thefictionvixens Page 204
Page 204
After the smoke and dust cleared, only a scene of devastation remained. Lin Ye deactivated his protective shield, walked to the center of the ruins, and picked up the fragment of the Key of Time. The dark red bead on the fragment had become unusually dull, and the black patterns on its surface had faded considerably.
"It's finally over." Vegeta breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Lin Ye shook his head and carefully put away the fragment: "It's not that simple. Karen is just a small fry. The fact that she was able to obtain the remnant soul crystal of Kronos means that there is a much larger force behind them." He looked at the police cars and Capsule Corporation's rescue vehicle approaching in the distance, "Moreover, the energy of this fragment is getting weaker and weaker. I have a feeling that something is wrong."
Vegeta frowned. "You mean... there are more remnants?"
“Definitely.” Lin Ye’s eyes were firm. “But right now, the most urgent task is to send Dr. Lee back to Capsule Corporation and have Bulma strengthen the defenses of Earth’s core. As for those remnants, they will surface sooner or later.”
Just then, Trunks and Number 18 arrived. Trunks looked at the devastated ruins and exclaimed in surprise, "You've completely destroyed this place?"
"Otherwise, how do we deal with that crystal?" Vegeta scoffed. "By the way, is everything alright at Capsule Corp.?"
Number 18 shook his head: "Everything is normal, except that a few small reconnaissance drones approached, but I shot them down."
Lin Ye nodded and gestured for everyone to get in the car: "We'll talk about it when we get back. Dr. Li is an important witness; we need to get him to explain the defenses of Earth's core."
The group boarded the Capsule Company's SUV and headed towards the city. The Western Capital outside the car window remained tranquil, but Lin Ye knew this tranquility was only temporary. He touched the fragment of the Time Key at his waist; a faint vibration came from his fingertips, as if something was quietly awakening deep within the fragment.
In the unseen depths of space, a colossal black warship hovered within an asteroid belt. Inside the warship's command center, a figure wearing a golden mask watched the factory explosion on the screen, a sinister smile playing on their lips: "Lin Ye, Vegeta… the game has only just begun."
Chapter 454: Energy Mutation?
The morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Capsule Corporation's laboratory, casting long patches of light on the floor, one of which fell squarely on Lin Ye's face. He blinked sharply, his fingertips still lingering on the floating fragment of the Key of Time... He had remained in that position all night, staring intently at the dark red bead at the center of the fragment.
The bead's original dark red glow vanished completely, leaving it like a dusty, inferior gemstone, lifelessly embedded in the fragments. Lin Ye's brows furrowed, and his heart sank inexplicably.
"Beep beep..." The holographic projection device suddenly activated, and Alice's blue figure materialized in mid-air, holding a report flashing with data. "Lin Ye, the energy analysis results are in. The reaction from the Source of Chaos has dropped below the detection threshold, but the energy fluctuation intensity of the Tree of Origin is three times the usual level, and the frequency is extremely unstable."
Lin Ye raised his hand to rub his aching temples, then took the report and quickly skimmed through it: "The Tree of Origin? How could it suddenly become active? Could it be because we destroyed the black crystal yesterday?"
“Very likely.” The lab door opened, and Bulma walked in carrying two steaming cups of coffee, her dark circles even more pronounced than Lin Ye's. She shoved a cup of coffee into Lin Ye's hand, took a large gulp herself, and then pulled up a 3D model of the Earth's core. “The energy spectrum of the black crystal closely matches the Tree of Origin, essentially making it an ‘energy clone.’ Now that the clone is gone, the main body will definitely react. And look at this…”
On the model, the golden sphere representing the Earth's core is constantly flashing red warning lights, and countless fine energy lines extend from the core, perfectly synchronized with the energy fluctuations of the Tree of Origin.
"Is there something wrong with the Earth's core too?" Lin Ye's voice tightened instantly. "Could it trigger an earthquake or a volcanic eruption?"
“It’s already happened.” Bulma tapped her finger on the model, and a patch of the South American plate suddenly lit up with a blinding red light. “Ten minutes ago, a dormant volcano in the Amazon rainforest suddenly erupted. Data from the monitoring station shows that the magma contains energy from the Tree of Origin.”
The words had barely left his mouth when the lab door was flung open with a bang, and Vegeta burst in, his battle suit still stained with brown volcanic ash, his hair disheveled. "What are you all dawdling around for?! The volcano south of the city has erupted too! And that lava is weird; everything it touched rotted!"
Lin Ye and Bulma exchanged a glance, both seeing terror in each other's eyes. Lin Ye grabbed the detector from the table and rushed to the helipad: "Bulma, take your equipment! Vegeta, notify Trunks and Android 18 to assemble in the south of the city!"
"Understood!" Vegeta immediately pulled out his communicator, dialing as he followed Lin Ye.
