THE NANO THRONE
Volume I: Prisoner of the Microcosm
Chapter 1: The Ancient Ruin and the Rift
1. Yan's Despair: The Last General
Yan Kingdom, the 127th year of Jiayuan, twilight.
The air hung heavy with the stench of blood and scorched earth—the smell of a vanquished people's dignity being burned away. Xiao Lie, the young general who had earned the reputation of the "Iron-Blooded Battle Array" by the age of twenty-five, was now kneeling in the charred mud, gasping for breath. Behind him lay the ruins of Zhengnan Pass, the last line of defense for the Yan Kingdom.
"General, go! There's no retreat left!" Deputy General Lin Chong, covered in blood, roared like a cornered beast as he swung his blade to fend off two heavily armored soldiers of the Overlord Empire.
Xiao Lie did not rise. He gripped the profound iron saber that had been his companion through countless battles. The blade was chipped, a thumb-sized gap reflecting the distant, unnaturally bloody red sunset. His armor was shattered, revealing a blood-soaked tunic beneath. The Yan Kingdom, an ancient state with a lineage of eight hundred years, was ending before his very eyes.
The enemy was the Overlord, a formidable empire that had rapidly risen from a foundation of northern barbarians, notorious for their brutality, violence, and fierce disregard for death. They might have lacked Yan's sophisticated Mohist engineering and military strategy, but their iron cavalry and sheer numbers had drowned everything like a tide.
"Retreat?" Xiao Lie said, his voice as coarse as grinding sand. "A general of Yan has no retreat. Only death in battle, or..."
He suddenly looked up, his gaze locking onto an ancient ruin a few dozen paces away. It was a long-abandoned Mohist altar near Zhengnan Pass, rumored to be a forbidden site used by the Yan Kingdom's founder to "call heavenly fire and forge divine weapons." For years, the altar had been regarded as an ill omen, overgrown with weeds.
"Lin Chong, take the remaining brothers and retreat southwest! That is a military order!" Xiao Lie rose abruptly, sheathed his long saber, and bolted toward the ruins.
"General!" Lin Chong was horrified, but he knew Xiao Lie's nature—once a decision was made, it was unchangeable. With tearful eyes, he led the retreat in the opposite direction, desperately trying to buy Xiao Lie a last chance at survival.
2. The Altar Beacon: Flowing Starlight
Xiao Lie, like a wounded lone wolf, charged into the altar.
The ancient ruin was covered in moss, the stone pillars etched with obscure, ancient mechanical runes. The air here was chilling, seemingly isolated from the battle raging outside. He rushed to the center of the altar, where an irregular, two-meter-tall crystal stood.
The crystal was neither jade nor mineral. It was slick as glass, without any carving, yet its surface held a slow, flowing blue-purple light within, like a fragment of solidified stardust. The ancient, ink-colored jade pendant Xiao Lie wore at his chest was now vibrating weakly and glowing hot.
He had once read about the crystal in ancient texts: "Not of the mortal world, it connects to the realm of the dark. Touch it, and either gain eternity or turn to dust."
The howls of the pursuing soldiers were closing in, their heavy iron boots crunching the dead leaves outside the altar. Xiao Lie knew he was about to be captured and subjected to the most brutal torture.
"Eternity? Dust?" A flash of resolve crossed Xiao Lie's eyes. He would rather turn to dust than kneel before the Overlord.
He drew his saber, gathering his last ounce of inner energy, and struck fiercely at the luminous crystal!
Klang—!
The sound was not the dull thud of metal hitting rock, but a high-pitched, incomprehensible tremor, like hundreds of glass cups shattering at the same instant. The profound iron saber dissolved the moment it touched the crystal. The blade visibly decomposed into countless minuscule points of light and was absorbed.
The crystal's light reached its zenith, no longer blue-purple, but a blinding, pure white!
An overwhelming, irresistible force instantly enveloped Xiao Lie. He felt his body being broken down, compressed, stretched—no longer solid flesh and blood, but a stream of data being reprogrammed.
He lost all senses: sight, hearing, touch, even the sense of time. He felt like a speck of dust flying at extreme speed in an endless ocean of light. His consciousness nearly shattered under the intense impact; only the faint pulse from the ink-colored jade pendant on his chest maintained his last shred of awareness.
3. Quantum City: A Miracle of Subtlety and Indifference
He did not know how long passed, perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.
Gravity suddenly returned. Xiao Lie fell heavily onto a smooth, solid surface.
He groaned in pain, struggling to open his eyes.
The sight before him completely shattered his understanding of the world.
The place where he lay had no dirt, no stones, no rough textures. All the "structures" were composed of shimmering crystal lattices, extending perfectly and vertically to heights beyond the visible horizon. These structures were self-supporting, without a single seam or impurity, like works of art calculated to the extreme.
