Like a drop of colored ink spreading out in the cool lake water.

The dead, pale things around me began to show colors.

Lin Yuan looked back.

The objects around me, frozen in time, were dyed with vivid colors.

The entire institute was centered around her position, and gradually became lively and active.

"Make way, make way." Three or five researchers in white coats pushed a metal bed past her.

Lin Yuan moved aside and saw an unconscious man chained to the iron bed.

The man's eyes were dull, his mouth was open, tears and saliva flowed uncontrollably all over his face.

Yellow and black circular markings appeared on his skin, his abdomen and legs deformed and melted, and dense hair grew on his face. He no longer looked like a human.

A loud scream was heard behind me.

Lin Yuan looked back and saw a half-human monster struggling frantically on a bloody bed.

Blood-red eyes grew on his body, and huge red bone tumors bulged out on his skin.

The chain broke under the heavy weight during the struggle, and a monster with eyes swooped down and swallowed up a researcher in a white coat next to him in one gulp.

The crowd nearby screamed and scattered, and three high-energy electromagnetic guns descended from the roof.

Three heavy weapons opened fire in a triangular formation, dazzling white light flashed violently, and powerful firepower covered the area.

After a while, the scene became quiet.

The monster covered in eyes and the devoured researcher turned into a pile of charred remains on the iron bed.

Lin Yuan stood there, staring at the charred skeleton.

I realized that this was once an underground city and humans still lived here.

Everything in front of me is what really happened in this research institute.

The sounds around became noisy.

Many people were walking hurriedly to and fro, without even looking up, as if they were accustomed to these tragic changes.

"Another sentinel has gone berserk. The mental state of the sentinels on the battlefield is too unstable." Those people said.

"We need more guides to join the fight."

"The birth rate of Guides has always been very low, and there is no solution. Should we make the Primals more mature?"

"Pick a few more sacrifices."

Lin Yuan's body floated up, and someone held her hand and led her upwards.

The field of vision moves upward, taking in the entire scene like a camera moving its lens.

See all the tiny details of this earth through your eyes.

The hurriedly walking researchers and the human experiment subjects chained to their beds,

A large number of high-tech equipment are in operation, and security weapons are ready to fire at any time.

There is a huge hole on the ground in the very center, and the entrance of the hole is sealed by the power grid.

Dark red tentacles were wriggling beneath the power grid. There was a pure white altar and high steps.

The staff members who come and go call the underground cave in the institute the temple.

In the most advanced scientific research center of mankind, there is a basement called the Temple.

Researchers who are exploring science and technology are adhering to theories and doctrines that offer sacrifices to evil gods.

Lin Yuan's vision rises higher and the space is infinitely enlarged.

She saw the entire dungeon.

This is a huge shelter built underground by humans, which once housed countless people.

Countless humans live busily in it like ants in underground caves.

There are soldiers running hurriedly with battle reports in their hands, a mother in the delivery room suffering the pain of childbirth, a group of students sitting in the classroom listening to the teacher lecturing on the latest "mutant" "birth theory", and a veteran with a broken hand and a broken leg standing silently in front of the densely packed tombstones...

Finally, Lin Yuan's consciousness fell into a narrow and dim room.

Outside the door was a long corridor with countless narrow compartments like this lined up on both sides.

The cold iron doors and railings, the simple beds and tables, it was hard to tell whether it was a prison cell or a military barracks.

In front of Lin Yuan, on a small hard bed, sat a blind girl.

"Hi. Nice to see you again." The girl who lived in another time and space suddenly raised her face towards Lin Yuan.

"My name is Zero. Everything you see here is my only memory left in this world," she said.

"zero?"

"Isn't it a coincidence? You, who I met hundreds of years later, have a name similar to mine."

Ling was sitting facing Lin Yuan, her eyes were closed, her pupils were dark, without light, without focus, she was blind.

Lin Yuan realized that she was the one who occupied Fujilu's body, held her hand and communicated with her consciously.

Everything I see and hear at this moment are the memories of this girl named Zero.

There were footsteps in the corridor and two people walked outside.

Two men in institute uniforms stopped in the corridor, and one of them reached out to light up the electronic screen on the wall.

The man's finger slid across the photos on the screen, and finally stopped on Zero's photo.