The scene in the south of the city was far more devastating than imagined. The once lush green hills were now covered in lava, thick black smoke billowing into the sky, and the air thick with the acrid smell of sulfur. The dark red lava, like a greedy serpent, was slowly spreading towards the nearby residential areas, instantly withering trees and melting concrete buildings into pools of mud.
"The energy in this magma is exactly the same as that of the Tree of Origin." Lin Ye held up the detector, the numbers on the screen jumping wildly. "The energy of the Earth's core is being released through the crater; if this continues, the entire city will be swallowed up!"
“It’s not just this one.” Trunks’ voice came through the communicator, visibly breathless. “I just received news that twelve volcanoes around the world are erupting simultaneously, and the earthquake monitoring equipment is about to explode!”
Number 18 landed beside Lin Ye, his eyes behind his sunglasses unusually grave: "What do we do now? Split up and stop the lava from spreading?"
Lin Ye took a deep breath, and suddenly golden light erupted from his body. His hair moved without wind, and his pupils turned a bright emerald green—Super Saiyan Origin Form activated. "Vegeta, you and Trunks are in charge of the lava flow in the east. Use energy waves to divert it towards the uninhabited area! Android 18, you go to the west and use a protective shield to prevent the lava from approaching the residential area! Bulma, find a way to suppress the volcanic eruption as soon as possible!"
"No problem!" Vegeta's aura surged instantly, golden flames shooting skyward. "Trunks, follow me!"
"Yes, Dad!"
Seeing the two fly eastward, Number 18 immediately sprang into action, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and a transparent protective shield quickly deployed, blocking the lava spreading towards the residential area. Lin Ye then flew above the crater, spreading his arms wide, and primal energy condensed in front of him into a huge semi-circular protective shield, forcefully blocking the gushing lava.
Boom! The magma crashed into the protective shield with a deafening roar, sending countless sparks flying. Lin Ye's arm trembled slightly; fine cracks had already appeared on the surface of the shield.
"Bulma, how is it?" he shouted into the communicator.
Bulma was crouching behind a rock, her laptop screen displaying a geological map of the volcano. "There's an energy node fifty meters directly below the crater! That's the outlet of the Earth's core energy; destroying it will temporarily suppress the eruption! But the node is surrounded by magma; you'll have to crawl inside to reach it!"
"Leave it to me!" Lin Ye gritted his teeth, abruptly deactivated his protective shield, and clasped his hands together in front of his chest. Origin energy condensed in his palms into an energy sword over two meters long, its blade flowing with golden patterns. "Origin? Slash!"
A golden sword light sliced through the air, piercing fiercely into the magma. "Sizzle..." The magma was cleaved open, revealing a dark passage below. Without hesitation, Lin Ye leaped inside.
The temperature inside the volcano was astonishingly high, the surrounding rocks glowing red-hot. Boiling lava churned on either side of the passage, sparks occasionally splashing onto Lin Ye's protective shield with crackling sounds. He gripped his energy sword tightly, struggling to advance through the narrow passage, the shield's light dimming as its energy dwindled.
Finally, a blinding red light appeared at the end of the passage. Lin Ye sped up and rushed forward, only to see a red crystal the size of a basketball suspended in the center of the magma, with countless red energy lines extending from the crystal and connecting to the surrounding rock walls.
"That's it!" Lin Ye raised his energy sword and slashed fiercely at the crystal.
"Clang!" The energy sword struck the crystal, producing a crisp metallic clang. Only a tiny crack appeared on the crystal's surface; there was no sign of it breaking.
"So hard?" Lin Ye was taken aback. He poured more Origin Energy into the sword, making it shine even brighter. "Again!"
Boom! The second sword strike widened the cracks in the crystal, and the surrounding magma began to churn violently. Lin Ye took a deep breath, channeling all his Origin Energy into the sword, and unleashed his full power: "Origin? Break!"
The golden sword light surged instantly, slamming into the crystal. "Crack... Boom!" The crystal finally shattered, and the red energy lines dissipated instantly. At the same time, the amount of lava erupting from the crater noticeably decreased, and its height was reduced by half.
"Success!" Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave, but the rocks beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble violently. He looked down and his expression changed drastically... the magma below was spinning rapidly, forming a huge black vortex, its center radiating a violent energy even more domineering than the energy of the Tree of Origin.
"Oh no! The Earth's core energy has gone out of control!" Lin Ye's heart sank to the bottom. He immediately contacted Bulma, "Bulma! An energy vortex has appeared at the bottom of the volcano! The Earth's core energy is about to explode!"
"What?" Bulma's voice was filled with disbelief and shock. "I'll analyze it right away!"
