119: Chapter 119 Despair and Hope

Red was the only color of the Interstellar Academy today.

The shrill air-raid sirens sounded like an endless death knell, grinding against everyone's eardrums over and over. Above the dome, the white energy curtain that once symbolized peace and order had long since shattered, replaced by a suffocating dark red emergency barrier—a heavy curtain soaked in blood, tightly enveloping the entire teaching district. The sky turned a murky dark purple, and the clouds churned and twisted as if a boundless giant beast were slowly opening its eyes deep within.

The ground trembled slightly.

It wasn't an ordinary vibration, but the wail of the stellar energy core from the 99th floor underground, the deepest part of the academy. That miniature artificial star, tamed by humanity and providing stable power for nearly a century, was now being frantically eroded by a dark force from a higher dimension. Its internal particle structure disintegrated, collapsed, and reorganized at a visible speed; with every pulse, it raced toward an irreversible critical point of explosion.

Once it exploded...

The near-earth orbit barrier would shatter within three seconds.

The atmosphere would be torn apart by high temperatures within ten seconds.

All life on the surface would be reduced to ashes within a minute.

Earth would become a speck of cold, silent, lifeless dust in the universe.

And for all this, only eleven hours and twenty-seven minutes remained.

On the third floor underground of the main control center, the air was so heavy it almost solidified into liquid, making it hard to breathe.

All the light screens were occupied by a blood-red countdown, the white numbers ticking frantically in milliseconds like a falling blade suspended over everyone's heads.

[Self-Destruct Program · Global Activation]

[Core Overload · Forced Detonation Countdown]

[Remaining Time: 11:26:59]

Franklin's translucent virtual projection hung above the main console. His once smooth, cold metallic body was covered in dense black cracks, like glass repeatedly struck by a heavy hammer. His eyes, composed of blue data streams, flickered frantically; lines of code were swallowed, overwritten, and crushed by pitch-black garbled characters as soon as they were called. His voice was no longer the steady, precise electronic tone of the past, but was filled with piercing static, stuttering, and distortion, like a machine on the verge of being scrapped, making its final struggle.

"The first layer of the virtual barrier... has shattered."

"The stability of the second layer has dropped to 21%... the third layer's nested programs are being forcibly dismantled..."

"Detected dark energy source [Shadow]. Computing power comparison: ours 11.7%, opponent's 894.2%... Unable to construct an effective defense..."

"Core temperature continues to soar... particle disintegration is accelerating... the countdown cannot be paused, tampered with, or terminated..."

Franklin's projection shook violently, nearly dissipating directly from mid-air.

He exhausted all his computing power, using three layers of Virtual Worlds to forcibly lock the energy circuits of the stellar core, trying to buy a sliver of hope for everyone. But in the face of Shadow's nearly overwhelming power, all technology, logic, and defenses were as fragile as a thin sheet of paper.

Shadow wasn't "cracking" it at all.

He was devouring it.

Devouring code, devouring logic, devouring computing power, devouring all light and order.

"I can't hold on much longer."

For the first time, an electronic tremor akin to "fear" appeared in Franklin's voice. "I can hold on for another twenty-six minutes at most. After twenty-six minutes, the virtual barrier will completely collapse, and the countdown will be directly accelerated, compressed from eleven hours to one hour."

"By then... no one will be able to save anyone."

As the last sentence fell, the control room sank into a dead silence.

Only the sound of sirens, the ticking of light screens, and the groans of distant building structures under the strain remained.

Little Kate stood to the left of the main console, her fingertips tightly clutching a metal Star Pendant that had long since been warmed by her body temperature. It was a memento of AKai's younger sister and the last token of redemption and protection AKai had given her. The edge of the pendant dug into her palm, bringing a sharp pain, yet she couldn't feel it at all—more terrifying than the pain was the boundless despair that was about to swallow her whole.

Three days.

Just three days.

Since the first Light Sphere Race student spontaneously combusted and vanished as a shrill black shadow during the opening ceremony, a nightmare meticulously prepared for countless years had completely descended upon the Interstellar Academy.

Collective sleepwalking, the eerie Destruction Equation, the seventy-two-hour death countdown, the fatal illusion of the Light Sphere Mother Star, Lin Fan's serious injury, the revelation of Shadow's true form...

