Chapter 30 · Echoes of the Future

As the Glyph Tree's radiance dyed Tokyo Bay's night lavender, the Reverse Scale Squad's hovercar hovered on the tree-top platform. On a carpet of seven-color petals, Yue Kui's phantom stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the berserk guardian, their Glyph Cores resonating with the Reverse Scale Core to draw a light ribbon connecting past and future across the sky.

"Look." Xiaotao pointed to the ribbon's end, where a strange city materialized—glass skyscrapers rippled with glyph light patterns, pedestrians wore Reverse Scale Core-like accessories, and even stray cats' collars glowed with star meteorite blue.

"Is this..." Sakura's Cherry Glyph pinkened as her fingertip touched the ribbon. "The world three hundred years from now?"

The Glyph Tree rustled. A silver leaf fell into Lanye's palm, transforming into Ming Yuan's phantom, rainbow light coiling around his ornament. "This is the 'future projection' the Glyph Tree prepared," he said warmly. "It says when all forgotten love awakens and glyphs truly bind lives, such a world will come."

A Jiu's shadow crows circled the ribbon, dark purple mist forming characters: "The future isn't fated—today's choices shape tomorrow."

The ribbon quaked. The city image distorted: glyph patterns on glass became black chains, accessories backlashed skin, and cat collars sparked.

"It's contamination!" Su Li trembled, her Cherry Glyph merging with the Time Glyph cocoon to reveal black fog above the city—resentment of forgotten Glyph Masters flowing upstream through time.

"They're blocking the future," the berserk guardian's voice lost its madness. "Three hundred years ago, we tried ruling with glyphs; now others repeat our mistake."

Lanye's core vibrated. He sensed the black fog originated from a forgotten lab hiding the "Glyph Enhancement Plan's" final product: a "Glyph Controller" to rewrite timelines.

"Let's destroy it!" Xiaotao gripped her star meteorite bracelet, deep blue energy pulsing. "We can't let history repeat."

The hovercar shot off, its glyph trail tearing the night toward the city. En route, they encountered twisted memories: a mother's regret for killing her child with runaway glyphs, a scientist's despair after failed experiments, ordinary people's cries of rejection.

"Contamination never vanished," A Jiu choked. "It just hid in human fear and greed."

"But it's evolving too." Yue Kui's phantom appeared, her core projecting words: "See—some resist."

The window showed young researchers in white coats before the lab, wearing Reverse Scale Cores. A maiden raised a light blade, glyph energy corroding the black fog.

"Are they..." Sakura's Glyph glowed. "Like us?"

"No." Ming Yuan's phantom stood by Lanye. "They're you in three hundred years."

The scene shifted: the maiden's blade clashed with fog, her core's seven colors matching the Reverse Scale Core; comrades healed with star meteorite, relayed messages with shadow crows, awakened controlled humans with Cherry Glyphs.

"They're treading our path," Su Li marveled, "but this time, love awakens earlier."

The hovercar reached the city's edge. The "Glyph Controller" emitted black beams, trying to drag the city into time turbulence, its surface inscribed: "Glyphs are weapons; obedience is survival"—fragments of the berserk guardian's diary, showing he'd used the same controller before being sealed by Yue Kui.

"So he never truly left," Lanye's voice tolled. "He just continues his madness in another era."

"No." Xiaotao raised her bracelet, a blue shield blocking the controller's attack. "He forgot glyphs connect, not control."

The squad raised their Glyph Cores. Seven lights flew out, infusing their glyphs: Xiaotao's star meteorite turned galactic, A Jiu's crows grew golden tails, Sakura's Glyphs sunlit, Su Li's silver-moonlit, Wu Wang's ornament sprouted life, Ming Yuan's bloomed flowers, and Lanye's Blazing Flame warmed to orange-red.

"In the name of the Reverse Scale," Lanye's voice thundered, "By the oath of comrades,

"Awaken the true self, return to the light!"

Seven-color light flooded the controller. Black fog collapsed, its surface cracking as forgotten love counterattacked. The maiden stepped from the light, her core resonating to form a bridge between past and future.

"Thank you," her voice overlapped with Yue Kui's, the berserk guardian's, Ming Yuan's. "You taught me true power lets others learn love."

As the controller exploded, black fog vanished. The city clarified: glyphs flowed gently on glass, accessories glowed warmly, and cat collars held notes: "You did great today."

"The future is ours to create," Sakura's petals landed on shoulders.

"And we," A Jiu's crows became a golden phoenix, "will bridge past and future."

Lanye looked at his core, its seven colors warm. He sensed a resolute pulse in global glyph fluctuations—their descendants in three hundred years, guarding the same world with love.

"Next," he turned to the team, "we return to today to tell everyone: glyphs' future isn't in controllers, but in every heart that believes in love."

As the hovercar started, its glyph trail stretched long. The squad's glyphs shone together—star meteorite blue, cherry pink, crow gold, time silver—weaving a star track to the future across heaven and earth.