The blood-red countdown flashed maniacally on the screen, the numbers [00:29:59], [00:29:58] hammering against every heart. The air was taut as a fully drawn bowstring. The icy words [The Fifth Witness has awakened] acted like an invisible vise, ruthlessly constricting the breath of everyone in the control room.
Before Su Xiaolan could react, the giant screen before her shuddered violently! A blinding, abyssal blue light erupted, morphing into a vortex-like halo that instantly swallowed her consciousness whole.
"Xiaolan!" Li Chenyuan roared, lunging forward, but his fingers only grazed a wisp of cold, dissipating data light. In reality, her body went rigid, her eyes losing all focus, fine beads of cold sweat constantly forming on her temples. The readouts on all physiological monitors spiked wildly simultaneously, screeching alarms.
"Her consciousness has been completely pulled in!" Wang Jing's face was ashen. "Ψ has initiated a deep judicial interface!"
In the boundless darkness, only the icy countdown boomed in the depths of her mind. [00:29:45], [00:29:44]—Suddenly, countless streams of light flickered and interwove. The illusion reassembled rapidly around her.
She found herself standing in a grand yet utterly frigid tribunal hall. Flowing data had solidified into towering stone pillars that vanished into a dark, ceiling-less sky. The walls were covered in ever-shifting,扭曲 (distorted) symbols, like some ancient digital cipher.
Three familiar figures stood silently ahead—replicas of Li Chenyuan, Lu Xingze, and Gu Yu. Their faces were the same, but their eyes were hollow, as if Ψ had sucked out their souls, leaving only icy shells serving as judges. In the highest seat, the abyssal blue "Giant Eye" hovered silently, observing her like a god.
Ψ's torn and reassembled synthetic voice thundered: [Choose.] [Who, becomes the Anchor.]
"Li Chenyuan" stepped forward first, his voice low but devoid of any warmth. "Xiaolan, you must choose. Making me the Anchor means absolute stability. Ψ will not easily be able to erode your consciousness." His gaze held none of its usual protectiveness, only steely judicial logic.
"Lu Xingze's" illusion advanced next, his tone cold and direct. "Choose me. StarShield's technology can ensure your survival. Li Chenyuan will only sink you deeper into these dangerous waters."
Finally, "Gu Yu" offered his characteristic smile, his voice a whisper laced with chilling fervor. "Choose me. Ψ needs an understander, not a prisoner. We can achieve symbiosis, break the ridiculous curse of the Silence Pact together."
All three reached out to her simultaneously. The immense pressure of the illusion threatened to shatter her consciousness. Su Xiaolan's fingers clenched instinctively, and to her surprise, she found herself actually clutching a chip bag—even this judicial illusion had copied her obsession.
"...Is the tribunal's prop department slacking? They even provide snacks?" Her voice trembled, attempting to use self-mockery against the boundless fear. The chip bag let out a loud CRUNCH in her grip, absurdly incongruous in the dead silence of the empty hall. The three cold phantoms showed no emotional fluctuation, still watching her with hollow, icy stares.
"You... are all insane," she gritted her teeth, tears welling in her eyes. "Choosing any one of you is pushing them into an abyss of eternal ruin with my own hands! How could I possibly do that?!"
Ψ's voice boomed again like divine punishment: [Choose.] [Or, be erased.] A pressure like a ten-thousand-meter trench slammed into her, stealing her breath.
"NO—!" She jerked her head up, her voice ragged and hoarse, yet carrying a unprecedented mix of desperation and resolve. "You want an Anchor, IS THAT IT?! FINE—THEN I'LL DO IT!" Her heart hammered wildly. Her shout echoed through the illusion, crashing violently against the cold Giant Eye. "F.LK'S CONSEQUENCES… I'LL BEAR THEM MYSELF! I WILL NEVER PUSH THIS CURSE ONTO ANYONE ELSE!"
The chip bag in her hand burst apart, fragments scattering everywhere. Instantly, the entire tribunal illusion began to shake violently! The data ocean surged into monstrous waves; countless sharp, blade-like symbols and code transformed into a savage storm, lunging for her.
In reality, "Her neural linkages are critically overloaded!" Wang Jing screamed, staring at the monitoring screen. "Brainwave activity is plummeting! She can't hold on much longer!"
"Initiate a forced disconnect now!" Lu Xingze yelled, his hand reaching for the emergency physical cutoff switch.
"DARE TO TRY IT!" Li Chenyuan's voice was cold enough to freeze everything. He stood like the sturdiest deep-sea barrier, firmly guarding the main console.
"Will you just watch her die?!" Veins bulged on Lu Xingze's temples, his fury nearly overwhelming reason.
"No," Gu Yu's flickering projection chuckled nearby, "he simply understands, better than anyone, that she would never choose to retreat."
At the critical moment, just as the illusion's data storm was about to utterly consume her consciousness, an extremely blurry, snow-filled image abruptly cut in and materialized before the Giant Eye. It showed an aged, exhausted face—Dr. Leng.
[...The Protocol… is not eternal… Silence… was only a stopgap…] […If you can see this recording… it means the channel… has been forcibly opened…] […The truth… lies far before the Protocol's birth… You must… find…]
The image flickered violently a few times, then dissipated completely, as if its last energy was spent. In the illusion, the three judge phantoms instantly froze. The Giant Eye's light flickered erratically. [Fifth Witness—Observing.]
On the control room's main screen, the blood-red countdown suddenly accelerated!
[00:15:00]
[00:14:59]
"Only fifteen minutes left?!" Wang Jing's voice shook with utter shock and terror.
Immediately after, deep within the pupil of the abyssal blue eye, a new, never-before-seen complex geometric symbol began to appear, accompanied by an icy annotation:
[Fifth Witness: Protocol Designer]
[Identity: Non-Human Co-Designer.]
Su Xiaolan jolted violently, as if thunder had exploded in her mind. "...Non-human?" she murmured unconsciously, her voice trembling uncontrollably from the immense shock.