Location: Crimson Skybarge Medical Bay – Orbit Drift Point Alpha
Xu Shanyue awoke choking.
Not on blood.
On names.
A cascade of memories that weren't hers — alternate selves, alternate deaths. Her hand twitched. Her pulse throbbed out of sync with the room.
Yan leaned over her, face pale.
"You're awake. But…"
Shanyue sat up too quickly.
"What year is it?" she demanded.
Yan blinked.
"Still 2041. But—Shanyue, you burned the Phoenix Key."
Shanyue exhaled.
"Then I'm not just back. I'm back through."
Cut To: Deep Earth – Sanctuary Levels
Lin stood before the six remaining active variants.
Each of them had awakened in a staggered circle, each with a different aura—tension between them like wires stretched to snapping.
Δ2: Bald. Eyes that had clearly wept too much.
Δ3: Smiling too widely. The dangerous kind.
Δ5: Youngest. Still hopeful.
Δ6: Mechanical implants. Mute.
Δ7: Female.
Only Δ4 was missing.
And that was the problem.
"He's already gone to the surface," Δ5 warned.
"He thinks this world is his second chance. He'll rewrite it with fire."
Lin frowned.
"And the rest of you?"
Δ3 shrugged.
"We're waiting to see which of us survives you."
Δ7 stepped forward, gaze steady.
"No. Some of us want to help."
Cut To: Surface – Chengdu Subcity District Gamma
Δ4 walked the streets like a ghost.
No one noticed him.
Yet everything felt too soft to him. Too calm. Too breakable.
"This version of the world has never felt war," he murmured.
"It's ready for one."
He pulled something from his pocket — a shard of Maternal Code Core.
"And mother never locked me out."
Above him, a billboard flashed a name he hadn't seen in years.
"Lin Feng: Appointed Honorary Urban Advisor – Golden Chamber Hall"
Δ4 smiled.
"Perfect."
Cut To: Shanyue's Return to Crimson HQ
The Circle wasn't the same.
Or… perhaps she wasn't.
The paintings had shifted.
Someone else sat in her former chair.
"Who are you?" she asked flatly.
The woman across from her wore her ring. Her voice was identical.
"I'm Xu Shanyue. You died. Two years ago."
Yan stepped between them.
"She's another version. We're in a split-merge continuum."
"How many Crimsons are there now?" Shanyue-Original asked.
The new one sipped tea.
"Too many. And Rootlight is closing the merge."
Final Scene – Lin Feng, Amei, and Δ7 in Hidden Surface Route
They moved through a frost tunnel beneath the abandoned tech cities.
Δ7 paused suddenly.
"He's already entered Golden Chamber territory."
Amei frowned.
"He's going for your reputation. To undo you by replacing you."
Lin nodded grimly.
"Then I need to arrive before the story does."
Δ7 placed something in his hand: a vial marked in red glyphs.
"You won't win by force."
"Then what's this?"
"A memory of who you were. Before the system ever noticed you."
Lin stared at it.
And for the first time in chapters…
He looked unsure.