The alarm in the command center sounded like a wild beast being choked, emitting a piercing, distorted tone.
Chu Yao's projection froze in mid-air, data streams surging from her pupils and then suddenly disappearing, revealing a pair of amber eyes that were no different from those of an ordinary person.
“Signal strength exceeds 30%.” Her fingertips were still pressed against the viewing window, and pale golden watermarks on the glass surface were spreading along her fingers. “Frequency 3, and the consistency with the core code of the main brain… 99.7%.”
Lin Yi's molars ached from clenching them.
The compass on his left chest was so hot it felt like it was about to pierce through his tactical uniform. The burning sensation felt unlike the previous backlash; it was more like some kind of urgent urging.
He gazed at the gradually expanding expanse of deep blue outside the viewing window, and the illusion from the compass when he awakened three years ago suddenly overlapped before his eyes—a floating crystal city, city walls inscribed with unknown characters, and a giant gate slowly opening.
“The Gate of Destiny,” he murmured, his voice ripped apart by the blaring alarm.
The tactical screen suddenly lit up with red light, and Aizen's communication request popped up. He was holding Chu Yao's wrist, wanting to ask her "what do you remember?", but he stopped the moment he touched her skin—the temperature was no different from that of an ordinary person, and even carried a trace of body heat.
"Commander, all units at the front have reached their designated coordinates." Aizen's voice came through the communicator, with the roar of energy cannons in the background. "After the γ-12 node closed, the attack of the extradimensional creatures weakened by 30%, but... please look at the tactical screen."
Lin Yi looked down and saw that the red dots that originally represented the enemy forces in the holographic projection were converging at a visible speed, forming a vortex-shaped dark purple light spot below the Gate of Destiny.
Black mist churned at the center of the light spot, resembling shattered stardust.
"Summon all commanders for an emergency meeting in ten minutes." He ripped the communicator from his tactical uniform collar, his knuckles tapping the tactical console with a dull thud. "How's things on Long Wu's end?"
"Dragon's body temperature has stabilized at 41.8 degrees Celsius, and the bloodline surge has slowed down after the injection of dragon blood essence." The medical officer's voice trembled with tension. "But his dragon markings are evolving into mythical-level markings. We just detected... a phantom of a real dragon hovering outside the medical pod."
Lin Yi tugged at the corner of his mouth, the wound throbbing painfully from the pulling.
That kid Long Wu always manages to surprise people when things are at their most dangerous.
He swiped quickly on the tactical screen, marking Long Wu's medical pod as a "top-level protected target," and then sent an order to Whitebeard: "Old man, take the Shockwave Legion to seal off the remaining rifts at the γ-12 node, and don't let those bugs crawl in again."
A signature chuckle came through the communicator: "Don't worry, young friend, this old man's shockwave fist isn't so old that it can't even seal a spatial rift."
As the conference projection unfolded in the center of the command cabin, Chu Yao's projection had returned to a semi-transparent state, but the human emotions in her eyes had not yet faded.
The twelve split screens lit up one after another, showing Aizen's battlefield smoke, Whitebeard's shockwave gauntlets, the dragon's shadow outside Long Wu's medical pod, and even the ancient martial arts elders far away at the Alliance headquarters in reality, all looking at Lin Yi at the same time.
"An unknown energy source has been detected that is from the same source as the main brain's code." Chu Yao's voice suddenly interrupted the meeting. "According to database comparison, this is... a projection signal from the Void Realm Core."
"What?!" The ancient martial arts elder's beard bristled. "The core of the Void Realm? Isn't that the legendary monster that can devour dimensions?"
“Worse.”
A hoarse male voice suddenly burst out from the system channel, and Xuan Mingzi's phantom appeared in the center of the conference projection.
His Taoist robe was no longer a stream of illusory data, but rather looked as if it had been splashed with ink, with black mist seeping from every fold. "This is not a projection, but the core of the virtual world taking root in reality through the Gate of Destiny. If they complete the ritual—" His finger swept across the tactical screen, and the dark purple light spot in the projection instantly expanded into the shape of a black hole, "the entire dimension of reality will be crushed into particles and become nourishment for the virtual world."
A hissing sound came from the command center.
