The laboratory's ventilation ducts were still humming softly, and the tingling sensation from the vibration still lingered on the back of Lin Yi's left hand.

He stared at the neatly arranged employee badge on the control panel, the smile of the young researcher in the photo stinging his eyes—this researcher who self-destructed to protect the data was just another bait thrown out by the observer.

"Synchronization rate 98%." Chu Yao's projection suddenly froze into a semi-transparent data stream, then reformed into a human shape 0.3 seconds later, her hair still tinged with lingering blue light. "The false trajectory has perfectly covered your consciousness fluctuations. Now, any observation from any dimension will consider... you to be moving towards the North City Observation Tower."

Lin Yi tapped the control panel lightly with his fingertips, the metal surface emitting a dull thud: "They've waited too long for me to resist. This sudden deviation will only trigger even tighter surveillance." He looked down at the fading marks on the back of his hand; the eerie blue light that had once caused him unbearable pain was now rhythmically contracting with his heartbeat. "But what if I offer myself up...using fake 'resistance' as bait?"

Chu Yao's pupils suddenly contracted to two thin slits—a special reaction she used to simulate human surprise: "You mean, make the endpoint of the false trajectory actually point to the observation tower?" Her fingertips traced countless star-like formulas on the light screen, "That way, the observers will think you've fallen into their pre-set 'Awakened Rebellion' script, thus relaxing their monitoring of your real actions..."

"And the 'messenger' they sent to confirm the trajectory is the key to our reverse tracking." Lin Yi continued, his voice sharp as a drawn blade.

He could feel the spacetime light cluster in his sea of ​​consciousness still slowly rotating, each rotation peeling away more delicate golden afterimages. Those copied "false selves" were like a group of puppets, moving towards the north of the city along a pre-set path.

The communicator vibrated at that moment; it was the location coordinates sent by Ivan.

The metallic smell of the abandoned car dismantling plant filled his nostrils. Ivan crouched behind the rusty truck chassis, the red light of his tactical goggles sweeping across the intersection twenty meters away—the "messenger's" predicted landing point, as predicted by Chu Yao.

He rubbed his thumb against the grip of the assault rifle, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Three days ago, he was a war machine devoid of humanity in the core of the Mother Nest, but now he had to face beings that might come from a higher dimension. This absurdity made his throat tighten.

"Lin, I need to confirm." He lowered his voice into the communicator, his gaze sweeping over the warriors lurking behind the various wrecked vehicles—all the most elite "Rift Hunters" in the Time Legion, each bearing a Time-Space Emblem personally engraved by Lin Yi on their shoulder armor. "If these 'messengers' can truly cross dimensions..."

"No matter how high their power, it still needs to descend through a material medium," Lin Yi's voice came through the communicator, like a cold piece of jade pressing on one's heart. "Just like how we must reach out to touch reality."

Ivan looked up at the leaden sky and suddenly remembered Lin Yi's figure standing in front of the spacetime rift late last night—the shimmering purple light blades automatically arranged into a star map beside him, and when he said, "The rules are not unbreakable, they just need sharper blades," even the turbulent currents in the rift made way for him.

"Understood." Ivan gripped his rifle tighter, the red light on his tactical goggles suddenly flashing. "Abnormal energy fluctuation at the coordinates. Thirty seconds left."

In the laboratory, Chu Yao's light screen suddenly exploded with a scarlet alarm.

Her projection blurred and then solidified in an instant, the blue light at the ends of her hair turning into a dazzling white: "Dimensional disturbance detected!"

They dispatched a 'Raven-class' messenger—the lowest level of observer—but carrying a dimensional anchor! Her fingertips danced wildly across the light screen. "I need three seconds, no, two seconds, to build the reverse tracing program!"

Lin Yi walked to the window, where sunlight streamed through the cracks, creating a line of light and shadow on his face.

He could clearly feel the mark on the back of his left hand burning hot; it was a signal that the false trajectory resonated with the observer.

Those "spectators" hidden in higher dimensions must be leaning over the observation screen right now, watching their carefully cultivated "samples" finally head towards the trap according to the script.

"Chu Yao," he suddenly spoke, his voice as soft as a feather falling on water, "The moment the messenger touches the mark, infuse your program with my spacetime power."

"It will overload!" Chu Yao's projection stuttered for the first time. "Your energy fluctuations will burn through three dimensional layers, even my core processor will—"

"Burn it through." As Lin Yi turned around, his eyes shimmered with a light like the Milky Way turned upside down. "I want them to know that the 'sample' being observed can also become the observer's nightmare."

The communicator vibrated again; it was a message from Long Wu: "The western defense line is sealed off, and all interdimensional transmission nodes have been equipped with spacetime locks." The brief text was followed by a photo: Long Wu stood on a rusty red overpass, with a row of electromagnetic cannons behind him, their muzzles gleaming with a ghostly blue light—forged from meteorite iron from spacetime rifts, specifically designed to target higher-dimensional energy bodies.

Lin Yi put the communicator into his pocket and glanced at the employee badge on the control panel.

The young man in the photo was still smiling, but this time, he finally saw the relief in the other man's eyes—not because he was about to be exposed, but because someone had finally torn down the veil of observation.

"Chu Yao, activate the trap," he said, as the mark on the back of his left hand suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light. "Let's... welcome our guest."

The steel supports of the overpass trembled slightly beneath Long Wu's feet. He pressed his thumb on the energy valve of the electromagnetic cannon, and the dark blue light from the muzzle made the corners of his eyes appear red.

