As the morning sun pierced through the clouds, Lin Yi was squatting in front of a charred ruin.

He brushed his fingertips across the dark crystals that had formed on the ground. The crystals shattered into tiny specks of light the moment they touched him, much like the eerie smile of the night owl before it vanished.

"Detection complete." Chu Yao's projection suddenly appeared beside him, a pale blue stream of data flowing down her fingertips, unfolding into a three-dimensional hologram in mid-air—the trajectory of Night Owl's actions over the past three months, each node marked with a blinding red light, "Combined with the encrypted data previously seized from the Shadow Base, and the energy fluctuations during his attack just now..."

Long Wu leaned closer, squinting as he was dazzled by the overlapping star trails in the hologram: "What kind of talisman is this old guy drawing?"

“It’s not a talisman.” The white-bearded man’s voice suddenly turned somber.

The old soldier, who always liked to stroke his beard, stared at the hologram, his pupils slightly contracting. "I saw a similar star map in the far north ice field back then—it was a space anchor point."

Chu Yao nodded, and the data stream suddenly switched to a three-dimensional model of Earth. Countless translucent threads extended from the Night Owl's movement trajectory, eventually converging towards the Earth's core: "He is constructing interdimensional channels through the power of shadow. Every attack on a city is like planting 'anchors' into the earth's veins." Her voice trembled for the first time, "And his real target... is the very origin of Earth."

"The origin?" Long Wu's fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "Isn't that a setting in the game?"

"No, it really exists." Lin Yi stood up, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

Three months ago at the Dunhuang ruins, he had seen an ancient stone slab inscribed with "Origin of Civilization." At the time, Su Qing said it was "the life core of the planet," and that "Night Owl will completely open the passage, and then..."

“Devouring the Origin.” Chu Yao’s projection suddenly became somewhat blurry, as if she was forcibly suppressing some kind of emotion. “According to data analysis, the moment the Origin is extracted, Earth will lose all the support of its rules—gravity will collapse, the atmosphere will escape, and all life will vaporize within ten seconds. And his other-dimensional civilization will use the Origin as fuel to propel their fleet of spaceships across dimensions.”

The wind over the ruins suddenly became biting.

Long Wu's true dragon blood surged beneath his skin, and veins bulged on his forehead: "That grandson just said 'the core of origin is...', was he hinting at a location?"

“More likely it was a provocation.” Whitebeard tore off the bandage and re-bandaged the wound on his left shoulder, blood dripping down his bronze skin. “He knew we wouldn’t be able to stop him.”

Lin Yi remained silent.

He gazed at the city gradually returning to order in the distance, listening to the sirens and the cries of the citizens. He suddenly remembered the little girl he had seen at the hospital three days ago—the child who had lost both legs due to the shadow's corruption. At that time, she had clutched his clothes and asked, "Big brother, will the monster come again?"

"Chu Yao." As he turned around, the dark gold patterns under his eyes began to flow, a sign that the Time and Space Domination skill was being activated. "Draw up the energy value of all Time and Space Stones. Uncle Bai, protect me; Long Wu, clear out all irrelevant personnel within a three-kilometer radius."

"What are you trying to do?" Chu Yao's projection froze instantly. "The Prison of the End of Time and Space requires all of your time and space power. Last time you used it, you were unconscious for three days and three nights!"

“This time is different.” Lin Yi’s voice was deep and rumbling like thunder.

He raised his hand, and the remaining interdimensional markers in the sky suddenly vibrated violently, as if sensing a threat. "He wants to play big, then I'll play with him to the bitter end."

Whitebeard suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

The old soldier's hands were rough and strong, calloused from years of holding a knife: "Xiao Yi, my master once said that some fights must be fought with your life on the line. Go for it, I'll cover for you."

Long Wu transformed into a golden light and rushed out, burning away the shadow fragments along the way with the aura of the true dragon: "Get the hell away from me! If you don't want to be torn to pieces by the spatial turbulence, run now!"

Chu Yao's projection flickered, eventually transforming into a stream of data that entered Lin Yi's wristwatch: "Energy fluctuations remaining in the Night Owl have been locked. Time-Space Stone energy charging complete at 100%. Warning: After activating this skill, you will lose your time-space travel ability for 24 hours. Physical strain may lead to..."

"start up."

The moment the last word was uttered, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the ground beneath Lin Yi's feet.

Dark golden light burst forth from his pupils, the sky seemed to be crumpled by an invisible hand, the clouds twisted into spirals, and even the sunlight began to flow backward—time itself showed signs of reversing at this moment.

"roar--!"

An angry roar exploded from the void.

