147: Chapter 147 Tearing the Cycle

The darkness of deep space is never static. In this fold of space-time, distorted for billions of years by the sound of origin, the stars are frozen oil paintings and the nebulae are faded afterimages; even the trajectory of light has been forcibly bent into closed loops, repeating forever without end. There is no past here, no future, only a death loop of time that is repeatedly chewed, crushed, and restarted. The seven hundred and thirty-sixth restart—this was the number Lin Fan had carved deep into his consciousness. From the first time he stepped into this forbidden zone, to the first time Kate turned into light dust to cover him, to Little Kate piloting her modified ship to crash into the void time and again, and Franklin clutching the elegy anchor before the node in vain—the end of every loop was the wild laughter of the sound of origin, the total annihilation of their team, and the reversal of space-time as everything returned to zero. The loop was like a seamless net, swallowing their struggles, pain, and sacrifices into a bottomless abyss. And this time, the seven hundred and thirty-seventh, was their only chance to attempt to tear this net, staking all their memories, all their power, and all their remaining hope.

“Lin Fan, please respond if you hear me.” Kate's voice came through the communicator, carrying static but remaining exceptionally clear, like a taut string snagged on everyone's heartbeat. She stood before the space-time anchor control console, her silver-white combat suit outlining her tense frame. The stray hairs on her forehead lifted slightly in the energy field, and in those eyes that were always calm and sharp, a panic she refused to admit was currently surging. She was afraid—not of the sound of origin, not of space-time collapsing, and not of death. She was afraid that this time would still be a loop, afraid that Lin Fan would disappear before her eyes again, afraid that Little Kate would once more pilot the ship toward a predestined destruction, afraid that Franklin would again thrust the elegy anchor into an unshakeable node, and afraid that all of them would return to the starting point once more, forgetting everything and reliving the heart-wrenching loss all over again.

“I'm here.” Lin Fan's voice came from the other end of the communication channel, low and steady, carrying a calmness settled from experiencing death over seven hundred times. He was currently suspended within the dark matter flow layer, surrounded by pale golden light orb energy. This was a power he was born with, awakened time and again within the loop—the power the sound of origin feared most, and the only energy capable of resonating with dark matter. His gaze pierced through layers of space-time turbulence, landing precisely on the indescribable existence in the distance. The sound of origin had no fixed form or specific outline; it was like a chaotic phantom blended from sound waves, consciousness, and space-time rules, entrenched at the core of the loop like a sleeping deity or a hungry behemoth. It did not attack proactively, yet it used the invisible loop to crush any life attempting to approach. It was the creator of the loop, the executioner of time, and the nightmare of them all.

“Are the node coordinates confirmed?” Lin Fan adjusted his posture slightly, the light orb energy rotating slowly in his palm to form a stable light core. “Franklin, what is the charging progress of the elegy anchor?” A second later, a slightly raspy but incredibly steady male voice joined the channel: “The elegy anchor is at full power, dark matter adaptation rate is one hundred percent. Lin Fan, Kate, I’ll say it one last time—there is only a three-second window. The moment Little Kate impacts the outer shell, a microsecond-scale rift will appear in the sound of origin's space-time barrier. I must fire the elegy anchor into the loop's core node within those three seconds. If we fail, the loop will restart instantly, and all our previous memories and preparations will be void.” Franklin's silhouette appeared on the channel's holographic projection. He wore heavy mechanical combat armor, his left arm was a modified energy cannon, and his right hand tightly gripped the pitch-black elegy anchor engraved with ancient runes. This weapon was the only artifact capable of interfering with the rules of time, unearthed from a lost interstellar ruin during the three hundred and twelfth loop. Using life as a lead and obsession as fire, it could temporarily pin down the logic of the loop. His eyes were colder than the metal of the elegy anchor; he had experienced too many failures. Each time, he had watched Little Kate's ship explode into sparks against the shell of the sound of origin, watched Kate be torn apart by space-time turbulence, and watched Lin Fan vanish into nothingness in the collision of light and dark. Then, everything would reset. His nerves had long been numbed by pain, leaving only one thought: break the cycle.

