In the rust-streaked corridors of a deep-space space station, the red glow of emergency lights casts distorted afterimages on the metallic floor🔴. Boots clad in the gear of an interstellar scavenger crunch over shattered alien crystal shells, producing a piercing, brittle crack🥾. He grips the short blade tightly, his knuckles turning pale beneath the glove🤜. This contraband was salvaged from a sealed container in an abandoned Federation armory bay; its blade houses a cold-core module that emits high-frequency pulses upon contact, instantly paralyzing the nervous system⚡—even penetrating the tough, alloy-like exoskeletons of alien predators with ease🔪. Ten minutes ago, his partner was dragged away by a crystal-shell predator lurking in the ventilation ducts, leaving behind only half a glove smeared with dark purple bodily fluids💜. Moving slowly along the wall, Lin Ye suddenly hears a low, guttural growl🐺 emanating from the shadows at the end of the corridor; the predator’s compound eyes flare with crimson highlights👁️ in the darkness. With a swift flick, he hurls the short blade straight into the predator’s chest, and the cold-core module immediately hums to life, sending a pale-blue pulse rippling down the blade💙. The creature’s body freezes in an instant, and its crystalline exoskeleton begins to crack and flake off. Lin Ye picks up the blade, just as he turns toward the escape pod, when he hears countless tiny crawling sounds coming from the ventilation ducts behind him…🐜🐜🐜