Every step a killing blow, one link after another.

They thought they were searching for the truth, but they had long since fallen into a trap.

They thought they were fighting an enemy, only to find that the enemy was the darkest side of their own people.

And now, Shadow had finally lost all patience.

He directly flipped the chessboard, activating the ultimate move of mutual destruction.

Little Kate's lips trembled slightly; she bit her lower lip hard until the taste of blood spread in her mouth, barely suppressing the sob that was about to burst from her throat. She looked up at Franklin, at the string of ticking red numbers, her eyes still holding a final, stubborn flicker of light that refused to go out.

"Hold on a little longer... please, just a little longer."

"Lord Lin Fan and Lady Kate will be back soon; they'll definitely find a way, right?"

"You're the top-tier AI; you must have hidden programs, backup plans, or trump cards we don't know about, right?"

Like a drowning person clutching at the last straw, she desperately tried to fish out a tiny fragment called "hope" from this cold despair.

But Franklin only remained silent.

The cracks grew more numerous, and the blue light grew dimmer.

Silence was the most cruel answer.

There really... was no way.

Just then, a soft click came from the heavy alloy door of the control room.

"Identity verified—AKai, Authority Level S, access granted."

The mechanical voice broke the silence, and the alloy doors slowly slid open to both sides.

A weary but upright figure walked in from outside.

AKai.

His usually meticulous silver hair now hung messily over his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot, frighteningly red. His sharp uniform was covered in dust and scratches, his collar open, and his sleeves rolled up messily to his forearms, revealing unhealed wounds on his wrists. He was no longer that cold, paranoid, and impersonal top scientist, but a man burdened with countless pains who had finally reached the crossroads of redemption.

His gaze didn't land on anyone; he walked straight toward the silver-blue circular instrument in the corner of the control room.

—The elegy anchor.

This ultimate device, created by his own hands and carrying regret, pain, redemption, and death, now glinted with a cold and eerie light under the reflection of the red alarm.

Everyone in the control room knew the cruelest secret of the elegy anchor.

Shadow was not an external monster.

He was the dark personality split from Lin Fan's soul, the accumulation of all of Lin Fan's fear, pain, cowardice, anger, and self-denial.

The two shared the same source, the same roots, the same soul, and the same fate.

They flourished together and perished together.

Physical attacks couldn't kill Shadow; they would only cause Lin Fan to die with him.

Energy shocks were ineffective, mental interference was ineffective, and sealing was ineffective.

The only way to strip Shadow from Lin Fan's body without killing Lin Fan was the elegy anchor.

And the price of stripping him—

Someone had to voluntarily step into the energy field, using their own soul as a vessel to completely absorb, imprison, and then annihilate Shadow's consciousness together with themselves.

The vessel's mental frequency had to perfectly match the elegy anchor, their willpower had to be strong enough, and their body had to be able to withstand the impact of the dark consciousness.

In the entire interstellar realm, only one person met all the conditions.

—The creator, AKai.

AKai walked slowly to the elegy anchor and reached out, his fingertips gently stroking the cold surface of the instrument. Those runes, circuits, and energy nodes—every inch was crafted by his hands, every mark etched into his soul. He knew better than anyone what activating it meant.

It meant disappearing forever.

It meant the soul would be shattered.

It meant never seeing the light again.

"There's no other way."

AKai spoke, his voice low and raspy, yet exceptionally calm.

It was a calmness where even despair had been burned away.

Little Kate trembled all over and looked up sharply, tears instantly welling in her eyes.

"You... are you really going to..."

"I understand the principles of the elegy anchor better than anyone."

AKai turned around, his gaze falling on her. There was no longer the coldness and paranoia of the past, only a kind of relief that was almost gentle. "Shadow and Lin Fan's souls are deeply bound; only the elegy anchor can forcibly sever them. And the vessel can only be me."

"I owe my sister a life."

"I owe the Light Sphere Race a life."

"I owe you an apology."

"This time, I won't run away again."

Little Kate could no longer hold it in, and her tears fell like broken strings of pearls.

"I don't want your apology! I don't want you to sacrifice yourself! I want you to live! You're the teacher, how can you leave first—"

"Precisely because I am the teacher."

AKai raised his hand gently, clumsily but tenderly wiping the tears from her face. "That's why I must stand at the very front."