The figure of Night Owl materialized in the distorted space. His body was no longer a semi-transparent shadow, but rather a bizarre form somewhere between a physical entity and an energy body. Nine rhomboid crystals gleaming with a ghostly blue light floated behind him. "Lin Yi! You think you can stop me..."

"Shut up." Lin Yi raised his hand.

Time suddenly stopped on the entire battlefield.

Long Wu's figure froze in mid-air just as he reached the intersection, the white-bearded man's sword hovered at his waist, and even the dust falling in the air solidified into tiny golden specks.

Only Night Owl was still struggling, his expression shifting from shock to fear, because he could clearly feel himself being stripped away from his dimension bit by bit.

"The Prison of the End of Time and Space, open."

Dark golden walls of light rose from all directions, each wall engraved with ancient runes of time and space.

These runes began to spin, creating a massive vortex in the space around them. Night Owl's body was pulled towards the center of the vortex, and the rhomboid crystals on his back shattered one after another, emitting desperate screams: "Do you know who you're fighting? The wrath of a higher civilization is not something you can withstand! The secret of the Origin Core..."

"I don't need to know." Lin Yi's voice was completely calm.

He could feel the power of spacetime within him flowing away like a burst dam, every blood vessel burning, every muscle protesting, but his gaze was more resolute than ever before: "Dare to touch my civilization, and you will pay the price."

The vortex suddenly shrank into a black dot.

The owl's last scream was completely crushed in the turbulent flow of time and space. The nine rhomboid crystals turned into dust, and all the remaining shadow energy was purified into pure light.

In the instant that time began to flow again, Whitebeard's sword clattered to the ground.

Long Wu stumbled and fell into the roadside green belt, his face covered in grass clippings when he looked up: "Damn... this is even more exciting than when I withstood the lightning tribulation back then!"

Chu Yao's projection materialized again, her hair still adorned with tiny specks of spacetime turbulence, yet she smiled, her eyes crinkling: "The complete dissipation of shadow energy has been detected, and the coordinates of the interdimensional channel have been cleared. The city's protection system is restarting, and the public's panic index has decreased by 73%."

"Well done, Xiao Yi." The white-bearded man picked up the knife and patted Lin Yi hard on the back.

The old soldier's hands were trembling, but he smiled like a child, "I knew you could do it, kid."

Lin Yi leaned against the crumbling wall, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He could feel an emptiness inside him, and he didn't even have the strength to lift his hand, but a smile was on his lips—this was the first time in three months that he felt his breathing was so smooth.

"bite."

A crisp notification sound suddenly rang out above everyone's heads.

Xuanmingzi appeared at the highest point of the ruins at some unknown time.

He was still wearing that blue robe, the whisk in his hand swaying gently in the morning breeze, but the smile on his lips was deeper than ever: "Not bad."

"You knew all along?" Lin Yi narrowed his eyes.

Xuanmingzi did not answer.

His gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on the Time Stone on Lin Yi's wrist: "The game has only just entered the next level."

Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the morning mist.

"That old charlatan is rambling again." Long Wu brushed the grass clippings off his clothes, then suddenly frowned and looked into the distance. "Hey? Where's Su Qing? She was on that rooftop over there during the fight, what happened..."

Everyone followed his gaze.

Where Su Qing was originally standing, only a faint purple mist remained, resembling the remnants of some kind of teleportation array.

Lin Yi stared at the patch of light and mist, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He recalled what Su Qing had whispered in his ear three days ago: "I will tell you the whole truth after everything is over."

Now, the "end" seems to have come too suddenly.

The wind picked up again.

This time, Lin Yi smelled a faint sweet fragrance in the air—the scent of the other-dimensional marker before it completely dissipated.

But deeper still, he could sense something larger and more ancient, gently opening its eyes across countless dimensions.

"Chu Yao." He glanced down at his watch, his voice as soft as a sigh, "Back up all of today's battle data. Also..."

“It’s already being done.” Chu Yao’s projection blinked. “Should I contact Su Qing’s locator now? Her signal…”

"No need." Lin Yi looked up at the sky.

In the morning light, a white dove flew over his head, its wings stained with bloodstains it hadn't had time to wipe away—stains from a stray bullet that had struck it during the battle.

He suddenly laughed, a laugh that carried a hint of relief and a sharp edge. "What's meant to come will come."

In the distance, the sound of police sirens faded into the distance.

Citizens emerged from the shelters, pointing in amazement at the restored sky.

No one knew that just half an hour earlier, their world had almost been completely crushed.

In the dimensional gap unseen by all, an ancient stone slab inscribed with "Original Core" was trembling gently in the darkness.