The night was still, unnervingly still.
Lin Chen leaned against the scorched wall of the ruined facility, heart pounding like war drums. The last clash with the Timewalker had not only strained his body—it had shaken his understanding of power itself. Time was no longer just a concept. It was a weapon.
And now, that weapon was in his hands, too.
System Synchronization Complete
System Notification:"Synchronization with Temporal Module Fragment complete."New Passive Skill Unlocked: [Fate Distortion Lv.1]Skill Effect: Temporarily interferes with local causal flow. Reduces the effect of enemy prediction or timeline manipulation within a 5-second window."Cooldown: 90 seconds.
Lin Chen stood upright, wiping the blood from his lip, eyes burning with cold fire.
"So this is what it means to play with fate."
The air around him shifted. A subtle ripple, as if reality had grown thinner.
System Alert:"Erebus network fluctuations detected.""They're rerouting surveillance drones. Searching for you.""Warning: One anomaly-bearing agent is approaching at high speed."
"Let them come," Lin Chen muttered.
But deep down, he knew it wasn't time to celebrate. He hadn't truly won. The Timewalker had retreated, not fallen. Erebus wouldn't let this go unanswered.
And more importantly—Li Chu was still missing.
He glanced at her broken bracelet, now linked to his system's scanning loop. It glowed with a faint warmth, and something inside it pulsed—not just power, but memory.
System Notification:"Background anomaly detected within subject: Li Chu.""Analyzing embedded system residue... Discovery: System Prototype Echo v0.3."Conclusion: Subject is not an ordinary human. Estimated identity match: Prototype Test Subject – Class A."
Lin Chen's blood ran cold.
"She's connected to the system... to me?"
He remembered the way she'd looked at him—like she knew. The hesitation in her voice when she asked who he really was. The fear in her eyes during the last fight.
Now it all made sense.
"She was one of them. Or at least... she was meant to be."
But she hadn't awakened like the others. Something had suppressed it—until now.
As Lin Chen connected deeper into the bracelet's energy residue, the system shimmered.
System Alert:"Memory Echo Activated."
Suddenly, the room darkened, and the world around him blurred—replaced by a flickering holographic recording.
A lab. Cold. Metallic. In the center, a pod. Inside it, Li Chu as a child, unconscious, wires sprouting from her temples.
And just beyond the glass—
"Is the integration stable?" asked a voice.
"Not yet. Her neural signature's resisting the framework."
"We don't need her functional yet. Just... keep her preserved. She might be the backup we need when the first generation fails."
The voices faded. The image dissolved.
Lin Chen opened his eyes slowly, heart cracking with guilt and rage.
"You've been a prisoner this whole time," he whispered.
Suddenly, the system beeped again—frantic this time.
System Notification:"Hostile approaching. Signal confirms: Erebus Agent – Host-Class."
"Another one already?" Lin Chen growled.
Dust exploded from the hallway entrance as a figure crashed through the wall. This one didn't bother with words.
He was armored, featureless, and fast. A blur of metal and muscle.
System Alert:"Ability Detected: Gravity Compression Manipulation."
The man slammed his hand down—and the very air warped, pressure increasing a hundredfold. Lin Chen's knees buckled under the sudden weight.
"He's controlling gravity—this guy's trying to crush me alive."
"System!" Lin Chen roared. "Activate [Fate Distortion]!"
System Notification:"Fate Distortion Lv.1 Activated.""Temporal bias field expanded. Local causality is unstable."
A strange silence fell—then the weight lifted. The enemy's movements stuttered, slowed.
To him, it was just a flicker—but to Lin Chen, it was a window.
He burst forward, using [Quantum Dodge], warping around the man's blind spot, then blasted him with a full-force strike using his newly enhanced Precision Forcefield.
The impact launched the agent across the room, his armor dented, sparks flying.
"You're not the only one who bends reality now," Lin Chen said through gritted teeth.
The agent scrambled to his feet, looking at Lin Chen in disbelief. It was clear—he hadn't expected Lin Chen to adapt so fast, let alone counter a Host-level ability.
Then, a message buzzed in the agent's ear—too soft for human hearing, but Lin Chen's system caught it.
"Abort. Timewalker has issued fallback order. Subject is adapting beyond projections."
The agent disappeared, sucked into a spatial vortex—likely back to Erebus HQ.
Lin Chen staggered, adrenaline crashing. But he was already scanning Li Chu's bracelet again. Time was short. And they were getting desperate.
System Prompt:"New Mainline Mission Unlocked: 'Awaken the Prototype'."Objective: Discover how to unlock Li Chu's latent system core."
System Update:"Fate Distortion Lv.1 Upgrade Path Unlocked. Hidden Skill Tree: 'Causal Manipulation' now visible."
"They wanted her asleep. I'm going to wake her up."