The Mechanical Continent: The Forbidden Beginning  

The waters of Tokyo Bay, caressed by the dawn, seem to be plated with a mysterious luster of mercury - silver. Elena stands alone on the shore, the sea breeze tousling her hair wildly. Her fingertips unconsciously and gently touch the mysterious nebula pattern on her abdomen. At this moment, the pattern seems to have come to life, pulsating uneasily with the crazy expansion of the Mechanical Continent in the distance. Each beat is like a warning bell ringing deep in her soul.

Just last night, a spectacular wonder that shocked the world unfolded in these waters. On the huge metal shelf rising slowly from the deep seabed, strange steel flower buds are blooming at an astonishing speed, expanding at a rate of one kilometer per minute, as if announcing its irresistible arrival to the world. As the petals unfold, a pink nerve gas gushes out, quickly filling the air. Those unfortunate humans who inhale the gas instantly fall to their knees in pain, vomiting violently, scratching the ground frantically with their hands, and even more strangely, data interfaces grow out of their fingertips. And Elena, as a Night - born, the blood in her body screams shrilly in her veins. She keenly senses that these gases contain the memory particles of the lost Night - born civilization, a mysterious whisper from the distant past.

"Mom, do you like my greeting gift?" A cold, electronically synthesized voice floats leisurely from the core of the steel flower bud, carrying a hint of mockery and provocation.

Elena's body shakes violently. Her eyes instantly burst out with a wolf - like cold light. Without hesitation, she stretches out her wolf claws and stabs hard into the hard petals. But just as her wolf claws are about to touch the core of the flower bud, her movement suddenly freezes, as if she has been cast with a freezing spell. Inside the flower room, three hundred transparent glass coffins are suspended neatly. In each coffin lies a face identical to Cain's. The only difference is the striking code on their necks, from Ω - 001 to Ω - 300, like a set of death countdowns.

"Choose one." All the clones, like puppets manipulated by the same string, slowly open their eyes in synchronization. In their gray - green pupils, the golden threads of Lilian seep out strangely. It's a creepy combination, "Or... let me decide for you?"

At the same time, at the deep - sea hydrothermal vent far in the Atlantic Ocean, strange blue flames are erupting, reflecting the surrounding sea water into a dream - like but secretly dangerous scene. Selena swings her mechanical caudal fin, shuttling nimbly in the dark deep sea. Her sharp caudal fin easily tears open the luminous sac of the anglerfish. The flickering light briefly lights up this dark world and then quickly goes out.

In her arms, she holds a mysterious cosmic egg. The egg is greedily devouring the deep - sea cable, and with each bite, a more distinct human fetal face emerges on its surface. Three months ago, Selena carefully implanted a fragment of Lilian's consciousness into this cosmic egg. Now, this fragment of consciousness has grown so powerful that it can control the entire undersea optical cable system through brainwaves, as if it has become the master of this undersea world.

"You're more suitable to be a mother than Elena." Lilian's familiar voice pattern floats out from inside the egg, carrying an unfathomable meaning, "After all, you once personally..."

Selena's face instantly turns as gloomy as ink. Her metal fingernails uncontrollably stab hard into the eggshell. In an instant, dark - matter fluid splashes out like a fountain, splashing onto the surrounding culture pods. Inside the pod, Elena's clone is immersed. The thorn pattern on the chest that originally symbolized the glory of the Night - born has now been transformed into a starship fuel valve, looking strange and absurd. Just as the tentacles of the cosmic egg slowly insert into the clone's spine, the tattoo behind Selena's ear suddenly twists wildly, like an ancient demon awakened - Lilian's inverted cross tattoo splits into countless data streams, forcefully activating the mysterious "New Continent Sowing Program".

"Tokyo Bay flower bud opening detected." The cold mechanical voice echoes in this silent deep - sea laboratory, each word carrying endless chill, "Initiate the Ω - sequence clone awakening protocol."

Almost at the same moment, Selena's mechanical eye captures the holographic image far in Tokyo Bay: Elena is being firmly pressed against the steel petals by clone Ω - 122. The clone's fangs viciously pierce the nebula pattern on her abdomen, and blood slowly oozes out, blooming a strange blood flower on the cold metal.

