The cold light from the laboratory lamps cast tiny, fragmented spots of light into Lin Yi's pupils.
He lowered his eyes and stared at the mark on the back of his left hand. The once vibrant, surging light thread now seemed to have been drained of its life force, lying gray and lifeless on his skin, like a faded old scar.
"Chu Yao." As he spoke, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end—this was an intuition developed from long-term dealings with spacetime turbulence; some higher-dimensional gaze was piercing through the ceiling, scratching itchy marks on the edge of his consciousness.
The holographic projection solidified into a physical form three steps away.
The blue light emanating from Chu Yao's hair was brighter than usual, clearly indicating she had just finished a round of overloaded computation: "The mainframe has synchronized your brainwave frequency. The stripping process requires you to actively open your consciousness sea permissions." She tapped her fingertip, and a pale golden stream of data floated in mid-air. "However, it must be noted that the anchor point of the imprint may be deeply embedded in your spacetime origin." Her voice showed a slight fluctuation for the first time, "If the stripping fails..."
"You'll lose control of the flow of time." Lin Yi replied very quickly, as if he had already recited this sentence a hundred times in his mind.
He tapped the control panel with his finger, the crisp sound of metal striking bone startling dust from the ventilation ducts. "That's why we need to do it now." He looked up, his eyes gleaming with a dark golden light—a sign of the power of spacetime boiling within his veins. "The Observer has noticed me. Keeping this thing any longer is just handing them the key."
The air in the laboratory suddenly froze.
Ivan's figure emerged from the shadows.
The man, once parasitized by the core of the nest, now had eyes as clear as melting snow. He raised a hand to his temple, his knuckles turning white from the pressure: "The spatial folds are expanding." His voice was hoarse, like metal scraping against water. "Something is..." He suddenly paused, his Adam's apple bobbing twice, "...watching our separation process."
Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly.
He remembered that three days ago Ivan was a war machine controlled by a parasite, but now he could clearly sense high-dimensional fluctuations—this might be related to the residual energy in the core of the mother nest.
But there was no time to think about it in detail.
He nodded to Ivan: "How long will the consciousness barrier take?"
"Synchronize your mental frequency." Ivan walked to stand opposite him, and a pale purple mist rose between them. "Three seconds."
Chu Yao's light screen suddenly burst out with a blinding red light.
She raised her hand and pressed the interface behind her ear, data flowing from her fingertips: "Dragon Five Squad has transmitted abnormal data." She turned to look at Lin Yi, "The residual energy from the abandoned observation tower originates from the same source as the fluctuations on the agent."
"Take care of what's in front of us first." Lin Yi closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. The spacetime light cluster deep within his sea of consciousness began to slowly rotate. "We'll analyze Long Wu's discovery after the peeling is complete." He extended his left hand, the veins on his wrist bulging like bluish-purple earthworms. "Let's begin."
Chu Yao pressed her fingertips against the mark on the back of his hand.
The blue light spread along the skin's texture, like applying a layer of flowing ice to a wound.
Lin Yineng could clearly feel an invisible thread being slowly drawn out from the deepest part of his consciousness—that was the anchor point that bound the mark to him.
"Phase one stripping is 70% complete." Chu Yao's voice seemed to come from a great distance. "Reverse pulling force detected... Ivan!"
Ivan's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
His pupils were turning into vertical pupils that were not human, and behind them emerged translucent phantoms of the mother nest tentacles—the suppressed parasites instinctively resisting the invasion of higher dimensions.
He let out a low roar, his hands forming a strange hand seal. The pale purple mist instantly thickened to a tangible thickness, enveloping Lin Yi's sea of consciousness in a cocoon: "Hold on!"
They're interfering with the consciousness link!
The pain from the peeling suddenly intensified.
Lin Yi's fingernails dug deeply into his palm, the taste of blood exploding between his teeth.
He could see that the anchor line was glowing with an eerie blood-red light, like a venomous snake whose tail had been stepped on, frantically gnawing at his spacetime origin.
\"Chu Yao!
"Increase the output!" he commanded through gritted teeth, his temples throbbing. "We can't let it..."
"Wait!" Chu Yao's voice suddenly rose.
Her projection showed a distinct double image. "The mark is... evolving?"
