At the same time.
Deepest underground, in the intensive care ward.
Su Li sat quietly beside Lin Feng's hibernation pod.
The ward was dark, lit only by the faint blue glow from the pod.
Su Li looked even more haggard than she had three days earlier. She had not closed her eyes for a full seventy-two hours.
Because whenever she closed them, those all-pervasive whispers of the Abyss would sound in her mind.
"He's dead."
The voice murmured softly in her ear, like her closest friend stating a fact.
"Look at him. No breath, no strength. He's just an empty shell."
"All your perseverance is futile."
"Just press that button and cut off his life support, and you'll be free. He'll be free too. He won't have to endure the agony of being torn apart by the universe anymore."
Su Li bit her lip hard and clutched her head with both hands, trying to drive the voice out.
"Get out... get out of my head..."
Her nails dug deep into her scalp.
But the voice only grew louder and clearer.
It conjured the mangled horror of Lin Feng being crushed by Leviathan on Mars, conjured the wails of countless refugees burning in raging flames.
"Look, this is all because of his arrogance. If you hadn't resisted, there wouldn't have been so much suffering."
"Press it. End all of this."
Su Li's eyes began to turn vacant.
She slowly rose, like a puppet on strings, and walked step by step toward the pod's control console.
Her hand trembled as it hovered over the red switch marked "Cut power."
One press would shut down Lin Feng's last life-support system, and the tiny spark of life he still retained would be extinguished completely.
"Freedom..." A black tear slipped from the corner of Su