Wizard: Starting with Dealing with Magical Plants

Chapter 313 Contact with the Core

The air seemed to freeze in Master Evelyn's office.

The dark gold core on the table pulsed slowly and rhythmically, like the heartbeat of a sleeping behemoth, each flicker of light tugging at the nerves of everyone present.

Marcus carefully opened the metal box completely with his hands, which were covered with tiny frostbite and scratches from the wind and sand.

The inside of the box was lined with thick black velvet cloth with energy-absorbing runes, which was now glowing faintly, absorbing the weak energy radiation emitted by the core.

"We only dared to keep it here, to prevent most of the energy from leaking out," Marcus said in a hoarse voice, pointing to the core. "After leaving that low-temperature sealing array, its pulsation frequency increased by about fifteen percent, but its energy level did not increase significantly."

"We speculate that it may be adapting to a new environment, or attempting to re-establish some kind of remote connection."

"A remote connection?" Hawke frowned. "Can we trace the direction of the connection?"

"It's too faint, and protected by the protocol barrier; our detection spells can't penetrate it." Marcus shook his head. "We can only confirm that it's sending a signal, not receiving one."

Master Evelyn did not speak immediately; her gaze, like the most precise instrument, swept over every line on the core's surface.

After a moment, she slowly spoke: "The pattern style is older than that of the Lesser Arbiters, but more standardized than the fragments of the rule substrate that Rolin found."

"This should be the core of a mid-term, specialized reconnaissance or surveillance unit."

"Observe the energy flow distribution on its surface —"

She picked up a probe with tiny sapphire fragments at its tip, hovered it a few inches above the core, and did not touch it.

The probe tip glowed faintly, illuminating several areas of relatively dense energy flow among the complex patterns on the core surface.

"This energy convergence point should be the interface of the main sensing or scanning array — this is the logic processing unit —"

"Where is this—hmm?"

Master Evelyn's probe stopped at an inconspicuous recess at the bottom of the core, slightly different from the other patterns.

"There's an extra, non-standard interface here, like it was added or modified later."

"The residual energy is very weak, but it does exist."

Marcus leaned closer to examine it and nodded, saying, "We also found some metal component fragments in the outpost ruins that don't belong to the typical style of the Observer civilization. The materials and craftsmanship are rougher, and they show obvious signs of demonic forging."

"The suspicion likely stems from the Pale Hand's attempt to exploit or modify this outpost."

The pale hand—it was indeed related to them.

Luo Lin understood.

"So, this core might be in a complicated state right now." Master Evelyn put down the probe and looked at Rowling. "Its own protocol is still working, performing preset reconnaissance or surveillance tasks, but it may have been interfered with or attempted to be controlled by the Pale Hand to some extent, leaving behind that non-standard interface."

"This might explain why it continues to send signals despite its low energy activity; its own program is running, but there may be confusion or conflict in control."

She paused, her tone becoming more serious: "Rolin, you have established connections with the rule substrate fragments and have some understanding of the observer's protocol logic."

"Your amulet may also provide some degree of protocol spoofing or permission fraud when connecting."

"We hope you can try to use your understanding of fragments and protocols, along with the amulet's assistance, to access the core surface information flow."

"Do not attempt to gain deep control or modification; simply passively receive the environmental data or status reports that may be carried in the scan pulses it sends out."

"It's like—eavesdropping on a public broadcast."

"Is this more dangerous than parsing the tags before?" Rowling asked.

"The nature is different," Master Evelyn pondered. "The mark is an anchor embedded in your body, carrying strong hostility and a tracking purpose; deciphering it is tantamount to a direct attack."

"This core is currently operational and sends general data to the outside world. In theory, it does not carry any specific offensive capabilities. As long as we do not attempt to intrude into or tamper with its internal protocol, the risk is relatively controllable."

"But the premise is that your connection method must be gentle enough and compliant with the protocol specifications so as not to trigger its defense mechanisms."

She looked at Marcus: "Did you bring back the exact coordinates and surrounding environmental data of that outpost?"

Marcus took a parchment map wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin from his pocket and spread it out on the table.

The map marks an area on the edge of the permafrost, with a point marked with a red cross located below a steep cliff called "Pale Ice Cliff".

Beside it, meticulous notes recorded the surrounding terrain features, temperature, magic concentration, and traces of the Pale Hand's activity.

Several destroyed makeshift camps, and fragments of weapons and tools bearing the Pale Hand emblem.

"It's over 800 miles from Wood Tower City as the crow flies, separated by the northern branch of the Sighing Mountains and a large, treacherous area known as the Howling Rift," Hawke said in a deep voice, looking at the map. "Even if the core issues an alarm, reinforcements can't arrive immediately."

