Saving the World
Finally, the image freezes on the person who lifted her up from the Jian Lake.
That's Lu Yan.
He appeared in the coldest moments of her life time and time again.
She remembered how, in the snowy wilderness of the icy plains, Lu Yan knelt down and gently cupped her small face in his large, warm hands.
The overflowing tenderness and affection in his eyes was the most touching light she had ever seen in her life.
"If you are hurt, or if you are gone,"
Lu Yan's voice trembled slightly, as if he were pleading for a fragile miracle, "I will be very, very sad. That kind of sadness is worse than death. Do you understand?"
I understand, A-Yan.
Aemeath murmured softly to herself, a hot tear sliding down her pale cheek and landing on the cold control panel.
"But a future swallowed by nothingness..."
Aemeath slowly raised her head, and her golden star-like eyes, which had been trembling slightly with fear and pressure, now held a chilling resolve.
If that future lacked everyone's laughter, Rinascita's sunshine, and Lu Yan's gentle gaze, she would rather sever that future with her own hands!
"I absolutely refuse!"
With a low, suppressed growl, Aemeath's right hand, which was gripping the control stick, suddenly exerted force.
"Crack!" A teeth-grinding sound of metal shattering echoed in the cockpit.
The control lever, crafted from the remains of the Tunneler, was crushed to pieces by her sheer grip strength!
The moment Aemeath activated Overclocking, the physical laws of the entire material world completely collapsed within the cockpit.
The hard metal bulkheads and the red-glowing screens had all vanished.
I will protect...
Aemeath's voice echoed in the empty space.
The entire surrounding area transformed into a vast, boundless, and utterly empty data space.
Countless streams of dark blue data surged wildly around her.
In this massive torrent of information powerful enough to crush any mortal consciousness in an instant, Aemeath's body lost the restraint of gravity and floated in mid-air.
Intense pain spread from the depths of her soul, a sensation as if a scalpel were simultaneously cutting through every inch of her nerves.
She curled up in mid-air in agony, like an infant returning to the womb, gritting her teeth to endure the pain of Overclocking.
"Everything now..."
She gritted her teeth and forced out the vow.
Just then, amidst the raging storm of data, a thin piece of paper fluttered out of the backpack she had casually tossed aside.
That was the college application form she had just filled out this morning, which her friends had been joking about.
The piece of paper tumbled in the raging data stream, like a lone boat about to be swallowed up. Finally, it was swept up by an invisible Frequency and brought to the huddled Aemeath.
Aemeath opened her eyes with difficulty, her golden star-like pupils focusing in the blinding light.
The words she wrote on that white paper appeared exceptionally clear under the soft blue light.
"Save the world..."
Aemeath looked at those four words, the pain in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by an almost burning fervor and determination.
This was never some childish joke; it was the only way she had found in this world to keep everyone here!
"I'm serious!"
With that hysterical scream, an unprecedentedly powerful Frequency erupted from her body!
The dazzling light even overshadowed the raging data streams around it.
On Aemeath's chest, the standard Tacit Mark that originally represented the identity of the Resonator began to twist and recombine violently under this will and Overclocking.
The pale pink light, like a blooming flame, gradually eroded and altered the original patterns.
Finally, at the very center of the light, the Tacit Mark transformed into a heart shape, symbolizing love and protection!
Power, boundless power, began to surge into her body.
A halo of pure light energy floated behind her head, and on the right side of the halo was a radiant hair ornament that resembled half an angel's wing.
Aemeath felt an unprecedented lightness and power.
But Aemeath didn't notice what was happening not far behind her.
In this raging torrent of data, there was Lu Yan, who stood silently all along.
Lu Yan in the data stream, his eyes still gently gazing at Aemeath's shimmering figure.
At this moment, his body, composed of Frequency, was in a terrible state.
In order to prevent the terrifying backlash from Overclocking from tearing Aemeath's body apart, Lu Yan used the characteristics of the same Frequency to transfer most of the pain of Overclocking onto himself, turning himself into a meat shield that frantically absorbed damage.
