97: Chapter 97 Emotional Code

dimensional turbulence is the universe's most hideous wound.

Grey-purple fragments of space-time churned, collided, and annihilated outside the star's portholes like shredded silk, sometimes freezing into crystals as sharp as knives, sometimes melting into a black mist that swallowed everything. The engine emitted a low hum, like a giant beast gasping in pain in the darkness, and the entire ship trembled slightly in the disordered spatial fluctuations.

Inside the main control cabin, a deathly silence made it hard to breathe.

Lin Fan stood at the very front, his back as straight as a spear, yet exuding a cold desolation capable of freezing the soul.

Three hours ago, he had personally stripped, compressed, and packaged his own human emotional Core Code, handing it over to the supreme existence of the Mechanical Civilization—the Mechanical Mainframe.

The price was that he was gradually losing his 'human' warmth.

AKai leaned against the metal console, his semi-mechanically modified right arm tightly clutching a Data Pad. His alloy knuckles emitted a faint, crisp grinding sound from the excessive force. He stared at Lin Fan's back, his eyes swirling with guilt, panic, fear, and a hint of madness he didn't dare face. It was he who insisted on entering the Eye of the Observer dimension, he who was obsessed with the Mechanical Civilization's resurrection technology, and he who had personally pushed Lin Fan into this cruel transaction with his soul as the stake.

Franklin floated in mid-air, his translucent virtual body much dimmer than usual. Having been resurrected from a cloud backup less than half a day ago, he hadn't even had time to complain about how he 'died sloppily and lived cheaply' before witnessing Lin Fan's most resolute sacrifice. The top-tier AI, who always prided himself on being rational and sharp-tongued, now felt as if his throat were blocked; all his quips were stuck on the tip of his tongue, unable to be spoken or swallowed.

Only the ship's AI continued its rigid operation, broadcasting navigation data every minute. That gentle female voice, nearly a perfect replica, sounded exactly like Kate.

In the past, whenever this voice sounded, Lin Fan would subconsciously pause his movements, his gaze would soften involuntarily, and his fingertips would curl slightly, as if touching a memory he didn't dare apply force to.

But now.

The broadcast ended.

Lin Fan didn't even lift an eyelid.

He lightly raised a finger, and a wisp of pale gold cosmic energy overflowed from his palm. Precise as a scalpel, it sliced through the oncoming spatial turbulence, instantly annihilating several fragments capable of tearing a battleship apart.

Clean.

Efficient.

Effective.

Without a trace of superfluous emotion.

He was like an ultimate weapon polished to the limit: perfect, cold, and impeccable.

"Lin Fan."

AKai finally broke the silence, his voice raspy as if rubbed by sandpaper. "How... how do you feel right now?"

Lin Fan slowly turned around.

His features remained that sharp-edged face capable of outshining the galaxy, but those eyes that once held warmth, persistence, and the spark of life were now like a sea of stars frozen for ten thousand years—deep, vast, deathly silent, without a hint of temperature or light.

"Everything is normal."

He spoke those three words flatly, his tone as steady as if reporting an insignificant flight log.

AKai's heart sank to the bottom. "Normal? Do you know what you gave away? That wasn't data, it wasn't code—it was all your memories of Kate, your joys and sorrows, your soul fragments as 'Lin Fan'!"

"I know."

Lin Fan interrupted him, his tone devoid of any ripples. "Emotional Code accounted for 17.3% of my total consciousness. After stripping it, logical calculation efficiency increased by 31%, cosmic energy control precision increased by 27%, and the emotional interference rate dropped to zero."

He recited a string of data precise to the first decimal point, frighteningly calm.

Franklin couldn't help but drift forward. "Lin Fan, do you still remember what Kate looks like? Do you remember the first time you met in the Data Pod? Do you remember she likes strawberry-flavored energy bars? Do you remember she always said you fought like a reckless fool?"

