Chapter 150: Severed Connection
The piercing wail of alarms tore through the night sky over the West Bastion.
Everyone in the command room instantly rushed toward the light screen. Zhao Kai's fingers flew across the keyboard as he forcibly boosted the shortwave receiving power, desperately trying to re-establish communication with the North Sentinel. But the earpieces were filled with nothing but continuous, crackling static. Occasionally, a few fragmented, distorted roars would bleed through, making it impossible to tell whether they were the shouts of soldiers or the psychic noise forcibly injected into the channel by the priests through the illusion web.
"The illusion web is jamming the communication frequencies," Zhao Kai said, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "The priests have pushed the psychic resonance outside the North Sentinel to its peak. They aren't just creating illusions; they're swallowing the radio signals along with them."
On the light screen, the massive expanse of purple waves representing the North Sentinel direction had completely boiled over. Layer upon layer, they continuously expanded outward. The previously stable curtain links had formed a violent vortex at that location.
Lu Heng stared fixedly at the screen, his jawline taut. "The North Sentinel only has one third-tier Sea of Consciousness cultivator. They can't withstand such a large-scale illusion suppression. Their defense line will easily be torn apart by the scaled beasts slipping through the gaps in the illusions."
Instructor Wen picked up the war zone's encrypted communicator, attempting to contact the other bastions. The messages were sent out, but the replies failed to arrive.
"The shortwave channels between the six major bastions are being jammed one after another. The matrix is simultaneously initiating multi-point suppression. It's not just the North Sentinel; the curtains outside the other war zones are most likely also synchronously increasing the intensity of their corrosive breath." She paused, then looked at Lin Yan and Gu Shen. "We cannot move. The Western Front is the matrix's backup primary attack point. If the two of us leave, this place will lose the core of its defense against illusions."
The words were cruel, yet they represented an inescapable reality.
Lin Yan stood to the side. His Sea of Consciousness subconsciously twitched slightly, wanting to probe far toward the north. The moment the thought arose, the old wound within his core throbbed fiercely. A sharp, distending pain exploded through his consciousness. Frowning slightly, he suppressed his perception.
He knew in his heart that even if he spared no expense and fully mobilized his Sea of Consciousness, he wouldn't be able to transmit any effective support across the dozens of kilometers and the entire interconnected curtain. This scar constantly reminded him of the boundaries of his abilities. It would never grant him any pleasant surprises; it would only mercilessly backfire when he pushed himself beyond his limits.
He had long abandoned the illusion that his injury could heal. It was a permanent brand.
"We can only remotely send the pre-set artillery fire guidance plans to the North Sentinel. Whether they can use them depends on whether there is still someone left alive to receive them," Lu Heng ordered in a deep voice. "Zhao Kai, continuously send the fixed cipher text, but do not transmit a continuous signal. Avoid letting the priests lock onto our frequency. Everyone, maintain maximum combat readiness on the Western Front defense line. Monitor the curtain directly in front of us closely!"
The orders were passed down layer by layer. The heavy artillery squads on the city walls recalibrated their firing angles, and ammunition boxes were neatly stacked beside the bunkers. Soldiers quietly checked their firearms and shock weapons, their faces etched with suppressed helplessness.
They could hear the faint rumble of distant warfare, yet they could only stand their ground, watching helplessly as their allies bled and fought in another bastion.
Chen Ye gripped his shock baton tightly, his knuckles turning white. "This feeling is truly agonizing. It's like being separated by an invisible wall, unable to help in any way."
Gu Shen gazed at the hazy northern horizon, his voice low. "This is exactly what the ancient lizard progeny are calculating. They are dividing the six bastions, isolating us from one another, forcing us to watch our companions fall while they slowly erode everyone's morale."
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
The frenzied spectrum waves from the North Sentinel direction showed no sign of weakening. Every few minutes, a fleeting fragment of a distress signal would briefly flash across the shortwave channel, only to be instantly swallowed by the noise of the illusion web. No one knew how many defenders were left at the North Sentinel, or whether their defense line had been breached.
About half an hour later, the churning purple waves suddenly dropped by a notch.
It wasn't a gradual subsiding; it was as if a fulcrum supporting the resonance had suddenly gone out.
Zhao Kai's hand froze, his breath catching in his throat. "The signal... has dropped."
The command room fell into dead silence.
Everyone understood what this change in signal meant. Either the priest at the North Sentinel had voluntarily withdrawn a portion of their power, or... the North Sentinel's sole third-tier Sea of Consciousness cultivator had fallen. Without a strong Sea of Consciousness expert to hold them back, the garrison would find it exceedingly difficult to continuously resist the illusion's impact. The collapse of their defense line was merely a matter of time.
