Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 184 The Declaration of Glimmer and the Photo Studio of Oblivion
dark.

It was as thick as a soup made from rust and mold.

It pressed heavily on the alveoli of Xu Yan and the other two.

Xu Yan suddenly pulled Chen Zhiwei backward.

The seemingly solid road ahead was actually a thin layer of rust, beneath which lay bottomless sewage.

The water splashed up, and the dull sound of the water was particularly jarring in the deathly silence.

"stay close."

His voice was hoarse, and his golden-level intuition stretched out at full force in the labyrinthine giant drainage tunnel, like a radar struggling in ink.

On his back, A Zhe's hot breath sprayed onto the side of his neck;
Beside him, Chen Zhiwei's silver-level psionic energy was already as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind.

shelter.

We must find a place where they can catch their breath.

Even if it's just a dry corner.

The water underfoot was ankle-deep, icy.

Each step brought with it a dull thud of water, which sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silence.

In the distance, various indistinguishable strange noises echoed like background noise.

This serves as a reminder that this underground pipeline is by no means a safe haven.

Finally, at the end of a fork in the road, they found an abandoned pump house.

The iron gate had long been rusted and peeling off.

The space inside is not large, but compared to the open tunnel, it can be considered a luxurious haven.

At least, most of the ground here is dry.

Xu Yan carefully placed A Zhe on a pile of discarded burlap sacks in the corner.

A Zhe's face was flushed, his breathing was rapid, and even in his coma, his body convulsed slightly due to the high fever.

But his uninjured hand.

He still gripped the portable data tablet, its screen shattered and edges twisted, as if it were welded to the spot.

This was his last weapon and his last vestige of dignity as a technician.

Chen Zhiwei collapsed to the ground almost the instant she entered the pump room, her chest heaving violently.

Her Silver II-level psionic energy was almost completely depleted in order to resist the previous impact of the rules and spatial transformation.

But at this moment, the confusion in her eyes was gone.

Instead, there is a heavy burden of the perception of "original sin" and a stubborn refusal to bow to fate.

She forced herself to sit up, placed her hands lightly on the ground, and closed her eyes.

A faint blue light, like extremely fine tendrils, seeped from her fingertips into the cold floor and walls of the pump room.

Wherever the light reached, the disturbing, chaotic whispers of deep dreams in the air seemed to be isolated by a layer.

The omnipresent malice that sought to erode the soul was temporarily pushed aside.

She forcibly constructed a "dimly lit safe zone" with a diameter of less than five meters, as fragile as a soap bubble, at the cost of her own spiritual power.

Although its scope was limited and its effect weak, it was the only "island of order" she could create for the team in this desperate situation.

Xu Yan stood at the entrance of the pump room, with his back to the two people.

The gold-level spiritual senses acted like an invisible radar, scanning the dark tunnel outside the door for any movement.

The hideous wounds on his body were visibly healing under the powerful vitality and chaotic spiritual energy of a peak Gold III level cultivator, and the newly formed granulation tissue brought waves of tingling and itching.

But what is harder to heal than physical wounds is the emptiness in one's mind.

He tried to recall the key technique his master had taught him: how to perfectly integrate psychic energy into the shutter sound of the "Soul-Sealing Camera".

That psionic resonant frequency that he had practiced thousands of times and had long since become muscle memory.

The memories are still there: Master's serious expression, the feel of the camera...

But the most crucial and subtle "frequency" itself has disappeared.

It's like being erased by the most precise eraser, leaving only a blank mark that you know what happened but not why.

This is the cold price left behind after "Abyss" devoured memories.

His eyes remained as sharp as a hawk's, scanning the darkness.

But occasionally, in that sharp depth, a moment of bewilderment and emptiness will surface uncontrollably.

That was the subconscious tremor of the soul after memories were forcibly ripped out.

Time passed slowly in the deathly silence and oppression.

The pale white light of the emergency lights flickered inside the pump room.

The shadows of the three people were stretched and distorted, cast onto the rusty wall.

Like three ghosts trapped in a cage.

Time passed slowly in the deathly silence and oppression.

In the latter half of the night, A Zhe's high fever seemed to subside somewhat, and he fell into a relatively peaceful slumber.

Chen Zhiwei still couldn't fall asleep.

She sat in the cold corner, hugging her knees, as if trying to shrink herself into an unnoticed mystery. Her gaze fell on Xu Yan's tall, yet strangely lonely back, the only barrier separating her from the endless darkness outside. Finally, she mustered her remaining courage, her voice so soft it seemed it would be swallowed by the darkness:
"Senior brother... is what Master Bai said true?"

