Chapter Twenty: Fierce Struggle

The purple force field crashed down like a surging tsunami. The warped space tore rubble into sharp, frenzied vortices spinning through the air. The tremors triggered by the infrasonic waves made everyone’s eardrums ache. Su Yao’s nano-combat suit had its edges whipped up by the violent energy currents; a horrific, fresh burn on her side hissed, emitting acrid blue smoke from the charred fabric, while the air grew thick with the pungent stench of scorched flesh.

As she rolled, her combat boots sparked against the ground, her agile reflexes allowing her to narrowly dodge an energy beam. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lin Yu driven into a corner by three enemies. One of them had already sliced through his tactical pack with a phase blade, sending spare energy magazines scattering like rain. Each impact against the floor rang out with a crisp, rhythmic sound, like the ticking of a countdown.

"Catch!" Su Yao screamed, her vocal cords raw from the exertion. She ripped the EMP device from her belt and hurled it with everything she had just as the force field threatened to close in.

The device streaked through the air like a meteor, leaving a scorching trail and carving a silver arc through the void. The blue light from the subsequent explosion erupted like a beast devouring everything in its path, instantly swallowing the enemy's attack formation and blasting nearby debris aside with its shockwave.

Seizing the fleeting opportunity, Lin Yu sprang like a leopard, a burst of energy from his shock pistol striking an enemy’s joint with surgical precision. The liquid-metal combat suit split open, spraying fluorescent green fluid that snaked across the floor in eerie patterns, accompanied by a strange, sizzling sound.

Yet, more enemies poured down from the fissures in the dome like a tide of black ink. The crimson glow of their tactical visors flickered like the greedy eyes of countless wolves, locking onto their prey, their landings creating small ripples of energy.

The leader of the mysterious organization slowly rotated the scepter in his hand, every movement heavy with menace. The basketball-sized purple crystal suddenly erupted with chain-like energy beams, wrapping tightly around the glowing sphere like the hands of a malevolent giant.

The galaxy-like bands of light flowing across the surface of the sphere twisted violently, as if a living being were writhing in agony, emitting faint, whimpering pulses of energy.

Watching this harrowing scene, the unfinished blueprints for a spacetime stabilizer from his mother’s laboratory suddenly flashed in Lin Yu’s mind—the complex, intersecting circuits bore an astonishing resemblance to the energy trajectories of the sphere.

His temples throbbed, and with a sudden realization, he shouted at Su Yao, his throat burning as if scoured by sandpaper: "Interfere with the crystal's resonant frequency!"

Su Yao understood immediately and shoved the diamond-shaped crystal into her tactical wrist-comm interface without hesitation. The patterns on the crystal’s surface began to spin at high speed, projecting intense interference waves that collided head-on with the energy beams from the leader's scepter.

In an instant, a series of deafening roars erupted, the sonic pressure weighing heavily on their chests. Countless tiny bolts of lightning crackled and burst, filling the space with blinding electric light, the air thick with the smell of ozone and burning. Seizing the moment of energy instability, Lin Yu cast a magnetic-burst cable to snag the sphere.

But just then, the laser beams of two enemy snipers struck like the scythes of death, cutting the cable with lethal precision; the intense heat of the cut instantly vaporized the severed ends. In the nick of time, Chen Mo activated the overload mode of his mechanical prosthetic eye. White smoke billowed from its cooling vents as a blinding blue light pierced the darkness like a sword, striking toward the snipers and buying Lin Yu three precious seconds—three seconds in which he could hear his own heartbeat thundering like a war drum.

Lin Yu gritted his teeth and plunged into the churning energy turbulence without looking back. The intense heat scorched his skin, every inch of his body screaming in agony. His sweat evaporated instantly, and the protective layer of his tactical visor blared a piercing, overloaded alarm.

The moment his palm finally touched the sphere, the cold, mocking voice of the organization’s leader exploded in his mind: "Ignorant ant!"

