The Masked Man Who Awakens
On the morning of the sixth day, sunlight filtered through the cracks in the wooden cabin, sprinkling warmly and gently on Fa's body.
Inside the cabin, Arya, who had watched over Fa all night, was holding her cold hand, whispering words of encouragement. Suddenly, she felt Fa's fingers twitch ever so slightly.
"Fa?!" Arya called out in joyful surprise.
Fa's eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings breaking through ice. She slowly and laboriously opened her eyes. Her right eye still lingered with burning pain and swelling, her vision somewhat blurry, but no longer filled with shattered void cracks—instead, it was Arya's face, filled with worry and joy, looking slightly haggard.
"Arya..." Fa's voice was hoarse like sandpaper scraping, yet it instantly drew everyone over, their faces overflowing with indescribable excitement and relief.
"How do you feel?" Arya's tears slid down as she tightly gripped her hand.
"My right eye... hurts a lot... but... alive... all of you..." Fa's gaze slowly swept over the familiar faces, seeing Yuyuer, Zhamisi, Tisk, Rex, and others... everyone standing vividly before her eyes. A immense sense of relief washed over her soul, making her weak body tremble slightly.
"Thanks to you... or rather... your other 'persona.'" Zhamisi said with lingering fear, pointing to the massive ice crystal ruins outside, then kicking the still-unconscious masked person tied up like a zongzi in the corner. "And this guy—we brought her back."
Fa closed her eyes, sensing within her body. Besides the weakness and the intense pain in her right eye, a cold, serene, vast power lay dormant in the depths of her soul like a sleeping glacier, faintly connected to her earth and water magic, as well as the spatial power of her right Star Eye. It was the fragments of the Chill Silence origin that had been devoured and filtered by the Star Eye's black hole, now remaining in her body! With a slight thought, a delicate hexagonal ice crystal, emitting a faint pale starlight, quietly condensed at her fingertip.
"The power of ice..." Fa murmured, feeling that forest chill and control sense, which shared origins with water yet was utterly different.
"Were you... having nightmares while unconscious?" Arya asked softly, worriedly smoothing her slightly furrowed brows.
Fa nodded, recalling the fragments of her five-day drift in chaotic darkness during the coma, her expression turning grave:
"I... was falling between shattered stars... countless burning meteors streaked by, they were your faces... Tisk roaring in the forge... Rex's armor fragments scattering... Kayla's beastly wail shaking the void..." Her voice was low, laced with pain. "Then... it was endless blood-red... a massive... single eye! It was staring at me, cold, greedy... as if it wanted to devour me and the stars..."
She paused, the core scene of the dream emerging: "Just as I was about to be frozen... my right eye... felt so hot... like it was burning... I saw... three shimmering fragments piercing the darkness... one burning with an eternal golden flame... one flowing with vibrant emerald light rivers... the last one... suspended amid storms and thunder... They... flew northward... to a massive ice-snow peak piercing the sky, surrounded by endless storms! At the summit... there was a huge dome made of light and feathers!" A flash of realization crossed Fa's eyes. "The Wing Clan's Light Feather Dome... the star fragments... are there!
"And that giant eye..." Fa's voice carried a chill. "After the fragments flew away... it let out an angry roar... blood-red tentacles... reaching toward our world... I feel... it's the same essence as what the Doomsday Rebirth organization is seeking... all disasters! The star fragments... might be the key... or perhaps... bait!"
The information revealed in the dream plunged the wooden cabin into silence. The destination of the star fragments was now clear—the Light Feather Dome at the summit of Frostblade Snow Mountain! But the threat of that blood-red giant eye loomed like a new shadow over their hearts. Everyone looked toward the unconscious masked person in the corner, their gazes sharpening like knives. This captive had become the key to unlocking the secrets of the Doomsday Rebirth organization and that terrifying giant eye.
Fa struggled to sit up, with Arya and Kayla quickly supporting her. "We... don't have much time left." Fa looked northward, where snowstorms were gathering again, the massive outline of Frostblade Snow Mountain faintly visible under the dim sky, like a dormant ice-snow behemoth. "Once I can move... immediately... interrogate that masked person. Then... set out! Target... the Light Feather Dome!"
