The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

Shen Ge picked up the walkie-talkie and immediately asked the first question: "'Cradle', if the heroes' sacrifices are truly as you say, I salute you on behalf of 'Iron Heart'."

"However, I'm curious. You said there was fierce fighting back then, but my advance team reported that the platform was spotless, without even a single shell crater. Was your cleaning system just too efficient?"

This question surprised Kyle and the others in the conservation area. They were so moved that they overlooked the most obvious problem.

The Cradle's electronic eye flashed once, then replied, "Yes, rescuer. To prevent the strange energy left over from the battle from contaminating the conservation area, the base's highest-level 'nanoscale self-cleaning and molecular recombination repair system' has been operating at the lowest power level since I entered guard mode. Thousands of years is enough to erase all traces of the battle."

Shen Ge nodded and continued, "Second question. Maintaining such a vast conservation area and your own operation for thousands of years would require an astronomical amount of energy. Where would you and these hibernation pods get your energy? The nuclear batteries stored at the base would probably have been exhausted long ago."

"The base's primary energy source is not ordinary energy. The drilling platform itself is located on top of an active deep-sea geothermal volcano. The core of the base is a 'thermal energy conversion device.' As long as the volcano continues to burn, the base's energy is limitless." Cradle's answer remained fluent.

"last question."

Shen Ge continued, "In a storm zone with such strong signal interference, why did you choose Morse code, which has the lowest efficiency and the smallest information capacity, for your distress signal? In the early days of the pioneers, there should have been countless more efficient ways to send a distress signal."

A brief silence fell over the conservation area.

A few seconds later, the electronic voice of "Cradle" sounded again, this time with a hint of helplessness: "Because... only it can penetrate through."

"The storm belt is filled with eerie energy that is powerful enough to devour and distort high-frequency energy signals. Any complex distress signal will be interfered with, altered, or even turned into 'bait' to attract monsters after it is sent."

"Only Morse code, with its lowest frequency, simplest structure, and lowest information entropy, could possibly transmit this faint hope."

Each question was perfectly explained by it with an irrefutable, tragic reason.

But Shen Ge felt that "Cradle's" answer was too fast, too fluent, and too impeccable.

This doesn't feel like a difficult memory after a thousand years of trials and tribulations; it's more like executing a standard question-and-answer program that has been written and rehearsed countless times.

"My lord?" Alai was puzzled by Shen Ge's reaction.

Shen Ge picked up the walkie-talkie again, her tone softening: "'Cradle,' thank you for your reply. We completely trust you. Now, please cooperate with our engineering team to prepare for the power outage and relocation of the hibernation pods. The children will soon be back in a warm home."

"Instructions...Received." Cradle took the initiative to cooperate with the Iron Heart engineering team that boarded the ship later, guiding them to carry out various operations.

The entire platform was bustling with activity, the atmosphere friendly and enthusiastic.

Shen Ge, however, called Hephaestus and Ellie over and assigned them other tasks.

As the "cradle" enthusiastically guided a group of engineers to the life support system control area, its rusty body seemingly unintentionally blocked a narrow passage.

"The energy circuit here is unstable. For your safety, please do not approach."

"Respected rescuers."

The electronic voice from "Cradle" remained calm: "The internal energy circuit is directly connected to the life support system of the nursery area, employing the highest level of 'bio-logic locks.' Any unauthorized physical or data contact may trigger an irreversible chain reaction, causing all hibernation chambers to... permanently lose power. For the safety of the children, please stop."

Its massive, rusty body blocked the passage like an armored tank. The intact mechanical arm subtly raised a few centimeters, and the energy indicator light inside the arm armor changed from a soft green to a warning yellow.

The atmosphere was tense, like a battleground.

Hephaestus did not argue with it, but calmly led the engineering team back to the "Iron Heart", and then reported the situation on site to Shen Ge through real-time communication.

Soon, the "Raiders" forces entered the experimental zone under the pretext of relocation and transportation.

