Chapter 461 - 458: Synchronization

Chapter 461: Chapter 458: Synchronization

"What’s the connection between the Vine Eye pattern and the synchronization of the third and fourth floors?"

Li Luo typed the sentence into the electronic screen’s search bar.

Unfortunately, the database had no information about a connection between the two; they seemed to be completely unrelated matters.

After trying numerous search methods, Li Luo still couldn’t find what she was looking for.

’Then why carve the Vine Eye pattern here?’

Li Luo crouched down, her fingers gently tracing the deep grooves.

The carvings were exceptionally intricate, showing signs of meticulous refinement.

The Vine Eye pattern was inherently complex, its endlessly spreading vines and eyes requiring meticulous rendering. The pattern on the ground had been executed to perfection, its details flawless.

Li Luo wasn’t very familiar with Abyss culture. She studied the pattern for a long time but couldn’t make any sense of it.

She had no choice but to stand, directing her detector to record everything before recalling it.

"Get ready. We’re leaving."

Li Luo organized her gear and walked back to the button.

"Ready?" she asked, turning her head toward Block.

Block trembled. Li Luo took a deep breath, placed her hand on the button, and carefully pressed it.

This was the center of the plaza, which was also the center of the Vine Eye pattern.

The lifeless eye stared up at the sky. As she pressed the button, its pupil suddenly sank inward.

CLICK.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of grinding glass, all the phantoms in the plaza seemed to spring to life, their heads turning in unison toward the center.

Immediately after, the Vine Eye pattern on the ground began to undulate.

The sections forming the pupils all sank inward. The white of the eye remained motionless while the sections forming the vines slowly rose. Just like that, the Vine Eye pattern on the ground transformed into a bas-relief.

Li Luo stood on the enormous white of the eye at the center, watching the changes around her, at a loss for what to do.

But it wasn’t over. The hemispherical dome suddenly turned transparent, and sunlight from the outside instantly flooded the entire plaza.

The dome was now acting as a massive convex lens, focusing all the sunlight that entered the plaza onto the giant eye at the center.

The light converged, and intense heat instantly flared up from the pupil.

Seeing this, Li Luo hastily retreated, but the intense heat had already spread in an instant.

Flames erupted from thin air, racing along the vines and burning ever more fiercely.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Vine Eye pattern had become a blazing inferno, and Li Luo was engulfed by the strange flames.

Yet, the searing pain she expected never came.

Li Luo stood within the fire and opened her eyes in confusion.

Raging flames licked at her body, but she felt no pain.

She curiously reached out and grasped at the flames before her.

Her palm passed through the scorching flames as if through a mere breeze.

In the distance, several figures appeared. The phantoms in the plaza hadn’t vanished; they were still guiding those who came after...

"Where does our synchronization energy come from?"

"The sun. We harness the sun."

"The sun? That’s quite fitting. Intense heat, immense mass, a chaotic aura..."

"That’s right. The intense heat accelerates particle motion, the difference in mass alters the flow of time, and the chaotic aura affects space, making everything chaotic. All of this is beneficial for synchronization."

"But we still need a stabilizer."

"What about the Vine Eye?"

"An excellent choice. It can indeed provide balance. It’s settled, then."

"Understood..."

...

As the phantoms conversed, the flames surged higher and higher until they had devoured the entire plaza, completely swallowing Li Luo in a sea of fire.

She could finally feel the temperature rising, yet a strange power was protecting her.

The mirrored surface beneath her feet was completely melted by the flames, turning to liquid drops that fell into the inferno. Yet Li Luo could still stand suspended in the non-existent space.

A few drops of sweat trickled down Li Luo’s cheeks, only to be instantly vaporized, a wisp of white steam rising toward the sky with the flames.

Watching this, Li Luo seemed to realize something. She looked down, found a strand of hair caught on her clothes, and tossed it out.

The instant the hair touched the flames, it vanished without a trace.

She finally understood why the inferno hadn’t consumed her.

’I’ve reached the same temperature as the flames.’

Her temperature could be hundreds, even thousands of degrees, always matching the flames. That was why they couldn’t harm her.

The only thing she felt was a slight heat, the result of a tiny temperature differential.

’Has particle velocity synchronized already?’

Temperature was a measure of the intensity of an object’s particle motion. Without realizing it, she had already achieved synchronization.

’So has the flow of time synchronized as well?’

Immersed in the sea of fire, Li Luo had no way of knowing if the flow of time had changed.

Not until she saw a bead of her own sweat floating in the air.

This time, the bead didn’t evaporate. Instead, it held its droplet shape, suspended in mid-air.

To her, the bead of sweat was moving far too slowly.

’What about space?’

The moment she had the thought, Li Luo realized something and looked down.

It turned out space had already synchronized. The non-existent ground she stood on was the manifestation of that spatial synchronization.

’From a chaotic perspective, everything is stable.’

Because she had entered a state of chaos, she could tread upon stable space.

With this thought, Li Luo took a step forward, ascending a non-existent stair.

’Everything is stable.’

She took another step, climbing another stair.

Then, Li Luo leaped downward, landing on another non-existent platform.

Now, the entire world had become stable space for her. There was nowhere she couldn’t stand.

She reached out and patted a non-existent wall in front of her.

’It’s actually conforming to my thoughts...’

Li Luo had never had such a wondrous experience.

Whether or not there was a wall in front of her was determined by her own perception.

If she believed there was a wall, a wall would be there. If she believed there wasn’t, it would be gone.

Space had long been thrown into disarray. Chaos now ruled over stability.

’Is there anything left that hasn’t synchronized?’ Just as Li Luo was wondering, another phantom appeared before her.

Except this time, the phantom was slowly solidifying. Colors gradually appeared on the figure, making it seem real, but its features remained indistinct within the dense flames.

"Jump," the phantom suddenly said to Li Luo.

"Hmm?"

"Jump. Don’t linger," the phantom said sternly.

Hearing the gravity in the phantom’s tone, Li Luo hesitated for only a moment before leaping into the endless, fiery abyss.

The phantom followed, matching her rate of descent perfectly.

"Close your eyes," the phantom said softly. "Count to ten, then open them."

For some reason, Li Luo felt an inexplicable trust for the phantom.

She did as she was told and closed her eyes.

"One."

"One."

She counted "one," and the phantom counted "one" along with her.

"Two."

"Two."

She counted "two," and the phantom echoed her again, but the interval between their voices was shorter this time.

"Three."

"Three."

"Four."

"Four."

...

By the seventh count, their voices were nearly overlapping.

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Nine."

"Ten."

By the tenth count, their voices had merged completely. Li Luo no longer knew if the voice belonged to the other figure or to herself.

The warm flames enveloped Li Luo, and she felt a surprising sense of peace.

The count finished. She silently opened her eyes.

The phantom opposite her opened its eyes at the exact same moment.

Li Luo looked ahead and smiled.

The phantom, it turned out, was her.

The phantom smiled as well. They both opened their arms at the same time and embraced.

Amidst the soaring flames, two identical figures embraced, slowly merging into one.

The dog tags dangling from their necks also overlapped at this moment, becoming one...

"Rank-4 Hunter, Fire Thief Li Luo."