"The Celestial Realm? No..."
The air was utterly clear, with a metallic coolness. There was no sun overhead, but the entire space was bathed in a soft, uniform blue light source.
The residents were the most shocking sight.
They mostly wore close-fitting, silver-white clothing with flowing lines, and translucent masks over their faces. They did not walk, but silently glided a few inches above the ground. The "tools" in their hands were thin as cicada wings, emitting a faint, digital hum.
It was a terrifyingly silent world. No shouting, no weeping, no wind. Everything was perfectly ordered, a perfection that felt suffocating.
Xiao Lie was like a stain on a painting. The fragments of his armor, the blood on his body, and his coarse breathing were utterly incompatible with the environment of this "Quantum City."
He tried to stand up, but a sharp pain shot through his arm. He looked at his hand and found it covered with a semi-transparent film of light. Though his perception was normal, the feeling of his body was much lighter and subtler than it had been in the ancient world.
4. Pursuit: Invader from the "Macrocosm"
Before Xiao Lie could fully recover from the immense shock, an alarm sounded.
It was not the clang of an ancient gong or horn, but a series of high-frequency, precise sonic pulses reverberating throughout the crystal space.
Immediately, several blue beams of light shot down from the tops of the crystal structures, locking onto Xiao Lie with precision. Then, over a dozen "residents"—security forces—dressed in black, fluid battle armor quickly glided in from all directions via light beam channels, surrounding Xiao Lie.
They spoke no words, their movements perfectly synchronized, efficient, and cold.
Xiao Lie instinctively assumed a fighting stance, but he had no weapon in hand.
At that moment, a voice of immense authority and oppression, transmitted directly into his mind (rather than his ears), spoke in a cold, complex "quantum language" he had never heard. However, the ink-colored jade pendant on his chest suddenly glowed hot, allowing him to "understand" a single phrase:
"Target confirmed: Macrocosmic Invader."
Then, a figure slowly rose from behind the team.
Arya.
She was more slender and more perfect than the surrounding guards. Her battle armor was pure white, and her eyes beneath the mask were like deep blue crystals. Her aura was not the bloodlust of an ancient general, but the absolute coldness of knowledge and rationality. She raised her right hand, palm facing Xiao Lie, and a faint blue pulse of light began to coalesce.
"Compilation complete. Genetic contamination level: Extreme. Product of a space-time rift," Arya's voice, delivered through that special vibrational method, entered Xiao Lie's brain again—devoid of emotion, only data.
She tilted her head slightly, as if issuing a scientific experiment command rather than a military one:
"Capture and stabilize. Proceed with decomposition analysis."
Xiao Lie knew that in the ancient world, he could fight a hundred men, but in this realm where even the air was composed of precise laws, he had no chance. He roared, charging toward the nearest guard like a trapped beast, but before he could get close, an invisible force field instantly locked him down, suspending him in the air, unable to move.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, Xiao Lie glared at Arya, his eyes filled with a warrior's fury and the fear of the unknown.
He did not know if he was alive or dead, only that he had tumbled from a defeated battlefield into a colder, more perfect prison.
Volume I: Prisoner of the Microcosm
Chapter 2: Capture and Conviction
1. The High-Dimensional Monitoring Chamber
After the invisible force field dissipated, Xiao Lie was dragged across the slick crystal floor and taken deep into the Quantum City. He suffered no physical abuse, yet this hyper-efficient, inorganic handling was more chilling than any ancient whipping. The guards simply treated him as a "data anomaly" requiring classification and stabilization.
He was finally confined to a space known as the "High-Dimensional Monitoring Chamber." The room had no doors or windows; its walls were composed of a semi-transparent black crystal that pulsed with a faint, measured light.
Xiao Lie attempted every escape maneuver an ancient general might use: slamming into the walls, roaring defiance, observing structural weaknesses. All was futile. When struck, the walls simply emitted a high-frequency hum and instantly self-repaired without even a tremor.
His armor had been removed, leaving him only in his blood- and sweat-soaked tunic. The ink-colored jade pendant now pressed against his chest, throbbing with heat, as if absorbing or releasing some form of energy.
"Yan Kingdom... has been gone for eighty years..."
The thought speared Xiao Lie's heart like an icicle. The time he spent in the space-time rift felt like only a few seasons, but for the macroscopic world, it had been a devastating catastrophe. All his struggles, all his sacrifices, were now mere historical dust.
The fierce desire for revenge and return stood in stark contrast to the perfect coldness of his surroundings. He had to survive; he had to comprehend the rules of this world.
