The icy gray-white waters of the Cold Pond radiated a bizarre suction that seemed capable of freezing the soul.
The Shadow Fiend Fragment was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil. The instant it touched the surface, it began to struggle violently. The shadowy matter on its surface gave off faint sizzling sounds, showing signs of slowly being assimilated and dissolved!
This liquid could not only absorb energy; it also seemed capable of corroding material structures that did not share its properties!
Ming Xin was horrified and immediately disregarded everything else, squeezing out the minuscule amount of energy that had only just recovered within the fragment.
At the same time, he fully activated the dormant "key" frequency, attempting to form an extremely thin "Order barrier" around the fragment to isolate it from the liquid.
The barrier was exceedingly fragile, flickering in and out of existence, and consumed tremendous energy. Still, it temporarily prevented the liquid from directly corroding the fragment.
Like a heavy black log, the fragment bobbed slightly on the viscous surface, struggling to keep from sinking.
However, the Cold Pond's devouring of energy was constant and omnipresent. Ming Xin could clearly feel the energy sustaining the barrier and the fragment's basic vitality.
Being rapidly drained away by the cold liquid around them. At this rate, within ten minutes, he and the fragment would exhaust their energy, sink completely to the bottom of this bizarre Cold Pond, and be assimilated, frozen, and erased.
He had to leave the surface as soon as possible! Or find a way to float without consuming energy!
His gaze involuntarily shifted once more toward the streamlined Shuttle Cabin at the center of the Cold Pond.
The cabin floated silently, mostly submerged beneath the water, with only a small portion exposed above the