The gray fog in the chaotic realm receded faster than the tide.
Lin Yi's fingers, hanging by his side, trembled slightly, not from exhaustion, but from a kind of warmth surging up from the depths of his soul—he heard a faint, almost imperceptible sound coming from his joints, like a frozen river finally cracking open for the first time.
"Boss?" Long Wu's voice was trembling and hoarse on the communicator, "You...that light behind you..."
Lin Yi turned his head in the direction of Long Wu's gaze.
At some unknown time, a silvery light spread out from the rift's exit, not the mechanical blue of the system, but a warm white with starlight-like fragments.
Tiny specks of light floated in the light, each one gently pulsating. He stretched out his hand, and a speck of light landed in his palm, feeling as warm as if it were alive.
“They are fragments of the rules.” Chu Yao’s light screen suddenly appeared on his shoulder. The silver-white data stream was no longer cold and hard as before, but shone with the luster of mother-of-pearl. “When the Destiny System collapsed, it returned the evolutionary authority that was originally imprisoned to the world. Now every job changer’s career tree is growing autonomously. Some people’s sword skills have suddenly gained three more moves, and some healers’ healing spells have begun to carry the fragrance of flowers—they are creating their own rules.”
Lin Yi looked at the data stream jumping on the screen and suddenly smiled.
He recalled the mechanical voice that always said "system prompt" in the newbie village, and the red screen that warned him of "violating the rules" when he first used the spacetime rift. He realized that the real rules should never be shackles engraved in the code.
"bite--"
The tactical goggles suddenly lit up with an orange light, showing Long Wu's live feed.
The golden scales on Long Wu's forehead were receding from between his eyebrows to his temples, revealing his sweaty hair. His heavy sword was still stuck in the ground, its tip pressing against the last limb of the deformed creature.
The creature's scales were fading to the grayish-brown of a common wild animal, and it was whimpering like a puppy.
"Damn, it really retreated." Long Wu wiped his face with the back of his hand, and when he looked up, his eyes were surprisingly bright. "Boss, look! This mutant was trying to bite my ankle just now, but now it's rubbing against my leg! The system said they are 'untamable calamities,' screw it!"
He crouched down, his rough hands stroking the deformed creature's back, and the beast actually squinted and began to snort.
Lin Yi's Adam's apple bobbed.
He recalled three months ago in the slums, where a little girl cried until she suffocated while hugging a stray cat that the system had identified as a "dangerous creature." He also recalled all the players labeled as "useless professions" by the system hiding in corners, giving up on themselves. It turned out that when the "impossible" label was torn off, even the most violent monsters could learn to be gentle.
"Lin Yi."
A hoarse voice called out from the left.
Xuanmingzi leaned against half a floating fragment of law. The dark gold chains that were originally wrapped around his Daoist robe had completely disappeared. His eyes were no longer the empty gray-white of the system core, but rather a deep black like an ancient pool.
“I should go.” Xuanmingzi raised his hand, and a stream of azure light condensed at his fingertips. It was the last proof of his existence in this world. “When the Destiny System collapsed, I absorbed some of the core data. If I continue to stay in the mortal world, it may interfere with the growth of the new order.”
As he said this, a smile appeared in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, like an old man who had finally been relieved of a heavy burden.
Lin Yi noticed the bronze wine pot at his waist—it was a "personal item" that Xuan Mingzi had found in the ruins three days ago. It turned out that the system had never truly erased his memories, but had simply sealed them away with code.
"How long will it take?" Lin Yi asked.
"I don't know." Xuanmingzi tossed him the wine pot, which was still warm from his body. "But perhaps I will wake up when you need someone to guard the spacetime rift."
His figure began to become transparent, and before finally disappearing, he suddenly winked at Lin Yi: "Try this wine for me. It was buried on the top of Zhongnan Mountain fifty years ago. It's time to wake up."
The wine pot felt hot in my palm.
Lin Yi tilted his head back and took a swig. The spicy aroma of the liquor, mixed with a sweet taste, exploded in his throat, much like the taste of freedom.
"The stability of the spacetime core has been increased to 97%." Chu Yao's voice suddenly wavered, and the light screen condensed into a girl's form in front of him—this was the first time she had actively manifested a human appearance, wearing a moon-white dress, with a jasmine flower woven from data streams tucked into her hair. "The evolution system has achieved self-consistency. Now even ancient martial arts families in reality can autonomously awaken 'qi,' and technology companies are developing 'dimensional energy engines'..."
Her fingertips gently touched the back of Lin Yi's hand. The touch of the data stream was no longer icy, but carried the warmth of melting snow in spring: "They say this is the beginning of the 'human era'."
From afar came Long Wu's shout: "Boss! That mutant said its name is Afu! And it even brought me a rabbit!"
Lin Yi watched as Long Wu squatted on the ground playing with the mutants, then looked at the jasmine in Chu Yao's hair, and suddenly felt something swell in his chest—not power, but something more precious than power.
He touched his chest. The pages of "The Book of Destiny Re-established" were still glowing, but this time it wasn't a system notification. Instead, every name resonated, like the drumbeats of countless overlapping heartbeats.
