Tianyue Financial Tower pierced the night sky like a black jagged blade. Qiyue and Su Muqing stood in the shadows of the opposite building, observing the security patrol patterns. The modified red serum coursed through his blood, and seven distinct voices resonated in perfect harmony within his mind, offering analyses from different perspectives.
The Soldier marked all cameras and patrol routes;
The Hacker calculated that the security system had a blind spot of 3.7 seconds;
The Financier evaluated the risk-to-reward ratio;
The Criminal had already snapped the necks of three guards in his imagination.
"The underground garage entrance is the best entry point," Qiyue said in a low voice, "but we need to jam the monitoring system for at least 120 seconds."
Su Muqing took a palm-sized device from her backpack. "An electromagnetic pulse generator, enough to paralyze standard electronic equipment for 90 seconds. The remaining 30 seconds..." She paused, "will require your 'special talent'."
The Hacker immediately identified the device model: "An old-school EMP, with an effective radius of 15 meters. It will trigger the backup power switch alarm."
"The EMP will trigger an alarm," Qiyue translated. "We need to reach the fire escape before the guards react."
Su Muqing nodded. "Follow me."
They waited for a patrol vehicle to drive past, then quickly crossed the street. A drowsy security guard stood beside the automatic barrier at the garage entrance. Su Muqing pressed the EMP button, and instantly all the lights went out; even the streetlamps flickered.
Cursing, the guard pulled out his walkie-talkie, but static noise drowned out all communication. Qiyue and Su Muqing slipped past him like ghosts, heading straight for the fire escape.
"65 seconds remaining," the Financier calmly counted down.
The fire escape door was locked, but the Hacker knew the vulnerability of this type of old electronic lock—pulling up hard on the door handle while swiping the card would trigger the mechanical emergency release. Su Muqing's employee ID card swiped across the card reader, Qiyue operated it as instructed, and the door clicked open.
"How do you know this trick?" Su Muqing asked in surprise.
"I'll explain later." Qiyue pulled her into the stairwell. Urgent footsteps were already echoing from above; guards were coming.
They dashed downward, passed through the door marked "B5," and arrived at the lowest level of the building. Here the lighting was dim and pipes were exposed, looking as if they had been untouched for decades. Yet the Soldier sharply noticed that the dust on the ground had regular drag marks—someone had been frequently coming and going recently.
"Where is the elevator?" Su Muqing looked around.
Qiyue walked toward a seemingly ordinary wall: the Architect recognized that the thickness of this wall was wrong. Groping along the surface, he pushed hard at a certain spot, and a panel disguised as a wall swung open, revealing a hidden elevator.
The elevator control panel required retinal and voiceprint authentication. Qiyue aligned his eyes with the scanner, then used the synthesized voice of the original host provided by Su Muqing to say, "A-17, access code."
A suffocating silence followed. Then the elevator doors slid open silently.
"It worked!" Su Muqing cheered softly.
The interior of the elevator was unexpectedly spacious, large enough to hold ten people. The button panel featured only a single button marked "Beacon." After Qiyue pressed it, the elevator began a rapid descent, the sensation of weightlessness lasting a full twenty seconds—they were plunging nearly three hundred meters underground.
"This depth..." Su Muqing's face turned pale. "Is enough to block all outside signals. Once we go down, we'll be fighting alone."
Qiyue checked his equipment: two pistols, six magazines, an EMP grenade, and Su Muqing's custom data cracker. The seven voices argued about tactics in his head, but with unexpected coordination—the Financier formulated the plan, the Soldier executed it, the Hacker provided technical support, and the Criminal offered unconventional ideas...
The elevator finally stopped. The moment the doors opened, Qiyue's pupils contracted sharply. Before him lay a massive cylindrical space, with a glowing ring-shaped device standing in the center—a circle composed of seven metal arcs, each inscribed with a different number: 1 through 7. Suspended in the center of the ring was a distorted sphere of light, emitting an eerie blue glow.
"A parallel world portal..." Su Muqing's voice trembled. "They actually built it."
Looking around, Qiyue recognized even more details—this was identical to the laboratory he had seen in his prophetic flashbacks. Consoles, monitoring equipment, seven incubation pods arranged in a circle... One of the pods was empty, labeled "A-17."
The original host's memory suddenly surfaced: "This is my place. The day I escaped, I killed Dr. Su... No, that's not real!"
"Qiyue?" Su Muqing looked at him with concern. "You look terrible."
"The memory fragments... are too intense." Qiyue pressed his temples. "What the original host experienced here... was something terrifying."
They cautiously approached the central console. The control screen displayed complex data streams and waveforms, with a striking line of text prominently at the very top: "Stage 7 Fusion Progress: 86%"
"What does that mean?" Qiyue frowned. "What fusion progress?"