The excruciating pain and tearing sensation, enough to destroy the body, were all transferred to him through the link.
"Click... click..."
Fine, terrifying cracks covered Lu Yan's entire body like a spider web.
From his fingertips, to his neck, and then to his still smiling face.
From each crack shone a blinding golden light, a sign that his Frequency was completely collapsing.
His body was slowly turning to ashes and dissipating into the cold stream of data, but he didn't utter even a muffled groan.
He couldn't let Aemeath be distracted.
He looked at Aemeath, whose body had been restored to its former glory and who radiated a divine light, and managed a forced smile of satisfaction.
"Go do what you want, my hero... I said I would protect you."
Aemeath was completely unaware of what was happening behind her.
After completely exceeding the threshold, the data flow around her suddenly stopped.
All the light vanished instantly, and all the noise fell into deathly silence in a flash.
Aemeath found herself in a boundless void.
There is no sky, no earth, only suffocating darkness and starry skies.
Beside her, a terrifying shadow so enormous it defied description lay silently lurking in the void.
Tunneler.
Aemeath glanced at the Tunneler, and the Tunneler looked back at her.
The heart-shaped Tacit Mark on her chest burst forth with a dazzling pink light, and she felt she could now control the Tunneler.
Aemeath looked down at the countless Lament creations below, and resolutely manipulated the Tunneler to fight against the Voidborn Worm below, like a Morning Star piercing the polar night.
Aemeath maneuvered herself to rush downwards towards the Voidborn Worm, like a Morning Star piercing the polar night.
A large number of mechs infected by the Void Matter rushed towards the Tunneler in mid-air.
Aemeath manipulated the Tunneler, grabbing one with her left hand and slamming it towards another, while instantly cleaving another in two with her right hand.
Aemeath poured all her power into this sword strike, assuming a stance as she charged towards the Voidborn Worm below.
The Voidborn Worm noticed the Tunneler and emitted a laser from its head in an attempt to block the falling sword.
"Boom!"
As the Tunneler's sword fell, the enormous Voidborn Worm was instantly killed by the Tunneler's absolute power. Its massive body crumbled inch by inch, like a sand tower being weathered.
The raging data flow gradually subsided, and the torn earth began to slowly heal.
Inside the cockpit, the control panel lit up again, emitting a soft and steady glow.
Aemeath suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
Her chest heaved violently, and her entire body was soaked in cold sweat, as if she had just been pulled out of the water.
"It's over..."
She stared blankly at Rinascita on the screen as he gradually regained his composure.
The earth, which had been torn apart by the Void Matter, stopped collapsing, and the surviving Lahai-Roi embraced and wept in the distance.
It was done.
I truly succeeded in driving the Tunneler, using a human body to nip this disaster, which could have destroyed Rinascita, in the bud.
A feeling of exhaustion from surviving a disaster, along with a sense of accomplishment, welled up inside me at the same time.
Aemeath leaned back in her chair, feeling somewhat weak, a smile involuntarily creeping onto her lips.
Just then, she caught a glimpse of white on the ground out of the corner of her eye.
That was the volunteer form she had just filled out that morning, which she had casually stuffed into the edge of her backpack; now it lay forlornly on the cold metal floor of the cockpit.
The four words "Save the world" above were exceptionally clear under the light.
Aemeath chuckled softly and got out of the driver's seat.
She bent down and reached out her still weak and trembling right hand to pick up the paper.
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the edge of the paper.
They passed through without any hindrance.
Her fingers, like intangible ghosts, passed straight through the thin white paper without even creating a ripple, touching the metal floor below.
Aemeath's smile froze on her face instantly, and her pupils contracted to their maximum size in a split second.
"Ah?!"
It's magic when sonwflakes could cling.
(Snowflakes land on you...)
Like powdered stardust on your skin glistening.
(Like stardust scattered, sparkling and shimmering...)
Their moments may be fleet and paper thin.
(Snowflakes can only last for a short while...)