Chapter 142: The Priests Weave the Web
The night was thick, with gray clouds pressing down against the horizon, completely swallowing even the starlight. The off-road vehicle turned off its main headlights, relying only on the faint infrared night-vision lights as it slowly crept along the long-abandoned old roadbed.
Lu Heng had stayed behind at the bastion to command and provide backup. This reconnaissance squad consisted of only four members: Lin Yan, Gu Shen, Chen Ye, and Zhao Kai. The vehicle was wrapped in low-visibility camouflage netting, and the engine was throttled down to its lowest RPM to minimize the roar, terrified of disturbing whatever was lurking within the quarantine zone.
According to the coordinates pre-marked by the drone, the observation high ground was located eight hundred meters outside the quarantine red line. This elevated terrain protruded outward, with an open, gentle slope in front of it. Separated by a deep valley, the entrance to the abandoned underground mining city lay directly opposite. The valley fell squarely within the ten-kilometer quarantine forbidden zone; stepping inside would constitute a violation of the boundary line.
"Stop the car, take cover in place," Gu Shen said in a low voice.
The vehicle glided to a halt behind several massive, wind-eroded rocks and shut off its engine. The group quietly disembarked, hiding the vehicle in the shadows of the rocks. Zhao Kai immediately set up the portable spectrum detector, slowly raising the antenna to aim toward the mining city opposite. Chen Ye gripped his shock baton and split off to guard the left and right flanks, his gaze ceaselessly sweeping over the chaotic rock clusters on both sides of the valley, vigilant against ambushes by lurking scaled beast scouts.
Lin Yan and Gu Shen lay side by side behind the rocks at the top of the high ground, carefully releasing their Sea of Consciousness perception. Two threads of perception, as fine as spider silk, crossed the valley and gently pressed against the soil layer surrounding the mining city.
The moment they made contact with the psychic field in that area, Lin Yan's heart gave a sudden jolt.
All previous phantom arrays, even the staggered-timing chained ones, carried a cold, rigid sense of cyclicality in their waves, like mechanisms with preset programs. But the psychic resonance emanating from within the mining city was filled with an active, flowing will. It was layered and interconnected, no longer a simple series of three or six anchor points.
"Correct, it's the priests," Gu Shen's voice was pressed extremely low, buzzing in the communication earpiece. "The matrix's hyphae are merely the carriers; these waves carry the consciousness of active regulation. At least three independent spiritual origins are synchronously weaving this illusion web."
Lin Yan slowly sorted through these intertwined signals.
Inside and outside the mining city, the phantom seed anchor points were no longer deployed in a scattered manner. Instead, they were densely arranged into a network of nodes along the mine shafts and rock strata fissures. Dozens of phantom seeds relied on secondary branches to interconnect. The priests' psychic power flowed throughout this vast web, capable of switching the trigger sequence of any node at any time and adjusting the delay duration.
Automated phantom arrays were traps with pre-written timing; but this web, woven by the priests' own hands, was a living net whose rules could be altered on the fly.
"It's not simply stacking triangles or staggered timing," Lin Yan exhaled slowly. "Within this entire web, any three nodes can temporarily form a triangular resonance, and any single branch can be individually set with a delay. With the priests inside, this phantom web essentially has an on-site operator."
"That is the most terrifying part," Gu Shen said, his brow furrowed. "With all previous phantom arrays, the matrix could only pre-set parameters, and once deployed, they were extremely difficult to alter on the spot. With a priest presiding, the prey's movement routes, squad size, and Sea of Consciousness strength can all be perceived in real-time, allowing the traps to be adjusted dynamically."
Zhao Kai stared at the detector screen, where countless purple waves intertwined into a massive spiderweb graph, slowly writhing. "The spectrum has been fully recorded and archived. I am distinguishing the priests' origin fluctuations from the dormant waves of the phantom seed embryos. The priests' signal frequency has high辨识度 (identifiability); drones can use this characteristic for early warning in the future."
