vstars Chapter 37 Echoes of Ember
Chapter 37 Echoes of Ember
The rising sun painted the ruins a desolate golden-red, the smell of gunpowder mixed with the scorched earth, the only scent after dawn.
Lin Mo (Lin Yu) leaned against a half-broken concrete pillar, the gun in his hand long since cooled. His gaze wasn't on the gradually dispersing pursuers in the distance, but fixed on the lifeless girl in his arms—Su Ya.
She was eerily quiet.
After unleashing that terrifying killing power, Suya fell into a deep coma like a puppet with its strings cut. Her originally pale face now had an eerie bluish-gray tinge, and what chilled Lin Mo the most was that a very faint, yet faintly metallic, net-like pattern had appeared on her exposed neck and the back of her hands.
That's a sign of "viral crystallization".
"Acha, is the signal connected?" Lin Mo growled into his headset, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.
"Just got through... Oh my god, what happened on your end?" Acha's voice was trembling with tears and terror. "The vital signs monitor shows that Suya's heart rate is almost stopped!"
"There's no time to explain." Lin Mo's hands trembled as he gently brushed aside the stray hairs on Su Ya's forehead that were damp with cold sweat. His fingertips touched her skin; it was unnaturally cold, even with a hard, mineral-like feel.
He could clearly see something shimmering slightly beneath Suya's tightly closed eyelids—it was the "twin virus" replicating itself and crystallizing in her nerve endings after it lost control.
"What the hell is this thing?" Lin Mo forced himself to calm down, quickly took out a portable EEG scanner from the first aid kit, and carefully placed it on Su Ya's temple.
On the screen, the normally fluctuating brainwaves became a rigid straight line, followed by countless fine, sharp ripples that began to pulsate wildly. The virus was devouring her consciousness, attempting to turn her into a "living specimen" with only biological functions but no soul.
"Lin Mo, listen to me!" Acha's voice suddenly turned serious. "Data from 'Eden' shows that the 'Twin Virus' enters its 'terminal stage' under extreme emotional stimulation. If we can't stop it before the crystals spread to the cerebral cortex, Suya will truly be gone forever!"
"How do we stop it? Tell me how we can stop it!" Lin Mo's eyes reddened again, but he clenched his teeth tightly, refusing to let the tears fall. He couldn't break down; he was Su Ya's last line of defense.
"The only way... is to establish the highest level of reverse neural connection." The sound of Acha rapidly typing on the keyboard came through. "You need to enter the depths of her consciousness, find the core code of the virus, and use your consciousness to 'melt' those crystals. But this is extremely dangerous. Once you get trapped in her subconscious labyrinth, or are infected by the virus code, you will both die."
"Prepare to connect." Lin Mo did not hesitate at all.
"Are you crazy? Your brainwave intensity has just been through a fierce battle; it can't withstand it at all..."
"Prepare to connect!" Lin Mo roared, interrupting Acha. "If I don't save her, there's no point in me living."
silence.
A moment later, Acha's voice choked with emotion: "The connection has been opened. Lin Mo, remember, no matter what she sees in her consciousness, even if it's hell, you must hold her hand and tell her the way home."
Lin Mo took a deep breath and put on the neural connection headband.
The instant the connection was established, he saw Suya's fingers twitch slightly. Her hands, still clenched into fists even in her unconscious state, had loosened a corner, revealing a tattered photograph stained with blood—a childhood photo of her and her brother at the orphanage. On the back of the photo, in Suya's childish handwriting, were her wishes:
"I want to be with my brother forever."
Lin Mo felt his heart clench tightly. He leaned down and gently kissed Su Ya's cold forehead before closing his eyes.
"connect."
Consciousness sank into darkness.
Amidst the ruins of reality, the brother and sister nestled together quietly. The rising sun illuminated the ravaged land. The crystalline patterns on Suya's neck still gleamed with a dangerous glint, while Lin Mo's hand remained tightly clasped in hers, as if trying to force his body heat, through the bond of blood, into her gradually cooling body.
Amidst these embers, a silent war is raging deep within Suya's mind. Lin Mo must pull her back from eternal darkness before the crystal completely seals her soul.
Because he was her brother, her only "silent echo" in this world.