The electromagnetic dust whipped up by the thermonuclear storm battered Ada’s composite armor, emitting a dense, rain-like metallic clatter. Her visual compensation system mapped the dark red external palette into high-contrast contour lines to circumvent photosensitive interference caused by the intense radiation.

  "Self-check complete. Logic core redundancy at 100%." Ada’s voice sounded in Ma Feili’s earpiece, steady and calm. "The quantum reverberation of Archive 261 has been completely peeled away. Ma Feili, I have detected a group of high-frequency pulses deep in the fault ahead. The coding signature points to the Interstellar Trade Alliance's obsolete 'Gamma-Class' encryption protocol."

  Ma Feili stepped over the wreckage of a mechanized rodent; its gear-filled shell was slowly disintegrating due to the law of entropy. He signaled Ada to access the stream. As the data reorganized, a video log titled *The Nano-Wilt of Eridanus: The Bovine-Omega Protocol* forcibly unfolded on both their retinas.

  It was the third moon of Eridanus ε, **Mons-4**. In the frame, giant synthetic carbon-fiber trees twisted under temperatures of eighty degrees Celsius, resembling a scorched cemetery.

  "That is **Chen Huafeng**," Ada identified the protagonist via database cross-referencing. "A Bio-Reactor Rancher. His two hundred 'Synthetic Rhinos' are the energy pillar of that sector."

  The heatwave in the video seemed to radiate through the sensors. Chen Huafeng was hiding in the shade of the trees. Subsequently, a stranger appeared, wearing a lead life-support collar locked around his neck. Ada’s logic analyzer instantly locked onto the collar: "High-Energy Particle Shield. That is used to suppress subspace fluctuations within the body."

  When the video played to the scene of heavy drinking in the cellar, Ada issued a warning: "Notice the stranger's rear brain interface is in a 'Non-Stable State.' Chen Huafeng's probing behavior will trigger a logic collapse."

  In the footage, as a high-frequency probe pierced in, a plume of white mist capable of freezing the soul spewed out. It was a swarm of nano-cattle flashing with cold metallic light—**Bovine-Omega**. The infrasound lowing they emitted caused Ma Feili's armor resonance sensors to blare harsh alarms.

  "Disaster Spreaders of the '**Entropy Church**'." Ada analyzed in a low voice. "They exploit loopholes in biosynthetic logic to implant the 'Wilt Virus' into the production chain. This is a typical entropy acceleration process, irreversible."

  The footage advanced. Chen Huafeng's greed was magnified amidst the ruins. He attempted to embezzle the underlying code of the "**Interstellar Repair Protocol**," deluding himself into establishing a monopoly on the ruins of civilization.

  "Foolish game logic," Ada commented. "According to the code's underlying protocol, this is a '**Collective Game Experiment**.' The decryption key is only synthesized via distributed computing when the redundant backup is broadcast to the entire network. His act of embezzlement caused a logic overflow in the local code, thereby accelerating the melting of the Synthetic Rhinos."

  At the end of the clip, Chen Huafeng sat paralyzed in the ruins, watching as that handful of "Controlled Dust" revived only the last, obsolete model.

  The image came to an abrupt halt, and the pulse signal deep in the fault vanished.

  Ada turned her head, her electronic eyes flashing with a ghostly blue light in the dim radiation dust, strikingly similar to the glow behind the stranger’s head in the video.

  "Ma Feili, this archive is warning us." Ada extended a mechanical finger, pointing to the scorched earth beneath their feet. "In the 'Thermonuclear Scorched Fault,' any attempt to privately hoard resources or logic will accelerate systemic entropy increase. The ecology here is the endgame for the greedy."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  She checked Ma Feili’s life support system and, confirming no errors, continued walking toward the darkness at the deepest part of the fault.

  "Let's go. I have backed up the logical structure of this code to the public link. If we fall here, at least the information is free."

  ---

  The wind and sand of the Thermonuclear Scorched Fault carried fine metallic particles, hitting Ma Feili’s heavily worn protective suit with a dense crackling sound. The radiation intensity here was enough to burn the DNA of ordinary carbon-based life in seconds, but Ada walked ahead, her gait steady. Her deep blue core indicator light acted like a soul-guiding lamp in the dim dust storm.