Her voice trembled slightly, like a taut string.

"My 'self-awareness'...is it really the 'unstable singularity' that's accelerating the collapse of this world? Is my very existence...a mistake?"

These words seemed to drain all her strength.

The heavy burden of defining herself as the "source of the disaster" caused her far more pain than any physical injury.

Xu Yan's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Here it came, the question he had anticipated, yet one he hoped she would never have to ask.

the truth?

The cruel truth about "dreams" and "reality".

If she were to reveal everything now, it would be tantamount to detonating a bomb at the core of her already collapsing worldview.

What she needs is not another "fact" that would completely undermine the foundation of her existence.

Rather, it was a "reason" that allowed her to continue existing and to continue fighting.

He didn't answer immediately, but slowly turned around.

He walked up to her, squatted down, and brought his line of sight to hers.

In those eyes that always burned with the flames of battle, what was reflected now was her pale and fearful face.

He didn't offer empty words of comfort like "no" or "don't overthink it."

Those words are too insignificant in the face of the world's malice.

He simply reached out his hand, with his strong and warm right hand.

He held her cold, even trembling fingers tightly, using the warmth of his palm to convey a silent anchor.

He took her hand, with an unwavering determination.

Pointing to the small pump house gently enveloped by her ethereal blue light.

"look,"

His voice was deep.

Yet it carried a resolute force, as if it wanted to engrave every word into her soul.

"Look at all that you have created with your own hands."

"Look at this, the only place where Ah Zhe can sleep peacefully amidst endless chaos and malice. Look at this, a corner where I can temporarily lower my guard and catch my breath. Look at this 'realm of life' that you have created, isolating it from decay, noise, and erosion."

He gazed into her eyes.

His gaze is profound.

It was as if he wanted to peer into the depths of her soul, into all her unease and confusion.

"The White Lord judges you as 'wrong' based on its own logic. But my logic is based on this 'life' realm that you created."

He paused, then spoke clearly and distinctly, word by word, as if making an unshakeable vow:

"Therefore, the error that must be 'calibrated' in His eyes is the only correct one that I, Xu Yan, will protect with my life, even if it means bearing the abyss."

Tears instantly blurred Chen Zhiwei's vision.

But this time.

There was no resentment, no hesitation.

Instead, it was a torrent of complete understanding and unconditional acceptance that swept away the cold shackles called "original sin".

She gripped his hand tightly in return and nodded vigorously.

It was as if he wanted to imprint this belief, along with the warmth of his palm, deep in his heart.

Just as Xu Yan felt a slight relaxation due to this emotional resonance.

The moment when vigilance is at its lowest.

"Tsk... What a touching story of mutual redemption."

That cold, hoarse voice, seemingly formed from the friction of countless fragmented memories, once again tried to burrow into the depths of Xu Yan's soul like a venomous snake.

But this time, it failed to make its way in as easily as before.

An invisible barrier, hot and metallic in appearance.

The defense originated from the Soul-Suppressing Iron Brand on his right palm and his own golden spiritual energy.

It manifested suddenly at the level of consciousness, blocking out most of the malicious whispers. The aftershocks of the sound reverberated, still reaching us, but had lost their sharp, direct impact.

It is “渊”.

"She truly is a unique 'key,' isn't she?"

Yuan's voice carried a weakened, slightly distorted, playful, and seductive quality.

"To be able to so easily manipulate the 'boundary' power that even the White Lord considers the foundation... this talent is a shortcut to the 'origin'."

Its whispers were filled with the logic of the devil:

"Think about it, the 'original code' is the foundation of this world, while the 'boundary' is the framework that divides everything and defines existence. Find the fragments of the 'boundary' that she can sense, and then... 'swallow' them."

We can then quickly grasp the essence of this dream and accumulate the power to tear apart all obstacles. Going home? At that point, it will be merely a matter of a thought.

A primal yearning for ultimate answers and immense power.

Like a wildfire, it instantly ignited in Xu Yan's heart, attempting to burn away his reason.

however.

Before this wildfire spreads.

A colder, more domineering power rose from the depths of his soul.

That was his own chaotic spiritual energy, which had reached the peak of Gold Level III.

It is mixed with the aura of the Soul-Suppressing Iron, which is specifically designed to counter all evil spirits and demons.

It transformed into an invisible torrent, forcefully pressing down on that tempting thought.

"Get back."

Xu Yan coldly rebuked from the depths of his consciousness.

It is no longer the passive resistance of the past, but a counterattack with a clear intention to expel.

"Om-"

A tremor, seemingly from a very distant place, filled with resentment and rage, resounded.

