstorm hadn't come, there might have been a chance to sweep it out. But in this weather, any other cultivator would have absolutely no way to discover it."
Lu Heng immediately halted the vehicle: "Hold position and警戒 (guard). All personnel disembark and form a circular defense. Zhao Kai, report the coordinates and notify the disposal team. Tell them the sandstorm interference is severe, making travel difficult, and to be careful of the road conditions ahead."
The four disembarked one after another, pulling up their windproof masks to block the sand blowing into their faces. The wind, carrying sand, lashed against their combat suits with a crackling sound; everything in view was a昏黄 (dim yellow) haze. Chen Ye and Zhao Kai guarded the left and right flanks, their gazes fixed dead-set on the depths of the sand fog, guarding against sneak attacks.
Lin Yan stood in a relatively wind-sheltered position, leaving only one wisp of perception to lock onto the phantom seed's anchor point from afar, not daring to get close.
He could clearly feel that this phantom seed's state was slightly different from the previous ones. Those found before were purely dormant, waiting for touch to trigger. But this one's anchor point was faintly connected to an extremely thin, even deeper-buried fungal hyphae branch. The branch was very weak, almost on the verge of breaking, yet it proved it wasn't a completely independent seed—the main underground network could still weakly link to it.
"Something's wrong." Lin Yan suddenly spoke. "This phantom seed has a weak uplink, still connected to the underground hyphae. The matrix can remotely trigger it; it doesn't need us to actively step into range to activate it."
Lu Heng's expression changed: "Meaning it can be started at any time?"
"Yes." Lin Yan nodded. "Usually, it's no different from ordinary dormant phantom seeds. But once the matrix senses us approaching, it can remotely send a signal to directly open the corridor. The sandstorm blocks vision and interferes with instruments; even if we discover it, the window to retreat is very short."
This sentence sent a chill down everyone's spines.
Previously, they thought phantom seeds were passive traps, triggered only when stepped on. Now, the matrix had directly upgraded the mechanism, retaining remote activation authority. It meant it could watch humans approach step by step through the rock strata and press the switch at the most appropriate moment.
"Do not approach the retaining wall!" Lu Heng quickly retreated half a step, pulling back to a safe distance of fifty meters. "Wait in place for the disposal team. No one is to approach that dirt slope. Lin Yan, keep watching the anchor point's waves. Once it shows any fluctuation, warn immediately."
"Understood."
Lin Yan steadied his mind, his perception thread firmly trailing that phantom seed wave. The pain in his temples grew increasingly distinct, and the tremor of the Sea of Consciousness core slowly intensified. He gritted his teeth and endured, not daring to withdraw his vigilance. This was the mission, and also a gap in the defensive line; he couldn't back down at this moment.
The sandstorm grew denser, and the wind from afar turned into a low, mournful wail.
A reply from the disposal team came through the channel. The wind and sand were too heavy; their vehicles had been forced to slow down. They would arrive in at least fifty minutes. The long wait was infinitely stretched amidst the漫天 (all-over) yellow sand.
Chen Ye lowered his voice and leaned close to Lu Heng: "Captain, what if the matrix activates the phantom seed right now? All four of us could be trapped in the corridor of consciousness in an instant. The sandstorm outside has sealed off vision; even if support receives the signal, it will be very hard to quickly locate and rescue us."
"So we can't give it the chance." Lu Heng gripped his rifle, his knuckles tightening slightly. "Once Lin Yan reports any anomaly with the phantom seed, we all get in the car immediately and retreat at full speed. Abandon this phantom seed; prioritize saving people. We can come back for the sample next time. If people are trapped in the corridor, they can't be saved."
This decision was cruel. Leaving the phantom seed in place would continue to threaten all passing teams in the future. But compared to the risk of staying behind to gamble, this was the most rational choice.
Time flowed minute by minute.
A thin layer of sweat seeped from Lin Yan's temples, half from the cold brought by the wind and sand, half from the fatigue of continuous Sea of Consciousness consumption. He constantly recited Instructor Wen's harmonization mantra in his mind, trying to steady the restless core and suppress the stabbing pain within a controllable range. He knew clearly that if he continued to maintain perception at this high intensity, it wouldn't be long before the old stress-induced hidden injury would completely solidify.
Just then, the locked phantom seed wave suddenly gave a light jump.
It wasn't a violent outbreak, merely a very slight undulation, like something sleeping had turned over.
"It moved! The matrix is trying to activate it!" Lin Yan's voice sank. The core of his Sea of Consciousness suddenly tensed, and the swelling pain exploded instantly.
"All in the car! Now!" Lu Heng roared.
The other three didn't hesitate, turning and sprinting toward the off-road vehicle. Zhao Kai yanked open the rear door, Chen Ye vaulted in, and Lu Heng got in last, slamming the door shut behind him. The engine roared, the wheels slipped in the sand, the front of the car turned, and it sped toward the bastion at full throttle.
Lin Yan sat in the passenger seat, still maintaining perception, watching the wave behind them in the direction of the retaining wall.
After that undulation, the phantom seed returned to silence, not fully unfolding the corridor. The matrix seemed to have merely been testing; seeing them retreat rapidly, it temporarily withdrew the trigger signal.
"It's testing our bottom line." Lin Yan panted, slightly retracting his perception thread to ease the burden on his Sea of Consciousness. "Seeing if we dare to gamble, seeing if we'll stay behind and hold our ground."
Lu Heng stared at the dim yellow sand road ahead, his expression grave: "It has already turned phantom seeds into remotely controlled traps. From now on, the risk level of investigations has gone up another notch."
The off-road vehicle struggled to speed through the sandstorm, leaving the retaining wall hiding the phantom seed far behind in the yellow-brown fog curtain.
Lin Yan leaned against the seat, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. The tremor of the Sea of Consciousness core couldn't settle for a long time, and the dull pain in his temples surged in waves. This trip today had already exceeded the load of his current stage of steady cultivation.
Deep beneath the earth, in Rift No. 79.
The massive fungal carpet of the matrix undulated slowly. The feedback from that remote test just now traveled back along the hyphae.
It saw the human squad retreat decisively, not staying in the trap.
No anxiety, no anger.
It noted this reaction and silently adjusted the deployment logic of subsequent phantom seeds.
Remotely triggered Corridor Phantom Seeds would continue to be deployed outward. Next time, it would choose a place where the human squad had no choice but to face it.
End of Chapter.