The warmth of the Hand of Faith still lingered on his forehead when the azure rift before Lin Yi's eyes suddenly collapsed into chaos.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing between the dark walls of the well—the runes on the well walls were emitting a ghostly green glow, swimming along the cracks in the stone like countless living creatures, casting indistinct outlines of the surroundings.
"Spatial coordinate offset rate 37.2%." Chu Yao's projection appeared beside him, and the data stream at the tip of her hair suddenly condensed into a pale purple. "There is no physical structure here; all 'existence' is composed of fragments of consciousness."
Three thousand seven hundred and forty-two timeline afterimages were detected.
Lin Yi's Adam's apple bobbed.
He saw a boy in rough clothes from the beginner village three steps to his left, holding a glow stick and probing into the depths of the crevice. The glow stick's light swayed on the well wall, overlapping with that rainy night three years ago. Five steps to his right, a man in a tactical vest had his back to him. The "Time Legion" badge on his shoulder was soaked in blood, but he was still stuffing the last medicine into the first aid kit in his chest—it was the vice-captain who was blasted to pieces by an energy cannon while saving his teammates in last year's border war.
"These are the failed paths erased by the Mother Nest." Xuan Mingzi stood on the edge of the well, the golden flame of the Soul-Guiding Lamp flickering, revealing an unusual seriousness in his eyes. "In every timeline, there's a 'us' that didn't reach the final ending." He raised his hand and pointed to the densest mass of black mist in the center. "Look there."
Lin Yi followed his fingertip and looked in that direction.
A semi-transparent figure was shrouded in the black mist. The person was thin and had a shallow scar on the back of his neck—it was Li Mu, who had fallen at his feet three years ago.
At this moment, "Li Mu" was clutching half of his identity tag, his fingernails almost digging into the metal, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly as if repeating a word.
Chu Yao's projection suddenly rippled: "Main brain residual data successfully matched."
This consciousness possessed the key to deciphering the core code of the Mother Nest, its strength twelve times that of a normal afterimage. "Her voice unusually trembled," she said, "but awakening him requires faith power... Is the positive faith you just received enough?"
Long Wu's Tang sword was drawn half an inch from its sheath with a "whoosh".
He stood three steps to Lin Yi's left rear, his dragon scale armor gleaming coldly under the eerie green runes, his gaze fixed on the black mist: "Captain, should I keep watch?" Before he finished speaking, the tactical accessory at his waist suddenly vibrated—the Time Legion's communicator was heating up. "Same as always, you give the thought, I'll clear the way."
Lin Yi touched the tactical badge on his chest.
The badge that had followed him from the starting village to the edge of another dimension was now pressed against his heart, burning hot, as if echoing the seed of time in his sea of consciousness.
He gazed at Li Mu in the black mist, and the vague words from three years ago, "hidden in the seed of time," suddenly became clear—it wasn't hidden, it was waiting.
When he has enough faith, he will awaken these erased "selves".
"The Mother Nest has never feared our force," he said softly, his fingertips tracing the scratches on the edge of the badge. "It's these unforgettable... obsessions."
Xuanmingzi's Soul-Guiding Lamp exploded with a "boom" of golden light.
His hand, stroking his beard, paused, his fingers trembling slightly beneath his Taoist robe: "Back then, I cleaned up three thousand failed worldlines for the Mother Nest. Every consciousness that was erased cried out the same thing in the end." He looked up, his eyes reddening unnaturally. "They said, 'Someone will always remember.'"
Chu Yao's projection suddenly switched to a data stream interface, and countless golden codes exploded around her: "Mother Nest energy fluctuations detected!"
Seven god-slaying squads are locating this space and are expected to break through the defenses in three minutes. Her voice regained its composure. "But the resonance frequency of that consciousness is perfectly aligned with yours. Awaken it now; the success rate is 89%."
Long Wu drew his Tang sword completely, the blade reflecting his taut jawline: "Is two minutes enough?"
That's not enough; I'll go cut their positioning lines.
Lin Yi gazed at Li Mu in the black mist.
The young man who was always smiling now had a ferocious expression, as if he was using his last bit of consciousness to fight against something.
