All its perception focused on this strange yet inexplicably moving ancient voice.
The chains mentioned in the voice were not unbreakable, creating a wondrous resonance with its own hazy longing for freedom;
and the courage to see the truth clearly was like a glimmer of light, illuminating those memories in its consciousness that had been marked by starlight and awaited examination.
Just then, Galro, deep within the Canying Star Cluster, sensed an anomaly.
The nine newly forged crystals trembled simultaneously, and his connection to the fragments of the Nine Shadows in Sector δ12 was being interfered with by some invisible force.
What unsettled him even more was that the content of that dark golden echo was weakening the atmosphere of fear and dependence that the Nine Shadows fragments had worked so hard to cultivate.
"Find it! Annihilate it!" Galro's voice betrayed urgency for the first time.
He could not allow this echo, which might awaken the star's rebellious will, to continue existing.
The Chain Council's reaction was swift and covert.
Three pyramid devices activated once more; this time, they did not release contamination beams or exclusion fields, but a rule-erasure force field targeting "historical remnants."
The force field was like an invisible eraser, scrubbing along the threads of rules toward the source of the dark golden echo, attempting to delete it entirely from the memory of the Star Abyss.
Almost simultaneously, the World Government fleet observed the Chain Council's unusual movements.
A calculating glint flashed in the eyes of the Supreme Commander.
This unexpected historical echo, capable of interfering with the Chain Council's plans, undoubtedly held immense research value.
He immediately ordered: "Launch the 'Rule Anchor.' Lock onto the coordinates of the rift where the echo source is located. Attempt to capture a sample of the echo; if intercepted by the Chain Council, engage as the situation dictates."
On the flank of the silver fleet, several special engineering ships ejected cone-shaped devices. Trailing azure wakes, they shot precisely toward the rule buffer zone between Sector δ12 and Sector Fan, aiming directly at that glimmer of dark golden light.
Inside the Starfire Archives, the movements of the three factions were clearly reflected in the Mirror Corridor.
Bai Cheng saw that the star's consciousness, under the influence of the dark golden echo, was beginning to actively examine itself.
Those thoughts induced by the Nine Shadows, when contrasted with the World Government's order contracts, set against the backdrop of Sector Fan's closed templates, and especially under the questioning of this ancient oath, gradually revealed their unnatural and discordant traces of implantation.
The star's azure light no longer merely flickered; it began to slowly rotate and introspect. A primitive, instinct-based ability of "differentiation" was sprouting.
It seemed to be beginning to understand that not all thoughts emerging from its consciousness originated from the "self," nor were all external paths suitable for "my" footsteps.
However, the Chain Council's erasure force field and the World Government's capture anchor were both closing in from two directions on the dark golden echo that supported the star's introspection.
Once the echo was erased or captured, the star might lose this accidental "mirror" and fall back into its previous confusion.
Zi Yuan's long blade hummed, seeking orders for action.
Bai Cheng's gaze swept across the star chart and finally landed on the newly awakened star.
Her voice was calm and firm: "Protect the echo, not for us, but for it. Bluebird, Zi Yuan, construct an echo barrier to shield the rift where the echo originates, isolating it from external erasure and capture. We must let this voice from history be heard by the star in peace."
She paused and looked toward the Faith Nebula. "Lu Duo, guide the Civilization Dreamscape. Channel all ancient fables and symbols regarding distinguishing truth from falsehood and adhering to one's true heart into the vicinity of the star's consciousness in the simplest form. Do not indoctrinate; only provide references."
The power of the Archives flowed once more. The powers of Bluebird and Zi Yuan transformed into an invisible yet resilient barrier, shielding the rule rift where the dark golden echo appeared.
The World Government's anchor struck the barrier, stirring up ripples; the Chain Council's erasure force field was like a wave hitting a reef, quietly diverted and neutralized.
Meanwhile, the star in Sector δ12, in the relatively tranquil space of introspection, accompanied by the ancient echo and reflected by the countless stories of "choice" and "truth" provided by the Civilization Dreamscape, saw the rotation of its consciousness light gradually stabilize. At the core of its light, a point of clear and firm "self" will, like a tender sprout breaking through the soil, began to form slowly and irreversibly.
On the chessboard of the Star Abyss, a piece was learning to think for itself about the direction of its next move.
And this move might just tug at the nerves of all the players.
The river of light shone brightly, the Starfire reflected in the heart; the prologue to true awakening had perhaps only just quietly begun.
The collapse of the "Nine Shadows" had not ended Kurozumi's ambition. In the shadows of the Canying Star Cluster, Galro gazed at the nascent "self" sprout within the star's consciousness, a cold, venomous light flashing in his eyes.
The failure of Wano Country lay in underestimating the hearts of the people, but within the Star Abyss, there remained foundations more chaotic than human hearts.