Then the seductive whispers and primal desires receded like the tide, forcibly suppressed back to the deepest part of the seal.

Xu Yan regained his senses and his eyes were as sharp as ever.

He felt it clearly.

The "Abyss Core" within his body throbbed unwillingly within the seal, but ultimately could not break through the cage he and the Soul-Suppressing Iron had built together.

no way!

I absolutely cannot allow the venomous fangs of "Yuan" to touch her in the slightest.

The next day, A Zhe's high fever finally subsided.

He leaned weakly against the wall, his eyes sunken, but the focused flame unique to tech geeks had been rekindled in his pupils.

The first thing he did was to tremble as he picked up the nearly ruined data board.

The nails turned slightly white from the force applied; I tried repeatedly to reactivate them.

The screen flickered a few times before finally managing to light up a faint sliver of light.

Most functional modules are still covered by error messages.

However, the core storage area seems to have managed to salvage some things.

"Night Owl..."

He rubbed his stinging temples.

Fragmented information struggled to spill from his chapped lips.

"Abyss Resonator... Forced Awakening... Grade C..."

The sound was intermittent, as if piecing together the remnants of a nightmare.

"And what the White Master mentioned... 'firewall'... 'underlying code'..."

Suddenly, his fingers, which were rubbing his temples, stopped.

All the clues connected instantly in my weary mind, leading to an unbelievable conclusion.

His head jerked up.

Despite his pale face, his eyes shone with an almost burning light, as if he had discovered the truth.

"I have a theory!" His voice was hoarse with excitement, but unusually clear, "The 'primordial code' that everyone is fighting over..."

He took a deep breath and, word by word, uttered that earth-shattering conjecture:
"...It is very likely that it is the fragment of the 'rule set' that constitutes the lowest level of the 'mirage' and has the highest authority!"

The pump room was deathly silent.

He glanced at Xu Yan and Chen Zhiwei, lowered his voice, but made each word sound incredibly heavy:

"Whoever controls it can...to a certain extent, rewrite local reality!"

Rewriting reality?

These four seemingly casual words, however, struck like a silent thunderclap, resounding deep within the souls of everyone in the pump room.

This is no longer power, but an intrusion into the authority of the gods.

Xu Yan fell silent.

His gaze slowly swept over A-Zhe, who was panting with excitement.

Then his gaze fell upon Chen Zhiwei's face, whose eyes were bright yet unable to conceal her weariness.

In the deathly silence, he took a deep breath of the cold air, which smelled of rust, and made a decision.

"Before deciding on the next step,"

His voice was unusually calm, yet carried immense weight.

There's something I have to be honest about.

He raised his finger and pointed to his chest, the movement slow and solemn.

"A 'Abyss Core' is sealed here."

“It originates from the essence of ‘Abyss’ and is filled with the purest chaos and will to destroy.”

His gaze was almost cruelly honest, and his words were clear and unambiguous, allowing no room for misunderstanding.

"It devours my memories and constantly seduces my mind."

He paused, then continued, making no attempt to conceal the dark side of power.

"The reason we were able to turn the tables and kill those two C-ranks was precisely because of the chaotic spiritual energy it provided, and..."

His gaze lowered slightly, landing on his chest.

"This jade cicada feeds on souls."

Xu Yan raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over his two companions with unwavering focus.

"Our strength lies in facing danger."

"The road ahead is not only fraught with external thorns. An even more deadly danger... may come from the loss of control within my body."

Finally, he made that incredibly difficult, yet necessary, choice.

"If you choose to leave now,"

His voice remained steady, yet carried a resolute tone.

"I, Xu Yan, have no complaints whatsoever."

A deathly silence fell over the pump room. The only sound was the faint hum of the emergency lights carrying electricity.

The deathly silence lasted only a few seconds.

Ah Zhe suddenly spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

The voice was weak, yet it pierced the ground like a nail.

"Brother Yan, why are you talking about such useless things?"

He forced an awkward smile.

He rubbed his fingers hard against the cracked data board, the faint light from the screen illuminating the indomitable spark in his eyes.

"Without you, I would have rotted away somewhere long ago. If we're brothers, we'll stick together!"

He took a breath.

My gaze swept across the endless, corroded darkness.

The voice carried an almost blasphemous arrogance.

"Who cares if it's a god or a ghost, or some kind of damned seal... Our 'Glimmer Alliance' will grind our teeth and carve a hole through this rusty coffin to let the light through!"

Chen Zhiwei remained silent.

She simply stood up.

Under the watchful eyes of Xu Yan and A Zhe, he walked step by step to Xu Yan.

