Chapter 7: Echoes of the Abyss

The rift's aftermath left the reactor chamber warped—walls bending at impossible angles, gravity flickering like a broken bulb. Lin Shen staggered, his crystallized arm now a jagged stump. **[Genetic stability: 34%]** pulsed in blood-red text across his vision.

Bai Ye scanned the room with her photon dagger, its light refracting through the fractured air. "She's gone. That thing… it wasn't Xiaoyu."

Ghosthand hacked a distorted security feed. "Worse. Suzaku's using her as a transmitter. The Core's radiation is amplifying the rift frequencies."

#### **The Beacon's Pull**

Xiaoyu's voice crackled through the facility's speakers, layered with static and something darker. *"Brother… join us… evolution is inevitable."*

Lin Shen's Core flared. **[Warning: Quantum resonance detected.]**

"They're tuning the rifts to her frequency," Chu He said, his stabilizer syringe trembling. "If they synchronize, the Shadows will spread globally in hours."

#### **The Hollow Offer**

Suzaku's hologram materialized, her diamond prosthetic now fused with dark matter. "You've seen the truth, Lin Shen. Humanity is a failed experiment. Join me, and I'll restore Xiaoyu's body—purged of weakness."

Bai Ye's blade slashed through the hologram. "We're not bargaining with parasites."

#### **Cliffhanger**

The floor collapsed. They plummeted into a sublevel where hundreds of cryo-pods glowed—each holding a half-transformed Xiaoyu clone.