The morning light of the real world was spilling over the defensive fortifications surrounding the Mother Nest.
The moment Lin Yi stepped out of the portal, the smell of gunpowder mixed with rust rushed into his nostrils—the alien fleet that had been defeated three hours earlier was now pressing in with an even denser formation, dark purple energy bands intertwining between the ships, like a giant net trying to tighten its grip on Earth's throat.
"Commander!" Long Wu's tactical goggles automatically displayed scan data. His fist slammed heavily against the alloy protective wall, causing rubble to fall from the cracks. "That bastard's consciousness has spun the remnants together! The energy intensity is 300% higher than before!" His calloused fingers pointed to the sky. On the flagship's command platform, a shadowy figure was holding up half a key, and a dark red light crept along the cracks in the key toward each warship.
Lin Yi's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
He could clearly sense a twisted resonance in the mental fluctuations of those extradimensional beings—the Night Owl was using his own remnant soul as a fuse to twist all the negative emotions of the intruders into a single blade.
Meanwhile, the energy fluctuations in the core area of the mother nest were still escalating. If they delayed for another half hour, waiting for the enemy to complete the energy matrix...
"Calm down." Xuan Mingzi's Daoist robe fluttered without wind, his withered fingers forming hand seals, and a star-like light flashed in his eyes. "Before I came out of seclusion, I thoroughly searched through the 'Secret Codex of the Void Realm.' There are seven energy nodes inside the Mother Nest, corresponding to the 'Spirit of Faith' recorded in ancient civilizations." He suddenly turned around, the hem of his Daoist robe sweeping across the spatial ring at Lin Yi's waist. "The seven keys you collected are the locks that unlock these nodes."
"Absurd." The shadowy figure's voice was like the scraping of metal. He appeared at the top of the fortifications without anyone noticing, a corner of his black cloak billowing in the wind, revealing the Enforcer's emblem flashing on his chest. "The power of faith requires spiritual resonance. You ants who haven't even established yourselves at the Mythical level, what do you have to make a billion job changers resonate at the same time?" His gaze swept over the players below who were reinforcing the defenses—there were warriors wielding greatswords loading crossbows, healers kneeling on the ground breathing on the wounded, and even a few crafting players setting up stoves to cook hot soup in the back.
“Because they trust me,” Lin Yi suddenly said.
He took off his tactical helmet, letting the morning breeze ruffle his hair.
His fingertips gently traced the space ring on his chest, where the weight of the seven keys felt like seven beating hearts—the first key was given to him by the old village chief of the beginner village with his last breath, the second key was left by the archer who shielded his teammates from a fatal blow, and the third key… He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the starlight in his eyes was sharper than any weapon.
"Chu Yao." He turned to look at the AI girl standing in front of the communication console.
Chu Yao's hair was still covered with stardust from the illusory world. When she heard the summons, her fingers, which were hanging by her sides, curled slightly and then slowly relaxed—a small gesture she made when she was nervous.
"Activate global broadcasting." Lin Yi's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a heavy hammer hitting the air.
Chu Yao's pupils shimmered with a deep blue data stream.
She raised her hand and lightly tapped the control panel with her fingertips. Suddenly, all electronic devices around the mother nest lit up with a blinding white light, and then all the communication channels of the entire Earth were forcibly filled.
"To all job changers, I am Lin Yi." His voice spread to every corner through countless screens, countless headphones, and countless exclamations.
The players inside the fortifications stopped what they were doing, the healer who was tending to the wounded in the hospital loosened the bandages, and even the sound of the energy cannons from the other-dimensional fleet charging weakened for a moment.
"The final battle will begin in three hours." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the mechanic loading ammunition onto a mech not far away. The young man looked up at him and gave him a "victory" sign.
"I need your conviction." Lin Yi unfastened his tactical vest, revealing the still-bleeding wound on his chest—a Shadow Erosion attack he had taken three days ago to protect civilians.
“It’s not blind worship of me, it’s a firm belief that ‘we can win.’” There was something burning inside his voice. “When you grip your weapons, think of the heart pounding when you first changed jobs; when you heal your teammates, remember the warm steamed bun the old woman in the starting village gave you; when you build fortifications, don’t forget the strangers who held up shields for you when you were on the verge of death…”
Suddenly, static came through the communicator.
Lin Yi raised an eyebrow, only to see Chu Yao wink at him—she was projecting real-time footage of global players into the air: the mage tower in Donghai City lit up with long-lost elemental light, the warriors of Mobei planted their battle flags into a steel forest, and even in the most remote mountain village, several children holding homemade wooden swords stood on the rooftops, shouting loudly to the sky, "Go, Brother Lin!"
"See that?" Lin Yi's lips curled up. "This is our resonance." He turned to look at the shadowy figure, whose cloak fluttered without wind, and cracks finally appeared in the coldness in his eyes.