In Aizen's split screen, she was supporting her body with her battle sword, her knuckles turning white; Whitebeard's shockwave gauntlets were humming, clearly suppressing the urge to fight; the dragon shadow outside Ryugo's medical pod suddenly roared, causing spiderweb cracks to appear in the medical pod's glass.
"Where's Night Owl?" Lin Yi's voice was as cold as ice. "Wasn't that old bastard blasted to smithereens by us?"
A shadow suddenly gathered in the corner of the command cabin.
When the shadowy figure emerged from the darkness, even the alarm sounded weaker.
His face remained hidden beneath the hood, but his voice was colder than ever: "He's not dead." A ghostly green light flashed beneath the hood, as if some kind of energy core was in operation. "Fragments of his consciousness are parasitizing the core node of the Mother Nest, using the power of the Void Core to reshape his body. Once the ritual is complete... he will become a true dimensional ruler."
Lin Yi's fingers left deep dents on the tactical screen.
He could hear his own heartbeat, each beat faster than the last.
The burning sensation from the compass spread from his veins to his fingertips, and he suddenly remembered what Chu Yao had said three days ago—the voice in the chip was the same as the tone of her voice when she was born.
Could that floating city be not only the beginning, but also the end?
"Commander!" Aizen's split screen suddenly shook violently as her sword struck some kind of transparent barrier, sending up blinding sparks. "The enemy has deployed an energy matrix below the Gate of Destiny; our attack has been deflected!"
"Long Wu has broken through!" The medical officer's scream almost pierced the communicator. "The dragon patterns in the medical pod have all evolved to mythical level. He's awake!"
Lin Yi looked up at the viewing window.
Through the cracks of the Gate of Destiny, the eerie blue light had spread into a sea, and a dark shadow could be vaguely seen writhing behind the gate.
The compass on his left chest suddenly beeped, a warning unique to the Time and Space Master profession—he knew that there were some things he had to do himself.
"Whitebeard, lead the Shockwave Legion to hold the outer perimeter; Aizen, concentrate firepower on the Energy Matrix; Ryuu... wait for him to come out, have him as my backup." He ripped off his tactical uniform and threw it on the ground, revealing a golden compass on his chest. "As for the Hollow Core..." His gaze swept across every face on the conference split screen, "I'll go there myself."
The shadowy figure's hood twitched slightly, seemingly revealing an approving curve; Xuan Mingzi's Taoist robe suddenly churned with mist, as if he wanted to say something but stopped; Chu Yao's projection materialized again, and the pale golden water droplets from her fingertips dripped to the ground, making a crisp sound.
Outside the viewing window, the giant gate of destiny has already opened halfway.
The wind blowing from behind the door carried a familiar, decaying scent—like the ashes of time, or like the dawn of new life.
Lin Yi moved his wrist, and the golden light from the compass climbed up the back of his hand along his veins.
He glanced at Chu Yao's eyes one last time, where emotions he had never seen before were surging, like... reluctance, and also like anticipation.
"Prepare the spacetime rift," he said to Chu Yao, his voice so soft that only she could hear. "This time... I might need to borrow your memories."
When the alarm sounded again, he was already standing in front of the command cabin door.
The moment the door opened, the wind outside swirled in stardust, making the stray hairs on his forehead fly wildly.
He gazed at the deep blue sea and suddenly smiled—the college student who was chased by monsters all over the streets in the newbie village three years ago could never have imagined that one day he would have to close the door of fate.
But it's okay.
He touched the compass on his chest, and golden light danced in his palm.
Because he is the master of time and space.
The metal door of the command cabin slammed shut behind him. Lin Yi's combat boots stepped over the stardust, and the faint golden scent of Chu Yao's fingertips lingered in the wind.
He could hear the breathing of the three elite squads behind him—the rustling of a shadowy figure's cloak brushing against the wall, the muffled sound of Xuanmingzi's Taoist robe billowing, and the soft hum of dragon scales rubbing against tactical armor as Long Wu rushed out of the medical pod.
"Spacetime shattered, activation in three seconds." He lowered his head and kissed the hot compass on his chest, golden light creeping along the lines of his palm across the back of his hand. "Shadow on the left, Xuanmingzi on the right, Long Wu at the rear. Remember, you must pass through before the rift closes."
