COUNTDOWN: 3… 2… 1…
The Quantum Fragment Bomb pulsed.
Reality rippled. The ground warped like a broken mirror, folding light, tearing gravity. Buildings split at odd angles, not from force — but from existence itself being rewritten.
Time fractured.
Memories began unraveling.
Somewhere in Ironshade, a mother forgot her son.
A rebel leader forgot his cause.
Li Wei blinked — once — and suddenly didn't remember Su Chen's name.
LOCATION: TIMESTREAM VOID – BETWEEN SECONDS
Su Chen's body floated in nothing. No sound. No weight. No pain.
Only fragments.
Images from his life floated like ashes:
A girl's hand letting go of his.
A best friend smiling with a knife behind his back.
The words "I love you" mouthed just before betrayal.
"No," he growled, voice cracking the void. "I remember."
[System Alert: Timestream Collapse 91% Complete][Solution Available: Install Backup Memory Core]
[Warning: Will require sacrificing an anchor memory.]
"Which one?" he asked.
[You must give up the memory that fuels your hatred.]
Su Chen froze.
The core of his evolution — the betrayal — the reason he awakened the system in the first place.
Without it, he'd still live. Still rule. Still fight.
But would he still care?
He clenched his fists. "There must be another way."
[Alternate Option: Lock memory inside core. Cannot access it again unless key is recovered.]
[Create Key?]
He whispered, "Yes."
[Define Key Phrase:]
Su Chen thought for a long time. Then he whispered:
"Who hurt me first?"
REALITY – IRONSHADE
The Quantum Fragment Bomb collapsed inward.
And then... stopped.
Mid-air. Frozen.
The Gravedigger's body fell to its knees — twitching once — then collapsing like dead machinery.
The sky above rewrote itself — stars realigned. Lights flickered back. Civilians gasped as forgotten memories slid back into place like puzzle pieces — incomplete, scarred, but there.
Li Wei stared at Su Chen, who stood in the crater's heart.
"You saved us," she whispered.
He looked at her. Eyes empty, yet full of storms.
"Did I?"
LATER THAT NIGHT – SU CHEN'S PRIVATE CHAMBER
He sat alone, staring into a memory crystal — black and cracked.
He didn't know what it held.
Only that something… important… was gone.
"System," he murmured. "What drives me now?"
[Answer: Purpose. Power. Progression.]
"Not vengeance?"
[That part of you is locked. Buried. Sealed.]
He stared out the window, fingers tapping against his thigh.
Something in him still hurt — like a ghost limb.
SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY – DEEP CRYO POD
Inside the hidden vault, Lin Yue's eyes opened.
The memory-link triggered.
And she whispered Su Chen's name — with a sob in her throat.
"You forgot me…"
And with it, her own system activated — for the first time in a decade.
[Bond Triggered: The One Who Loved You Still][Initializing: Parallel Ascension Protocol]
ENDING NOTE
Su Chen no longer remembers his pain — but the world does.
And soon… so will she.
End of Chapter 54