132: Chapter 132 The Price of Memories

(1) The Abyss Ahead

The star sailed through the darkness like a lonely boat drifting on a sea about to be submerged.

Outside the porthole, it was no longer the familiar starry sky.

A vast, boundless blackness, devoid of light or vibration, was slowly spreading from the depths of the universe. It was not mist, dust, a fleet, or any known matter.

It was erased space-time.

shadow of the end.

Within three days, it had swallowed three entire star systems. stars went out, planets disintegrated, and space stations, fleets, and civilization signals—everything it touched—vanished directly from universal coordinates, leaving not even ashes behind.

The Alliance's code name for it was—The End.

And the most desperate judgment from the Intelligence Department was:

It is not fighting a war; it is deleting.

A deathly silence filled the bridge.

Everyone stared at the expanding darkness on the main screen, breathing extremely shallowly, as if the slightest effort would disturb the sleeping monster.

Franklin stared at the observation data, his wrinkled face pulled tight, fingers rubbing back and forth on the console until his knuckles turned white. This old engineer, who had spent his life dealing with weapons, engines, and explosions, had true fear in his voice for the first time.

"Conventional weapons... useless. Energy cannons, antimatter shells, gravity bombs, dimensional oscillation weapons—all useless."

The old man paused, struggling to voice his conclusion:

"It does not play with us on a physical level. It feeds on information."

"Information?"

Kate stood beside him and repeated softly.

Her face was pale, and though her black combat suit remained neat, it could not hide the exhaustion in her eyes. She had not truly closed her eyes since AKai's sacrifice. Whenever she did, she saw that empty white robe floating on the bridge and heard AKai's last words as he looked back, 'Live on,' as light as the wind.

"Yes, information." Franklin nodded, his voice hoarse. "Memories, consciousness, emotions, traces of civilization... it treats these as 'redundant data' and clears them out directly. Physical destruction is just collateral."

"Then how do we fight?" a nearby combat staff officer blurted out. "If even our existence can be deleted, what do we have left to resist with?"

Franklin did not answer.

He simply raised his hand slowly and pointed toward a sealed pod in the center of the bridge.

A faint blue light lit up as the pod door slowly opened.

A palm-sized, silver-white device with spiral patterns engraved on its surface floated quietly inside.

The metal was slightly cool, the patterns ancient, and its edges still bore a trace of scorch marks from battle.

The moment she saw it, Kate's breath hitched.

elegy anchor.

This was AKai's.

It was a secret treasure he brought back from the ruins of the Observer civilization, a core device he used to stabilize his spirit, anchor his self, and suppress his rampaging power. It was also one of the few relics he left behind.

More importantly—

It contained almost all of AKai's core memories from birth to death.

His obsessions, his pain, his persistence, his faith, his unspoken regrets, and the things he spent his life protecting.

This was not a weapon.

This was AKai's "heart."

"You said before that AKai left a message." Franklin looked at Kate, his gaze heavy. "'The weakness of the shadow of the end is memory.'"

Kate nodded.

That was the most blurred, hurried, yet most important hint in AKai's pre-recorded message.

"I spent three whole days dismantling and reassembling the elegy anchor." Franklin took a deep breath. "I've finally confirmed—it can be modified into a memory bomb."

Everyone's expression changed.

"A memory bomb?"

"Upon detonation, the elegy anchor will release all of AKai's memories, emotions, and will at once, creating high-intensity memory ripples that will directly strike the core of the shadow of the end."

Franklin's voice grew lower:

"It survives by deleting information, so we will take the heaviest, strongest, and most persistent memory and smash it into its core."

"Attack oblivion with memory."

The bridge was terrifyingly quiet.

Everyone understood.

This was a killing blow.

And a move of mutual destruction.

"What is the cost?" Kate asked directly.

She knew all too well that a weapon of this caliber could not exist without backlash.

Franklin closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were filled with reluctance:

"Memory is a two-way street. The moment the bomb explodes, the memory ripples will spread indiscriminately. Everyone within the ripple's range... will have their memories forcibly torn."

"They might forget combat techniques."

"They might forget how to pilot a starship."

"They might forget who they are."

"And they might..."

The old man paused, his voice as sharp as a blade's edge:

"Forget the person most important to them."

Kate's hand at her side suddenly clenched tight.

Forget... the most important person.

That was more terrifying than death.

She looked at the elegy anchor, her gaze tender yet filled with immense pain.

AKai, even in death, do you have to use yourself as the final weapon?

Do you have to burn even the last trace of your existence on the battlefield?

You are always like this.

Always putting yourself last.