Chen Ye suddenly warned over the channel: "Midway through the valley, there is movement."
All eyes turned to the night-vision goggles.
In the dim infrared feed, several low, gray-brown scaled shadows moved along the rock crevices at the bottom of the valley. They were second-tier scaled beasts, six in total, spread out and patrolling the perimeter of the mining city, serving as the flesh-and-blood guards of the illusion web. They did not enter the core area of the web but stayed on the outside. Once someone broke through the phantom array and managed to escape, they would immediately pounce to harvest them.
The phantom web trapped the Sea of Consciousness, while the scaled beasts harvested the flesh.
These two systems were coordinated by the priests, no longer an accidental overlap, but a meticulously designed cooperative tactic.
"We are very close to the red line; we can't go any further," Gu Shen pressed Lin Yan's arm. "Two hundred meters more, and we will step into the outer radiation circle of the illusion web. The priests will very likely detect the psychic signals of outsiders."
Lin Yan nodded. While maintaining his perception, he slowly retracted a portion of his power inward, protecting the old hidden injury within his Sea of Consciousness. Being immersed for a long time in the periphery of this massive psychic field, the invisible mental pressure continuously washed over his consciousness, and the hidden pain at the base of his skull, sharp as a fine thorn, slowly surfaced again. He didn't dare to be greedy; he only steadily recorded the arrangement patterns of the web's nodes and the flow of the priests' regulating waves.
Deep within the mining city, three cold consciousnesses belonging to the ancient lizard progeny priests remained immersed in weaving the web.
Their forms were hidden in the darkness of the deep mine shafts. Their semi-upright bodies were covered in dark green, thick scales, and their narrow, vertical pupils were slightly closed. Their forelimbs rested on the massive underground main hyphae, continuously输送ing their own spiritual origins, connecting phantom seed anchor points one by one into the web. Occasionally, they exchanged a few dry, low hisses to adjust the resonance strength of local branches.
They knew of humanity's detection methods and knew that humanity had already shrunk its defensive lines, drawing a ten-kilometer quarantine line.
This massive web was positioned just inside the quarantine line, like an open mouth, quietly waiting for humanity to inevitably send out reconnaissance or clearance squads to approach.
"I've discovered a pattern," Lin Yan said in a low voice, staring at the flowing waves. "The priests do not maintain high-intensity resonance across the entire web at all times. Most nodes remain in low-power dormancy. Only when they perceive approaching Sea of Consciousness fluctuations will they activate local areas as needed. This saves hyphae energy and extends the潜伏 (lurking) cycle of the entire illusion web."
"This is prepared for long-term dormancy," Gu Shen responded. "It can lie quietly in the mining city for months, or even longer, without releasing any abnormal signals outward, evading the routine inspections of long-range detection base stations. It will only partially awaken nodes when a target breaks in."
Zhao Kai added in a small voice, "In this way, routine periodic scans by drones will have a hard time catching it. The waves of nodes in a dormant state are too faint and are easily masked by geomagnetic noise."
The four of them lay in ambush on the high ground, observing for nearly an hour.
The priests did not leave, and the scaled beast scouts patrolled back and forth. The massive illusion web was perfected bit by bit, with new phantom seed embryos continuously transported via underground hyphae and connected to the network nodes.
Gu Shen was the first to sense the risk: "The priests' perception range is expanding outward. It seems to have sensed the psychic aura of outsiders on our side. We cannot stay any longer; we must withdraw."
Lin Yan took one last, light glance at the veins of the entire illusion web, then slowly retracted all his perception threads. The core of his Sea of Consciousness felt a dull ache, and the pain from the hidden injury had noticeably worsened. Suppressing the discomfort, he gave the order in a low voice: "Pack up the instruments, retreat, return the way we came."
The group moved lightly and methodically, packing up their equipment and returning to the off-road vehicle behind the rocks. The vehicle maintained its low-infrared mode, turned around, and slowly retreated, moving away from the valley.
