When the light and mist inside the Gate of the End enveloped Lin Yi's body, he heard his eardrums buzzing.
It wasn't pain, but rather some kind of ancient resonance—the spacetime rift trembled in his very bones, and even the [Spacetime Overlord] class badge radiated a scorching heat.
"Boss!" Long Wu's roar burst from the communicator as Lin Yi was being thrown into a gray-white space by the light mist.
He staggered and knelt on one knee, his tactical knife sparking as it scraped the ground. He looked up and crashed into the distorted silver lines that filled the sky.
Those lines were not ordinary rays of light, but timelines entwined with stardust. Some were a pale pink like a baby's skin, while others were a dark red like rusty iron. They were all twisted into huge mechanical gears, slowly turning overhead.
"Long Wu." Lin Yi pressed the communication button, his voice tinged with amusement, "Don't worry, I'm here."
Before the words were finished, a metallic clanging sound came from the left.
Long Wu burst through the half-rusted alloy door, followed by a chain of red light from the tactical flashlights of more than twenty team members—the "survive" signal they had agreed upon in the newbie village.
Long Wu's Xuan Tie spear was still dripping with sticky liquid, and a crack appeared in the scale armor on his shoulder, revealing the golden dragon scales underneath: "Those clones are chasing us closely!"
But—"He shook his head violently, drops of blood from his hair splattering onto the metal floor, "The guys blew up our escape route, now it's just us!"
"Well done." Lin Yi stood up and glanced at everyone.
Several team members had blood dripping from their protective suits, but everyone's eyes shone with an astonishing light—a light forged from countless cycles of death.
He reached out and patted Long Wu on the shoulder, the touch coming through the heat of his spear. "Now, look ahead."
Everyone looked up in the direction of his gaze.
In the very center, an energy sphere as tall as a thirty-story building floats.
Its surface shimmered with a deep blue and crimson light, like a shattered galaxy, and with each pulse, the timeline gears above emitted a piercing groan.
Chu Yao's projection suddenly appeared beside Lin Yi, pale blue data flowing through her hair: "Target energy source detected—the Destiny Seed." Her voice was three times faster than usual, "It's drawing energy from the spacetime turbulence. Once fully charged..."
"It will reset the entire world." Xuanmingzi's voice came from the other side.
He was now standing in the shadows beneath the energy sphere, the golden threads on his robe flickering with the tremors of the timelines—"including all the saved timelines, all the survivors."
Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly.
He could sense the malice surging within the energy sphere, an existence even more ancient than the Night Owl, like a colossal beast lurking in a time rift, licking its lips and waiting for its meal.
"How long?" he asked Chu Yao.
"Nine minutes and seventeen seconds."
Long Wu's spear clattered to the ground.
One of the team members staggered and grabbed the wall for support, causing the metal wall to immediately dent—his hand was shaking.
"To shut down the fire, four control nodes must be destroyed simultaneously." Xuanmingzi took two steps forward, and the timeline automatically split beneath his feet. "The nodes are located in the four cardinal directions, each guarded by a copy of Night Owl."
Those clones have physical bodies, memories, and even…” He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing, “the same intelligence as the original.”
"So we need to split up," Lin Yi interjected, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "But the node is too far away; at our speed..."
"I'll go be the bait," Xuanmingzi suddenly said.
His voice was soft, yet it cut through the silence like a knife.
Long Wu's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints: "Old man, are you crazy?"
Those clones are specifically designed to counter energy types like yours!
"Precisely because it's a countermeasure." Xuan Mingzi turned to look at Long Wu, a sense of relief in his eyes. "I was originally a fragment of the game's mainframe. Back then, to maintain the system's operation, I devoured the consciousness of too many players..." His fingers gently traced the gold thread on his Taoist robe. "Now, it's time for me to repay my debt."
Lin Yi stared into Xuan Mingzi's eyes.
There was no fear there, only an almost devout resolve—exactly the same look in his eyes when he first saw players risking their lives to protect civilians in the starting village.
"How long will it take?" he asked.
"Enough for you to reach the node." Xuan Mingzi smiled, a glint in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. "And..." He raised his hand, and a cyan talisman floated out from his sleeve. "I still have half of the time-stopping talisman Chu Yao gave me."
Chu Yao's projection suddenly froze for half a second.
A few warm yellow streaks appeared in her data stream, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind: "That's one of the last three time-stop symbols..."
"Therefore, we must make the most of everything." Xuanmingzi reached out and took the talisman, then turned and walked towards the nearest timeline gear. "Remember, there is a silver button at the core of the node."
As he pressed down... "His figure had already blended into the shadows, but his voice came clearly, "Take a look at the sunrise over the newbie village for me."
Long Wu suddenly rushed forward, but was stopped by Lin Yi. The burly man's eyes were red-rimmed: "Boss!"
"He made a choice." Lin Yi placed his hand on Long Wu's shoulder, feeling the dragon-scaled body tremble. "Just like when we were in the newbie village, choosing to stand up and protect complete strangers."
