Destroying the Nodes

The relationship between these souls, the soul chains, and Auston was simple enough to understand: the thirty-six captive souls were like thirty-six batteries supplying power nonstop.

The soul chains wrapped around them were wires carrying that power, funneling their soul energy into six Soul-Lock Nodes, which then fed it into the Soul-Sinking Anchor.

The Soul-Sinking Anchor itself was more like an interface connecting them to Auston.

As for the six Soul-Lock Nodes scattered throughout the ship, they were the equivalent of circuit boards. They not only maintained the bonds restraining the six groups of souls, but also controlled the flow of soul energy.

If Auston, the core, was destroyed outright, all that power would lose its outlet, and the backlash would surge back along the soul chains into those souls.

But if the six "circuit boards" were dismantled one by one first, things would be completely different.

Destroying each Soul-Lock Node would free six souls from the Soul-Sinking Anchor's control and sever the channel through which they supplied Auston with soul energy.

The more nodes were dismantled, the more souls would be freed, and the less power Auston would have at his disposal.

Auston had no idea what Ling Chu meant by "circuit boards," but seeing her charge toward the kitchen filled him with a sudden, intense unease.

This woman could see souls. Since she had even seen through the Soul-Sinking Anchor, she might really be able to find the nodes he had hidden throughout the ship.

I can't let her get there!

Ling Chu had been right. Once she started dismantling the nodes, Auston could not possibly stand by and do nothing. Naturally, he would follow her.

The first soul-sinking node was in the kitchen on the second floor.

Ling Chu followed the six soul chains downward. Just as