Then, reach out and gently place your hand on his heart.

Through a layer of clothing, two completely different sensations came from under my palm.

The surface of the jade cicada was always slightly cool.

At a deeper level, however, lies a cold, unsettling restlessness.

Like a living creature imprisoned, that is the pulse of the "abyss core".

Her palms were warm and steady.

It seems to see through flesh and blood, soothing the deep-seated restlessness.

The voice was gentle, yet carried a firmness that cut off all hesitation:

“You protect my ‘rightness’,”

She gazed into his eyes, his slightly pale face reflected in their clear depths.

"Of course, I will protect 'all' of you."

"Neither the White Lord's 'purification' nor the 'Abyss' within you can take you away from me."

She paused, her voice soft yet clear enough to reach everyone's ears, like a vow:

"Let's break through this coffin together."

Xu Yan closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the polluted air that meant freedom.

A bond that transcends life and death, unspoken yet forged in the crucible of this moment, is now unbreakable.

In that instant when the belief was united.

"Zzz... Warning... Environmental rules... Disturbance..."

The data board next to A Zhe had a shattered screen.

Suddenly, a faint, almost inaudible static noise appeared, and a string of meaningless gibberish flashed across the edge of the screen before silence.

This sudden change was brief yet sharp, instantly freezing the warm atmosphere that had just begun to build.

"what's the situation?"

Xu Yan immediately turned his head, his sharp gaze fixed on A Zhe and the data board.

A Zhe was startled awake. He weakly picked up the data tablet, frowned, and quickly tapped a few times, but the screen still showed a large number of error messages.

"I don't know... Maybe it's a temporary malfunction caused by deep environmental interference? The psionic stagnation area sometimes does this... Now there's no signal again."

He rubbed his still-stingling temples, attributing it to the unstable environment.

Chen Zhiwei instinctively hugged her knees and whispered:
"I think I also felt a momentary 'shaking,' not physically, but... a feeling."

Xu Yan's golden spiritual sense had already scanned the area outside the door like a radar, but found no physical threat.

The subtle ripples of that regularity had vanished without a trace, as if they had been an illusion.

However, combining the anomalies on the data panel with Chen Zhiwei's perception, a sense of unease began to creep into his mind.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer," he said in a deep voice. "Zhe, rest for another ten minutes, and then we'll set off immediately."

The seeds of unease had been sown, and the atmosphere in the pump room became tense once again.

Ten minutes later, the three stepped into the murky water again.

The pipes beneath my feet seemed endless, accompanied only by the muffled sound of water and strange, indistinct noises in the distance.

As they walked, A Zhe would occasionally look down at the data panel; the garbled text on the screen seemed to be more numerous than before.

Occasionally, the screen would even go black briefly, making him curse under his breath at the damned environmental interference.

Chen Zhiwei followed silently, the faint "shaking sensation" originating from the depths of the world still occasionally brushing against her senses, like the infrasound waves transmitted by an impending tsunami in the distance, impossible to grasp, yet unsettling.

Xu Yan noticed the unusual behavior between the two, and his unease gradually grew.

The Soul-Suppressing Iron Brand on his palm also emitted a very subtle warmth, different from that felt when confronting the Abyss Core, as if it were passively sensing some change in the surrounding rules.

Just as Xu Yan was about to turn onto a side road, guided by his spiritual sense, Chen Zhiwei was the first to notice the anomaly.

The pale blue light she maintained at her fingertips, like a candle flame flickering in the wind, began to twist and sway without warning, casting its glow on the boundary of the "dim light safe zone" on the wall, causing it to flicker and distort like a faulty electrical current.

"Senior brother... your psionic energy... is disordered?"

She gasped in surprise and uncertainty.

Almost simultaneously, Xu Yan suddenly felt a tremor beneath his feet.

It wasn't vibration, but... weightlessness?
No, it was as if the puddles underfoot had suddenly lost their gravity, and the murky water droplets detached from the surface and floated up.

It trembled eerily before their eyes, then suddenly fell back with a "plop," splashing up an even bigger spray of water.

"Sizzle—snap!"

A Zhe's data panel screen was instantly covered by wildly scrolling gibberish and a huge red warning sign. The piercing alarm sound was distorted and stretched, turning into a series of bizarre and twisted musical notes.

"Warning! Rules... underlying... unstable... formatting process..."

The alarm sounded intermittently, mixed with overlapping noises that seemed to come from different times and spaces—there was the sharp laughter of children, the sharp sound of metal being forcibly torn apart, and a cold and rapid chanting in an incomprehensible language.

