Chapter 21: Flying Rock and Roadside Brawl
"Get lost! I'm not going anywhere with you!" I (Liang) shoved the lead bodyguard hard again, adrenaline surging through me despite the agony in my legs. He stumbled back, surprise flashing across his icy features before hardening into anger.
"Grab him! Don't let him escape!" he barked at his two companions. They moved instantly, flanking me, hands reaching out like steel claws to seize me!
No! Not this time! Ignoring the searing pain, ignoring the approaching bodyguards, ignoring the strange boy still watching with that unnerving smile, I focused every last scrap of my willpower on the Chrono-Watch, pouring my intent into activating the emergency short-range temporal jump! Get me out! Anywhere but here!
But just as the familiar temporal energy began to coalesce around my wrist, just as escape seemed within reach— *VWOOOMMM!*
That deep, earth-shaking hum returned, louder this time, vibrating right up through the soles of my boots! Above us, the grey sky churned violently! The rift in the clouds ripped open wider!
And that *thing*, that colossal, moss-covered, ancient megalith, descended further! No longer just hovering, but actively *moving*, angling directly towards *me*! It radiated an immense pressure, a palpable field of… something ancient and powerful! It felt… possessive? Like it was *claiming* me?!
That rock! The one from the high-tech fridge! It hadn't just reappeared; it was *hunting* me?! What the hell *was* it?!
"Move! Get clear! That thing's unstable!" Even the lead bodyguard recognized the imminent danger, his professional cool finally cracking. He abandoned trying to grab me and instead shoved me violently sideways, just as the giant rock plummeted towards the spot where I'd been standing!
We scrambled, tumbling down the muddy hillside away from the badminton court, slipping and sliding, propelled by pure terror! Behind us, the sound of the massive rock impacting the concrete court was like a bomb going off – a deafening *CRUNCH* followed by the shriek of tortured metal as the chain-link fence was obliterated!
We tumbled out onto the asphalt of Bentong Road, gasping for breath, covered in mud and scratches! The black limo screeched to a halt nearby, the bodyguards piling out, guns now drawn!
But before they could reach me, I realized we weren't alone. The small parking lot beside the road, the one I'd glimpsed earlier… it was *full* of people! And they were all staring at *me*!
My blood ran cold. I recognized them. All of them.
The sneering faces, the outlandish clothes, the defiant postures – the 'rebellious students' the bodyguard had mentioned! Dozens of them!
And mixed among them, even more chillingly familiar… those other faces. Middle-aged, elderly, men, women, seemingly ordinary people, but their eyes… filled with a specific, venomous hatred directed solely at *me*. The online trolls! The keyboard warriors! The ones who had doxed me, threatened me, harassed me relentlessly during that disastrous 'internet commentator' phase in another timeline! The ones who blamed *me* for… something? Their own failures? The flaws in the system I'd criticized?
How?! How were they *all here*?! Together?! Was this part of the Matron's plan too? Had she somehow gathered my past tormentors, both physical and virtual, and sicced them on me alongside her student pawns?!
My mind buckled under the sheer, overwhelming, multi-layered nightmare! Reality, memory, different timelines, physical threats, psychological assaults – all converging on this single stretch of muddy roadside!
Someone in the crowd pointed. "There he is! That's the asshole from the web! The preachy hypocrite!" A green-haired student shrieked.
"Yeah! Look at him! Thinks he's better than us!" snarled a heavily tattooed youth.
"He's the one! The keyboard crusader who got my business account flagged!" A middle-aged man in a surprisingly clean shirt spat on the ground, his face contorted with fury.
"Get him! Teach the sanctimonious prick a lesson!" yelled a large woman, shaking her fist.
A wave of pure, unadulterated hatred washed over me! Curses, threats, accusations rained down like acid rain! They surged forward, a menacing mob, eyes burning with malice, some brandishing makeshift weapons – pipes, chains, broken bottles! Others just clenching their fists, ready to tear me apart!
I stumbled backwards, utterly stunned, momentarily paralyzed by the sheer scale and unexpected nature of the attack! This wasn't just a physical threat; it was a full-blown psychological assault, dredging up old traumas and shames! If it weren't for the faint energy field still clinging to me (a side effect of the Chrono-Watch or my altered biology?), keeping the most aggressive ones at bay with an almost subconscious unease, they would have already swarmed me!