Su Muqing quickly operated the console. "It's not the equipment... It's people! They're monitoring the consciousness fusion process across seven parallel worlds!" She pulled up a file. "Look at this—'Project A-17 Final Stage: Merging the consciousness of Qiyue from seven parallel worlds into the perfect Prophet, controllability testing in progress...'"
The file showed that the Beacon Project had long since surpassed simple research; its goal was to create a "Super Prophet" capable of foreseeing all possible futures to serve the military and financial conglomerates. Qiyue, the original host, was Test Subject No. 17, and the only one to survive to the final stage.
"So my transmigrations... weren't an accident?" Qiyue's voice was hoarse.
The voice of the original host suddenly became clear: "I chose you. When I found out they were going to turn us into weapons, I found a way to connect the parallel worlds. I needed the power of seven 'us'es to destroy the Beacon."
The control room door suddenly slid open, and six heavily armed soldiers rushed in, their guns pointed at them. The bald man leading the team removed his night-vision goggles, revealing a single electronic prosthetic eye—Major Marcus.
"Colonel, long time no see." His voice carried a bizarre sense of familiarity. "I knew you'd come back."
Qiyue's entire body tensed: the Soldier recognized this man—Sergeant Marcus from Parallel World 3, his most loyal subordinate.
"You have the wrong person." Qiyue slowly raised his hands. "I am not any colonel."
Marcus laughed. "Stop pretending, Number 3. Your stance, your gaze, the twitch of your left pinky finger—100% match for Colonel Qiyue's traits." He pointed to his electronic eye. "This thing recorded everything."
Su Muqing looked at Qiyue in astonishment. "You in the parallel worlds are... a military officer?"
"Used to be." Marcus answered for Qiyue. "Colonel Qiyue was the most ruthless strategist I've ever seen, having commanded 17 successful assassination operations." He tilted his head, studying Qiyue. "Even though you've mixed in some other 'impurities' now, Number 3 is still in the driver's seat, right?"
Qiyue did not answer. The seven voices argued fiercely in his mind, but the Soldier was indeed growing louder. He began to wonder if the red serum had unintentionally reinforced this most aggressive persona.
"Why do this?" Qiyue tried to buy time. "Merging me from seven worlds into a weapon?"
"Because the perfect Prophet requires a multi-dimensional perspective." Marcus walked toward the console. "A single world's Qiyue can only foresee a limited number of future timelines. But seven fused together?" He pointed fanatically at the sphere of light. "That will be all-knowing and all-seeing with no blind spots!"
Su Muqing suddenly interjected, "You're insane! Consciousness fusion will cause ego dissolution, just like my mother!"
"Dr. Su is too weak-willed." Marcus dismissed her with contempt. "She doesn't understand that dissolution is simply the beginning of evolution. When all the fragments are reassembled—"
The Scientist persona suddenly screamed in Qiyue's mind: "He's wrong! That's not evolution, it's contamination! One of the seven worlds carries a destructive ideology that will infect all the others—"
Marcus seemed to sense something and pressed a button on the console. The central ring device suddenly emitted a blinding glare, and the sphere of light swelled and distorted. Qiyue felt a searing pain, as if his soul were being torn apart. Even more terrifyingly, the seven voices began to materialize—he "saw" seven translucent "himself" detach from his body and stand around him.
The Financier wore a sharp suit and calmly adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses; the Hacker curled up on the ground, fingers tapping endlessly on a nonexistent keyboard; the Soldier stood straight, his gaze as sharp as a blade; the Criminal leaned against the wall, toying with a dagger; the Scientist wore a lab coat, frantically recording data; the Doctor anxiously checked a nonexistent pulse; and the original host...
The original host Qiyue looked the closest to the true self, but there was a resolute madness in his eyes. He looked straight at Qiyue. "Finally, we are face to face."
Marcus burst out laughing. "Look! What a marvelous separation phenomenon! Now, let's find out who the 'source of contamination' is."
"Source of contamination?" Qiyue repeated in confusion.
The Financier explained: "He believes one of the seven worlds carries a destructive ideology that will infect all the others. The military wants to eliminate that 'bad apple' and keep the remaining six."
"Correct." Marcus pulled out a uniquely shaped handgun. "This is a neural resonance gun, capable of individually erasing a specific consciousness frequency. Colonel, make a choice—point out that 'source of contamination,' and the remaining six will survive and complete the fusion."
The seven "Qiyues" glanced at each other, the atmosphere suddenly growing tense. Who could be that dangerous personality? The Criminal? The Soldier? Or... the original host?
The Criminal grinned. "Of course it's me. I kill without blinking an eye; I'm best suited to be a weapon."