The air in the laboratory began to distort.
Fine cracks appeared on the metal surface of the console, like tin foil being kneaded by an invisible giant hand.
The spacetime light cluster in Lin Yi's sea of consciousness trembled violently, its originally regular rotation turning into a chaotic vortex, with tiny fragments of light being flung out, leaving burning spots on his retina.
Ivan!
The barrier is about to collapse! "The blue light at Chu Yao's fingertips began to flicker. It's drawing upon... the energy of the spacetime rift?"
Lin Yi suddenly laughed.
He could feel the anchor line trying to pierce his heart—but that only made him see the full picture of the mark.
The so-called "observer marker" was merely a coordinate anchor used by advanced civilizations for positioning, and at this moment, this anchor was frantically absorbing nutrients from his spacetime power, trying to break free of its cocoon and become a butterfly.
"Trying to turn against me?" He chuckled softly, and the spacetime light cluster in his sea of consciousness suddenly froze.
All the swirling light fragments instantly returned to their positions, condensing into ancient runes on the surface of the light cluster.
That was the "Time-Space Lock" he had seen in the mythical inheritance. "I'll show you who truly owns this place."
He raised his right hand, and a crystal with black and white colors floated in his palm—this was a fragment of origin that he had picked up from a spacetime rift three days ago.
The moment the crystal touched the mark, all the lights in the laboratory went out simultaneously.
In the darkness, Lin Yi heard Chu Yao's exclamation, Ivan's muffled groan, and a roar similar to the cracking of a glacier.
His left hand began to burn, and the once dormant mark now shone brightly, like a living fire about to burn through his skin.
"It's coming," he whispered into the darkness.
The next second, ripples suddenly appeared on the laboratory floor.
All the metal equipment began to float uncontrollably, Chu Yao's projection completely collapsed into a data stream, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared in Ivan's consciousness barrier.
Meanwhile, the mark on the back of Lin Yi's left hand was turning from gray to a fiery golden-red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The stripping ceremony has only just begun.
The laboratory's metal floor groaned in the turbulent flow of spacetime, and Lin Yi could hear the cracking of his own bones—the sound of higher-dimensional energy reshaping his body structure at a microscopic level.
The mark on the back of his left hand was now a deep purplish-red, like a red-hot branding iron, with charred smoke rising from the skin. Yet, his nerves were unusually clear due to the covering of the power of spacetime, and every bit of pain was magnified into a sharp needle, piercing the most sensitive area of his consciousness.
"Stripping progress 43%!"
"The reverse erosion rate has increased to 70%!" Chu Yao's voice crackled with electrical noise. Her projection now showed only half a face, the other half scrolling code. "Mainframe calculations show that the imprint is absorbing your spacetime origin to build a new anchor point—it's evolving into a more advanced tracker!"
Ivan's mental barrier suddenly erupted with a blinding purple light.
The phantom of the mother nest tentacles on his back had materialized, the bluish-gray tentacles covered with barbs, and were entangled and torn apart by some invisible force.
The veins on his neck bulged, and a golden glint flashed in his originally clear eyes—the suppressed parasite's instinctive resistance: "The higher-dimensional observer is betting!"
They...they're using the templater's sea of consciousness as fuel!
Template creator?
This word struck Lin Yi like a thunderbolt, shattering his chaotic thoughts.
He suddenly remembered the energy residue that Long Wu had discovered in the abandoned observation tower three days ago—those fragmented consciousnesses, and the patterns engraved on the metal wall that shared the same origin as his own.
It turns out that the so-called "observer markers" are not randomly assigned locators at all, but rather experimental markers used by advanced civilizations to select "template-breaking" test subjects!
The spacetime light cluster in his mind suddenly trembled violently.
Lin Yi gritted his teeth, the taste of blood churning in his throat, but it only fueled the ruthlessness in his bones.
He mobilized the power of spacetime to go against the current, tracing back along the anchor line that was gnawing at the origin—his consciousness suddenly seemed to be thrown into a vacuum, and the laboratory in front of him, Chu Yao's projection, and Ivan's tentacles all disappeared.
Nothingness. Absolute nothingness.
But it is not empty.
