"70%? When was this?" Logan frowned, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

"Thirty minutes ago." the man replied carefully.

Logan took a deep breath, stood up, and turned to his team. "We have to stop him before he finishes the fusion, or that big mushroom will be a big problem."

General Darwin silently analyzed the situation, his face getting darker. "Duerer had 23 star marks, but even he couldn't take the Ancestral Spirits down with him. This one isn't even fully born yet."

"If the Ancestral Spirits is fully born and then merges with that old man Novan, their power might reach the Saint level — maybe even higher."

Logan nodded and turned to Natalia. "Looks like we're in for a tough fight again. You work with General Darwin to check the path. We need to find that guy as fast as possible."

Natalia's Mental Power merged with the spider threads, extending deep into the passage, scanning every inch of space.

General Darwin also sent out nanorobots to scan every turn in the passage and map the area.

"There are nanorune traps in the passage, frequency 0.3 hertz." General Darwin said seriously. "But my nanorobots can interfere with the trigger logic."

"How long will the interference take?" Logan frowned and asked.

"At least two minutes." Darwin answered.

"Start." Logan ordered.

Darwin's nanorobots rushed into the passage, starting to deal with the traps.

The silver sand made of nanorobots resonated with the red patterns in the traps, and electric sparks flashed in the air.

Soon, all the traps along the way were cleared. Logan turned to the man and asked, "Can you still walk?"

"I'll lead you." the man said firmly. "This is the only way I can atone."

Logan gave a slight nod. "Then let's go. Let's find the Ancestral Spirits."

"No!" The man immediately refused Logan's idea. "You need to find the experiment files first!"

In the underground passage.

"Experiment files?" Logan looked confused.

"Yes." the man said firmly. "All of Novan's experiment data and research results are there. You can only stop him from merging with the Ancestral Spirits if you get them."

Logan frowned. "Why not just kill them?"

The man shook his head. "Think carefully. The Ancestral Spirits is a fungal life form. Are you sure you can kill all the bacteria and fungi?"

Logan was shocked. "Wow, Novan really is... weird. How did he even merge with something like that!"

General Darwin beside him was also laughing and sighing at the same time.

But there was nothing they could do. Everyone understood that only by getting the research results and finding the DNA weaknesses of the Ancestral Spirits could they destroy all the fungal colonies at the microscopic level.

This wasn't a joke. Otherwise, even if Logan killed the Ancestral Spirits and Novan now, in decades, new symbiotic mushrooms would grow again and trouble the Human Federation.

With that, the group had no choice but to go find the files.

Logan led everyone forward along the path, their footsteps echoing off the metal walls.

The man from the Judgement Tribunal walked in front. Though weak, his steps were steady.

"There's a fork 200 meters ahead." the man said in a low voice. "Left leads to the Ancestral Spirits core, right leads to the Judgement Tribunal's underground archive."

"All of Novan's experiment records are there—everything, including the full data of the Order Restoration Protocol, and the genetic design plans for his fusion with the Ancestral Spirits."

Logan stopped when he heard that.

"General Darwin." Logan said, looking at him. "Can you read those files?"

General Darwin nodded. His nanorobot-made mechanical eye flashed red.

"Relax." he said. "Before I joined the military, I was a top biology professor. As long as I get the full genetic design plan, I can find a way to break their fusion and kill the Ancestral Spirits."

Logan nodded. "I move the fastest, so I'll take Darwin to the archive. You guys go check out the Ancestral Spirits' location. When you find it, wait for me to join you. Don't act rashly!"

Everyone nodded and then split up at the fork.

Logan and Darwin took the right passage, and the man followed closely behind.

"The archive has three layers of nanorune barriers." he said. "Novan often used my body for his experiments. I can take you in."

The three of them sped up and soon reached a thick metal door.

The door was covered in nanorunes, and the red patterns glowed faintly in the dim light.

The man stepped forward and placed his hand on the identification area.

"Identity verification: Judgement Tribunal Officer, number 734 Beta."

The man cleared his throat and whispered, "Request access to the archive."

The nanorunes on the door blinked a few times, then went out. The door opened.

Logan stepped into the archive. Countless holograms floated in the air, each showing decades of Novan's secret experiments.

On the large central projection, there was a beautiful artwork. When Logan got closer, he realized that this artistic scroll was actually all of Novan's research results over the years.

