The alarm sound in the Pure White Room stopped abruptly. The seven purple-robed figures on the screens froze simultaneously, like a video pressed on pause. Qiyue, dressed in white and resting inside the crystal coffin, sat up and gently touched the console. The mechanical arms that had been trying to grab Qiyue's energy form instantly retracted into the screen, turning into rigid line drawings.
"Don't worry, they're just programs," White-robed Qiyue's voice was surprisingly gentle, completely different from the mechanical coldness of the purple-robed ones. "Virtual examiners designed to test the stress tolerance of a Carrier."
Qiyue's energy form flickered due to violent fluctuations. The W-Infinity Engine Model on his chest automatically deployed into a defensive stance, countless tiny data streams like tentacles probing this unfamiliar environment. Every scan brought back unsettling results: this room was not within the architecture of any World Engine, nor even recorded in the quantum network.
"Where is this?" Qiyue's voice carried the echoes of hundreds of worldlines. "And who are you?"
White-robed Qiyue slowly stood up; his height and build were identical to Qiyue's energy form, only more... real. He walked toward the nearest screen, his finger gliding across the imagery of the W-3 World, immediately enlarging the projection of Soldier Qiyue patrolling among the ruins.
"This is the core control room of the laboratory, theoretically existing in no dimension." He turned …
Chapter 31