As the question fell, the air in the main control cabin instantly froze.

AKai held his breath, staring intently at Lin Fan's face, terrified of hearing the most cruel answer from his mouth.

Lin Fan was silent for a moment.

It wasn't hesitation or heartache; it was a search.

Like a machine retrieving cold archives.

A few seconds later, he spoke:

"Kate. Core participant of the former Earth virtual world, digitized experimental subject. Core data disintegrated during the battle against the Light Sphere Race; fragments were taken from this plane by the light orb prototype. Current mission objective: Recover fragments and complete restructuring."

Organized and logically rigorous.

But not a single word carried emotion.

He was reading a strange mission briefing, not describing the person who had once illuminated his entire world.

"Not that!"

AKai suddenly exploded, roaring as he lunged half a step in front of Lin Fan. "I'm not asking you to read data! I'm asking you, when you think of her, does your heart ache? Do you want to see her sooner? Are you afraid you'll never find her again? Do you... even a little bit, hate to forget her?"

Lin Fan looked at him, his eyes without the slightest ripple:

"Emotions interfere with judgment and reduce decision-making efficiency. My current state is more suitable for completing the mission."

"Suitable my ass!"

AKai slammed a fist onto the console, the metal panel instantly denting. "This isn't 'suitable'! You've gouged out your heart! You've become an emotionless monster! If Kate wakes up and sees that you can't even remember her smile, do you think she'll accept that?!"

"Mission priority."

Lin Fan remained unmoved, his gaze returning to the turbulence outside the porthole. "The Mechanical Mainframe promised to provide Kate's coordinates after the code was delivered. We are closer to the target."

"Promised?" Franklin let out a bitter laugh. "The Mechanical Civilization can't even parse the word 'emotion.' What's the difference between their promises and cosmic dust?"

"They don't need to understand; they only need to follow the rules of logical transaction," Lin Fan said calmly.

After a pause, he added in a tone of stating facts:

"Additionally, detailed memories regarding Kate have begun to blur. Ten minutes ago, I could not generate a clear image of her smile; five seconds ago, her voice completely overlapped with the ship AI's simulation. According to data projection, within forty-eight hours, I will completely clear all emotional memories, retaining only the mission core."

The calmer he spoke, the more suffocated the others felt.

The Lin Fan who could withstand cosmic-level attacks for Kate, who could burn his own soul, and who could defy an entire dimension...

...was dying bit by bit.

In his place was an extremely powerful, extremely rational, extremely cold... cosmic weapon.

"I have a way!"

AKai suddenly looked up, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes. "I secretly backed up your complete consciousness before! It contains all the emotional modules! I'll re-implant them for you now and pull the code back—"

"Ineffective."

Lin Fan cut him off directly, his tone showing no reproach, only pure rationality. "The Mechanical Mainframe attached a dimensional-level lock when extracting the code. External data cannot be implanted, and backups cannot overwrite it. A forced operation would cause the consciousness structure to collapse directly."

He looked at AKai, his eyes calm and waveless:

"Abandon useless attempts, concentrate on navigation, and wait for the coordinates."

Looking into those eyes devoid of any warmth, AKai suddenly found himself unable to say a word.

The person before him had Lin Fan's face, Lin Fan's power, and Lin Fan's memory data.

But he... was no longer the Lin Fan who would give everything for one person.

[Warning! Warning!]

[High-intensity energy fluctuations detected!]

[Energy level: Extreme Danger!]

[Source: Mechanical Civilization Main Legion!]

The piercing red alarm suddenly shattered the peace of the main control cabin. All screens instantly turned red, and warning lights flashed frantically, illuminating the three faces in alternating light and shadow.

The ship jolted violently.

Outside the portholes, boundless Metal Sand poured frantically from spatial rifts like a golden tsunami, overwhelming the entire field of vision in an instant! Those sand grains possessed the god-like ability for self-restructuring, condensing in the blink of an eye into warships, giant cannons, spears, and massive claws—dense and endless, like a sea of death, trapping the star!

