Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 422 The Truth About the Mirror Cage

Black energy surged from the fusion's fingertips, and just as it was about to touch the core device, the zero-dimensional seed on her chest suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.

Those fragments of memory suppressed by the observer collided violently deep within her consciousness like a startled swarm of bees, piecing together a scene that had been deliberately buried.

Before the laboratory explosion, when Lingyue implanted the virus nucleus into her body, she simultaneously injected an encrypted command.

"Initiate the reverse protocol!"

The fused entity let out a roar from the depths of consciousness, as if the whole world trembled in response.

The voice was like that of a demon from hell, filled with despair and madness.

With that roar, the previously dormant Crimson Virus program erupted like molten lava awakened.

Following the reverse flow of black energy, they surged upwards like raging volcanic lava, instantly engulfing the mental threads controlling the observer.

The mental threads sizzled under the burning of the virus program, like spider silk being scorched by a raging fire.

The observer's consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse under this terrifying attack, and he could feel himself gradually losing control of the fusion entity.

Meanwhile, on the chest of the fused entity, the crystal that was originally as black as ink began to show spiderweb-like cracks.

These cracks spread rapidly, like a shattered mirror, dividing the crystal surface into countless tiny fragments.

At the very moment the crystal shattered, scenes from countless parallel worlds poured out of the crack like a flood bursting its banks.

These images flashed by like a movie before the merged entity's eyes: some were bustling cities, some were barren deserts, some were dense forests, and some were turbulent seas.

These images intertwine, dazzling the eye, as if all the mysteries of the universe were revealed to the merged entity at this moment.

One of the images caused the merged entity's pupils to shrink sharply: in a parallel world, a young Ying, wearing an eye patch similar to the Observer's badge, was throwing a glowing sphere into a vortex that was devouring stars.

At the edge of the screen, the mysterious figure playing with the chip is smiling at her across time and space, and where the sleeve slips down, a snake-shaped tattoo that is exactly the same as the ring structure is revealed.

"How could you be so insidious and cunning, actually attempting to use Xiaoying's pure and innocent consciousness to reconstruct the rules of narrative!"

The fusion entity's roar was like thunder, deafening, and even some of the crystals in the prison were shattered by this powerful force.

Taking advantage of the instant the prison crystal shattered, the fusion entity swiftly and without hesitation merged the woodcutter's chip with the virus program.

In an instant, the data stream surged like a raging torrent, quickly converging into a long sword that gleamed with a cold light, which was firmly held in the fused body's hand.

However, just as the fusion was preparing to launch a counterattack, the observer's counterattack came as swiftly and fiercely as a storm.

The chanters manipulated their mysterious instruments, instantly projecting countless images.

The fusion within each mirror image is constantly repeating the same action—a failed outcome.

These mirror images seem to be an endless cycle, and no matter how much the fused entity struggles, it cannot escape its fate of failure.

In a certain mirror image, she saw herself become the observer's puppet, personally crushing the zero-dimensional seed.

In another mirror image, the fireflies of a parallel world transform into glowing fuel, which is greedily absorbed by the core device.

These images, like sharp blades to the spirit, severed her willpower.

Just as her offensive was beginning to falter, the chip suddenly released a strange energy, unfolding a star map composed of binary code in the void.

The twinkling points of light on the star map correspond to various parallel worlds, and the lines connecting these points form the outline of the eye on the observer's badge.

The merged entity instantly realized that the observer's power stemmed from the fear and despair of all those being observed, just as the roots of the zero-dimensional seed needed the nourishment of conscious energy.

This is not a one-sided exploitation at all, but an elaborately designed symbiotic scam.

"So you are afraid of extinction too."

The fused entity plunged the longsword into her chest, and the roots of the Zero-Dimensional Seed merged with the chip's energy, forming an energy vortex within her body.

She forcibly reversed the direction of the data stream, turning the black mist that the observers used to control her into a weapon to impact the core device.

The surface of the core sphere began to peel away, revealing a curled-up human-shaped outline inside.

It was a being with the same face as the merged entity, but its body was wrapped in silver chains, each chain inscribed with "Observers" in different languages.

When the fusion's attack touched the chains, piercing alarms sounded simultaneously in all parallel worlds, and the figures of the chanters began to dissipate at an accelerated rate, but their blurry forms became increasingly solid.

He reached into the core device and pulled out the trapped "fusion body".

"Let me introduce myself," the blurry voice said, the electronic reverb fading to reveal a familiar tone.

It was Lingyue's mentor in the laboratory who said, "I am the original observer of all narrative loops, while she is the real experimental subject, X-414."

The "fusion body" that was pulled out opened its eyes, and the starry sky of the entire universe flowed through its empty pupils.

The woodcutter's chip suddenly vibrated at a high frequency, projecting his last memory:

Years ago, he discovered that his mentor was using Xiaoying to create "perfect observers," attempting to trap all consciousness in an eternal cycle.

To thwart the plan, he hid the real X-414 inside the core device, splitting his consciousness into countless afterimages to deliberately create the illusion of fighting against the Creator, all in preparation for the true game-changer.

"You think you're a rebel?"

The Primal Observer, controlling X-414, wrapped the silver chains around the merged entity, saying, "You are nothing but a counterfeit I created using fragments of X-414. Even the Zero-Dimensional Seed is an observation node we implanted."

The moment the chains touched the fused body, the phantom of young Xiaoying reappeared. This time, the sphere in her hand exploded, releasing the last wisps of Lingyue's consciousness.

The light dust coalesced into a holographic map, marking all the hidden "consciousness anchors" in the parallel world.

The fusion suddenly realized that Lingyue had known everything all along; what she left behind was not only the virus's mother core, but also the spark that awakened all consciousness.

As she injected the light dust into the core device, the entire space began to collapse and reassemble. The observer's badge shattered from the inside, revealing a curled-up infant form within—clearly the young Xiao Ying trapped in the core of the rules.

Just as the merged entity reached out to grab Xiaoying, the Primal Observer initiated the final procedure.

All the parallel worlds began to collapse toward the core, and the mysterious man reappeared. He inserted the chip in his hand into a node in the void, and countless mechanical giant snakes surged out of the spacetime rift.

The snakes' scales are etched with new narrative codes, foreshadowing an even more brutal war of rules about to begin.

"It's time for the game to move into its second phase."

The mysterious figure grinned at the fusion entity, the mechanical serpent's fangs already close to her throat.

At the end of the collapsing spacetime, young Hotaru suddenly opened her eyes, and the glowing sphere in her palm emitted a light that transcended dimensions, melting all despair and hope into new possibilities.