“Now, tell me—” He grabbed the seven keys from the spatial ring, the surface of which displayed patterns that perfectly matched the energy nodes of the mother nest, “how do I activate all seven nodes at the same time?”
Xuanmingzi stroked his long beard and laughed: "This old Taoist will teach you a clumsy method—use your spiritual power as a conductor." He raised his hand and drew a golden hand seal, "You stand at the central node, and the other six nodes are guarded by the core members of the Time-Space Legion. The moment all the keys are inserted..." His gaze swept over Long Wu, who was exercising his wrists, and Captain Lei Bao, who was infusing his longsword with lightning element, "They will connect the collected beliefs into a net through you."
"And what about you?" Lin Yi suddenly asked.
Xuanmingzi's Taoist robe suddenly became semi-transparent, and his figure began to overlap with the light stream of the void: "I was originally formed from a fragment of the system. If I don't return to the core network to keep order now, when will I?" He winked at Lin Yi, "Remember to tell that girl Xiaoqing not to work too hard—" Before he finished speaking, he disappeared into the morning light.
Lin Yi's breath hitched.
He recalled the moment before in the virtual world when Su Qing transformed into starlight and stabbed him in the heart.
Looking down at the spatial ring, the newly engraved coordinates suddenly glowed faintly, much like the beauty mark at the corner of Su Qing's eye.
"Commander!" the communications officer suddenly shouted, "The defensive barriers in the Brood Core... are weakening!"
Lin Yi looked up.
The distant mother nest was shrouded in a pale purple mist, which at this moment resembled a veil blown away by the wind, revealing the dark gold patterns flowing within.
He couldn't see it, but he could sense it—a familiar mental fluctuation was passing through the loopholes in the defense system like a fish swimming through water, and wherever it passed, the originally tight energy network cracked open like a spider web.
“Let’s begin.” He distributed the seven keys to the Time Legion members who had gathered around.
Long Wu's palms were burning as he held the key. He grinned at him and said, "I'll be your fuse today!" Captain Lei Bao's longsword suddenly hummed, and the patterns on the key resonated with the blade, sending up tiny sparks of electricity.
The shadowy figure silently walked to his side, pressing his fingertip to the Enforcer emblem on his chest: "I can temporarily suppress the monitoring of advanced civilizations, but only for ten minutes."
"That's enough." Lin Yi took a deep breath and inserted the last key into the node in front of him.
The instant the key was fully inserted, he heard the heartbeat of the entire Earth resounding simultaneously—the conviction of a billion job changers, flowing like a torrent into his consciousness along the seven energy lines.
Deep within my consciousness, the seven keys suddenly connected to form a seven-star diagram.
At the center of the star map, a familiar figure stood with his back to him, his fingertips rapidly tapping on the virtual screen.
Her hair was streaked with data fragments, and as she turned around, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye flickered in the blue light.
"Su Qing..." Lin Yi called softly.
The figure paused, then turned his head and smiled at him.
The next second, alarms suddenly blared throughout the core area of the nest—the first line of defense had shattered.
As the alarm in the core area of the nest tore through the air, Su Qing's data afterimages emerged from the gaps in the dark gold patterns.
Her figure was paler than before, like crushed stars barely stuck together, and the data stream at the ends of her hair was no longer a deep blue, but a grayish-white that was about to dissipate.
"Lin Yi." Her voice was as light as a feather landing on the tip of his heart, yet it made Lin Yi's breath catch in his throat.
Three days ago in the virtual world, she used the same tone, poking his heart before turning into starlight, and said, "Wait for me to come back."
At that moment, her fingertips lightly touched the back of his hand—it was cold, yet it suddenly made the time-traveling watch on his wrist throb with heat. "Time is running out. Once your faith wavers, the link will be severed."
Lin Yi's pupils contracted sharply.
He could see fragments of code floating behind her shoulders, falling like snowflakes. "You..."
"Don't ask." Su Qing smiled, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye flickering in and out of focus amidst the turbulent data flow. "Remember that old locust tree in the beginner village?"
You said, 'When I have the ability, I will protect everyone so they won't have to be afraid anymore.' Her fingertip touched the unhealed wound in his heart. 'Now, their faith is stronger than any shield.'
A muffled roar came from the communicator: "Commander!"
The node energy stability has exceeded 87%!
Lin Yi took a deep breath, swallowing back all the worries that he hadn't yet voiced.
As he turned around, Su Qing's afterimage had already blended into the dark gold patterns of the nodes, leaving only a faint wisp of jasmine fragrance—her favorite perfume in real life.
"Go." He grabbed his tactical knife and slashed his palm, the blood dripping into the groove of the first node.