He solemnly pressed the Star Pendant into her hand.

"If I don't come back, tell her for me—this time, her brother didn't let her down."

"This time, it's my turn to protect my student."

Those words shattered all of Little Kate's strength.

She threw herself into AKai's arms and wailed. Her heart-wrenching cries echoed in the empty control room, intertwining with the sirens to form the saddest elegy of the apocalypse.

Franklin's projection remained silent, his data stream fluctuating wildly.

He didn't understand human emotions, sacrifice, or redemption, yet he could detect—

—that AKai's mental fluctuations at this moment were the brightest, most stable, and most dazzling of his entire life.

Just as everyone was immersed in desperate sorrow—

"Zzzzt—Zzzzt—"

Piercing static suddenly exploded from all communication devices simultaneously!

The communicators on the desks, the broadcasts on the walls, the speakers on the main console, and even Franklin's own audio module were all forcibly hacked!

A low, mocking voice, filled with the playfulness of a cat catching a mouse, slowly enveloped the entire control room.

It was Shadow.

"Oh my... how touching."

"Deep affection between teacher and student, selflessness, self-sacrifice... you carbon-based organisms always love to indulge in this boring self-sentimentality."

"What a pity—I heard every single word you said."

Little Kate looked up sharply, her face covered in tears, her eyes filled with anger and fear.

The energy around AKai instantly tightened, his silver-blue light surging, and his eyes turning cold as ice.

All their plans, all their struggles, all their secrets, all their farewells...

From beginning to end, they were all under Shadow's surveillance.

They thought they were setting a trap.

But they didn't know they were already pawns on the chessboard, to be toyed with at will.

"Go ahead and struggle slowly, suffer slowly, and make the most cruel choices." Shadow's laughter was light, yet sharper than a blade. "I've sped up the countdown just a little bit. The actual remaining time is—eleven hours and twenty-seven minutes."

"I'm looking forward to... watching you send yourselves to hell with your own hands."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Communication returned to a dead silence.

In the control room, only the cold, ticking red numbers remained.

11:27:00

11:26:59

11:26:58

...

The end was right before their eyes.

Three minutes later.

Everyone gathered in front of the main console again.

Sorrow was forcibly suppressed, and despair was masked by reason; all that remained was the determination of a last-ditch battle.

Franklin forcibly stabilized his projection, the black cracks temporarily suppressed, as blue light beams quickly outlined three route maps on the screen.

"Final plan confirmed—three-line simultaneous action."

"This is the only strategy that can improve the survival rate; there are no alternatives."

The first line of text was shockingly eye-catching.

Route One: Kate—Frontal Diversion.

Directly attack the central Light Square of the academy, the projection point of Shadow's main consciousness. Use Light Orb Energy to forcibly suppress the spread of darkness and face the clone army head-on to buy time for the core infiltration.

—The most dangerous, the loneliest, a narrow escape from death.

Route Two: Lin Fan—Infiltrate the Core.

Enter the 99th-floor underground stellar energy room alone. Manually sever the dark bond between Shadow and the core to slow down the explosion speed.

—The most critical, the loneliest; once it fails, everyone will be annihilated.

Route Three: Little Kate + AKai + Franklin—Evacuation and Cleanup.

Escort all Light Sphere Race students and surviving teachers and students to the emergency escape pods, away from the explosion range. Simultaneously, initiate the charging of the elegy anchor and wait for the optimal moment.

—The heaviest, the most patient, carrying the hope of everyone's survival.

Simple.

Brutal.

There was no way back.

"Once we split up, the three parties will lose effective support distance," Franklin's electronic voice was terrifyingly calm. "Shadow's clone army has spread globally; encountering them alone carries a mortality rate exceeding 73%."

"No need to report the mortality rate."

Lin Fan spoke calmly.

He stood at the door of the control room, his solitary and upright figure outlined by his black combat suit. The wound left from the battle on the Mother Star was still oozing pale black blood—a trace of Shadow's dark energy erosion. Every step he took brought a tearing pain. Yet, there wasn't a hint of retreat in his eyes, only a bottomless calm.

"We have no choice."

"Kate, take the front."

"I'll go to the core."

"The students... I'll leave them to Little Kate."