Always shielding everyone behind you.

Always carrying everything alone.

"How much longer until the shadow of the end reaches the Central Star fleet?" Kate suddenly asked.

"Seventeen minutes." Zero's voice rang out calmly.

The mechanical youth crouched under the main console, his optical lens flickering slightly. "Upon contact, the Seventh Star Sector fleet will be completely annihilated."

There was no suspense.

There was no chance of luck.

Seventeen minutes.

They did not even have time to hesitate.

Kate reached out and gently grasped the floating elegy anchor.

The cold metal pressed against her palm, like the slight lingering warmth from the last time AKai held her hand.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, all vulnerability was tucked away, leaving only a calm resolve.

"Modify it."

She said to Franklin, her voice clear, steady, and without a hint of hesitation:

"Turn it into a memory bomb."

"We'll use it."

Franklin looked at her for a long time without speaking, finally giving a heavy nod:

"Alright. I'll do it."

(2) Detonation

Ten minutes later.

The elegy anchor was back in Kate's hands.

No changes were visible on the outside, but the internal circuits had been completely reconstructed.

It was no longer about stabilizing memory, but about instantaneous collapse and wide-range eruption.

Outside the porthole, the darkness was frighteningly close.

The once-twinkling stars went out one by one, like candles being extinguished by an invisible hand.

shadow of the end had arrived.

"All personnel, secure yourselves," Kate's voice broadcast throughout the ship. "The memory ripple impact is unavoidable; try your best to hold onto your consciousness."

"Prepare... for detonation."

Lin Fan stood beside her, saying nothing.

Beneath his left arm, a golden flow of light pulsed faintly. The power of the Light Sphere Race was restless, as if in fear, or perhaps echoing some ancient call.

He looked at Kate, his gaze firm:

"I'll bear this with you."

Kate did not look back, only giving a soft "Mm."

She did not want to say anything sentimental.

She did not want to say goodbye.

She did not want to say any words that would make either of them waver.

She only wanted—

To win once.

To win once for AKai.

To win once for the star systems that had already been devoured.

To win once for everyone who had not been swallowed by the darkness yet.

The countdown ticked silently in her heart.

Three.

Two.

One.

Kate pressed her thumb down, and the patterns on the elegy anchor's surface instantly lit up with a blinding white light.

There was no earth-shattering roar.

There was no world-destroying glare.

There was only a ripple, invisible and intangible yet so heavy it made space-time tremble, exploding outward from the star toward the entire universe.

In the next moment—

The entire static shadow of the end shuddered violently.

As if burned.

As if stung.

Like an eternal, unchanging program that suddenly encountered an unfixable bug.

For the first time, the all-consuming darkness twisted, rolled, and collapsed violently.

Countless black fragments peeled off from the main body, melting silently in the void and turning into primitive void particles.

Its forward momentum was pinned ruthlessly in place.

It had stalled.

It had really stalled.

"It's working..." Franklin trembled all over, old tears nearly falling. "It... it actually worked!"

A stifled cry of relief instantly erupted on the bridge.

They did it.

They used a human memory to forcibly stall a cosmic-level monster.

They won the first round.

But everyone forgot—

The cost was only just beginning.

The memory ripple did not disappear.

It rebounded.

Like a reversing tsunami, it smashed back into the star.

Lin Fan felt as if his head had been struck from the inside by a heavy hammer; a sharp pain instantly exploded, shooting from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

His vision went black, and he slumped to the floor, clutching his head tightly as his knuckles dug into his scalp.

Countless images, sounds, names, faces, and emotions...

...faded, melted, evaporated, and vanished frantically within his mind.

The laboratory where he first met Kate.

The first time he stepped onto the bridge of the star.

The first time AKai patted his shoulder and said, "Follow me from now on."

The first time he held Kate's hand amidst the flames of war and said, "I won't let you die."

These things he thought were etched into his very marrow were turning into a blank void at a visible speed.

"Lin Fan!"

Kate cried out in alarm and rushed over to support him.

She was swaying too, her memories tearing and her consciousness blurring, yet she still threw herself to his side immediately.

Lin Fan slowly raised his head.

Those eyes, which were always bright, always burning with fighting spirit, and always looking at her, were now completely vacant.

He looked at the woman before him—her face pale, her gaze anxious, her hands supporting him.

Her features were familiar, her aura was familiar, even the heartache in her eyes was so familiar it made his chest ache.

But his mind was a complete blank.

He opened his mouth, his voice dry, hoarse, and carrying a heartbreaking bewilderment:

"Who... are you?"