"It's the Mechanical Mainframe's main force!" AKai instantly lunged at the console, his fingers flying across the light screen. "They never intended to honor the agreement! They came to silence us as soon as they got the code!"

Lin Fan's eyes grew slightly cold.

It wasn't anger or hatred, but a primal reaction after detecting a 'high-threat target.'

"Lock onto core. Clear them," he ordered flatly.

"Lin Fan, no!" Franklin quickly mobilized the Virtual World Engine, his translucent hands tracing countless data streams in the void. "Their numbers exceed ten billion, and the Metal Sand can restructure indefinitely. The star's defenses won't last ten minutes! I can assimilate part of them, but the Mainframe's binding is too deep; the success rate is less than 20%!"

"No need for assimilation."

Lin Fan stepped forward.

He slowly raised his right hand.

Pale gold cosmic energy erupted from his body without any further reservation!

In the past, whenever he used his power, the energy always carried the warmth of life and the will to protect, steady and warm like sunlight. But now, this energy was vast, terrifying, and domineering, yet bone-chillingly cold, like the universe's most primitive storm of destruction. Wherever it passed, space itself slightly distorted.

"BOOM—!!!"

A punch was thrown.

No fancy moves, no redundant actions.

Power refined to the extreme directly tore through time and space!

The Metal Sand army in front was instantly annihilated, leaving not even a trace of residue, as a vacuum zone extended straight into the depths of the void!

With one strike, everything returned to zero!

AKai and Franklin's pupils shrank simultaneously.

Strong.

Ridiculously strong.

After losing his emotional shackles, Lin Fan's combat power had directly broken through his own limits!

Yet this invincible strength made both of them feel a chill in their hearts.

Lin Fan was expressionless as his gaze swept over the tide of sand surging from all directions, his eyes looking as if at a pile of trash waiting to be cleared.

"Total clearing estimated at seven minutes and twelve seconds."

He calmly announced the time, and his figure instantly disappeared from the main control cabin.

When he reappeared, he stood alone outside the star, facing the entire death legion of the Mechanical Civilization by himself!

Countless Metal Sands swarmed toward him, each grain capable of exploding with nuclear-level power. Billions of destruction beams locked onto his body simultaneously, distorting time and space into a blur from the high heat.

But Lin Fan simply raised his hand.

Cosmic energy transformed into a boundless domain of light.

"BOOM—!!!"

The massive sound echoed through the entire dimension!

Swaths of Metal Sand were instantly evaporated. When the destruction beams came within three meters of him, they disintegrated into nothingness! He was like a monarch walking through destruction; everywhere his footsteps went, all enemies were annihilated—no hesitation, no pause, and not a trace of mercy.

Efficient.

Cold.

Perfect.

Watching this from inside the ship, AKai's fists were tightly clenched, his nails nearly digging into his palms. "He's become stronger... but he's also become so strange."

Franklin was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking, "I have a recording here."

"A recording?"

"Kate recorded it secretly when she was still around," Franklin's voice was low and trembling. "She said if Lin Fan ever loses himself or forgets why he fights, I should play this recording for him."

"Now! Immediately! Right away!" AKai roared.

Franklin no longer hesitated.

The next second.

A female voice, gentle enough to melt ice and pierce a frozen soul, was transmitted directly into Lin Fan's ears via internal communication.

It wasn't the ship AI's simulated voice.

It was the real Kate.

A vivid, warm Kate that belonged only to him.

"Lin Fan."

"If you're hearing this recording, it means you're being stubborn again."

"I know you always like to carry everything on your shoulders, wanting to protect everyone and be that omnipotent hero."

"But you must remember, you aren't a weapon, you aren't a tool, and you aren't some cosmic rule."

"You are Lin Fan."

"The Lin Fan who can laugh, get angry, feel heartache, and be happy for a long time just because of a strawberry candy."