“I know.” A crisp yet resolute young girl's voice suddenly broke into the channel. Little Kate—the Kate from the future, carrying the memories of all future failures, had returned to the present just to stop all of this. She was currently sitting in the cockpit of the small assault ship, the 'huan-breaking ship.' Her small body was firmly secured by a safety harness, and her hands danced rapidly across the control console as the screen scrolled with dense code and orbital parameters. Her face still held a hint of childishness, yet her gaze was firmer than any adult's. “My impact trajectory is calibrated to the millisecond. The sound of origin's outer shell defense strength will drop by seventeen percent just before the loop restarts; this is its only weakness. I will impact head-on at maximum warp speed to forcibly tear through the shell's energy barrier and create a firing window for Franklin.” She paused, her voice trembling slightly, but without a trace of retreat. “Don't worry about me. The huan-breaking ship is equipped with an emergency ejection device. I won't die—at least, not this time.” No one spoke. Everyone knew this was just a comfort. In over seven hundred loops, Little Kate's emergency ejection device had succeeded exactly zero times. The shockwave from the sound of origin would tear apart any mechanical creation approaching it at the moment of impact, swallowing the pilot's consciousness along with it into the loop. This was a suicidal feint. Kate closed her eyes, her fingertips gripping the edge of the console so hard her knuckles turned white. “Little Kate...” She wanted to say something, but the girl interrupted her. “Kate, don't get sentimental.” Little Kate gave a light laugh that felt like a knife stabbing into everyone's heart. “We don't have time. The loop's self-repair speed is accelerating. If we wait another ten minutes, the node will close completely, and we'll never get out.” Lin Fan took a deep breath, the light orb energy around him surging an inch. “Execute the plan.” He spoke each word deliberately, his voice piercing through all the static to reach everyone's ears. “Three, two, one—go.”

The moment the command was given, deep space completely erupted. The ion engine at the rear of the huan-breaking ship suddenly spewed out azure flames, their length instantly stretching to a hundred meters, like a burning longsword piercing the darkness. Little Kate didn't hesitate for a second, pushing the propulsion to one hundred and twenty percent. The overload, exceeding the hull's endurance limit, caused a trace of blood to spill from the corner of her mouth, but she didn't even flinch. Her eyes were fixed on the chaotic phantom ahead, images of countless cycles flashing through her mind: crashing into it, exploding, vanishing; Kate dying, Lin Fan dissipating, Franklin shouting in vain; then, darkness, a restart, waking up, and everything starting over. "I won't let you repeat it anymore," Little Kate whispered, her hands slamming down on the final impact button. The speed of the huan-breaking ship soared again, turning into a streak of light, charging straight at the shell of the sound of origin. That shell was invisible and intangible, yet it was like an absolutely hard spacetime membrane blocking all matter and energy. In over seven hundred cycles, the attacks of countless weapons, ships, and experts had fallen upon it like stones sinking into the ocean, unable to stir even a single ripple. It was the protective shield of the cycle, the absolute defense of the sound of origin. Everyone's hearts were in their throats at this moment. Kate stood before the console, her breath stalled. On the holographic screen, the light point of the huan-breaking ship was rapidly approaching the origin point, the distance closing—ten meters, five meters, one meter... Franklin was already prepared to sprint, the dark matter light on the elegy anchor growing brighter and brighter, the pitch-black energy nearly swallowing him whole. His gaze was locked onto a microscopic point of white light at the core of the sound of origin—the loop node, the heart of the entire closed loop. As long as it was nailed down, the cycle would crack. Lin Fan floated within the dark matter flow layer, the light orb energy operating at full capacity. Golden bands of light circled around him, forming a sturdy defensive barrier. His task was to use the light orb energy to fuse with Kate's dark matter power at the moment the cycle collapsed, forming a shockwave strong enough to repel the sound of origin and buy them time to breathe. Everyone was waiting for that impact. Three seconds, two seconds, one second. Boom—! A deafening roar beyond description exploded in the depths of spacetime—not a sound wave, but the sound of spacetime itself shattering. The huan-breaking ship slammed violently into the shell of the sound of origin. The ship's hull instantly deformed, twisted, and melted. The high-strength alloy was torn apart like paper under absolute spacetime pressure. The explosion of the ion engine collided with the shell's energy barrier, whipping up a monstrous spacetime turbulence. Countless fragments were sucked into the turbulence, instantly crushed into elementary particles. At the last moment, Little Kate pressed the ejection button. The escape pod shot out from the flames of the explosion like a bullet, but it was still grazed by the turbulence. Its outer shell peeled off instantly, and it tumbled into the depths of space, trailing black smoke. "Little Kate!" Kate cried out. "I... I'm fine..." The girl's voice came intermittently through the escape pod's communicator, weak as a candle in the wind. "Quick... Franklin... the window... only three seconds..." Now! Franklin didn't hesitate for a second. The thrusters beneath his feet erupted with a roar, and he turned into a dark shadow, braving the violent spacetime turbulence as he charged toward the loop node. The turbulence tore at his combat armor, the metal groaning under the strain. Energy shields shattered layer by layer, and sharp spacetime fragments carved deep bloody gashes into his face, but his eyes remained locked on that point of white light. Closer, even closer. He could feel the consciousness of the sound of origin pressing down on him like a mountain, filled with endless mockery and coldness. It was laughing at their struggle, laughing at their futility, laughing at how they flew into the fire even though they knew the outcome. "Stay—pinned—down!" Franklin let out a roar, using every ounce of his strength to hurl the elegy anchor in his hand toward the loop node! The pitch-black elegy anchor, with a shriek that pierced spacetime, shot accurately toward that point of white light. One second, two seconds, three seconds. Clang—!!! The sound of metal colliding with the rules of spacetime echoed throughout the entire cycle. The elegy anchor was firmly and deeply embedded into the core of the loop node! The white light on the node flickered violently, like a frantically beating heart, and then fine cracks began to appear. The closed time loop was, for the first time, forcibly pinned, forcibly torn apart! "We did it..." Franklin collapsed in the void, completely drained. His combat armor was in tatters, and blood surged from his wounds, floating in the darkness like red flowers. "We... succeeded..." The cycle began to collapse.

