Darkness is not a void. Qiyue drifted in a chaotic sea of consciousness, surrounded by seven flickering lights of different colors, each one tugging at his mind. Agony came in waves, a sensation as if his consciousness were being forcibly splintered.
"Hold on!"
"Don't scatter!"
"Find the core!"
The seven voices grew distant and distorted; they no longer resonated in harmony but had turned to attacking and blaming one another. Qiyue felt himself being torn into seven pieces, each falling into a different vortex of memory—
He saw himself standing atop the Financial Center, overlooking the economic crisis triggered by his own market manipulations;
He curled up in a dark basement, fingers flying across a keyboard, paralyzing the city's power grid;
He wore a military uniform, coldly issuing a bombing order that left hundreds of civilians dead;
He clutched a bloody dagger, savoring the prey's final gasp;
He stood in a laboratory, injecting an unknown serum into the veins of a screaming test subject;
He wore a surgical mask, intentionally withholding anesthesia from a patient he knew was awake;
Finally, he stood before the heart of the Beacon Project, pressing the self-destruct button...
Seven lives, seven sins. The splitter acted like a scalpel, precisely severing the consciousness Qiyue had struggled so hard to fuse, leaving every "him" isolated and helpless.
"This is the real us," the Financier’s voice echoed in the void. "You actually thought you’d be better off merged? Look at these sins!"
"At least I lived with gusto!" the Criminal sneered. "Unlike you cowards, masking your dark sides with hypocrisy."
"A soldier’s duty is to obey orders," the Soldier said coldly. "Those deaths were merely the price of war."
Qiyue’s core consciousness curled up at the center of the chaos, trying to grasp every sliver of memory. Every time he neared a light, he was swept away by a torrent of corresponding memories. The only one not participating in the argument was the original host—he stood in the distance, silently observing the fracture.
"Help me..." Qiyue reached out to the original host. "How can I fuse again?"
The original host shook his head. "It’s not about fusion; it’s about acceptance. You have been trying to control us, not understand us."
"Understand what?"
"Every 'you' has a reason for existing." The original host pointed to the Financier: "Greed drives market innovation." He pointed to the Criminal: "Destructive desire promotes system updates." He pointed to the Soldier: "Force maintains the necessary order..."
Qiyue suddenly understood. The fundamental flaw of the Beacon Project was not the fusion of consciousness itself, but the attempt to create a "perfect" Prophet—stripping away so-called "negative traits" to keep only the "useful" parts. But human nature was never just black or white.
"So... what now?" Qiyue watched the lights growing more scattered. "The splitter is killing us."
The original host offered a mysterious smile. "Do you remember the true purpose of the Blue Crystal?"
***
In the real world, Major Marcus watched the monitoring screen with satisfaction. The seven brainwave frequencies were gradually separating, a sign that Qiyue’s consciousness was being successfully split.
"In three minutes, we can extract the pure Consciousness No. 3," he said to Chen Xuan. "The military will regain its perfect weapons designer."
Chen Xuan stood silently at the console, holding the Blue Crystal in her hand. The cracks on its surface were widening, emitting an unstable glimmer.
"The crystal's decay has accelerated," she whispered. "The separation process will completely destroy it."
Marcus shrugged. "Doesn't matter. With Consciousness No. 3, we can rebuild infinite beacons."
Chen Xuan’s fingertips brushed the surface of the crystal, pausing almost imperceptibly. On the monitor, one of the seven brainwaves suddenly showed an abnormal fluctuation.
"What's happening?" Marcus frowned. "Why is Consciousness No. 2 strengthening?"
Chen Xuan quickly adjusted the control parameters. "It might be a temporary surge. The separation process is inherently unstable."
Marcus shot her a suspicious look, then pressed his headset. "Increase security. Once Consciousness No. 3 is extracted, destroy the other six immediately."
He didn't notice Chen Xuan's left hand quietly slipping into her pocket, pressing a button on a micro-device...
In the world of consciousness, Qiyue suddenly felt an external force intervene. A scene that did not belong to the seven memories was forcibly inserted—a white laboratory, where Su Muqing was placing the Blue Crystal under a scanner. She spoke to the camera:
"If you are seeing this, it means the splitter has been activated. The crystal contains a hidden fusion enhancement program, but it requires the seven consciousnesses to resonate voluntarily to trigger."
After the image vanished, the original host said thoughtfully, "So that was her true plan all along..."
"But the crystal is in Marcus's hands!" Qiyue said desperately.
Just then, a faint blue light ignited in a corner of the consciousness world. Qiyue "saw" Chen Xuan’s hand clutching the crystal, her lips moving silently: *Trust me.*
"She's helping us!" Qiyue realized. "Chen Xuan didn't really betray us!"
The Financier sneered, "Naive. She is clearly working with Marcus."
"No," the original host said suddenly. "Remember? Su Muqing created the Prism organization. If Chen Xuan is truly a member..."
