The energy building in Kael's scooter wasn't a burst of brute force. It was something more refined and sinister. A ring of blue light formed in front of his thrusters, spinning rapidly and emitting a low, menacing hum. He fired.

It wasn't a beam; it was a net. A web of crackling energy that expanded in the void, designed to wrap around Leo's scooter and disable its systems. It was a capture weapon, not a destructive one. Efficient. Clean. Classic Kael.

Leo swerved instinctively, his scooter leaning dangerously. But the net followed him, its targeting system adjusting to his movements. He couldn't outrun it. He couldn't dodge it forever.

TIME TO CORE INSTABILITY: 31:45

His desperate gaze swept the void, searching for anything he could use. Debris. A makeshift shield. And then he saw it. A large, flat fragment of grey rock, likely a piece of a shattered moon, floating slowly in his path. Its surface was covered in a thin layer of dust and gravel.

Plant it in soil in need...

The Guardian's voice echoed in his mind. It was a long shot, a crazy gamble based on the most literal interpretation possible. But it was the only play he had.

As the energy net closed in, Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out the [Seed of the Elder Oak]. It glowed with a warm, golden light in his palm, a small ember of life in the sterile void.

He timed his move. The moment his scooter passed alongside the moon fragment, he threw the seed. It landed in the grey dust.

For an instant, nothing happened.

Then, the moon fragment trembled.

The seed germinated with an explosive, unnatural speed. It wasn't a small plant that grew; it was an eruption of life. Roots as thick as his arm plunged into the rock, shattering it. A massive oak trunk burst upward, and branches covered in sharp thorns whipped out in all directions, like the tentacles of a wooden kraken. The small tree grew to the size of a building in seconds, an anomaly of violent life in the middle of nowhere.

The thorny vines, drawn to the concentrated energy, attacked Kael's net. They wrapped around the web of light, pulling and tearing at it. The projectile was thrown off course, colliding with a distant meteor in a silent flash of blue light.

But the vines didn't stop there. They turned to the nearest power source: Kael's scooter.

"What?!" Kael's exclamation was one of pure shock. He tried to swerve, but it was too late. The vines whipped at his scooter, the thorns scratching the flawless metal. He was forced into a sharp evasive maneuver, breaking his perfect racing line.

It was the opening Leo needed.

He didn't look back. He pushed his scooter to its absolute limit, the motor whining furiously. The golden portal of the Library of Alexandria was meters away. He could see the impossible architecture on the other side, marble pillars and floating shelves.

He crossed the threshold of the portal at the exact moment he heard the sound of splintering wood and screeching metal behind him.

The transition was smooth. He found himself gliding through a grand hall of white marble. Scholars in robes floated through the air, reading scrolls of light. The air smelled of ancient papyrus and ozone. In the center of the hall, a tall, androgynous figure with skin that looked like it was made of stardust was waiting for him. The Celestial Archivist.

Leo stopped his scooter in front of the entity. With hands trembling from adrenaline, he took out the Star's Heart container and offered it.

The Archivist took it, their touch making no sound. "The delivery is complete. The stability time was nearing its limit. You were... efficient, in your own way."

Leo's smartphone buzzed with a torrent of notifications.

DELIVERY COMPLETE! Customer Rating: ★★★★★ Payment Received: +5,000 Karma Points! Item Received: +1x [Fragment of Forbidden Knowledge]

And then, the notification he had been waiting for.

ACQUISITION DUEL RESULT: VICTORY! Victory Bonus: +1,250 Karma Points (25% of Kael's earnings on this delivery). Rival Kael's rating has been negatively affected.

An exhausted but triumphant smile spread across Leo's face. He had done it. He had won.

He opened his inventory to check his new treasure.

[Fragment of Forbidden Knowledge]: A crystallized piece of pure information, torn from a reality where truth was not filtered. This fragment contains a single, dangerous piece of data. Contents: The true nature of the Couriers' Syndicate 'Recycling System'.

Leo's smile vanished. He tapped the item. The information didn't appear as text. It flowed directly into his mind. An image. A vision.

He saw couriers whose ratings had fallen below the threshold. He saw them being summoned for a "re-evaluation." And he saw what happened next. They weren't killed. Their souls weren't destroyed. It was far more efficient than that.

Their consciousnesses were wiped, their memories erased, and their souls were "reformatted" into low-level service Constructs.

He saw the faceless doorman in the Underworld's lobby. He saw the Scrap Scavengers in the Null Point. He saw the silent, emotionless "librarians."

They weren't monsters or golems. They were ex-couriers. They were the failures of the system, recycled to serve it for eternity.

The truth was colder and more horrifying than anything he could have imagined. And now, he knew.