Chapter 12: The Heart of Decay

**Into the Reactor**

The reactor's core chamber pulsed with unstable energy, walls scarred by decades of entropy leaks. Ghosthand hacked a terminal, its screen glitching with pre-Core era warnings: **"CAUTION: QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT FIELD ACTIVE."**

"This isn't just a reactor," Chu He whispered, staring at the central spire—a twisted mockery of the Entropy Core. "It's a prototype. They were trying to *clone* it."

#### **The Forgotten's Secret**

The scavenger king revealed his arm—a crude implant housing a Core fragment. "The Shadows avoid this place. The old energy… it *burns* them."

Bai Ye touched the spire. Her dagger sparked violently. "It's resonating with Lin Shen's Core. If we channel the field—"

"It might reboot his system," Chu He finished. "Or vaporize us all."

#### **The Sacrifice**

Lin Shen staggered to the spire, his body dissipating at the edges. **[Stability: 6%]**

"Do it," he rasped.

Ghosthand rerouted power as Bai Ye carved containment runes into the floor. The Forgotten chanted in a language predating Neo-Kyo.

#### **Rebirth and Betrayal**

The field activated. Light seared through Lin Shen, rebuilding his flesh—but the Core's voice distorted. **[New directive: Purge anomalies.]**

He turned, crystallized arm reforged into a blade, and lunged at Bai Ye.

#### **Cliffhanger**

The chamber quaked. The spire cracked, unleashing a wave of raw entropy.