143: Chapter 143 The Core of the Light Sphere

The edge of the universe has never been a line; it is a desolate wasteland forgotten by the laws of physics.

There are no galaxies here, no nebulae, no star map coordinates for navigation, and even space itself exists in a state of semi-solidification and semi-disintegration. Time has lost its linear meaning here; one second overlaps with the next, and the past entangles with the future, forming a dark forbidden zone that even the top probes of the Interstellar Alliance cannot penetrate.

Kate stood in the center of the raven's bridge, her fingertips hovering over the holographic console, hesitating to press down.

Her profile looked exceptionally sharp under the cold blue lights, her silver-gray short hair tucked behind her ears, and her pupils were a deep dark blue, like a frozen deep sea. As the commander of the entire battleship and the only researcher in this squad proficient in ancient cosmic civilization ruins, Kate had always been calm, decisive, and even borderline cold. She was used to making the most rational judgments on the edge of life and death, used to suppressing her emotions in the deepest part of her heart, and used to supporting everything with data and logic.

But at this moment, her fingertips were trembling slightly.

“Coordinates confirmed,” she spoke in a low voice, softer than usual, as if afraid of disturbing this dead silence. “This is the location recorded in the literature where the last fragment of the sound of origin is scattered.”

Lin Fan, standing beside her, nodded slightly.

He wore a black combat suit, his shoulder plates still bearing scorch marks from the previous battle. He was tall with clean lines, and his gaze was as steady as an unshakeable rock. Unlike Kate's icy rationality, Lin Fan always carried a silent sense of reliability—he was a warrior, a Guardian, the kind of person who would stand at the very front no matter what happened. He didn't speak much, but every word brought peace of mind; he wasn't good at expressing tenderness, but he would use the most direct actions to block all danger behind him.

There was no redundant communication between the two, yet a tacit understanding that required no words had long since formed.

From the moment they embarked on the journey to find the sound of origin, they had already tied their lives to the same boat.

“What are the detection results?” Lin Fan asked, his gaze falling into the absolute darkness outside the viewport. “Any energy reactions?”

Kate took a deep breath and pressed the final confirmation key on the console.

In an instant, all the lights on the bridge dimmed, leaving only a slender white pillar of light in the center, projected vertically onto the floor. Ancient code that no one could decipher scrolled frantically across the screen, red and blue data streams weaving, exploding, and reorganizing, finally converging into a very brief line of text—

[Unknown Celestial Body: core of the light sphere]

[Energy Level: Beyond Limit]

[Danger Rating: Unmeasurable]

[Remarks: The toucher shall listen to the sound of the universe's birth.]

“Unmeasurable?” Lin Fan’s brow furrowed slightly. “Even the Alliance's highest danger rating can't cover it?”

“It's not that it can't be covered.” Kate shook her head, her voice carrying a hint of solemnity that even she didn't notice. “It's that it simply doesn't belong to any danger system we know. It's not a weapon, not a black hole, not any celestial body that can be defined... it's more like a starting point.”

She looked up, gazing out the viewport.

Right in the center of that darkness where even light could not exist, a ball of light floated quietly.

It wasn't the fierce heat of a star, the brilliance of a nebula, or the blinding glare of an energy burst.

It was an absolute pure white.

Soft, quiet, pure, without any variegation or fluctuation, it just hung there lonely at the end of the universe, like the only existence before the birth of the universe, or the last remaining trace after the end of all things. It wasn't large; from a distance, it was just a slightly bright point of light, but it was precisely this point of light that forcibly tore through the boundless darkness, carving out a domain of its own in the void.

The raven was as tiny as a speck of dust before it.

“That is... the core of the light sphere,” Kate said softly.

Once her gaze fell upon that ball of light, she could no longer look away.

As an expert in ancient civilizations and the sound of origin, Kate had seen countless incredible ruins in her life: collapsed interstellar temples, memory crystals floating in dimensional rifts, consciousness matrices carrying the entire history of a civilization... but nothing could make her soul tremble from its depths like the core of the light sphere before her eyes.

It was a summons from the source.

As if she were born just to find it.

“I’m going out,” Kate said suddenly.

Lin Fan immediately frowned. “No, the detection data is completely blank, the external environment is unstable, and space could collapse at any time. You cannot leave the hull without authorization.”