Countless pale golden marks floated in the darkness, each mark trailing a slender chain of light, connecting to distant points of light.
Lin Yi stared intently, and all the points of light were actually human silhouettes—there were warriors wearing ancient armor, future people wrapped in quantum suits, an old scholar with gray hair, and even a little girl holding a rag doll.
Their faces were blurry, yet they inexplicably reminded him of the photos Long Wu had taken at the observation tower: those corpses, drained of their consciousness, all wore the same empty smiles.
"These... are all template breakers?" Lin Yi's voice stirred ripples in the void. The nearest mark suddenly vibrated violently, and the light spot at the other end of the light chain suddenly became clear—it was a boy wearing a blue and white school uniform with a hideous scar on his left cheek, who was showing him a sinister smile.
"Welcome to the Observer's Database."
Mechanical noises surged in from all directions, making Lin Yi's eardrums ache.
He then discovered that each mark was engraved with the same runes, and the matrix formed by those runes was exactly the same as the spacetime lock pattern in his sea of consciousness!
"You're collecting samples of rule-breaking." Lin Yi suddenly smiled. He could feel his consciousness being digitized, yet he calmed down instead. "That's why we're marking each template user. When they grow to the point of threatening civilization, we'll extract their essence as nourishment."
"Ding—Template holder number 999 has been detected with self-consistent awakening logic." The mechanical voice suddenly changed tone, like rusty gears grinding together. "Initiating the cleanup process."
Countless chains of light suddenly straightened and pierced towards Lin Yi's consciousness.
He instinctively tried to manipulate the power of time and space, but found that the rules here were completely different from reality—his abilities were like being trapped in a glass dome, visible but untouchable.
"Lin Yi! Grab my data stream!"
Chu Yao's voice pierced through the void.
Lin Yi looked up and saw a pale blue band of light hanging down from above, with familiar code flowing across its surface: it was the highest-level permission protocol of the main brain's core.
The moment he reached out and grabbed the light band, the light chains suddenly shattered into fragments, the void began to collapse, and countless marks and points of light were sucked into the black vortex.
"High-dimensional simulation technology activated, synchronizing your consciousness frequency..." Chu Yao's voice gradually became clear, and the cold light of the laboratory pierced her pupils again. "Separation successful!"
The mark has been erased.
Lin Yi suddenly opened his eyes. The skin on the back of his left hand was as smooth as ever, without even a scar.
But his right hand was still clutching the fragment of origin, its surface now covered with spiderweb-like cracks, clearly having exhausted its energy in the previous battle of consciousness.
"Ivan?" He turned to look to his left.
Ivan was kneeling on the ground, the phantom image of the Mother Nest tentacles had disappeared, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead onto the metal floor, making a "sizzling" sound.
When he looked up, the golden light in his eyes had completely faded, revealing the exhaustion of someone who had survived a disaster: "The barrier... held up."
Those higher-dimensional perspectives... have disappeared.
Chu Yao's projection solidified back into a complete human form. The blue light at the tips of her hair was three-tenths dimmer than usual, clearly indicating the immense energy drained by the recent high-dimensional intervention: "Abnormal spatial fluctuations detected." She raised her hand, drawing a blade of light, and a semi-transparent rift immediately appeared in the air. "It's a spacetime rift, very weak, but..."
A bone-chilling cold suddenly surged from the crack.
Lin Yi's neck hairs stood on end again; this time it wasn't a gut feeling, but a real, tangible warning of danger.
He saw a ghostly green light flowing deep within the rift, much like the energy of the core of the mother nest, but more murky and violent.
"You think you're breaking free from fate?"
A hoarse whisper seeped from the crack, carrying a rotten, sweet stench: "You've simply stepped into a deeper cycle of reincarnation."
Lin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.
He recognized the voice—it was in the observation tower three days ago, in the recordings left in the brains of those corpses whose consciousness had been drained, and in the warnings that swept through his sea of consciousness every time he used the power of spacetime.
It turns out that the observer's voice wasn't a mechanical sound at all, but this!
He raised his hand, gathering the power of space and time, intending to crush the rift directly.
But when the fingertips touched the edge of the crack, it was like hitting a very elastic gel. All the force was rebounded, and even a few strands of eerie green energy drilled into the body through the fingertips, burning hot marks in the blood vessels.