The mottled rust on the pump room walls seemed to come alive, slowly wriggling and spreading along a fixed path, like some kind of evil vine growing.

What's most chilling is the shadow of the three of them under the light—they begin to stretch and twist on their own, breaking free from the constraints of their own movements, dancing and struggling on the wall, as if trying to break free from the two-dimensional plane and pounce into the three-dimensional world.

"No! It's not an attack... it's... it's the rules of this space itself being 'overwritten'! It's 'formatting'!" A Zhe's exclamation was filled with a desperate tremor.

His voice hadn't faded yet.

The whole world.

Like a painting being thrown into a shredder,
It twisted and collapsed violently without warning!
The scene in the pump room was like a shattered mirror, peeling away piece by piece. Ah Zhe's exclamation and Chen Zhiwei's rapid breathing were stretched and distorted infinitely.

"Brother Yan—!"

Ah Zhe's voice seemed to come from another time and space, filled with a tearing terror.

Pure white, unquestionable light.

It came devouring us with the will to "return to zero".

This is not an attack, but the enforcement of some underlying rule.

These "erroneous variables" must be ruthlessly "erased" from this area.

Before his consciousness was completely overwhelmed, Xu Yan's only sensation was that the blue brand forged from Soul-Suppressing Iron on the palm of his right hand suddenly erupted with a soul-tearing searing pain.

It was not an attack from the outside.

Rather, it is the imprint itself that senses this "formatting" power.

It was as if the most fundamental taboo had been touched, resulting in a violent and autonomous resistance.

An immense force, which he could neither comprehend nor control, erupted with the brand at its core.

That force wasn't directed at physical existence; rather, it brutally tore apart the "rules" themselves that were acting upon them.

"Om-!"

Space uttered an unbearable, lamenting cry from the level of rules.

It wasn't the weightlessness of teleportation; it was more like a brutal tearing and forced ejection of the world's underlying code.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three heavy thuds as the plane hit the ground.

It crashed into a narrow pipe filled with sticky rust and sewage, splashing up a dull thud.

"cough……!"

Xu Yan was the first to kneel down on one knee, steadying himself, and forcibly swallowed the metallic taste rising in his throat.

He immediately looked at his right hand.

The blue brand on my palm was still burning hot, but its light had dimmed, leaving only a deep-seated tingling and exhaustion.

It was as if its act of defying the rules of the world just now had exhausted all the power it had accumulated.

Yes... this Soul-Suppressing Iron.

It is a fragment of the "Boundary Lock".

It also contains the power of rules for "sealing" and "defining".

Its outburst just now was not to protect them from physical harm.

Instead, they resisted the rules that were trying to "format" them and forcibly rejected them.

This is more like... mutual cancellation and bounce-off between rules of the same origin?

"Senior brother..."

Chen Zhiwei's voice carried an unusual hint of dazedness.

It's as if a part of my soul is still stuck in some distant time and space.

She was not defeated by the brutal tearing apart of the rules.
At this moment, it seemed as if it had been seized by some gentler, more eerie force.

The moment her feet touched the ground, her pupils dilated slightly involuntarily.

It wasn't because of the scene before me, but because of the completely unfamiliar waves surging in my mind.

"This place... I feel like I've dreamt about it before?"

She subconsciously glanced around at the rusty landscape, but her gaze was unfocused.

Fragmented, disjointed images, like a school of startled fish, suddenly crashed into the depths of her consciousness.

It's not a gentle recollection of memories, but rather a forceful implantation.

It was the sharp sound of cold metal rubbing together, not coming from the surrounding pipes, but resounding directly inside the skull.

It was a blurry figure standing on an endless, rusty wasteland.

A quick glance back revealed a gaze that was... cold and familiar.

But it made her heart tighten suddenly.

It is a fragmented passage recited in some ancient language, its meaning unclear, yet its melody carries a chilling rhythm.

These fragmented perceptions emerged one after another.

It brings a sharp, stinging pain stemming from the forced alteration of one's cognition.

She couldn't help but groan and raised her hand to cover her forehead.

Xu Yan immediately noticed her unusual behavior.

He strode to her side, his sharp gaze, which had been scanning the surroundings, instantly focusing on her pale face, his expression one of undisguised solemnity.

"Zhiwei?"

His deep voice betrayed obvious worry.

Xu Yan instinctively raised his right hand, intending to support her slightly swaying shoulder, but then stopped mid-air.

Her gold-level spiritual senses, like the most sophisticated detector, cautiously enveloped her.

He tried to pinpoint the source of her pain.

"What's going on? Is it the erosion of the rules, or... something else?"