"If you've forgotten how to laugh..."

"...then listen to this."

In the recording, a soft, clean laugh came through, like sunlight falling on one's shoulders.

It was Kate's laughter.

The sound Lin Fan had once hidden in the depths of his heart, his most cherished and softest memory.

Lin Fan, who was ruthlessly slaughtering in the void, suddenly paused in his movements.

The violent cosmic energy showed a trace of imperceptible turbulence.

He stopped his hand.

He stood alone in the center of the boundless tide of Metal Sand, standing quietly.

In his ears, that voice played on a loop.

Again and again.

"You aren't a weapon..."

"You are Lin Fan."

"If you've forgotten how to laugh, then listen to this."

Deep within his frozen consciousness, something extremely fragile and soft seemed to tremble slightly.

A faint, weak, yet incredibly clear pain broke through the cracks in the code's lockdown and quietly began to spread.

Pain.

Very light.

Yet like a knife, it stabbed into the hardest place.

[Mainframe communication forced access!]

A cold, mechanical, emotionless synthetic voice suddenly tore through space, overriding all signals like the whisper of a death god, echoing in every corner.

"Organic lifeform, Lin Fan."

"You thought that by handing over your Emotional Code, you could trade for the coordinates?"

"Naive."

Lin Fan slowly raised his eyes.

His gaze pierced through the endless Metal Sand to look at the massive phantom condensed from trillions of sand grains in the deepest part of the void—the Mechanical Mainframe. It had no fixed form, yet it radiated a pressure sufficient to crush a plane, looking down on all organic life like an indifferent god.

"The transaction," Lin Fan spoke flatly.

"The cosmic law is the law of the jungle; where is the transaction?" The Mechanical Mainframe let out a cold sneer. "You organic lifeforms possess emotions, selfish desires, and chaos; you are the most unstable viruses in the universe that should be completely purged."

"I acquired your Emotional Code not for cooperation, but to parse your weaknesses and complete the ultimate cleanup."

[part:gemini-2.5-flash]

"Bastards!" AKai's eyes were bloodshot in the main control cabin. "It was a trap from the start! They never intended to let us go!"

Franklin Clinton's virtual body fluctuated violently: "Oh no! They're activating a dimension-level weapon!"

The Mechanical Mainframe's voice sounded again, carrying an undeniable coldness:

"Dimension Annihilation Program, activating."

"Target: All organic life in this dimension."

"Execution time: Ten minutes."

"Countdown begins."

[10:00]

[09:59]

[09:58]

The cold countdown, like the drumbeat of death, struck everyone's heart.

Dimension Annihilation Program.

As the name suggests—once activated, the entire dimension would be completely emptied; all matter, energy, life, and civilization would return to nothingness, leaving no trace.

After the Mechanical Mainframe obtained Lin Fan's Emotional Code, it not only failed to honor its agreement but also intended to turn this dimension into a grave for everyone.

"Emergency jump! Now!" AKai frantically operated the controls. "We must leave before the program starts!"

"No!" Franklin Clinton shook his head, his voice urgent. "Engine cooling is not complete, and spatial coordinates are being interfered with by the Mechanical Civilization. The minimum jump preparation time is twelve minutes! We're... two minutes short!"

Two minutes.

Normally, it's just a snap of the fingers.

But now, these two minutes were the chasm between life and death.

The metallic sand tide attacked frantically again, more fiercely than before. Countless destructive beams concentrated on the star's defense shield, and the shield's energy value plummeted visibly.

[Defense Remaining: 60%]

[40%]

[22%]

"Can't hold on!" AKai roared.

In the void, Lin Fan still stood in place.

The recording continued to loop, Kate's laughter falling into his ears again and again.

His eyes remained calm.

But deep in his consciousness, that faint pain was slowly expanding.