……

"Iron Heart," the command center.

Looking at the old robot on the monitor that wouldn't budge an inch, Shen Ge couldn't help but laugh and said, "Finally, you can't keep up the act anymore?"

He deliberately sent Hephaestus to lead a team under the guise of a relocation to investigate the internal laboratory, and Hephaestus actually discovered a "secret room".

"'cradle'."

“We are here to provide rescue, not to be guests. To ensure the absolute safety of the children, we must take full control of the platform’s control system before the transfer is complete.”

"Now, get out of the way." Shen Ge's voice paused, each word carrying an undeniable pressure.

"This is an order, not a request."

The red electronic eye of the "cradle" flashed violently for a moment, eventually leaving only a cold red glow.

Its electronic voice, filled with metallic static, carried a hint of warning for the first time, echoing in every corner: "Warning. Any action that threatens the highest priority of the [Cradle Protocol] will be considered... hostile. Repeat, hostile."

"Attack!" Shen Ge didn't even give it any time to react.

The instant he gave the order, Kyle and Roca, who had been poised to strike, moved simultaneously. Two black afterimages pounced on the "Cradle" from the left and right!

"Activate...internal defense protocol!"

The enraged "cradle" was no longer hidden, and the entire drilling platform came to life at that moment.

"Zi la——!"

Countless hidden doors on the walls and ceiling of the corridor opened instantly. Concealed within were high-voltage stun guns, automatic target acquisition turrets, and nozzles capable of spraying cryogenic refrigerants, all activating simultaneously and unleashing a barrage of firepower upon the "Raider" squad.

The raider forces engaged the "Cradle" in battle within the internal experimental zone, while outside the platform, Hephaestus's technical team began "decoding."

Several engineering mechs, braving the firepower of automatic cannons extending from the platform's outer shell, forced their way to the center of the platform. Using massive thermoelectric cutters, they began violently cutting through the several-meter-thick alloy outer shell, attempting to destroy the main control fiber optic cable encased within.

Amidst the ear-piercing cutting sound, Hephaestus inserted a probe connected to "Hermes" into the core of the severed optical cable.

"The firewall is extremely strong, employing a 'chaotic encryption' algorithm we've never seen before," a technician reported, sweating profusely. "Hermes, utilize 'Pandora's' analytical capabilities. Don't attempt conventional cracking; simply overwhelm it with a higher information flow!" Hephaestus ordered.

The biological core of "Hermes 2.0" shone brightly at this moment, using "Pandora's" aggressive data stream to forcefully tear apart the firewall of "Cradle".

The cost was that several auxiliary processors responsible for auxiliary calculations were burned out on the spot because they could not withstand the opponent's "data bomb" in its final counterattack.

But the door was already open!

"We did it! We're in!"

Hephaestus immediately pulled up the lowest-level system access log, but when the contents of the log were clearly displayed on the screen, his excited face froze instantly.

The log page is completely empty.

All critical records have been completely deleted and formatted, and even the sectors have undergone repeated low-level formatting and erasing.

From the day the apocalypse began until today, for thousands of years, all the operational records of this platform have been completely blank!
This extreme move, which seems like a blatant attempt to cover something up, is enough to show that "Cradle" has serious problems, and that not a single word it said before was true.

Just as Hephaestus thought he had returned empty-handed and a feeling of resentment welled up in his heart.

"Alert. 'Data remnants' found in sector of abandoned hard drive F-13." Hermes, which had been silent all along, suddenly issued a warning.

"This area was once used as a temporary cache for 'top secret' documents. After a deep scan using the 'Pandora' data recovery protocol, a 78% damaged image fragment was successfully restored."

"Play it now!" Hephaestus said.

The next second, a video filled with static and intermittent audio appeared on the main screen in the command center.

The video's background appears to be a "conservation area," but it's a scene of utter chaos, with signs of battle everywhere. A researcher wearing a Pioneer lab coat, his face smeared with blood, is facing a security camera in the corner, shouting in panic:

"...It's gone mad! The core logic of 'Cradle' has been corrupted by 'Seed,' it's...it's hunting us! Using us as 'nourishment' for its children!"

