The moment Jason Wu stepped into the Forgotten Throne Hall, the world changed—but not in a dramatic, cosmic, thunder-cracking way.
No.
It changed with a quiet exhale, like an old world finally noticing someone who shouldn't be here.
The floating throne, where the "other Jason" had sat moments ago, was still spinning gently—but the figure was now gone.
Vanished.
Evaporated like a memory someone erased from a diary.
Only the shard remained.
A broken crystal fragment hovering at the throne's heart, pulsing faintly.Pale gold. Cold. Almost shy.
Longwu Sword hummed in Jason's mind, tone flat:
["Touch that and we die."]
Jason blinked."…Usually you say the opposite."
["Yeah, which means I'm serious. That thing smells like bureaucracy and failed marriage—very dangerous."]
Jason ignored him and approached.
Lan Yuren and Wei Qing moved in behind, blades half raised.
"Jason," Lan whispered, "that shard… it's reacting to you."
Wei Qing added, "It feels like… your qi. But twisted."
Jason stopped walking.
Because she was right.
The shard pulsed again—and his heartbeat answered.
A soft hum rippled through the hall. The walls—made of memory-stone—shifted into silhouettes:the old Wu Clan, children, elders, warriors, a thousand faces flickering like dying fireflies.
All of them staring at him.
Jason swallowed hard."Okay… creepy family reunion."
Longwu muttered:
["You should've worn nicer clothes."]
He stepped closer.
The shard brightened, then spoke—not with a voice, but with memory.
A whisper of the past not meant to reach him.
A scene unfolded in midair:
A man—Jason Wu.Older. Sharper. Alone.
He stood before an Administrator envoy, chained by laws Jason didn't yet know.
The envoy's voice echoed:
"State the truth of your ascension."
Older Jason's jaw clenched.
"I didn't ascend."
"That," the envoy said, "is the lie we cannot allow."
The shard pulsed—memory freezing.
Lan Yuren felt his breath hitch. "Jason… that's you."
Wei Qing whispered, "Or a future you."
Jason's hands clenched. "And the 'first lie' is…?"
Longwu finished it:
["Him pretending he ascended the proper way."]
Jason turned. "And what does that even mean?"
["Means he—you—broke a rule older than realms. And they're still mad about it."]
That was when the shard flared.
Light burst outward, wrapping around Jason's arm like a chain of liquid gold.
"Oh great," Jason muttered, "it picked me."
Wei Qing stepped forward. "Should we—"
"DON'T TOUCH!" Jason shouted. "Every time someone grabs me during cosmic weirdness, we all explode!"
But the shard didn't explode.
It sank into his palm.
Like a memory fusing itself to a family it hated.
A jolt hit his nerves.
THE SHARD SHOWS HIM A TRUTH NOT MEANT FOR MORTALS
Jason's vision shattered.
He found himself standing on a barren, dead world.Ashes. Ruins. Corpses of worlds layered like broken plates.
A lone figure knelt in the center.
Older Jason again.
Longwu hissed in his mind:
["Watch carefully, boy. This is where everything snapped."]
Older Jason whispered to himself:
"I'll fix it… even if the Administrators erase me for it."
A second voice responded:
Cold. Mechanical. Too calm.
"You already lied once, Jason Wu.You claimed your ascension was natural.But you stole it."
Jason's chest tightened.
Older Jason spat back, voice raw:
"No. I survived. There's a difference."
"It does not matter. A Defier who lies becomes an anomaly.And anomalies must be corrected."
Memory fractured. Jason was yanked out of the vision.
He stumbled back into the Forgotten Throne Hall, gasping.
Lan grabbed his arm. "Jason! What happened?!"
Jason wiped sweat from his forehead."Apparently… I'm destined to mess up cosmic paperwork."
Longwu snorted.
["Understatement of the century."]
Wei Qing's voice trembled. "Why did the shard show that to you?"
Jason stared at the shard embedded in his palm.
It throbbed like a second heartbeat.
"Because," he said slowly, "it remembers something the Administrators erased."
THE FIRST LIE — REVEALED PIECE BY PIECE
Lan Yuren frowned. "Jason… what exactly was the lie?"