The companions' gazes met; exhaustion lingered, yet a firmer flame burned within. The death baptism of the Chill Silence Ice Palace hadn't broken them—instead, it had tempered stronger wills and powers. The road ahead was still fraught with thorns and unknown terrors, but this time, they would carry new strengths and awakenings, shoulder to shoulder, challenging the storm-and-star-converging mountain summit once more.
The Interrogation Begins
After resting for half a day, the atmosphere in the wooden cabin gradually recovered a trace of vitality from the post-disaster exhaustion. The blizzards of the Eternal Frost Tundra still howled outside, but the wooden shelter built by Lin Ya radiated warm life aura, allowing everyone to catch their breath. Fa slowly sat up from the root bed, the burning pain in her right eye not fully subsided, but she could barely open both eyes, the light in her Star Eye brighter than during her coma. She took a deep breath, feeling the newly integrated fragments of the Chill Silence origin within her—cold, serene, yet brimming with infinite potential.
"Fa, are you sure you want to interrogate her now?" Arya asked softly, her gentle gaze carrying a hint of worry. She sat beside Fa, holding a warm cloth, ready to wipe away any cold sweat beading on her forehead.
Fa nodded, her voice weak but firm: "We can't wait any longer. That dream of the blood-red giant eye... the star fragments... the Doomsday Rebirth organization's conspiracy... everything points to the Light Feather Dome. We need more intelligence."
Upon hearing this, everyone's gazes turned sharply to the corner of the cabin. There, a figure bound tightly with reinforced cables lay quietly—the masked person brought back from the Chill Silence Ice Palace ruins. Her body was extremely weak from the erosion of the Chill Silence origin, still unconscious.
Fa slowly stood up, with Kayla and Zhamisi immediately supporting her. She walked to the masked person and, taking a deep breath, reached out to remove the silver mask engraved with twisted vine patterns. Beneath the mask was a pale, young female face, her brows and eyes revealing stubbornness and exhaustion. Fa was slightly stunned; she hadn't expected this Doomsday Rebirth high-level figure, who had stirred up bloodshed at the Windward Outpost, to be a woman.
"Lin Ya, can you wake her?" Fa turned to the forest oathkeeper.
Lin Ya nodded, its emerald branch arm gently touching the woman's forehead, a strand of gentle life energy slowly infusing. The woman's severe frostbite had stabilized, pulling her from life-threatening danger. Now, she lay on a simple bed woven from resilient roots in the cabin corner, still unconscious, her breathing weak but steady. The silver mask engraved with twisted vine patterns lay quietly beside her, revealing a pale, hard-lined human female face, about thirty-something, with heavy dark circles under her closed eyes, lips tightly pursed—even in coma, exuding stubbornness and weariness.
"She'll wake soon; her vital signs are rising." Lin Ya's gentle thoughts resonated in everyone's minds, its emerald body glowing much dimmer than before, cracks on its branches still clearly visible, but stable life fluctuations continued to nourish the injured.
"Good." Fa's voice still carried the hoarseness of recent recovery, her right eye bandaged with herbs treated by Lirian, faintly aching, but her mind much clearer. She straightened her body with Arya's support, her gaze sharply locking onto the unconscious woman. "Once she wakes, start the interrogation immediately. We have no time for her to recover and play tricks."
Moments later, the woman's eyelids trembled, slowly opening. Her gaze was first dazed, then quickly vigilant, scanning around, discovering herself bound in a wooden cabin, surrounded by a group of imposing unfamiliar faces.
"Who are you? Why capture me?" The woman's voice was hoarse and cold, with a barely noticeable tremble.
Fa stepped forward, a firm light flickering in her Star Eye: "We're here to stop the Doomsday Rebirth organization's conspiracy. You're from Doomsday Rebirth; you should know a lot about their plans. Tell us, what's the purpose of seeking the star fragments at the Light Feather Dome?"
The woman sneered, a flash of contempt in her eyes: "You think I'll tell you? Doomsday Rebirth's great cause—you ants couldn't possibly understand!"
Zhamisi frowned, her snake tail lightly slapping the ground with a dull thud: "Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! We have ways to make you talk."
The woman glanced at Zhamisi, a mocking curve at her lips: "Go ahead and try; I won't say a thing."
Fa frowned tightly.
At this moment, Yuyuer, seeing this, whispered in Fa's ear: "Perhaps I can use illusion hypnosis on her, to lower her guard."