*Honk! Honk!* The black limo edged closer, the lead bodyguard leaning out, still trying to maintain control, yelling, "Mr. Liang! Get in the vehicle! This is your last chance!"
Overhead, the giant flying rock circled menacingly, like a vulture waiting for the kill!
And then… as if things weren't already FUBAR…
The sky ripped open.
Not just the clouds this time. Reality itself seemed to tear like cheap fabric. A low, gut-wrenching *ROAR* echoed from beyond.
And descending from the impossible tear, blotting out the miserable grey light, came the fleet. Dozens upon dozens of them. Warships. Colossal, brutalist designs of dark, unknown metal, bristling with weapons turrets and glowing energy ports. Warring States dreadnoughts and cruisers, emerging from hyperspace or whatever dimension they called home, arranging themselves in a terrifying, inescapable orbital blockade directly above us! The sheer mass of them, the palpable *wrongness* of their presence, pressed down, stealing the air, crushing all hope!
The Warring States aliens. Their main fleet. They hadn't just tracked us; they'd sprung the ultimate trap, using local pawns, memory phantoms, maybe even manipulating causality itself to herd us right into their kill box!
Surrounded by a hateful mob, stalked by a flying megalith, ordered into a car by treacherous agents, and now trapped under the guns of an alien armada… This was it. Checkmate.
Chapter 22: Dreadnoughts Overhead and Illegal Constructions
The sudden, terrifying appearance of the Warring States fleet overhead, a swarm of metallic death hanging like judgment day in the torn sky, had a paradoxical effect on the chaos below. The raw, primal fear radiating from the alien vessels momentarily silenced the angry mob. Everyone – students, trolls, bodyguards – froze, necks craned upwards, faces masks of stunned horror.
But the lull lasted only a heartbeat.
Then, madness erupted anew, amplified by the apocalyptic backdrop.
"You bastards!" A piercing shriek cut through the stunned silence. Li Enhui! She was *here* too?! Bursting out from the edge of the forest, her eyes blazing with a familiar, reckless fury! Ignoring me completely, she scooped up a handful of gravel from the roadside and, incredibly, started hurling the tiny stones upwards at the colossal dreadnoughts hanging miles above! One pebble after another, a futile, insane gesture of defiance against overwhelming power!
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" I (Liang) screamed at her, but she didn't even seem to hear me, lost in her own suicidal rage.
Her crazy act, however, seemed to ignite something in the rebellious students. Maybe it was a shared death wish, maybe just the infectious nature of anarchy. They started mimicking her, grabbing whatever debris was at hand – chunks of broken asphalt, empty synth-booze bottles, rusty metal scraps – and flinging them uselessly towards the unmoving alien behemoths. A bizarre, pathetic rain of garbage against warships capable of cracking continents.
And they didn't stop there. Emboldened by the seeming inaction of the fleet (or perhaps driven by orders from their shadowy benefactors), they redoubled their efforts on the ground! More rapid-construction modules were activated! Prefabricated walls of scrap metal and garish neon-plastic slammed into place! Strange, angular structures rose like cancerous growths, blocking the road entirely, transforming the highway into a chaotic, sprawling shantytown maze, pulsing with clashing music from jury-rigged speakers and blinding LED graffiti!
Why weren't the police doing anything?! Oh, right. The bodyguards. I saw them now, not trying to grab me anymore, but forming defensive lines at the intersections leading into this section of road, easily repelling the few hesitant local police vehicles that tried to approach. Trained professionals, heavily armed, courtesy of the 'Dark Organization' backing the students. They had effectively sealed off this entire zone, creating a pocket of lawlessness under the watchful eyes of the alien fleet.
I even remembered those bizarre rumors about the nearby landfill – supposedly the lair of some local 'big boss', a 'Dragon Incarnate' who could psychically cause car accidents… Sounded like bullshit, but in this clusterfuck of reality, who the hell knew anymore? Maybe *he* was part of this too?
The police were contained. The Matron's plan, whatever it was, was unfolding perfectly. The road itself, under the strain of the illegal constructions and the constant vibration from… something… began to crack further, groaning like a dying beast.
