Chapter 61 – Echoes in Code
The ruins of Sublevel 3 hissed with steam and scorched circuitry as the team navigated around flaming debris. Overhead, the automated sirens wailed a warning no one heeded anymore: Facility lockdown in 48 minutes.
Bai Xueqing coughed as she waved smoke from her face. "Zhihao, when you said 'distraction,' I assumed it didn't involve blowing up half the escape route!"
From the other end of the comms, Meng Zhihao's voice sounded sheepish. "It was either the red wire or getting sliced by that laser grid. I panicked, okay?!"
Mo Chen chuckled under his breath. "At least he's consistent."
Ahead, Lin Nuo was tapping rapidly into a half-scorched interface panel. "Wait. There's something here... encrypted logs."
The General moved beside him, frowning. "Whose logs?"
He glanced up. "Project: Phoenix Echo. I think it's the original code repository for the reincarnation data."
Bai Xueqing narrowed her eyes. "The same program they used to bring me back?"
"No," Lin Nuo muttered. "This one's... older. Way older."
He pressed a final key, and the screen flashed to life. Lines of old code spilled down like rain. And then a video clip appeared—grainy, timestamped Year A0, Cycle 1.
A woman who looked exactly like Xueqing—except her eyes were gentler, softer—sat in a lab, speaking softly to the camera.
> "If you're watching this, it means I failed. But maybe she didn't. Maybe she survived."
Xueqing leaned closer. "Is that… me?"
"No," Lin Nuo whispered. "It's your origin."
> "They call us anomalies. Living code. But we are more. We are memory wrapped in will."
The General stepped forward. "That's… Bai Shenhua. The First Phoenix."
Mo Chen blinked. "I thought she was a myth."
"She was," Xueqing whispered. "Until now."
The clip continued:
> "The Phoenix Protocol was never about resurrection. It was about continuity. Each cycle, each body, refining the soul. One day, one of us will end the loop."
The video ended with static.
Silence settled like dust.
Xueqing turned to Mo Chen. "That means I'm not the first. Or the last."
"But maybe the only one with a chance to break the pattern," he said softly.
Just then, Meng Zhihao's voice came through the comms again. "Uh, team? I may have tripped another security layer."
They turned as metal walls shifted. From the shadows emerged sleek humanoid drones, eyes glowing crimson.
Lin Nuo groaned. "Why is it always killer robots?"
Mo Chen smiled faintly, drawing his weapon. "Because fate loves reruns."
Xueqing cracked her knuckles. "Then let's give it a different ending."
The General stepped beside her. "Together?"
"Together."