100: Chapter 100 The Battle of the Agents

The tower was tall, at least fifty stories high. Its exterior walls were made of glass, reflecting golden light. Chen Mo stood at the base of the tower, looking up at the rotating ball of light at the top. Through the Pupil of the Sequence, those lines of rules extended from the light orb, spreading in all directions and connecting to the entire city. The source of those lines was a single point in the center of the light orb—very small, very bright, like a heart.

That was the core of Origin City. The starting point of the Ghost Realm's descent.

Chen Mo pushed open the door and walked inside. The lobby was spacious, with white marble floors, and a huge oil painting hung on the wall—depicting a panoramic view of the city. There was no one behind the reception desk, only a computer with its screen still on. He walked over and took a look; it displayed a line of text: "Welcome to Origin City. Are you ready?"

Chen Mo did not answer. He walked toward the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator doors closed, and it began to ascend. The numbers flickered: one floor, two floors, three floors... With each floor ascended, those lines of rules grew denser. By the fortieth floor, the lines were so thick that it was almost impossible to see the surrounding walls. At the fiftieth floor, the elevator stopped. The doors opened.

Before him was a vast space occupying the entire floor. There were no walls, no pillars, only floor-to-ceiling windows and a glass dome overhead. The dome was engraved with golden patterns, and those patterns were flowing, identical to the designs on the door of the Source of the Sequence.

In the center of the space floated a ball of light. It was at least three meters in diameter, entirely golden, with countless tiny runes drifting inside. Those runes flowed slowly, arranging themselves into various patterns—city streets, building outlines, human faces. These were the memories of everyone in Origin City.

Chen Mo stared at the light orb. The Pupil of the Sequence operated at full capacity, and the arrangement of those runes unfolded in his mind. He saw what the city looked like at its birth—a wasteland, then people arrived, built the first house, then more houses, more streets, more people. He saw the city in its prime—bustling streets, people laughing, walking, living. He saw the moment the Ghost Realm descended—the sky cracking open, golden lines surging in, and everything disappearing.

All those memories were contained within this ball of light.

Chen Mo took a step forward. The light orb suddenly began to spin faster, and the runes surged wildly like a swarm of enraged bees. A voice came from the light orb, not the voice of Zhang Yuan, nor the voice of the will of the ghost realm, but the voices of countless people blended together—"You cannot destroy us."

Chen Mo stopped. "Who are you?"

"We are this city," the voice said. "We are everyone who has lived here. We are their memories. If you destroy the light orb, we will also disappear."

Chen Mo was silent for a few seconds. "You have already disappeared."

The voices fell silent. "The day the Ghost Realm descended, you died," Chen Mo said. "What is living now is merely memory."

The light orb shook violently. The runes began to disorder, some even starting to shatter. "You lie!" the voices screamed. "We are still alive! We can still see, we can still hear, we can still feel!"

Chen Mo looked at the shattering runes. "What can you feel?"

Silence. A long silence.

Then a voice, very soft, as if coming from very far away. "Cold."

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment. "What?"

"Cold," the voice said. "It's always been cold. Ever since the day the Ghost Realm descended, it has always been cold."

More voices joined in. "I'm cold too." "Me too." "When will it stop being cold?"

Chen Mo looked at the light orb. The runes flowed slowly, each piece representing a person's memory. In those memories, there were warm images—sunlight, fireplaces, embraces. But those images were static, like frozen photographs.

"I can make you not cold," Chen Mo said.

The light orb stopped shaking. "How?"

Chen Mo did not answer. He raised his hand, and those golden lines surged from his palm, wrapping around the light orb. It was not destruction, but envelopment. The lines were like a membrane, wrapping the entire light orb. Then, the lines began to glow—not with golden light, but with a warm color, like sunlight.

The runes began to melt. Not shattering, but melting, turning into liquid, flowing over the surface of the light orb. Those liquids re-condensed, turning into new runes. Within those new runes, warm images drifted—sunlight shining on faces, a fireplace burning brightly, two people embracing.

The light orb began to shrink. From three meters to two meters, from two meters to one meter, and finally into a crystal the size of a fist, floating in mid-air. Inside floated countless tiny specks of light, each speck a warm memory.

【Obtained: Core of Origin City】【Ghost Realm Foundation weakened by 30%】

Chen Mo reached out and grasped the crystal. It pulsed gently in his palm, like a heart, but no longer cold. It was warm.

He turned and walked toward the elevator. The moment the elevator doors closed, he heard a voice from behind—very soft, like someone smiling. "Thank you."

The elevator descended. One floor, two floors, three floors... When it reached the first floor, the doors opened. In the lobby, those images appeared again. But this time, they did not disappear. A child ran past him, laughing, running toward the door. A woman stood by the roadside, looking at her phone, looked up, and smiled at him. An old man sat on a bench, feeding pigeons, and nodded at him.

Chen Mo walked out of the building and stood on the street. The people in those images were all watching him. Not with fear, not with resentment, but with gratitude. He knew that they knew they were already dead. But at least, now it was not cold.

Chen Mo walked in the direction he had come from. That door appeared again, golden, at the end of the street. He walked over and pushed the door open.

Behind the door was the entrance to the Source of the Sequence. Those people were still waiting for him—Iron Bear, Eagle Eye, Shadow, Knight, Ranger, Hunter, and the Chosen Ones who had followed him. Seeing him come out, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Lin Wei ran over.

Chen Mo nodded. He raised his hand, the crystal still in his palm. "I got it."

Iron Bear walked over, looking at the crystal. "What is this?"

"The core of Origin City," Chen Mo said. "The Foundation of the Ghost Realm."

He turned and looked at the golden door. The patterns on the door were much fainter than before, and the golden light had become weak. The Foundation of the Ghost Realm had been weakened by 30%. It was not enough, but it was getting there.

"Where to next?" Eagle Eye asked.

Chen Mo thought for a moment. "Back."

He walked toward the pickup truck. The people behind him followed. He sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. Lin Wei got into the passenger seat.

The pickup truck drove back the way they came. In the rearview mirror, the door became smaller and smaller. Chen Mo gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Origin City. The memories of those people. They had been trapped there for a long time. Now, they were free.

He stepped on the accelerator. The pickup truck sped forward. Back, to prepare for the next time.