2. Chief Scientist Arya
The blue light in the chamber softened, and a wall shimmered like a water ripple, parting for Arya. She was not wearing battle armor, only a minimalist, silver-grey jumpsuit, her long hair gathered behind her head by a thin metal ring. Her beauty was geometrically perfect, radiating a rationality that transcended the mundane.
She ignored Xiao Lie, walking to a suspended console in the center of the room. With a slight gesture, a stream of holographic data filled the air, comprising symbols and diagrams Xiao Lie could not comprehend.
"Macrocosmic species," Arya's voice came through the room's "Environmental Translation System," her tone flat and utterly devoid of emotion. "Your physiological structure is undergoing asynchronous nano-reconstruction. Your bloodstream shows high concentrations of unstable carbon-based compounds, which are currently being purged by our environmental nano-swarm."
Xiao Lie didn't understand the jargon, but he keenly grasped the core point: "Are you saying I'm changing?"
Arya finally turned, her blue, crystal-like eyes assessing him. "Change is inevitable. You entered our domain from macrocosmic space-time across two hundred billion nano-clock cycles. Without our energy stabilization field, your body would decompose into fundamental particles within six standard hours."
She approached Xiao Lie, maintaining a precise, scientific distance from a hazardous specimen.
"Your existence constitutes a 0.12-level space-time pollution event for Quantum City. According to the 'Fundamental Laws of Quantum City,' you should be immediately decomposed and your matter recycled."
Xiao Lie snapped his head up, his fighting spirit blazing. "Decomposed? If you mean to kill me, draw a weapon and face me like a warrior!"
Arya's lips seemed to move—an infinitesimally small, almost imperceptible gesture, like a minor error in a data stream.
"Your behavioral patterns are primitive and inefficient. Combat is the disordered consumption of matter and energy. My interest in you outweighs the execution of the law." She extended a hand, encased in a micro-data glove, and lightly touched the hot jade pendant on Xiao Lie's chest.
"This ancient relic is key to stabilizing you. It is absorbing the information flow of my domain, compressing, and translating it, forcefully injecting it into your neural network."
3. The Knowledge Torrent: Hyperspeed Compilation
The instant Arya's finger touched the jade pendant, a shock more profound than the time travel itself erupted in Xiao Lie's mind.
It was not sound, nor light, but a pure torrent of knowledge.
He "saw" the basic composition of matter: tiny particles spinning like galaxies, forming steel, water, and even his own flesh. He "understood" the principle of the hovering vehicles: a combination of anti-gravity fields and magnetic confinement. He even "felt" the self-repair mechanism of the room's walls: the simultaneous operation of trillions of programmable micro-robots.
This knowledge, which would take decades or generations to master in the ancient world, was instantly absorbed, deconstructed, and filed by his brain like rivers rushing into the sea.
Xiao Lie gripped his head, letting out a deep roar of agony. The feeling was like having a vast, intricate city constructed inside his skull all at once.
Arya's expression finally shifted—a powerful, scientific excitement for an unknown phenomenon.
"Data overload! The compilation speed exceeds standard limits by ninety times! This is not the jade pendant's function... it's you! Your mental core is 'compiling' quantum information with unprecedented efficiency!"
She withdrew her hand, the data on the console flashing frantically.
Xiao Lie slowly lowered his hands, drenched in sweat, yet his eyes were filled with a clarity and wisdom he had never possessed. He took a deep, ragged breath, but his first reaction was to speak the "quantum language" he had just learned.
"You said... the space-time stabilization field. Are its core parameters based on the zero-point energy oscillation of virtual particles?"
Arya's expression froze completely. She was silent for a full five seconds—an extreme lapse in protocol for a world that operated in milliseconds.
"What... did you just say?"
4. Mentor and Student: The Lure of Logic
Xiao Lie knew he had seized his only chance for survival. He was no longer the furious ancient general, but a sponge desperate for knowledge.
"I said, the efficiency of your energy stabilization field design can be increased by 0.007 percent, if you change the zero-point energy confinement ring from a seven-layer structure to the 'Nine Palace Array' model of ancient Mohist mechanisms," Xiao Lie stated clearly, his mind simultaneously simulating the quantum operation diagram of the Nine Palace Array structure.
Arya lunged toward the console, her fingers moving at lightning speed in the air. She pulled up the stabilization field's structural diagram and instantly inputted the "Nine Palace Array" data model.
"Impossible..." she murmured, but the efficiency curve on the data stream spiked sharply upward.
Arya looked up at Xiao Lie, her eyes now filled not with scrutiny, but with a fervent thirst for knowledge.
"You... you are not an invader. You are a 'High-Dimensional Cognitive Carrier!'" she exclaimed, forgetting to use the Environmental Translation System and speaking in the native quantum city voice—an incredibly beautiful, high-pitched harmony.