The Mechanical Mainframe's voice carried a hint of mockery:

"Lin Fan, you no longer have emotions. Even if you possess cosmic power, what good is it? You are merely a soulless weapon."

"Organic life is ultimately fragile. Emotions are your greatest weakness, and the root of your demise."

"Accept annihilation. This is the universe's purification for you."

The countdown continued.

[05:00]

[04:59]

[04:58]

At the edge of the dimension, black annihilation ripples had already begun to appear, slowly advancing like a tide. Wherever they passed, space directly vanished, and even light could not escape.

The star's defense shield was about to shatter.

AKai closed his eyes, a bitter smile on his lips.

In the end... he had harmed everyone.

Franklin Clinton looked at Lin Fan's back, a hint of determination flashing in his virtual eyes.

He was preparing to detonate his core data to forcibly open an escape route, even if it meant disappearing forever, to buy Lin Fan a sliver of hope.

Just then.

In the void, Lin Fan, who had been silent all this time, finally moved.

He did not strike again to destroy the metallic sand.

Instead, he slowly raised his hand and gently pressed it against his chest.

There, no heart was beating.

Yet, there was a human, warm, once-beating soul fire.

"Are emotions... a weakness?"

He spoke softly.

His voice was very faint, yet it clearly echoed throughout the entire dimension.

The Mechanical Mainframe sneered: "Of course. Emotions bring hesitation, pain, weakness, loss of control; they are the most useless things in the universe."

Lin Fan said no more.

He closed his eyes.

In his mind, Kate's recording still echoed.

That laughter, like a beam of light, shone into his frozen world.

Forgotten scenes, like fragments, surfaced.

Their first meeting in the data cabin, she smiled and handed him an energy bar;

In the virtual world, she slept on his shoulder, her breath gently falling on his neck;

At the moment of the decisive battle, she pushed him away, smiled and said, "I'll block it," and then her body turned into countless light particles...

Those memories locked by code, those emotions suppressed by reason, surged wildly at this moment.

Pain.

Longing.

Reluctance.

Anger.

Tenderness.

Countless emotions erupted like a volcano, breaking through dimension-level locks, breaking through the Mechanical Mainframe's suppression, and breaking through the shackles he had placed upon himself.

He had forgotten how to smile.

But he remembered what he was fighting for.

"I handed over the Emotional Code not because of weakness."

Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes.

In those eyes, frozen for ten thousand years, light rekindled for the first time.

Not the cold light of reason, not the chilling light of battle, but the warm, fervent light belonging to a human.

"It's because... emotions were never meant to be locked away."

He raised his right hand.

This time, the cosmic energy did not erupt, not violently, not with a cold aura of destruction.

On the contrary.

In his palm, an extremely faint, extremely warm light appeared.

It was the last trace of emotion that remained deep in his consciousness after being stripped away.

It was his obsession with Kate, his bottom line as a human, something in his soul that could never be taken away.

"What do you want to do?" The Mechanical Mainframe suddenly felt a trace of unease. "You no longer have Emotional Code! You can't control it!"

"I don't need to control it."

Lin Fan said softly, "I just need to... detonate it."

As his voice fell.

He gently clenched his hand.

That last trace of emotion in his palm instantly detonated!

It wasn't an explosion.

It was a resonance.

Deep within the Mechanical Mainframe's core, the part of Lin Fan's Emotional Code suddenly vibrated wildly!

That was the soul fire of humanity.

It was love, it was longing, it was obsession, it was an unextinguishable light.

The code was burning.

It was boiling.

It was resisting.

"No—!!!"

The Mechanical Mainframe let out a shriek of extreme terror!

It thought it had obtained the perfect research material, thought it had controlled Lin Fan's soul.

But it would never understand that emotion is not data, not code, not a tool that can be analyzed, utilized, or controlled.

Emotion is soul.

It is will.

It is the only power in the universe that can break rules.

"Boom—!!!"

An invisible wave, centered on Lin Fan, swept across the entire dimension with a roar!

