Chapter 45: The Cost of the Anti-Entropy Array

Beneath the altar at the Crescent Lake ruins, the beast-bone inscriptions emitted a milky-white glow under the searchlight.

Su Qing’s tweezers clamped down on the final piece of shattered bone, her fingertips turning pale from excessive force. Having gone three days and nights without sleep, her dark circles resembled heavy stage makeup, yet she stared fixedly at the fully assembled beast-bone. Her pupils reflected strange, carved symbols—ancient scripts written by the sand guardians using a mixture of bone powder and fresh blood, every single stroke resembling a writhing little snake.

"It’s... it’s assembled!" Su Qing’s voice trembled with sheer exhaustion. She violently chugged half a bottle of camel milk, and the moment her Adam’s apple bobbed, the searchlight suddenly flickered. Tiny beads of blood oozed from the carvings on the bone script, spreading across the sandy ground to form a miniature anti-entropy totem.

Lu Chen squatted down, his fingertips brushing against the oldest jawbone. The carvings on its surface were three times deeper than anywhere else, clearly marking the beginning of the text. The suppression ring on his finger grew hot, automatically translating the obscure ancient characters:

"The Anti-Entropy Totem Array arises from the ruins of the Three Battles, sustained by the blood of the fallen. When the three altars resonate, a boundary is born to block the tribulation fire of the bone core..."

"The ruins of the Three Battles must mean the three ancient battlefields!" Chen Yu suddenly chimed in, using an engineering shovel to reinforce the sand wall at the edge of the altar. "Black Wind Pass, Soul-Breaking Valley, and this Crescent Lake right beneath our feet—they form the exact triangular array points mentioned in the text!"

Lu Chen didn’t respond, shifting his gaze to the rib bone script in the middle. The handwriting here suddenly became erratic, as if the carver had executed it in extreme agony:

"With the awakening of each altar, the dead revive. The bones of the fallen gather into a rampart; yet their presence also lures the sand specters, drawing them ever closer like flies to blood..."

The beam of the searchlight suddenly jolted. Wang Lu held the lamp up, casting its light toward the dunes outside the altar—the previously calm sand surface was rising, and countless white bones were protruding from the sand like a suddenly sprouted stone forest. The foremost skeleton still wore rusted leather armor and gripped a broken spear, matching the exact attire of the sand guardians from a millennium ago.

"They're... they're really awake!" Wang Lu’s voice trembled. Wherever the light swept, the skeletons slowly stood up, forming a ragged defense line. Pale golden light seeped from the gaps in their bones, faintly echoing the patterns of the anti-entropy totem.

In the next second, a deafening roar echoed from the distant sandstorm.

It wasn't the whimpering of ordinary sand-specter beasts, but a low growl, as though an armored chariot had crushed across the grains of sand. Chen Yu raised his binoculars, the lenses reflecting a shadow the size of a small hill. Its body was cobbled together from countless bones, with a spine carved with scorpion-like totems stuck atop its head. With every step it took, sand grains trickled down from the bone joints.

"It’s a bone-crypt beast!" Chen Yu’s binoculars almost slipped from his hands. "Old Dao’s notes sketched this exact thing! It says it takes the bones of ten sand-specter beasts just to piece together one of these, and it's completely impervious to blades and guns!"

Lu Chen’s bone blade suddenly vibrated, reflecting the scene behind the bone-crypt beast—more and more sand-specter beasts were gathering, their eyes flashing with a deep blue light within the sandstorm like a moving sea of stars, evidently drawn by the energy of the undead rampart.

"What the text says is true." Lu Chen’s voice was low, his gaze falling upon the final skull inscription. The carvings here were the deepest, and the blood beads the densest, almost soaking the entire surface of the bone:

"The simultaneous awakening of the three altars requires a final sacrificer. Using flesh and blood as a conduit, connecting the breath of the bone core, the array can then be formed. Without this step, all previous efforts will fall short, plunging everything into eternal damnation. Let this blood-written script bear witness, forever remembered by the sand guardians."

The final few characters had been written directly with fingertip blood, the strokes crooked, revealing the carver's struggle before drawing their last breath. Lu Chen’s fingertip brushed against the words "Final Sacrificer," and the temperature of the bone surface abruptly spiked, burning him so badly he instinctively jerked his hand back—that exact temperature was identical to the golden light that had erupted when Old Dao sacrificed himself.

"What does the rest say?" Chen Yu shouldered a rocket launcher and ran over. The defensive fortifications on the sand wall were only half-built when the bone-crypt beast smashed through the outer defense line. The broken spears of the undead skeletons struck against it, leaving only a few white marks.

Lu Chen swiftly shoved the skull script into his bosom, covering it with his combat uniform. His movements were light, but they didn't escape Su Qing’s notice. The young woman’s brow furrowed instantly; during the assembly earlier, she had clearly seen bloody characters on that final bone piece, though she hadn't had time to translate them.

"It's nothing." Lu Chen grabbed his bone blade and turned toward the central groove of the altar. "It says we need to use a sand guardian's blood to activate the main array point. Su Qing, help me drip my blood into the groove."

