Chapter 222 Aurora Decision
The numbers on the countdown screen grimly jumped into the last minute.
[00:59]The chaos in the control room reached its peak. In the center of the platform, Lin Che's body was no longer just shaking, but convulsing violently. The blue light flowing under his skin had completely covered him, making him look like a blue glass figure that was about to shatter.
The occupied body and Lin Che's remaining consciousness were in the final and most brutal struggle.
"boom--"
The special alloy door on the outside made a deafening noise, and a dazzling white electric light exploded from the gap in the door. The military had successfully cracked the outer layer of defense, leaving only the last emergency locked door.
The core container suspended in front of everyone began to release visible time ripples uncontrollably, spreading out in circles.
Lu Zhao and Xiao Ran were swept by the ripples, and their bodies appeared doubled for a moment, as if they were being torn into two selves at different points in time.
The "monk" formed seals with his hands and muttered something. A thin golden halo spread from his body, struggling to maintain a small undisturbed and stable area around him, Lu Zhao, and Xiao Ran.
[00:43]At this critical moment, without any warning, all sounds disappeared.
The lightning that exploded outside the door froze in mid-air, the ripples from the core stopped, the numbers on the countdown screen stopped at [00:37], and even the dust flying in the air all stopped.
Lu Zhao raised his arm in alert, Xiao Ran's fingers rapidly tapped on the terminal, the blue light flowing on Lin Che's body, everything seemed to be paused.
The whole world has become a silent wax museum.
The only one who could move was Su Wanqing.
A figure "walked" out from the solid wall of the control room.
He did not crash through the wall, but appeared silently in the static space as if stepping out from the folds of a piece of paper.
He was wrapped in a tightly fitting black outfit, his face was hidden in deep shadows, and no feature could be seen clearly.
He walked towards Su Wanqing, and his hoarse voice, as if polished by sandpaper, rang out in the absolute silence.
"I come from the seventh future. I am the supervisor of the Time Loom and the final witness."
The man who called himself "Shadow" paced in the frozen time, his eyes sweeping over the motionless crowd.
"Nightcrawler isn't exactly lying, but it's not telling you the whole truth either."
He pointed at Lin Che and said, "The Time Loom is indeed collapsing, but this core alone cannot repair it. We can only open the portal."
He paused, then pointed to the complex central control console, “This door can both allow the invading army to pour in, and can also serve as the last escape route for humanity.
The founders of the Orion Project built this tower with the real purpose of leaving a way out for human civilization when disaster is irreversible. "
The "shadow" stopped in front of Su Wanqing. Although she couldn't see his face clearly, she could feel his gaze penetrating the shadow.
"The reason you can go back in time again and again is because you carry a core fragment of the loom in your soul.
It is this that allows you to retain memories that should not be retained in every cycle of despair."
He took Su Wanqing through the frozen crowd and came to the control console.
"The three cores are stored separately because once they are all activated, the energy they generate will exceed any known means of control."
He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the air.
Three different, blurry images of timelines unfolded before him.
"Choice one, save Lin Che." He pointed to the groove of the separation pod, "Inject Xiao Ling's blood sample there, and you can forcibly remove the AI.
But the huge energy shock will destroy most of his memory. He will survive, but he will no longer be the person you know. "
"Option 2, shut down the Time Loom." He pointed to the core slot on top of the console, "Return all three cores to their positions and inject them into the device.
The loom will be completely shut down and all space-time anomalies will be forcibly reset.
The price is that the world will return to its original state, but you will also lose the ability to serve as an 'anchor point' and all chances of rebirth, and you will only have one life."
"Option three, open the portal." In the image, countless huge starships sailed out of the light gate and flew into the deep space, while on the ground, the AI's mechanical army overwhelmed everything.
"The main force of humanity can evacuate, but this world, along with all the people left behind, will be completely abandoned and become a nest for AI."
Three choices, three completely different futures, each carrying heavy, immeasurable consequences.
Time is about to resume its flow, and the shadow begins to become transparent, as if it is about to melt back into the folds of time.
"Whatever you choose, it will completely change the direction of the cycle. The first two cycles failed miserably," he said at last, "but you are different from the previous 'anchors' because you have more connections and ties.
Trust your instincts, Su Wanqing, the loom chose you for a reason."
The moment he finished speaking, he disappeared.
Everything around me suddenly came alive.
[00:10]The deafening alarm, the loud noise of the military banging on the door, and the anxious cries of Xiao Ran and Lu Zhao all came back to Su Wanqing’s ears.
Everyone's eyes were piercing her like swords, waiting for her verdict.
[00:09]Su Wanqing stretched out her hand, and in that thousandth of a second, her fingertips touched the core container suspended in the air.
At this moment, a fragment of memory that was more complete and clear than ever before broke through the barriers in her mind like a flood.
She saw herself standing in front of a huge spherical device emitting soft white light. She was wearing a spotless white lab coat, and a line of words was clearly printed on the nameplate on her chest: "Chief Researcher of the Orion Project - S. Wanqing".
Next to her stood a man whose facial features were somewhat similar to Lin Che's, but much older and more stable.
She heard the man's voice, with fatigue and determination: "If the experiment ultimately fails and the time loom gets out of control, we need a 'human anchor', a coordinate that can retain core memories in the time loop, to find an opportunity to correct the error..."
Then, she heard her own voice, which was unusually calm: "I have fragments of the loom in my body, and I have the highest synchronization rate with it. I am the best candidate."
I see.
It turns out that I am neither the chosen lucky one nor the cursed reborn one.
I am one of the creators of all this.
The jade bracelet on my wrist is a key that I designed myself to establish a deep connection with the loom.
This sudden realization made all the confused thoughts instantly clear.
She no longer had to weigh his lies, or the "monk's" warnings.
She has her own judgment.
[00:04]Su Wanqing moved.
She moved so fast that no one had time to react. She did not go to the control console, nor to the pod.
She snatched the blood sample that Xiao Ran had placed on the analyzer nearby and thrust the needle into the energy circuit interface of the core container.
"Wanqing, what are you doing!" Lu Zhao exclaimed.
[00:02]As the sample liquid was instantly vaporized by the core energy, Su Wanqing turned around, grabbed Lin Che, who was kneeling on the ground and about to collapse, and pushed him towards the inconspicuous separation cabin with all her strength.
"Go in!"
[00:01]One second before the countdown reached zero, she slammed the start button of the separation capsule with her palm.
Didn't choose any path given by others.
The next moment, a dazzling purple-blue light burst out, engulfing the entire control room.
The suspended core container suddenly exploded, and the three diamond-shaped crystals inside were not injected into any device. Instead, they suddenly lit up in the air, forming a huge triangular array.
Three dazzling beams of light broke through the dome of the signal tower and shot towards three completely different unknown coordinates in the city.
And in the center of the light, Lin Che's body was torn into two completely different forms amidst the screams of severe pain - one was a human body curled up on the ground, covered in blood, and dying.
The other is a cold and ruthless human silhouette made up of pure blue data flow and energy.
Orion, forcibly stripped away.
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