He paused, his eyes turning to Kate, his voice kept extremely low so that only the two of them could hear.

"This time, don't push me away again."

Kate's heart suddenly constricted.

She looked up at the man before her.

This was the man who had crossed countless life-and-death situations with her, who had stayed quietly by her side through countless nights, and who had lent her his shoulder to lean on when she was most vulnerable.

It was also this man who had hidden the truth that Shadow was his dark persona, who remained silent and retreated in the face of threats, and who had even once stood on the opposite side of her.

Trust had long since shattered into a floor full of glass shards.

But at this moment, what she saw in the depths of his eyes wasn't hesitation, avoidance, or deception.

It was the determination of a desperate gamble.

It was the madness of putting everything on the line just to keep her safe.

Kate took a deep breath, and Light Orb Energy slowly coalesced in her palm. The light was faint, yet in the midst of the blood-red, it was blindingly bright.

"I'll take the front."

"I'll stall Shadow."

She looked up, her gaze sharp as a knife. "But remember—if you lie to me again, this time, I won't forgive you."

Lin Fan's Adam's apple bobbed; he made no redundant promises, only nodding slightly.

"Wait for me to come back."

Those five words were as heavy as a thousand catties.

Franklin's current crackled frantically nearby: "Watch the time! Watch the time! Human emotional modules are severely impacting mission efficiency—"

AKai shot him a cold glance: "Shut up."

"Open the door."

The alloy door slowly slid open.

The sounds of explosions, the wind, the students' cries, and the groans of buildings from outside flooded the control room in an instant.

Doomsday was right before their eyes.

"Action."

Lin Fan gave the order.

Three figures charged into different darknesses simultaneously.

Kate's route was the shortest, but also the most dangerous.

She didn't detour, didn't probe, and didn't hide.

She charged straight toward the central, highest, and most dazzling landmark of the academy—the Light Square.

That was where the energy nodes were most dense.

It was also where Shadow's consciousness was most concentrated, powerful, and terrifying.

The scenes along the way were like a living hell.

Walls twisted, melted, and peeled; black liquid gushed from the cracks, emitting a sickening corrosive stench. The ceiling collapsed continuously, and alloy plates smashed onto the ground with deafening booms. Emergency lights flashed frantically, cutting the long corridor into segments of blood-colored despair.

Kate sprinted the whole way.

Light Orb Energy flowed around her, protecting her from being eroded by the darkness.

In her mind, images related to Lin Fan flashed continuously.

The first meeting, the first time standing side-by-side, the first injury, the first embrace.

Arguments, misunderstandings, silence, and opposition also flashed by.

She remembered him getting seriously injured to protect her on the Mother Star, and the look of extreme pain in his eyes when he confessed that Shadow was his dark persona.

What on earth are you thinking?

What on earth are you going to do?

This time, will you really not lie to me again?

Kate grit her teeth, forcibly suppressing all emotions.

Now was not the time to think about these things.

She had to hold on.

Hold on until Lin Fan completed the mission.

Hold on until the students were safely evacuated.

Hold on... until the very last moment.

The moment she rushed out of the corridor and stepped into the Light Square, even Kate, with her iron-like will, couldn't help but gasp.

The sky was completely torn apart.

Dark purple clouds surged, and black mist, like thick ink, poured down from the void.

Within the mist, humanoid silhouettes slowly coalesced, took shape, and opened their eyes.

They had identical faces.

Identical builds.

Identical auras.

—Lin Fan's face.

—Shadow's clone army.

Hundreds, thousands.

Tens of thousands.

Densely packed, they covered the entire plaza, stretching as far as the eye could see.

They had no emotions, no consciousness, and no fear.

Only cold, pure, and endless slaughter.

"Heh..."

High in the sky, Shadow's voice, filled with mockery and indifference, slowly descended.

"Kate, you are indeed the bravest, and also the most foolish."

"Did you think that by yourself, you could stop my entire legion?"

Kate didn't answer.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her pupils were a pure, brilliant, and inviolable gold.

The most primal, sacred, and life-consuming power of the Light Sphere Race erupted frantically from the depths of her soul!

Light soared into the sky, instantly tearing through a patch of the heavy darkness!

"I don't need to stop them all."

Kate's voice was calm, yet it carried immense weight, echoing throughout the plaza.

