The buzzing of the hidden door closing echoed in his ears, and Lin Yi's palms were red from being burned by the key.
He stared at the four keys trembling in the seven-hole groove in the center of the resonance chamber. Their golden light moved like living things, weaving Su Qing's outline in the air. The words "Don't be afraid" were still swirling in his throat, but now he was burned by the sudden heat emanating from the keys.
\"bite--\"
The character "林" on the key's surface suddenly developed blood-red patterns, which spread outwards like vines.
The moment Lin Yi's fingertips touched the new pattern, the world before him collapsed with a bang.
He fell into a chaotic sea of light.
Countless fragments swirled around.
There were young men dressed in coarse cloth and short jackets, wielding rusty swords to fight against the mechanical onslaught; there were girls with ponytails shielding their infants in the radiation wasteland with their bodies; there were white-haired old men kneeling before a burning library, stuffing ancient book fragments into their chests... Every face carried the same expression: an unquenchable fire burning in their pupils, and an unspoken "no" roaring in their throats.
"This is..." Lin Yi's consciousness was held up by some force, letting the fragments brush against his cheek.
He saw the triangular space his mother had created with her back amidst the earthquake ruins twenty years ago; he saw the last message he sent to his roommate on his broken phone three years ago, "Run!"; he saw the soldier who was blown away by the energy flow but was still smiling three hours ago at the border defense line—it turns out that all the moments when fate crushed him but he still struggled were here.
"Their will, together, became the key."
Su Qing's voice came from the depths of the sea of light, this time as clear as if she were standing right beside him.
Lin Yi turned his head sharply, only to see countless points of light gathering into her eyebrows and eyes: "You always thought that the key was a gift from an advanced civilization, but you are wrong."
Every time I say "I'll do it anyway," every time I say "Let's try again," every time I say "I'd rather die than give in"—these choices, made when fate tramples me into the mud but I struggle to get back up, are the forges of the key.
Lin Yi's breathing suddenly became rapid.
He recalled the system notification when he first triggered the hidden class: "Abnormal will fluctuation detected"; he remembered the faint "thank you" that echoed in his mind after each use of his time-space ability; he remembered the heartbeat patterns that suddenly appeared on the key during the battle—so those weren't system bugs, they were…
"You are not the inheritor of destiny, but its creator." Su Qing's fingertip touched his heart, and a point of light followed her movement, seeping into his consciousness. "The power of a key is never used to open a predetermined door, but to carve a new one into the wall of 'impossibility.'"
Buzz—
The key resonated loudly in the real-world resonance chamber.
Lin Yi's consciousness was abruptly pulled back to his body. He staggered two steps and grabbed the wall for support, the key in his palm vibrating in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Those once obscure lines are now as clear as if they were etched on the retina: every bend is the spine of a human being gritting their teeth and supporting themselves, every crease is a pair of eyes that refuse to close.
"I see." He chuckled softly, his throat overflowing not with weariness, but with an almost burning excitement.
As he looked up at the seven-hole groove, the four keys suddenly rose up at the same time, and golden light shot into his brow like a pillar—this time, there was no rejection, no stinging, only a warmth like returning home.
"Commander, an urgent communication from the shadowy figure at the border." Chu Yao's voice suddenly rang in my ears, data streaming down from the ceiling. "Should I transfer it?"
Lin Yi wiped his face, the golden light of the key seeping through his fingers and casting starlight on the ground: "Catch."
The holographic screen unfolded in front of him, with Long Wu's face squeezed to the left of the screen, blood still dripping from his forehead: "I've peeled off three layers of that bastard's broken matrix!"
The core of this fucking thing is actually...
"The remnants of the First Will." The voice of the shadowy figure came from the right. His hood had been pulled back, revealing a hideous old scar on his left cheek. "Fragments of the ultimate weapon used by advanced civilizations to erase failed civilizations."
The owl transformed it into a 'throne of gods,' intending to use the power of the key to weld itself to the causal threads of all worlds.
Long Wu slammed his fist on the metal control panel, sparks flying: "That old bastard's gone mad!"
He said something about 'making all worlds kneel before a new god,' but I found out—the moment this damn matrix activates, all the worlds he 'saved' will become his batteries!
"Resonance frequency monitoring complete." Chu Yao's data stream suddenly condensed into a blue spectrum. "The resonance between the key and the matrix will reach its peak in seventeen minutes and thirty seconds."
At that time, the energy fields of the two will form a closed loop, unless the connection is severed before the peak...
"Otherwise, the Night Owl could bite its way directly into our reality dimension through the key," Lin Yi interjected. He turned the key, and golden light traced a bright path across the spectrum. "An attack before the peak will cause a breach in the matrix's defenses due to energy overload."
"Smart." Chu Yao's data stream circled around him. "Do I need to adjust all the firepower nodes simultaneously?"
"Adjust." Lin Yi tossed the key into the air and caught it steadily. "Move the entire quantum cannon unit of the 'Time-Space Legion' to the border. Long Wu will lead the vanguard to flank from behind through the rift. The Shadow will cut off the matrix's energy supply—" His gaze swept over the two figures on the holographic screen. "Remember, we're not going to defend; we're going to dismantle his pedestal."
Long Wu grinned, revealing his white teeth, and twirled the bloodstained tactical knife between his fingers: "Alright!"
I'm going to go and turn that bastard's 'sacred throne' into a hornet's nest!
The shadowy figure's scar twitched as he smiled, and he pulled his hood back up: "Scum of advanced civilization should be cleaned up using the methods of advanced civilization."
The moment the holographic screen went out, Lin Yi looked down at the key.
Those patterns forged by human will are breathing, each blink seeming to say, "We are here."
He pushed open the door to the resonance chamber. The alarm lights in the corridor were still flashing red and blue, but this time the light shining on his face was brighter than ever before.
"Chu Yao." He paused, gazing towards the battlefield, the night wind ruffling his clothes. "Notify all lines of defense: I will personally initiate this battle of destiny."
Deep within another dimension, the owl stands at the center of a rotating matrix.
His fingertips traced the cracks on the remnants of the First Will, and behind him, on the floating light screen, Lin Yi's image was walking out of the resonance chamber.
"So it's finally here?" He laughed maniacally, his black cloak fluttering wildly in the turbulent energy. "Let me see if your 'fate' can be tougher than my 'new god'!"
Meanwhile, the shadowy figure who had just ended the communication was crouching in front of the damaged energy pipe, inspecting it.
He suddenly looked up towards the direction of the main ship's command room—there, Lin Yi's figure had just appeared in front of the porthole, nodding slightly in his direction.
The shadowy figure unconsciously stroked the hilt of the dagger, his Adam's apple bobbing.
There are some things that need to be asked.
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