Chu Yao's voice came through the communicator: "A clone has been detected approaching, located in the southeast, northwest, or northeast direction. It is expected to arrive in thirty seconds."
Lin Yi looked down; four red dots were approaching on the tactical screen.
He unbuckled his tactical pouch and took out three shimmering silver talismans—the light of the time-stop talismans swirled in his palm like three small suns.
"Long Wu, take a team to the East Node; I'll go to the West Node." He slipped two talismans into Long Wu's and one into a team member's hand. "Chu Yao, you stay with the team at the North Node and keep up with the data in real time."
"Then the South Node?" Long Wu clenched the talisman, his voice hoarse like sandpaper.
Lin Yi looked up at the Destiny Seed that was being charged.
The deep blue of the energy sphere had overshadowed the crimson, and each pulsation made his professional badge burn.
He touched the blade; Su Qing's pale pink light still swirled on it, like an unspoken "Wait for me."
"South Node..." He smirked, putting the last time-stop talisman into his pocket. "I'll have Xuan Mingzi keep an eye on it for me."
The sound of metal tearing came from afar.
The timeline gears in the southeast direction suddenly exploded, and a figure shrouded in black mist burst out of the fog—it was a clone of Night Owl, whose face was exactly the same as the original, with a grin that stretched to his ears, revealing sharp fangs.
"The game has only just begun," the clone's voice sounded like rusty gears grinding together.
Lin Yi drew his tactical knife.
The three types of light halos on the blade suddenly surged, and Su Qing's pale pink light threads wrapped around his wrist like a warm rope.
"No." He walked towards the clone, his shadow stretched long by the timeline. "It's time to end this."
Long Wu's spear was already drawn.
The team members gripped their weapons again, their wounds still bleeding, but their posture was more upright than ever.
Chu Yao's projection merged into the data stream, her voice carrying an unprecedented warmth: "All coordinates are synchronized; I've left a backdoor at every node."
Amidst the turning of the gears of time, four teams of figures raced in different directions.
Behind them, the charging progress bar of the spark of destiny had just jumped to...
"Eight and a half minutes." Chu Yao's notification sound, mixed with the fading footsteps, disappeared into the roar of the turbulent flow of time and space.
As the tremors from the metal ground surged up his spine through the soles of his tactical boots, Lin Yi's pupils reflected the turbulent spacetime currents churning in the clone's palm—that silver-blue hue was identical to the patterns on his professional badge.
"Interesting." He chuckled softly, holding his tactical knife horizontally in front of his chest.
The pale pink light threads left by Su Qing suddenly shot out from the blade and wrapped around his wrist, as if reminding him of something.
Three seconds ago, this owl clone was hacking at the alloy wall with its bone blade; the next second, it tore open half a timeline with its bare hands, trapping the pursuing team members inside a solidified cocoon of light.
"The permissions the main body gave you are higher than I imagined." Lin Yi turned his head to dodge a spatial blade, the blade grazing his earlobe and cutting a bloody gash.
Just as the blood droplet was about to fall to the ground, the clone grabbed it with its backhand and condensed it into a miniature black hole in its palm.
He gritted his teeth—this was no ordinary copy; it was a "shadow" sculpted by Night Owl using his primal power, capable of even mimicking the basic abilities of the [Time and Space Dominator].
A muffled groan came from Long Wu through the communicator: "The second gate of the East Node has been breached!"
But this bunch of bastards…” His voice was suddenly cut off by the sound of metal shattering, “Holy shit!”
The dragon scales are burning hot!
Boss, did you hear that?
I'm about to explode—
"Hold on!" Lin Yi shouted half a sentence, and the spatial cage of the clones pressed in from all directions.
He could see the patterns of spacetime laws flowing on the surface of the cage, which were exactly the same as the "spacetime prison" he had released.
Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck and into his tactical uniform. He reached for the time-stop charm in his pocket, but his fingertips paused—this charm was meant to be saved for the most critical moment to be destroyed; using it now would be a waste.
"Scared?" The clone tilted its head, Night Owl's signature maniacal grin spreading across its face. "Your time is running out, Your Majesty."
"Once the flame is fully charged, the lives of your teammates..." It suddenly opened its arms, "will all become nourishment for my master!"
The turbulent flow of spacetime condensed into a vortex behind it.
Lin Yi's temples throbbed, and he could clearly feel the pulse of the Destiny Seed accelerating—Chu Yao had just announced that there were seven minutes and seventeen seconds left.
He stared at the purple light surging in the clone's eyes, the color of the Night Owl's essence.
Something burning hot surged up from his heart—fragments of the beliefs of the survivors in the beginner village, the wisps of light Su Qing handed him in the ruins, and the roar of Long Wu as he shielded himself from a fatal blow.
"Resonance of Faith." He murmured the skill name.
