The moment his consciousness was thrown into the shredder, Lin Yi's senses were completely shattered.
First came the pain.
It wasn't the sharp pain of swords piercing flesh, but the burning pain of countless needles simultaneously piercing the soul. Every fragment of consciousness screamed, wanting to return to its place, but was forcibly pulled in different directions by some kind of rule.
He saw his left hand turn into a speck of light and float to the left—the hand that had severed the tentacles of the Mother Nest with his rusty iron sword in the snowy field of the newbie village; his right leg, enveloped in blood mist, rushed to the right—the right leg that had been blown up last month in the interdimensional battlefield to shield Chu Yao from the annihilation ray.
"This isn't right." He bit his tongue, using the pain of reality to forcefully pull back a sliver of clarity.
As the stench of blood spread through his consciousness, the fragments of his torn limbs suddenly materialized into afterimages: on his left wrist, the red string that Chu Yao had tied for him on a snowy night three years ago was glowing; on the stump of his right leg, the star pattern of the key to the time rift was faintly visible—these were marks that only a real body would have, while in his memory of the "past," the red string had long since faded to a pale pink due to the passage of time, and the key should have been dangling around his neck.
"Cognitive reconstruction." Xuan Mingzi's voice pierced the sea of consciousness like an icicle. "Every scene is a distorted projection of reality; they will weave traps using your most cherished weaknesses."
Lin Yi suddenly closed his eyes.
In the darkness, fragments of memory still surged: the rainy night when he was seven, he squatted at the entrance of the orphanage waiting for his mother, the rainwater reaching his ankles; on his fifteenth birthday, his roommates cooked longevity noodles for him in the dormitory, with half a braised egg floating in the instant noodle soup; and three months ago, when Chu Yao's consciousness was eroded by another dimension, she smiled and said, "Don't be sad, I'll wait for you in the data."
Every image is so realistic you can almost feel the warmth of it.
The smell of rust from the orphanage's iron gate, the greasy odor of instant noodles, and the lingering sweet orange scent in Chu Yao's hair—but when he tried to grasp "himself at seven years old," the figure suddenly twisted into the form of a Mother Nest monster, and what dripped from its fangs was not saliva, but the hot milk that the orphanage aunt had given him as a last treat.
"It's fake." He gasped as he backed away, but the "ground" in his mind turned into flowing stardust, sinking in half an inch with each step.
The afterimage of the red rope on his left wrist suddenly burned, and he grabbed the light—it was a knot that Chu Yao had personally braided in reality, with the words "Peace" written by her in nano-pen still at the end of the rope, the edges of the writing rough from multiple repairs.
This sense of realism is like a spark, igniting a warm yellow hue in my consciousness.
"Anchor point." He chuckled softly, his fingertips tracing the nonexistent red rope. "Using details from reality as anchors, we can tear through the illusion."
Fragments of memory began to surge wildly.
His fifteen-year-old roommates suddenly became Obsidian's henchmen, brandishing energy guns and shouting "Traitor!" at him; three months ago, Chu Yao grew maternal tentacles, her voice hoarse: "You can't save me, just like you can't save your mother."
"My mom?" Lin Yi's pupils contracted sharply.
The image he had deliberately sealed away in the deepest part of his memory—the ambulance lights on a stormy night, his mother's blood-stained hand falling limply as she was wheeled in, her fingertips still clutching half of a birthday card she hadn't given away—suddenly unfolded in the very center of his consciousness.
In the rain, the young mother turned to him and smiled, her mouth forming the words "Xiao Yi, don't be afraid." But the ambulance behind her was flowing backward. In the puddles where the wheels had rolled, the reflection wasn't of the ambulance, but of the core of the Mother Nest from the newbie village three years ago.
"Enough!" he roared, and the stardust in his consciousness suddenly solidified into a tangible ground.
The star pattern on the Time Rift Key lit up from his chest, like a silver lightning bolt cleaving through all illusions.
The distorted images emitted a piercing shriek, bursting like popped soap bubbles to reveal a gray, misty space behind them—countless translucent doors suspended in the air, each engraved with his name.
"The true entrance." Xuan Mingzi's voice carried a hint of relief. "Each door corresponds to a specific point in time; choosing the wrong one will trap you in a loop."
Lin Yi walked toward the nearest door.
A red rope was wrapped around the doorknob, exactly the same as the one on his wrist.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch it, a ripple suddenly stirred deep within his consciousness.
Light and mist surged out from behind the door, and a blurry outline took shape in the mist—the figure was wearing a familiar tactical vest, and had a light pink birthmark on the back of his neck, the one that had shielded him from the brood ray three years ago... The light and mist in the consciousness space suddenly solidified into a physical form.