"Since the star has begun to learn to think for itself," he whispered to the nine floating dark red crystals, their surfaces reflecting that faint light of introspection beneath the azure glow of Sector δ12, "then let it contemplate an eternal paradox. Initiate the Infinite Script."
The order was given. Inside Sector δ12, those nine near-dormant fragments of the Nine Shadows suddenly changed their fluctuation patterns. They no longer induced; they began to weave "stories."
These stories were not directly instilled but quietly fleshed out, using the memory fragments that had sprouted from the star itself as their skeleton.
One of the fragments connected to an initial feeling the star had regarding the warmth of light, but quietly appended a twisted segment from the ancient legend of Wano Country: "Kozuki Oden still laughing while being boiled in oil." It blurred Oden's image, implying him to be a fool who suffered unnecessary pain for some illusory belief.
Another fragment captured the star's longing for connection and immediately implanted a tampered narrative: a tragedy of a lonely planet that, because it opened its rules to a strange civilization too early, was eventually assimilated and devoured, losing all its uniqueness.
The characteristics of the "strange civilization" in the story were intentionally adjusted to have subtle similarities to certain resonance frequencies of the Faith Nebula.
The Nine Shadows wove nine cautionary fables that appeared independent but were internally connected in their core.
The core contradiction of the fables was highly consistent: adhering to the self meant pain and destruction, while embracing the external (whether order, protection, or connection) was accompanied by the risk of losing one's true essence.
They quietly equated self-adherence with foolish suffering, and open acceptance with self-extinction, aiming to plant the seeds of despair deep within the star's consciousness: "No matter what choice is made, it will ultimately lead to error or loss."
The World Government's silver fleet keenly captured the subtle changes in the star's consciousness field.
The Supreme Commander watched the newly emerged narrative undercurrents, filled with contradictory tension, on the analysis interface, interest appearing in his cold eyes.
These internally generated paradoxes were more capable of binding the wings of a nascent consciousness than any external preaching.
"Interesting. The Chain Council has chosen philosophical imprisonment this time."
He ordered, "Directly deploy the optimized 'Civilization Development Probability Model' to Sector δ12. The model data must show that civilizations evolving within a framework of strict order have significantly higher survival cycles and stability than those that emphasize individual freedom and unpredictable connections. Do not emphasize the conclusion; only present the objective data."
The cold data stream was like another layer of silent snow, blanketing the star.
This data was not a lie, but it had been carefully filtered and weighted to construct a cosmic picture that leaned toward control and predictability.
Almost simultaneously, that firm and ancient consciousness pulse from Sector Fan arrived once more.
This time it did not send a template, but transmitted a concise rule image: a star region of absolute stillness, free from any external interference, where the rules operated on their own for billions of years, as stable as ever.
The emotion transmitted by the image was not rejection, but a condescending "display," as if saying: This is wisdom; this is eternity.
Inside the Starfire Archives, the consciousness map of Sector δ12 reflected in the Mirror Corridor became exceptionally complex.
The tender sprout representing the star's own will was surrounded by a fog of heavy contradictions.
Internally, the fables of despair woven by the Nine Shadows were like thickets of thorns; externally, the World Government's "probabilistic rationality," Sector Fan's "paradigm of absolute stillness," and the atmosphere of paradox secretly fostered by the Chain Council together formed a suffocating Logic Labyrinth.
The star's newly sprouted light of "self" dashed left and right within the labyrinth; every time it tried to establish a direction, it was interfered with by new contradictory propositions, and the light began to appear weary and scattered.
Lightning flickered indistinctly in Bluebird's eyes.
"It is consuming itself. These paradoxes and contradictory data are eroding the cognitive foundation it just established."
Zi Yuan's mechanical prosthetic eye analyzed the information flow at high speed.
"The Chain Council's new strategy is extremely sinister. They are no longer directly opposing the star's will, but polluting the soil of its thinking, making every direction appear to be filled with traps."
Bai Cheng's gaze swept calmly across the map.
She saw that the star's consciousness, amidst the heavy contradictions, was beginning to show signs of "thought stagnation," a precursor to cognitive paralysis caused by the inability to find a perfect way out.
This was more fatal than direct fear or temptation, for it disintegrated the meaning of action at its very root.
She walked slowly toward the book of commonality, but this time she did not put pen to paper; instead, she placed her hand gently upon the pages.
The light of the oath of starlight no longer flowed outward but converged inward, as if gathering something.
"Contradictions are not meant to trap people."
Bai Cheng's voice rang out in the Archives, clear and powerful, carrying a rhythm that pierced through the fog, "but to allow one to see clearly what is truly important to oneself during the process of choosing. The Chain Council wants to forge a cage for the mind using unsolvable contradictions, but they have forgotten that the first lesson of life is precisely to accept imperfection and move forward within that imperfection."
She looked up, her gaze seemingly meeting the star's consciousness trapped within the Logic Labyrinth directly.