"Something's pushing." Ivan suddenly stood up. His sense of smell was three times sharper than a normal person's, and he was now frowning as he sniffed towards the crack. "It's a living thing, not an energy entity."
Chu Yao's fingertips rapidly tapped the virtual keyboard, and a line of blood-red warning popped up on the screen: "The spatial dimension at the other end of the rift... is higher than the current universe."
"Analyzing energy characteristics..." Her fingers suddenly stopped. "97% match—consistent with the 'Interdimensional Invader' energy model from your mythical heritage."
The laboratory's ventilation system suddenly emitted a piercing scream.
Lin Yi could feel the crack expanding at a visible speed, the eerie green light growing stronger and stronger, even casting distorted shadows on the ground.
Just as he was about to mobilize all the power of spacetime to forcibly seal it off, a blurry outline emerged from the depths of the rift—a humanoid figure, but half a head taller than a normal person, with bony wing-like protrusions on its shoulders and back, its face shrouded in black mist, the only two visible features being a pair of eerie green eyes that were locked on him.
"Finally..." The figure raised its hand, the palm emerging from the black mist covered in scale-like patterns. "I've waited for you."
The rate of crack expansion suddenly accelerated.
Lin Yi gritted his teeth, and the power of spacetime formed a storm within his body. He could feel his heart working overtime and his bones issuing warnings that they were about to shatter, but he could not retreat—once this rift was fully opened, the entire laboratory, the entire city, and even the entire dimension could be invaded.
"Stop! Stop!" he roared, his hands forming a hand seal for the Time Lock.
The expanding rift suddenly stopped, the eerie green light began to shrink, and half of the figure's face was squeezed to the edge of the rift, revealing sharp white teeth.
The laboratory alarm suddenly went off.
Chu Yao's projection appeared double again: "Mainframe notification: Your vital signs have exceeded the critical threshold!"
"Hold on." Lin Yi's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of his throat. He could see a dark golden light emanating from beneath his skin—the power of spacetime forcibly repairing his body. "Long Wu should be arriving soon..."
An angry roar came from the crack.
The figure's bone wings suddenly unfurled, slamming into the edge of the crack and tearing open another gap the width of a thumb.
Blood trickled from the corner of Lin Yi's mouth, but he smiled instead—this was the opening he wanted.
He bit his tongue hard, and blood splattered onto the crack.
The power of spacetime, wrapped in his life essence, was driven into the edge of the rift like a steel nail.
The speed at which the crack expanded slowed down to the naked eye, and the figure's movements also became sluggish, as if a slow-motion button had been pressed.
"Now..." Lin Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes as cold as an icy blade, "My turn."
The figure deep within the crevice suddenly let out a terrified scream.
But before it could do anything more, the laboratory door was slammed open—Long Wu, wrapped in a dragon scale battle suit, rushed in, followed by three team members carrying heavy energy cannons.
"Boss!" Long Wu's voice was filled with elation, "We've brought the anti-space device from the observation tower!"
Lin Yi looked up at him, then turned to look at the still struggling crack.
He could sense that the figure's power was waning, and knew that he had temporarily suppressed it.
But the eerie green eyes remained fixed on him, and in the final moments before the rift completely closed, a muffled threat came through: "You...can't escape..."
"I'll wait," Lin Yi said in a low voice.
He released his grip on the time lock, his body swayed, but Long Wu caught him in time.
As he looked down, he saw a faint golden light flash beneath the skin of his left hand—as if something had been temporarily sealed away.
Chu Yao's projection suddenly flickered, and her voice, unusually anxious, said, "Unknown energy has been detected within your body!"
"Take care of the crack first." Lin Yi pressed down on Long Wu's shoulder, looking up at the crack that was still slowly closing. "The rest... we'll talk about later."
The last ray of light from the crack vanished into the air.
The laboratory fell silent again, with only the ventilation system still emitting a piercing hum.
Lin Yi stared at the spot where the crack had just appeared, his gaze gradually darkening—he knew this was just the beginning.
The figure's words still echoed in his ears.
"I've finally waited for you."
And he finally got to know the truth hidden behind the fog.
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