"This is the complete record of the Order Restoration Protocol." the man said, pointing to the big projection. "All the experiment data, the nanorune design plans, and the Ancestral Spirits fusion theory models are all here."

General Darwin quickly stepped forward, connecting his mechanical arm's projector to the main system.

Nanorobots poured out from his palm, starting to download all the related data.

Logan stood by and waited, thinking about how grand this research was, but how wrong it had gone from the start. "Science should also have its limits." he said.

Suddenly, Kerparos warned in Logan's mind: "Someone was here thirty minutes ago."

Logan frowned. Through Kerparos, he learned that Novan had backed up all the data here thirty minutes ago.

If his fusion with the Ancestral Spirits failed, he would release all the data across the Federation, making the research fully public so people who shared his ideas could continue his work.

When Logan heard this, he immediately told General Darwin.

General Darwin laughed. "That's not a problem. Pinocchini can help."

Logan frowned. "The Master who makes that electric noise?"

General Darwin nodded. "He's Pinocchini, and he's the only data life form in all of humanity. He can clean this up in a second."

At that moment, Logan's phone suddenly started making an electric sound.

"Relax, kid. Focus on stopping Novan. The rest is on me."

Logan frowned. "You, huh? Have you been watching me all along?"

There was a short silence, then the electric voice admitted, "Your phone's app is also watching you. Compared to them, I at least have a moral line. For example, I leave when you go to the bathroom."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Go away!"

At this moment, General Darwin finished downloading all the data. He brought up the hologram and projected Novan's experiment records into the air.

Soon, he found the flaw in the Ancestral Spirits' gene design. He pointed to a set of data and explained, "Novan's fusion design has a key weakness. During the process, he needs to keep an energy channel connected to the Ancestral Spirits' core. Once the channel is cut, the fusion stops immediately."

"Where is the channel?" Logan frowned and looked at the map. He was surprised at how quickly General Darwin had found the problem.

General Darwin smiled and pointed to the top of the design. "It's right above the Ancestial Spirits' core, a 3-meter-wide energy column, 720 meters deep. It's made of nanorunes and Ancestral Spirits energy. If you hit it with a specific frequency, you can cut it off and stop its regeneration."

Logan nodded and immediately took General Darwin and the man and teleported away.

In the underground pipes, he couldn't teleport too far, but it was still faster than running.

The three of them moved quickly through the tunnels and just made it to a battle between Natalia and her team.

At that moment, Natalia and her group were fighting Novan's puppet guards in a pipe junction.

Natalia held her Hellweaver in front of her, and the threads wove into a net in the corridor, blocking attacks.

The guards wore special Judgement Tribunal armor. Their eye sockets glowed green, and they looked very similar to the Bone Clan warriors.

The man saw the guards and shouted, "They're Novan's puppets! Be careful! They're strong! If you don't find their weakness, they'll keep regenerating forever."

Natalia frowned. "Damn Novan, he should use that power against outsiders!"

General Darwin opened the gene design map again and started studying. "Hold them off for now, I'll find their weakness."

Logan looked at Natalia and nodded. "Defend first! Save your strength for that big mushroom, the Ancestral Spirits."

Natalia understood right away. Her Hellweaver quickly pulled in, and the spider threads quickly surrounded everyone, forming a defensive net.

"Guard the Blood Cultivation Realm!" Logan immediately called out Nabo. With it by his side, these puppets couldn't break through the defense at all—they could only watch helplessly.

Soon, General Darwin found the organs that controlled the puppets' regeneration. "Hit their pancreas! They use it to control regeneration!"

Hearing this, Natalia quickly swung her Hellweaver. A dozen reinforced threads shot toward the guards' necks.

The threads pierced through the armor gaps and hit the hidden control nodes inside. They turned the guards' pancreases into a mess, like a beehive.

In an instant, the puppets frozen in place. Their green eyes went out, and they all collapsed with a loud crash.

"It's done." Natalia sighed, and her mind threads slowly retracted.

Logan walked forward and asked what was going on. He learned that the whole area around the junction was surrounded by energy barriers.

The group had tried to break through, and that's why they attracted so many puppet guards attacking together.

After understanding this, Logan sighed. When had he gotten so far behind? He really needed to get a mechanical familiar like General Darwin.

…

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