The mist in the chaotic sea of light suddenly condensed into ice crystals. The instant Lin Yi's fingertips touched the key, a golden and black stream of light burrowed into his bloodstream as if it were alive.
He heard a crisp cracking sound from his joints, and the dormant spacetime emblem deep within his sea of consciousness suddenly awoke. Seven streams of light of different colors tore through from seven spacetime dimensions—projections of the first six keys of creation.
"No!" The roar of the night owl shook the sea of light to its core, and spiderweb-like patterns appeared on the core of the mother nest on his forehead. Dark purple viscous fluid dripped down his cheeks and onto the ground, corroding out a sizzling black hole.
The leader of this invading force, who had wiped out civilizations in three star systems, now had a near-hysterical madness surging in his eyes: "You have no idea what's locked in this key!"
His figure left more than ten afterimages in the void, his claws wrapped with the power of a swarm of insects capable of crushing epic-level equipment, aiming straight for Lin Yi's throat.
But Lin Yi's fingertips had already fully grasped the key, and the tremors of the seven keys resonated through his arm and into his heart. He could clearly feel every cell cheering—it was the authority belonging to the master of time and space, finally breaking free from the last shackle.
"Too slow." When Lin Yi spoke, his voice carried an ethereal quality that was not human.
He didn't even move; he simply used his mind to make "Starry Sky" lie horizontally beside him.
The moment the owl's claws collided with the sword, a deafening roar erupted, enough to shatter mortal eardrums, yet it couldn't even pierce the eerie blue aura on the blade.
This is the power of the seven keys combined into one.
"How is this possible?!" Night Owl staggered back three steps, and the core of the hive on his chest suddenly contracted violently. Behind him, a swarm of insect phantoms covering the entire sea of light appeared, each with a mouth covered with barbs. "I have merged with the consciousness of a million hives!"
"I've devoured energy sources from three dimensions!" His fingernails carved deep marks into the stone wall. "You're nothing but an experimental subject kept by an advanced civilization—"
"But they chose me." Lin Yi looked up, and seven keys projected above his head, forming a star map. He could see Chu Yao's projection in front of the reality terminal: the girl's silver hair stood on end, and star trails composed of data streams danced in her pupils. "Activate the faith link."
"Connected." Chu Yao's voice crackled with static; her virtual body was disintegrating—the price of simultaneously connecting to the consciousness of thirty million job changers worldwide. "Their beliefs... are sharper than the corruption of the Mother Nest."
The next second, countless points of light appeared on Lin Yi's skin.
That is the belief left behind by the shield warrior who blocked the swarm of insects with his body on the icy plains of the North; that is the obsession of the healer who used his last bit of supernatural power to repair the spacetime rift in the water towns of Jiangnan; that is the prayer of the old village chief of the beginner village as he trembled and raised his hoe, "Protect this child."
These points of light converged into a golden torrent, condensing into a translucent star ring around him.
The owl's pupils suddenly contracted.
He could feel that force peeling away the erosion of this dimension by the mother hive, like cutting through rotten flesh with the sharpest knife. "Break!" He pressed his hands on the core of the mother hive, and dark purple energy surged out like a volcanic eruption. The swarm of phantoms opened their huge mouths, about to devour Lin Yi along with the key.
The ring of faith trembled violently, and cracks spread like a spider web.
Lin Yi bit his tongue, the taste of blood exploding in his mouth—this wasn't pain, but a signal to wake himself up.
He could hear Chu Yao's breathing becoming more and more rapid, he could hear the members of the Time and Space Legion shouting "Boss, hang in there!" in the channel, and he could hear Su Qing... Su Qing?
\"careful!\"
A familiar voice came from the depths of the sea of light.
The moment Lin Yi turned his head, he saw a figure made up of data fragments crash into his arms.
That was Su Qing. Her features were even fainter than three days ago, and the ends of her hair were fading away, yet she used the last bit of her data body power to create a pale blue barrier around the two of them.
"Su Qing?" Lin Yi's voice suddenly cracked.
He recalled three months ago, when this girl, who always carried her laptop and handed him milk tea, voluntarily merged her consciousness into the sea of data in order to repair the spacetime anchor point contaminated by the swarm of insects.
Back then, she laughed and said, "At worst, I'll be your personal assistant from now on." But now, the edges of her data body are being corroded by the energy of the night owl, like dandelions scattered by the wind.
"Don't speak." Su Qing tilted her head back, her eyes, composed of data, gleaming with gentle light. She raised her hand and placed it on Lin Yi's chest, where the key glowed warmly with her movement. "I can feel... this key needs more than just power; it also needs... our shared desire."