"You wish to keep me alive, not to uphold the law, but for knowledge," Xiao Lie said calmly. "I need your knowledge to return to my world. You need my ancient intuition to break your theoretical bottlenecks."
Arya pondered for a long time, her scientific rationality warring intensely with the conservative laws.
"The Turing Council has already judged you a space-time contaminant that must be destroyed," she warned. "If I protect you, I will face the highest level of scientific tribunal."
"But you will gain wisdom that transcends theory," Xiao Lie smiled, a confident battle-field grin, not a prisoner's plea. "My nation possesses eight hundred years of experience and wisdom. Your city holds infinite calculation and possibility. We... are perfect collaborators."
Arya closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of the cold air. When she opened them again, her blue, crystal-like gaze sparkled with the light of adventure and rebellion.
"Very well. From this moment on, you are no longer a prisoner, but my Experiment Subject, designation 'A-001.' Your only mission is to learn."
She turned and lightly swiped the wall. The black crystal of the monitoring chamber instantly changed to a soft white, and the room's translation system shifted from one-way monitoring to two-way conversation.
"Now, A-001, tell me: how did your ancient Mohist mechanisms achieve self-balance and energy transfer without using nano-structures?"
Xiao Lie knew he had won this trial by knowledge. He had officially stepped into the cognitive core of this world, beginning a journey of learning that spanned time and civilization with his future partner.
Volume I: Prisoner of the Microcosm
Chapter 3: Hyperspeed Neural Compilation
1. The Quantum Database Surge
Arya's "laboratory" was situated deep within the High-Dimensional Monitoring Chamber, isolated by multiple energy fields. The space was filled with suspended light screens and pulsating crystal arrays; even the air seemed to be woven into a complex computational grid.
"Here, we will proceed with knowledge translation," Arya stated, standing before a massive, circular crystal structure. A soft green light pulsed at its core.
"Translation?" asked Xiao Lie. He could now use the Environmental Translation System fluently, his tone composed and lacking the initial panic.
"Yes. Your current hyperspeed neural compilation state cannot sustain the Quantum City's complete data flow. I must break down our knowledge structure into analogues your ancient civilization can comprehend, then inject it into your neural network via this data projector," Arya explained. Her "analogues" were, in fact, her conscious translation of profound quantum physics into concepts Xiao Lie was familiar with: Mohist geometry, Daoist philosophy, and ancient military formations.
Xiao Lie nodded, his eyes alight with a hunger for power. He sought not nanotechnology itself, but the knowledge to reverse his fate.
The experiment began. Arya activated the device, and a stream of green light instantly enveloped Xiao Lie.
The wave of knowledge crashed over him again.
This time, it was not merely an impact but an orderly torrent of data. He "saw" the history of the Quantum City: how microscopic life evolved from carbon-based to crystalline structures. He "understood" the energy system: how to extract and constrain zero-point energy from the 'Eternal Crystal Core'. He even "learned" nano-structure programming: how to weave, repair, and decompose matter using sonic oscillations.
His brain, like an ancient computer running at hyper-speed, digested the information at anachronistic pace.
Arya stood aside, fixated on the monitoring screen, her shock deepening.
"Seven standard hours. He has absorbed twenty years of foundational educational data and is now running independent simulation calculations," she muttered to herself. "He isn't learning; he's memorizing and restructuring."
2. Xiao Lie's Ancient Intuition
A peculiar phenomenon emerged during the knowledge transfer: Xiao Lie was providing feedback.
When Arya projected a complex formula concerning "spatial folding transmission," Xiao Lie's conscious mind, though physically still, interfered with the data stream.
"Wait, this section..." Xiao Lie suddenly spoke, his voice slightly raspy yet incredibly clear. "What if we change the nine stable nodes in three-dimensional space to the 'Four-Phase Positions' of four-dimensional space-time?"
Arya's movements instantly froze.
"The Four-Phase Positions? What is that?"
"It is our ancient stargazers' understanding of space-time nodes," Xiao Lie explained, his brain having perfectly spliced the concept into Arya's formula. "East Azure Dragon, West White Tiger, South Vermillion Bird, North Black Tortoise. In Mohist geometry, these four nodes form a balanced, dynamic cycle that can constrain unstable energy to the maximum extent."
Arya immediately ran a simulation calculation on the console, using her rigorous logic to verify Xiao Lie's ancient intuition.
Drip—! The simulation result caused Arya to gasp (if her crystal structure allowed it).
"Stability is increased by 0.02 percent... This is a micro-adjustment that is impossible in conventional physics. This is practically... magic!"