"Continue sending the cipher text," Lu Heng said, his voice hoarse. "As long as there is even a sliver of hope."
But for a long time afterward, there was no response from the North Sentinel.
The communication line connecting to the North Sentinel was completely severed.
Lin Yan walked out of the command room and ascended the city walls. The cold wind of the wasteland blew against his face, carrying a foul, rotting stench. The curtain beyond the five-kilometer mark remained quietly dormant. The corrosive breath on its surface was still slowly seeping outward, showing no signs of massively pressing toward the Western Front.
The matrix hadn't thrown all its strength at one location. It was slowly harvesting.
It would gnaw away at the North Sentinel first, then take turns with the remaining bastions. It had ample patience, hiding behind the curtain, watching humanity's defense lines extinguish one by one.
"It's in no rush," Lin Yan said softly, as if speaking to Gu Shen, or perhaps to himself. "Scaled beasts can be bred endlessly, and priests can be freely mobilized within the curtain. Every bastion we lose means we lose a piece of surviving land and a batch of resisting forces."
"Right now, we can only pray that there are survivors at the North Sentinel who have hidden in the underground bunkers to hold on," Gu Shen walked to his side, his eyes filled with exhaustion. "But even if they survive, without a Sea of Consciousness expert to cover them, it will be very hard for them to endure the upcoming onslaught of illusions."
Lin Yan slowly closed his eyes, circulating his mental technique to suppress the lingering, hidden pain within his Sea of Consciousness.
He was currently only a third-tier cultivator, bearing an irreparable origin fissure. He wanted to protect more people, but his strength was limited. Many times, he couldn't even rush to the battlefield to support his allies.
This path was long, paved with blood and sacrifice. He still had to cross the fourth, fifth, and sixth tiers... progressing all the way toward the pinnacle of human cognition, the ninth tier. Every single step required treading through mortal perils. And that scar would follow him, continuously serving as his shackle.
On the horizon, the east began to show a faint trace of pale white. The long night was nearing its end, but the crisis facing the West Bastion was far from over.
Zhao Kai's voice came through the communication earpiece, heavy with gravity:
"Received a brief cipher report from the southern war zone. The southern curtain has also shown anomalous movements. Small-scale scaled beast harassment has already begun. The matrix has started applying pressure across the entire front against all six bastions."
A massive net was tightening simultaneously.
End of Chapter.
Everyone in the command room instantly rushed toward the light screen. Zhao Kai's fingers flew across the keyboard as he forcibly boosted the shortwave receiving power, desperately trying to re-establish communication with the North Sentinel. But the earpieces were filled with nothing but continuous, crackling static. Occasionally, a few fragmented, distorted roars would bleed through, making it impossible to tell whether they were the shouts of soldiers or the psychic noise forcibly injected into the channel by the priests through the illusion web.
"The illusion web is jamming the communication frequencies," Zhao Kai said, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "The priests have pushed the psychic resonance outside the North Sentinel to its peak. They aren't just creating illusions; they're swallowing the radio signals along with them."
On the light screen, the massive expanse of purple waves representing the North Sentinel direction had completely boiled over. Layer upon layer, they continuously expanded outward. The previously stable curtain links had formed a violent vortex at that location.
Lu Heng stared fixedly at the screen, his jawline taut. "The North Sentinel only has one third-tier Sea of Consciousness cultivator. They can't withstand such a large-scale illusion suppression. Their defense line will easily be torn apart by the scaled beasts slipping through the gaps in the illusions."
Instructor Wen picked up the war zone's encrypted communicator, attempting to contact the other bastions. The messages were sent out, but the replies failed to arrive.
"The shortwave channels between the six major bastions are being jammed one after another. The matrix is simultaneously initiating multi-point suppression. It's not just the North Sentinel; the curtains outside the other war zones are most likely also synchronously increasing the intensity of their corrosive breath." She paused, then looked at Lin Yan and Gu Shen. "We cannot move. The Western Front is the matrix's backup primary attack point. If the two of us leave, this place will lose the core of its defense against illusions."
The words were cruel, yet they represented an inescapable reality.
Lin Yan stood to the side. His Sea of Consciousness subconsciously twitched slightly, wanting to probe far toward the north. The moment the thought arose, the old wound within his core throbbed fiercely. A sharp, distending pain exploded through his consciousness. Frowning slightly, he suppressed his perception.
He knew in his heart that even if he spared no expense and fully mobilized his Sea of Consciousness, he wouldn't be able to transmit any effective support across the dozens of kilometers and the entire interconnected curtain. This scar constantly reminded him of the boundaries of his abilities. It would never grant him any pleasant surprises; it would only mercilessly backfire when he pushed himself beyond his limits.
