Chapter 122: The Burning Mark

The cavern is collapsing.

It is not a slow collapse, but some tremendous force from deep underground thrusting upward. The rock walls crack like eggshells, and debris falls like rain. Han Qing grabs Su Yu and pulls her under a relatively stable rock ledge; heavy debris smashes where they had just stood, kicking up choking dust.

"The passage!" Kaiwen points to the circular area formed by the light pillar at the cavern's center—it is flickering violently, the process of the rock layers turning translucent has become unstable, and the view of the shelter below alternates between clear and blurry.

Worse still, the fully transformed husks, those hollow beings with completely black eyes, are swarming toward the light pillar. Their number exceeds a hundred, their movements horrifyingly coordinated, like a puppet army controlled by a single consciousness.

"They're going to destroy the passage!" Wang Hu's heavy machine gun spits fire, but bullets have limited effect on the transformed bodies—these husks are completely shadow‑ened, so physical attacks can only stagger them, not stop them.

Makusi's metal arm snatches a fallen rock and slams it hard into the nearest group of transformed beings: "We must hold the light pillar! Those below are counting on it!"

Han Qing looks at Su Yu, then at Old Zhao beside her—his eyes empty, yet he still grips his dagger tightly: "Su Yu, take him with you. Aili is waiting above to meet you, you……"

"I'm not leaving." Su Yu's voice is unnaturally calm. She lowers her gaze to her chest—there, the mark left by Chen Mo is glowing, warm through the fabric, like an awakening heart.

She recalls the words from that cocoon in the chemical industrial park: 【Purification will cause the fragments to dissipate. Suggestion: Resonance extraction.】

Chen Mo had long known this moment would come. He knew he could not return whole, so he left the "suggestion" for her. It was not an order, but a suggestion. Because he believed she could make the choice.

The correct choice.

"Han Qing," Su Yu lifts her head, her eyes flashing with resolve, "I need you to do one thing."

"Speak."

"Protect the light pillar for three minutes. No matter what happens, do not let anything touch it."

"What are you going to do?"

Su Yu does not answer. She takes Old Zhao's hand—the hand that has just lost all memory, yet still instinctively wants to protect her. Then she looks toward the depths of the cavern, where darkness is coalescing into a concrete form.

The Prison Core is about to manifest.

"Kaiwen," Su Yu says, "record everything that follows. If… if I don't come back, tell everyone the truth. Tell those underground that the people above have heard their plea and have responded."

Kaiwen wanted to say something, but in the end he merely shoved his glasses up firmly, activated the recorder, and said: "I will."

Su Yu smiles. It is Chen Mo's smile—gentle yet steadfast, like the last starlight before dawn.

Then she closes her eyes.

True Knowledge Vision unfolds.

The world becomes a flow of energy. Above, the roots of the starlight plants have withered, but a last trace of connection remains; around, teammates' "heart fires" burn fiercely, like campfires persisting in the darkness; below, the light pillar is pure blue, yet it is being eroded by murky gray energy.

At the deepest point, that dark entity has fully awakened.

Su Yu "sees" its form—not a physical body, but an aggregation of consciousness. It resembles an inverted tree, its roots plunging deeper into the earth to absorb some ancient energy; its trunk is pure darkness; and its crown…… consists of the transformed beings. Each husk is one of its "branches," manipulated by its consciousness.

It is attacking the light pillar through the transformed beings. Each blow weakens the passage's stability.

But this is not the most terrifying.

Su Yu perceives something deeper: the Prison Core itself is also imprisoned. Inside it lies a smaller, brighter "core"—the original consciousness of the underground ecosystem, which it has devoured, suppressed, and twisted for millions of years.

That primal core is pleading for help. Faint, but persistent.

This is the voice Chen Mo heard seven years ago.

Su Yu now understands the full truth.

The disaster is not an invasion, but a jailbreak. The underground ecosystem has been parasitized by an external entity; the original consciousness, in agony, sends out a distress signal to the outside world. The signal rips open spacetime, forming the "Door of the End," through which contaminated individuals flee to the surface, but because of the contamination they go mad and attack everything.

Humanity's counterstrike is not wrong—they are protecting themselves. But it is not right either—they are attacking the sick, not the disease itself.

