The dark clouds hung low, and drizzle mixed with ashes pelted Lin Yi's shoulders.
He stared at the scattering dust where Aizen had disappeared, his Adam's apple bobbing—the ripples stirred in his mind by those ancient words had not yet dissipated, and the bronze bell was burning hot in his palm, so hot that it reminded him of the first time he met Aizen three hundred years ago, when the other handed him the "Fragment of the Mysteries of Time and Space," and the hand that had been so cool and almost unreal.
"Chu Yao, full-frequency scan." Lin Yi's voice was colder than the shattered rain. His fingertips traced silver light marks in the void, and the power of faith spread like a spider web, locking the space with a radius of five hundred meters into amber.
He could hear his heart pounding like a drum—not out of fear, but out of the excitement of finally touching the thread.
"Scan complete." Chu Yao's projection lit up on his retina, a pale blue stream of data swirling in her pupils. "Target biometrics...not found." Her voice trembled for the first time. "Body temperature, brain waves, even cell metabolic frequency, all simulated from humans, but essentially...a collection of faith secreted by the ovary."
"Faith bionics." Lin Yi repeated the word, his glassy pupils suddenly contracting.
He finally understood why the collected fragments of faith always showed unusual fluctuations whenever Aizen appeared—it turned out that this man who was always brewing coffee in the laboratory was actually a parasite planted by the Mother Nest in the human camp!
Applause suddenly erupted from the top of the broken wall.
Aizen was standing there again, his pale white coat damp with raindrops, and dark gold runes on his palms emanating a black and red mist.
His smile remained gentle, but the lines at the corners of his eyes resembled cracked clay, revealing a writhing, grayish-black slime beneath: "As expected of the Master of Time and Space, you saw through me three days earlier than I anticipated." He tilted his head, slime dripping from his chin. "However, the smarter you are, the more likely those you protect will die—"
\"roar!\"
Dragon Five's tail lashed out at the broken wall first.
But Aizen's figure turned into dust once more, and at the same time, twelve black shadows with purple spots tore through the void from the spot where he disappeared.
That was the "Shadow Erosion Clone" at the very bottom of the Mother Nest. Its semi-transparent body was filled with countless distorted human faces. Its shrill screams were like fingernails scraping against glass, instantly shattering the spatial lock that Lin Yi had just set up.
"Watch out!" Xuanmingzi's Taoist robe fluttered in the wind.
The original game mastermind's avatar now fully revealed its true form—a blue-faced, fanged creature with nine soul-guiding lamps floating behind it. It swung its Xuan Tie sword at the nearest clone, but the blade seemed to be cutting into mud, and its wrist was instead entangled by the shadow.
Purple spots spread along his arm, and his skin made a sizzling, corrosive sound.
"Step back." Lin Yi's voice suddenly became as deep as if it were made of black iron.
He didn't move, but simply raised his left hand, and the bronze bell in his palm suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light.
The black figures that were tearing at Xuan Mingzi were burned, emitting sharp whimpers, and curled up, retreating half an inch.
Xuanmingzi seized the opportunity to pull his hand back, causing the Soul-Guiding Lamp to shake violently, and the lamp oil spilled onto the purple spot, producing black smoke: "Go!"
I can't hold this for too long—
"No need to support me." Lin Yi took half a step forward and covered Xuan Mingzi's hand with his palm.
He could feel the corrosive energy flowing beneath the other person's skin, but he only pressed lightly.
The power of faith surged into Xuanmingzi's body through the point of contact, and the purple spots instantly froze, as if a pause button had been pressed.
"Are you crazy?" Xuan Mingzi's eyes widened. "This is a specially made corrosive agent from the Mother Nest; it can even penetrate mythical-level defenses—"
"That's why we can't fight it head-on." Lin Yi looked up at the dark shadows pressing lower and lower in the clouds, a cold smile curving his lips. "Aizen wants fragments of faith, and the Broodmother's clone wants... to enrage me, to make me destroy with all my might, so that the will of creation can absorb more negative energy." He lightly tapped his temple with his fingertips. "But he forgot that among the faiths I've collected, the most abundant isn't fear, but... hope."
Before the words were finished, the Shadow Clones suddenly trembled collectively.
The faces inside them opened their eyes simultaneously—they were survivors whom Lin Yi had previously protected, members of the Time Legion, and children whom Long Wu had once saved.
Every face wore a smile, and their lips moved in unison, repeating the same phrase: "We believe in you."