Su Qing didn't move, her eyes behind her lenses staring intently at him. "Brother Lu, you're lying. What did the blood characters on that final bone actually say?"

The searchlight beam swayed between the two of them. Wang Lu and Chen Yu exchanged glances, suddenly sensing that the atmosphere was wrong. The roar of the bone-crypt beast grew closer, and the defense line of the undead skeletons was collapsing. Several broken bones had already been crushed into fine golden sand drifting toward the altar.

"Stop messing around." Lu Chen’s voice hardened slightly as he sliced open a cut on his wrist with the bone blade. Fresh blood dripped into the groove, causing the anti-entropy totem patterns to flare with a faint red light. "Activating the array takes priority, or we'll all end up as fertilizer for this monster."

"I saw the words 'Final Sacrificer'!" Su Qing suddenly raised her volume, tears welling up without warning. "Are you planning to do something stupid? Does that script say... it requires a human sacrifice?"

Chen Yu’s rocket launcher clattered loudly to the ground. "A sacrifice? What does that mean? Are we burning a living person?"

Lu Chen’s silence was the answer.

He looked at Su Qing’s reddened eyes and Chen Yu’s shocked face, suddenly recalling the look in Old Dao’s eyes before he passed. Some things were destined to have an ending from the very beginning, just like the laws of the anti-entropy array—where there is life, there is destruction; where there is guarding, there is relinquishment.

"We aren't burning a living person." Lu Chen picked up the rocket launcher and shoved it back into Chen Yu’s hands, his voice as calm as if he were speaking about someone else's affairs. "The text says the altar activated last needs someone to hold the array point and prevent the energy from backflowing. You guys go to Black Wind Pass; I'm staying here."

"Bullshit!" Chen Yu’s roar shook the sand grains from the top of the altar. "If we guard, we guard together! Do you take me for some coward who values his life?"

"This is an order." Lu Chen’s totem blade suddenly slashed toward a nearby sand pile. The moment the golden light exploded, it revealed a hidden passage beneath. "The coordinates Su Qing deciphered show that the Black Wind Pass altar is having issues, and Old Dao’s bone blade senses that the undead there are dispersing. You must go stabilize the situation, or if even one of the three altars is missing, the array will still fail."

Wang Lu suddenly grabbed his wrist, her medical kit dropping to the ground as the sand-blood antibodies rolled out, staining the sand with tiny crimson dots. "I'm a doctor; I'm staying to help you. Chen Yu and Su Qing can go to Black Wind Pass. If our two groups activate simultaneously, the success rate will be higher."

Lu Chen pried her fingers open, his thumb brushing against the scar on the back of her hand—the one she’d gotten from being scratched by a sand crystal while injecting him with the antibody last time. He suddenly smiled, flashing a hint of the roguish charm he’d had when they first met. "Don't forget you promised Kam you'd cure everyone controlled by the sand-blood serum. That's more important than guarding the array point."

The roar of the bone-crypt beast was now right outside. Its giant claw smashed the final undead defense line, and sand mixed with bone powder splattered onto the edge of the altar. Chen Yu shouldered the rocket launcher, but Lu Chen pressed down on his shoulder.

"Aim for the spine on top of its head." Lu Chen’s bone blade pointed at the scorpion totem. "That's the energy core and its only weakness. Aim true, and buy Su Qing time to decrypt the coordinates for Black Wind Pass."

A rocket trailed exhaust and roared forth, striking precisely the top of the bone-crypt beast’s head. Amidst the explosion, the scorpion totem on the spine instantly dimmed. The giant beast let out an agonized roar, its massive body swaying, yet it didn't fall—more sand poured from its bone joints, repairing the wound.

"Damn it! This thing is unkillable?" Chen Yu loaded a new rocket, his hands shaking.

Lu Chen shoved the beast-bone script into Su Qing’s arms. "Activate the Black Wind Pass altar according to the steps in the text. Don't mix up the sequence. And..." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. "Don't tell the others about the final sacrificer, especially Alicia."

Su Qing’s tears fell onto the script, blurring the blood-written characters. She suddenly grabbed Lu Chen’s arm, pressing a small metal piece into his palm. "This is the energy amplifier my dad left behind; it can amplify your totem power threefold... though it probably won't do much..."

Lu Chen clutched the metal piece tightly, still warm from the girl's body heat. He gave them a push, his bone blade carving a golden line in the sand. "Hurry! Once you cross this line, the bone-crypt beast won't be able to sense you."

Chen Yu wanted to say something else, but Wang Lu dragged him toward the passage. Su Qing looked back once, seeing Lu Chen standing alone in the center of the altar. The red light of the anti-entropy totem had already spread to his feet like a blooming flower of blood. The giant claw of the bone-crypt beast came down once more, yet he didn't dodge; he merely raised Old Dao’s bone blade, its tip pointing straight at the giant beast's eye.

