Location: Subterranean Access Shaft – 14 Kilometers Beneath Former Sichuan Faultline
The descent wasn't smooth.
The elevator was old, pre-Crimson, pre-Rootlight. It creaked with every kilometer. The temperature dropped unnaturally fast—not cold, but null. Amei rubbed her gloved hands together.
"Feels like we're moving through memory, not rock."
Lin stared at the depth counter.
"That's exactly what we're doing."
Flashback Fragment – From the Maternal Vault (Day Before Collapse)
His mother stood before a blank wall of stone. She placed her hand on it. It opened.
"We built this long before Rootlight became a weapon. Before Crimson became war."
"It's not a bunker," she whispered.
"It's a womb."
Back to Present – Sanctuary Gate
The elevator stopped with a jolt.
Ahead, carved into the stone, was a door made of what looked like bone-glass — shimmering faintly with code etched in circular patterns.
Amei translated aloud:
"Only blood that remembers… may pass."
Lin stepped forward.
The door pulsed—once.
And opened.
Inside the Sanctuary
They entered a vast, domed space lined with suspended capsules — hundreds. Each one held a person.
Not dead.
Not alive.
"Who…?" Amei whispered.
"Failed prototypes," Lin said quietly.
"Versions of me. Of others."
Each face was slightly different.
Some older.
Some younger.
Some twisted by fear, others frozen mid-smile.
In the center, a lone console flickered. Lin approached.
A biometric scan. Accepted.
The chamber lit.
[Welcome, Lin Feng-Prime]
[Genetic Cohesion: Stable]
[Phoenix Relay Detected. One Shot Available.]
"Phoenix…?" Lin muttered.
Amei's eyes widened.
"Xu Shanyue has it. She knows."
Cut To: Crimson Circle Barge – Xu Shanyue's Private Chamber
Shanyue stood at the edge of the observation deck, wind tearing at her coat. Yan hovered near the emergency console.
"You sure?" Yan asked.
"Phoenix only activates once. You don't even know what it fully does."
"It was made for one thing," Shanyue replied, calm.
"To undo the greatest mistake."
She held up the vial.
Then drank.
Her body arched—once—then collapsed.
Back in the Sanctuary
Lin staggered.
So did Amei.
A wave of reality surged through them, like gravity reversing. The lights flickered.
"Something's changing," she gasped.
"The Prime Line is—reorienting."
The console updated.
[Warning: Temporal Rewrite Detected – New Event Tree Emerging]
[Anchor: Xu Shanyue]
Final Scene – Xu Shanyue's Mindspace
She opened her eyes.
Floating in white.
Before her: a man in a chair, shackled by golden thread.
Rootlight's original founder.
He looked up.
"You shouldn't be here."
She smiled.
"I'm not. I'm rewriting what came before."
She raised her hand.
The chair cracked.
"Your time's up."