Kate's body froze instantly.

Her blood felt as if it had completely frozen in that moment.

"I am Kate."

She forced her voice to remain steady, though her fingertips trembled slightly. "The First Officer of the star."

[part:deepseek-chat]

The Kate who escaped Earth with you.

The Kate who stood watch on the bridge with you, fought rebels, and confronted the Observer.

Kate...

Lin Fan repeated the name.

The syllable rolled off his tongue. It should have been familiar, intimate, important, yet he couldn't grasp a single image associated with it.

He had forgotten.

Forgotten her smile.

Forgotten her anger.

Forgotten the way she gritted her teeth and refused to give up in desperate situations.

Forgotten the way her eyes reddened as she bandaged his wounds.

Forgotten AKai.

Forgotten the past.

Forgotten that the person before him was someone he was willing to trade his life for.

He had forgotten everything.

Kate's heart felt as if seized by an invisible hand, the pain so intense she could barely breathe.

She had known the backlash would come.

Known memories would shatter.

Known someone would forget.

But she never imagined the first to be forgotten would be herself.

(3) I Don't Know You, But You Can't Die

At that moment—

An alarm tore through the bridge.

"Warning! Enemy debris has breached the shields!"

"High-energy reaction targeting the bridge directly!"

A shard of shadow, black as pitch and sharp as a blade's edge, pierced through the star's outer armor. Carrying an aura of utter annihilation, it shot straight for Kate's back!

Its speed was extreme.

Its power was extreme.

No one had time to react.

Franklin gasped in shock.

Zero's optical lenses contracted sharply.

Kate herself didn't even have time to turn.

But someone moved.

Lin Fan.

He remembered nothing.

Didn't know what the shadow shard was.

Didn't know how dangerous it was.

Didn't know who the woman before him was.

Didn't know why he was standing here.

Didn't know the meaning of this war.

His mind was a blank slate.

But his body reacted before his mind.

Almost the instant the shadow shard appeared, Lin Fan lunged with explosive force, yanking Kate hard into his embrace. He turned, using his own back to take the blow.

*Thud—*

The black shadow shard pierced his combat suit, stabbing into flesh.

A force of annihilation spread upward along his spine. Agony forced a grunt from Lin Fan's lips, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth.

Holding the person in his arms, he looked down at her.

Kate looked up, her pupils trembling violently. Tears, without warning, fell onto his chest.

You forgot my name.

Forgot our past.

Forgot what we're fighting for.

Forgot AKai, forgot the star, forgot the entire world.

Yet instinctively, you still protected me.

Seeing her tear-streaked face, Lin Fan's heart inexplicably clenched, the pain making him frown.

He clearly didn't know her.

Clearly couldn't recall anything about her.

Clearly was even forgetting who he was.

But he just didn't want to see her cry.

Didn't want to see her hurt.

Didn't want to see her die.

He lowered his head, his forehead resting against hers, his voice hoarse, bewildered, yet incredibly firm:

"I don't know you."

"But I know..."

"You can't die."

One sentence.

Shattered all of Kate's resolve.

She could hold on no longer; tears poured forth.

So some things truly are engraved in the soul.

No need to remember.

No need to think.

No need for a reason.

As long as you're in danger, I'll stand in front of you.

This is instinct.

This is fate.

This is something that wouldn't vanish even if memories were wiped ten thousand times.

(4) Forgetting Hurts More Than Death

"Can't let him forget like this..."

Kate gritted her teeth, forcing back all her tears.

She placed both hands on Lin Fan's forehead, her palms lifting slightly. A soft, pale golden light began to flow slowly from within her.

It was Light Orb Energy, forcibly summoned.

Not for combat, not for defense, but for memory linkage.

She was using her own consciousness, her own memories, everything she knew of Lin Fan, every bond, every recollection, forcing it into his blank mind.

"Lin Fan, look at me."

Kate's voice was soft yet steady, carrying a power that pierced the soul:

"I am Kate."

"We escaped the Underground Laboratory together."

"We ate compressed nutrient paste together on the star."

"We stood on the bridge together, listening to AKai tell jokes."

"When AKai died, we promised—to survive together."

"We can't break that promise."

Golden light poured into Lin Fan's mind.

Shattered images reassembled.

Faded names reappeared.

Blurred figures regained clarity.

Lin Fan's pupils gradually refocused.

Bewilderment faded, confusion dissipated. Shock, heartache, and fear surged up in layers.

"Kate..."

He grasped her hand, his voice trembling. "I remember."

"I remember everything."

Kate smiled, but her tears flowed even harder.

She had succeeded.

