The First Torch

“He once⁠​​⁠‍​‍​‌⁠⁠‌​⁠‌‌‍⁠‌⁠‍​​‌ accidentally fell into darkness, but could not sleep in peace.

Ants in the abyss gnaw without knowing its depths.

Interwoven with whispers of pain and silent clamor”

[Main City.]

The Poet, holding the book of prophecy, stepped out of the cathedral doors and joining the masses who had come seeking comfort to look towards the center of the Main City.

Molly was broadcasting live on the giant screen, showing the temporal anomalies captured by cameras worldwide. She said with worry, “An unprecedented catastrophe is  approaching humanity, but I’m sorry, my servers can’t calculate a perfect way to solve it…”

One person asked in confusion, “Poet, can we still receive salvation?”

The Poet nodded lightly. “We must wait.”

“Wait for what?”

The Poet held up the book of prophecy and continued to lead the recitation—

“He dreamt of being toyed with by the lowly, an absurd humiliation.

He forgot His own immensity, and reenacted His death…

The abyss thereby calls, an overlap of voices awakening Him.

To reconverge with Them.”

The recitation ended. The Poet raised his head to gaze into the sky, whispering with focused intensity, “The redeemer is like one holding a torch against the wind; he must surely endure the pain of burning his hands.”

“The first torch illuminates the pain of forgotten memories.”

An Yu’s consciousness became very weak, barely a wisp.

He could not open his eyes. In the chaos, he heard only a fragmented murmurs. It did not belong to any language, yet he understood it—it was a woman expressing her apology, for being unable to provide a mother’s protection. She admonished him to endure and to wait, to strive to survive.

A vast emptiness suddenly struck him, tearing him from safety and leaving him dazed and confused in the void.

It was so painful. His torn soul was thrown into a chaotic vortex—incompleteness and chaos became an abyss tailored just for him. He was so weak that even maintaining this single thread of consciousness was immensely difficult.

Better to just fall asleep, he instinctively thought. It was simply too painful.

Countless fragments of time and space whistled as they showered down, covering him. He felt a small measure of security and curled up amidst the whistling, falling asleep.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he suddenly sensed that wisp of consciousness had grown slightly stronger, like a tiny flame gathering immense energy, darting wildly in the silence. The flame licked away a portion of his pain, and an insane thought suddenly formed in his mind.

He had to make that flame of consciousness grow rapidly, until it burned to the very end of suffering.

The instant the thought was born, he suddenly felt a stagnation in some medium, like water ripples spreading silently and slowly, then abruptly receding.

The sudden churning sensation nearly shattered his remaining wisp of consciousness to dust. Time and space seemed to be infinitely compressed. Just as the pain reached its peak, he suddenly felt an unprecedented clarity and felt light and touch.

A man said, “How did I suddenly zone out?”

He was picked up and listened to the man mutter to himself, “Containment confirmed. Infant, garbage disposal station outside the Main City. Containment time, 2122, December 22… Huh? Strange, why did the computer display 2130…”

Disordered memories rushed back into An Yu’s mind like a tidal wave.

The world evolved rapidly. Giant objects shrank. His perspective gradually leveled with that of tall humans. Orphanage, District 53, Ling Qiu, the Resource Chief, the shuttle bus, the giant mantis, the laboratory, the snowfield, the muzzle of a gun, the leather glove…

When that pair of cold, heavy eyes surfaced in his memory, An Yu suddenly felt a sharp pain in his consciousness and finally remembered what he had been doing—

District 34, the time console. He was capturing Zhong Ke.

His consciousness violently snapped back.

The real world.

The Black Tower was already in chaos.

“It has been confirmed that this screen didn’t exist a moment ago. It’s very likely a screen Zhong Ke created for Corner! He’s inducing Corner to drill into his own screen!”

“If Corner doesn’t realize he’s in a past time and space, he might never wake up.”

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“Humanity can’t bear such a risk. If his mental strength continues to fluctuate, it is advised to eliminate him before he wakes up!”

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The High Peak was arguing incessantly. A decision-maker hesitated, “But we still have to take precautions. High Peak, I recommend that the other Protectors in District 34 prepare for Corner’s immediate execution.”

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“Regarding all life-or-death judgments involving aberrants, I have one vote of veto.” Qin Zhilu spoke coldly. “Perhaps because I seldom use it, too many people have forgotten I possess this right. I will reiterate: I am Corner’s supervisor. I do not grant anyone the authority to sentence him to death, including myself.”

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He fluidly dismantled the steel claws on his arm. As he pulled his hand back, he grazed Lumen’s waist, his fingertips hooked Lumen’s sidearm, and tossed it along with his own weapons far away.