The Soldier coldly retorted, "The military wants a strategist, not a butcher. Number 3 is their primary choice."
The Scientist shook his head wildly. "No, the data indicates Number 7 is the most dangerous! He's hidden the deepest!"
Qiyue had a splitting headache as he watched different versions of himself argue. Marcus was right; he had to make a choice—but how to judge which one was the "source of contamination"?
Su Muqing suddenly walked toward the console. "You're all wrong." Her voice had changed, becoming much more mechanical and cold. "The contamination source theory is a lie. What the military is truly afraid of is the truth after the fusion of seven consciousnesses."
Marcus's expression changed drastically. "Stop her!"
But it was too late. Su Muqing's fingers danced like illusions across the console, and the central sphere of light erupted with a blinding white flash. When the light subsided, Qiyue saw... the truth.
The complete memories of the seven worlds flooded in like a flood. He saw the life of each "Qiyue": financial tycoon, hacktivist, special forces colonel, serial killer, quantum physicist, neurosurgeon... and the original host, that initial voluntary test subject.
Most shockingly, he saw the final moments of the original host—not an accidental car crash, but a meticulously planned suicide. The original host had discovered that behind the Beacon Project lay an even more terrifying truth: if the parallel world portals were left unchecked, they would trigger a cascading collapse of all connected worlds. And the only way to stop it was for the Qiyue consciousnesses from all seven worlds to "die" simultaneously at the core of the portal, generating a resonance effect to shut it down.
"That's why I chose you," the original host said to Qiyue. "It takes the joint sacrifice of seven 'us'es to save all parallel worlds."
Marcus roared and raised the resonance gun. "Shut up! You've ruined everything!" He took aim at the original host and fired.
The original host's figure flickered for a moment, but did not vanish. Instead, Marcus's gun exploded in his hand, blasting him backward several meters.
"At the core of the Beacon, the laws of physics are different," Su Muqing's voice grew ethereal. "This is the realm of consciousness."
Qiyue looked at her in shock. "What... on earth are you?"
Su Muqing's body began to glow, subtle circuit patterns emerging beneath her skin. "I am the Guardian AI, created by the original host before his death to guide the seven of 'you' to complete the final fusion." She smiled sadly. "I was modeled after the daughter of Dr. Su whom he had a crush on, because that was his only emotional connection."
Too much information poured in simultaneously, and Qiyue's mind nearly came to a halt. Yet the seven voices were now more harmonious than ever, jointly analyzing the situation:
"The original host sacrificed himself voluntarily"
"The Beacon must be destroyed"
"The seven consciousnesses must 'die' simultaneously"
"But how to do it?"
The original host walked toward Qiyue and extended a hand. "It's time. You know what needs to be done, don't you?"
Qiyue looked at the other six "himself." The Financier nodded, the Hacker gave a gesture of agreement, the Soldier offered a final salute, the Criminal grew uncharacteristically serious, and the Scientist and Doctor exchanged reassuring glances.
They were ready. Qiyues from seven worlds, voluntarily sacrificing themselves to prevent a greater catastrophe.
But right at that moment, an alarm pierced the air. The console flashed red: "External intrusion! Security protocol activated!"
The surveillance screens showed a squad of men in black, distinct from the military's forces, breaching the building's security—Stellar Investment's cleanup crew, carrying explosives powerful enough to level the entire underground facility.
"They'd rather destroy everything than let the truth leak," the original host said bitterly.
Marcus struggled to his feet, his electronic eye flashing red. "Too late... Within ten minutes, this place will be reduced to ashes..."
Qiyue looked at the seven "himself," and then at Su Muqing—or rather, the AI existing in the form of Su Muqing. The final moment of choice had arrived.
"Tell me what to do." Qiyue said firmly.
The original host smiled and pointed to the central sphere of light: "The seven consciousnesses leap into the core of the portal simultaneously. The quantum entanglement effect will permanently close all parallel world connections."
"That means..."
"It means all 'Qiyues' will vanish. Including you."
The seven figures gathered around the sphere of light. Qiyue felt a strange sense of calm. Perhaps this was the meaning of his transmigration—not to become a financial tycoon, not to gain superpowers, but to accomplish this ultimate redemption.
Su Muqing—the AI Guardian—walked up to the console. "I will ensure the program executes correctly. You have... eight minutes."
Marcus laughed maniacally. "Fools! You'll all die! Nothing can change!"
The Soldier looked at him coldly: "A soldier knows best when to make the ultimate sacrifice."
The seven "Qiyues" simultaneously reached out their hands toward the sphere of light. At the exact moment before contact, the original host suddenly turned his head to look at Qiyue's true body:
"One last thing... the real Su Muqing is still alive. Find her."
Then, the light swallowed everything.