"This is..." Aizen's voice finally cracked.
His luminous form began to sway, and a few strands of grayish-black slime dripped uncontrollably. "When did you...?"
"From the first time you said, 'These experimental data are very interesting,'" Lin Yi turned the bronze bell, its clear, melodious sound like a crane's cry. "Chu Yao, locate Aizen's core source."
"Locked." Chu Yao's projection appeared beside Aizen, her fingertip pointing towards his heart. "At the location of his heart, a fragment of faith is glowing—it belongs to the boy you saved three days ago who rushed into the fire to save his sister."
Aizen's smile shattered completely.
The dark gold runes on his chest suddenly surged, enveloping his entire body in a black cocoon of light: "You can't win!"
The will of creation has already taken shape; even if you kill me now—
"I didn't intend to kill you." Lin Yi raised the bronze bell, its sound suddenly incorporating different frequencies. "I want you to see for yourself how terrifying it is when faith becomes a weapon..." His pupils seemed to reflect the Milky Way in reverse.
The cocoon of light suddenly trembled violently.
Aizen's screams pierced through the cocoon walls, mixed with countless familiar voices: "Mom, I don't hurt the captain, we can fight the teacher again, I got into university."
These fragments of faith that he had secretly taken away now pierced through the cocoon of light like sharp arrows, leaving countless tiny holes in them.
"Lin Yi!" Long Wu suddenly roared, "Something is falling from the dark clouds!"
Lin Yi looked up.
At the thickest point of the dark clouds, a charred fragment was falling toward the ground.
Just as he was about to make a move, the bronze bell in his palm suddenly became hot, so hot that he could barely hold it.
An aged voice, tinged with a mixture of relief and urgency, came through the ringing: "Young friend, it's time to use that move..."
He suddenly looked down at the bronze bell.
The ancient patterns on the bell were emitting a faint blue light, casting a blurry shadow on the ground—an old man with a white beard, standing with his hands behind his back at the end of the starry river, nodding slightly at him.
The deep blue patterns on the surface of the bronze bell seemed to move as if they were alive, and the features of the white-bearded old man in the ground projection gradually became clear, even the stardust on his clothes shimmered with fine silver light.
When he spoke, his voice was like a wind that had traveled through a thousand years, carrying the tremor of withered trees coming back to life: "Young friend, do not panic. This is a wisp of the old man's remnant soul that he carved into the bell years ago."
Xuanmingzi suddenly staggered, and the nine soul-guiding lamps simultaneously exploded into eerie green flames.
His blue face and fangs were fading, and golden patterns were emerging under the skin that had been corroded by purple spots—that was the remnant soul of the white-bearded man flowing into his body like water, following the resonance of the bronze bell and the hand that Lin Yi was touching with.
"Cough... What is this?" Xuan Mingzi clutched his chest, his pupils flashing alternating between bluish-black and golden light. "Old man... are you 'Mr. Star Orbit' from that resistance army three hundred years ago?"
"Good memory." The projection of the white-bearded remnant soul nodded to him, a hint of relief in his voice. "Back when you were still the core of the main brain, I spent three days and three nights explaining the 'Chaos Deduction Scripture' to you."
Now we need you to act as a catalyst, stabilizing the fluctuations of the laws governing this realm.
Xuanmingzi suddenly straightened his back.
His once hunched back straightened, and the soul-guiding lamp re-suspended above his head, its flame changing from a ghostly green to a gilded glow.
The shadow clones that were gnawing at him seemed to have been burned, screaming and taking three steps back—the purple spots that had been corroding him were now being devoured inch by inch by the golden patterns.
"Chu Yao, locate Aizen's 'Echo of Faith'." Lin Yi stared at Aizen, who was constantly twisting inside the cocoon of light, his azure pupils swirling with starlight. "He survives by extracting the faith of others; his core must be hidden in the most painful memory anchor point."
"Locked." Chu Yao's projection suddenly unfolded into a 3D model beside the cocoon of light. A pale blue beam of light pierced through the black cocoon, outlining seventeen points of light within it. "Based on the fragments of faith that Aizen has collected over the past three months, the brightest point of resonance is... at the fire scene of Chunjiang City No. 7 Middle School three years ago."
"That was the anchor point he left when he extracted the faith of the boy who saved his sister." Lin Yi lightly tapped the bronze bell with his fingertips. The sound of the bell mingled with the laughter of children, the reading voices of girls, and the coughs of old people—all warm memories stolen by Aizen. "He thought these fragments were nourishment, but he didn't know that each piece carried the original owner's mark."