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“Sorry.” Lumen cut him off. “I never signed that damn oath. Don’t forget, I was dragged to the Spire.”

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The person who had been lying on the ground as if dead suddenly opened his eyes.

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The channel instantly fell into chaos. All sorts of questions examining his memory and sanity came one after another, but An Yu was too tired and in too much pain, truly lacking the strength to answer.

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“Sir? Are you still there?”

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“Did the things inside make you forget reality?”

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Qin Zhilu’s voice was very gentle. “If you can still retain a little bit of instinct next time, like when you woke up and called me, call me a few more times.”

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There were still tens of thousands of people on the channel, all on edge, but it was utterly silent.

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A moment later, An Yu raised his hand and covered his eyes.

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His voice was as emotionless as ever, but beneath its stiffness, it seemed to tremble slightly.

“Using you as my anchor…”

“Trust that your anchor is strong enough.” Qin Zhilu’s tone was resolute. “No matter how big the waves are, the anchor point underwater will not move.”

An Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. “I understand.”

A moment later, he finally let out a long breath, slowly sat up, and got to his feet.

The feeling of weakness gradually receded from that human body. Those golden eyes focused bit by bit, until his pupils contracted and stared at the screen in front of him.

The screen he had just entered was now extinguished, signaling the death of the screen’s owner, but he himself was standing there perfectly fine.

Zhong Ke’s ability was clearly growing wildly. Not only could he rapidly generate time-space screens of people outside District 34, but he could also alter the screens’ positions at will.

He was thoroughly enjoying this game of hide-and-seek.

An Yu’s gaze swept over the countless white lines converging in the center. His brow furrowed as he watched the constantly accumulating numbers on the central screen, and he said, “This giant time pool isn’t just the nourishment Zhong Ke is accumulating for himself; it is also the hub he uses to travel between different screens. He can’t possibly shuttle through others’ time-spaces forever. He must have a screen of his own.”

Once the connection between that screen and the time pool was cut, he would no longer be able to shuttle through or manipulate them.

High Peak said, “Corner, the loss of your human will poses an extreme threat to humanity. As per Black Tower’s resolution, from this moment on, you are only responsible for locating the screens. Other Protectors will enter instead. There may not have enough Protectors present; reinforcements are already on the way…”

“Overruled.” An Yu frowned and said, “It isn’t just me hunting him; he is also luring me. He has already chosen his opponent.”

Bo’s voice sounded out, “An Yu, just now your mental strength was fluctuating between 0 and 100%. We had thousands of comrades die from loss of will, but we have never seen such extreme numbers. As your friend, I ask you to act with caution.”

An Yu paused upon hearing this and lightly touched his earpiece. “It only fluctuated between those two values?”

“Yes.”

“How many times did it fluctuate?”

A researcher replied, “Your consciousness was in the screen for less than 5 minutes. Your mental strength suddenly dropped to 0 and rebounded a total of 28 times.”

“Understood.” An Yu took a deep breath. “Give me another chance. If one time isn’t enough, I’ll go again.”

“But…”

“I will press him step by step, until I stand before Zhong Ke.”

High Peak hesitated. “Entering the screen seems to bring you immense pain.”

An Yu’s expression was indifferent. “As long as it doesn’t kill me, it’s fine.”

He suddenly remembered what the Commander had said—only by constantly approaching one’s limits in the midst of pain could a new awareness be born.

Is this truly his destiny?

The voices of opposition in his earpiece had not yet faded when he decisively drew the dagger from his waist.

“Corner, what are you doing? You…”

His golden eyes suddenly sharpened. He spun his body hard to the right and threw the knife. The blade’s tip cut through the wind, heading straight for the central screen.

The knife stopped abruptly in mid-air.

Inside and outside the earpiece, there was dead silence. An Yu could only hear his own breathing.

After a long time, someone hesitated, “The other Protectors present, are you still…”

“Ugh…” Flame frowned, staring at the knife. “Our time is normal. It was just…”

Anyone would have been speechless at that moment.

An Yu’s pupils constricted. The suspended knife instantly flew forward until it fell to the ground under the effect of resistence.

Before and after it had frozen, its speed hadn’t changed at all, as if it had simply been paused.

An Yu said with understanding, “I really did get a bit of a feel for it.”

He raised his head. “Again.”

Two extinguished screens, side-by-side, suddenly lit up at the same time. Zhong Ke’s face flashed back and forth between them with an arrogant smile.

An Yu faced his provocation directly. His gaze sharpened, and he instantly appeared in front of one of them, plunging his consciousness into it without hesitation.