The owl's attack has arrived.
The moment the dark purple energy collided with the blue barrier, Su Qing's data body emitted a blinding white light.
Lin Yin could clearly sense that her presence was slipping away, like sand held in his palm, which he could not hold onto no matter how hard he tried.
"Promise me..." Su Qing's voice began to blur, her fingertips gently tracing Lin Yi's cheek, "Don't let us die in vain."
As the last word vanished, the blue barrier shattered with a deafening roar.
But the Night Owl's attack also weakened by a third at this moment—that was because Su Qing used all of her data body's power to block the most fatal blow for Lin Yi.
The sea of light suddenly fell silent.
Lin Yi looked down at the key in his palm. It was no longer gold and black, but had a warm milky white color, as if it had been infused with something purer.
He could hear Chu Yao calling his name in the communication, and he could hear the cheers of the Shi-Air Force Legion breaking through the blockade, but these sounds were very far away.
The most recent memory is Su Qing's gentle smile before she disappeared.
The owl's breathing suddenly became heavy.
He watched as Lin Yi raised his head, and in those once calm eyes, a flame that chilled even him to the bone surged.
That wasn't anger, it was... it was a near-sacred light ignited by faith.
"You think killing her will defeat me?" As Lin Yi spoke, the projections of the seven keys simultaneously entered his body.
He could feel the spatial rift opening behind him, and he could feel the beliefs of all the job changers solidifying into a tangible form in his consciousness. "No, she made me understand... that so-called mythology is never the power of one person."
He raised "Starry Sky," its tip pointing at Night Owl. This time, even Guanghai trembled for him.
"Now," Lin Yi's voice resonated with millions, "it's my turn."
The owl suddenly took a half step back.
For the first time, he saw a true god in the eyes of this human being—not the lofty god of advanced civilizations, but... a living god standing with millions of people.
Unseen by Lin Yi, before Chu Yao's virtual body completely collapsed, she softly uttered: "Faith Link, Overload Activation."
The data flow poured into Lin Yi's body like a galaxy.
The trajectory of the entire space-time began to appear in his pupils.
The sea of light distorted into fragments in Lin Yi's pupils.
The faint, almost transparent smile that Su Qing gave before she disappeared was like a red-hot iron rod, piercing directly into the softest part of his consciousness.
"Su Qing..." he murmured the name, and as his Adam's apple bobbed, the Seven Keys of Creation in his palm suddenly glowed with a warm light.
The projections that originally belonged to the seven keys were now drilling into his limbs and bones along his bloodline—not invading, but returning to their rightful place.
He finally understood the meaning of Su Qing's last words: what this key requires is a shared desire.
At this moment, the beliefs of the 30 million job changers, Su Qing's obsession with her life, and even Chu Yao's resolute "overload start" before her collapse, are like seven chains, warming this key that should have been cold into a spark of warmth.
"Die!" The roar of the night owl tore through the sea of light.
Three deep, bone-revealing fissures split open in the core of his maternal nest on his chest, and dark purple viscous fluid splattered into the void, corroding out black holes that devoured light.
But this time, his insectoid swarm was no longer a colossal maw that blotted out the sky; instead, it resembled a lifeless rag with grayish-white fragments at its edges—the power of faith was stripping away his erosion of this dimension, and even his most prized Hive energy was being gnawed away bit by bit by the golden star ring.
Lin Yi looked up.
He could see the ice crystals still clinging to the frozen eyelashes of the Northern Shield Warrior, hear the last breath of the Jiangnan Healer's "Hold on," and touch the calluses worn into the handle of the old village chief's hoe in the beginner village—these fragments solidified in his sea of consciousness, transforming into longswords forged from faith, hovering around him.
"Is this...the power of mythology?" he murmured to himself, his fingertips lightly tracing the spine of the sword "Starry Sky".
The blade hummed, and in response he received thirty million resounding shouts of "Kill!"
The next second, a golden storm erupted from beneath his feet.
That was no ordinary wind; it was a torrent of thirty million beliefs, a manifestation of faith, carrying the cold of the icy plains, the warmth of the water towns, and the warmth of the villages, causing the sea of light to surge and boil.
The owl swarm of insect phantoms was caught in the storm and instantly emitted a piercing shriek, peeling off in chunks to reveal the bluish-gray bone fragments underneath.
"Impossible!" Night Owl staggered back, his nails digging deep into his palms. "I fused with a million insect hives!"