Fa nodded in agreement. Yuyuer walked to the masked woman, closed his eyes, focused his mind, raised his dragon bone staff, the crystal ball emitting a soft blue light, preparing to cast illusion hypnosis.
"Relax your mind; let my illusion guide you into a dream." Yuyuer's voice was gentle and magical, like waves softly lapping the shore.
The woman's gaze gradually became hazy, as if drawn by an invisible force, slowly closing her eyes. Yuyuer, seeing this, continued deepening the illusion's influence, attempting to relax her subconscious.
At that moment, Salsa's mechanical cat body leaped to the masked woman's head, her amber electronic eyes locking onto the opponent's temples. "Don't worry; as long as there's a crack in her consciousness, I can slip in. However..." She paused, her soul voice carrying a hint of gravity. "The experience in the Chill Silence Ice Palace gave me new insights into 'icy' souls; perhaps I can more deeply 'freeze' her subconscious defenses."
"Now, Salsa!" Yuyuer maintained the spell, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Infiltration begins!" Salsa's mechanical cat eyes flashed with data streams to the extreme, instantly dimming. At the same time, an almost imperceptible soul light stream, darker than shadow, drifted from the cat body like an invisible ghost, precisely vanishing into the masked woman's brow!
The wooden cabin fell into silence, everyone holding their breath, awaiting Salsa's exploration results.
The Abyss of the Subconscious (Salsa's Perspective)
After Salsa entered the masked woman's consciousness, her soul body felt as if plunging into a cold, viscous sea of chaotic thought fragments and painful memory echoes.
The "seawater" here wasn't azure but a murky ink-green, emanating a blasphemous, mad, and absolute obedience aura, clearly deeply infused and mentally controlled by the Doomsday Rebirth organization.
Countless shattered scenes flashed: Cold experiment tables, twisted runes, inhuman wails, numbness during execution of killing orders... and deepest, absolute reverence and fear toward a certain existence.
Salsa cautiously avoided areas with obvious mental defense traps (guided by Rex monitoring the masked woman's brainwaves externally and feeding back anomalies to her soul body), swimming toward the memory core like a nimble shadow fish.
Suddenly, the scene shifted, a key image emerging:
Scene One: A solemn command room.
She found herself in a dim room, kneeling on one knee, head bowed in utmost respect. Before her gaze was a pair of exquisite high heels on a mirror-smooth black metal floor, the tips adorned with a eerie purple gem. Gaze upward, it was a human woman in a dark purple robe. The woman had a fine figure, a stern face, and a voice of absolute authority that seemed to freeze the soul:
"'Champagne' (the masked woman's codename), the stability testing for 'Gintelo' has entered the third phase. Dr. Zheng needs more real-combat data. Target... the Light Feather Dome."
Salsa could feel "Champagne's" inner fanatic worship and deep fear toward this voice.
"Yes, 'Lady Skeletshadow' (Virginia · Skeletshadow)." Champagne's voice echoed in the memory.
"Good." The woman called "Lady Skeletshadow" seemed to nod slightly; Salsa could only see her hand hanging at her side, gloved in black velvet, fingers slender, nails an eerie dark purple.
"Virginia pulled out a device shimmering with strange light from her bosom and handed it to Champagne: 'This is Dr. Zheng's latest developed teleportation device, combining magic and technology. Take it and a few Gintelo test subjects to the Light Feather Dome to seek the star fragments.
Remember, the star fragments are key to our plan; they must not be lost.' Find the star fragments and bring them back. As for those in the way..." The woman's voice carried a cruel amusement. "Let 'Gintelo' 'eliminate' them in real combat. Dr. Zheng will be very satisfied with this data."
Champagne took the device, a flash of fanaticism in her eyes: "Yes, my lady! I won't fail!"
Lady Skeletshadow nodded, then turned and vanished into the shadows.
Scene Two: A sinister research area.
Salsa delved deeper into the subconscious, attempting to uncover more secrets about the Doomsday Rebirth organization. Suddenly, the scene changed; she found herself in a massive underground laboratory. The lab was filled with high-tech equipment and magical runes, the air permeated with eerie energy fluctuations.