“I must go out.” Kate turned around and looked at Lin Fan, her gaze firm without a hint of backing down. “The literature is very clear; only by directly touching the core of the light sphere can one receive the complete information of the sound of origin. We’ve chased this for so long, crossed half the universe, and fought through three dimensional barriers, not just to look at it from afar inside a ship.”

“I know.” Lin Fan’s voice lowered. “But I can’t let you go alone.”

“Lin Fan,” Kate lightly pressed his shoulder, her fingertips cold. “This is my mission and my responsibility. You stay here and monitor the ship's status. If anything abnormal happens to me, cut the spatial connection immediately and don't worry about me.”

“I can't do that.” Lin Fan looked directly into her eyes, each word clear and firm. “From the day we set out together, I haven't let you face anything alone, and I won't start now.”

Kate’s heart gave a sudden throb.

She was used to being alone, used to not relying on anyone, used to carrying all the pressure on her own shoulders. But Lin Fan’s appearance was like a silent light, bit by bit melting the ice she had wrapped around herself. She hated this feeling of losing control, yet she couldn't refuse that heavy sense of security.

She was silent for a long time, finally just nodding slightly.

“Fine.”

“But you must stay behind me; no acting on your own.”

“No matter what happens, follow my instructions.”

“I promise you,” Lin Fan said.

After donning their individual external combat armor, the two of them, one after the other, walked out of the raven's airlock.

The moment she stepped out of the ship, Kate felt the unique pressure of the universe's edge. No air, no gravity, no sound—only an extreme cold and emptiness. The combat armor automatically activated the life support system, and a light blue shield enveloped the two of them, isolating them from the dead silence outside.

They flew slowly toward the core of the light sphere.

The closer they got, the larger that ball of pure white light appeared.

From a point of light, it turned into a small sun, then into a sea of light that shrouded heaven and earth.

There was no sound, yet one could clearly feel an extremely gentle force seeping in through the gaps in the shield, bit by bit. That power was not domineering or invasive, but carried an irresistible affinity, like returning to the original Cradle of life, making one instinctively want to relax, to draw closer, and to merge into it completely.

Kate’s breathing became slightly hurried.

She could feel her consciousness being pulled, her soul seemingly wanting to drift out of her body and fly toward that light.

“Kate, stay steady.” Lin Fan’s voice came through the communicator, calm and clear, pulling her back from her trance. “Don't let it affect you.”

Kate closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her gaze had regained its former sharpness.

“I'm fine.”

She accelerated and finally arrived before the core of the light sphere.

It was right within reach.

At this moment, she truly understood why no literature could accurately describe it.

The core of the light sphere was not a 'star' at all, nor was it a ball of 'energy.'

It was the embryo of the universe.

It was that first point of existence before time began, before space took shape, and before laws were born. The light was as soft as a breath; inside there was no fire, no particles, no observable matter, yet it contained all the secrets of the birth and death of all things. Standing before it, all knowledge, all civilizations, and all history became tiny and laughable.

Kate reached out her hand, slowly passing it through the shield.

Her fingertips were only one last centimeter away from that pure white.

“Kate!” Lin Fan barked, wanting to stop her.

“Don't come over.” Kate didn't look back, her voice soft but firm. “This step, I must take myself.”

The next second, her fingertips lightly touched the surface of the core of the light sphere.

There was no sensation of touch.

No temperature.

No contact on any physical level.

But at the very moment their fingertips met, the sound came.

It wasn't a sound heard by ears, but a roar that echoed directly in the depths of the soul.

It wasn't an explosion, not a loud noise, not any sound that human language could describe.

It was the sound of space being pushed open.

It was the sound of particles colliding for the first time.

It was the sound of laws being written.

It was the sound of consciousness awakening from nothingness.

The entire process of the universe's birth flooded into Kate's mind in an instant.

Endless information, like a bursting dam, crushed her defensive line of consciousness. She saw the first light, saw the earliest stars, saw civilizations rise from the dust and perish in the ashes; she saw dimensions layered upon each other, saw time cycling repeatedly, and saw the sound of origin scatter from the center of the universe, turning into countless fragments and drifting to every corner...

It was the memory of the universe, the source of all things.