"No, it's not magic," Xiao Lie said calmly. "It's experience. Your world relies too heavily on rational computation. Our ancient wisdom is the result of thousands of practical trials conducted under imperfect conditions, leading to a conclusion that unifies man and nature."
A spark of fervent excitement lit up Arya's eyes. She finally understood Xiao Lie's value: he was a living bridge, capable of compiling ancient, non-rational experience into rational nano-formulas.
3. The Subtle Shift in Partnership
As time passed, Xiao Lie transitioned from a mere "experiment subject" to Arya's sole and indispensable collaborator.
Arya began actively sharing the Quantum City's most core technologies with Xiao Lie, including the programming logic for nano-weapons, matter reconstruction techniques, and even the fundamental energy supply principles of the Eternal Crystal Core.
Their communication evolved beyond simple Q&A into an intense collision of minds.
In one instance, Arya demonstrated how a nano-weapon decomposed matter. She used a tiny energy pulse to instantly reduce a piece of rigid composite crystal into invisible dust.
"This weapon can instantaneously dismantle any macroscopic world fortress," Arya stated confidently.
Xiao Lie shook his head. "It's too slow."
"Slow?" Arya questioned. "Its reaction speed is picosecond-level."
"I mean, your thinking is too slow," Xiao Lie clarified. "Your weapon seeks the maximum single energy output, but your energy system is linear, singular. In a real battle, I would use the ancient military strategy of the 'Interlocking Strategy' (Lian Huan Ji)."
He drew a complex triangular pattern in the air, labeling three energy nodes using the nano-programming language.
"If three miniature energy output points are designed as a trinity dynamic cycle, and in the same millisecond, they output three different frequency pulses to three different weak points of the enemy, the defense system will instantly overload due to frequency interference. The rate of disintegration will be tenfold faster than a single pulse."
Arya was utterly stunned by Xiao Lie's tactical thinking. She realized that Xiao Lie brought not just ancient techniques, but an ancient warrior's "intuition"—a raw instinct for variables, balance, and fatal weaknesses.
"You treat warfare as an algorithm," Arya murmured.
"I treat the battlefield as a chess game," Xiao Lie corrected. "You possess infinite computational power, but you lack humanity. I will write human weaknesses like fear, confusion, and greed into your combat programs."
Arya looked at this ancient soul, and a profound, novel curiosity—and a hint of admiration—stirred in her cold, rational heart.
4. The Intervention of the Turing Council
However, their secret, hyper-efficient learning partnership did not go unnoticed by the entire Quantum City.
Arya's anomalous data activity attracted the attention of the Turing Council. The Council was the highest core decision-making body of the Quantum City, composed of the most conservative scientists who rigidly adhered to data and law.
One day, the isolation field of the lab suddenly flashed with an intense red warning light.
A hologram appeared in the center of the room, projecting an elderly figure dressed in ornate, flowing gold robes. He was the Council Chairman, Alpha.
"Arya, you have severely violated the Fundamental Laws of Quantum City," Alpha's authoritative voice was filled with displeasure and warning.
Arya stepped in front of Xiao Lie. "Chairman Alpha, A-001 is not a contaminant; he is a 'High-Dimensional Knowledge Bridge.' His ancient wisdom has already helped us break through the theoretical bottleneck in energy transmission."
"Theoretical bottleneck? A carbon-based, low-level, primitive invader? Your actions are a blasphemy against the perfect order of the Quantum City," Alpha said coldly, his gaze cutting through Arya to lock onto Xiao Lie. "Interference from the macroscopic world brings only disordered entropy."
"We need power, Chairman," Arya firmly countered. "Have you not sensed the energy pulse of the 'Core' is weakening? We require new solutions."
Alpha remained silent for a moment, a flash of suspicion and apprehension crossing his eyes. He could not deny that the energy of the Eternal Crystal Core was his greatest worry.
"You have three standard months. If you fail to prove that his 'Knowledge Bridge' can bring about substantive, quantifiable progress, he will be destroyed. And you, will be stripped of your Chief Scientist title and face the Quantum Ethics Tribunal."
The hologram vanished, and the red light of the isolation field faded. But the atmosphere in the room was now more tense than ever.
"Three months," Arya's voice trembled slightly.
Xiao Lie stepped forward and gently patted her shoulder, an ancient gesture of support and commitment.
"Three months? If I were in the ancient world, three months of training an elite force would be enough to overthrow a small nation," Xiao Lie said, his eyes filled with confidence and battle-readiness. "Merge your knowledge with my warrior's spirit. Three months is enough for us to prove everything."
Arya turned, looking directly into Xiao Lie's eyes for the first time up close. She felt the ancient general's resilience and passion—an emotional strength utterly foreign to her cold, scientific world.
She nodded, activating another crystal screen. It displayed a project currently under calculation:
Project Name: Reverse Space-Time Stabilizer.