Xu Yan's spiritual senses, like invisible threads, carefully wrapped around Chen Zhiwei's body.

However, no obvious traces of external rule erosion or mental attack were detected.

The stinging pain and disorientation seemed to originate from a deeper part of her own being.

It's as if dormant underlying code has been accidentally activated, creating a disturbing resonance with this unfamiliar, corrosive environment.

"It wasn't an attack..."

Chen Zhiwei was breathing slightly heavily.

Trying to calm the turmoil in my mind.

The cold metallic scraping sounds and the indistinct chanting gradually faded, leaving behind lingering pain and a deeper sense of bewilderment.

"It's... a sense of familiarity. But it's cold, it's... distant."

She couldn't quite describe it; it felt like touching a piece of history that didn't belong to her but had been forcibly inserted into her consciousness.

Xu Yan frowned, his worries not only not dissipating but deepening.

Chen Zhiwei's "stability" is related to "boundaries," and her abnormal perceptions are by no means unfounded.

The dream was more bizarre than he had imagined.

He was about to speak, telling her to focus and try to guide or suppress this feeling.

"Wait! This signal... the frequency band has completely changed!"

A Zhe's exclamation was like a thunderclap, abruptly breaking the brief silence.

He ignored the lingering pain in his body from his injuries.

He practically collapsed onto the data panel with its screen cracked like a spiderweb, his fingers trembling violently with extreme excitement as he frantically swiped and clicked.

"Underlying architecture... No! The spectrum of this interference mode... Good heavens! This is impossible!"

His voice suddenly rose, filled with a near-collapse of horror.

He suddenly raised his head, his face drained of color.

His eyes were filled with disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost, as he stared intently at Xu Yan and Chen Zhiwei.

"This...this is exactly the same as that anomalous signal that Xiaozhou and I painstakingly captured for a fleeting moment in the 'Tower of Babel' top-floor laboratory! Even the harmonic distortion of the noise is exactly the same!!"

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.

He uttered that conclusion, one that even he himself found hard to believe, his voice hoarse as if rusted iron were grinding together:
"Could it be that we...we didn't experience a deep fall at all...but rather...entered a completely different spatial dimension?! A 'mirror image' or 'gap' parallel to the 'mirage' we were in before?!"

"I can confirm that Xiao Zhou's last consciousness was that she was trapped in this world."

The forced "formatting" of the pump room, the abnormal outbreak of the Soul-Suppressing Iron Brand, Chen Zhiwei's eerie sense of familiarity stemming from instinct, and A Zhe's confirmed dimensional anomaly signal...

All the clues were now connected by A-Zhe's earth-shattering discovery, pointing to a truth far deeper and more terrifying than they had initially imagined.

It's not a simple matter of expelling or teleporting.

They were discovered and attempted to be eliminated by the world's "immune system".

Relying on the power of the "Boundary Lock" fragments, they forcibly broke through to a... "isolation zone"?
Or rather, was it redirected to a completely different "server"?
Something more fundamental has changed.

Just as Xu Yan was trying to sort out her thoughts—

A completely different kind of throbbing suddenly erupted from the depths of his body without warning.

It's not hearing, but a deeper resonance that comes from blood and soul.

It was as if an invisible string was taut from the distant darkness in the southeast.

The other end was tightly tied to the "Abyss Core" inside his chest cavity, emitting a low and yearning vibration.

At the same time, the Soul-Suppressing Iron Brand on his right palm also felt a needle-like burning pain, no longer the explosive heat of before.

Rather, it is a persistent, warning sting.

It seemed to be resisting that strange attraction coming from the southeast.

These are two completely different feelings.

The yearning for the Abyss Core and the warning from the Soul-Suppressing Iron.

The intense collision within his body caused his blood and qi to surge instantly.

"Ho... ho ho..."

A low, distorted laugh.

This time, it didn't just ring in his mind directly; it was more like a malicious echo that transcended time and space, carried by the resonance itself.

It is “Yuan”!
Its voice was intermittent, yet filled with a kind of morbid ecstasy born of breaking free from constraints.

“A call… I hear it… It’s ‘thirst’… My ‘greed’ is screaming…”

Xu Yan's mind was tense. He forced himself to steady himself amidst the surging spiritual energy and questioned sharply in his mind:
"What is calling out?! Explain yourself!"

"Can't you feel it, little one..."

Yuan's voice was like a viper's hiss, carrying a chilling intimacy and seduction.

“This rusty land…this endless exploitation and decay…is one of the very essences of ‘me’ that was gouged out! It’s there…imprisoned…waiting…”

The essence that was cut away?

captivity?

