As the morning light pierced through the clouds, Lin Yi was squatting at the edge of the ruins.
His fingertips touched the charred patterns on the ground, traces left by the Night Owl's Shadow Energy, now gleaming with a faint blue light—these were the "fragments of truth" they were trying to collect.
"Captain, we've found three more pieces." A team member carrying a tactical backpack jogged over, the fragments in the metal container making a soft, clinking sound.
Since the direct confrontation with the Night Owl three days ago, the entire city ruins have become a collection of debris.
These seemingly ordinary fragments of energy are actually "fragments of truth".
Chu Yao's holographic projection unfolded beside Lin Yi, and a pale purple stream of data flowed from her fingertips: "The total number of fragments collected has exceeded 1,200, an increase of 17 percent compared to yesterday." Her voice carried the clear and crisp quality unique to artificial intelligence, but when it swept over the blue shadows under Lin Yi's eyes, it added a hint of gentleness that was barely perceptible. "I need to remind you that you have not eaten for 30 consecutive hours."
Lin Yi twitched the corner of his mouth and put the last piece into the container: "After we finish this puzzle, I'll treat you to the braised pork from that restaurant in your database, Old Chen's."
Chu Yao's pupil data suddenly flashed twice—this was her signature "shy" reaction.
Just then, the tactical communicator rang, and Aizen's voice, with its characteristic laboratory buzzing, said, "Lin Yi, come here." Before Lin Yi could respond, the communication was cut off.
This man, who always wears a white lab coat, speaks as if he's giving a lab report.
As soon as the metal door to the underground laboratory slid open, Lin Yi smelled the familiar odor of ozone.
Aizen stood before the floating "Hogyoku," and on the surface of the crystal, which was filled with chaotic light and mist, fine golden patterns appeared, which looked very much like the fragments of truth they had collected.
“When we bombarded the Hogyoku with the particle collider yesterday, it released these on its own.” Aizen pushed up his glasses, and a series of complex formulas popped up on the holographic screen. “Look, the energy fluctuation frequency of the fragments matches the resonance frequency of the Hogyoku perfectly.”
Lin Yi's breath hitched suddenly.
Three days ago, they thought these fragments were byproducts of the owl invasion, but now it was as if someone had lifted the fog from their eyes—it turned out that all the fragments were coordinates pointing to the same answer.
“This is even more crucial.” Aizen pulled up a video clip showing a figure in an ancient Taoist robe pressing a token engraved with “Ragnarok” into the void. “I used the Hogyoku to restore part of the main brain’s memories. The true purpose of Xuanmingzi activating ‘Ragnarok’…” He paused, “was not destruction, but awakening.”
Aizen and Lin Yi were engrossed in discussing the relationship between the fragments and the Hogyoku, and the atmosphere in the laboratory gradually became somewhat heavy.
The laboratory lights suddenly flickered.
Chu Yao's projection instantly covered the entire space, and her voice carried urgency for the first time: "Abnormal spatial fluctuations detected! The Shadow Force is gathering in the southeast, northwest, and southwest directions of the city, and their numbers are three times that of before!"
At the same time, Long Wu's loud laughter came through the communicator: "I'm itching for a fight! I'll take the third squad to meet these bastards!"
When Lin Yi rushed to the ground, the distant sky had already been dyed dark purple.
Long Wu stood on the roof of a twenty-story building, his bare chest covered in dark golden dragon patterns that spread at a visible speed. The phantom of an eight-clawed golden dragon tumbled behind him, each scale reflecting a molten golden light.
"Watch closely, you little ones!" Long Wu tilted his head back and took a swig of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), the liquid dripping down his chin onto the dragon tattoo, creating wisps of white steam. "Today, Grandpa will show you what the dragon race is all about—"
"World-Destroying Dragon Flame!"
With a deafening roar, the phantom of the dragon claw suddenly pressed down.
Before the Shadow Forces on the ground could react, they were engulfed in a sea of fire.