Champagne was traversing a vast space filled with steam pipes, flickering with ominous red light, reeking of pungent chemicals and blood. Through thick reinforced glass windows, Salsa saw a scalp-tingling sight:
Thousands of massive cylindrical cultivation pods filled with ink-blue liquid stood tall. Inside floated indescribable creatures. They had twisted humanoid outlines, but their bodies were covered in fused metal and organic exoskeletons, joints with ferocious mechanical hinges and writhing fleshy tentacles. Heads were covered in complex metal helmets, revealing only compound eyes or sensors flickering with violent red light. One test subject's arm was entirely composed of high-speed rotating serrated blades, another's back extended several tentacles covered in suckers and shockers... They floated quietly, yet emanated suffocating killing intent and unstable energy waves.
A figure in a stained white coat, hunched over (Dr. Zheng), stood at the control panel, twig-like fingers flying over the screen, speaking in a hoarse, metallic-scraping voice without turning: "...stability... critical point... energy field... key... destroy... samples..." Words fragmented, filled with a mad scientist's fanaticism.
Salsa's soul body felt intense discomfort; the blasphemous feel of these scenes assaulted her senses. She forced herself to calm, attempting to delve deeper, touching Champagne's memories of higher levels in the Doomsday Rebirth organization. The subconscious fog churned, some more secretive, more terrifying fragments surfacing like sunken ships.
Doomsday Rebirth Council: The Gaze of the Abyss
She "saw" a massive, circular council hall. The hall was dimly lit, with only a pale beam in the center. Surrounding the beam were ten towering, stylistically diverse throne shadows (four of them dark), emanating suffocating pressure. Salsa couldn't see the full view, only catching fleeting glimpses:
Blood Throne: The throne was woven from countless pale bones and writhing scarlet thorns. Upon it sat a figure with silver hair and blood-red pupils, skin pale as snow, fingertips twirling crystalline blood threads, as if ready to manipulate blood for attacks, emanating eerie magical aura. His fingertips toyed with a still-beating heart emitting faint light—none other than the previously battled Sist (Blood Elf). Salsa could feel that pure vampiric desire and twisted craving for endless life.
Soul Abyss Throne: This one was amid constantly churning gray mist, the throne itself seemingly forcibly molded from countless wailing, twisted souls. Upon it was a figure wrapped in chains, with countless pale arm shadows faintly visible behind, grasping as if to drag all living beings into the abyss. He wielded terrifying soul powers, his aura chilling to the bone. It was the previously encountered—Cthulhu (Soul Clan). Merely sensing this mist made Salsa's soul body dizzy and tearing, as if her consciousness was about to be shredded and sucked into that abyss.
Skeletshadow Throne: Compared to the previous two's eeriness, this one was in shadows, made of smooth black unknown metal and pale giant beast finger bones, lines cold and sharp. Upon it sat the woman from the command room scene—Virginia (Human). She sat with legs crossed, her black velvet-gloved hand propping her chin, hood shadows covering most of her face, revealing only a beautifully lined yet coldly ruthless jaw and dark purple lips. She emanated icy calculation, absolute control, and... an elegant appreciation for chaos.
Skullbreaker Throne: This one was atop a pile of shattered weapons and armor remnants, crudely spliced from rough black rock and massive beast bones. Upon it sat a mountain-like gnoll beastman, skin turned filthy brown-green, muscles knotted like rock, fangs protruding, hands gripping curved long swords, body mechanically modified, strength and technology complementing each other. His remaining single eye flickered with pure destruction and savage yellow light. It was Shux (Beastman), who had escaped the Mo Erosion Mountains and been modified. Salsa wondered how he had been transformed like this.
Dark Armor Throne: This one was atop a pile of war armor and weapons, composed of various metals and magical patterns. Upon it sat a figure in black battle armor, wielding a massive war axe engraved with shadow runes, short but emanating powerful oppression, the armor faintly flickering with magical light—Wolf (Dwarf). Salsa was shocked to discover he was one of the seven generals of the Steel Fusion Alliance; after getting out, they needed to quickly find a way to notify Anber.
Sixth Seat: When Salsa's perception touched the sixth throne, she felt only a void of darkness, as if that position had been deliberately erased or... not yet filled? An indescribable, deeper malice seemed lurking behind that darkness.
Just as Salsa's soul body trembled violently from this glimpse, attempting to probe deeper into the full view of these core members—sudden change struck!