Chen Mo saw the truth. Therefore he chose to become a bridge, not a weapon.

Now it is her turn.

Su Yu sinks her consciousness into the mark on her heart. There lies the final fragment of Chen Mo's "self" that he left behind, like a dormant seed.

"Awaken." She whispers.

The mark responds.

It is not a gentle awakening, but a violent blaze. Energy erupts from her heart like a supernova implosion, instantly engulfing her entire body. Every blood vessel burns, every inch of bone resonates, every cell screams.

But she does not stop.

She channels this energy, not outward as an attack, but inward—infusing her own "being."

She will burn herself to become a temporary "starlight plant," a new bridge linking the surface and the depths.

The first second, she feels her consciousness beginning to peel away. Like an onion's layers being stripped, memories surface and then fade: childhood sunlight, the lab coat, the light in Chen Mo's eyes when she first saw him, the morning mist in the chemical industrial park, the warmth of the seed in her palm……

The second second, energy surges from within her. Not a beam, but a ripple of light. Centered on her, pale gold waves spread outward; wherever they pass, the transformed beings assaulting the light pillar begin to move sluggishly. The shadowy substance within them, upon contacting this light, does not dissipate but…… grows calm.

The third second, the ripple reaches the light pillar. The imminently collapsing passage steadies, the rock layers resume their translucence, and the view of the shelter below becomes clear. She can "see" the people below—they lift their heads, gazing at the sudden light in the sky, their faces showing the first hope in seven years.

The fourth second, the Prison Core senses the threat.

In the cavern's depths, darkness coalesces into a substance. It is not a definite shape, but a constantly shifting mass of shadow, its surface flickering with countless eyes, mouths, and tendrils—like the aggregated anguish of all lives it has devoured. It lets out a voiceless roar—not a sound, but a direct scream that strikes the consciousness.

Su Yu feels her consciousness cracking like glass.

But she does not retreat.

For at that moment she feels another power joining in.

From Old Zhao.

That old soldier, who has lost all memory and retains only instinct, had at some point stepped before her. He has no consciousness, no thought, but he still remembers one thing: to protect.

He raises his dagger, not to attack but as an offering—he drives the blade into his own palm, letting blood drip to the ground. The blood meets Su Yu's spreading light ripple, and an astonishing change occurs: the blood begins to glow, turning into pale gold veins that spread across the floor, forming an ancient protective sigil.

"This is……" Kaiwen stares at the recorder, "a protective rune from some ancient civilization! How could Old Zhao……"

Han Qing understands: "Muscle memory. He lost conscious memory, but his body still remembers. He may have encountered this knowledge during his service, and now his instincts are putting it to use."

Old Zhao's blood sigil merges with Su Yu's light ripple, forming a temporary shield. The Prison Core's consciousness impact is blocked outside.

But the price is: Old Zhao is rapidly losing blood. His face turns pale, his body sways, yet he remains standing, like a stone statue of a guardian.

The fifth second.

Su Yu's consciousness begins to truly burn. She feels herself dissipating, like morning mist under the sun. Yet she feels no fear, only calm.

Because she has seen.

At the end of the burning, at the edge of fading consciousness, light was waiting.

It was Chen Mo.

No, not the complete Chen Mo. It was a shadow, an echo, the final imprint left by that gentle and resolute person in her memory. He stood at the end of the light, reaching out his hand to her.

"Enough, Su Yu." His voice sounded directly in her consciousness, familiar enough to make her want to cry, "You've done enough."

"Chen Mo..." her consciousness called, "Where are you?"

"I am in every inch of light you ignited." His shadow smiled, "Now, let me finish the last step."

"No! You will..."

"I have already disappeared, Su Yu. I disappeared seven years ago. What you see is only a lingering 'impression,' like an image on a photograph." His shadow became transparent, "But an impression can also do one thing: one last time, stand in front of you."

Chen Mo's shadow walked toward the prison core.

Not an attack, but an embrace.

He opened his arms and embraced the ever-changing darkness. The darkness tried to devour him, but could not—because he was already light. Pure light, without substance, only 'existence' itself.

Light seeped into the darkness.