A few seconds later, Bulma's voice came again, tinged with obvious anxiety: "That vortex is the energy outlet of the Earth's core! If it continues to expand, the core will become completely unbalanced, and the Earth will be torn to pieces! The only way is to find the energy core at the center of the core and reseal it with Origin Energy! But the pressure deep within the core is a million times that at the surface; your body might not be able to withstand it!"
"We have to hold on, even if we can't!" Lin Ye stared at the ever-expanding vortex, his eyes filled with unwavering determination. "No one but me can use Origin Energy!"
"No! It's too dangerous!" Vegeta's voice suddenly broke in. "I just saw the magma weaken. You come out first, and we'll think of another way!"
"There's no other way!" Lin Ye interrupted him. "Vegeta, you guard the crater for me. Don't let anyone get close!"
Having said that, he didn't hesitate any longer and leaped into the energy vortex. Immense pressure instantly overwhelmed him; Lin Ye felt every bone in his body creak and groan, and the protective shield fluctuated violently, on the verge of shattering. He gritted his teeth, continuously channeling Origin Energy into the shield, struggling to sink deeper into the vortex.
After an unknown amount of time, the vortex finally disappeared, and Lin Ye landed heavily on a scorching hot surface. Looking up, he saw a massive cavern before him, with a golden sphere tens of meters in diameter suspended in its center—the energy core of the Earth. The sphere's surface was covered in countless cracks, from which golden energy surged wildly, causing the entire cavern to tremble continuously.
"Found it!" Lin Ye struggled to his feet, his hands gathering primal energy in front of his chest. The golden energy ball grew larger and larger, its surface adorned with complex runes. "Primordial? Seal!"
The energy ball roared towards the core, adhering to the surface of the sphere. Runes instantly spread out, covering the entire core, and the cracks began to slowly heal. But just then, the core suddenly erupted with a powerful rebound force, slamming Lin Ye violently against the rock wall. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his Super Saiyan form instantly deactivated, and his hair returned to its black color.
"Cough...Is it not over yet?" Lin Ye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and struggled to his feet. The runes on the core's surface were gradually disappearing, and the cracks were widening again. He knew he had no way out and once again gathered the last of his Origin Energy.
"Go for it!" Lin Ye roared, slamming the energy ball into the core. This time, he didn't retreat, but instead used his body to block the energy ball, pouring his last bit of strength into it. "Seal it!"
Golden light instantly enveloped the entire cave, runes visibly covered the core, the cracks completely disappeared, and energy stopped leaking. Lin Ye could no longer hold on; everything went black, and he collapsed.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Ye awoke to a soft white light. He found himself lying in a Capsule Corporation treatment pod, surrounded by Bulma, Vegeta, Trunks, and Android 18.
"You're finally awake!" Bulma's face lit up with a delighted smile. "You've been unconscious for three days!"
Lin Ye moved his fingers, feeling a slight soreness in his body: "Earth... is it alright now?"
"It's alright now." Trunks handed him a glass of water. "The volcano has stopped erupting, and the energy in the Earth's core has stabilized. But..."
He paused, his expression turning serious: "We detected a new change in the energy fluctuations of the Tree of Origin; it seems to be moving in a certain direction."
Lin Ye sat up, his brow furrowing again. He looked out the window; the sun was shining brightly, and the city had returned to calm, but he knew this was only temporary. The anomaly of the Time Key fragment, the strange movements of the Tree of Origin, and the uncontrolled energy of the Earth's core… there must be a greater secret hidden behind all of this.
"The Tree of Origin..." Lin Ye murmured to himself, his eyes hardening. "What exactly does it want to do?"
No one could answer that question. But everyone understood that the battle against the Tree of Origin and the Source of Chaos had only just begun. Many more dangers and mysteries awaited them on the path ahead.
?.
Chapter 455: The Origin
The pale blue liquid in the treatment chamber slowly receded. Lin Ye propped himself up against the chamber wall, his chest wound still throbbing. He stared at the flickering light on the ceiling, his mind replaying the images deep within the Earth's core: the cracked golden core, and the raging torrent of energy when it went out of control—every detail still filled him with lingering fear.
"Don't just stand there now that you're awake. I brought you some food." The lab door opened, and Bulma walked in carrying a tray, placing a steaming sandwich and milk on the table beside her. "The checkup showed you're mostly fine, just that you've used up too much energy; you need to replenish it."
Lin Ye picked up a sandwich, took a bite, and asked vaguely, "How's the Tree of Origin? Has the probe made any new discoveries?"
“You seem more anxious than I am,” Bulma chuckled, shaking her head as she pulled up the holographic report. “The energy fluctuations have stabilized, but the activity level has increased significantly. Furthermore, we discovered that its roots have penetrated much deeper than we anticipated, extending all the way into an unknown dimensional rift.”
An image of the Tree of Origin's roots appeared on the projection, a dense network of roots intertwined, with a black vortex at its center, constantly radiating faint black energy. "The energy characteristics of this dimension are almost identical to the source of chaos we detected previously."