"Very well, General. We have only three months to forge a miracle."
Volume I: Prisoner of the Microcosm
Chapter 4: Underground Research and Resistance
1. Forbidden Zone: Beneath the Eternal Crystal Core
Half a month had passed since the Turing Council issued their "three-month deadline." Time for Xiao Lie and Arya was no longer the ancient rhythm of sunrise and sunset, but a counter measured in billions of quantum oscillations.
Arya knew the data isolation of her lab would eventually be cracked by the Council's top algorithms. To buy time and secure a stable energy source, she decided to move the lab to the ultimate forbidden zone: beneath the Quantum City's core energy hub, the Eternal Crystal Core.
"The Core is the single energy nexus of our world," Arya explained, drawing the underground structure with a light pen in the air, her expression grave. "It's composed of self-constrained zero-point energy—the foundation upon which the entire city exists. Theoretically, no monitoring system dares to venture near the Core's perimeter."
Xiao Lie studied the schematic, stunned by the Nano world's mastery of energy. This power, if harnessed for vengeance, would be unparalleled.
"It is hidden enough, and dangerous enough," Xiao Lie said grimly. "But we need to build the device. Your matter reconstruction systems require massive space and power."
"Precisely," Arya confirmed, a glint of determination in her eye. "Mohist mechanics advocate for 'tackling the large with the small, and using borrowed strength.' We must now borrow the 'strength' of the Core."
Using Arya's highest clearance, they secretly opened a derelict energy transfer pipeline and descended thousands of layers beneath the city. They finally arrived in a vast cavity formed entirely of natural crystal. In the cavity's center, a colossal sphere pulsed with soft, golden light, slowly rotating—the Eternal Crystal Core itself.
The powerful zero-point energy field caused a slight dizziness in Xiao Lie, and his chest's ink-colored jade pendant hummed louder than ever before, as if resonating with the Core in some ancient symphony.
2. Forging the Stabilizer Prototype
Under the stable energy field emanating from the Core, Arya began forging the prototype for the Reverse Space-Time Stabilizer.
The device's theoretical basis required coupling the coordinate points of macroscopic space-time with the quantum states of microscopic space-time with extreme precision. Arya provided the mathematical models for the quantum structure and the programming for the nano-materials. Xiao Lie, in turn, used his astonishing "hyperspeed neural compilation" and ancient engineering intuition to solve problems of energy constraint and geometric stability.
Arya was writing the nano-programming code for the stabilizer's core crystal but continuously encountered a "field collapse" error.
"The stabilization field cannot be maintained! The Core's zero-point energy is too violent; it's rejecting our time reversal command," Arya frantically swiped at the light screen, sending data streams scattering into fragments.
Xiao Lie stepped forward, looking at the code. His thoughts bypassed the code itself, locking directly onto the flow pattern of the energy.
"You are treating the energy as a straight line, trying to force it to turn," Xiao Lie pointed out. "But in our ancient philosophy, 'Flowing water is the ultimate strength.' You must not force a turn, but rather guide it."
He took the light pen and sketched a complex, fluid spiral next to the code, connecting the end of the line to an ancient Eight Trigrams shape.
"This is the structure of Yan's 'Dragon Guiding Technique.' It spirals and disperses the violent zero-point energy into a self-cycling 'vortex constraint.' When your time reversal command arrives, it won't crash directly; it will smoothly pass through, following the vortex's inertia."
Arya immediately input this ancient energy guidance model into the simulation system.
Success! The core crystal's energy constraint stability instantly surged, and the reversal command passed smoothly through the Core's field without rejection.
Ecstasy washed over Arya's face. She grabbed Xiao Lie's arm—no longer as a research partner, but with sheer delight.
"Xiao Lie! You are a genius! This instinct for the nature of energy is something our Quantum City could not achieve with ten thousand years of rational calculation!"
Xiao Lie squeezed her hand, feeling the coolness of her skin and the fervor of her excitement. That warmth made him feel tethered back to the living, breathing macrocosm.
3. The Shadow of the Turing Council
Even though they were hidden beneath the Eternal Crystal Core, the Turing Council's surveillance was an omnipresent shadow.
Chairman Alpha and Beta, another core member, stood before the holographic map in the Quantum City's supreme control center. On the map, Arya's laboratory was gone, replaced by a "data blind spot" around the Core.
"Arya is challenging our boundaries," Beta's voice was heavy with fury. "She has brought that macrocosmic contaminant into the perimeter of the energy core. If the zero-point energy constraint is breached, the entire Quantum City will be reversed and decomposed in time!"