The cocoon of light suddenly trembled violently, and Aizen's roar pierced through the cocoon's walls: "Are you all insane?!"
The will of creation has awakened. Even if you kill me, the Mother Nest army will arrive in half an hour—
"That's why we need to be quick." Lin Yi interrupted him, the power of faith in his palm gushing out like a fountain, condensing into countless translucent figures in mid-air.
Those were members of the Time Air Force, survivors who had been rescued, and there was even a picture of Long Wu grinning at him with a chicken leg in his mouth.
Each time one of these illusions appears, another crack appears on the cocoon of light.
"He's inducing Aizen to use more faith power to repair the cocoon wall." Xuanmingzi's voice suddenly grew old; it was the remnant soul of Xinggui speaking through him. "When he uses all his core power to defend against illusions, the true echo point will be exposed."
"Found it!" Chu Yao's fingertip jabbed sharply at the bottom of the cocoon of light. "The resonance point is in the innermost layer, and it's contracting along with Aizen's panic—"
"Dragon Five!" Lin Yi turned around and looked at the giant dragon leader squatting on the broken wall.
Long Wu's pupils burned with crimson flames, and his dragon scales reflected a seven-colored halo in the rain, a sign that he was awakening his true dragon bloodline.
"Awooo—!" Long Wu's dragon roar shattered half of the dark clouds.
He pressed his forepaws on the ground, causing the entire ruins to tremble, and his dragon tail lashed out at the cocoon of light like a steel whip.
This time, however, he did not attack directly. Instead, he suddenly withdrew his power three inches from the cocoon wall, and a golden dragon-shaped energy blade condensed in mid-air as he exhaled his dragon breath.
Aizen's roar suddenly rose in pitch.
A point of light at the bottom of the cocoon suddenly burst forth, and black and red mist shot out like a venomous snake—that was his core hidden deepest inside, containing the last fragments of faith of the boy who saved his sister, glowing with an eerie purple light.
"Now!" Lin Yi shouted.
The bronze bell in his hand burst forth with dazzling golden light, turning the dragon-shaped energy blade a gilded gold.
Long Wu's pupils suddenly contracted, and his dragon tail swept horizontally. The air blade grazed the edge of the core, but suddenly changed direction at the moment of contact, as if guided by an invisible hand, and precisely pierced into the purple light.
"No—!" Aizen's scream came to an abrupt halt.
The cocoon of light exploded with a roar, and the black and red mist was drawn back into the void like receding tide.
All that remained in the air were a few charred pieces of cloth and the fluorescent light that had burst forth after the core of the purple light was pierced—the pure white light that was originally the fragment of the boy's faith.
The rain stopped sometime ago.
The dragon's breath tore a gap in the dark clouds, allowing sunlight to filter through and fall on Lin Yi's shoulder.
He gazed at the bronze bell in his palm, which was gradually cooling. The projection of the remnant soul of the star trail had dissipated, leaving only a faint "Until we meet again."
"Captain." Long Wu's voice suddenly softened.
He transformed back into human form, patted Lin Yi on the back, his knuckles still bearing traces of dragon scales that hadn't completely faded, and said, "That old man was right. With Aizen dead, the Mother Nest's next move will definitely be even more ruthless."
"But the crazier they are, the closer they are to failure." Lin Yi looked up at the gap in the clouds, a sharp smile curving his lips.
He turned to look at everyone: Xuanmingzi was closing his eyes to regulate his breathing, and the golden flame of the Soul-Guiding Lamp was gradually weakening; Chu Yao's projection hovered around him, and the data stream was three times faster than usual; Long Wu's fingertips still retained the heat of dragon breath, but his eyes burned with fighting spirit.
"Next, what we need to do..." His voice wasn't loud, but it struck everyone like a hammer blow, "is to leave them with absolutely no way to escape."
The group was preparing to gather up the ruins and leave.
Lin Yi suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He raised his hand to his temple, and a subtle ripple appeared in the galaxy of his pupils—a mental fluctuation that only he could hear, tinged with a familiar hoarseness and mixed with static: "Lin Yi...is that you?"
He turned his head abruptly.
Behind him were only broken walls and dust illuminated by the sunlight.
The wind swirled ashes past his ears, but no sound came again.
But the warmth in that voice was just like that of Li Mu, the teammate who was torn to pieces by the Shadow Beast outside the newbie village three years ago.
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