"He has no sight and is physically weak, making him a useless guide who cannot go to the battlefield. But the values ​​in his mental strength tests are quite high," he said to another person beside him.

The other person reached out and swiped Zero's data, browsed it and nodded.

His finger brought up a row of options, paused on the sacrifice column, and ticked it.

The footsteps outside the corridor faded away and the lights dimmed.

The man holding Lin Yuan's hand said, "At that time, I didn't know my fate. I didn't know that I would become a sacrifice to her."

In the room, Zero, who was living at that moment, had no idea that he had been chosen as a sacrifice.

She fumbled for the sheets, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes quietly.

Ling is a girl who has been blind since childhood. She has never seen the light and the colors of this world since she was born.

For a little pitiful money, her impoverished family sent her to a research institute for human experiments.

She was injected with some kind of drug. Fortunately, she did not die, but "evolved" into a guide.

Zero, who became a guide, felt very happy. Although she still couldn't see anything, she had a pair of special eyes, which allowed her to see countless magnificent and colorful spiritual worlds.

Although the life locked in the house was monotonous and poor, she did not feel bored.

Every day, when she doesn't need to take tests, she travels in the vast spiritual universe.

She "sees" pain, anxiety, excitement and happiness...sometimes pure malice, selfless love, and those primitive desires.

Her greatest pleasure every day is to close her eyes and explore the spiritual world in the darkness until she falls asleep and has equally magnificent and colorful dreams.

Until that day, she was put into a metal cage and lowered from a high altitude into the deep ground.

There was a palace with high steps and scarlet carpets.

The blind girl was placed alone on a jade platform.

She became a sacrifice, a offering to the monster.

"You've been here. Remember this altar?" Ling said to Lin Yuan.

They held hands, their wills floating in the air, and both looked at the girl on the altar in front of them.

Here are Zero's memories, things she experienced personally hundreds of years ago.

Lin Yuan had seen this altar many times, both in his dreams and in reality.

Countless lives have been sacrificed on the bloody altar. Those so-called scientific researchers use human spiritual power to nourish the insect jade so that it can hatch.

"This is where the original beings were born. After tasting the sweetness, humans hatched more insect jades. They mass-produced sentinels and guides with various powerful abilities."

"People at that time felt that they had obtained powerful weapons and were finally able to fight against those strange and powerful mutants on the ground."

Ling said to Lin Yuan with regret, "Hundreds of years later, you still haven't realized that it was humans themselves who opened the door to destruction."

The blind girl on the altar heard the sound of water splashing, and something wet crawled up the steps and approached her.

The girl's eyes can't see, and she encounters a powerful and pure "person" in the spiritual world.

"Who are you?" Her mental power swam out and gently touched the soft will.

"I?" The man seemed to be stunned for a moment, and replied, "I don't know. I just woke up not long ago."

"They call me the Prime. You can call me the Prime, too."

I don't know why. Maybe it's because Zero didn't show any fear, or maybe it's because Zero was willing to communicate with it.

The tentacles that climbed onto the altar did not tear apart its offering as usual.

They curiously rolled up the blind girl and took her deep into the palace.

"Chu was very pure at that time. She was a very simple life." Ling said to Lin Yuan.

"I even felt that the days I spent together with Chu were very happy. We were together and there was nothing else to do. I told her all kinds of stories every day, about human affairs and the dreams I had. No matter what I said, she listened happily and seriously."

"She also takes good care of me and brings me a lot of strange foods, just like you did to the sentry."

"What should I do to that sentry?" Lin Yuan thought puzzledly after hearing this.

She understood the previous content, but she didn't understand this part.

What sentinel? Who? Ni Ji?

When had she ever found some strange food for Ni Ji? Why didn't she remember doing that?

“對哦，你不記得了。”身邊女孩說，“你和初真的很像，畢竟你的身體裏流着她的血脈。”