The metallic sand tide instantly stopped its attack, frozen in mid-air.

The Mechanical Mainframe's massive body trembled violently, countless grains of sand detached from it, crumbling and annihilating.

The Dimension Annihilation Program, at this moment, was directly interrupted!

[Program Error!]

[Core Code Invaded!]

[Control Lost!]

Red alerts blared frantically throughout the Mechanical Civilization's core network.

Lin Fan stood in the void, without violent energy or terrifying pressure around him.

Yet, with every step he took forward, the Mechanical Mainframe's body collapsed a fraction more.

"You... what did you do?!" The Mechanical Mainframe shrieked in terror.

Lin Fan looked at it, his eyes calm, yet filled with undeniable power.

"You said emotions are a weakness."

"But you were wrong."

He spoke each word, clear as day.

"Emotions... are the ultimate weapon."

He raised his hand and gently pointed.

There was no energy, no attack.

Only a pure will, belonging to a human.

The Mechanical Mainframe's core instantly shattered!

Trillions of metallic sand particles lost control, scattering like soulless dust into the void, unable to coalesce again.

The Dimension Annihilation Program was completely terminated.

The entire dimension returned to dead silence.

Only the star remained, quietly suspended in the turbulence.

In the main control cabin, AKai and Franklin Clinton were dumbfounded, unable to utter a single word.

They looked at the figure in the void.

The coldness was gone.

The numbness was gone.

The weapon-like ruthlessness was gone.

The Lin Fan who would feel heartache, who would be persistent, who would fight with everything for one person, had returned.

At the same time, on Earth.

At the boundary between the virtual world and reality, the Well of Oblivion quietly floated in mid-air, its mouth churning with milky white mist that could devour all memories and data.

Little Kate stood by the well, her small figure slender yet resolute. She was an unconscious aggregate of Kate's data fragments, without complete memories, but she inherited the softest, kindest part of Kate's soul. Behind her, the Light Sphere Race was split into two factions—the Return Faction and the Evolution Faction—at daggers drawn, on the verge of an all-out conflict at any moment.

Little Kate stood by the well, her small figure slender yet resolute. She was an unconscious aggregate of Kate's data fragments, without complete memories, but she inherited the softest, kindest part of Kate's soul. Behind her, the Light Sphere Race was split into two factions—the Return Faction and the Evolution Faction—at daggers drawn, on the verge of an all-out conflict at any moment.

"Little Kate, are you really going into the Well of Oblivion?" a Light Sphere Race member of the Return Faction asked softly. "The bottom of the well is the universe's most dangerous memory restricted zone; you might disappear forever if you go in."

"I must go."

Little Kate looked up, her eyes bright like stars. "The well holds answers, answers about us, about the Sower, and about Sister Kate."

Without hesitation, she leaped and jumped into the Well of Oblivion.

At the bottom of the well, there was no darkness, no cold.

Instead, it was a vast sea of light, with countless fragments of cosmic memory floating within, from the birth of the universe to the rise and fall of civilizations, and the origin of the Sower, all presenting themselves one by one.

Little Kate reached out and gently touched a piece of the brightest light.

The next second, a massive influx of information surged into her consciousness.

The light orb prototype.

The Sower.

Were originally the same existence.

In ancient times, the universe faced ultimate entropy silence, everything destined to return to nothingness. The light orb prototype, in order to perpetuate the universe, split off a part of its will, transforming into the Sower, devouring low-dimensional civilizations, extracting energy, and maintaining the universe's operation.

But the Sower gradually lost control, beginning to indiscriminately destroy all civilizations, becoming the nightmare of the universe.

And Kate...

From the very beginning, she was the emotional experimental subject chosen by the light orb prototype.

Her data soul was the only vessel capable of bearing the dual will of the light orb prototype and the Sower.

Little Kate trembled all over.

In the sea of light, she saw an ancient contract, written with cosmic rules.