Only after completely putting three kilometers of distance between themselves and escaping the priests' perception boundary did everyone breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Inside the cabin, Zhao Kai repeatedly reviewed the recorded illusion web spectrum, his fingers constantly swiping to replay it. "This batch of data is highly valuable. The command center will be getting first-hand records of the priests forming the web on-site for the first time."
Chen Ye leaned against the car door, silent. The scene of the scaled beasts patrolling at the bottom of the valley kept spinning in his mind.
"Before, we thought phantom seeds were merely consumables automatically deployed by the matrix. Now we understand that the priests are the true operators. The matrix is responsible for mass-producing the embryos, while the priests personally step in to weave the scattered phantom seeds into a flexible, controllable giant trap network."
"This is the complete version of their attrition tactic," Lin Yan leaned against the car window, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing to relieve the ache in his Sea of Consciousness. "The matrix is responsible for iterating templates and mass breeding; the priests are responsible for on-site deployment and dynamic regulation; the scaled beasts are responsible for outer perimeter警戒 and final harvesting. The division of labor is crystal clear."
Gu Shen looked out the window at the pitch-black wasteland and said in a low voice, "After shrinking the defensive line, we thought holding the ten-kilometer mark would be safe. But inside the quarantine zone, they are training and forming networks undisturbed. Once this web, and countless others like it, are completed, the next step will be to push toward the ten-kilometer warning line."
The vehicle drove continuously toward the West Bastion. The distant white light of the searchlights on the city walls slowly appeared on the gray horizon.
And deep within the darkness of the abandoned mining city, the three priests completed the docking of the final batch of nodes.
The entire illusion web, covering the mining city and the surrounding valley, was fully formed. They slowly retracted a portion of their psychic power, leaving only the minimum perception on standby. The massive web sank into near-silent dormancy, waiting for the prey to arrive.
At the same time, the signal traveled back along the hyphae to the matrix core at Rift No. 79, reporting the completion of the web.
The matrix received the information and began to calculate the next phase: linking multiple giant illusion webs to form a contiguous, cross-regional psychic blockade zone.
Lu Heng had stayed behind at the bastion to command and provide backup. This reconnaissance squad consisted of only four members: Lin Yan, Gu Shen, Chen Ye, and Zhao Kai. The vehicle was wrapped in low-visibility camouflage netting, and the engine was throttled down to its lowest RPM to minimize the roar, terrified of disturbing whatever was lurking within the quarantine zone.
According to the coordinates pre-marked by the drone, the observation high ground was located eight hundred meters outside the quarantine red line. This elevated terrain protruded outward, with an open, gentle slope in front of it. Separated by a deep valley, the entrance to the abandoned underground mining city lay directly opposite. The valley fell squarely within the ten-kilometer quarantine forbidden zone; stepping inside would constitute a violation of the boundary line.
"Stop the car, take cover in place," Gu Shen said in a low voice.
The vehicle glided to a halt behind several massive, wind-eroded rocks and shut off its engine. The group quietly disembarked, hiding the vehicle in the shadows of the rocks. Zhao Kai immediately set up the portable spectrum detector, slowly raising the antenna to aim toward the mining city opposite. Chen Ye gripped his shock baton and split off to guard the left and right flanks, his gaze ceaselessly sweeping over the chaotic rock clusters on both sides of the valley, vigilant against ambushes by lurking scaled beast scouts.
Lin Yan and Gu Shen lay side by side behind the rocks at the top of the high ground, carefully releasing their Sea of Consciousness perception. Two threads of perception, as fine as spider silk, crossed the valley and gently pressed against the soil layer surrounding the mining city.
The moment they made contact with the psychic field in that area, Lin Yan's heart gave a sudden jolt.
All previous phantom arrays, even the staggered-timing chained ones, carried a cold, rigid sense of cyclicality in their waves, like mechanisms with preset programs. But the psychic resonance emanating from within the mining city was filled with an active, flowing will. It was layered and interconnected, no longer a simple series of three or six anchor points.