"Calm yourself, Beta." Though Alpha's tone was measured, his gaze was equally grim. "Arya is the Quantum City's finest scientist; she knows the danger of the Core better than anyone. Her actions must be driven by a problem she deems unsolvable otherwise."
"Unsolvable? Her problem is an ancient man!" Beta scoffed. "I suspect that contaminant is corrupting her rationality, making her believe in his low-level empiricism."
Chairman Alpha did not directly refute him, but he looked at the blind spot on the map and spoke slowly: "I have activated the 'Silent Guard.'"
The Silent Guard was the Turing Council's most covert nano-surveillance unit, tasked exclusively with eliminating internal traitors. They were known for their invisibility, silence, and efficient purges.
"The three-month deadline remains unchanged," Alpha commanded coldly. "If the deadline arrives, and they fail to produce quantifiable, breakthrough results, she, along with the ancient man, will be destroyed."
4. Emotional Ascent: Forging a Future
Under the Core's golden pulse, Xiao Lie and Arya's cooperation grew seamless, and the boundary between them steadily blurred.
Arya began actively asking Xiao Lie about the Yan Kingdom: its customs, its people's love and hate, the cruelty and glory of war. She started to understand that the value of a civilization lay not in the purity of its data, but in the richness of its emotions.
Late one night (according to the Quantum City's light cycle), Xiao Lie was refining the stabilizer's outer shell—designing it after the ancient Mohist heavy mecha armor to withstand macrocosmic pressure.
Arya leaned wearily against the crystal wall, watching Xiao Lie's resolute profile.
"Xiao Lie, why are you so obsessed with vengeance?" she asked, her voice tinged with confusion. "Your nation has been gone for eighty years. In Quantum City, eighty years of data can be completely rebooted and iterated."
Xiao Lie stopped his work and turned, his eyes burning with the ancient warrior's passion.
"Data can be rebooted, but history cannot be forgotten. The land my brothers, my parents, and my sovereign defended with their lives has been trampled by cruelty and violence. Vengeance is not about slaughter; it is about restoring Yan's dignity."
He walked up to Arya and gently lifted her chin.
"You do not belong to that perfect, yet cold world. You belong to creation. You are the Quantum City's Chief Scientist, but deep in your heart, you have more 'humanity' than anyone else—a fierce desire for truth, a longing for freedom."
A faint pink glow surfaced on Arya's cheeks, a manifestation of her emotional fluctuation.
"If you follow me back, you will face chaos, mud, backwardness, and the constant possibility of war. Will you regret it?"
Arya reached out and touched the ancient battle scar on Xiao Lie's arm, her eyes filled with an unprecedented tenderness.
"My programming has been permanently compiled by your 'humanity,'" she said, using the language of ultimate rationality to voice the deepest commitment. "The value of knowledge lies in its application. I will use all the wisdom of the Quantum City to help you rebuild your throne."
In the golden light pulsing from the Core, two souls from different times and civilizations sealed their pact. They were no longer merely mentor and student, but partners plotting a shared future, bound by life and death.
They knew the Turing Council's Silent Guard could arrive at any moment. They had to transform the Reverse Space-Time Stabilizer from a blueprint into a reality within the finite time they had left.
Do you want to continue with the next chapter, focusing on the final days before the deadline and the climax of their work?
Volume I: Prisoner of the Microcosm
Chapter 5: Extreme Testing and Ambush
1. Prototype Activation: Virtual Time Reversal
Under the powerful field of the Eternal Crystal Core, Xiao Lie and Arya had completed ninety percent of the Reverse Space-Time Stabilizer prototype. Its core was a high-purity crystal constrained by the Mohist "Dragon Guiding Technique" spiral structure.
Now, they were ready for the first extreme test: virtual time reversal.
"We cannot directly reverse macro-space-time; the risk is too high," Arya's voice was hoarse, her high-intensity programming over the last half-month leaving her exhausted. "We will create a miniature virtual space and instruct the stabilizer to issue a ten-nanosecond time reversal command to it."
Xiao Lie watched the crystal flicker with unstable light. He knew this was not just a technological test; it was a gamble for their destiny.
"Begin, Arya. We have no more time."
Arya initiated the command. The energy pulse of the entire lab instantly surged. The crystal core emitted a high-pitched whine—the sound of zero-point energy protesting its forced confinement.
Error Alert! The virtual space clock did not reverse ten nanoseconds; it instantly collapsed.
"It failed!" Arya's fingers flew across the console. "The extreme pressure of the time singularity exceeded expectations! The nano-structure couldn't maintain the constant time coordinate!"
2. Xiao Lie's Ancient Solution
Xiao Lie lunged forward, his gaze not fixed on the complex data streams but on the tiny, barely visible "halo" generated by the spinning crystal core.
