Hallucination

Du Siling awoke with a start from a triple dream, his shirt soaked with sweat. In the dream, he was simultaneously three people: himself training at the police academy, Han Beimo being beaten in a dark basement, and Zhao Mingxuan undergoing a cold test in a laboratory. In the first few seconds after waking up, he couldn't tell who he was, and his left hand unconsciously reached for the back of his head—searching for the non-existent Γ mark.

"Having another nightmare?" Han Beimo's voice came from the corner of the room. He sat in the shadows, the azalea on his collar gleaming faintly in the moonlight.

Du Siling nodded, her breathing gradually becoming steady: "This time it's worse. I can feel three different kinds of pain at the same time."

This is the price of triple connection. Since Zhao Mingxuan joined, the harmonic state has expanded into something more complex. Most of the time, it grants them amazing coordination; but occasionally, it becomes a sensory hell.

Zhao Mingxuan—formerly Zhao Jian—slept on a makeshift bed on the floor on the other side of the room. Even in his sleep, his brows were furrowed, as if he were resisting something. The Γ mark on the back of his neck glowed faintly, creating a strange resonance with the moonlight.

On the night of the full moon, something strange happened. As the moonlight shone through the window onto the back of Zhao Mingxuan's neck, the Γ-brand suddenly projected a holographic map, which floated in the air.

"The Sanctuary of Purification..." Han Beimo read aloud the text in the center of the map, "...under the city?"

The map reveals a complex underground network, with a church symbol marking its center. Most surprisingly, a secret passage leads directly from the church to the Sunshine Welfare Home—the place where Du Siling spent her childhood.

"We have to go there." Zhao Mingxuan had woken up sometime earlier, his eyes taking on a rare, soft brown hue in the moonlight. "Imprinted on...the call."

The following evening, the three performed their first formal triple blood-sharing ritual. The process was far more complex than before—requiring precise timing synchronization and dosage control. As their blood mixed in the silver bowl, an astonishing event occurred: droplets of blood floated into the air, forming a rotating star map.

The star map eventually points to a coordinate: the old warehouse of the Sunshine Welfare Home. This location perfectly matches the location indicated on the Γ-marked map.

"The origin of Ω..." Du Siling murmured, "The place where it all began."

They decided to risk returning to the city. Utilizing the enhanced abilities granted by their harmonic state, the three easily evaded patrolling soldiers and surveillance. The city was more desolate than they remembered, with few pedestrians on the streets, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

"The effects of nanobots," Han Beimo said in a low voice, "cause chaos at the highest levels, and the collapse of social order."

Du Siling felt a mix of emotions—gratified that her revenge plan had succeeded, yet uneasy about the impact on innocent civilians. This conflict was transmitted to the other two through the connection, causing a brief bout of dizziness.

The Sunshine Welfare Home had been abandoned for many years, its walls covered with vines. Du Siling led them through a hole in the back wall, and childhood memories flooded back—but this time through a triple filter: his own memories, fragments of Han Beimo's brief stay, and even blurry images perceived by Zhao Mingxuan through a connection.

The old warehouse was locked with a large, rusty padlock. Han Beimo was about to force it open when Du Siling instinctively pressed a nearly invisible protrusion on the door frame. The lock clicked slightly and opened automatically.

"How did you know?" Zhao Mingxuan asked in surprise.

Du Siling herself was puzzled: "I don't know. It's like... my hand moved on its own."

The warehouse was filled with discarded furniture and teaching aids. But in the innermost corner, there was a hidden basement entrance. When the three of them stood together, the entrance slid open automatically, revealing a staircase leading downwards.

The basement was much more spacious than expected, a well-equipped small laboratory. In the center was a hibernation pod containing a young woman—she had a face similar to General Huo's, and a distinctive Γ-shaped brand variant on the back of her neck.

"Huo Xue... General Huo's twin," Zhao Mingxuan suddenly said, as if a sealed memory had been unlocked, "the prototype of the Gamma series."

The display screen next to the hibernation pod lit up, showing the woman's status: vital signs were stable, but her consciousness was almost nonexistent. It was strikingly similar to the hibernation state of an Omega.

"Look at this," Han Beimo shouted from the console. He activated an encrypted file that required triple biometric authentication.

All three placed their hands on the scanner simultaneously. The document unlocked, revealing shocking content: the RH-0 gene was not artificially designed, but a naturally occurring mutation in children at the Sunshine Welfare Home. Ling Hua and Dr. Shen had merely discovered it, not created it.