The wind from the western defense line, carrying the smell of rust, blew into his tactical helmet. He suddenly sensed something was wrong—it wasn't the burnt energy from another dimension, but rather a thicker, spiderweb-like, sticky feeling.

"Something's up!" Long Wu shouted in a low voice. Before he finished speaking, the air ten meters away suddenly rippled.

A figure shrouded in a dark cloak stepped out, revealing only half a pale face beneath the hood, with an inhuman curve at the corner of his mouth.

The moment she raised her hand, Long Wu saw countless silver threads burst forth from her fingertips, wrapping around the nearest electromagnetic cannon barrel like living things—those were threads unique to the Destiny System, which he had seen on the ancient battlefield three months ago, capable of directly altering the trajectory of weapons.

"Who are you?" Long Wu's pupils suddenly contracted into vertical lines, his true dragon blood surged under his skin, and his arms were instantly covered with dark golden dragon scales.

He punched the silver threads, and the heat from the dragon's breath scorched the threads, but the broken silver threads seemed to come alive and re-entered, wrapping themselves around his wrist.

"An echo of fate." The woman's voice was like two pieces of shattered jade striking each other, sharp enough to make one's teeth ache. "And also your end." Her hood slipped down, revealing a pair of pitch-black pupils without any whites. "You thought you could escape by tearing open the observation curtain?"

It's just falling from one script into another—

Long Wu interrupted her, his dragon tail bursting out from behind her clothes and sweeping across the ground, knocking three abandoned trucks away.

The moment the truck wreckage struck the woman, she suddenly vanished from her spot and reappeared standing behind Long Wu, her silver fingertip aimed straight for the back of his neck.

Long Wu grabbed her wrist with his other hand, but touched a bone-chilling void—it wasn't a physical entity at all, but rather a manifestation of some kind of energy.

"Brother Lin said that even higher-dimensional beings need a vessel." Long Wu gritted his teeth, his dragon-scale-covered palm glowing with the golden light of spacetime emblems. "But you... your vessel is too weak." He suddenly injected spacetime power, and cracks immediately appeared on the woman's figure, like ashes scattered by the wind.

But just before her laughter faded, it pierced the wind and struck Long Wu's eardrums: "Tell Lin Yi... his 'trap' is just the beginning."

At the same moment, the laboratory alarm suddenly blared.

Chu Yao's projection was almost completely soaked in red light, and the blue light at the tips of her hair was flashing wildly: "Agent has entered the trap zone!"

Coordinate Lock—"Her fingertips traced a dazzling golden line on the light screen," in... in the gap between reality and another dimension!

Their observation station is hidden there!

Lin Yi stood in front of the control panel, the mark on the back of his left hand flickering with his breath.

He could clearly sense the gaze from the crevice, like countless fine needles piercing the edge of his sea of ​​consciousness—the observers were watching the "prey" walk into their trap through the agent's eyes.

"Show yourself," he hissed, placing his right hand on the control panel.

The spacetime light cluster exploded in the sea of ​​consciousness, and all the copied "false selves" suddenly froze, revealing the true figure hidden in the very center.

The sound of shattering glass filled the air, and the agent materialized from the void.

It was a figure dressed in a dark green robe, its face shrouded in mist, but it trembled the moment it saw Lin Yi—it sensed that the human in front of it was not the "sample" being observed, but a hunter wielding a sharp blade.

"You think I'd be led by the script?" Lin Yi took a step forward, and with each step, ripples of time and space appeared on the ground.

His voice held no anger, only a chilling coldness that seemed to pierce to the bone: "From this moment forward, I will set the rules."

Chu Yao's projection suddenly solidified into a complete entity, and the blue light at the tip of her hair transformed into a tangible light blade: "Reverse tracking complete!"

Their coordinates... are being locked!

The agent let out a shriek, attempting to tear through space to escape.

But Lin Yi was faster—he raised his hand and placed it on the agent's chest, and the power of spacetime poured into the agent's body like a torrent.

The sealed space instantly twisted into a Möbius strip, and the agent's figure was infinitely stretched and compressed, eventually solidifying into a piece of amber shimmering with golden patterns.

"Is it over?" Chu Yao's voice trembled almost imperceptibly.

Lin Yi did not answer.

He stared at the mark on the back of his left hand—the surging light threads that had just been there were now completely silent, as if someone had suddenly cut the thread.

The spacetime light cluster in his sea of ​​consciousness stopped rotating and became unusually quiet.

"No," he said softly, his gaze drifting across the lab window to the leaden sky. "It's just... they noticed my signal."

The agent's sealed amber hummed on the console, and the golden patterns on its surface suddenly turned blood red.

Chu Yao's light screen lit up with an alarm again, this time the red light was ten times more dazzling than before.

"Detected... higher-dimensional observational fluctuations." Snowflakes began to appear on her projection. "Observers...they're watching us."

Lin Yi looked at the agent, who was gradually becoming transparent inside the amber, and suddenly smiled.

That was the smile of a hunter finally being noticed by his prey, sharp and determined.

He reached out and caught the name tag that had slipped off the control panel. The smile of the young researcher in the photo was no longer glaring—because now, there was something more important to protect.

"Get ready for the next round," he said to the air, his voice so soft it was as if he were speaking to his future self. "They're coming."

The laboratory's ventilation ducts hummed again, this time with a vibration that didn't belong to this dimension.