“It’s time to go back,” he said into the communicator. “The people from the Reality Alliance are probably going crazy waiting; they definitely want to know…”
Before he could finish speaking, a warm, tingling sensation suddenly spread across the back of his neck.
That was the exclusive perception of the master of spacetime; something was wriggling at the edge of an extremely distant dimension, like a young animal hatching from a cocoon.
Lin Yi turned his head to look at the deepest part of the Chaos Domain, where a figure stood with his back to him.
Ivan's black trench coat was lifted by the undercurrent, his right hand pressed against his chest, and a faint blue light seeped from between his fingers—the energy of the Mother Nest's core. But unlike its previous violent nature, the light now carried a gentle pulse, as if two lives were trying to communicate.
"Ivan?" Lin Yi asked.
Ivan didn't turn around, he just raised his left hand.
Half a silver fragment floated in his palm; it was the remnant core of the Mother Nest's consciousness.
The cracks on the surface of the fragments were healing, and a light, just like the jasmine in Chu Yao's hair, seeped from every crevice.
“It’s saying…” Ivan’s voice was so low it sounded like a sigh, “It’s saying ‘Welcome.’”
The light outside the rift suddenly intensified, illuminating the chaotic realm as bright as day.
Lin Yi took one last look at Ivan's retreating figure, then turned and headed towards the exit.
Long Wu's shouts drifted on the wind, Chu Yao's data stream danced beside him, and the aroma of wine in the flask had not yet dissipated—while in a more distant place, a brand new story was slowly opening its eyes as the fragments of the mother nest healed.
As the light from the chaotic realm swept over Ivan's shoes, the eerie blue light on his chest suddenly coalesced into a star map.
The fragments of the brood mound healed completely in his palm. Silver patterns burrowed into his skin like living things, climbed up his neck along the blood vessels, and finally condensed into a pale blue scale below his left eye—a mark of the brood mound consciousness and the human soul coexisting.
"Ivan?" Lin Yi's voice drifted in on the wind.
He had walked five steps away without anyone noticing, and his tactical goggles had been removed, revealing his eyes, which were red from staring for so long.
Ivan finally turned around.
His pupils were no longer pure black, but a deep blue like an inverted Milky Way, yet he seemed more human than ever before—his lips were slightly upturned, and his eyes held a relaxed sense of relief.
“It said that the core of the Mother Nest Civilization is not invasion, but the search for ‘truth’.” He raised his hand and pressed it to his chest, the sound of his heartbeat coming through the air beneath the scales. “Now I understand.”
Lin Yi's Adam's apple bobbed.
He recalled Ivan's roar three months ago in the wreckage of the Mothership, as he was corrupted by the core energy; he recalled seven days ago when this man knelt in the blood and grime, digging out the crystal core from his chest with his fingernails, just to prove that "humanity is not dead."
Looking at the pale blue scale, he suddenly smiled: "So you're leaving?"
“My mission is complete.” Ivan reached out, and the wind lifted his black trench coat, revealing the military water bottle that Long Wu had insisted on giving him at his waist—a “souvenir” from three days ago at the supply station, when Long Wu patted him on the shoulder and said, “We brothers can’t go out without our gear.”
He traced the scratches on the pot with his fingertips. “The Mother Nest consciousness gave me coordinates. There are countless ‘Earths’ in other dimensions undergoing trials. I want to see what their ‘reality’ is like.”
Lin Yi didn't say anything, but stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
The embrace carried the ruggedness unique to warriors, with the smell of gunpowder still lingering in the crook of their arms.
"May you find your answer in the multidimensional world," he whispered in Ivan's ear, his voice so soft it was as if he were afraid of startling something.
Ivan's shoulders trembled slightly.
His hug was so strong it almost crushed his ribs, but he quickly released him three seconds later—like all men who refuse to back down, he took two steps back, wiped his face, and turned to walk into the depths of chaos.
His silhouette was fragmented by the tide of light, yet returned to its original form in the next instant, as if each step was crossing dimensions.
Just before it disappeared completely, a low laugh drifted through the air: "The Erguotou in the flask, please thank Long Wu for me."
"Thank me my ass!"
A rough roar came from the crevice's exit.
Long Wu had somehow climbed onto the semi-floating fragment of law, his reverse scale golden pattern still lingering at the corners of his eyes, like two pieces of red-hot gold foil.
He put one hand on his hip and held Afu's ear with the other—the mutant that the system had once judged as "untamable" was now sticking out its tongue and rubbing against his wrist, its tail wagging like a rattle.
"I got that broken wine jug from the black market!" Long Wu roared, then squatted down and touched Afu's nose with his forehead. His voice suddenly softened. "But... if you dare not come back, I'll take Afu and destroy the lair of every dimension."
Lin Yi looked up at him.
Sunlight streamed in through the crack, gilding Long Wu's shoulder armor with a golden edge.
This man, who always said "I hate nagging mothers-in-law the most," had tears welling up in his eyes and his voice was trembling.
He suddenly remembered the first time they met in the beginner village, when Long Wu stood in front of him with his rusty heavy sword and said, "Brother, I'll back you up"—it turned out that some feelings had long been etched into the bones through blood and fire.