I devoured energy sources from three dimensions—
"But you were never needed by anyone." Lin Yi's voice was mixed with countless overlapping tracks, the voices of all the job changers who trusted him. "And they... entrusted their lives to me."
He raised his hand.
The projections of the seven keys above the head rearranged to form a rotating star map.
A pitch-black rift opened up at the center of the star map. What surged out from the depths of the rift was not darkness, but chaos purer than light—the power of the ruler of spacetime, finally freed from all shackles.
"The Gate of Creation, open."
Before the words were finished, the sea of light trembled violently.
A colossal bronze gate, thousands of feet tall, slowly rose from the crack. The gate was covered with runes that Lin Yi had never seen before. Clear, melodious bells rang out from within the gate, each sound causing the core of the Night Owl's nest to tremble.
"No—!" Night Owl finally showed fear.
He frantically pounded on the core of the mother hive, and dark purple energy gushed out like a fountain, condensing into a semi-transparent insect armor in front of him.
But the moment the insect armor touched the golden storm, it melted at a visible speed, like ice being roasted by fire, sizzling and emitting white steam.
"A spacetime rift has appeared." Lin Yi flicked his finger.
Twelve tiny cracks opened around Night Owl, each crack reflecting a phantom image of Lin Yi.
The phantoms simultaneously raised "Starry Sky," their sword tips pointing directly at the night owl's throat.
The owl's pupils contracted sharply.
He swung his claws to shatter the nearest phantom, only to see another phantom attack from behind; he spun around to dodge the attack from the left, but the phantom from the right was already stabbing at his chest.
These phantoms were not illusions—each sword strike carried real spacetime power, slicing through his scales and armor, and deepening the cracks in the core of the mother nest.
"You think this is an illusion?" Lin Yi's true form suddenly appeared behind Night Owl, his voice icy. "This is... an afterimage of time." He gripped "Starry Sky" in his backhand and slammed the hilt heavily against Night Owl's nape.
The excruciating pain caused the owl to let out a dying cry.
He turned to pounce, but saw twelve phantoms simultaneously sheath their swords, the tips of which were all pointing at the core of his mother nest.
"It's over." Lin Yi raised his left hand, the light from the Gate of Creation making his eyes shine. "Go where you belong, Night Owl."
Twelve illusory figures stabbed out simultaneously.
This time, there was no chance to dodge.
The power of the seven keys, the torrent of faith, and the authority of time and space are all condensed into these twelve sword shadows.
The owl's insect armor shattered into dust, and the core of the mother hive erupted with a blinding purple light—it was his final struggle.
But all the struggles vanished into nothingness the moment they touched the Gate of Creation.
The owl's body was sucked toward the giant gate, his roar growing sharper and thinner until it finally turned into a mournful whimper.
Just as his toes were about to touch the door, he suddenly looked up at Lin Yi: "You think... sealing me means you've won?"
The Mother Nest... the Mother Nest also has...
\"Bang--\"
The massive bronze gate slammed shut.
The runes on the door began to dissipate, and the mist in the sea of light receded rapidly, as if water had been drained.
Cracks were heard coming from the stone walls of the labyrinth of fate, clearly indicating that the space could no longer withstand the power of the Gate of Creation.
Lin Yi stood in the void, watching the seven keys in his palm slowly merge together.
The golden and black light intertwined and eventually condensed into a rhombus-shaped crystal, with starlight flowing inside.
He could feel that the crystal contained not only the power of the Seven Keys, but also thirty million warm beliefs and Su Qing's last gentle smile.
"Boss!"
"Lin Yi!"
The communication channel suddenly malfunctioned.
They were members of the Time Legion, who broke through the insect swarm's blockade and finally stormed into the central core.
But Lin Yi did not respond.
As he gazed at the crumbling labyrinth of fate, a strange yet familiar voice suddenly rang in his ears, as if drifting from a great distance, or perhaps echoing directly within his consciousness:
"You think it's over? This is just the beginning."
The moment the sound fell, the crystal formed by the fusion of the seven keys suddenly became hot.
Lin Yi looked down and saw a line of runes he had never seen before appear on the surface of the crystal. The trajectory of the runes was exactly the same as the engravings on the Gate of Creation.
The sound of the labyrinth of fate collapsing is getting closer and closer.
Lin Yi gripped the crystal tightly, turned around, and leaped towards the spacetime rift—that was the direction of the real world.
Unbeknownst to him, a faint, dark purple crack was slowly spreading at a speed invisible to the naked eye on the closed Gate of Creation behind him.
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