Wei Lingxu's first sensation was cold-and aching, marrow-deep chill that seemed to seep from the very stones beneath him. Rainwater pooled beneath his back, the neon glow of Jiangbei City's towers painting the puddles in sickly color. For a moment, he lay still, breath shallow, as memories returned in jagged fragments: the Triad enforcer's blade, the taste of blood, his father's desperate warning, and the darkness that had swallowed him whole.
He pressed a hand to his chest, half-expecting to find a wound, but his shirt was whole and his skin unbroken. Only the pendant—a small, black stone that seemed to swallow the light—remained warm against his palm.
Was it a dream? The thought barely formed before he dismissed it. The pain, the fear, the void—too vivid for fantasy.
A faint shimmer caught his eye. Golden symbols, delicate and shifting, hovered at the edge of his vision. He blinked, and they faded, but the impression lingered. He was not alone in his mind.
He staggered to his feet, heart pounding. The city's sounds pressed in: distant traffic, a vendor's shout, the low hum of a maglev train. Life continued, indifferent to his resurrection. But Lingxu was changed.
His father's words echoed in his mind: "The Core… it's yours… don't let them…" The Void Core—he'd seen it only once, a black orb that seemed to devour the light around it. Zhang Wei had guarded it with his life, and now, somehow, it was bound to Lingxu.
He ducked into a narrow alley, pressing himself against the damp wall as a pair of Triad thugs passed by. Their voices were low, urgent.
"Boss says the Zhang brat's still alive. Saw him near the old market."
"Impossible. I saw him bleed out myself."
"Check again. The Core's not in the lab. If he has it…"
Their footsteps faded. Lingxu exhaled shakily. He needed answers, and there was only one place to find them: his father's secret lab beneath the city.
He moved cautiously, guided by a strange intuition—an awareness of danger that prickled at the back of his neck. Twice he changed course, avoiding patrol drones and suspicious figures. Each time, the golden symbols flickered at the edge of his vision, as if nudging him along the safest path.
Finally, he reached the abandoned sewage plant. The entrance to the lab was hidden beneath a rusted manhole cover, marked with a sigil only a Zhang would recognize: a stylized dragon coiled around a black sun.
He pried the cover loose and slipped inside, descending into darkness. The air was thick with the scent of oil and old secrets. He followed the tunnel by memory, guided by the faint glow of emergency lights.
The lab was just as he remembered: cluttered with tools, shelves of ancient scrolls, and a battered workbench where his father had spent countless nights. In the center of the room, atop a pedestal, sat the Void Core.
Lingxu approached it slowly, heart hammering. The Core pulsed with a cold, hungry light. As he reached out, the golden symbols returned, swirling around his hand.
A voice, soft and genderless, echoed in his mind: User detected. System initializing…
He jerked his hand back, breath catching. The Core's light flared, and the symbols coalesced into a single, intricate interface that hovered in the air before him:
[Omni-Providence Matrix v0.1 – System Initialization Complete]
[User]: Wei Lingxu Level: 1 (Acolyte of the Void)
[Core Sync]: 12% Stability: 81% (Stable)
[Vitality]: 100/100 Mental Resilience: 87/100
[Soul Integrity]: 98/100
Another interface displayed.
[Abilities]: Temporal Reversion (1/1 charge)
[Entropy Siphon]: (Locked)
[Causality Forecast]: (Locked)
[Spatial Perception]: (Locked)]
Wei wondered what the system could do, and within no time a voice in his head "he heard" :
[System]: Wei, this are the features that are available:
[Status Overview]: Real-time monitoring of physical, mental, and soul parameters.
[Ability Matrix]: Unlock, upgrade, and customize abilities.
[Directive Log]: Track quests, warnings, and system events.
[Resource Map]: Scan environment for threats, resources, and anomalies. [Memory Archive]: Access inherited knowledge and encrypted messages. [Threat Scanner]: Detects and analyzes hostile presences. Emotional [Feedback]: Monitor and stabilize the user's emotional state.
[System]: continues... but with time other features will unlock letting you take full control of me.
Lingxu stared, trembling. The world seemed to hold its breath. The interface was not just a menu—it was alive, adapting to his thoughts and emotions, illuminating every aspect of his being and the Void Core's connection to him.
He was no longer just Wei Lingxu. He was something more—and something far more dangerous.