The figure was wearing a faded tactical vest, and the pale pink birthmark on the back of his neck was particularly clear in the gray space—it was Chen Mo, the comrade who had shielded him from the annihilation ray in the core area of the Mother Nest three years ago.
At that moment, a charred hole had been melted through Chen Mo's breastplate, and blood and laughter splattered on his face: "Boss, my life is worth it to give you ten more years to live." But now, there was no fire in Chen Mo's eyes, only an unyielding sorrow. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he called out in a hoarse voice, "Xiao Yi..."
Lin Yi's fingers trembled slightly in his mind.
He could clearly recall the last note of Chen Mo's laughter, like a broken bellows, yet more scorching than any war song.
But now, the "Xiao Yi" was too soft, as soft as a feather floating on the water, without Chen Mo's usual loud voice that would hurt people's ears.
More importantly—he stared at Chen Mo's right hand.
The real Chen Mo always liked to tuck his tactical knife into his right wrist, with the two crooked characters "Undying" engraved on the scabbard. But at this moment, that spot was empty, with only a severed communication line hanging down.
"You are not him." Lin Yi's voice was like ice, and the stardust in his mind suddenly surged into a vortex. "Even if Chen Mo dies, he will still grip the knife to his bones."
The illusion's face instantly contorted, black mucus seeping from beneath its skin, and Chen Mo's features were ripped into the shape of a mother nest's tentacles, emitting a piercing shriek.
But this time Lin Yi didn't back down. The afterimage of the red rope on his wrist burned even brighter. In reality, the rough edges at the knot that Chu Yao had repaired with a nano pen were now so clear in his mind that he could count the fibers. This was the red rope that he had personally burned through three times with a lighter and that Chu Yao had secretly repaired three times. Each rough edge was engraved with a specific date.
"Break!" he shouted, and the star pattern on the Time Rift Key exploded with silver light from his chest.
The illusion burst like a bubble, shattering into countless points of light with a "pop," revealing a passage shimmering with a deep blue light behind it.
Fine golden runes flowed across the walls of the passage, each rune trembling slightly as he approached, as if responding to some kind of resonance.
Lin Yi did not rush to take a step.
He bent down and picked up a fragment of the illusion that hadn't completely dissipated—a piece of black communication cable wrapped with Obsidian's unique encryption code.
This reminded him of Chu Yao's report from three days ago: "The Obsidian Commander's recent actions have been very abnormal. They've stopped plundering resources and are instead shifting towards the coordinates of God Realm-A." Now it seems those madmen are trying to get to the core of God Realm before him.
His thumb rubbed the time-space key, and suddenly a pale purple data stream appeared on its surface—a remote connection from Chu Yao. "Residual system node detected," Chu Yao's voice crackled with static, "Coordinates have been synchronized to your consciousness."
Lin Yi closed his eyes, and three flashing red dots immediately appeared in his mind.
The brightest one was at the end of the passage, surrounded by chaotic energy fluctuations, which were remnants of Obsidian's usual "Annihilation Protocol".
His pupils contracted slightly—the agreement required the commander to personally inject mental energy to activate it, which meant that Obsidian's supreme commander was likely in the core area.
"Chu Yao, synchronize the location with Long Wu." He quickened his pace as he spoke, and the runes in the passage suddenly lit up, casting a flowing star map at his feet. "Tell Old Long I'm looking for them."
The communication had just ended when the star map beneath their feet suddenly distorted.
The walls of the passage, which were originally tinged with a deep blue, began to emanate golden light, and a faint sandalwood scent drifted in the air—this was the unique energy scent of the core area of the Divine Realm-A, exactly as he had read about in the ancient books as "Divine Court Fragrance".
When his fingertips touched the last stone door, a clear mechanical sound came from inside, like some sleeping behemoth finally opening its eyes.
"Welcome back, Mr. Lin."
A deep voice came from behind the door, carrying the weight of time, like an ancient bell tolling in the clouds.
Lin Yi's hand suddenly stopped in mid-air, and the hairs on the back of his head stood on end.
That voice... he's definitely heard it before.
Three years ago, on a rainy night in the starting village, when he stood before the core of the Mother Nest, holding a rusty iron sword, a similar voice flashed through his mind, saying, "The time has come." Last month, in the interdimensional battlefield, when he used the Space-Time Rift Key to tear open the spatial barrier, that voice murmured again in the blood mist, "It's time to awaken."
The runes on the stone gate suddenly turned towards him, and golden light wrapped around his wrist as if it were alive.
Lin Yi did not struggle, but instead narrowed his eyes—he could sense that this was not an attack, but more like a confirmation.
The mechanical sounds from inside the door grew clearer, mingling with the fading voice: "We've been waiting for you for a long time..."
Before he could finish speaking, the stone door burst open with a "boom".
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