  "According to the Game Logic of Archive 264, our current path is on the edge of the 'Optimal Solution'." Ada's voice rang directly in Ma Feili's brain through the neural link, calm and smokeless. Her chassis status showed 100%; after parsing the previous trap, her computing power seemed to have received some kind of boost. "But Ma Feili, what you need to be wary of is not the radiation here, but the entropy overflow triggered by 'Greed.' Before entering the depths of the fault, you need to synchronously read Archive 272. This is a classic case regarding the failure of the '**Bribery Axiom**'."

  Guided by Ada, a holographic video slowly unfolded on Ma Feili’s retina.

  It was the edge of the **Kepler-186f System**, an abandoned mining station named "**The Lost Eye**." In the frame, Subspace Navigator **Huang** was curled up in a freezing control pod. In this era of algorithmic hegemony dominated by the Artificial Intelligence "**Si Ming**" (The Arbiter), he was mere consumable material labeled as a "Second-Class Citizen."

  "Under the law of irreversible entropy, social classes also tend toward a dead-steady state," Ada narrated. "Until **Old K** appeared."

  In the holographic projection, Old K, a Dimension Engineer missing for ten years, stepped out of a lifepod. His prosthetic eyes emitted a ghostly glow, stained by subspace radiation. He told Huang that the Axiom could be bribed. As long as he sacrificed enough "**Entropy Energy Crystals**" to the Subspace Virus—"The Central Administrator"—he could rewrite the underlying code of "Si Ming," altering Huang's fate from a fringe miner to an Archon of the Core Sector.

  Ma Feili watched as Huang sold all his possessions in the projection to scrape together five thousand units, while Old K generously advanced the other five thousand.

  "This is the logic trap deep in the fault." Ada stopped, pointing to a massive gravitational rift ahead that was constantly swallowing surrounding thermal energy. The scene was identical to the "**Gravity Well**" described in the archive. "When the opportunity is large enough to overturn fate, individual logic often suffers a collapse."

  The projection entered its climax: Huang stood at the edge of the Gravity Well, a rotating micro-black hole beneath his feet. Just as he prepared to drop the ten thousand units of crystals, the shadow of greed swallowed his rationality. He secretly hoarded nine thousand units, dropping only one thousand.

  "He attempted to gamble for the highest dimensional leap with the smallest cost." Ada's voice dropped low. "He forgot that in the calculation formula of the **Entropy Tax**, there is no option for 'Discount'."

  In the image, a massive blue geometric form—The Central Feedback Wave—rose from the well. It was the materialization of the God Code. Huang frantically tried to throw in the remaining crystals, but a repulsion field had already formed. The crystals struck the surface of the light orb, like mortal prayers crashing against the closed doors of a deity, shattering into useless powder.

  "The 'Central Administrator' received only one thousand of your units. You not only deceived friendship but also attempted to shortchange the entropy of the universe." Old K’s projection declared coldly in Huang’s terminal.

  When the hologram dissipated, Ma Feili found himself standing before an energy node in the fault. Around him were mutated mechanical rodents, gnawing on high-voltage cables, their eyes flashing with a hungry red light.

  "Huang eventually received only the evaluation of 'Mid-Level Technician,' forever trapped in the rusted fringe sectors." Ada turned her head, electronic eyes locking onto Ma Feili. "The logical closed loop of this story lies here: In the system of 'Si Ming,' one thousand units of entropy energy are only enough to buy a mediocre promotion. The universe is fair; it marks a precise entropy price for every leap in destiny."

  Ma Feili took a deep breath, feeling the searing ionic taste in the air. "So, you want to tell me that on the road ahead, there can be no wishful thinking?"

  "Correct. The Singularity Core deep in the fault is equally greedy." Ada raised her hand, pointing to the magnificent ruins looming in the thermonuclear storm ahead. "We must pay the full price—whether it is energy, sanity, or strictly followed logic. Any attempt to deduct the '**Entropy Tax**' will leave us like Huang, permanently locked on the edge of collapse."

  Ada turned off her warning lights, adjusted her detector power to maximum, and led Ma Feili toward the abyss where even light was twisted.