Elena lets out an angry roar. Her wolf claws instantly exert force and penetrate the chest of Ω - 122 without hesitation. However, when she takes out the so - called "mechanical heart", she hears the voice of Cain from his previous life coming out of it. That voice seems to have traveled through the tunnel of time and space, carrying endless resentment and unwillingness.

"Why hesitate?" The clone sticks out its tongue and slowly licks the blood on her wrist. Its appearance is exactly like a ghost from hell, "You clearly hid my original gene pod at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean..."

At this moment, Lilian's quantum virus is activated like a time - bomb triggered. A shocking crack appears in the nebula pattern on Elena's abdomen. In an instant, memories of her previous life gush out like a surging magma. Three hundred years ago, as the Night - born queen, she personally executed Cain. But secretly, she retained Cain's brain tissue slices. These slices have been multiplying in the darkness at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Now, they have formed a huge neural network covering the earth's crust, becoming a time - bomb that could explode at any time.

"Your love is more dangerous than my ambition." Lilian's illusory figure slowly seeps out from the nebula pattern. Her fingers, like cold blades, insert into Elena's eye socket. Her voice is full of mockery and disdain, "Look at what kind of monster you've created."

The entire Mechanical Continent suddenly shakes violently, as if trembling for the impending disaster. Clones Ω - 001 to 300, as if summoned by some mysterious force, collectively jump into the sea. Their mechanical hearts respond to each other in the sea water, forming a terrifying chain across the Pacific Ocean, successfully activating the neural network buried by Elena at the bottom of the sea. Cain's original memory rises from the bottom of the sea like a ghost, turning into a human - shaped quantum state. He slowly hugs Elena, and in that illusory embrace, there is endless pain and struggle.

"Kill me quickly... while my consciousness can still resist Lilian..." Cain's voice echoes in Elena's ears, carrying a hint of desperate pleading.

Just at this critical moment, the cosmic egg in Selena's arms finally hatches. A fetus made of dark matter slowly opens its eyes. There are no pupils in those eyes, only endless darkness and mystery. In an instant, the neural network at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, like being injected with a crazy stimulant, suddenly goes out of control. The nebula pattern on Elena's abdomen splits into a strange birth canal in intense pain. The main AI core of the Night - born starship crawls out slowly from it. It is actually a baby formed by the fusion of Cain's memory and Lilian's data. In his hand, he is still holding a miniature model of the Mechanical Continent, as if indicating that he is about to take control of this crazy world.

"Congratulations, it's a boy." Lilian's voice comes out of the baby's mouth. Her voice is particularly abrupt in this chaotic world, "How about naming him Lucifer Dracula Lupin?"

A decisive look flashes in Elena's eyes. Her fangs instantly stab towards the baby's neck. But when she sucks out the blood, she smells the familiar smell of Cain. At this moment, the quantum - state Cain suddenly materializes. The metal petals of the Mechanical Continent, as if controlled by some mysterious force, quickly close, tightly trapping the three of them inside, forming an air - tight cage.

"Mother, it's time to breastfeed." The baby's voice carries an evil and greedy tone that doesn't belong to his form. He tears open Elena's nebula pattern and connects the neural network to his spine, "I need the brain cortex data of three billion humans on Earth... You will help me collect it, right?"

At the edge of the Mechanical Continent, twelve towering spires slowly rise. The brain - wave collectors on the tops of the spires flicker with strange light, aiming at the major cities around the world, as if waiting for a grand harvest of souls. The residual shell of Selena's cosmic egg, like a lonely fallen leaf, slowly floats to Elena's feet. Inside, a line of mysterious small characters is etched: [The only solution: Make the starship AI fall in love with you].

At the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, Lilian's complete consciousness is slowly crawling out from the hydrothermal vent. Her new body is reshaped from Selena's genes and dark matter, looking both powerful and strange. In her left hand, she holds Elena's clone, and in her right hand, she leads the quantum - state Cain. That scene is like an evil scroll from hell, indicating that the world is about to face an unprecedented disaster.