His professional badge burned on his chest, and countless points of light surged from all directions—they were members of the "Time Legion" scattered in reality and the game, civilians he had saved, and even ordinary players who had only heard of his legend.
These beliefs materialized into golden chains of light, which wrapped around the neck of the replicant.
The clone's pupils suddenly contracted.
It frantically tore at the chains of light, only to discover that each chain was engraved with a different face: there was Aunt Zhang selling pancakes in the newbie village, a little girl crying when she was rescued, and an engineer from a tech giant smiling at it while holding up his newly developed interdimensional weapon. "Impossible!" its voice began to distort, "Faith below the mythical level..."
"But I am the only Mythical level." Lin Yi's tactical knife pierced its heart.
The pale pink light threads, wrapped in golden conviction, directly shredded the core energy of the clone.
As the corpse turned into black mist at his feet, he heard Long Wu roar over the communicator: "Boss!"
The East Node Control Module is beneath my feet!
But this broken button...
"Press it down!" Lin Yi shouted as he ran.
The silver button at the West Node is in sight, and the hum of energy flow can be heard from behind the metal door.
He kicked aside the broken armor blocking his way, and the tip of his knife lifted the button cover—suddenly, the entire space trembled violently, and the sound of the gears turning in the timeline turned into a piercing scream.
"Long Wu!" Chu Yao's voice suddenly interrupted, "The spacetime fluctuations around you are abnormal!"
Rewind —
"Retreat my ass!" Long Wu slammed his gun into the control cabin.
His dragon scales were turning dark gold, and each scale was covered with blood-red patterns, like flames soaked in blood.
When he broke through the second node, he was surrounded by seven clones in a corner, his battle spear was broken in two, and half of a bone blade was stuck in his chest.
But when the turbulent currents carrying the energy of the spark of destiny surged in, he heard a roar in his bloodline—a call more ancient than any battle.
"Explode it, you bastard!" He slammed his fist into the control room.
Dark gold dragon patterns spread from the fist to the entire arm, and a deafening dragon roar exploded in the air.
The control cabin shattered like a paper toy, and silver buttons popped out amidst sparks.
But in the instant the power was released, Long Wu's knee slammed heavily onto the ground.
He could hear the cracking of bones, see the dragon patterns fading, and even his blood becoming viscous—the side effects of the world-destroying dragon patterns were more severe than he had imagined.
"Captain!" The team members from the East Node rushed over.
The remains of the seven clones were still writhing, one of which had a bone blade stabbing towards Long Wu's heart from behind.
He tried to raise his arm to block it, but found that even his fingers were trembling.
Cold sweat dripped from his chin onto the ground. He suddenly remembered that rainy night in the newbie village when he carried his injured teammate for three kilometers. Was he this tired then?
"Long Wu!" Lin Yi's voice cracked through the communicator, "Did you press the button?"
"Press..." Long Wu gritted his teeth and raised his hand, blood foam spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The moment the bone blade pierced his back, his fingertips just happened to touch the button.
The control cabin emitted a dull rumble, and the energy pillar at the eastern node began to collapse.
His vision gradually blurred, but he saw a familiar light—was it the sunrise in the beginner village that Xuanmingzi had mentioned before he left?
Or is it the cherry blossoms that Su Qing always talks about?
At the same time, in the data stream of the North node, Chu Yao's projection was flashing wildly.
Her hair was no longer light blue, but mixed with dark red gibberish—the price she paid for forcibly altering the Night Owl system's permissions. "Third node defense deactivated!" she screamed, stuffing the last piece of virus code into the defense matrix. "All control bays synchronize..." Her voice suddenly stopped, and her pupils reflected a string of code she'd never seen before—an encryption method even older than the Night Owl system, like a giant serpent lurking in the depths of the data ocean.
"Chu Yao?" The captain of the North Node asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay." Her data stream stabilized again, but a thorn was planted in her heart.
The fluctuations in that string of code just now, and the energy frequency of the Spark of Destiny... are so similar.
She looked up at the energy sphere in the distance and suddenly felt that there were eyes watching her from within that cloud of light.
At the western node, the moment Lin Yi pressed the silver button, the timeline gears of the entire space stopped turning simultaneously.
The charging progress bar of the Destiny Spark stopped at 67%, and the dark blue and scarlet light began to intertwine and surge.
He could hear the success notifications from the other three nodes, the cheers from the Dragon Five team, and Chu Yao's sigh of relief.
But Long Wu's communications suddenly went down.
"Long Wu?" Lin Yi pressed the call button, but only heard a crackling sound of electricity.
He turned and ran, the pale pink light on his tactical knife suddenly turning scorching hot—that was Su Qing's warning.
When he reached the East Node, he only saw Long Wu lying in a pool of blood, and the silver light gate behind him that was dissipating.
Long Wu's eyelashes twitched.
In his last moments before losing consciousness, he saw a hand reach out from the portal of light.
The palm of that hand was etched with the same lines as the spark of destiny.
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