"Correct, it's the priests," Gu Shen's voice was pressed extremely low, buzzing in the communication earpiece. "The matrix's hyphae are merely the carriers; these waves carry the consciousness of active regulation. At least three independent spiritual origins are synchronously weaving this illusion web."
Lin Yan slowly sorted through these intertwined signals.
Inside and outside the mining city, the phantom seed anchor points were no longer deployed in a scattered manner. Instead, they were densely arranged into a network of nodes along the mine shafts and rock strata fissures. Dozens of phantom seeds relied on secondary branches to interconnect. The priests' psychic power flowed throughout this vast web, capable of switching the trigger sequence of any node at any time and adjusting the delay duration.
Automated phantom arrays were traps with pre-written timing; but this web, woven by the priests' own hands, was a living net whose rules could be altered on the fly.
"It's not simply stacking triangles or staggered timing," Lin Yan exhaled slowly. "Within this entire web, any three nodes can temporarily form a triangular resonance, and any single branch can be individually set with a delay. With the priests inside, this phantom web essentially has an on-site operator."
"That is the most terrifying part," Gu Shen said, his brow furrowed. "With all previous phantom arrays, the matrix could only pre-set parameters, and once deployed, they were extremely difficult to alter on the spot. With a priest presiding, the prey's movement routes, squad size, and Sea of Consciousness strength can all be perceived in real-time, allowing the traps to be adjusted dynamically."
Zhao Kai stared at the detector screen, where countless purple waves intertwined into a massive spiderweb graph, slowly writhing. "The spectrum has been fully recorded and archived. I am distinguishing the priests' origin fluctuations from the dormant waves of the phantom seed embryos. The priests' signal frequency has high辨识度 (identifiability); drones can use this characteristic for early warning in the future."
Chen Ye suddenly warned over the channel: "Midway through the valley, there is movement."
All eyes turned to the night-vision goggles.
In the dim infrared feed, several low, gray-brown scaled shadows moved along the rock crevices at the bottom of the valley. They were second-tier scaled beasts, six in total, spread out and patrolling the perimeter of the mining city, serving as the flesh-and-blood guards of the illusion web. They did not enter the core area of the web but stayed on the outside. Once someone broke through the phantom array and managed to escape, they would immediately pounce to harvest them.
The phantom web trapped the Sea of Consciousness, while the scaled beasts harvested the flesh.
These two systems were coordinated by the priests, no longer an accidental overlap, but a meticulously designed cooperative tactic.
"We are very close to the red line; we can't go any further," Gu Shen pressed Lin Yan's arm. "Two hundred meters more, and we will step into the outer radiation circle of the illusion web. The priests will very likely detect the psychic signals of outsiders."
Lin Yan nodded. While maintaining his perception, he slowly retracted a portion of his power inward, protecting the old hidden injury within his Sea of Consciousness. Being immersed for a long time in the periphery of this massive psychic field, the invisible mental pressure continuously washed over his consciousness, and the hidden pain at the base of his skull, sharp as a fine thorn, slowly surfaced again. He didn't dare to be greedy; he only steadily recorded the arrangement patterns of the web's nodes and the flow of the priests' regulating waves.
Deep within the mining city, three cold consciousnesses belonging to the ancient lizard progeny priests remained immersed in weaving the web.
Their forms were hidden in the darkness of the deep mine shafts. Their semi-upright bodies were covered in dark green, thick scales, and their narrow, vertical pupils were slightly closed. Their forelimbs rested on the massive underground main hyphae, continuously输送ing their own spiritual origins, connecting phantom seed anchor points one by one into the web. Occasionally, they exchanged a few dry, low hisses to adjust the resonance strength of local branches.
They knew of humanity's detection methods and knew that humanity had already shrunk its defensive lines, drawing a ten-kilometer quarantine line.