Qiyue understood. He had to take the gamble. Focusing all his attention, he shouted to his seven scattered selves:
"Listen to me! We were set up! Marcus doesn't want fusion; he wants division! He intends to extract the Soldier personality and destroy the other six!"
The seven memories stilled simultaneously. Even the most aggressive Criminal fell silent—nobody wanted to be "destroyed."
"Then what do we do?" the Scientist asked. "The splitter has almost completed the separation."
Qiyue looked at the beam of blue light from reality. "The crystal can help us re-fuse, but it requires the seven consciousnesses to resonate voluntarily. We must... grasp that light together."
The Financier shook his head. "Too abstract. How do you 'grasp light' in the world of consciousness?"
"Through shared memories," the original host said suddenly. "Every 'me' has memory fragments involving Su Muqing. That is our only intersection."
The seven "Qiyues" looked at one another. Even the Criminal acknowledged he had once held special feelings for the female scientist.
"I’ll count to three," Qiyue reached out his hand. "We recall the images of her together."
One... The Financier remembered her pointing out the loopholes in his investment formulas;
Two... The Hacker remembered the rainy night she helped cover his tracks;
Three... The Soldier could never forget the sight of her back as she saved his life on the battlefield;
Four... The Criminal recalled the rare time he had chosen not to deliver the killing blow;
Five... The Scientist missed the nights spent researching alongside her;
Six... The Doctor could never forget the moment she wept for a patient;
Seven... The original host... the original host simply smiled.
Seven memories converged like a rainbow, "touching" the blue light all at once.
In the real world, the Blue Crystal suddenly erupted with blinding light. Chen Xuan, prepared, put on sunglasses and shouted, "Now!"
Marcus was blinded by the glare, shielding his eyes instinctively. Chen Xuan seized the chance to throw the crystal at Qiyue’s body. The moment it touched his skin, an electric arc connected the two.
The seven brainwaves on the monitor suddenly synchronized, their frequencies becoming identical. The splitter let out a piercing alarm, sparked, and died.
"No!" Marcus roared, drawing his pistol to point at Chen Xuan. "You traitor!"
Chen Xuan had anticipated this, rolling behind the console. "He's about to wake up! You’d better run!"
Marcus turned toward Qiyue’s body—the restraints were vibrating violently, as if it weren't a man trapped beneath them, but an awakened beast. He hesitated for a second, then pressed a hidden switch on the wall.
"Did you think I only had the splitter up my sleeve?" he sneered. "Let me introduce you to... other 'mes'."
The wall slid open, and three men in different military uniforms stepped out—a young lieutenant, a sinister colonel, and a white-haired general. Eerily, they all possessed Marcus’s face, only at different ages.
"The Marcus of parallel worlds," the real Marcus said proudly. "We aren't as indecisive as Qiyue; we completed perfect fusion long ago."
The three "Marcuses" raised their guns simultaneously, aiming at the awakening Qiyue. Chen Xuan tried to rush out to stop them, but it was too late—
Gunshots rang out.
But it was not Qiyue who fell. One of the "Marcuses"—the young lieutenant—suddenly turned his gun, shooting the white-haired general dead, before exchanging fire with the sinister colonel. In the chaos, Qiyue’s eyes snapped open, and the restraints shattered like paper.
"What...?" Marcus stared in shock at his "selves" engaged in infighting.
Qiyue’s eyes glowed with an unnatural blue light, his voice carrying a sevenfold resonance: "You made a mistake, Marcus. True fusion isn't about eliminating differences; it's about utilizing them."
He dodged the incoming bullets with ease, his movements fluid and precise—the Financier’s foresight, the Soldier’s reflexes, and the Criminal’s intuition perfectly combined. In the blink of an eye, he snatched the gun from the colonel and shot him through the knee.
The young lieutenant suddenly turned to Marcus. "You forgot—the lieutenant from World No. 3 is the one who hates you... the most."
Marcus’s face shifted. "No! That was just a failed prototype!" He frantically pressed the controller in his hand; the young lieutenant collapsed in agony, his body disintegrating like sand.
"Consciousness cloning is unstable," Qiyue—now a fully fused Qiyue—said calmly. "Just as you said, 'impurities' always bite back."
Marcus backed into a corner, his electronic eye flickering rapidly. "Even if you kill me, you won't find Su Muqing. Her consciousness is imprisoned in quantum space; without my key—"
His words were cut short. Chen Xuan had appeared behind him, a syringe accurately piercing his neck. Marcus struggled for a few moments before collapsing to the ground.
"Let's go," Chen Xuan said urgently. "His reinforcements will be here any second."
Qiyue looked at the three "Marcus" corpses—or rather, the three consciousness clones. The real Marcus was merely unconscious, his electronic eye still flickering weakly.
"Who are you, really?" Qiyue asked Chen Xuan.
