Chapter 713

Chapter 713

Fear exploded like a plague inside the ship's cabin!

"Don't touch those crystals!"

I shouted sharply, as the power of my divine blood instinctively surged within me. A faint, almost invisible golden glow appeared on my skin, trying to shield me from the eerie purple radiation that was everywhere.

I could feel a cold, sticky, and malicious spiritual energy attempting to invade my mind, like countless icy needles piercing through!

"It's a mental attack! It's messing with our thoughts!"

Sabrina's face was as pale as a ghost. Though her combat skills were top-notch, her spiritual energy was clearly no match for that of the divine race. At this moment, she clutched her head tightly with both hands, squatting down in pain, her energy gun slipping to the floor.

Sophia cried out and rushed over to support her.

Lily reacted the fastest.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes as she instantly raised her crossbow. A specially crafted arrow, glowing with a faint white light, shot out.

The arrow struck precisely at the base of the crystal cluster that was corroding one of the warriors.

With a muffled thud, the targeted crystal cluster froze for a moment, its purple light flickering uncertainly, as if disrupted by something.

The spread of the crystals on the warrior's arm visibly slowed, though he had already passed out from the pain.

"This arrow, developed by the Elite Alliance, contains a special field that disrupts spiritual energy!" Lily spoke quickly, her voice still icy but carrying a hint of seriousness, "But it can only suppress them temporarily! They're absorbing energy and multiplying on their own!"

"Let me handle this!" Uri's cool voice rang out.

The long blade she had been holding unsheathed slightly, revealing not a metallic sheen but a strange material that looked warm yet radiated a chilling sharpness.

As the blade was partially drawn, an invisible, razor-sharp aura burst out from her, spreading rapidly!

The aura from her blade clashed violently with the purple light and mental pollution filling the cabin. A harsh grinding sound filled the air.

The wildly growing purple crystal clusters seemed to meet their nemesis. Their climbing and crystallizing speed dropped sharply. The clusters near Uri even made tiny cracking sounds, like breaking glass, while the purple glow on their surface dimmed significantly.

"It's working!" Dane growled, swinging his massive warhammer down hard on a cluster spreading across the ceiling, "Smash them!"

The hammer struck, shattering the purple crystals into fragments that scattered everywhere. But the broken pieces wriggled on the ground as if alive, trying to reform!

Worse, new clusters were growing even faster in the distance!

"No good! Physical damage isn't enough; they regenerate!" I quickly assessed, "They're feeding on the ship's metal energy and our mental fluctuations! The source is those out-of-control crystal communicators!"

My gaze, sharp as lightning, swept toward the control panel at the ship's bow, where several crystal cores pulsed wildly, like purple hearts beating.

Jack was desperately trying to pry them loose with insulated tools, but as soon as he got close, a powerful mental shock hit him. He grunted, stumbling back with blood trickling from his nose.

"Everyone! Focus your mind! Stay calm! Don't let fear consume you!"

I gathered my own spiritual energy, projecting my voice into every warrior's mind like a solid force, trying to form a weak barrier.

"Uri, use your blade's energy to shield everyone around! Lily, cover me! Dane, destroy the new clusters to slow their spread! Sophia, take care of Sabrina!"

The orders were clear.

Uri fully unsheathed her blade, its light flowing like liquid silver, creating a relatively "clean" zone around her that resisted the purple light and mental pollution.

Lily's arrows were like precise surgical strikes, targeting the crystal nodes that tried to break through Uri's energy field or threaten the others.

Dane roared as he swung his warhammer, smashing the newly formed, weaker clusters to pieces.

Sophia held the trembling Sabrina tightly, who had been severely affected mentally, using her own body and willpower to shield her.

Meanwhile, I pushed forward against the overwhelming mental assault, like a tidal wave crashing over me, step by step toward the control panel.

Each step felt incredibly heavy. The purple light seemed alive, wrapping around me, trying to erode my will. Countless malicious whispers and illusions swirled in my mind—screams of fallen warriors, the cold stare of the Mainframe, a future where the divine race was enslaved...

"No way!"

I growled, the divine blood in me boiling under the immense pressure. The golden glow around me suddenly grew brighter, like a faint lamp lit in a purple storm.

Focusing all my mental strength, I reached out—not to touch the dangerous crystals, but to slam my hand down on the energy core cutoff valve on the control panel!

"Shut down!" I summoned my last reserves of strength and yanked it hard!

A burst of blinding sparks erupted!

The control panel instantly went dark!

The wildly pulsing crystal cores seemed to choke, their purple light shrinking sharply before flickering violently a few times and then going completely dim!

The maddening hum in the cabin stopped abruptly.

The rapidly growing purple crystal clusters froze in place, their surface glow fading quickly, turning into ordinary, lifeless, low-quality crystals.

The crystals embedded in the warrior's arm stopped spreading too. Though still lodged in his flesh, they had lost their activity. The pervasive, cold, sticky mental pressure receded like a retreating tide.

A deathly silence fell.

Only the sound of heavy breathing and the suppressed sobs of warriors who had narrowly escaped death could be heard.

My body swayed, nearly collapsing from exhaustion, sweat covering my forehead. That brief mental struggle had drained me completely.

Jack, holding his still-bleeding nose, looked at me in shock, "Leader?"

I waved a hand, my gaze heavy as I surveyed the chaotic scene in the cabin—the dull, lifeless purple crystals everywhere, the injured warriors, Sabrina's pale, traumatized face, and the lingering fear in everyone's eyes.

"Do you see this?" My voice was hoarse but clear, reaching everyone's ears, "This is the Mainframe's tactic! Silent, insidious, unstoppable! It doesn't even need to send a single soldier to make us turn on each other and collapse in fear!"

My eyes finally settled on the now-dim, cracked crystal cores, a chill spreading from deep within me.

"It's started," I said slowly, each word heavy as a mountain, "Using the crystals we depend on for survival, it launches curse-like attacks. This is just a warning, a reminder that in its eyes, we're nothing but samples in its lab, ready to be wiped out at any moment."

No one responded in the cabin. Outside the window, the endless, icy void seemed to reflect the Mainframe's cold, indifferent gaze.

After what felt like an eternity of flying, Ronnie's trembling voice broke the silence, "We've reached headquarters!"

A weight lifted slightly from my chest, if only for a moment.

"Sophia, Sabrina, Lily, Uri, Dane, head back to the manor to rest. Jack, take the surviving warriors back to the team. Ronnie, come with me to meet Chief Leader Harvey and Chief Councilor Marshall to figure out how to deal with the Mainframe!"