And I felt it again, stronger now – that deep, unsettling resonance from beneath the earth. The 'Shen Yuan', the Land of Divine Origin's energy field, was becoming dangerously unstable, reacting to the chaos, the violence, the sheer negative psychic energy being generated above! Back in 2025, nobody knew about the power sleeping below. But the aliens… *they* knew. Was this their goal? To deliberately destabilize the Shen Yuan? To harness the chaotic energy released? Or maybe… trigger something far worse?
The ground trembled more violently. A low, guttural *rumble* seemed to emanate from the planet's core. Was it… sympathetic resonance? The Indian Uncle's info had hinted at cross-dimensional geocore links… one world's catastrophe triggering another's… Oh god, not a supernova cascade?!
It all clicked into place with sickening clarity. The Matron, the Dark Organization, the rebellious students, the online mob, maybe even Li Enhui's presence… they were all puppets! Pawns in a much larger, far more sinister game orchestrated by the Warring States aliens! And their goal? Utter destruction! Turn this place, maybe this entire timeline fragment, into a ravaged energy source or a horrific testing ground!
They had to be stopped!
The balcony! The Liang residence balcony! That modified structure, sitting right above the heart of the Shen Yuan… The drones! The teleporter! The *other* system we installed… the final failsafe! It was our only chance!
Chapter 23: Activating the Balcony, The Betrayer Revealed
I had to get back. Back to the Liang residence balcony in 2050! Now!
But how? The men in black, the Matron's agents, they knew I'd try to return there! They'd be waiting! Maybe they hadn't even disposed of… of the bodies… A fresh wave of grief and rage threatened to overwhelm me, but I shoved it down. No time. Focus!
"Zixian!" I yelled over the din, spotting him using a wrecked car as cover, firing his 'Stinger' pistol sporadically at the advancing mob. "Cover me! I'm jumping back! To the balcony! Going to activate the defense grid!"
Lu Zixian looked up, startled, then understood instantly. He saw the desperation, the last-resort gamble in my eyes. He nodded grimly, turning his fire towards the nearest group of menacing students. "Go! Do it! I'll buy you time!"
Ignoring the chaos around me, ignoring the hovering dreadnoughts above, I focused all my remaining energy, all my will, onto the Chrono-Watch. Inputting the coordinates – 2050 AD, Liang residence balcony – praying the watch had enough residual charge for one more short jump!
The familiar blue light flared, momentarily blinding me. The world dissolved…
…and reformed. I was back. Standing on the dusty, debris-strewn surface of the ruined 2050 balcony. The air here felt heavy, stagnant, carrying the faint, lingering smell of ozone and… something else metallic.
And just as I'd feared – they were waiting. Below, blocking the only staircase down, stood several figures in immaculate black suits, their faces cold, impassive. Energy weapons, crackling with blue sparks, were held at the ready. The Matron's goons.
No time for them! I sprinted across the dusty floor towards the center of the balcony, towards the hidden control interface panel concealed beneath a pile of rubble! I kicked aside chunks of concrete and warped metal, revealing the scratched access panel. Slamming my wrist terminal onto the reader, bypassing the security protocols with override codes burned into my memory!
"Activate 'Stinger Swarm' protocol! Maximum authorization! Target grid: designated highway sector below! Saturation attack! Fire at will!" I roared the commands, fingers flying across the holographic interface that flickered erratically to life, inputting the final execution sequence!
The 'Stinger Swarm' – our ultimate, hidden defense system. Thousands of tiny, razor-sharp, explosive-tipped energy darts concealed within launch tubes embedded in the balcony's ceiling and walls. Designed for area denial. Brutal. Lethal. Capable of turning the entire chaotic scene below into a shredded wasteland in seconds! It was horrific. A massacre waiting to happen. But against the backdrop of alien invasion and potential planetary destabilization… it felt like the only remaining option to regain control, to stop the madness!
My finger hovered over the final, blood-red 'CONFIRM' icon—
"Stop! Yilun! Don't do it!" A hand, cold and trembling slightly, clamped down hard on my wrist, halting the command!
I spun around, startled and angry. Lu Zixian stood there, somehow having jumped back with me or followed immediately after. His face was pale, drawn with pain from his arm, but his eyes burned with a desperate conviction. "We can't! We just *can't*! We're Libras, damn it! We stand for balance, for justice! Not… not *this*! Not mass murder! Those kids down there… however misguided… they don't deserve to be slaughtered like animals! There has to be another way!"