The stone door at the entrance of the passage slowly closed, cutting off the sounds of slaughter outside. Su Qing unfolded the beast-bone script. The blood characters on the final skull under the searchlight were exceptionally clear—not "guard the array point" as Lu Chen had claimed, but written in the ancient script of the sand guardians:

"The final sacrificer must resonate with the bone core, taking the soul as a conduit and the flesh as fuel, until they merge as one with the array. If they live, the array endures; if they die, the array perishes."

Su Qing’s fingers trembled violently, and she finally understood why Lu Chen had insisted on staying behind. The so-called final sacrificer wasn't about guarding the array point at all; it meant turning oneself into a part of the anti-entropy array, using one's life as the final fuel.

"He's sacrificing himself to the array..." Su Qing’s voice carried a crying tone, her vision blurred by tears. "We have to go back and save him!"

Chen Yu slammed his fist against the stone wall, his knuckle splitting and leaking blood. "That bastard! He knew all along he was going to die, and he lied to us, saying he was just guarding the array point!"

Wang Lu suddenly grabbed their wrists. The detector in her medical kit was screaming frantically, its screen flashing real-time footage of the Black Wind Pass altar—the anti-entropy totem there was rapidly dimming, and the number of sand-specter beasts was ten times that of Crescent Lake, still steadily increasing.

"We can't go back." Wang Lu’s voice carried an incredulous calmness, though tears streamed down her cheeks. "Lu Chen is right. We can't afford to lose even one of the three altars. If we go back now, we'll only render his sacrifice completely meaningless."

A muffled boom echoed from outside the passage, as if the stone wall of the altar had been smashed open. Su Qing bit her lip hard, only regaining a modicum of composure when she tasted blood. She folded the beast-bone script and tucked it inside her protective suit, the metal piece pressing painfully against her chest—her father's amplifier, and also Lu Chen's final hope.

"Activate the Black Wind Pass altar." Su Qing’s voice was hoarse, yet imbued with unquestionable resolve. "Let his sacrifice... mean something."

The moment the stone door completely sealed shut, Lu Chen’s bone blade pierced the eye of the bone-crypt beast.

Dark purple blood sprayed all over him, yet it was blocked by the red light of the anti-entropy totem, condensing into a golden barrier around him. The giant beast’s massive paw slammed against the barrier with a harsh screeching sound. The red light flickered violently, but it didn't shatter—the energy of the altar was flowing into the barrier along his blood, and his resonance with the array grew stronger and stronger.

"Old Dao, do you see this?" Lu Chen sliced open his wrist once more, fresh blood dripping into the groove. "What you failed to finish, I have completed for you."

The bone blade suddenly erupted with unprecedented golden light, the sand guardian priest totem on the blade merging seamlessly with the red light of the anti-entropy array. The body of the bone-crypt beast began to weather away, sand grains pattering down to reveal the black tribulation fire entwined within—the energy of the bone core, being forcibly sucked away by the array.

Lu Chen’s body also began to turn transparent. The suppression ring on his left hand, the bone blade in his right hand, and the energy amplifier on his chest lit up simultaneously, forming a perfect triangle. He could feel countless consciousnesses flooding into his mind: sand guardians who had fallen in battle a thousand years ago, undead massacred thirty years ago, and the residual willpower of Old Dao.

These consciousnesses surged within him, flowing along his blood to every node of the anti-entropy array.

The bone-crypt beast let out its final roar, its massive body completely transforming into sand grains swallowed by the red light of the array. In the distance, the black tribulation fire was rapidly receding, exposing the panic-stricken pack of sand-specter beasts beneath. Having lost the control of the bone core, they began to tear into one another.

Lu Chen’s vision gradually blurred. He cast one final glance toward Black Wind Pass, where a dazzling red light had also lit up—Su Qing and the others had succeeded.

"Looks like... I didn't mess it up." He wanted to smile, but his mouth could only spill grains of golden sand.

Before his consciousness completely dissipated, he fancied he heard Alicia’s voice, tearful yet clear:

"Lu Chen! You liar! You promised we'd watch the oasis be reborn together..."

The red light of the anti-entropy array suddenly surged, engulfing the entire Crescent Lake ruins. At the height of the golden radiance, a transparent figure could faintly be seen, grasping a bone blade and standing at the center of the array like an eternal statue.

And deep within the sandstorm, beyond the reach of the array's illumination, a pair of deep blue eyes coldly watched all of this. Williams’ voice echoed in the wind, filled with frenzied excitement:

"The sacrifice has begun... It has finally begun..."

Clutched in his hand was half a shattered silver-bird jade pendant, the bloodstain smeared across it emitting a faint golden light—that was Alicia’s blood, and the key to triggering the final step.

The true price had never been Lu Chen’s sacrifice.

It was using his death to awaken the deepest power of the bone core, completing the ultimate fusion Williams had plotted for thirty years.

The sandstorm suddenly veered, roaring furiously toward the Crescent Lake ruins as if welcoming a new master. The red light of the anti-entropy array remained dazzling, yet no one knew that behind this light guarding the great desert, an even more terrifying catastrophe was brewing.