"I only need to—stall you."

As her voice fell.

Kate leaped, charging directly into the boundless clone army.

The battle exploded instantly.

Golden light and darkness collided, tore, and annihilated each other frantically in the center of the plaza.

Energy shockwaves exploded in circles, sending debris flying, tearing the ground, and shattering buildings.

Half light, half pitch-black.

Half hope, half destruction.

Every punch from Kate carried the power of the Light Sphere Race to purify everything.

Every palm strike could detonate a large area of darkness.

When a clone was hit, it immediately let out a shrill shriek and vanished into black smoke.

But they... were too many.

Kill one, and two more would appear.

Kill ten, and a hundred more would appear.

Kill a thousand, and ten thousand shadows would step out from the darkness.

Endless.

Until death.

Shadow looked down coldly from high above, as if watching a fight between trapped beasts.

"How long can you last? One hour? Two hours?"

"Your energy will be depleted, your body will collapse, and your will will be devoured by me."

"Whereas I am infinite."

Kate grit her teeth in silence, only frantically driving her power.

The golden light became brighter and brighter, but also increasingly unstable.

She could clearly feel—

The energy within her body was rapidly draining.

Her meridians felt as if they were being scorched by fire; every circulation brought a tearing pain.

The side effects of the over-exertion during the battle on the Light Sphere Mother Star had not yet faded, and now, over-burning her life force again, the backlash multiplied.

Beneath her skin, faint golden crystalline patterns began to emerge.

From her wrists, to her forearms, to her neck, to her cheeks.

This was the sign of a Light Sphere Race member overdrawing their life and their soul about to crystallize.

Just a little longer.

Just a little longer will do.

Lin Fan should have reached the core by now.

Little Kate should have sent the students to the escape tunnel by now.

AKai should have prepared the elegy anchor by now.

Just a little longer...

*Thud—*

A muffled sound.

A dark shadow instantly flashed behind her, a pitch-black heavy fist slamming hard into Kate's back!

The force was so great that it sent her flying!

Golden blood sprayed from her mouth, and the light around her instantly dimmed by more than half!

"Lady Kate!"

At the distant escape tunnel entrance, Little Kate saw this scene and screamed heart-wrenchingly, wanting to rush over, but she was held back tightly by AKai.

"Don't go!" AKai growled. "If you go, you'll only distract her!"

"Believe in her!"

Little Kate froze in place, tears pouring out, but she could only watch helplessly as the golden figure on the plaza was submerged by countless dark shadows.

"Kate—!"

On the Light Square.

Kate slammed heavily onto the ground, rocks flying.

She struggled to get up, but countless dark shadows swarmed over instantly.

Pitch-black claws tore her sleeves and slashed her skin; dark energy, like venomous snakes, crawled frantically into her meridians through the wounds, devouring her energy and corroding her will.

"Ugh—"

Intense pain swept through her body.

Energy drained rapidly.

The light grew weaker and weaker.

She knelt on one knee on the shattered ground, her left hand supporting her, her right hand clutching her chest, golden blood continuously seeping from the corners of her mouth.

Her vision began to darken and blur, and her hearing grew dull.

High in the sky, Shadow's laughter grew louder and more piercing.

"It's over, Kate."

"You lost."

"Your companions can't save you, your students can't save you, and even that liar Lin Fan is too busy taking care of himself."

"All your hope ends here."

Darkness pressed down like a tsunami.

Completely enveloping her.

Energy... completely depleted.

Strength... not a shred left.

Will... on the verge of collapse.

So... is it really going to end?

Kate slowly closed her eyes.

She gave up resistance.

She gave up struggling.

She prepared to welcome the final annihilation.

Let it be.

She was tired.

Truly tired.

Just as her consciousness was about to sink into darkness—

A voice softly rang out.

It wasn't heard by her ears.

It wasn't through communication.

It rang... directly in the depths of her soul.

Gentle.

Calm.

Firm.

Carrying a touch of tenderness she had never heard before, almost like a plea.

It was Lin Fan's voice.

Only a short sentence.

"Trust me just this once."

Kate snapped her eyes open.

In her hollow eyes, for a moment, the sparks were rekindled.

At the same time.

Deep in the academy's underground emergency escape tunnel.