研究員們?過了很長一段時間才發覺，被他們?投入神殿的祭品竟然沒有死?去。

那個雙目失明的柔弱向導不但沒被怪物吞噬，甚至在神殿中活了下來。

她在最初體的身邊，被觸手們?飼養着、和最初體相處和諧。沒有死?也沒被污染。

研究所裏的人類因?為這個消息幾?乎炸了鍋。

他們?異常興奮，覺得發現?了可以探索的新?方向。于?是付出了巨大的代價重創了最初體，把零從神殿中撈了回來。

在那之後，可憐的女孩被作為稀有的實驗體，遭遇了近乎虐待一般無?窮無?盡的監測實驗。

她被鎖在實驗臺上，為了部分人類的野心，日複一日地承受着同類對她無?端的折磨。

長期躺在實驗臺上的零再也沒有機會見到“初”。見到那個在一片黑暗中，和她精神相互依偎的朋友。

再也沒有柔軟的觸手會勾着她的手指，聽她一遍一遍說自己的夢和故事。

有時候會在痛苦中希望自己不是人類，而是一只和初一樣?的怪物。

時間過去了很久，被固定在實驗床上的零終于?聽見了熟悉的聲音。那聲音已?經不像當初那樣?純淨幼稚。變得強大而充滿怒火。

那時候地動山搖，有什麽強大的生物破土而出，從內部損毀了這座堅不可摧的人類堡壘。

冰冷而強大的觸手從地底鑽出，勾住了她的腳踝。

“我?當初答應了她。舍棄人類的身軀，成為她的一部分。”

“她的精神力強大到恐怖。我?從她那裏得到了源源不斷的力量。我?用那種?力量，将自己的夢，自己的精神圖景無?限擴張，支撐起一個和人類世界隔離的獨立空間。”

“也就是後來，被你們?稱之為污染區的地方。”

“我?失去了自我?，成為了污染區的柱，而她就是污染區本身。”

“我?和她已?經分不出你我?。我?的枯敗死?亡，意味着這個世界的結束。”

“我?是第一個成為柱的向導。或許，我?也算得上是人類的罪人。”

聽了零平靜的敘述之後，

林苑沒有說一些寬慰的話。

零的人生畫面在眼前流過。但哪怕是親眼所見，也難以真正體會到當時她所承受的那些絕望和痛苦。

林苑只是用觸手輕輕勾住了她的手指。心中的想法在意識交流中傳遞。

錯的不是她，是那些過于?扭曲貪婪的人，是這個錯誤的時代。

林苑想起了自己在衆多污染物見過的柱。想起了熏華，想起在五號區的白色國王。

原來每一個污染區的柱都是向導，強大向導的精神意志被蟲玉侵食造就了這樣?的悲劇。

“沒事的。”零對她說，“再長的噩夢，都有醒來的一天。如今的我?終于?走到了生命的盡頭，即将得到永恒的安眠。”

零漸漸松開了林苑的手，她的面容和那些畫面一起，在林苑眼前潰散。

“但那邊送來了你，想讓你接替我?的位置，成為這裏的支柱。你要小心……初和當時的她已?經完全不同，她很強大，暴躁，不願接受結束。”

“你要小心，小心……那座白塔裏的一切。”

零的身軀潰散，牽着林苑的那只手在漆黑的世界中化為灰燼。

夢境一般的精神圖景消失了。

林苑發現?自己站在研究所之下，那座荒蕪了數百年的神殿中。

純白的祭臺依舊擺在猩紅的臺階頂端，空氣中似有無?數慘死?在這裏的冤魂，無?聲無?息地控訴着當年悲苦的命運。

林苑看見了初。

那個存活了成百上千年的最初體。

如今失去了柱，失去了精神力來源，它的身軀呈現?出極度腐朽的模樣?。

像是枯死?的腐枝，巨大而無?窮無?盡，從黑暗中一路延伸出來，盤布在整座神殿的底部。

在零的精神力徹底消失潰散的那一刻。神殿深處傳來令人心驚的恐怖聲響。

像是垂死?掙紮一般，幹枯腐朽的龐大神軀扭曲着抖動了起來。

整座神殿都随着她的扭動尖嘯劇烈搖晃。

……

倪霁甩開握住自己的那手掌。那冰冷蒼白的手縮了回去。

出現?在他眼前的是穿着白色裙擺的藤露。

藤露的半張面孔隐藏在陰影中，露在光明中的另半張面孔白的像是一個死?去的人。

裙擺下觸手再也不是單獨的一小只，而是有無?數枯老、灰敗的腕足從那雪白的裙擺下爬出。

“你徹底變成了一個怪物。”倪霁緩緩抽出他的刀，“不，你從來就是一個扭曲的怪物。”