The monsters made of shadow energy let out piercing screams and turned into wisps of black smoke in the dragon flames, even their energy cores were burned to ashes.
"That was exhilarating!" Long Wu wiped the soot off his face, drew his Tang sword from his waist, and the blade, resonating with the dragon pattern, burst forth with dazzling golden light. "How many of them come, I'll cut them all down!"
But Lin Yi knew this was just Night Owl's test. The real crisis lay hidden deeper.
Chu Yao's alarm sounded again: "Fragment integration complete! The energy trajectories of all fragments ultimately point to..." Her projection suddenly paused briefly, "...pointing to the spacetime node where the 'Ragnarok' protocol was activated."
Aizen's voice came through the communicator, unusually trembling: "Combining the memory fragments of the Hogyoku, I deduce that Xuanmingzi discovered an existence even more terrifying than Night Owl—an invader from the 'Primordial Sea.' Ragnarok is the key to activating Earth's protective barrier, and Night Owl..."
"He wants to get the key first and use Earth as a shield!" Lin Yi felt a chill run down his spine as he finished speaking.
A dark energy, even larger than before, is gathering overhead.
The moment he looked up, Lin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.
The once clear sky was completely dyed black, and the figure of Night Owl hovered above the clouds. His face was no longer human, but composed of countless twisted shadows, each of which locked the soul of a job changer he had devoured.
“A clever little mouse,” the owl’s voice sounded like fingernails scraping across a blackboard, “but knowing too much can lead to a terrible death.”
He raised his hand and waved it, and the entire space suddenly began to distort.
The buildings on the ground looked like crumpled paper, and the steel and concrete groaned in pain; Long Wu's dragon pattern suddenly dimmed, and the Tang sword he swung was stuck in mid-air, as if time had been paused.
Lin Yi felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart.
This is not ordinary spatial magic, but a higher-dimensional lockdown—Night Owl used his primal power to construct a "dark cage".
"Now, you can slowly wait to die." Night Owl's laughter echoed from all directions. "Once I've absorbed all the energy in this space, even if Xuanmingzi comes in person..."
"Shut up!" Lin Yi bit his tongue, the sweet and metallic taste of blood stimulating his nerves.
His eyes shone with the silver-purple light patterns unique to the ruler of space and time, and the surrounding space suddenly became "tangible" in his eyes—the flow trajectory of every shadow, the weak point of every spatial fold, were as clear as a star map.
Inside the dark cage, all eyes were on him.
Chu Yao's projection flickered with unstable light, yet she still firmly stated, "Abnormal fluctuations in the host's spacetime energy have been detected, suggesting..."
"I need three minutes," Lin Yi interrupted her, closing his eyes.
He could sense that in the deepest part of this dark space, there was a faint "gap"—the connection point of the Night Owl's primal power, and the source of their life force.
Long Wu suddenly grinned, and the dragon markings on his body lit up again: "The boss is about to make a big move! Brothers, hold off these shadow monsters!"
As the Tang sword cleaved through the shadows, Long Wu's voice, mingled with the roar of dragon flames, boomed: "Lin Yi, I believe you!"
In the dark space, a silver-purple ball of light began to condense at Lin Yi's fingertips.
That was the embodiment of the power of spacetime, with every wisp of energy tearing at the surrounding shadows.
He could clearly sense that the "gap" was trembling slightly as he approached—as if responding to his call.
Just as the ball of light was about to touch the crack, the owl's roar pierced the darkness: "Impossible! How could you..."
But Lin Yi could no longer hear it.
His entire attention was focused on the increasingly obvious spatial fluctuation—the weakness of the dark cage, and the key to uncovering the truth.
(In the deepest part of the dark space, the faint crack suddenly rippled.)
Lin Yi's silver-purple light pierced through the darkness, outlining a star-like pattern at the edge of the crevice.
The next second, the entire space suddenly trembled violently, as if something was about to break free from its cocoon...
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