"Su Muqing's student, and her... insurance policy," Chen Xuan pulled Qiyue along as they ran. "She foresaw Marcus's betrayal and had me infiltrate his ranks. I’ve been waiting for him to show a crack for years."
They rushed out of the basement, sprinting along the maintenance tunnel. Behind them came the sound of alarms and heavy footsteps.
"Where is the crystal?" Qiyue asked.
"Inside you," Chen Xuan pointed to his chest. "The real crystal was programmed by Su Muqing. After contacting the splitter's energy, it quantized and fused into the carrier's nervous system."
Only then did Qiyue notice faint blue veins pulsing under his skin, though they were gradually fading.
"Side effects?"
"Temporary quantum resonance," Chen Xuan pushed open an emergency exit. "It gives you a brief 'omniscient' perspective, but every use accelerates the crystal's decay."
They dashed out of the observatory; the night sky was already turning a pale grey. Chen Xuan’s car was hidden in the woods; they jumped in and sped away.
"Marcus said Su Muqing is in quantum space... what does that mean?" Qiyue asked, breathless.
Chen Xuan gripped the steering wheel tight. "Not literally. Her consciousness is imprisoned in a virtual reality constructed by a quantum computer, while her physical body is in cryogenic sleep." She handed Qiyue a data chip. "The coordinates are here, but you need special equipment to enter."
Qiyue inserted the chip. The holographic map displayed a mysterious location floating at sea—32°11' N, 64°43' W.
"The Bermuda Triangle?" Qiyue frowned.
"The surface coordinates are a disguise," Chen Xuan explained. "The actual location is at the edge of the ionosphere; it requires a specialized craft to reach."
The seven voices resonated in harmony within Qiyue’s mind, analyzing this information. Suddenly, the Financier raised a key question: *Why didn't Marcus just kill Su Muqing instead of going through the trouble of imprisoning her?*
"Because she holds the final password for the Beacon core," Chen Xuan seemed to anticipate Qiyue’s question. "Without her consciousness signature, no parallel world channel can be stabilized."
As the car entered the city outskirts, Chen Xuan suddenly braked. Standing in the middle of the road ahead was a figure—Zheng Xue, covered in blood, swaying.
"Mr. Qiyue... help..." she reached out weakly before collapsing in the road.
Qiyue moved to get out, but Chen Xuan pulled him back. "It could be a trap."
"It could also be Marcus’s retaliation," Qiyue pulled away from her. "I can't take that risk."
He approached Zheng Xue cautiously, his seven voices on high alert. As his hand touched her shoulder, a sudden, intense premonition flashed—this wasn't Zheng Xue, but an assassin wearing a biological mask!
Qiyue instinctively leaned back as a dagger grazed his throat. The assassin disguised as Zheng Xue flipped away agilely as five armed men rushed out from the surroundings.
"I knew it," Chen Xuan sighed, pulling a submachine gun from the car. "Get down!"
The firefight was brief and intense. Aided by the residual energy of the Blue Crystal, Qiyue could foresee the trajectory of every bullet. Working with Chen Xuan’s fire, they quickly dispatched the ambushers. Before the last assassin fell, he grinned and pressed a button.
An explosion echoed in the distance—Chen Xuan’s car was blown to bits.
"Marcus is truly... persistent," Chen Xuan checked the assassin's gear. "Blackwater mercenaries. Not cheap."
Qiyue looked at the corpse of "Zheng Xue," feeling a surge of anger. "What did they do to her?"
"Not sure, but it’s best to assume the real Zheng Xue is being targeted too." Chen Xuan confiscated a phone from the assassin. "The good news is, Marcus clearly doesn't know Su Muqing’s true location, or he wouldn't be in such a rush to catch you."
She intercepted a passing taxi, "borrowing" the driver’s phone. After dialing a number, she said briefly, "Code White Bird, require emergency extraction," and hung up.
"We have a window of about two hours," she told Qiyue. "The Prism people will take us to a safe house, then we prepare to head for Su Muqing’s coordinates."
Qiyue looked at the brightening eastern sky. The Blue Crystal's energy had almost entirely faded, and the seven voices returned to their usual whispers. But something had changed—they no longer argued, having formed a subtle, newfound consensus.
"One last question," Qiyue looked at Chen Xuan. "Why help me? The real reason."
Chen Xuan was silent for a moment, then rolled up her sleeve to reveal a tattoo on her wrist—not the Prism logo, but a small number 7.
"Because I am the seventh," she said softly. "The seventh clone of Su Muqing. In a sense, I am her... daughter."
The first light of dawn shone on her face, and Qiyue suddenly saw that familiar contour—not in physical appearance, but in some deeper resemblance. The seven voices whispered in his mind in unison:
*Find her.*
*Rescue her.*
*Complete the mission.*
The taxi drove toward the city, but their destination lay beyond the sky and the sea, in some quantum prison. Qiyue did not know what awaited him, but one thing was certain—this search across parallel worlds had only just begun.