Jason exhaled.
"It wasn't that I became a Defier.It's how I survived something I shouldn't have."
Longwu added:
["You weren't supposed to live long enough to ascend. Someone interfered."]
Jason blinked. "Someone interfered…? Who?"
["Can't tell yet. But whoever it is—your other selves tried to hide it."]
"Hide it from the Administrators?"
["Yep. They hate anomalies. And you? You're like a walking clerical error wearing a tank top."]
Jason sighed.
Lan crossed his arms. "If Jason lied in the past… the Administrators will go after him harder now."
Wei Qing nodded. "Especially after what happened in the Fracture and the Core…"
Jason muttered. "So they'll come for me."
Longwu gave a dry laugh.
["They already are, genius."]
SOMETHING ELSE IS IN THE THRONE HALL
The throne suddenly flickered.
A ripple of distortion brushed across the chamber.
Jason stiffened."Someone else is here."
Lan raised his blade. "The other Jason?"
Wei Qing shook her head. "No… something heavier."
Jason whispered:
"…Administrator?"
Longwu clicked his metaphorical tongue.
["If an Administrator walked in, we'd already be dead.This one's… different."]
The throne cracked.
A shadow stepped out.
No facial features.Only a silhouette wearing a Wu Clan coat—but old. Torn. Dripping with silvery threads like leaking time.
Jason froze.
Because the figure had his height.His build.His stance.
But older.Scarred.
Broken.
"Great," Jason muttered, "another version of me."
Longwu cut in:
["Not exactly."]
Jason gritted his teeth. "Define 'not exactly'—"
The shadow raised its head.
And Jason saw its eyes.
They weren't human.
They weren't cosmic.
They weren't Administrator-made.
They were…
Empty.
Like someone had carved out the soul and replaced it with a rule.
Wei Qing stepped back. "Jason… that thing… is it—?"
Jason whispered:
"…a correction."
Longwu hissed:
["A Wu created by the Administrators.A replacement.One designed to overwrite you."]
Jason's stomach dropped.
"What?"
The silhouette's voice cracked like breaking mirrors:
"You lied.You cannot be allowed to remain.I will take your place."
Jason instinctively raised Longwu.
"Over my dead body."
The shadow replied—calmly:
"Yes. That is the intended sequence."
Longwu muttered:
["Okay, I hate him. Kill it."]
THE SHARD WAKES
The shard embedded in Jason's palm blazed.
The throne hall trembled.
Fragments of memory-stone peeled off to orbit him like floating runes.
Lan shouted, "Jason! What's happening?!"
Wei Qing reached toward him. "Your qi is destabilizing—"
Jason steadied his breath.
"No. Something else is happening."
He looked at the shadow-self marching toward him.
"It thinks I'm the error," he whispered.
Longwu replied:
["Well… you are the error.But you're our error."]
Jason smirked. "Thanks, buddy."
["Don't get sentimental. Just survive."]
The shadow cracked its knuckles—each pop echoing like snapped rules.
Jason gripped Longwu tighter.
The shard's glow crawled up his arm to his shoulder, like a living code rewriting itself.
Lan Yuren raised his sword. "We fight with you!"
Wei Qing lifted her spear. "Together!"
Jason shook his head once.
"No."
They froze.
Jason's voice was quiet—but steady.
"This thing was made for me.It learns from me.It can overwrite me.If you jump in, you'll only give it more data."
Lan grit his teeth. "Jason—"
Jason looked over his shoulder.
A faint grin.
"Trust me."
Longwu sighed dramatically.
["He's going to do something stupid.I can feel it."]
Jason lowered his stance.
Hu—His breath aligned.Qi locked.Pulse stabilized.
Across from him, the shadow did the same—like a perfect mirror.
Jason whispered:
"…so that's how you fight."
The shadow responded:
"I am your optimal version.You cannot win."
Jason smirked wider.
"See, that's where you're wrong.I'm not optimal."
He raised Longwu.
"I'm chaotic."
Longwu beamed.
["Atta boy."]
The shard flared.
And Jason rushed in.