I stared at him, momentarily stunned by the raw anguish in his voice. Below us, the chaos raged. Above us, the alien fleet loomed. He was right, ethically. But practically? Was there *really* another way? My finger wavered over the execution command, torn.
And in that fatal moment of hesitation—
*Thump! Thump!* The black-suited goons below reacted instantly! Moving with predatory speed, they swarmed up the stairs onto the balcony! Their energy weapons whined, locking onto us!
We instinctively threw up what little remained of our personal energy shields – thin, flickering, almost useless – while simultaneously trying to trigger the low-level matter disruptor again, hoping to teleport them away—
"Useless. Give it up." A voice, chillingly familiar, spoke calmly from behind us.
We whirled around. Standing in the doorway leading back into the ruined apartment, casually holding a sleek, deadly-looking energy pistol aimed directly at our heads, was… him. The lead bodyguard in the black suit. The one who was supposed to be our *ally* against the Matron! The one who'd tried to force me into the car! How had he gotten here?! Did he jump back too?!
"You…" I gaped, incomprehension warring with a sickening sense of betrayal.
"Surprised, Mr. Liang?" He smirked, a cold, humorless twisting of his lips. He slowly removed his sunglasses, revealing eyes glittering with avarice, ambition, and absolute treachery. "I was initially assigned by… *higher authorities*," he gestured vaguely upwards, "to 'facilitate' your handling of the Matron situation. But your… *performance*… has been deeply unsatisfactory. Indecisive. Inefficient. You missed your window."
His voice turned colder, harder. "The situation has escalated beyond your control. My orders have been updated. Since you failed as assets, you will now be treated as liabilities. Neutralize or capture, whichever is more expedient."
He'd switched sides. Betrayed us. Sometime between the badminton court and now, seeing the chaos, the alien fleet, maybe sensing a shift in power, he'd sold us out to the Matron, or perhaps directly to the aliens themselves!
"Drop your… oh, wait, you don't really have weapons anymore, do you?" He chuckled drily. "Just stand down. Cooperate. Maybe I can ensure your… 'processing'… is relatively quick."
Lu Zixian and I exchanged a look of shared fury and utter despair. Outnumbered, outgunned, injured, exhausted… and now betrayed by the one person who might have helped. This was the end of the line.
"Take them downstairs! Securely!" the betrayer ordered the other goons who were now surrounding us.
Rough hands seized our arms. We were disarmed of the only remaining physical weapon (my Gauss pistol). Pushed, shoved, stumbling, we were forced off the balcony, down the stairs.
As they frog-marched us towards the waiting black hovercar, my (Liang's) mind raced, desperately searching for any last resort. Then I felt it! A faint, almost imperceptible energy pulse from the Chrono-Watch! The backup program! The self-destruct! The 'Existence Erasure' sequence! It had been slowly charging in the background! It was almost ready! Just a few more seconds!
Hope, desperate and fragile, flared anew! I immediately started stalling, deliberately slowing my pace, pretending to stumble. I turned to the betrayer walking beside me, forcing a pleading tone. "Wait… wait! We can make a deal! Seriously! We have information… tech… secrets the aliens would kill for! Even… the secret to our immortality! Just let us go, we can give you everything…"
But he wasn't buying it. He saw the flicker of hope in my eyes, the subtle shift in my energy signature. His eyes narrowed instantly. With lightning speed, he lunged forward, his hand clamping down like a vise on my wrist, his thumb finding and pressing *hard* on the hidden activation stud for the Erasure sequence, forcibly preventing it from completing its charge!
"Don't. Try. Me," he snarled, his face inches from mine, his voice dripping with venom. "I know all about your little high-tech tricks! Keep still, or I snap your wrist right now!"
Simultaneously, another goon reacted just as quickly, grabbing Lu Zixian's wrist, thwarting his identical attempt to trigger his own failsafe!
Checkmate. Again. This time, for real. No more tricks. No more escapes. Just the cold, hard reality of capture and an unknown, undoubtedly horrific fate. Despair, absolute and final, washed over me.
