245: Chapter 245 First Contact: Mental Shock
That formless "mist" slowly hovered above Lin Mo's head.
Less than three centimeters from his forehead.
Su Xiaowan stood beside Long Zhantian's fallen body, her whole body stiff. She wanted to rush up, push away those invisible things, and protect the person sleeping there. But her body seemed frozen; she could not move, could not cry out, and could only watch helplessly as that "void" inched closer and closer to Lin Mo's forehead.
Three centimeters.
Two centimeters.
One centimeter.
Contact.
At that moment—
Lin Mo "woke up."
It was not a physical awakening. His eyes remained tightly shut, his chest still rising and falling steadily. But his consciousness, in that high-dimensional void transcending time and space, shook violently!
Something had broken in!
In the Seventh Dimension, that eternal "void."
Lin Mo had been suspended there, not knowing how long had passed. Here, there was no concept of time. One second and one hundred million years were no different.
His consciousness was gradually adapting to this absolute, thorough loneliness. He began to be able to "see" those extremely faint dimensional ripples hidden in the void. He began to be able to "hear" the almost imperceptible information fluctuations transmitted from lower dimensions.
Those ripples and fluctuations were suddenly torn apart.
A blinding, frenzied, destructive light tore through the void around him, like a massive, invisible fist slamming hard into the tranquility of this high dimension!
That was not a physical attack.
That was—a psychic impact.
Countless fragments of information, like frantically spinning blades, flooded Lin Mo's consciousness simultaneously!
He saw—
The moment Long Zhantian fell, those eyes staring fixedly at him.
Su Xiaowan's desperate scream, turning into strings of visible, broken sound waves.
Those invisible "Nano Ghosts," like dense, burning stars, were surging from all directions, burrowing into his cerebral cortex, devouring his neurons, tearing at his memory fragments.
He felt—
The excruciating pain of ten thousand red-hot steel needles piercing his cerebral cortex simultaneously.
Countless invisible hands frantically rummaging, tearing, and plundering every image, every sound, every emotion in his memories.
His childhood, his parents, his first heartbreak, his first success, every embrace he shared with Su Xiaowan in the deep night, every time he stood side-by-side with Long Zhantian on the battlefield—
All torn open, exposed, devoured!
"Ah—!!!"
Lin Mo's consciousness, in that high-dimensional void, erupted in a silent scream that was enough to tear everything apart!
It was not a scream of fear, but an instinctive resistance against being forcibly invaded, savagely trampled, and frantically plundered!
His consciousness core, that "mental barrier" originally constructed by the system to protect his thinking from external interference, fluctuated violently in the face of this frantic impact!
That barrier had originally been a faint, gentle light like rippling water. At this moment, it was flashing, twisting, and deforming frantically! Countless cracks spread across the surface of the barrier, like an ice sheet struck by a giant boulder!
Those information fragments poured in frantically through those cracks!
More memories, torn open!
More images, devoured!
More emotions, trampled!
Lin Mo's consciousness curled into a ball in that high-dimensional void, clutching his "head" tightly—if he had a head here.
His "body" was trembling frantically.
His "soul" was being torn apart inch by inch.
But at that most painful, most desperate moment—
His "eyes" suddenly opened.
Not an opening in the physical sense. It was an awakening at the high-dimensional level, deep within the consciousness core, erupting like a sun!
He remembered the last words the system left him:
【host, from now on, you can only rely on yourself.】
Rely on himself.
Not relying on the system, not relying on anyone else.
Relying on himself, on that soul tempered countless times, pushed to the brink of despair countless times, and having stood up countless times.
"Get out—!!!"
Lin Mo's consciousness erupted in a silent roar in that high-dimensional void, yet it was enough to tear everything apart!
That roar was not anger, not fear, but pure resistance—born from the instinct of life!
His consciousness core suddenly expanded! That mental barrier, on the verge of shattering, erupted with blinding, sun-like light in response to his roar!
Those frantically flooding information fragments, once touched by that light, evaporated and dissipated instantly like snow meeting a raging fire!
Those thought-projections of the "Nano Ghosts" that were devouring his memories were shattered into pieces by that light, like sandcastles crushed by giant waves!
That frenzied shockwave tearing through the void was blocked by that light and collapsed with a roar, like a torrent hitting an iron wall!
But the price was brutal.
Lin Mo's consciousness core, that layer of mental barrier, finally shattered completely after unleashing that last light.
Countless cracks spread from the deep core, splitting his consciousness into countless tiny fragments.
Those fragments drifted slowly in the void, each carrying a piece of his memory, an emotion, a thought.
He "watched" those fragments drift slowly away.
Some fragments might never return.
But he had no regrets.
Because he was still alive.
Because those thought-projections of the "Nano Ghosts" had been repelled by him—at least, temporarily repelled.
"Ark" City, safe house.
Su Xiaowan stared fixedly at Lin Mo's face.
Just a moment ago, his brows furrowed sharply, a look of extreme pain appeared on his face, and his body twitched violently—
Everything returned to calm.
That formless "mist" suddenly sprang away from above Lin Mo's head!
It was as if struck by an invisible force, rolling, twisting, and contracting violently in the void—like a herd of startled beasts, it surged frantically toward the safe house's ventilation ducts and disappeared without a trace!
Su Xiaowan was stunned.
She didn't know what had happened.
But Lin Mo was still there.
Although his brows were tightly locked, his chest was still rising and falling. His heart was still beating. He—was still alive.
She lunged to the bedside and grabbed his hand; those hands were as cold as ice.
"Lin Mo..." Her voice was as hoarse as broken glass, "Come back... Please, come back..."
Lin Mo did not answer.
But his fingers moved slightly, just a little, in her palm.
That movement was so light it was almost imperceptible.
But Su Xiaowan felt it.
Her tears gushed out suddenly.
They were tears of survival, carrying endless hope.
In the high-dimensional void.
Lin Mo's consciousness fragments were slowly, laboriously, re-condensing.
He didn't know how much longer he could hold on.
But those "Nano Ghosts" would not give up.
They would return.
Next time, it would be even crazier.
Next time, it would be even more lethal.
And he no longer had the protection of the mental barrier.
His consciousness core was exposed nakedly in that high-dimensional void, exposed to any attack that might come.
But he felt no fear.
He just watched those drifting fragments quietly, watching the memories that were slowly reassembling, watching that distant low-dimensional world that was waiting for his return.
"Wait for me." He whispered, his voice drifting slowly in that void, "I will definitely come back."
He began to condense those fragments.
One piece, then another.