He remembered when they first met, Li Mu handed him a glow stick and said, "Follow the light"; he remembered the night before the border war, Li Mu secretly slipped throat lozenges into his backpack; he remembered when the half of the ID tag rolled to his feet, the blood-stained name was especially clear in the rain.
"Enough." He reached out and pressed his hand to his chest, and the tactical badge popped open a hidden compartment with a "click"—inside lay half of an identity tag exactly like the one at the bottom of the well.
The moment the two pieces of metal touched, the Seed of Time suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, illuminating the entire well as if it were daytime.
Li Mu, who was in the black fog, suddenly turned his face.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, yet his smile was brighter than ever before, his lips finally forming a clear shape: "Ring the bell."
"Captain?" Long Wu's voice was unusually urgent.
Lin Yi took out the Soul Resonance Bell hanging around his neck.
The bronze bell was still warm from his body. He looked at the words "Time and Space Legion - Living and Dying Together" engraved on the bell and gently stroked them with his fingers.
"Chu Yao, calculate the resonance frequency." When he looked up, the starry sky in his eyes was more dazzling than ever before. "Xuan Mingzi, stabilize the spatial barrier."
Dragon Five...\"
"Here." The roar of a dragon as a Tang sword was drawn echoed through the well.
Lin Yi raised the Soul Resonance Bell to his lips.
The bronze bell glowed a warm yellow in the dim light, much like the glow stick that guided the way outside the starting village three years ago.
"We should let some things be remembered again," he said, tapping the bell lightly with his fingertips.
The moment the bronze bell tongue struck the bell body, Lin Yi heard a thunderous buzzing in his ears.
The clear, melodious ringing of the bell seemed to pierce through the mist of the sea of consciousness, stirring ripples in every fragment of consciousness within the "Well of Oblivion"—those figures, young or bloodstained, turned their heads simultaneously, the turbidity in their eyes being burned away by something scalding hot.
"Resonance frequency matching complete." Chu Yao's projection suddenly solidified into a physical form, her long silver hair standing on end like electrified needles. "Target remnant soul locked: Ancient warrior Lei Yan, lived in the 372nd year of the previous civilization era, once cleaved the first hatching tower of the mother nest with the 'Burning Sky Halberd.'" She flicked out a semi-transparent data stream from her fingertips, weaving it into a star map around Lin Yi. "Remnant soul strength 78%, possession time limit 127 seconds."
Long Wu's Tang sword suddenly emitted a dragon's roar.
He stared at the crimson-gold patterns that suddenly appeared on the well wall, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Captain, this temperature..." Before he could finish speaking, a ball of crimson flame erupted from the Time Rift Seed in Lin Yi's heart.
The flames weren't scorching, but they illuminated the fragments of consciousness within a three-meter radius with exquisite detail—the tallest figure among them was slowly solidifying, the scorch marks on its armor still emitting black smoke, and a half-cut black bone spur protruding from its left chest.
"Kid, lend me your body." Lei Yan's voice was like two pieces of volcanic rock rubbing together, causing the runes on the well wall to fall off in a rustling sound.
His mutilated right arm pressed against the back of Lin Yi's neck, and the latter instantly felt a tremendous force surging into his spine, even his breath felt burning. "Children of the mother nest, the scores we didn't settle back then, we'll settle them today."
"They've arrived as expected."
A sinister voice came from above.
Lin Yi suddenly looked up and saw a semi-transparent shadow floating above the well edge—Night Owl's face was distorted in two by the black mist. On the left was the cold, hard profile of the invader leader, while on the right was a face that looked seven-tenths like Li Mu. "You think you can break the deadlock with these outdated obsessions?"
I should have thought of this day three years ago when I erased him.
"Did you do it?" Lin Yi's pupils shrank suddenly.
He clearly saw the flames of Lei Yan's remnant soul suddenly surge three feet, causing the shadow of the night owl to sizzle.
"Ding—Faith Puppet successfully located." Chu Yao's voice suddenly turned sharp. "Quantity: 13, all legendary level!"
Before the words were finished, the eerie green runes on the well wall suddenly reversed and flowed.
