Chapter 583: Logic is the lock, emotion is the key

In the mirror world, time had lost its meaning.

Qin Wu had been fighting his own reflection for an unknown amount of time.

Every punch, every roar, was perfectly copied by his reflection in the mirror, then countered with the same force.

Sweat had already soaked his soul.

A deep fatigue began to spread upward from his marrow.

He wasn't tired; he was annoyed.

This endless battle, with no victor, wore not his body but his fighting spirit.

"Will it ever end?"

Qin Wu roared and smashed the reflection before him to pieces with a single punch.

But the next second, the shattered mirror reassembled, and an unharmed "Qin Wu" stepped out again, his eyes still empty and cold.

Meanwhile, Qin Zheng's situation was equally grim.

He abandoned constructing complex matrices and tried the most basic spatial cut instead.

No matter how exquisite his cuts, the mirror "Qin Zheng" always anticipated his every move a split second before he acted and blocked it in the same way.

"This isn't copying; it's foreknowledge."

Qin Zheng reached a despairing conclusion: "Our thoughts are completely transparent to this world; whatever we think, it knows."

And many more Yanhuang people were trapped in various kinds of cyclic mazes.

Some endlessly reenact a war they can never win,

some wander forever in a borderless desert, while others repeat the same daily life until they gradually forget who they are.

Wearing away, corroding.

This is the purpose of this mirror world.

It does not rush to kill you; it wants you to abandon resistance in eternal despair and become its docile energy source.

"Dad, I've found something here."

Just as everyone felt despair, Qin Si's thoughts flashed like lightning in the night, linking into Qin Hao's mind.

"Speak."

Qin Hao's spirit lifted.

"I'm trapped in a logical computation space."

Qin Si's voice sounded a little weary, but more so with the excitement of discovering a new continent.

"This space keeps throwing cosmic-level mathematical paradoxes at me; if I can't solve them, my very existence will be assimilated by the paradox itself."

"Have you solved them?"

"I've solved three thousand seven hundred twenty-one."

Qin Si replied.

"But when solving the three thousand seven hundred twenty-second paradox, I discovered something interesting."

Her thoughts transmitted a complex data stream.

"The paradox itself contains a flaw, an extremely tiny logical loophole—like a meaningless space inserted into perfect code."

Qin Si explained.

"At first I thought it was a coincidence, but in my subsequent deductions I found that every paradox, every reflection, every cycle possesses such a flaw."

Qin Hao understood immediately.

"This isn't a flaw."

Qin Hao's eyes flashed with sharp light: "This is a bug, an inevitable loophole in this vast mirror program!"

No matter how perfect a program, it cannot achieve absolute perfection; anything created must have its boundaries and limitations.

"Exactly!"

Qin Si's voice rose.

"This mirror world, in order to achieve perfect replication and foreknowledge, has reached an unfathomable level of computation."

"To sustain this computation, it must simplify in some unimportant places; these flaws are the traces left by that simplification."

"Just like an exquisitely fine painting, when you look at it under the highest magnification, you always see the texture of the canvas itself."

"These bugs are the canvas texture of this world; they are the only things not belonging to the reflection, but to the world itself."

"Can you locate them?" Qin Hao asked.

"It's hard. They're dynamic, randomly appearing in every corner, and extremely concealed."

Qin Si said.

"I need a coordinate, an absolutely real coordinate not confused by the reflection, to serve as the origin for my positioning."

A true origin……

Qin Hao fell into contemplation.

In this place where everything is illusory, what is absolutely real?

Strength?

Will be copied.

Wisdom?

Will be foreseen.

Then……

In Qin Hao's mind, the image of Qin An appeared.

"Old Five."

Qin Hao called out in the soul network.

"Dad, I... I'm here."

Qin An's voice sounded somewhat weak.

He was trapped in a space filled with happiness and joy, as countless beautiful illusions incessantly struck his mind, trying to make him sink.

He could only rely on memories of the pain and sorrow of the real world to barely stay conscious.

"Old Five, listen to me."

Qin Hao's voice was utterly solemn, "Now, only you can save us."

"Me?" Qin An looked somewhat bewildered.

In this place, his emotional power, which is not good at combat, seems utterly useless.

"Yes, it's you."

Qin Hao said, "This world can copy our power, can foresee our thoughts, but there is something that it cannot copy nor understand."

"It is the Yanhuang Civilization's most genuine emotion, etched into our bones since our birth."

"It is your love that, even when facing a strong enemy, still chooses to protect the weak."

"It is your hope that, even in a deadly situation, still believes we can win."

"These things have no logic, no reason, but they truly exist; they are the origin of our civilization!"

Qin An nodded, half-understanding.

"Now I want you to release all your emotions, holding nothing back."

"Don't worry about who will receive it, don't think about the consequences. Just let your truest emotions flood this false world like a deluge!"

"I understand." Qin An took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes, no longer resisting those happy illusions.

His consciousness returned to the darkest ages of the Yanhuang Civilization.

Pursued, besieged, countless forefathers died in battle, their homeland burned in flames…

An intense grief surged from the depths of his soul.

He again recalled how every Yanhuang person, in dire straits, never gave up, gritting their teeth, shedding blood, keeping their spines straight.

An unyielding pride welled up.

He also recalled the hardships and sacrifices Qin Hao endured leading them to this day.

He thought of his brothers and sisters, and the countless vivid faces of billions of compatriots.

A scorching, deep love filled his soul.

Finally he lifted his head, as if seeing the homeland they had torn down with their own hands, and seeing the starry sea that belonged to them.

An undying hope for the future within his inner cosmos transformed into the brightest light.

"Ah—"

Qin An raised his head and let out a long howl.

Grief, pride, love, hope…

Innumerable complex and genuine emotions, at this moment turned into a torrent sweeping the entire mirror world, erupting with a boom!

This torrent ignored all spatial barriers, ignored all logical obstacles.

Qin Wu, who was fighting his mirror image, suddenly felt a heartfelt indignation, recalling the fallen comrades, his eyes reddened.

The fist in his hand was no longer mere strength, but carried a vow to avenge.

Qin Zheng, who was struggling to hold on, felt the heavy responsibility of guarding their homeland.

His law was no longer cold, but gained a warmth of protection.

The Yanhuang people about to sink in the cyclic labyrinth were jolted awake by this emotional torrent.

They remembered who they were, and why they fought.

And the countless alien civilizations imprisoned in other mirror spaces, long numb, their residual consciousness, upon contacting this emotional torrent,

also gave rise to faint ripples.

Souls silent for eons heard a distant call.

"Fourth Sister, it's now!"

Qin An shouted with all his might.

"Received!"

Qin Si's voice sounded at the same time.

"Take hope as the origin, lock onto all logical flaws! Coordinates generated!"

The next second, a network map of countless light dots spreading across the entire mirror world clearly appeared in the mind of every Yanhuang person.

Those light dots are the bug of this perfect prison.

That is its vital point!

"Everyone, let's break these mirrors together!"

Qin Hao's thought echoed in the depths of every person's soul.