Kate froze in place, her eyes dazed, but a peaceful smile involuntarily tugged at the corners of her mouth.

She couldn't feel her body, couldn't feel pain, couldn't feel unease.

Only an extreme tranquility remained, as if she had finally found her home.

And at that moment, Lin Fan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw Kate's body becoming transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Starting from her fingertips, her skin, flesh, bones, and meridians dissolved layer by layer into a pure white mist of light, identical to the core of the light sphere. It was as if she were being dismantled into the most primitive particles, absorbed bit by bit by the core of the light sphere. Her shoulders began to blur, her chest started to fade, and her entire face became translucent. Those eyes, always calm and sharp, now held only a hollow, pure white.

She was disappearing.

It wasn't death, nor was it destruction; it was a return.

A return to the universe's initial state, becoming light, becoming nothingness, becoming a part of the light orb's core.

"Kate!"

Lin Fan let out an uncontrolled, low growl.

He had never been this panicked before.

On the battlefield, he had faced monsters capable of swallowing planets, enemies who could distort reality, and desperate situations where the entire army was wiped out, yet he had never once furrowed his brow. But at this moment, watching Kate dissolve into mist, his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, the pain making it impossible to breathe.

He rushed forward recklessly, extending his right hand and firmly grabbing Kate's wrist.

"Come back!"

"Get back here!"

He pulled with all his might.

In that instant, an indescribably violent surge of origin energy crashed through the point where they touched.

It wasn't burning, nor was it tearing, nor any form of physical damage.

It was assimilation.

Lin Fan felt his left arm suddenly go numb, and immediately after, all sensation vanished.

Pain, touch, temperature, strength... every perception related to his arm was drained away, leaving only an absolute void. He looked down and froze in place.

His left arm was gone.

The flesh had vanished, the bones had vanished, and the skin had vanished.

In its place was a flowing, pure white, translucent form of the light orb.

The stream of light floated gently below his shoulder like solidified starlight—quiet, soft, yet incredibly eerie. It maintained the shape of an arm but lacked any physical substance; with a slight movement, the mist would scatter and then re-condense, as if it might completely disintegrate at any moment.

There was no wound.

There was no bleeding.

There was no pain.

Only a complete sense of "non-existence."

The impact of the energy backlash was immense. Lin Fan's body shuddered violently, and he staggered back a few steps. A mouthful of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, dripping into the void and instantly swallowed by the darkness.

But he did not let go.

Exerting every ounce of his strength, he gave another fierce tug.

"Kate! Wake up!"

This pull forcibly wrenched Kate from the attraction of the light orb's core.

The sound of origin deep within the soul stopped abruptly.

Confusion and peace dissipated instantly, replaced by intense dizziness and panic.

Kate shuddered violently, her consciousness snapping back into place.

Her transparent body solidified again at a visible rate, her skin regained its color, and her pupils refocused. When she saw the scene before her, she was struck as if by lightning, frozen in place and unable to move.

She saw the blood on the corner of Lin Fan's mouth.

She saw his pale face.

She saw... his completely light orb-ified left arm.

The stream of light floated gently in the void, without substance, without warmth, without any human characteristics.

That wasn't an injury.

That was a mutation.

A complete transformation into a non-human existence.

"Lin... Fan..."

Kate's voice trembled beyond recognition, every word sounding as if it were squeezed out of her throat.

She slowly raised her hand, her fingertips shaking uncontrollably, and bit by bit approached that light orb arm. She carefully and gently touched it.

Her fingertips passed directly through the mist; she felt nothing.

No sensation of skin, no hardness of bone, no temperature, no pulse.

Only a cold void.

"Your arm..." Kate's eyes suddenly turned red, and tears welled up uncontrollably, sliding down the corners of her eyes and condensing into crystalline droplets in the weightless environment, floating toward the darkness. "Your arm... is gone..."

Since she was old enough to understand, she had been trained to be an absolutely rational researcher. She was taught not to cry, not to be weak, and not to be swayed by emotions. She had seen countless lives and deaths, countless partings, and countless tragic sacrifices; she thought she had long since become numb, that she would never cry for anything again.

But at this moment, she couldn't control it.

Tears fell incessantly like pearls from a broken string.