These words, like icicles, pierced Xu Yan's mind.

He suddenly recalled the endless devastation and madness of losing his memory.

A vague yet chilling conjecture took shape in his mind.

"How many parts were you divided into?" he asked in a dry voice.

"Ha... seven layers of dreams... seven coffins..."

Yuan's voice was filled with endless resentment and mockery.

"The scum of antiquity thought that this would seal 'us' away forever... but 'we' will eventually reunite... just like you are feeling now... the resonance has begun..."

seven!
This number tolled like a final death knell in his soul.

Seven layers of dreams...

Seven fragments of the "Abyss" that were dismembered and sealed away...

The photo studio's collapse, the unusual activity of the Soul-Suppressing Iron Brand, Chen Zhiwei's strange behavior, and the unusual signal captured by A Zhe...

All the clues no longer point to a simple survival strategy within a deep dream.

Instead, it was the malicious whispers of "Yuan" that forcibly sketched out a suffocatingly grand truth.

They had entered a dangerous place.

It is a dream based on a seven-layered world!
He and Chen Zhiwei, one is burdened with the "Abyss Core", and the other is a projection related to the "Boundary".

Their arrival, like two pebbles thrown into stagnant water, inevitably... stirred up the deathly stillness of this dream.

Xu Yan turned his gaze forward again, where there was not only the possibility of life where the "spot of light" might exist.

Furthermore, the evil call of another part of the "Abyss's" remains was heard, along with the cold warning of the Soul-Suppressing Iron Brand.

The road ahead is now a true abyss.

Their deep-sea dives were, from the very beginning, destined to be more than just a means of survival.

They embarked on a path of no return that would uncover the bloody truth of the world and potentially... unleash ancient terrors.

The banner of the Glimmering Alliance will face its true test in this vast prison graveyard.

"Seven layers of coffins..."

Yuan's malicious whisper.

Like cold venom, it seeped into Xu Yan's mind.

This completely overturned his original understanding of "mirage".

This is not a dream, it is a prison, it is a graveyard.

He was carrying a part of the key to the cage as he walked on the seal.

The three continued along the filthy pipes, the atmosphere heavy.

Chen Zhiwei and A Zhe both noticed Xu Yan's sudden tension and his frequent, solemn gaze toward the southeast, but now was not the time to ask him anything.

However, the trajectory of fate always seems to take unexpected turns.

As they were about to turn onto a side road that would allow them to get closer to the ground, following the instructions on A Zhe's data board, Xu Yan, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped.

It wasn't an encounter with a monster, nor did it involve discovering danger.

The sight before him, however, caused even this Gold-level powerhouse, who had lived two lives and whose will was as firm as a rock, to show a rare moment of stunned silence.

The pipeline ended a short distance ahead, no longer connecting to a deeper underground network.

Instead, it was... an upward-facing, rusty maintenance ladder.

At the top of the ladder, the faint light coming down wasn't the cold glow of an emergency light, but rather a dim, yellowish glow, similar to that of an old streetlamp.

More importantly, an indescribable sense of familiarity, originating from the depths of the soul, enveloped me like a warm current, forming a strange third pole with the stinging pain of the Soul-Suppressing Iron in my palm and the restlessness of the Abyss Core within my body.

Xu Yan silently climbed the maintenance ladder and pushed open the heavy manhole cover at the top.

Light streamed in, bringing with it... a relatively fresh scent, yet still mixed with a faint smell of rust and dust.

He leaped out of the well and stood on the "ground".

Behind them, Chen Zhiwei and A Zhe also climbed up one after another.

Then, as if frozen in place, the two of them stood there, their pupils contracting sharply, their faces filled with disbelief and shock.

Before my eyes, there was no longer that familiar, suffocating haze and broken ruins.

This is a... street.

A street that looks quite old.

On both sides are low, old-fashioned brick and stone buildings, their walls also covered with rust and mottled stains, but their structures are basically intact.

The dim streetlights stood at the street corner, emitting a warm glow that, while not bright, dispelled some of the darkness.

In the distance, there were even a few blurry figures walking slowly, with a numb sense of daily life.

The air was filled with the smells of rust, dampness, and something else... the slightly greasy smell of food left over from cooking.

There was an atmosphere of "life," even though this life seemed so pale and powerless.

But what left Chen Zhiwei and A Zhe completely blank was what was across the street.

That building they knew all too well.

"Forgotten Photo Studio".

The signboard still hangs there, the characters are old-fashioned, covered in dust, but it is intact.

Although the shop window glass was not very bright, it was not broken, and the outlines of some of the furnishings could even be vaguely seen inside.

