[Reset] Ability

Inside the office.

Sui Yang stood by the observation window with his hands behind his back, lost in thought as he gazed at the scenery outside.

Following his line of sight, one could see the bright blue sky of the afternoon and the abandoned village surrounded by dense redwoods.

However, a 14x14 meter "mercury mirror" stood in the central square of the village. The houses had been simply renovated, and the equipment crates piled in the corners, along with the military SUVs and pickup trucks parked between the streets, all indicated that this place had been temporarily requisitioned by Atlas.

This village was, in fact, the landing point connecting the "Prime Universe" and the "Zero-One Universe," and that "mercury mirror," through which personnel constantly moved, was the first spatial gate.

To facilitate subsequent archiving and statistics, Sui Yang named the world he had traveled to and lived in for over a hundred years the "Prime Universe," while this Edge of Tomorrow world before him was designated the "Zero-One Universe."

The content displayed on the computer screen on the desk also highlighted the importance of convenience:

File Name: Zero-One Universe.

Status: Continuously updating.

Prime Universe, June 5, 1993, Pacific Time.

13:32, the Atlas core team discovered ruins of an unknown civilization.

14:14, the first spatial gate was opened by the Atlas Corporation Owner through a certain blood sacrifice ritual.

15:20, the Alpha advance team crossed the spatial gate.

15:30, a wired base station was established.

15:35, the Alpha advance team completed the testing and analysis of the air and soil, with results indicating no need to worry about contagion in the short term.

16:20, Research Director Wang Zhaofeng inferred, based on the physical condition of the Alpha advance team and preliminary research results, that the spatial gate possessed a "disinfection" function, which could effectively prevent biological invasion and personnel infection.

However, Director Wang Zhaofeng still advised that personnel exposed to the outside environment must wear Level 1 or higher respiratory filtration devices.

16:35, the Atlas Engineering Department crossed the spatial gate to officially begin the construction of the frontline base.

16:40, the Alpha advance team continued to explore outward...

17:42, drones captured footage of combat...

Prime Universe, June 7 / Zero-One Universe, March 15.

09:12, two Atlas investigators, Chersky and Jensen, successfully obtained partial information on Zero-One Earth by using forged civilian identities.

The time on Zero-One Earth was synchronized with Prime Earth, but the date differed by 27 years, placing it at March 15, 2020.

Investigation revealed that an orange-glowing meteorite fell on Hamburg, Germany, on September 1, 2015. Afterward, an alien species referred to by Zero-One humans as "Mimics" began their invasion.

Germany fell first, followed by France, and then the entirety of Western Europe.

Due to the alien invasion, humanity temporarily ended its internal conflicts and established the United Defense Force (UDF) based on the United Nations.

Within five years, the UDF had few victories, and military and civilian casualties exceeded ten million.

It was not until the Battle of Verdun on March 13, 2020, that the UDF and Zero-One humans finally shifted from defense to offense. The Battle of Verdun was also the first engagement where the UDF deployed "exoskeletons" on a large scale.

Furthermore, the two investigators managed to pry information from several drinking soldiers: a sergeant named Rita Vrataski had used a new type of exoskeleton to kill hundreds of Mimics single-handedly, earning her the title "Angel of Verdun," though the nickname more widely circulated in the barracks was the "Full Metal Bitch."

Currently, the UDF seems to be concentrating its forces in London, England; Brussels, Belgium; and Lausanne, Switzerland, in preparation for a decisive strike to annihilate the Mimics.

The specific time for the counterattack could not be determined, according to the two investigators...

"Click."

As the sound of a left mouse click echoed, the document was closed, leaving the screen with a black background and the red "Λ" logo floating in the center of the desktop.

Sui Yang had sat back down behind his desk.

As a transmigrator, the moment he observed the combat footage between UDF soldiers and Mimics via drone, combined with the keyword "Battle of Verdun," he realized the Zero-One Universe was the film version of Edge of Tomorrow.

To be safe, he had still dispatched several trusted investigators to regions like England and Belgium, and the intelligence they sent back further confirmed his suspicions.

If one only considered Edge of Tomorrow as a film, it certainly held a place in Sui Yang's mind; he was never satisfied with just watching the theatrical version and would pull it out to watch again every so often.

However, if one were to put themselves in the shoes of the humans in the film—especially knowing the true nature of the Mimics without possessing their "Reset" ability—there was only despair.

Just as Dr. Carter, who had been dismissed by the UDF commander, said, "An enemy that can predict the future is almost impossible to defeat."

The Mimics were not like human armies, where every unit and every soldier possessed individual intelligence; they had to be viewed as a "single organism."

Seemingly endless, the orange-core Mimics were like the limbs of a human body, responsible for attacking, building, and acting as "cannon fodder."

These Mimics only needed to use local materials—for example, "consuming" soil—to complete their own copy-and-paste process, which was the root of their endless numbers.

But among every 6.18 million Mimics, there existed one larger, stronger creature with a blue core, known as the Alpha, which served as the "central nervous system."

As for the Omega, it was their "brain," appearing similar to a giant sea anemone.

When a single Alpha died, it would trigger the Omega's "reset" mechanism, resetting the day. Furthermore, the Omega would retain all memories from before the reset, allowing it to formulate more perfect battle plans and deployments.

Facing such an enemy, if not for William Cage—played by Tom Cruise—possessing the protagonist's halo, accidentally killing an Alpha, and coincidentally absorbing the Alpha's blood, he would never have successfully breached the Mimics' reset mechanism.

It was equivalent to a "bug."

The Omega needed to provide a false illusion to fix this "bug," luring the autonomous William Cage into a trap before draining him of his blood.

However, the final outcome was that William Cage used Dr. Carter's equipment to successfully pinpoint the Omega's true location, and by leveraging classified information and Rita Vrataski's reputation, he successfully recruited J Squad, ultimately turning the tables to kill the Omega instead.

After the Omega died, all the Mimics invading Earth lost their vitality. By all accounts, this was already a very good ending, with the protagonist and the lone heroes sacrificing themselves in silence to win victory for humanity.

But in his final, dying moments, William Cage absorbed the Omega's blood and triggered one last reset, causing himself, Rita Vrataski, and all members of J Squad to "resurrect"...

To be honest, Atlas could gain many benefits from the world of Edge of Tomorrow, such as perfected modular mechanical exoskeletons, as well as related special materials, high-capacity batteries, intelligent systems, and bidirectional data transmission technologies.

However, Sui Yang's top priority was to seize the Mimics' [Reset] ability.