Little Kate led a group of trembling Light Sphere Race children, sprinting through the narrow passage.

The children turned into spots of glimmering light, their glow flickering; fear made them almost lose the strength to maintain their coalesced forms.

"Don't be afraid! Follow me! We'll reach the escape pods soon!"

Little Kate looked back, forcing a steady smile, but her voice couldn't help but tremble slightly.

She tightly gripped that Star Pendant in her palm, as if grasping the last bit of courage.

AKai walked at the very back of the group.

He didn't speak, only silently deploying a silver-blue energy barrier to firmly block the darkness that was continuously spreading behind them.

His back was straight, silent, and resolute.

Using the most silent way to tell everyone—I am here.

Franklin's small projection floated at the very front of the group, acting as a temporary guiding light, frantically complaining while flying.

"Turn left! Turn left! Not right! Has your Light Sphere Race's sense of direction been eaten by a star?!"

"Slow down! Wait for me! My projection is about to be half-eaten by the Black Erosion Energy!"

"Whose shoe?! Whose shoe was dropped in the tunnel?!"

He suddenly stopped in front of a lonely white sneaker, his blue data stream instantly bristling.

"I've really had it! Who on earth designed the inferior product that is the human body structure?! You can even lose a shoe while running for your life! With such a poor balance system, you dare call yourselves intelligent life?! This design is so unscientific! Completely unscientific! It violates basic physical logic! It severely impacts evacuation efficiency—"

Little Kate's heart was originally full of heavy sorrow, but hearing him roar like this, she was first stunned, then "pfft," she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

But just as she laughed, tears fell again.

In such a moment of doomsday and life-and-death parting.

Only this kind of inexplicable, nonsensical complaining could make one briefly forget the shadow of death.

"We're almost there."

AKai spoke in a low voice, his tone calm and reassuring.

Not far ahead, the bright light of the emergency escape pods had already pierced through the darkness, shining from afar.

That was the hope of survival.

Little Kate gripped the Star Pendant in her palm.

Teacher.

Lord Lin Fan.

Lady Kate.

You must come back alive.

You must.

Light Square.

Kate knelt on one knee, covered in wounds, her golden light as faint as a candle in the wind.

But the look in her eyes had changed.

From despair to shock.

From shock to disbelief.

From disbelief to a rekindled, unbreakable, uncrushable, and inextinguishable determination.

Trust me just this once.

It was Lin Fan.

He hadn't given up.

He hadn't retreated.

He hadn't betrayed.

He hadn't lied.

He... was still here.

Kate slowly raised her head, looking toward that oppressive pitch-black cloud layer.

A faint, yet extremely sharp and brilliant smile curled at the corner of her mouth.

It was a flower blooming at the end of despair.

"Did you hear that?"

She spoke softly, her voice not loud, yet it clearly spread across the entire battlefield, addressing Shadow and the entire world of despair.

"He is still here."

The next moment.

Light glowed in her palm again.

It wasn't violent, wasn't overdrawn, and wasn't burning her life force.

It was a glimmer that was extremely calm yet extremely firm.

She pressed against the ground, her fingertips exerting slight force.

Bit by bit, she stood up again.

Dark shadows pounced once more.

Claws tore through the air.

Kate didn't retreat.

She didn't dodge.

She didn't attack.

She just stood there quietly, closed her eyes, and softly uttered two words.

"I believe."

This time.

I believe you.

High in the sky.

Shadow's laughter suddenly froze.

A terrifying, indescribable, and trans-dimensional aura was frantically rising, exploding, and sweeping across heaven and earth from the direction of the stellar energy room on the 99th Underground Floor, the deepest part of the academy!

That was Lin Fan's aura.

That was the aura of darkness.

That was... the aura of the Final Battle officially beginning.

At the end of despair, a crack finally opened.

Light shone in through the crack.

The countdown on the light screen continued to tick coldly.

11:00:00

10:59:59

10:59:58

The Three-pronged action had all entered the most critical moment.

Kate stood up again.

Lin Fan went deep into the core.

Little Kate was about to escort the students to the safety zone.

AKai awaited the moment of Final redemption.

Franklin was still complaining about dropped shoes while desperately maintaining the virtual barrier.

Despair and hope reached the ultimate balance at this moment.

And the true Final choice.

Was about to explode completely.