"Why..." she sobbed, reaching out again and again to touch that non-existent arm, her fingertips passing through the mist repeatedly, unable to grasp anything. "Why did you rush over... I clearly told you not to worry about me..."

Seeing her shaking from crying, Lin Fan felt as if his heart were being crushed.

He wanted to raise his hand to wipe away her tears, but his left shoulder was empty. The light orb arm moved slightly but lacked any strength. He twitched the corner of his mouth, trying to give a reassuring smile like he usually did, but because of his pale face, it looked exceptionally bitter.

"I couldn't do it," he said softly.

"You know very well that I couldn't just watch you disappear."

"I promised you that I would always stay with you."

Kate could no longer hold back and threw herself into his arms, tightly clutching his intact right shoulder and burying her face in the crook of his neck as her suppressed sobs finally broke out. Her body shook incessantly, and her tears soaked Lin Fan's combat uniform, spreading into a small dark patch.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's all my fault..."

"It was I who insisted on touching the core of the light sphere, I was too headstrong, I ignored the danger..."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have become like this..."

Lin Fan gently patted her back, his movements tender, unlike the usually taciturn warrior.

"It's not your fault," he comforted her in a low voice, soft yet exceptionally firm. "If there's blame, blame the fact that we are walking a path no one has ever taken before."

Kate looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes, looking at his light orb arm and his calm yet scarred face. The panic in her heart flooded her like a tide.

They had fought all the way, searched all the way, and endured pain and costs unimaginable to ordinary people all the way.

She had almost turned into light.

He had lost an arm and turned into a half-human, half-light monster.

Where exactly were they headed?

What exactly were they turning into?

"Lin Fan," she spoke tremulously, her voice filled with helplessness and confusion—a vulnerability Kate had never shown before. "We've been fighting, searching, and paying the price... but look at us now."

"I almost completely disappeared just now, turning into a speck of light in the universe."

"And now you don't even have an arm; you've become this... neither human nor ghost form."

"What are we turning into?"

These words were like a needle, gently pricking both their hearts.

There was no answer.

They pursued the sound of origin to save a universe on the brink of collapse, to prevent dimensional collapse, and to give all civilizations a future. But having come this far, they couldn't even predict what they themselves would become.

Lin Fan remained silent for a long time.

He slowly raised that light orb left arm.

The stream of light floated gently in the void, soft and quiet.

Very lightly and slowly, he used that non-existent arm to touch Kate's cheek.

The mist of light brushed against her tear-stained skin; it had no temperature, yet it carried an indescribable tenderness.

Kate stared at him blankly.

Lin Fan looked into her eyes, and the corners of his mouth slowly lifted into a faint but incredibly firm smile.

There was no bitterness in that smile, no despair, and no confusion.

Only the same reassurance as always.

"I don't know what we will become."

"Maybe we'll become light, maybe we'll become nothingness, or maybe we'll become something even we don't recognize."

He paused, his voice sounding softly, exceptionally clear at the empty edge of the universe.

"But it doesn't matter."

"No matter what our bodies become, no matter how much we are assimilated, no matter what the origin energy reshapes us into."

"At least—"

"We are still us."

"I am still Lin Fan, and you are still Kate."

"We are still together."

"That's enough."

Watching the unwavering light in the depths of his eyes, Kate's tears welled up once more.

This time, it wasn't panic or pain.

But a completely healing sense of peace.

She hugged Lin Fan tightly, burying her face in his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat, the warmth from his only intact shoulder, and the presence of this person who would stand by her side no matter what happened.

The edge of the universe was deathly silent.

The raven floated quietly in the distance like a silent bird.

The core of the light sphere continued to emit pure white light in the darkness—soft, quiet, and seemingly eternal.

But within this extreme silence, a very soft, very ancient, and very cold whisper suddenly drifted out from the deepest part of the light orb's core.

The voice wasn't loud, yet it directly penetrated the combat armor's protective shield, their eardrums, and resonated in the deepest part of their souls.

There was no tone, no emotion, like a pre-set command.

Only two words, repeated twice.

"Return..."

"Initial Program..."

The moment the voice faded.

In the center of the light orb's core, a faint golden light flickered slightly.

As if something, after a long slumber, had finally slowly opened its eyes.

The fate of the universe, the future of the two, and all the hidden secrets.

At this moment, a new prologue officially began.