It stood quietly on the street corner, blending into its surroundings.

It's as if it has always been here, enduring countless years of wind and rain, yet never leaving.

"This...how is this possible?!"

Ah Zhe's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of his throat.

He rubbed his eyes hard, then suddenly looked at his data panel displaying the "abnormal dimension" signal. The garbled characters jumping on the screen seemed to mock his understanding.

"We...we're back at the photo studio? No! The coordinates are wrong! The signal is off! But...it's definitely there!"

Chen Zhiwei was struck dumb. She subconsciously took a step forward, her lips trembling slightly, her gaze fixed on the signboard.

A tremendous, indescribable sense of security and a strong sense of unease gripped her at the same time.

The feeling here... is similar to that "home" on the seventh floor, full of memories and warmth, yet completely different.

The "photo studio" here is more like a... realistic replica, lacking a certain core "soul".

"It's not about going back."

Xu Yan's deep voice broke the chaos in their thoughts.

His gaze, sharp as an eagle's, swept across the street, the streetlights, and the blurry figures in the distance, finally settling back on the photo studio.

"This is still the sixth floor."

His calm analysis was more like a statement to himself, clarifying his thoughts.

"The Forgotten Photo Studio... as an 'anchor' between reality and dreams, its very existence may transcend the limitations of a single dream. It may have a... 'projection' in every layer of the dream."

He remembered the power of "boundaries" left by his mother, which was the power to draw boundaries and define existence.

The photo studio, as its core element, presents different states in different levels of dreams, which is perfectly logical.

"The photo studio on the seventh floor is the 'origin' and a reflection of 'reality,' so it carries the most of our memories and emotions, and has become the last refuge of the 'boundary' power."

He continued his analysis, his gaze seemingly piercing through the doors of the photo studio.

“And this… is the ‘projection’ of the sixth floor. It is more ‘stable’, more ‘ordinary’, and also more… ‘empty’.”

Xu Yan's gaze swept across the window, fixed on the figures walking under the dim streetlights.

Their steps were no longer stiff like puppets, but instead carried a kind of slightly tired composure common among urban dwellers.

Some people hurried past carrying paper bags containing two portions of food, some stood on the street corner looking down at the faintly glowing communicator in their hands, and even in the distance, the blurry figures of several children chasing and laughing disappeared into the alleyway.

The entire street was filled with an almost authentic, languid atmosphere of evening life.

“Look at them,” Xu Yan’s voice was low, with a hint of scrutiny that was barely perceptible, “They are so much more ‘real’ and so much more ‘stable’ than before. Almost…like a well-functioning ordinary city at night.”

A Zhe and Chen Zhiwei looked in the direction he pointed.

Indeed, the pedestrians here are natural and move smoothly, quite different from the survivors on the seventh floor who are struggling in the ruins with eyes full of despair or madness.

Although the buildings on both sides of the street are old, most of them have warm lights shining through their windows, and you can occasionally hear the faint sound of television or conversation.

"but,"

Xu Yan changed the subject, his eyes still sharp as ever, capturing the subtle cracks hidden beneath the vibrant surface.

"Don't you guys think that this kind of 'normal'... is too uniform, too... 'standard'?"

He pointed to the person who was looking down at the communicator.

"His posture was almost identical to that of another person thirty meters away, as if they were 'relaxed' and carved from the same template."

He then pointed to the sound of children's laughter coming from afar.

"The laughter is crisp, but if you listen carefully, the rhythm and tone lack the unpredictable, lively variation that a child should have."

He drew his conclusion with a chilling insight:
The "stability" and "vitality" here may not be a natural evolution, but a kind of "simulation" that is carefully arranged and maintained within a certain "safety threshold".

The superficial order maintained by the White Lord may be based on this large-scale, highly efficient 'mimicry of life'. It uses this realistic shell to conceal the deeper…or rather, the uncontrollable chaos and reality of the deeper, more fundamental dream.

A Zhe and Chen Zhiwei observed carefully again.

Sure enough, beneath that seemingly vibrant everyday scene, one sensed a “perfect” order precisely controlled by an invisible hand, lacking genuine surprise and soul—a more sophisticated and chilling falsehood.

"Go in and have a look."

Xu Yan made a decision.

He needs to confirm the details of this "projection" and touch the rules behind this high degree of realism.

The three of them crossed the street and stood in front of the photo studio.

The signboard, door handles, and even the familiar, blurry water stain on the glass door all seem to have been copied exactly from the seventh floor.

Xu Yan reached out and pushed open the door.

(End of this chapter)