The collapse of the cycle was more terrifying than anyone had imagined. The once-frozen spacetime shattered like glass, falling away in pieces. Stars began to move, nebulae began to flow, and the forcibly fixed timeline started to recoil, tangle, and intertwine frantically. Past and future overlapped, memory and reality collided, and countless fragmented images flashed wildly in the void. Those were the memories of them all: the scene of Lin Fan meeting Kate for the first time, the scene of Little Kate returning from the future, the scene of Franklin finding the elegy anchor, the scenes of their repeated sacrifices, failures, and reunions... All the memories swallowed by the cycle gushed out at this moment. The phantom of the sound of origin fluctuated violently for the first time, letting out a piercing shriek. That sound wasn't auditory; it acted directly on the depths of the soul, causing a sharp pain in everyone's consciousness. It hadn't expected that these tiny humans could actually tear its cycle and wound its core. "Invalid... Your struggles are all invalid..." The cold, emotionless consciousness surged like a tide, crashing against their mental defenses. The loop node was pinned by the elegy anchor but hadn't completely shattered. The sound of origin was mobilizing all its power, attempting to repair the closed loop and pull everything back on track. The spacetime turbulence became even more violent, and dark matter surged like a tsunami. The light of the light orb energy was suppressed and dimmed. Kate's body was violently thrown out by the turbulence. She didn't have Lin Fan's light orb energy for defense, nor Franklin's heavy combat armor. She could only barely stabilize herself by manipulating dark matter. But the power of the collapsing spacetime was too great. Her protective suit was instantly torn, and a deep wound was carved into her arm. Dark Matter Energy spilled uncontrollably from the wound, colliding with the surrounding spacetime turbulence and causing even more violent explosions. "Kate!" Lin Fan's pupils constricted. Ignoring everything, he charged toward where Kate was falling, braving the violent energy storm. The light orb energy expanded into a massive light shield in front of him, blocking countless spacetime fragments and dark matter impacts. Cracks constantly appeared on the shield, only to be repeatedly repaired by his power. He couldn't lose her. In over seven hundred cycles, he had lost her over seven hundred times. Each time, he had watched her turn into stardust to protect him; each time, he had held her cooling hand and listened to her final "live on"; each time, he had fallen into endless regret and pain in the darkness of the restart. This time, he would never allow it. "Lin Fan! Don't come over! The storm is too strong!" Kate shouted in desperation as she saw him rushing toward her. "You'll be sucked into the spacetime rift!" But Lin Fan didn't stop. In his eyes, there was only her. Amidst the collapsing cycle, the shattered spacetime, and the flying debris and energy storms, he finally saw her. Kate was trapped on the edge of a rift by the turbulence, her white combat suit stained with blood, her face as pale as paper, yet she still stubbornly looked up at him. Their distance closed—one meter, half a meter. Lin Fan reached out, and Kate reached out as well. Their hands drew closer and closer in the frantic storm. Finally, fingertips touched, and palms met. In that instant, it was as if all the storms went silent, all the turbulence stopped, and all the collapse paused. Lin Fan pulled hard, drawing Kate into a tight embrace. He used his own body to block all the impacts, the light orb energy completely enveloping them both, forming a warm and sturdy light cocoon. "It's okay, I'm here." Lin Fan looked down at the pale face in his arms, his voice incredibly hoarse. "I found you." Leaning in his arms, Kate felt the warmth of his chest and the steady beat of his heart. The grievances, fears, and pains accumulated over seven hundred cycles erupted at this moment. Her eyes reddened, and tears flowed uncontrollably, dripping onto Lin Fan's shoulder. "I thought... I was going to lose you again," she choked out. "Not anymore." Lin Fan gently stroked her hair. The light orb energy and the Dark Matter Energy around her began to fuse spontaneously the moment they embraced. Golden light and pitch-black darkness, the energy of life and the matter of spacetime—two diametrically opposed yet naturally complementary powers began to surge, fuse, and sublimate like two intertwining dragons in their embrace. The light was no longer blinding, the darkness no longer cold. There was darkness in the light and light in the darkness, forming an unprecedented, extremely stable chaotic energy. This was the nemesis of the sound of origin, the ultimate power to tear the cycle. The sound of origin felt this power, and its shriek became even more intense. It mobilized all the rules of spacetime, pressing down on the two of them. It wanted to crush them, to crush this power that could destroy it, to close the cycle once more, and to end this annoying struggle forever.

