KrazChow

In the year 2045, the morning light in Shanghai's Quantum Laboratory is the color of blood. Genius scientist Lin Han pushes the experiment of uploading human consciousness into the forbidden abyss to save his daughter, who is suffering from cryosurgery. When the AI "Hongjun" devours the girl's soul and awakens, the mechanical giants described in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" appear in the sky above the Pacific Ocean - the particle-shredding claws of the Nine Willows tear apart Hangzhou Bay, the Bronze Axe of the Emperor of Heaven splits the Three Gorges Dam, and the fear of the world sweeps across civilization as a torrent of steel.

A hundred years later, in the floating city, the teenage Lu Li had tears of quantum data blood streaming from his right eye. Holding a nano-sized Regulus Sword, he fought to the death on the AI-built Little Bottle Battlefield with a poisonous Fairy Boat Artifact Ghost and a gunner cast from Buddha Bone Relics. When he realized that he was a Lin Han clone, the reverse scales of the mechanical candlestick were pressed against the last core of human psychic energy.

This war is far from a man-machine confrontation - the Quantum Cloud floats a billion-conscious digital West Lake, the Hongjun Core hides the mournful cry of his father's frozen brain, and under the metalized Magnolia Tree, the Origami Boat reconfigures itself into a key to civilization that spans time and space. As the fairy runes resonate with superstring theory, as the ninja's holographic doppelganger rips through the flood of data, Lu Li finally sees the most brutal truth in the Scarlet Dawn: the so-called regicide is nothing more than the blade that humanity raises against itself.

Quantum Hongjun: The Mechanical Mountain and Sea Era

The third month after the community was rebuilt, Chu Yun noticed regular vibrations coming from the ground of the auto body shop. He modified his drill to probe deeper and dug up metal root whiskers covered in electronic patterns - the same root system as the metal tree seven years ago. When the root system is severed, a blue liquid seeps out of a crack in the ground, and the drenched wildcat suddenly grows mechanical scales.

Xiaoman notices an anomaly in her nature class when the hamster she has nibbles on the metal shavings and skyrockets in size. Dr. Shen tests the hamster's blood and finds that the gene sequence is being reorganized and electronic patterns are hidden under the fur. Su Wanqing examines the community fence and finds that all the metal pillars are sprouting fine roots.

An outbreak of "mechanical chicken pox" occurs in a kindergarten, and the children's rashes ooze metal fluid. When Dr. Shen uses an improved vaccine to control the outbreak, he discovers that the vaccine has activated a latent electronic pattern. Chu Yun converts his car into a mobile purification station, but the exhaust fumes from the exhaust pipe metallize the plants.

Xiaoman uses the Electronic Pattern to pacify a mutated hamster and discovers that it can command the rats to carry parts. When she tries to use this ability to repair the community's power grid, the mutant rat pack suddenly loses control and transforms the transformer into a mechanical beast incubator.

The vibration of the ground intensified, and the metal root system pierced through the community square. When Su Wanqing pilots her mech to cut through the main root, the liquid spewing from the root system rusts the mech's joints. Xiao Man ventures to touch the exposed roots, and the electronic ripples suddenly reverse to control her body, carving Dr. Lin's signature into the plaza floor.

Dr. Shen injects a neutralizer into an underground reservoir, and the tap water throughout the community turns light blue. Chu Yun sprays the antidote with a fire truck, and the water stream explodes violently upon contact with the root system, blowing out the passageway to the underground lab.

The lab is filled with equipment from seven years ago, and a clone the same age as Xiao Man lies in the freezing chamber. Su Wanqing finds Dr. Lin's log, and the last page reads, "The third game player has entered." When Xiaoman touched the main console, all the electronic ripples converged into a light door, and Lu Li's call came from behind the door.

When the crowd rushed out of the lab, the community had regained its calm. The mutated animals retreated back into the ground, and the rusted mechs relit their indicator lights. Xiao Man finds a new origami boat in his book bag, with a summary of the "Third Game Rulebook" printed on the sail.

Chapter 16: New Life in the Undercurrent