When the Stardust Train flew past the edge of the Andromeda galaxy, Arui suddenly felt her palm grow hot. She opened her hand, and the glowing Symbiotic Network seal rippled like the surface of water. The golden bands of light were no longer spinning steadily; instead, they flickered like a dying flame, and the pattern at the center had split into several pieces. The Ice Drip alarm sounded in the cockpit, and the star map on the screen blurred as though washed over by water: "Source anomaly detected! At the origin of cosmic energy, a place called the 'Origin Civilization' is running into trouble, and turbulent energy currents are devouring the Symbiotic Network at a rate of 0.32%."
The starry sky outside the window had grown strange. The once-bright stars were either dimming or suddenly bursting with blinding light, like a loose lightbulb. Auri plucked the Photon Harp String, and his usually crisp tone became intermittent, sounding as though the strings had rusted: "Look at those nebulae," he pointed to a dissolving red cloud, "the Origin Civilization is draining away all the energy, like boiling the water in a pot until it's dry. We can barely hold onto the light anymore."
Arui's consciousness was suddenly yanked away by a force. She found herself in a space filled entirely with flowing bands of light, with energy clusters of various shapes floating around her, like different colors of syrup mixing in water. But now, these bands of light were being pulled by a dark force, …
Chapter 335