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

Before the bonfire of the celebration banquet was extinguished, the night sky suddenly rained metallic meteors. Chu Yun used a modified telescope to observe and realized that each "meteorite" was a miniature energy tower. Xiao Man reached out to catch the hot metal particles, and the electronic pattern suddenly burned scorch marks on his palm: "They're looking for something!"

The first meteorite smashed into the community water purification plant, and centipede-like mechanical bodies crawled out of the blasted crater. Su Wanqing activated her mech to meet the battle and found that these mechanical beasts did not attack humans, but only dug the ground frantically. Dr. Shen tests the composition of the meteorite and finds that it is the same material as the cryopods in Dr. Lin's lab.

Chu Yun leads a team to track down the mechanical centipedes and finds them nesting 300 meters underground. In the center of the cavern hovers the glowing sphere - the very same Metal Tree Seed that was sealed seven years ago. Little Full's electronic ripples connected to the light sphere uncontrollably, and the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing the buried fourth energy tower.

"This isn't a guardian target..." Dr. Shen flipped through the rulebook and found the new clause, "Removal of abnormal energy towers can be rewarded." Lu Li's silhouette suddenly materialized, and as Regulus stabbed into the tower, the entire tower began to play Dr. Lin's recording, "Welcome to the real third game."

The community energy tower resonates with the underground tower, and the shield begins to absorb the residents' life force. Ashikawa cuts the connection with her purification ability, blue blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Chu Yun took the risk of detonating the explosives, and the shockwave shook the underground tower out of the cracks, and what poured out was not the mechanical beasts, but the neighbors who had disappeared seven years ago.

Su Wanqing saw her "late" husband in the crowd, and the man's neck was glowing with an electronic pattern. When he reaches out to hug Xiao Man, the mech automatically fires - the bullet passes through the shadow and shatters the mechanical core hidden in the husband's chest.

The twin towers explode simultaneously, releasing a wave of energy that repairs all the damage to the community. Xiaoman found half a pocket watch in the ashes, the hands rotating counterclockwise. Lu Li's silhouette grew weaker, "We're being used..." Before the words left his mouth, a second wave of meteorite rain fell from the sky, each engraved with Xiao Man's name.

Chu Yun discovers a new countdown - 699 days - at the garage. Dr. Shen tests the pocket watch and discovers a miniature cryopod hidden inside, with Dr. Lin's eyeball floating inside the pod.

Chapter 18: Falling Stars