Long Wu patted his shoulder with his dragon claw, the dragon breath emanating from his scales crackling in the air: "Boss, even that wild boar in the newbie village three years ago didn't scare me, let alone the Void Realm?" He grinned, his canines gleaming coldly, mythical dragon markings running down his neck, "If you dare to leave me behind—"
"Shut up." The shadowy figure's voice was like shards of ice hitting an ancient well, and a ghostly green light suddenly shone from under the hood. "The rift is fluctuating abnormally. If you don't go in now, you'll never have another chance."
Lin Yi looked up and saw that the Gate of Destiny was fully open in the viewing window, and a black altar was faintly visible in the surging dark blue behind the gate.
The compass suddenly beeped, and he could clearly feel the spacetime lines vibrating at his fingertips—that was the talent of the master of spacetime, able to see the possibilities corresponding to each choice.
In 99% of the branches, the reality dimension vanishes into nothingness after three hours.
"Walk!"
His fingertips pierced the void, and the moment the golden light tore through the air, a blinding white light exploded before everyone's eyes.
Lin Yi felt a cold hand grip the back of his neck; it was the energy tentacles of the shadowy figure. Long Wu's dragon tail wrapped around his waist, and the scales scraped against his tactical uniform, making a hissing sound. Xuan Mingzi's Taoist robe suddenly enveloped everyone, and the black mist transformed into a shield to resist the turbulent flow of the rift.
A sharp pain exploded in my temples.
He saw his left hand twist into a Möbius strip in the void, while his right leg remained inside the command cabin—the price of the spacetime shattering skill forcibly tearing apart dimensions was that his body was simultaneously trapped in two worlds.
The burning sensation from the compass reached its peak. He bit his tongue, the taste of blood spreading in his mouth. Finally, 0.1 seconds before the rift closed, he dragged the entire squad into nothingness.
The darkness came without warning.
When his vision returned, Lin Yi found himself floating in a state of chaos.
Countless fragments floated all around him: there was the wooden sign of his familiar starting village, with wood chips still clinging to the edges of the fragments from when the wild boar smashed it; there was the glass curtain wall of the Reality Alliance headquarters, reflecting his image from when he first stood on the top floor three years ago; there was even the mechanical watch that Su Qing had given him for his birthday last year, the second hand still ticking away, but frozen at 11:59.
“This is…” Long Wu’s dragon claw pressed down on a piece of debris that had drifted by. It was the surveillance footage from his medical pod, showing him struggling and covered in blood. “How did this happen?”
“The Void Realm devours the remnants of dimensions.” Xuan Mingzi’s Daoist robe no longer seeped into the black mist, but instead emitted a faint blue light. He pointed his fingertip at a fragment covered with runes. “Each piece is the last memory of a destroyed civilization.”
The shadowy figure's hood suddenly turned to the right, and the eerie green light solidified: "There are signs of life."
Lin Yi followed his gaze.
Amidst the myriad fragments, a pale purple mist is gathering.
The light and mist, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind, stubbornly pieced together a human figure—it was Su Qing.
Her hair was still covered with stardust from the data turbulence, her eyes were translucent, and she could see the windmill fragments floating in the newbie village behind her, but the dimples at the corners of her mouth were exactly the same as in her memory.
"Su Qing?" Lin Yi's voice trembled.
Three months ago in Starfall Canyon, he watched as she was torn apart by an interdimensional storm while trying to close the rift. The light spots that the data core exploded into are still in his tactical uniform pocket—at this moment, that core is pressed against his thigh, burning hot, and resonating with the light mist in front of him.
"Don't come any closer." Su Qing's voice was like a silver bell tinkling in water, with each word accompanied by the dissipation of wisps of light. "I am a data phantom, only able to exist for three minutes." She raised her hand, her fingertip pointing northwest, where a cloud of mist, darker than the surrounding area, was writhing. "The core of the Void Realm is in that cloud of dark matter. Night Owl used my data as an anchor point, so..." She suddenly laughed, "...so you can find me."
"Why?" Lin Yi tried to grab her hand, but instead touched something cold through the light mist. "Why is your data here?"