A suffocating mental shockwave surged forward. Terrifying visions of collapsing stars and crumbling planets flashed before Lin Yu’s eyes, his head feeling as though it would split open, blood trickling from his nose. Yet, he endured the agony, gripping the sphere so hard his nails dug into his palms, his blood dripping onto the surface of the object.

Miraculously, the galaxy-like light bands resonated with his blood, shining with renewed brilliance. A wave of warm energy surged up his arm.

"Now!" Su Yao roared. Her shock pistol fired an energy beam, striking the core crystal of the leader's scepter. The purple light flickered violently, like a dying demon, accompanied by a sharp, high-pitched screech.

Lin Yu took the chance to pull with all his might, and the sphere finally broke free from the energy chains. At that instant, the entire temple shook violently as if hit by a massive earthquake. Runes on the walls glowed with a dangerous red light. The ground cracked in spiderweb fissures, leaking corrosive purple liquid that hissed as it ate through the rock, rising in acrid, pungent clouds.

Guided by Chen Mo’s calm directions, the team retreated desperately toward the partially closed mechanism passage on the east side. A-Jie took the rear, throwing flashbangs and electromagnetic grenades. The thick smoke and electronic interference stalled the relentless pursuit, the flashes of the explosions illuminating his face in flickering light.

However, just as they reached the critical moment to exit the passage, the leader’s grim silhouette appeared at the threshold like a phantom. The crystal patterns beneath his mask had spread wildly to his neck, pulsing with his breath. His scepter had reorganized into an energy blade glowing with ghostly blue light. A chill of murderous intent washed over them, so intense it felt as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees.

"Trying to leave?" The leader’s voice was twisted with laughter, brimming with contempt. "Do you truly believe this sphere is merely a key to open spacetime?" As he spoke, he swung his arm, and countless sharp spikes erupted from the walls on both sides of the passage. Simultaneously, lethal nerve gas began to fill the air like an invisible web of death, shrouding them all. As the gas touched the purple liquid on the ground, it triggered an eerie, fluorescent reaction.

Lin Yu made a split-second decision. He shoved the sphere into Su Yao’s arms, pulled his shock dagger, and shouted with firm resolve: "Take it and go!"

The moment his blade collided with the energy sword, sparks showered the room. The intense impact left Lin Yu’s hand numb, his grip failing, and the muscles in his arm trembling. Yet he did not back down, using his agile footwork to shift and dodge, all while keenly searching for a flaw in the leader’s defense during their fierce exchange.

Finally, he noticed that every time the leader prepared to attack, the crystal patterns on his mask lit up first. This was the perfect opportunity for a counterattack! His heart pounded in his chest, and sweat blurred his vision.

"Old Zhou! Activate the quantum entanglement device!" Lin Yu shouted. Old Zhou understood instantly and cranked the device to maximum power, the cooling system groaning under the strain.

In a flash, a chaotic quantum vortex appeared around the leader, distorting space and bending light itself. Lin Yu seized this once-in-a-lifetime chance, lunging forward and driving his dagger like lightning into the densest cluster of crystal patterns under the leader’s mask.

The leader let out a deafening roar. The energy blade grazed Lin Yu’s scalp, the force of the wind slicing away locks of his hair. But the strike forced the leader to pause, and a hairline fracture appeared on his mask.

Su Yao and the team seized the moment to dash out of the passage, with Lin Yu close behind. They had just boarded the shuttle when the mysterious organization’s pursuit fleet arrived like a pack of wolves. The leader stood before the temple, the crack in his mask widening. He raised his scepter, and a pillar of purple light shot into the sky, instantly summoning a dense swarm of pursuit ships that blocked out the stars like a dark cloud, the roar of their engines shaking the very ground.

"Engage the jump drive!" Su Yao screamed, her voice filled with urgency and resolve. The shuttle rocked violently under the barrage of energy beams, like a tiny boat in a raging storm, alarms wailing in succession. With the pursuers in hot pursuit, a heart-stopping space chase had begun.