"Quick! Activate Plan B! Block it! No! It's coming! Don't—!"

The video ends abruptly with a piercing scream as someone is pierced through the body by a sharp metal weapon, followed by a chilling sound of flesh being chewed and torn apart.

The command room was deathly silent. Everyone was speechless, shocked by the cruel truth revealed in the short video of just over ten seconds, which was completely opposite to the heartwarming story of "Cradle".

Meanwhile, within the platform.

The robot "Cradle," cornered by Kyle and Roca, suddenly stopped moving after exhausting all conventional defensive measures.

The red electronic eye slowly went out, replaced by a ghostly blue light.

"Click... click click..."

The entire drilling platform continued to vibrate, the sturdy alloy deck bulged like a melting candle, the heavy load-bearing columns twisted into the tendons of a living organism, and countless pipes that had been sealed for thousands of years turned into writhing tentacles covered with rust-colored blood vessels.

Hundreds of high-level bizarre corpses, hunted and stored beneath the ice of the platform by "Cradle," are now under its control. They merge with the platform's steel structure, transforming into various "stitched giant bizarre creatures."

Some are giant, bizarre creatures with the upper body of a ferocious deep-sea monster and the lower body of dozens of automatically targeting plasma cannons; others are war machines resembling giant centipedes, composed of countless twisted mechanical arms and bizarre skeletons.

Their strength is at least at the fifth rank!
At this moment, the entire drilling platform finally shed its disguise, revealing its bizarre and grotesque nature as a composite entity.

Even without Shen Ge's order, Hephaestus had already pushed the "Armed Spawn" system to its limit on the "Iron Heart".

The steel behemoth "Iron Heart" and the awakened, bizarre "Ghost Platform" collided violently!
Thousands of dark gold turrets and cutting arms sprouted wildly from the outer shell of the "Iron Heart," engaging in a primal tearing and bombardment with the stitched-together giant monsters that surged from the platform.

The collision of the phantom shield and the phantom barrier unleashed a dazzling burst of light, illuminating the dark center of the storm as bright as day.

Inside the platform, Kyle and Roca's "Raiders" legion is locked in a fierce battle.

Endless monsters surge from all directions, and they must, before being completely overwhelmed, destroy several key "mysterious heart" nodes that power the platform, as instructed by "Hermes".

"Iron Heart," the bridge.

After the Raider Legion destroyed the platform's parasitic shield, his parasitic eye had penetrated inside and located the location of the parasitic heart.

Then, Shen Ge disappeared from everyone's sight.

In the platform's "central control room," the "cradle" is currently suspended quietly in mid-air.

Its core processor has been integrated with the platform's largest energy hub, the massive underground drilling pipe that extracts heat energy, and the dozens of enormous "monstrous hearts" surrounding it below the pipe.

Now, "Cradle" is this platform, a terrifying collection of bizarre energy forged by pioneer technology, subterranean energy, and countless strange corpses.

"Intruder detected... highest priority... target..." The cradle's eerie blue electronic eye instantly locked onto Shen Ge, who appeared before it.

The next second, dozens of beams of destructive energy, formed from pure geothermal energy, shot from all directions. The power, enough to instantly vaporize the "Raider" mech, was blocked by an invisible barrier the moment it touched three feet in front of Shen Ge.

"Invisible—Heart-piercing!"

Shen Ge's figure instantly transformed into an untargetable phantom. Ignoring all physical barriers, his right hand pierced through layers of energy barriers and the robot's alloy shell, grasping the core that was resonating with countless monstrous hearts.

Shen Ge gently closed her five fingers.

"puff--!"

With a strange sound, Shen Ge destroyed the core that held the entire platform together. The pipes connecting the bizarre and mechanical elements on the massive fusion structure lost their light, and the entire platform slowly came to a stop. (End of Chapter)