“Because I am your ‘time-space anchor’.” Su Qing’s light mist began to fade, her figure overlapping with fragments of the newbie village three years ago—back then, she was just a priest who could only heal people with a staff, chased by a slime and bumping into his arms. “Mythical-level classes need absolutely stable time-space coordinates. The day you awakened, my data was bound to your compass.” Her voice suddenly became urgent, “Quick! The core activation countdown has 108 seconds left. Pass through that dark matter, and you will see…”
“You will see my altar.”
A hoarse male voice came from all directions, like rusty gears grinding against eardrums.
The dark matter suddenly exploded, revealing a black altar suspended in the center, with the figure of Night Owl standing atop the altar.
His skin was translucent, revealing the eerie blue energy flowing through his veins. His left eye displayed a star map of the real world, while his right eye showed a skill tree from a game—a monster form that fused the power of two dimensions.
"Welcome to the new world, Lin Yi." Night Owl spread his arms, and twelve illusory runes appeared behind him. "You think you can catch up with me with spacetime shattering? Take a look at your compass."
Lin Yi lowered his head.
The golden light of the compass is fading, and the once flowing lines of time and space are becoming intermittent, like yarn that has been cut by scissors.
He suddenly remembered what Chu Yao had said in the command center: "3." That was pi, a symbol of infinity and non-repeating numbers, and the key that the Void Core used to dismantle all stable spacetime.
"Your professional abilities are suppressed by the rules of the Void Realm." Night Owl's voice was filled with manic laughter. "There is no time, no space here, only me. And you..." A beam of eerie blue light flicked from his fingertip, precisely shattering a fragment of the "Su Qing's Birthday Mechanical Watch" at Lin Yi's feet. "Even the last anchor you can rely on is about to disappear."
Su Qing's light mist had faded to almost transparent.
She glanced at Lin Yi one last time, her lips moving—he could read her words: "Trust the compass."
Then she vanished completely.
Long Wu's roar tore through the void, and his dragon claws, wreathed in flames, slammed into the Night Owl; the shadowy figure's eerie green light condensed into a sharp sword, piercing through layers of runes and aiming straight for the opponent's throat; Xuan Mingzi's Taoist robe billowed like a sail, and the true word "Seal" emerged from the black mist.
But the owl merely raised its hand, and all the attacks were like hitting the surface of water, creating ripples but unable to advance even an inch.
“It’s useless.” He looked down at the crowd. “In the core of the Void Realm, I am the rule. And you…” His gaze locked onto Lin Yi, “are gifts offered as sacrifices to me.”
Suddenly, Lin Yi's compass exploded with dazzling golden light from his chest.
The light pierced through the faded appearance, and he saw the timeline flow again—not the original gold and silver, but the pale purple left by Su Qing's data, like the starlight on her staff back then.
“I see,” he said softly.
The burning sensation of the compass disappeared, replaced by warmth, like the warmth when Su Qing held his hand and taught him to read star charts. "You thought you were suppressing my career, but you don't know..." He looked up, his eyes sparkling with stars, "The anchor point of the master of time and space is never a certain coordinate."
"yes--"
"It's someone you care about."
The owl's pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw the compass on Lin Yi's chest emit a light brighter than the core of the Void Realm. In that light, there was Su Qing's smile, Long Wu's hand patting his shoulder, the pale golden watermarks on Chu Yao's fingertips, the hum of the white-bearded shockwave gauntlets, and the heartbeats of all the job changers who were bound to him through the "Faith Link".
At this moment, the spacetime lines solidified again, like golden chains, piercing through the owl's twelve runes and binding his ankles.
“Now,” Lin Yi’s voice held no anger, only calm resolve, “it’s my turn to set the rules.”
He took a step.
This step shattered the darkness of the void.
This step broke through the shackles of fate.
The altar trembled, and for the first time, a crack appeared in the owl's expression.
Deeper still, the buzzing from the core of the virtual world suddenly changed—it was an alarm signaling the premature end of the countdown.
Lin Yi gazed at the passage torn open by golden light, where the last fragment floated: the notice board of the newbie village three years ago, which read, "Welcome to 'Infinite,' may you find your own legend."
He smiled.
Then, with his companions, he ventured into the deepest part of the Void Realm's core.
All the answers are hidden there.
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