Perspective: Specialist: Li Jian
Rocky City, Federation Technology Division, Encrypted Data Analysis Room 7:
The air was filled with the distinctive aroma of high-speed, precision superconducting instruments—a blend of liquid nitrogen coolant and a faint hint of ozone.
Specialist Li Jian stood with his hands behind his back in front of an immersive, starry-sky-sized holographic tactical projection. His deep, inscrutable eyes were fixed on the complex image before him. It was composed of countless intricate data streams, energy structure topology models, and multi-angle combat replay footage.
The central AI, "mystery," was repeatedly deconstructing and analyzing these images with the highest priority.
"It's incredible. This is simply a miracle of the universe. No, it's a forbidden poem!" Li Jian lowered his voice, muttering to himself in a morbidly fascinated tone that only he could hear.
His well-manicured fingertips danced across the multifunctional control panel before him like the most agile of pianists, continuously calling up segments of combat footage identified as "key nodes."
In the hologram, at the moment when his squad faced total annihilation, the young rookie named Shen Kai was instantly enveloped by a high-density stream of neutral-colored energy particles—somewhere between matte grayish-white and deep silver-black—a type of which was not recorded in the Federation's database.
Most incredibly, he had not used any standard-issue Federation "Tactical Link Driver" or encapsulated "Core Cartridge"! The mysterious core in his chest became the sole source and output port for all the terrifying power.
Then, the footage clearly recorded a composite energy torrent that mixed the characteristics of a "Crimson" thermal shockwave and a "Lead-Gray" defensive field. It erupted madly from his palm and completely disintegrated and purified the "Calamity-Tier" "Wailing Aggregation."
"Energy Information Analysis... Foreign Core Simulation... and then Cross-Attribute Forced Combination and Amplification..."
Li Jian's eyes shone with the fervent inquiry of a top scientist touching upon the truth of an unknown domain.
"Without the aid of any known 'Core Cartridge' model for energy buffering or a 'Driver's' guidance program, he was able to directly analyze, simulate, and forcibly reconstruct the characteristics of at least two core abilities with completely different energy attributes and operational mechanisms."
"This phenomenon and ability have completely transcended all existing theoretical frameworks in our Pan-Abyssal Federation concerning 'Forced Resonance Interfaces' and 'Iridescence Core' energetics. This is practically the domain of a god!"
Li Jian quickly pulled up the energy spectrum charts of all known "Iridescence Cores" in the Federation's core technology database. They ranged from the "Crimson," representing primal fury, to the "Veridian," symbolizing absolute logic; the "Ocher," pervading with endless despair; and the rarer "Gemstone Colors" and "Illusory Colors."
Not a single known core energy characteristic matched the "neutral color" or "void state" energy signature produced by Shen Kai's mysterious core during its eruption—a signature capable of containing and negating everything.
It was a fundamental power that stood above all known definitions and laws of "color," yet it could easily contain, analyze, simulate, distort, and reconfigure all "colors."
"This can no longer be defined simply as 'unknown type.'" Li Jian abruptly pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.
"This is more like a 'meta-core' that transcends all known 'Iridescence Cores.' In other words, it's a 'blank canvas' with infinite potential for learning and evolution, capable of carrying and evolving all possibilities!"
He quickly switched to another high-clearance, encrypted, real-time monitoring feed. In the feed, Shen Kai was lying quietly in the special care unit of the medical division. The monitor showed that his highly active constitution, preliminarily labeled by the Technology Division as "Void Devourer," was rapidly repairing the devastating internal damage caused by the energy overload.
This rate of repair far exceeded anything known in biology. The efficiency of his energy absorption and matter conversion at the cellular level was outrageously high.
"A 'Void Devourer' who possesses an unknown 'Colorless Core'... Li Jian's long fingers tapped lightly on the cold console surface as he sank into deeper contemplation.
"Perhaps this unique constitution, like a natural energy black box, has perfectly hidden the true nature of the 'Colorless Core' for so many years until that brutal battle broke some critical point..."
At that moment, Li Jian's mind flashed back to the mention in the appendix of Sergeant Gestalt's encrypted battle report about Supreme Commander Axis's "unconventional strategic interest" in Shen Kai.
Could this mysterious youth truly be the Pan-Abyssal Federation's key to breaking the current stalemate and unlocking the mystery of the ethereal "Final Code"?
Li Jian looked at the static image of the young man on the screen. The central AI "mystery" had temporarily assigned him the internal monitoring code "Origin-Point Void" based on his core's characteristics. Li Jian's gaze became deeper and more hungry.
"Colorless"... Will you bring an eternal void that destroys everything to this human civilization already teetering on the edge of the abyss, or that first light of dawn capable of cutting through all darkness?
He said this aloud, but in his heart, he already had an answer.
Whatever it was, it would be his greatest research subject of his lifetime.