This massive web was positioned just inside the quarantine line, like an open mouth, quietly waiting for humanity to inevitably send out reconnaissance or clearance squads to approach.
"I've discovered a pattern," Lin Yan said in a low voice, staring at the flowing waves. "The priests do not maintain high-intensity resonance across the entire web at all times. Most nodes remain in low-power dormancy. Only when they perceive approaching Sea of Consciousness fluctuations will they activate local areas as needed. This saves hyphae energy and extends the潜伏 (lurking) cycle of the entire illusion web."
"This is prepared for long-term dormancy," Gu Shen responded. "It can lie quietly in the mining city for months, or even longer, without releasing any abnormal signals outward, evading the routine inspections of long-range detection base stations. It will only partially awaken nodes when a target breaks in."
Zhao Kai added in a small voice, "In this way, routine periodic scans by drones will have a hard time catching it. The waves of nodes in a dormant state are too faint and are easily masked by geomagnetic noise."
The four of them lay in ambush on the high ground, observing for nearly an hour.
The priests did not leave, and the scaled beast scouts patrolled back and forth. The massive illusion web was perfected bit by bit, with new phantom seed embryos continuously transported via underground hyphae and connected to the network nodes.
Gu Shen was the first to sense the risk: "The priests' perception range is expanding outward. It seems to have sensed the psychic aura of outsiders on our side. We cannot stay any longer; we must withdraw."
Lin Yan took one last, light glance at the veins of the entire illusion web, then slowly retracted all his perception threads. The core of his Sea of Consciousness felt a dull ache, and the pain from the hidden injury had noticeably worsened. Suppressing the discomfort, he gave the order in a low voice: "Pack up the instruments, retreat, return the way we came."
The group moved lightly and methodically, packing up their equipment and returning to the off-road vehicle behind the rocks. The vehicle maintained its low-infrared mode, turned around, and slowly retreated, moving away from the valley.
Only after completely putting three kilometers of distance between themselves and escaping the priests' perception boundary did everyone breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Inside the cabin, Zhao Kai repeatedly reviewed the recorded illusion web spectrum, his fingers constantly swiping to replay it. "This batch of data is highly valuable. The command center will be getting first-hand records of the priests forming the web on-site for the first time."
Chen Ye leaned against the car door, silent. The scene of the scaled beasts patrolling at the bottom of the valley kept spinning in his mind.
"Before, we thought phantom seeds were merely consumables automatically deployed by the matrix. Now we understand that the priests are the true operators. The matrix is responsible for mass-producing the embryos, while the priests personally step in to weave the scattered phantom seeds into a flexible, controllable giant trap network."
"This is the complete version of their attrition tactic," Lin Yan leaned against the car window, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing to relieve the ache in his Sea of Consciousness. "The matrix is responsible for iterating templates and mass breeding; the priests are responsible for on-site deployment and dynamic regulation; the scaled beasts are responsible for outer perimeter警戒 and final harvesting. The division of labor is crystal clear."
Gu Shen looked out the window at the pitch-black wasteland and said in a low voice, "After shrinking the defensive line, we thought holding the ten-kilometer mark would be safe. But inside the quarantine zone, they are training and forming networks undisturbed. Once this web, and countless others like it, are completed, the next step will be to push toward the ten-kilometer warning line."
The vehicle drove continuously toward the West Bastion. The distant white light of the searchlights on the city walls slowly appeared on the gray horizon.
And deep within the darkness of the abandoned mining city, the three priests completed the docking of the final batch of nodes.
The entire illusion web, covering the mining city and the surrounding valley, was fully formed. They slowly retracted a portion of their psychic power, leaving only the minimum perception on standby. The massive web sank into near-silent dormancy, waiting for the prey to arrive.
At the same time, the signal traveled back along the hyphae to the matrix core at Rift No. 79, reporting the completion of the web.
The matrix received the information and began to calculate the next phase: linking multiple giant illusion webs to form a contiguous, cross-regional psychic blockade zone.