Thirteen figures stumbled out of the rune vortex, wearing the same tactical vests as the Time Legion, but their shoulder patches were dyed a strange purplish-black. The "soldier" at the front looked up, and Lin Yi almost gritted his teeth: it was Xiao Wu, a new recruit who had just been promoted last week. At this moment, his left eye was glowing with the crimson data stream unique to the Mother Nest, and his right hand was holding the tranquilizer gun that should have been with the medic, but the muzzle was oozing a ghostly blue poisonous mist.
"Protect the captain!" Long Wu's Tang sword drew a silver arc.
His figure moved like a dragon soaring, his blade shattering Xiao Wu's tranquilizer gun before it could strike. But the blade stopped just before it touched the other's throat—the puppet's neck was adorned with the same pattern as Li Mu's identity tag.
"Don't hold back." Lin Yi's voice was as cold as an icicle.
He could feel Lei Yan's remnant soul churning within him, every vein burning hot. "Their consciousness was long ago devoured by the Mother Nest." He raised his hand and formed a hand seal, and the tactical badge on his chest suddenly emitted a golden light shield, repelling the three puppets that lunged at him. "Chu Yao, find the stone tablet!"
Xuanmingzi, stabilize the space!
Xuanmingzi's soul-guiding lamp suddenly transformed into a golden net.
He bit his fingertip and drew a talisman in the air. The blood droplet solidified into a chain the moment it hit the ground, binding the two puppets that were trying to flank him tightly: "There is an abnormal energy fluctuation in the center of the well!"
Right below you!
Lin Yi lowered his head.
Sometime later, the eerie green runes at the bottom of the well had faded, revealing a dark blue stone tablet.
The monument was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, but a familiar light flowed through each crack—the color of the glow sticks that Li Mu always loved to use. On a rainy night during the border war, he used this light to drag the seriously injured Lin Yi into the air-raid shelter.
"It's his... Obsession Monument." Lei Yan's voice was filled with surprise. "In the pre-civilization era, only the purest battle spirits could condense obsession into a monument, which even the mother nest's erasure process couldn't burn." He placed his mutilated left hand on Lin Yi's back. "Kid, touch it!"
Use your time-slot seeds!
Long Wu's Tang sword suddenly severed the right arm of the last puppet.
He drew his dragon-scale dagger from his waist and hurled it at the puppet leader who was attempting to ambush Lin Yi: "Captain, I'll hold out for three minutes!"
Lin Yi took a deep breath.
He could hear his own heart pounding like a drum, feel Lei Yan's remnant soul burning within him, and see Chu Yao's data stream frantically annotating the inscription on the stone tablet—it was Li Mu's handwriting, crooked and messy, like a letter he secretly wrote home during basic training.
"Sorry I'm late." He reached out his hand, and just as his fingertips were about to touch the stone tablet, the entire "Well of Oblivion" suddenly trembled violently.
The fragments of consciousness on the well wall emitted shrieks and crashed into the stone tablet, as if trying to stop something.
"Who... dares to touch my tombstone?"
A hoarse voice came from deep within the stone tablet.
The sound was like an ancient bell buried underground for thousands of years, carrying the smell of decaying dust, yet it also contained a certain familiarity that made Lin Yi's blood boil.
The moment his fingertips touched the surface of the monument, the entire well was like a deep pool into which a boulder had been thrown, ripples spreading from the monument and shattering all the fragments of consciousness into pieces.
Lei Yan's remnant soul suddenly roared, and crimson flames formed a barrier to protect Lin Yi: "Is he... a tomb guardian from a previous civilization?"
That's impossible!
The mother nest should have been...
"Captain!" Long Wu's Tang sword struck the suddenly appearing black chains, sparks flying. "The well walls are collapsing!"
Lin Yi gazed at the stone tablet's patterns, which were gradually becoming clearer amidst the tremors.
The fluorescent light from the cracks suddenly connected, outlining the silhouette of a man in black robes—his eyes were closed, a bronze bell identical to the Soul Resonance Bell hung at his waist, and at his feet were countless names engraved, the top one being "Li Mu".
\"boom--\"
The space barrier at the top of the well finally shattered.
Night Owl's full form descended from the crevice, clutching half of an identity token identical to the one on Lin Yi's chest, a grin spreading from his lips to his ears: "Now, you have no way out."
But Lin Yi's attention was entirely focused on the stone tablet.
When the last ray of light appeared, he clearly saw the black-robed man's tightly closed eyes slowly... tremble.
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