She had pulled him back.

She hadn't lost him.

But at that very instant—

Her own mind suddenly went empty.

As if something long-buried yet incredibly warm had been gently pulled away, vanishing silently, without a trace.

Kate's body swayed slightly, her gaze growing distant for a moment.

Franklin immediately noticed something was wrong. "Kate! Are you alright? Did the backlash hurt you too?"

Kate stood still, eyes closed, desperately searching within her mind.

Searching for a memory, small, light, and very distant.

She wanted to find—

What she loved most in her childhood.

A toy? A flower? A piece of candy? Or a certain book?

A blank.

She wanted to find—

The warmth of her mother's embrace.

Was it warm? Soft? Did it carry the scent of sunshine or a faint hint of soap?

A blank.

That memory wasn't large. It didn't affect combat, command, or her ability to survive.

But it was her childhood.

The first, softest, warmest part of her as "Kate."

Now, it was gone.

Gone forever.

Kate slowly opened her eyes, looking out the viewport at the still-dark universe. Her voice was as light as a sigh, yet heavy enough to silence the entire bridge.

"So..."

"Forgetting hurts more than death."

No one spoke.

No one could comfort her.

Because they all knew this wasn't the end.

This was only the beginning.

To win this war, they would lose even more.

(5) The Sower's Trace

Just as everyone was immersed in the oppressive pain.

Deep in space, within the disintegrating black fragments of the shadow of the end.

It flashed by.

An extremely ancient, extremely secretive emblem, its lines cold and precise.

Gone in an instant.

So fast everyone thought it an illusion.

Except for one person.

Zero.

The mechanical youth had been crouched beneath the main console, quietly observing external data.

His optical lenses had precisely captured that single frame.

Every mechanical joint in Zero's body stiffened imperceptibly for a moment.

He couldn't be mistaken.

That emblem—

Was the symbol of Sower civilization.

The shadow of the end, this cosmic monster that devoured all, this entity that claimed to delete all emotion and memory.

Its interior actually bore a trace of the Sowers.

Zero's processor went into overdrive.

Countless inferences, speculations, and hidden connections rapidly formed within him.

The shadow of the end was not born naturally.

Not a cosmic accident.

Not a weapon of an unknown civilization.

It...

Was likely created by the Sowers themselves.

A cleanup program.

A recycle bin.

A delete key.

Zero looked up, stealing a glance at Kate.

She was supporting Lin Fan, her face pale, her gaze fixed firmly ahead.

Zero suddenly remembered the line that had appeared when he decrypted AKai's encrypted files not long ago.

Trust Kate.

That was AKai's sole instruction to him, delivered across life and death.

Zero lowered his head, looking back at the screen.

He didn't speak.

Didn't give a warning.

Didn't report it.

Didn't alert anyone.

He simply silently sealed that single frame away permanently.

Encrypted it.

Locked it.

Buried it in the deepest part of his Core Code.

This was his secret.

And AKai's final request.

And also, one day in the future, the—

Final trump card that would decide everyone's fate.

(6) The Cost

On the bridge, the aftershocks of the memory backlash continued.

Some forgot their hometowns.

Some forgot the names of their loved ones.

Some forgot why they had become soldiers.

Some forgot fear, and also hope.

The elegy anchor had completely dimmed, losing its luster, becoming an ordinary piece of metal.

AKai's memories had burned out.

To hold back the shadow of the end, they had paid an unimaginable price.

Kate tightened her grip on Lin Fan's hand, looking out the viewport.

The darkness remained.

The abyss remained.

The war remained.

But they were still standing.

"The shadow of the end is only stalled, not destroyed," Kate said, her voice calm yet firm. "It will recover soon."

"Then what do we do next?" someone asked.

Kate looked at Lin Fan, at Zero, at Franklin, at everyone on the bridge.

In every pair of eyes, there was pain, exhaustion, confusion.

But no retreat.

She took a soft breath, her voice carrying across the entire bridge, clear, steady, and unwavering:

"Remember today's cost."

"Remember what we've lost."

"Remember the sliver of time AKai bought us with his own memories."

"And then—"

Kate's gaze pierced the darkness, looking deep into space:

"We keep moving forward."

"Until we find the source of the shadow of the end."

"Until we bring all of this to a complete end."

Outside the viewport, starlight was faint.

Darkness still reigned.

But the star's engines lit up steadily once more.

Memories may shatter.

Emotions may hurt.

People may forget.

But some things will not be forgotten.

Belief.

Bonds.

Protection.

And—

Never yielding.

This, is their only weapon against the shadow of the end.