Lin Ye paused, his expression instantly turning serious: "You mean, the source of chaos originated from this dimension?"
“Most likely.” Bulma nodded, then pulled up another set of data. “More importantly, we compared the energy maps of the twelve universes and discovered that the roots of the Tree of Origin are connected to the energy core of each universe. It acts like a super hub, maintaining the energy balance of all universes.”
"If that's really the case..." Lin Ye's heart sank. "The source of chaos might not just be targeting the Seventh Universe, but the entire Twelfth Universe!"
“That’s right.” A hurried voice suddenly rang out, and the figure of Anise, the Supreme Kai of Time, appeared out of thin air in the center of the laboratory. Her white robe was somewhat disheveled, and the hourglass on her scepter was flashing red. “I just detected an anomaly at the roots of the Tree of Origin; the energy from that unknown dimension is frantically invading!”
Lin Ye immediately stood up, grabbed the combat suit beside him, and said, "Let's go now! Bulma, notify Vegeta and the others to assemble on the tarmac!"
"Wait!" Anise hurriedly stopped him. "The energy in that dimension is extremely strange; ordinary fighting methods are simply ineffective. I can use time magic to temporarily suppress it, but it can only last for half an hour at most."
Lin Ye donned his combat suit, his eyes resolute: "That's enough. As long as I can find the true form of the Source of Chaos, I can completely destroy it."
Ten minutes later, the spaceship carrying everyone arrived at the planet where the Tree of Origin resided. When the hatch opened, the sight before them caused everyone to gasp in horror. The once verdant roots were now shrouded in black mist, from which black energy threads continuously surged, coiling around the trunk like venomous snakes. Wherever they passed, the verdant bark rapidly withered and turned black.
"This energy is exactly the same as the source of chaos!" Vegeta clenched his fist, and golden flames instantly erupted from his body. "It seems we were right; that dimension is its lair!"
Anise raised her scepter, the hourglass at its tip gleaming brightly, and a transparent barrier of time enveloped the roots of the Tree of Origin: "I can only temporarily halt the energy erosion; you must act quickly!"
“I’m going to that dimension.” Lin Ye took a step forward, activating Super Saiyan Origin Form, golden light illuminating the surrounding darkness. “Vegeta, you and Trunks are responsible for protecting Anise. Android 18 and Bulma are ready to provide support at any time.”
"No!" Vegeta immediately objected. "We know nothing about that dimension. It's too dangerous for you to go in alone! We'll go together!"
“No, too many people will only cause problems.” Lin Ye shook his head. “Anis’s time barrier needs protection; it’s more important for you to stay here. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
He gave no further chance to object, turning and flying towards the dimensional rift within the black mist. As he approached the rift, a powerful suction force suddenly pulled him in.
The scene before him abruptly changed, and Lin Ye found himself in a completely dark space. There was no up, down, left, or right; no sound, only endless darkness and raging black energy constantly battering against his protective shield.
"Source of Chaos! Come forth!" Lin Ye shouted, his voice echoing in the darkness, but there was no response.
Just then, a low laugh suddenly rang out, seemingly coming from all directions: "I didn't expect you to actually dare to come here, Lin Ye. Your courage surprises me."
From the darkness, a colossal black figure slowly emerged. Its size rivaled that of a small mountain, its body coiled with hundreds of black tentacles, each tipped with a black crystal shimmering with red light. It was none other than the true form of the Source of Chaos!
"The Source of Chaos!" A murderous glint flashed in Lin Ye's eyes. "Today is your death day!"
"Death's date?" The Source of Chaos scoffed. "On my territory, you have no right to boast!" It suddenly swung its tentacles, dozens of black tentacles attacking Lin Ye like venomous snakes.
Lin Ye's figure vanished instantly, reappearing behind the Source of Chaos the next second, a golden energy ball condensing in his palm: "Origin? Explode!"
The energy ball slammed into the back of the Source of Chaos, producing a loud bang. But to Lin Ye's surprise, the Source of Chaos only swayed slightly and didn't suffer any real damage.
"Is that all you've got?" The Source of Chaos turned around, its tentacles striking again. "Let me show you my true power!"
Lin Ye swiftly deployed a protective shield, blocking the tentacles' attack. However, the black energy on the tentacles was extremely corrosive, instantly corroding several small holes in the shield. A chill ran down his spine; he immediately created distance, a golden energy sword materializing in his palm: "Origin? Slash!"
A flash of sword light severed the attacking tentacle. Black liquid spurted from the cut, landing in the dark space with a sizzling sound, even corroding small cracks in the space itself.
"Interesting." A hint of surprise flashed in the eyes of the Source of Chaos, then it became even more ferocious. "But that's not enough!"