**The desert of the Metal Nation burned.**
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnFwZ96RsX
The white-haired man's broken body lay sprawled across the dunes, data streams gushing from his wounds like struggling golden serpents. I knelt beside him, my petrified right arm uncontrollably disintegrating—skin peeling away to reveal flowing bronze code beneath.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpu8kCSCLQk
*"You finally... understand?"*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYazSXM5XHn
His shattered vocal cords emitted static. *"We... are all vessels..."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7oTmmeK7W
In the distance, the spire of the Sun Temple began to collapse. As the first massive stone crashed into the sand, the entire world froze. Raindrops hung suspended in air, grains of sand floated like stardust, even the golden blood seeping from my wounds halted mid-flow.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyrngqGBmD
Only thought remained.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Y6KorMp9K
Xu Wu's voice suddenly echoed through the frozen time: *"This isn't the first pause."* Her phantom emerged from the sickle, her body composed of blue light particles, the symbol beneath her collarbone pulsing rhythmically.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TfGxdH9bk
*"In the previous twelve cycles, you always hesitated at this moment."* She pointed at the white-haired man's corpse. *"Now, complete the final step."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6oWRmJNj6
I walked toward the Sun Temple's ruins.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpKStjHfbv
With each step, more fragments fell from my petrified body. By the time I reached the sundial at the temple's center, my right arm had become pure bronze data streams—identical to the white-haired man's.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHnxXpVHx3
The sundial bore the same equation as Othera's shrine:
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YtHnbx0Q4
**[Zero] + [2] = [∞]**
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrV8s6oR9p
But this time, a small line of text appeared beneath:
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngQhW1K6UT
*"Destroy the vessel, release the imprisoned time."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg11fXpxaN
Xu Wu's phantom placed a hand on my shoulder. *"Across twelve cycles, you chose to become a new god eleven times. Only once..."* She pointed to a crack on the sundial, *"That time you killed yourself, but forgot to kill the memories."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7OQX6K9b0
The sundial suddenly rotated, revealing underground cultivation pods. Hundreds of Xu Wu clones floated in liquid, each branded with different codes on their chests. At the center lay the original Xu Wu—her Q-symbol dissolving.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOfuRrdCna
*"This time is different."* I raised the sickle. *"Because this time..."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeX0rAwt0R
As the blade pierced the sundial, the stasis shattered.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MqawJMHD1
Time began flowing backward.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeUlPtQ5mI
I watched the white-haired man's wounds heal, watched the Sun Temple's rubble return to its original position, watched Xu Wu's clones disappear one by one. When time rewound to the moment we first entered the Wood Nation, something fundamental changed.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5FfoCVF1v
On the cover of *"Prototype Prime Directive Set"* in the Forbidden Archives, where **[Zero]** once was, now stood **[ ]**.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9v3OCspG96
Xu Wu touched her collarbone—her symbol had transformed into an hourglass shape. *"This is..."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFc8ApIWBv
*"A new possibility."* I gazed at the horizon where the skies of the Five Nations were shedding their sickly hues. *"We broke the vessel."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLUlOTHCED
In the final second before the timelines converged, I heard twelve versions of myself speak simultaneously:
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpPi7tRm60
*"Thank you for your choice."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZMhAaOkYh
The world rebooted.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Jkk5dfIKZ
---
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrWioQD8Mj
I woke at dawn by the sea.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVI4ZVLf9f
No petrified arm, no divine erosion, just Xu Wu squatting nearby, grilling fish. Her mechanical eye was gone, the Q-symbol now an ordinary scar.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlirSbrXBzA
*"Nightmares?"* She handed me a skewer. *"You kept muttering about vessels."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sE84649de
In the distance, children ran across the beach, their shadows stretching long in the morning sun. One girl tripped, scraping her knee. I stared transfixed at the blood—red, utterly human.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYnucJH1s2
Xu Wu followed my gaze. *"What? Never seen someone bleed before?"*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbELKvVdqH
The sound of crashing waves became deafening.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡML6sq8NU0p
In this godless world, even pain was precious.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGr4gWWme6
---
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUK7jpOzLZ
Three months later, I stood at the entrance to the abandoned divine realm.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRc0ZYy6fv
Xu Wu knelt before a simple gravestone on a nearby hill. A single character was carved into it: **[A]**
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rYyutV5jd
*"He never changes."* Xu Wu brushed fallen leaves off the stone. *"Always believing sacrificing himself could save everyone."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczTsiO17C4
As I approached, I noticed a metal flower resting before the grave—assembled from discarded mechanical eye components.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRGVNYuk0M
*"You know what?"* Xu Wu suddenly smiled. *"His last gift to me was a joke."* She pressed the flower's center button. A-00's projection materialized:
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnOvLtXwDe
*"Remember, Xu Wu... the most powerful weapon in the world..."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8Km9q2ijF
The projection grinned.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5PuAin92X
*"Is the freedom to choose not to be a weapon."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQbse4PdQi
We stood in silence for a long time.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG151ZOmBLR
Only when the setting sun stretched the gravestone's shadow to our feet did Xu Wu whisper: *"Let's go. Time to fulfill your new duty."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGRwC9Y5lM
---
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKxhjofbkj
In the deepest chamber of the abandoned divine realm, a new failure was awakening.
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSIEcrGqqG
He lay exactly where I once had, silver hair fanned across stone steps, pale golden eyes brimming with confusion. When my shadow fell over him, he instinctively raised defensive hands:
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhfyR0vcLn
*"Who are you?"*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwi11ahIPK
I crouched down, my own silver hair slipping over my shoulder. *"Here to teach you how to be human."*
461Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5jb62vQ2p
In my peripheral vision, Xu Wu leaned against a broken statue, we
ns216.73.216.204da2
→ Request update
and then Add to home screen.