The obsidian tablet felt like it was pulling the very light out of the room. I stared at the carved letters, my vision swimming as the "Vibration Disease" sent a fresh jolt of tremors through my hands. One Sovereign Soul. Thirty days. The universe wasn’t a charity; it was a bank, and I had just defaulted on the biggest loan in history."A bill?" Luo Bing’s voice was a low growl beside me. He reached out to touch the tablet, but his hand snapped back as if he’d hit a live wire. "Hao, what is this? This thing is radiating pure Void-matter.""It’s the cost of the sky, Luo Bing," I whispered, my voice rattling in my chest. "The energy I used to sew the rifts wasn't mine. It was borrowed. And the interest is my life."The being of light—the Collector—didn't leave. He stood at the edge of the stage, his form shifting like a dying star. He didn't speak with a mouth; the words appeared directly in my neural pathways, cold and clinical.“The Grand Suture utilized forty-two petawatts of Source

The GMC Tower loomed over A-City like a jagged glass fang, its summit piercing the smog-choked clouds. I stood at the service entrance, the weight of the janitor’s jumpsuit heavy against my skin. My white hair was tucked beneath a grimy cap, and my hands—those traitorous, vibrating hands—were buried deep in the pockets of my overalls."Keep the rhythm, Hao," Luo Bing whispered, walking beside me with a trash cart full of 'sanitation supplies' that were actually high-grade explosive charges and reinforced steel. "You’re shaking like a leaf. If the guards see that, they’ll think you’re on the Elixir.""It’s not the nerves, Luo," I hissed, my teeth clicking. "It’s the disease. Just get me to the terminal."We stepped into the sterile, white-lit corridor of the loading bay. Two armored sentinels stood flanking the primary elevator. Between them sat a pedestal glowing with a pulsating violet light."Halt," the lead guard barked, his hand resting on a pulse-rifle. "Identification and DNA sc

The air in the forbidden basement of the GMC turned into an ice-cold slurry of ozone and Void-energy. I stood paralyzed, the Primal Needle gripped in a hand that had finally stopped shaking, but my heart was hammering a rhythm of pure, unadulterated terror. The man in the black commander’s uniform didn't just look like my father. He carried the exact same weight in his shoulders, the same slight squint in his left eye from a lifetime of peering into microscopes. Even the smell was there—the faint, lingering scent of sandalwood and antiseptic."Father?" the word felt like a shard of glass in my throat."Hao, snap out of it!" Sovereign Yao’s new voice boomed, his golden aura flickering as he stepped between me and the squad of Bio-Soldiers. "That thing isn't human! Look at the pulse! There isn't one!"The commander stepped forward, his boots clicking rhythmically on the cold steel floor. He tilted his head, a movement so eerily similar to the way my father used to listen to my childhoo

"9... 8... 7..."The mechanical countdown from the tower’s PA system wasn't just a sound; it was a death knell vibrating through the very marrow of my bones. The False Father’s chest—the man who wore my father’s face—was now a sun about to go supernova. A blinding, crimson heat radiated from his sternum, melting the reinforced steel of the floor beneath his knees."Hao, run! The core is critical!" Luo Bing screamed, shielding his eyes as he tried to drag Jiang Mei toward the elevator."I’m not leaving him!" I roared, my Divine Sight pinpointing the miniature nuclear battery buried beneath the clone’s synthetic ribs. "Mei, stay back! Luo, hold the perimeter!""It’s a suicide mission!" Sovereign Yao’s golden form flickered wildly. "That's a Void-Nuclear hybrid, boy! If you puncture the casing, A-City becomes a crater!""Then I won't puncture it," I hissed. I lunged. My hands, which had been trembling with the Vibration Disease for weeks, suddenly went stone-cold still. I didn't have Qi