Chapter 24: Vacuum Meditation and the Ultimate Illusion
(The Climax)
Just as the last embers of hope died within me (Liang), just as the cold certainty of capture and unimaginable horrors to follow settled over my soul like a shroud of ice—
*Something… broke.*
Not physically. Deep inside. In the very core of my being. Maybe it was the culmination of all the fear, the pain, the betrayal, the sheer *absurdity* of our existence. Maybe it was the final, desperate refusal to surrender, to become *their* plaything. Whatever it was, it triggered a reaction utterly beyond my understanding or control.
A power, dormant for lifetimes, ancient and vast, erupted from the depths of my consciousness. Not energy, not psionics as I knew them, but something… purer. More fundamental.
My physical senses seemed to shut down. The sounds of the chaos, the feel of the betrayer's grip, the sight of the looming alien ships – all faded into a distant hum. My inner vision exploded. My pupils dilated, reflecting not
"...My inner vision exploded. My pupils dilated, reflecting not..."
(Continuing Chapter 24: Vacuum Meditation and the Ultimate Illusion - Seamlessly)
...the chaotic scene before me, but the vast, silent emptiness of interstellar space, or perhaps something even more profound – pure void. My body seemed to become weightless, transparent, the frantic thumping of my heart slowing to a deep, resonant pulse that felt connected to something ancient and fundamental. The air around me didn't just distort; it felt… cancelled. Nullified.
"Vacuum Meditation!"
The words bloomed in my awareness, not as a thought, but as a state of being. My consciousness expanded exponentially, detaching from the immediate terror, observing everything with a chillingly remote clarity. I wasn't seeing through my eyes or hearing with my ears anymore. The input was direct, unfiltered knowledge flooding my core.
I knew the jumbled fear and implanted rage washing through the rebellious students below, their minds suddenly clearing like fog lifting, revealing the raw manipulation they'd endured.
I knew the simple, programmed directives of the black-suited enforcers – obey, control, eliminate – devoid of empathy or higher reasoning.
I knew the betrayer's swirling thoughts – greed for power, fear of his new masters, a flicker of surprise at my sudden transformation, quickly overridden by the imperative to complete his mission.
I knew, with absolute certainty now, the truth behind the chaos. The Matron, the Dark Organization, the temporally displaced leader – all mere tools, disposable assets in the Warring States' grand, cruel experiment to harvest negative psychic energy and destabilize this timeline. The false memories, the manufactured grievances, the orchestrated violence… a game played with human lives as pawns.
A profound stillness settled within the vacuum state. Not anger, not vengeance, but a pure, crystalline rejection of this imposed reality, this violation of free will.
"Light…"
The will formed, unbidden, absolute.
And reality responded. A column of pure, incandescent white light descended silently from the non-existent ceiling of this reality. It held no heat, no force, just an overwhelming purity. It touched the struggling forms of the black-suited goons, the betrayer whose iron grip was still on my wrist.
And they simply… weren't.
No explosion, no disintegration, no drama. They ceased to exist. Like errors erased from the cosmic code. Their weapons clattered noisily onto the asphalt below, the only evidence they had ever been there.
My awareness then flowed outwards, a gentle but irresistible wave washing over the highway. It touched the minds of the stunned students. The artificial rage, the implanted obsessions, the chaotic impulses… dissolved. Vanished. Leaving behind only the raw, bewildered shock of awakening from a nightmare. Fear replaced frenzy. Shame replaced aggression.
Almost robotically, driven by a subconscious urge to restore some semblance of order, they began to gather the weapons, the devices, the tools of their induced madness, piling them in the center of the parking lot. A silent, collective admission of their folly.
I took a step forward, the movement feeling strangely detached, my physical form almost an afterthought. I reached out a trembling hand, my fingers brushing against the cold, hard metal of a discarded energy rifle.
And the backlash hit. The connection to the 'vacuum', the immense power, receded like a dying star, leaving behind an emptiness so vast, so profound, it threatened to swallow me whole. Exhaustion, bone-deep and soul-crushing, slammed into me. My altered legs buckled. Lu Zixian, his face a mask of stunned awe and confusion, caught me before I hit the ground.
I leaned against him, gasping, the world swimming back into focus through normal, aching senses. The noise, the smell of burnt ozone and fear, the sight of the terrified students, the looming alien fleet still hanging silent and menacing overhead…
And the doubt. Oh god, the doubt returned, a physical sickness in my gut. Vacuum Meditation? Erasing people from existence with a thought? Purifying minds? This wasn't reality. It couldn't be. It was too clean, too powerful, too… convenient. Like a power-up in a simulation designed to test my limits.