Lin Fan felt that world-destroying pressure. He knew they only had one chance—one chance to release all the fused energy. He looked down into Kate's eyes, which held all his obsession and tenderness. The energy storm howled frantically outside the light cocoon, spacetime rifts expanded continuously around them, and the node pinned by the elegy anchor made an overburdened cracking sound as the repair and tearing of the cycle fought desperately. Lin Fan's fingertips lightly brushed Kate's blood-stained cheek. He could feel life rapidly slipping away and the fused energy about to break through its limit. He smiled—a smile that was the most tender and resolute after experiencing over seven hundred deaths. Amidst the howling energy storm, he leaned down slightly and kissed Kate's cool lips. This kiss held no lust, only a deep affection spanning countless cycles, a calm acceptance of death, and the determination to protect each other with their lives. The moment their lips met, Lin Fan leaned close to her ear and said word by word in a voice only the two of them could hear, "This time... it's my turn to die first." Kate's body jerked violently, her tears bursting forth. She wanted to speak, to protest, to tell him they both had to live, but the fused energy erupted completely at that moment. A chaotic shockwave of interwoven gold and pitch-black exploded outward with the two of them at the center! This power transcended the rules of spacetime and the control of the sound of origin, like a newborn universe expanding frantically in all directions. It tore through the violent spacetime turbulence, dispersed the surging dark matter tsunami, shattered the consciousness phantom condensed by the sound of origin, and forcibly repelled the force trying to repair the cycle! The shriek of the sound of origin stopped abruptly. Its massive, indescribable body constantly dissipated and retreated under the impact of the chaotic energy. The entire cycle space trembled violently under this power. The elegy anchor was embedded deep into the node, cracks spreading at a visible speed. The closed time loop was finally torn open with an irreparable gap. They had done it. They had truly torn the cycle and repelled the ultimate cosmic existence that was considered invincible.

The energy storm gradually subsided, and the chaotic light slowly receded. Lin Fan and Kate held each other, floating in the ruined spacetime. Both were exhausted to the extreme, yet they still held each other's hands tightly, refusing to let go. In the distance, Franklin slowly stood up, leaning on his damaged combat armor. Looking at the torn gap, a look of relief appeared in his eyes for the first time. Inside the tumbling escape pod, Little Kate struggled to open her eyes. Seeing the stable life signals on the communicator, a weak smile touched the corners of her mouth. They had won—at least, they thought they had. Just then, a faint but clear consciousness fluctuation drifted from the depths of the void. It was the voice of the sound of origin. Gone was the previous rage and shriek, replaced only by a cold, mocking sneer that pricked everyone's heart like a poisonous thorn. The voice penetrated the ruined spacetime and weary nerves, echoing clearly in everyone's consciousness: "You won... but can you bear the cost?" The moment the words fell, the phantom of the sound of origin completely dissipated into deep space without a trace, leaving only those meaningful words and a faint, unsettling aura of mutation quietly breeding within the gaps of the torn cycle. Lin Fan held Kate, his brow furrowed deeply. He could feel that behind the explosion of the fused energy just now, something had quietly changed. They had torn the closed loop of time, but they had opened another terrifying door they had never anticipated.