**The desert of the Metal Nation burned.**
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVSIgahiWK
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXrFsS1sjT
*"You finally... understand?"*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2R6WUIT5uZ
His shattered vocal cords emitted static. *"We... are all vessels..."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorxPNiMgs2
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIR7Ushiv7l
Only thought remained.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkWdQ4283v
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNqTYaTCfO
*"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."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtte3NyeK0
I walked toward the Sun Temple's ruins.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItnyuH5GEB
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkAy1MWpkB
The sundial bore the same equation as Othera's shrine:
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnlY7vJZvl
**[Zero] + [2] = [∞]**
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPrb1MUf4g
But this time, a small line of text appeared beneath:
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs88cIjhR5a
*"Destroy the vessel, release the imprisoned time."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjo20o7Mzx
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."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIKXHsGzRf
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaDiUZKWah
*"This time is different."* I raised the sickle. *"Because this time..."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLXgFMqql2
As the blade pierced the sundial, the stasis shattered.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrwsXOdExo
Time began flowing backward.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73ZJbBXZsI
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvfysWLjG9
On the cover of *"Prototype Prime Directive Set"* in the Forbidden Archives, where **[Zero]** once was, now stood **[ ]**.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHVsL2L2jO
Xu Wu touched her collarbone—her symbol had transformed into an hourglass shape. *"This is..."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kyvO2nGut
*"A new possibility."* I gazed at the horizon where the skies of the Five Nations were shedding their sickly hues. *"We broke the vessel."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2hNCo9E79
In the final second before the timelines converged, I heard twelve versions of myself speak simultaneously:
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2WkJxLOpT
*"Thank you for your choice."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiicWKBwMx
The world rebooted.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLiVAGTphy
---
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucyKhgMCoN
I woke at dawn by the sea.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFqqntDo3q
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfE4vUWobsh
*"Nightmares?"* She handed me a skewer. *"You kept muttering about vessels."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuadoi6PnZ6
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.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkTYAM87hU
Xu Wu followed my gaze. *"What? Never seen someone bleed before?"*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoim7ErOkR
The sound of crashing waves became deafening.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9s1bqZxenh
In this godless world, even pain was precious.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMRufQmsxu
---
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfkhO2DIqt
Three months later, I stood at the entrance to the abandoned divine realm.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAuWkYv7Fp
Xu Wu knelt before a simple gravestone on a nearby hill. A single character was carved into it: **[A]**
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9cnFed9NF
*"He never changes."* Xu Wu brushed fallen leaves off the stone. *"Always believing sacrificing himself could save everyone."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIS5VqUfgyy
As I approached, I noticed a metal flower resting before the grave—assembled from discarded mechanical eye components.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3nEdYI8PH
*"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:
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qL0jYBvsa
*"Remember, Xu Wu... the most powerful weapon in the world..."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqeiauFtxP
The projection grinned.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNujTZubXQ
*"Is the freedom to choose not to be a weapon."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpLfntEc1F
We stood in silence for a long time.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdkhRZnJDg
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."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNaXJnriSZ
---
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bAhKOBsf0
In the deepest chamber of the abandoned divine realm, a new failure was awakening.
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYBBwm0eJf
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:
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQ734DZcYV
*"Who are you?"*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglkWHQS6AQ
I crouched down, my own silver hair slipping over my shoulder. *"Here to teach you how to be human."*
460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPU5xwZ0e0
In my peripheral vision, Xu Wu leaned against a broken statue, we
ns216.73.216.204da2
and then Add to home screen.