Seven keys lit up simultaneously in the hands of the Time and Space Legion members. Long Wu's key was so hot that it made his tiger's mouth turn red, but he grinned and showed his white teeth: "My old bones are hotter than lava when they burn!" Captain Thunderstorm's longsword hummed as it cleaved through the surging Shadow Erosion Black Mist. The sparks generated by the resonance between the blade and the key slithered into small snakes on the runes on his wrist guard.
The instant Lin Yi's blood and the key completely fused, his sea of consciousness suddenly exploded into a sea of light.
It was the elemental light of the Donghai City Mage Tower, the rusty smell of the Mobei battle flag, the mud-stained trouser legs of the children in the small mountain village shouting "Brother Lin, keep going!" while holding wooden swords, the key that the old village chief of the beginner village put into his palm before his death, the blood droplets that splattered on his goggles when the archer blocked a fatal blow... A billion fragments of memory, like stars that came to life, surged into his sea of consciousness along the seven energy lines.
He heard countless overlapping "I believe," saw the healer's trembling fingertips as he breathed on the mech, saw the mechanic's face covered in machine oil as he loaded the mech, and even the most timid craft player stood behind the defensive line with a spatula, shouting, "I'll cook you ten pots of hot soup after this battle!"
"This is..." The shadowy figure's voice cracked, a rare occurrence.
The insignia of a law enforcer on his chest was emitting a blinding silver light—a warning signal from an advanced civilization—but at this moment, staring at the semi-transparent star map appearing behind Lin Yi, he thought, "The embodiment of faith?"
"No." Lin Yi's voice carried a strange resonance, as if a billion people were speaking at the same time, "This is hope." He could clearly sense that his mental power was transforming into an invisible net, connecting all seven nodes, the billion job changers, and even the data fragments left behind by Su Qing.
The defensive barrier of the core area of the mother nest crumbled inch by inch under this force, and the energy seeping from the dark gold patterns was drilling into his limbs and bones along his blood vessels.
"Next step." He tore off his blood-stained tactical vest and tied it around his waist. His gaze swept over the old wounds that bled from Long Wu's arm and the ice crystals that had formed on Captain Lei Bao's hair—these brothers who had followed him from the newbie village to where they were now, and at this moment, the light in their eyes was sharper than any weapon.
The unexpected happened when they turned into the third corridor.
The air suddenly hissed and popped as if water had been thrown into hot oil.
Dark purple shadow energy surged from the cracks in the walls from all directions, coalescing into a distorted figure above everyone's heads.
It was a night owl, but even more indistinct than before—his consciousness seemed to have been torn to pieces by the previous collapse, half of his face still retaining the cold, hard outline of an intruder, while the other half oozed a sticky black shadow, like melted wax.
"You think you can turn the tide of war with the delusions of a bunch of ants?" His voice was like two pieces of rusty iron scraping against each other, his red eyes churning with near-mad malice. "Three hundred years ago, I crushed the faith of seven civilizations with Shadow Corrosion; three hours ago, I shattered your fleet with remnant souls; now—" His mutilated hand suddenly slammed against the wall, Shadow Corrosion energy instantly corroding a charred hole. "I will burn these laughable 'hopes' to ashes before you."
Long Wu's fists were clenched so tightly they turned white, and his knuckles cracked: "You old bastard, you're talking nonsense!"
I'm going to—"
"Long Wu." Lin Yi raised his hand and pressed down on his shoulder.
He could sense that with the appearance of the Night Owl, the fluctuations of the faith link noticeably slowed down—somewhere in the distance, a healer's hands were trembling, and a mechanic's wrench had fallen to the ground.
His gaze swept over the shadowy black mist seeping from behind Night Owl, and he suddenly understood why the other party had appeared at this moment.
"You're afraid." Lin Yi suddenly laughed, a smile sharp as a blade. "Afraid that their beliefs can truly form a network, afraid that your Shadow Erosion will no longer be able to corrupt people's hearts." He took a step forward, and the star map behind him suddenly brightened tenfold. "So you rushed out, trying to shake their faith with fear."
The owl's red pupils contracted sharply.
His mangled lips twisted into a distorted arc, and the dark figure suddenly darted toward Lin Yi like a living thing—but was repelled the moment it touched the star map, as if it had crashed into an invisible wall of copper and iron.
"Very well." His voice suddenly turned low, as if countless voices were speaking simultaneously. "Then let me show you how painful it will be when the pillars of faith are crushed..." His mangled hand pressed against his chest, and Shadow Corruption energy suddenly began to spin wildly around him, dark purple bands of light weaving into a giant net across the Mother Nest dome.
Within Lin Yi's sea of consciousness, fine cracks began to appear in the fluctuations of the faith link.
When he looked up, he saw the interdimensional fleet outside the window suddenly tremble collectively. The dark figure on the flagship's command platform raised half a key, and a dark red light crawled along the cracks toward every warship—it was Night Owl mobilizing the negative emotions of all the invaders to unleash a Shadow Erosion Storm powerful enough to tear apart the web of faith.
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