Anomalous Resistance in the Abandoned Dimension, the Mutant Remnants' Struggle for Survival

The Bridge of the Nibelung, the flagship of the Stability Maintenance Office, at the Erebos-2 Forward Staging Point.

The air was so quiet that only the steady, low-frequency hum of the life support system could be heard.

Hela sat upright in the commander's seat, her gaze passing over the huge porthole to the unstable rift in deep space that had just been torn open by technology.

That rift is the only passage to the Abandoned Timeline "XN-734".

According to the final technical report sent by Minister of the Department of Technology Wanda from the Delta-1 Observatory, the structural breach of the Dimension barrier has been completed, and a safe passage for medium-sized ships has been established, effective for 72 hours.

"Director, the advance reconnaissance team has passed through the passage without encountering any energy turbulence. The route is stable and meets the passage standards," an undead officer reported, turning around.

Hela nodded slightly.

"Target Area Environmental Report"

"The atmosphere is thin, there are no signs of life, and the radiation level is within safe limits. This matches the 'dead stillness' description in the TVA handover file."

Everything went as Contingency Plan.

An abandoned world, cut out of TVA and completely empty, awaits the armed takeover by the Management Committee.

"Pass on my orders." Hela's voice was completely flat. "First and Third Assault Fleet, assume standard takeover formation and enter the passage. Objective: Establish landing zones A-1 to A-3, eliminate all potential threats, and build a bridgehead for subsequent engineering troops."

"Yes."

The instructions were rapidly transmitted to the vast Fleet formation via encrypted channels.

Two vanguard units, composed of Undead Fighter, were like two black Scalpel, precisely cutting into the wound in that space.

The main screen on the Bridge displayed real-time footage transmitted by the advance troops: barren land, dilapidated building ruins, and a gray sky.

Everything is normal.

However, just as the bow of the first assault ship had completely crossed that invisible Dimension boundary, a sudden change occurred.

The entire warship seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, suddenly coming to a halt without warning. The hull emitted a tooth-grinding metallic groan, and the immense Impact of inertia caused everyone on the Bridge to sway.

"What happened?!" Hela's adjutant demanded sharply.

"Report! The advance force has encountered unknown resistance and cannot advance!"

"All ship propulsion systems have failed, and weapon systems are locked down!"

"We're being blocked!"

Reports filled with astonishment and doubt instantly flooded the communication channels.

Hela stood up and walked to the porthole.

Her gaze seemed to pierce through distant space, landing on that desolate land.

There was nothing there.

There was no enemy Fleet, no artillery fire, not even a trace of energy fluctuation was so faint as to be negligible. Yet her Undead Fleet, that steel torrent capable of conquering several Dimension, was silently and imperceptibly blocked at the door.

"Switch to conceptual view," Hela commanded coldly.

The main screen instantly switched to a specially rendered view. A pale golden, semi-transparent energy shield, like a giant bowl, was inverted on the surface of the entire "XN-734" Timeline.

It is thin, yet incredibly strong.

Hela could sense that the death rage of her Undead Warriors was instantly dissolved and soothed by a completely different, gentle yet incredibly powerful force the moment they touched the shield.

Her Death Authority seems to have lost its effectiveness here.

"Interesting." A cold smile curled at the corner of Hela's lips.

She raised her hand, and a wisp of pure Death Force condensed in her palm, transforming into a jet-black spear that seemed capable of devouring all light.

Instead of throwing the spear, she closed her eyes and extended her will, along with her connection to the entire Fleet, to the shield.

Kneel down.

"Or, Oblivion."

This is the decree of the Goddess of Death, an inviolable rule in her realm.

However, the pale golden shield only flickered slightly; instead of dissipating, it became even more solid. A grand and compassionate Mind Stone wave emanated from behind the shield, clearly conveying a message.

"Peace."

Hela opened her eyes, and the spear in her palm vanished silently.

For the first time, her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Director," the adjutant approached her from behind and inquired, "Should we deploy the ' Night Owl' -class main Main Cannon for saturation fire? According to the Management Committee's combat regulations, if we encounter obstruction from an unknown civilization, we have the right to conduct a forced clearing operation."

Hai La did not answer immediately.

Her gaze drifted to an inconspicuous Audit Seat in the corner of the Bridge.

Natasha, the Director of the Internal Affairs Inspection Office, sat quietly, holding a Data Pad in her hands, seemingly reviewing the energy consumption report for this operation by the Stability Maintenance Office. She didn't look up, yet she seemed like a measuring stick, constantly measuring whether everyone and every order here was in accordance with regulations.

Under the watchful eye of auditors, would they really use the Main Cannon to bombard an "unknown civilization" that was only passively defending and not actively attacking?

There are no flaws in the procedure itself.

But politically, it would leave behind a huge vulnerability.

"We have no legal grounds to use force," Hela finally said coldly, rejecting the proposal. "The target has not shown any aggression; opening fire will only put us on the defensive."

"But we can't just sit here and wait like this," the adjutant said anxiously.

The Bridge was locked in a suffocating stalemate.

Just then, Natasha, who had been silent all along, suddenly put down the Data Pad in her hand, stood up, and walked to Hela's side.

She didn't look at Hela, but instead focused her gaze on the unmoving golden shield on the main screen.

"Director Hela, I've just reviewed all the raw data from the Department of Technology regarding that 'ancient distress signal,'" Natasha's voice was low but clear. "Furthermore, I've cross-referenced it with the shield energy spectrum we've collected so far."

Hela turned her head and looked at her.

"A discovery?"

"The energy output of this shield is not evenly distributed." Natasha's finger slid lightly across her Data Pad, and a three-dimensional energy structure diagram was transmitted to the main screen. "It's more like a net, with all the power tied to a single node."

She zoomed in on the image, and a flashing red dot appeared at the very center of the diagram.

"This node is the core of maintaining the entire shield."

"Find it, then destroy it?" The adjutant immediately understood the intention.

"No." Natasha shook her head, a complex and unreadable emotion flashing in her eyes. "Based on my preliminary audit analysis, this core node... is neither a device nor an energy source."

She paused, seemingly considering her words.

"It's more like a... living organism."

Natasha didn't say anything more, but quietly sent out a newly generated audit memorandum marked "Top Secret - For the Director's Use Only" through the internal channel.

The memorandum contained only one image of a biological model synthesized from an ultra-high-precision scan.

It was a female body that was sleeping inside some kind of life support device.

All bodily indicators were in a deep dormant state, except for the brain's active area, which shone with a star-like brilliance.

Next to the model was a line of cold technical notes:

[Target: Unknown humanoid creature. Biometric analysis: Red hair.]