"The problem isn't the structure; it's the balance," Xiao Lie stated grimly. His "hyperspeed neural compilation" was running at full capacity, synchronizing nano-structures with ancient mechanics.
"The nano-structure seeks absolute uniformity, but Time itself is unbalanced! To reverse ten nanoseconds, you need an initial 'micro-instability' to kick-start the reversal process!"
"What does that mean?" Arya urgently asked.
"An ancient bowstring is never perfectly straight. It must maintain a slight stretch and tension at one point to release its power when let go!" Xiao Lie pointed to a minuscule node on the crystal core. "Reduce the nano-constraint force on that node to 9.995! Let it be the 'unstable primer'!"
Arya was the ultimate rational scientist, but at this moment, she chose to fully trust Xiao Lie's primal intuition. Her hands moved like blurs, performing a manual, non-linear correction on the crystal core with programming that was practically rebellious.
"Initiating, one more time!"
Hum—!
This time, the whine was no longer sharp but deep and steady. The clock within the virtual space smoothly reversed by exactly ten nanoseconds, then halted precisely.
Success! This was the Quantum City's first-ever proven, controllable space-time reversal.
Arya turned to Xiao Lie. She said nothing, but slowly removed her data mask. It was the first time she had shown her face uncovered to Xiao Lie while conscious. Her blue eyes were no longer cold with pure rationality, but shone with a mix of shock, awe, and deep affection.
3. The Silent Guard's Ambush
Just as the two were immersed in the joy of victory, the alarm sounded without warning. It was not a general alarm, but the highest level of internal infiltration warning.
"It's the Silent Guard!" Arya's voice instantly regained its composure, but was laced with urgency. "The Turing Council didn't wait for the deadline; they've activated the purge protocols!"
The crystal walls of the lab began to twist and deform. Dozens of soldiers in all-black, self-cloaking nano-armor seeped in like a fluid from the seams in the wall.
These were the Council's most elite troops, known for absolute silence and lethal efficiency.
"Where is the escape route?" Xiao Lie asked in a low voice, grabbing an unfinished nano-pulse grenade.
"There isn't one! They've sealed all the energy conduits! We are locked above the Core!" Arya rushed to the console, attempting to open an emergency transport channel.
"General, focus on the code!" Xiao Lie tossed the pulse grenade to her, simultaneously drawing an ancient profound iron dagger from his waist (the only remaining fragment of a weapon he salvaged from his journey).
The battle erupted! The nano-soldiers advanced on them in a flawless tactical formation. They fired not energy beams, but invisible, high-frequency sound waves capable of tearing apart carbon-based structures at a microscopic level.
Xiao Lie roared the war cry of an ancient battlefield—the only hot-blooded response against cold machines. Using his acute general's instinct, he predicted the trajectory of the sonic attacks, ducking, rolling, and evading.
Arya instantly modified the grenade's programming: changing the decomposition sound wave to high-intensity frequency interference. She threw the grenade into the center of the Guard's formation.
Boom! The explosion produced no fire, only an intense white flash and chaotic data fragments. The Guards' cloaking and coordination programs were jammed, and their formation instantly collapsed.
4. Retreat into Disorder Space
"We have only five minutes!" Arya yelled, having successfully opened a tiny emergency port in the floor. "This is a backup maintenance channel leading to the 'Core Disorder Space,' only a meter wide and extremely unstable!"
"What is the Disorder Space?" Xiao Lie asked, fighting and retreating, his dagger grating against a Guard's nano-shield with a shriek of friction.
"It's the buffer layer between the Core's field and the outside world! It's full of unstable quantum states and random time fragments! Our monitoring systems are completely useless there!" Arya explained.
A jolt ran through Xiao Lie. It was a place more chaotic and deadly than any ancient battlefield. But he didn't hesitate.
"Good! General, take the Stabilizer!"
Xiao Lie used his body to shield Arya from two Guards' impacts, buying her the last few seconds. Arya swiftly secured the Stabilizer prototype and the core data chip, then dove toward the opening.
"Go!" Xiao Lie fiercely threw his dagger, hitting a Guard's kinetic core with precise accuracy, causing a burst of tiny sparks. He then rolled and leaped into the narrow channel.
The channel quickly sealed and self-repaired behind them, cutting off the pursuit.
Inside the tight, dark passage, the two were pressed close together. The walls of the channel buzzed with chaotic energy, and Xiao Lie felt the instability of space-time tugging at him.
"We made it," Arya's voice was shaky with the aftermath of battle, yet filled with triumphant excitement. "They'll never find us here."
Xiao Lie held the scientist and comrade from the future close, feeling the paradoxical softness and resilience of her body.
"Now, we enter the true forbidden zone," Xiao Lie said gravely. "Volume II, officially begins."