Was any of this real? The chase, the powers, the betrayals, the very fabric of spacetime seeming to warp around our B-movie plot? It felt… scripted.
My vision blurred again. The faces of the students, the distant flashing lights of contained police vehicles, the imposing silhouettes of the Warring States ships… they began to waver, flicker, lose definition. Like a badly rendered VR environment starting to glitch and break down. The illusion… whatever it was… felt paper-thin, about to tear completely…
…
…
(Transition: The Medical Bay)
Beep… Beep… Beep…
The soft, rhythmic, monotonous electronic tone. Gentle. Persistent. It pulled me (Liang) from the swirling vortex of unreality, from the echoing silence of the vacuum, back towards… something else.
My eyelids felt fused shut, incredibly heavy. It took a monumental effort of will just to crack them open a sliver.
My blurry vision focused. Not on a chaotic highway, not a ruined balcony, not a desolate wasteland, not a primordial void.
But… white. Clean. Brightly lit with a soft, ambient blue glow. Smooth, curved surfaces. The interior… of some kind of… advanced medical pod?
My body… felt light. Buoyant. Suspended in a warm, viscous fluid that pulsed gently against my skin. Soft blue scanner lights swept rhythmically up and down my form, creating a faint, pleasant tingling sensation. The air smelled sterile, clean, with a subtle hint of something calming, perhaps a mild sedative.
With immense effort, I managed to turn my head slightly within the pod.
Lu Zixian. In an identical, transparent pod next to mine. His eyes were fluttering open too, mirroring the same profound confusion and disorientation that swam in my own mind. His arm… rested easily by his side, perfectly whole, unmarked.
(The Reveal) Just then, projected onto the smooth inner surface of both our pods, clear text materialized, glowing with a soft white light in standard Federation script:
«Reality Synchronization Complete. Psycho-Emotional Strain Index: 98.7% (Critical). Deep Sleep Restoration Protocol Recommended. Minimum Duration: 24 Standard Hours.»
Below it, smaller text displayed the current chronometer reading:
«Federation Standard Calendar: Year 2200, Month 07, Day 15. Time: 08:00:00 GST.»
2200 AD?!
Reality Synchronization Complete?!
Psycho-Emotional Strain: 98.7%?!
The words slammed into our barely rebooted consciousness like a system crash. Our minds simply… stopped.
It meant… all of it? Everything?
The diner, the phantom car, the Shell's destruction, the Uncle's cryptic coin, Ultra-Long Mei's impossible fifty leaps, the journey back to the Liang residence, the black hole trap, the jump to the ruined future, the Desert Crystal quest, Shen Yuan's secrets, the rogue drones, the 'deaths' of my brother and uncle (were they just NPCs?!), the final showdown, the impossible powers… everything…
It had all been… just an elaborate, meticulously crafted… simulation? A hyper-realistic…
Virtual reality training exercise?!
Or worse… a test? A psychological crucible designed to push us to our absolute limits?
And our purpose? Our driving missions? Finding the Crystal? Healing the timelines? Fulfilling our potential? Collecting energy levels? Adding water to a non-existent balcony?
Were all those things that gave our struggle meaning, that kept us going through hell… just… game objectives? Parameters programmed into this unbelievably vast and sophisticated illusion?
Through the transparent pod walls, Lu Zixian and I stared into each other's eyes. In the depths of his shocked, empty gaze, I saw reflected my own universe-shattering bewilderment, the same soul-deep confusion, the same chilling, sickening realization of having been utterly deceived, manipulated, played for… how long? Years? Decades? Our entire remembered lives?
Who were we?
Where were we, truly?
What did the real world, outside these pods, even look like?
And the Warring States aliens… the source of so much terror, the architects of our apparent suffering… did they even exist? Or were they just… advanced AI antagonists? The final bosses in this insane training program?
An avalanche of questions buried the fragile structure of our reality.
The story of our lives in the year 2200 AD, the real story (maybe?), was only just beginning.
And everything that had come before… the desperate flight, the impossible escapes, the betrayals, the sacrifices, the powers… perhaps it really was just the prologue.
Or maybe… just Volume One of a game far larger, far more terrifying, than we could possibly imagine?
(End of Volume One)