The prison core began to collapse. Not shattered from outside, but illuminated from within. The original consciousnesses it had devoured and suppressed began to awaken, struggle, and resist under the light's nourishment.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the dark mass, through which pure, pale blue light shone—the original light of the subterranean ecosystem.

The transformed beings all stopped. The black in their eyes faded, revealing the original eyes of various creatures: insects' compound eyes, mammals' pupils, reptiles' vertical slits… and, for the few that still retained human-shaped eyes, their vision cleared.

They looked at Su Yu, their eyes filled with gratitude, apology, and the relief of finally being freed.

Then they began to dissipate. Not death, but return—the shadow matter peeled from their bodies, turning into black smoke that dispersed; while their original biological tissue became particles of light, sinking underground to rejoin the ecosystem's cycle.

The prison core collapsed completely.

The darkness dissipated, revealing at the core a glowing, trembling, infant-fragile original consciousness—a pale blue light sphere with root-like patterns on its surface.

Chen Mo's shadow had faded until it was almost invisible. He turned back, giving Su Yu one last look.

His lip movement was: "Take them home."

Then he completely dissipated.

The light pillar stabilized. The channel fully opened, its diameter expanding to five meters, forming a stable, luminous vertical passage connecting surface and underground.

The cave ceased collapsing.

Silence.

Then a sound came from below—not through equipment, but directly through the open passage: people's cheers, sobs, and disbelieving murmurs.

The shelter's door opened.

Han Qing rushed to Su Yu's side. She was unconscious but still breathing; the Chen Mo mark on her chest no longer glowed, having turned into a pale gold scar. Old Zhao lay beside her, unconscious from excessive blood loss, but Kaiwen's emergency hemostasis had taken effect.

"Alive," Han Qing's hoarse voice said, "They're all alive."

Makusi and Wang Hu looked down the channel. People had already begun climbing up—they were the shelter's rescue team, wearing pre-disaster uniforms, worn but clean. Leading them was a man in his fifties, sharp-eyed, his shoulder insignia showing he was the commander.

Li Yuanshan.

He climbed onto the platform and saw the scene before him: unconscious Su Yu and Old Zhao, the exhausted but standing Han Qing team, the dissipating light particles of the transformed beings around them, and, faintly visible in the depths of the passage, over a thousand people awaiting rescue.

This commander, who had held his post for seven years and had never cried in front of his subordinates, now had red-rimmed eyes.

He walked to Su Yu's side, knelt on one knee, and gave her the most formal military salute of the old era.

Then he rose, looking at Han Qing: "Above ground… is it safe now?"

"Not safe," Han Qing said honestly, "but better than seven years ago. And now… we have hope."

Li Yuanshan nodded, turned, and shouted down the channel: "All attention! Evacuate according to the plan! Elderly, children, and wounded first!"

The rescue began.

Kaiwen helped Aili treat the wounded while watching the recorder. The data still fluctuated—the energy reading released when the prison core collapsed was astonishingly high, and… some of the energy flowed toward an unknown destination.

It was not going up into the channel, nor sinking down into the earth.

It was flowing laterally, toward the direction of "Pure Land."

He lifted his head, looking at the cave ceiling. There, in the rock fissures, something was glowing.

Not the light of stardust.

It was another kind… cold, mechanical, surveilling light.

"Han Qing," Kaiwen's voice tense, "the prison core may not be the ultimate threat. Above it… there is something else."

But at that moment, no one heard his words. Everyone was busy—rescuing, treating, arranging the evacuation.

In the channel, the first child was lifted up. She was a seven- or eight-year-old girl who had lived underground since birth, seeing the true sky for the first time—although it was merely the rock layer at the cave's top, to her it was the whole world.

She looked at the unconscious Su Yu and whispered, "Is she an angel?"

The soldier holding her—a father who had stood guard underground for seven years, believing he would never see his daughter again—choked out his reply: "Yes. She is the angel who came to bring us home."

Su Yu, unconscious, twitched her finger slightly.

Deep in her consciousness, amidst the burning ashes, a new seed was sprouting.

The last words Chen Mo left behind echoed in her mind like a bell:

"True light is not fighting darkness, but giving darkness a chance to become light."