“怪物又怎麽樣?，比做一個倍受欺淩的弱小人類好。”半張面孔的藤露在黑暗中緩緩爬上牆壁，“你這樣?強大的人，沒有體會過身為弱者的痛苦吧？所以你不會明白的。”

“不論?如何，哪怕把我?整個人獻祭給祂，我?也絕不願意變回從前那個沒有力量的可憐蟲。”

倪霁四周的景象就變了。

他看見了一個哨兵……很多很多的哨兵。

有人被少女柔弱的外表欺瞞，有人被她美好的容顏誘惑。

在這個黑暗的世界裏，那些強大的戰士像是被蛛網誘捕的獵物，一個個倒在那條白色的裙擺下。

他們?掙紮着，露出了可憐無?助甚至醜陋難堪的悲慘模樣?，被反複折磨到精神徹底潰散，最終連身軀都不被放過，成為任憑操控擺布的傀儡。

在完全毀滅之前，永遠永遠無?法離開黑暗的地獄。

倪霁甚至看見了自己，看見自己被觸手卷住，一路無?力反抗地被拖進巢穴的深處。

畫面開始變得扭曲，昏暗。

昏暗中傳來惹人遐想的哭聲。

“嘻嘻嘻，你也體會過吧。”藤露的聲音在黑暗中無?限放大，“你的那位向導那般強大，一定也時常對你做這樣?那樣?的事，我?一直很想看見你軟弱求饒的模樣?。”

她的半張面孔從黑暗中出現?，滿意地看見那位哨兵露出一臉羞憤的神色。

“其實哨兵才是最柔弱的可憐蟲。”藤露笑了起來，悄悄朝着倪霁的方向伸出她借用來的精神觸手，

“你們?敏感?又脆弱，毫無?抵抗能力，全都害怕着我?的精神控制……啊！”

爬行中的藤露尖叫一聲，她捂住被哨兵切斷的手臂，一臉不可置信地後退。

眼前的哨兵手上提着刀，眼中染着瑩火，是一個殺氣騰騰的亡命之徒。

和她之前看見的，在林苑的觸手下生嬌體弱，輕易繳械的模樣?判若兩人。

“為什麽！”徹底畸變的怪物怒喊，“我?知道你怕的，你應該害怕的。你抵抗不了精神控制。你們?哨兵都毫無?抵抗能力。”

“你是不是搞錯了？”眼前的哨兵冰冰盯着她，眼中透着嘲諷，

“我?是有點怕這個。害怕的是那個強悍無?雙，天下獨一無?二的人。怎麽可能是你這樣?從內到外都弱小到可憐的怪物。”

血紅的長刀緩緩抽出，刀刃映着倪霁冰冷的雙眸，眼眸深處駐紮着一個強大的靈魂。

“我?替那些被你騙到的哨兵不值。但凡我?在你面前露出半分軟弱，都算我?輸了。”

血紅的刀光是哨兵複仇的火焰。

刀光之下扭曲虛假的圖景片片破碎。

被妖刀斬斷的畸變種?那扭曲古怪的身軀蒙上了龜裂的斑紋。

欺騙了無?數哨兵的人，最終依舊以弱者的模樣?死?在了這片黑暗的世界裏。

倪霁看見了林苑，

在他腳邊的洞穴中，他的向導站在那座祭臺邊上，正和一只無?盡龐大的怪物對峙。

他向着林苑的方向沖去。

林苑擡頭，看見了向她跑來的哨兵。

他們?的視線交彙了一瞬，凝望着彼此。

倪霁臉上沾了一抹血，林苑也好不到哪裏去，渾身灰頭土臉。

他們?又一次把對方弄丢了——哪怕一路都緊緊牽着手。

但這一次雙方都沒有慌，心底堅信很快就能重逢。

林苑覺得向着自己跑來的倪霁有些陌生，有一點不像從前那般隐忍內斂。

此刻的他仿佛心中的怒火仿佛被點燃，亮得像一柄刀。

一路沖下來的時候，俊美的面容被染上一層野性，非常具有魅力，比任何時候看起來都帥氣。

他朝着自己露出一抹笑。

強敵當前，笑得冰冷、鋒利、銳不可當。

落地之後，兩個人之間隔着一點距離，但他們?沒有伸手去牽住彼此。

在這一刻，精神力的末端相互連接，比身體的接觸更加穩固，讓他們?心中不再害怕會弄丢彼此。