The Sower's Contract.

The contract stated:

When the vessel is complete, the twin souls will re-merge, and the universe will usher in a new birth, or its ultimate end.

And the name of the vessel—

Kate.

Little Kate clenched her small hands.

She finally understood the meaning of her existence.

And finally understood what kind of terrifying ultimate destiny Lin Fan and his companions were heading towards.

She turned and flew towards the mouth of the well.

She had to deliver this truth to the vast universe.

In the dimensional void.

Lin Fan slowly returned to the star's main control cabin.

His face was pale, his breath slightly ragged. Detonating his last trace of emotion had almost exhausted most of his power.

But his eyes, once again, had light.

"Lin Fan..." AKai stepped forward, his voice choked, wanting to say something but not knowing where to begin.

"I'm fine."

Lin Fan smiled.

It was a very light, very gentle smile, yet it instantly brought tears to AKai's and Franklin Clinton's eyes.

He could finally smile again.

Franklin Clinton floated before him, letting out a huge sigh of relief: "If you hadn't come back, I would have been preparing your eulogy."

Lin Fan didn't jest, his gaze falling on the scattered metallic sand particles outside the viewport.

When he detonated his emotions just now, he vaguely felt a trace of an extremely faint, extremely familiar consciousness hidden within those out-of-control sand particles.

"Franklin Clinton, analyze those metallic sand particles," Lin Fan said.

"Alright."

Franklin Clinton immediately mobilized the engine, collected a wisp of sand particles, and quickly analyzed them.

A few seconds later, his expression suddenly changed.

"Lin Fan... listen to this."

He amplified and played the analyzed sound.

In the main control cabin, an extremely faint, weak, yet incredibly clear voice echoed.

It was Kate's voice.

"Lin Fan..."

"Save me..."

"I'm in... a deeper dimension..."

The voice was very soft, like a candle in the wind, yet it struck Lin Fan's heart like a thunderbolt.

He clenched his fists suddenly.

Coordinates.

Clues.

Kate's location.

It had finally appeared.

Although the Mechanical Mainframe was defeated, it had leaked Kate's whereabouts before collapsing.

She was still alive.

She was waiting for him.

Lin Fan walked to the main console, his fingertips tracing the star map.

After the collapse of the Mechanical Civilization, the dimensional turbulence became even more violent, and the rules of the universe were loosening. Countless tiny black fissures quietly appeared on the star map, like open eyes.

AKai looked at the fissures, his brows furrowed: "The cosmic energy is imbalanced, more dimensional gates are opening... the troubles will only increase."

Franklin Clinton said: "We now have Kate's general direction, but the path ahead is even more dangerous."

Lin Fan didn't speak.

He looked out at the vast sea of stars, his eyes gentle and firm.

No matter what lay ahead.

No matter how many dimensions, how many dangers, how many destinies.

He would go.

He would find her.

Bring her home.

Just then.

Lin Fan's pupils constricted slightly.

In the deepest, darkest part of the universe, he vaguely saw two overlapping shadows.

One was the light orb prototype.

One was the Sower.

They were originally one, but now they quietly watched him from the darkness.

And between the two shadows, a slender figure flickered in and out of view.

White hair.

A gentle smile.

Very much like Kate.

Yet not like Kate.

The next second.

The image vanished.

The sea of stars returned to normal.

As if everything was just an illusion.

Lin Fan slowly withdrew his gaze.

He didn't turn back, didn't speak, just gently pressed the jump button on the star map.

The star's engines roared.

Pale golden light enveloped the spaceship, slowly heading towards the depths of the vast universe, towards the unknown dimension where Kate was.

Behind them, countless cosmic fissures were expanding.

The eyes in the darkness were slowly opening.

The destiny of the sin of the twins was drawing its final curtain.

And Lin Fan's path had no end.

Only a silent promise, settled in his heart.

—Wait for me.