He had long abandoned the illusion that his injury could heal. It was a permanent brand.
"We can only remotely send the pre-set artillery fire guidance plans to the North Sentinel. Whether they can use them depends on whether there is still someone left alive to receive them," Lu Heng ordered in a deep voice. "Zhao Kai, continuously send the fixed cipher text, but do not transmit a continuous signal. Avoid letting the priests lock onto our frequency. Everyone, maintain maximum combat readiness on the Western Front defense line. Monitor the curtain directly in front of us closely!"
The orders were passed down layer by layer. The heavy artillery squads on the city walls recalibrated their firing angles, and ammunition boxes were neatly stacked beside the bunkers. Soldiers quietly checked their firearms and shock weapons, their faces etched with suppressed helplessness.
They could hear the faint rumble of distant warfare, yet they could only stand their ground, watching helplessly as their allies bled and fought in another bastion.
Chen Ye gripped his shock baton tightly, his knuckles turning white. "This feeling is truly agonizing. It's like being separated by an invisible wall, unable to help in any way."
Gu Shen gazed at the hazy northern horizon, his voice low. "This is exactly what the ancient lizard progeny are calculating. They are dividing the six bastions, isolating us from one another, forcing us to watch our companions fall while they slowly erode everyone's morale."
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
The frenzied spectrum waves from the North Sentinel direction showed no sign of weakening. Every few minutes, a fleeting fragment of a distress signal would briefly flash across the shortwave channel, only to be instantly swallowed by the noise of the illusion web. No one knew how many defenders were left at the North Sentinel, or whether their defense line had been breached.
About half an hour later, the churning purple waves suddenly dropped by a notch.
It wasn't a gradual subsiding; it was as if a fulcrum supporting the resonance had suddenly gone out.
Zhao Kai's hand froze, his breath catching in his throat. "The signal... has dropped."
The command room fell into dead silence.
Everyone understood what this change in signal meant. Either the priest at the North Sentinel had voluntarily withdrawn a portion of their power, or... the North Sentinel's sole third-tier Sea of Consciousness cultivator had fallen. Without a strong Sea of Consciousness expert to hold them back, the garrison would find it exceedingly difficult to continuously resist the illusion's impact. The collapse of their defense line was merely a matter of time.
"Continue sending the cipher text," Lu Heng said, his voice hoarse. "As long as there is even a sliver of hope."
But for a long time afterward, there was no response from the North Sentinel.
The communication line connecting to the North Sentinel was completely severed.
Lin Yan walked out of the command room and ascended the city walls. The cold wind of the wasteland blew against his face, carrying a foul, rotting stench. The curtain beyond the five-kilometer mark remained quietly dormant. The corrosive breath on its surface was still slowly seeping outward, showing no signs of massively pressing toward the Western Front.
The matrix hadn't thrown all its strength at one location. It was slowly harvesting.
It would gnaw away at the North Sentinel first, then take turns with the remaining bastions. It had ample patience, hiding behind the curtain, watching humanity's defense lines extinguish one by one.
"It's in no rush," Lin Yan said softly, as if speaking to Gu Shen, or perhaps to himself. "Scaled beasts can be bred endlessly, and priests can be freely mobilized within the curtain. Every bastion we lose means we lose a piece of surviving land and a batch of resisting forces."
"Right now, we can only pray that there are survivors at the North Sentinel who have hidden in the underground bunkers to hold on," Gu Shen walked to his side, his eyes filled with exhaustion. "But even if they survive, without a Sea of Consciousness expert to cover them, it will be very hard for them to endure the upcoming onslaught of illusions."
Lin Yan slowly closed his eyes, circulating his mental technique to suppress the lingering, hidden pain within his Sea of Consciousness.
He was currently only a third-tier cultivator, bearing an irreparable origin fissure. He wanted to protect more people, but his strength was limited. Many times, he couldn't even rush to the battlefield to support his allies.
This path was long, paved with blood and sacrifice. He still had to cross the fourth, fifth, and sixth tiers... progressing all the way toward the pinnacle of human cognition, the ninth tier. Every single step required treading through mortal perils. And that scar would follow him, continuously serving as his shackle.
On the horizon, the east began to show a faint trace of pale white. The long night was nearing its end, but the crisis facing the West Bastion was far from over.
Zhao Kai's voice came through the communication earpiece, heavy with gravity:
"Received a brief cipher report from the southern war zone. The southern curtain has also shown anomalous movements. Small-scale scaled beast harassment has already begun. The matrix has started applying pressure across the entire front against all six bastions."
A massive net was tightening simultaneously.
End of Chapter.