"Ω was the first naturally awakened one..." Du Siling read the document, "We are all his descendants, in a sense."

The document finally reveals the ultimate secret: the full awakening of the RH-0 gene requires a triple resonance—not only twins, but also an "anchor point," namely another RH-0 carrier as a stabilizer. This is why Omega chose self-sacrifice: he realized that he was the "anchor point" that would allow Du Siling and Han Beimo to achieve perfect harmonic resonance.

"So he didn't die..." Han Beimo said softly, "but became a part of us."

This discovery brought a strange sense of peace. The harmonic state temporarily stabilized, and the reality distortion completely disappeared. In the triple connection, they felt an unprecedented sense of wholeness.

But danger lurked. As they searched the lab for more clues, an alarm suddenly went off. Surveillance footage showed a private armed force approaching the orphanage—not a military unit, but an elite squad from some unknown entity.

"We must take Huo Xue away," Zhao Mingxuan said decisively. "They came for her."

Through a triple connection, they shared a plan: Du Siling and Han Beimo would draw the enemy away, while Zhao Mingxuan would take the opportunity to transfer the hibernation pod. Harmonic states allowed them to perfectly coordinate this complex operation.

The battle unfolded amidst the ruins of the orphanage. The new enemy was far more dangerous than Zhao Jian's forces—they were not only well-equipped but also seemed to possess knowledge of RH-0 capabilities, employing specialized frequency jammers.

Most unsettling of all was their leader: a tall, masked man whose fighting style was strikingly similar to Ω's description. When Han Beimo knocked off his mask, it revealed a pair of golden pupils—the same color as Ω's.

"Another 'Primordial'?" Du Siling asked via the connection during the firefight.

"No," Han Beimo replied. "His energy feels...more ancient."

Just as the battle reached a stalemate, Zhao Mingxuan successfully initiated the transfer procedure for the hibernation pods. The underground laboratory began to self-destruct, forcing everyone to evacuate.

In the chaos, Du Siling briefly locked eyes with the man with golden eyes. In that instant, through the triple connection, he captured a horrifying scene: countless similar laboratories scattered across the globe; countless "twins" experiencing similar suffering in different places...

The man seemed to sense something as well, and a look of surprise crossed his face. But he did not continue fighting; instead, he signaled his men to retreat.

Back at the temporary safe point, the three looked at Huo Xue in the hibernation pod, each lost in thought. Through the newly stabilized triple connection, they could sense each other's thoughts: Du Siling wanted to save her as atonement; Han Beimo wanted to understand the secrets she held; and Zhao Mingxuan felt a strange sense of intimacy.

"The brand is resonating." Zhao Mingxuan pointed to the back of his neck, where the brand was flashing in sync with Huo Xue's. "She's...dreaming."

Suddenly, the monitor in the hibernation pod sounded an alarm. Huo Xue's brainwaves fluctuated violently, and her eyes darted rapidly beneath her eyelids. She was experiencing some kind of intense dream—through the triple connection, Du Siling and the other two were also dragged into this dream.

It was a fragment of memory: young Huo Mingyuan (General Huo) was holding a baby girl, confronting someone in a laboratory. "I will never let you turn her into a weapon!" he roared, his golden eyes filled with tears.

Scene change: The same girl, now a teenager, has been forcibly branded on the back of her neck. "For greater benefits," a cold voice says, "she will become the template for the new generation."

Final scene: The girl lies in her hibernation pod, while Huo Mingyuan outside angrily pounds on the glass: "I'm sorry, Xiaoxue... but I will definitely bring you back..."

When the dream ended, the three returned to reality, their hearts filled with shock. General Huo was not the perpetrator, but another victim trying to protect his "twins."

"We must wake her up," Du Siling said firmly.

"The risk is huge," Han Beimo warned. "Her consciousness has been dormant for twenty years."

Zhao Mingxuan surprisingly supported Du Siling: "The mark is telling me... it's time."

Through a triple connection, they shared a dangerous plan: to use a harmonic state to enter Huo Xue's consciousness and guide her awake. This required an extremely deep connection and complete trust—any hesitation could plunge all four of them into a permanent coma.

Moonlight streamed through the window again. The three of them huddled around the hibernation pod, hand in hand, preparing for the deepest level of consciousness fusion. Just as the connection reached its peak, Du Siling's vision distorted once more—

But this time, what he saw was not a terrifying hallucination, but a beautiful sight: four points of light intertwined in the air, forming a harmonious resonance. The boundary between price and gift became incredibly blurred at this moment.

But the unknown adventure has only just begun...