Zero's voice sounded again. This time, the strange, illogical quality within it was even more pronounced, as if something were quietly crawling beneath the synthesized tones.
"New permissions have been activated."
"The Ark's current status... has been redefined."
Zero paused, seemingly trying to process a concept even it could not fully understand.
"We... are no longer intruders."
"In the Beyonders' observation system, the Ark is now defined as... a string of deleted, garbled code."
Tony jerked his head up, disbelief written across his face beneath the armor's faceplate.
"What does that mean?"
"It means,"
Chu Hang turned slowly. Fatigue flickered in his golden-red eyes, but far stronger was an almost feverish excitement.
"to the Ivory King, we're like a corrupted file in the recycle bin—still there, but not worth his attention."
His voice was quiet, yet it sent a chill through everyone present.
Reed adjusted his glasses and swiped rapidly across the holographic screen. Countless streams of data spread out before him.
His breathing quickened.
"That's impossible... How did Zero do it?"
"It didn't just devour Beyonder Power. It rewrote its own definition in the Beyonders' observation network? That's—"
"Making use of waste."
Chu Hang cut him off, his mouth curving into a cold smile.
"The more powerful the Beyonders are, the bigger the loopholes they leave behind."
"Zero is the virus that slipped into their system. It just disguised itself as junk code."
Clark had to lean against the wall to stay on his feet. His Super Vision was still recovering, but he could just make out the view beyond the window.
When his gaze settled on the gray void, he froze.
The region was not empty darkness.
Quite the opposite. It was crowded with far too much.
Shattered fragments of nebulae floated like rotting flesh. Twisted folds of