"What we mainly need to guard against is the backlash that the connection process itself may cause, or the traps that the pale hand has laid inside the core."

Roland carefully examined the map, then turned his gaze back to the pulsating core.

The risks do exist, but they are not uncontrollable.

If we can glean information about the frozen wasteland, the observer outposts, or even the Pale Hand's movements from this, it would be of immense value.

"I need an absolutely safe and isolated environment, like the Absolute Silence Room we had last time," Rolin requested. "During the connection, Master Evelyn and Master Aurora need to be present to monitor it, ready to interrupt it at any time."

"Alright," Master Evelyn nodded. "I'll coordinate things in Aurora. The location will be within the Absolute Silence Chamber."

"Time—Tomorrow morning. Marcus, the core is temporarily in my custody."

"Hawk, strengthen security around the parliament building, especially to the north."

Marcus carefully pushed the metal box containing the core to Master Evelyn, and Hawke took his leave.

Rowling also left the office and returned to the stone house.

He did not continue the afternoon's experiment, but instead began to adjust his state of mind.

First, I underwent a deep meditation to restore my spirit and astral energy to their peak.

Then, he took out the regular substrate fragment and the interference charm, and once again carefully felt the unique protocol compatibility rhythm contained within them.

This time, he needs to actively simulate this rhythm to deceive the outpost core and make it recognize his mental connection as a legitimate data receiver.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Rowling returned to the "Absolute Silence Chamber" deep underground.

Inside the room, Master Aurora was already seated cross-legged in the center of the crystal platform, while Master Evelyn stood by the door, carrying the metal box in her hand.

Marcus was not present, clearly indicating that he was not of a high enough rank to participate in such a core operation.

"Child, we meet again." Master Aurora smiled gently, her eyes encouraging. "Relax, just like last time. This time we're just going to listen, not to ask, and certainly not to take."

Roland nodded, walked onto the platform, and sat down opposite Master Aurora.

Master Evelyn opened the metal box, took out the dark gold core, and placed it on the crystal platform between the two of them.

The moment the core left the box, the pulsating dark red light seemed to brighten slightly, but it was still faint.

"Let's begin." Master Evelyn stepped back a few paces, keeping her distance from the doorway, and simultaneously pressed her hands together, activating several layers of additional protective runes hidden within the room.

On the walls of the entire spherical room, layers of intricate rune arrays glowed faintly, enveloping the interior space like the most solid amber.

Master Aurora closed her eyes, and a vast and peaceful spiritual power slowly spread out, like an invisible net, gently enveloping the crystal platform area, ready to deal with any unexpected situation at any time.

Luo Lin also closed his eyes. He first activated [Quiet Dust Star] to completely calm his mind and eliminate all distracting thoughts.

Then, he focused his attention on the interference amulet in his arms.

He kept the talisman close to his body, and he could clearly feel the warm and stable core fluctuations of the dark purple rule substrate fragment.

He guided an extremely faint wisp of spiritual energy, like the gentlest fingertip, across the complex energy array inside the amulet, especially where the fragments of the rule substrate were located.

He doesn't need to activate the amulet's full functionality; he only needs to draw out the protocol-compatible rhythmic qualities it naturally possesses.

Gradually, a faint, almost imperceptible stream of dark golden energy, subtly similar to the core fluctuations but more peaceful and inclusive, overflowed from the amulet and, guided by Rolin's mental power, slowly covered the surface of his mental projection.

This is like putting on a "cloak" of observer protocol style.

Preparations complete. Lorin, his mental perception cloaked in its "outer garment," cautiously probed towards the pulsating core on the platform.

Instead of directly touching the core itself, they first approached the extremely weak energy field and data pulses emanating from its surroundings.

When Luo Lin's mental perception touched the edge of that data stream, a cold, clear intention carrying the meaning of scanning and filtering swept over it instantly!

The core pulsating rhythm has become extremely slightly disrupted!

A slight alarm bell rang in Luo Lin's mind, but he forcibly maintained the stability of his mental energy and the rhythm of the "outer garment," without making any moves to resist or probe, simply staying there quietly and passively.

The cold, scanning intent lingered on him for about two seconds.

It seemed to see the protocol compatibility rhythm simulated by the amulet on the surface of Rolin's spirit.

Then, the scanning thought fades away.

The core pulsation has stabilized.

No defense was triggered!

Lorin's mental perception was implicitly considered a "legitimate, low-priority data receiver in listening mode."

.

The first step was a success!