"What are you thinking about?"
Chu Yao's voice rang out from beside her.
She had switched back to data stream mode at some point, but she had left a jasmine flower in her hair—written with the most primitive binary code, each petal shimmering with a warm silver light.
Her light screen unfolded between the two of them, displaying real-time images: in reality, a martial arts master who was originally restricted by the system was unleashing a blue energy blast in mid-air; in the technology city, engineers were cheering while holding up a model of a dimensional energy engine; even a little girl in the slums was holding a stray cat, watching a pale pink "healing spell" effect float above its head.
“They are creating their own rules.” Chu Yao’s data stream gently wrapped around Lin Yi’s wrist. This time it was no longer cold code, but a warm, living touch. “Just like you said, true infinity should not be a cage of the system.”
As Lin Yi stared at the image on the screen, a sudden sour feeling rose in his throat.
He recalled the first time he triggered the hidden class, when the system's red screen warned, "Those who violate the rules will be eliminated"; he recalled how he spent three days and three nights in the Death Rift to save teammates who were deemed "worthless" by the system; he recalled the cold laughter of "impossible" that rang in his ears every time he broke the system's restrictions.
Now, all the "impossibilities" are crumbling, like spring snow melting into streams that flow into the ocean called "freedom".
"Boss!" Long Wu suddenly jumped down from the fragment of law, his heavy sword crashing to the ground and sparks flying. Afu bounced around his feet. "Look over there!" He pointed to the sky outside the rift exit, where a rainbow had appeared out of nowhere—not a virtual light effect created by the system, but a real rainbow with water mist and seven colors.
Lin Yi looked in the direction he was pointing.
Under the rainbow, the helicopter of the Reality Alliance was circling and landing. Elders from ancient martial arts families stood by the cabin door waving to him. The CEO of the technology group held up a megaphone and shouted, "Mr. Lin! We need your guidance!" Even a few ordinary citizens he had saved were crowding at the front of the crowd, holding banners that read "Thank you, Time and Space Ruler."
“Now, the real beginning is about to begin,” he said, turning to Long Wu.
The wind lifted the corner of his clothes, revealing the Xuanmingzi wine gourd hanging at his waist—the effects of the wine he had just drunk were rising through his veins, burning his eyes.
Long Wu nodded vigorously.
His greatsword had somehow been stored away in his dimensional space. He was now wiping his face with the back of his blood-stained hand, but the more he wiped, the more blood smeared it became. "I told you, we two brothers could make it to the end! But... Boss, where are you going next?"
Lin Yi did not answer immediately.
He looked up into the deepest part of the chaotic realm—where the tide of light had receded, revealing a void resembling a star map.
The unique perception of the master of time and space made his neck burn. That door was not generated by the system, nor was it forged by rules. Rather, it was forged by his will, his choices, and every step he took through blood and fire.
“I want to see what lies beyond the end of fate,” he said.
The sound was very soft, yet it seemed to echo like the sound of metal and stone reverberating in the void.
Long Wu suddenly grabbed his wrist.
This man, who always said "I'm not afraid of separation," was now trembling with fear: "Then...then you have to give me some coordinates! Ah Fu said it can find its way by smelling dimensional energy, so I'll take it...and my brothers, and we can come and rescue you anytime!"
"Definitely." Lin Yi took his hand in return.
The warmth of palms pressed together traveled through the tactical gloves, a comforting sensation. "When I return, we will build an even larger space legion, and let every dimension know... the age of humanity has arrived."
Long Wu released his grip and punched his shoulder hard.
Afu came closer and rubbed his wet nose against the back of his hand—this is how the mutant expresses trust.
Chu Yao's data stream wove into a ribbon of light beside him, as if bidding him farewell.
In the distance, the Reality Alliance crowd was still cheering, and the world under the rainbow was being reborn at a visible speed.
Lin Yi took one last look at the world he had protected for three years.
The thatched hut in the beginner village, the first time the space-time rift opened, Long Wu's figure charging forward with his heavy sword, the jasmine when Chu Yao first manifested human form, the aroma of wine from the wine jug left by Xuan Mingzi... all these images flashed before his eyes, finally solidifying into a firm belief: there is no predetermined fate, only the future that we write ourselves.
He turned and walked into the void.
A star map unfolds beneath your feet, and the gate to time and space slowly opens—a gate forged by light and darkness, rules and freedom, and the choices of countless "him".
Beyond the door lies an unknown dimension, undefined rules, and a challenge that may be more difficult than any battle before.
But this time, he was no longer a pawn of the system, no longer a puppet of fate.
"This time, I will write my own destiny, not let it be predetermined."
Before he finished speaking, he had already stepped into the door.
The door closed behind him, leaving only a sliver of starlight and Long Wu's distant roar: "Come back alive, you bastard! Otherwise, I'll tear down all the doors in every dimension!"
Starlight illuminated the markings on the door—coordinates carved by Lin Yi using the power of time and space.
On the other side of the door, in some unknown dimension, a faint blue light suddenly shone.
From within the light, a familiar voice chuckled softly: "You've arrived?"
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