Chapter 62 – The First Phoenix's Secret
The corridor pulsed red as alarms blared overhead. With the discovery of Bai Shenhua's video, a truth had been unearthed—one that rewrote everything Bai Xueqing thought she knew about her existence.
They moved quickly, ducking under flickering lights and sidestepping exposed wires. The mechanical sentries were relentless, and only Mo Chen's precision shots kept them from being overwhelmed. Still, the further they went, the more resistance they faced.
"We're getting closer to the core," Lin Nuo muttered, clutching a tablet synced to the system. "Whatever was hidden here… they didn't want anyone to find it."
"I'm starting to take it personally," Meng Zhihao grumbled from behind them, panting and nursing a minor burn on his forearm.
At the end of the hallway stood a vault door, twice their height and engraved with an ancient phoenix sigil—wings wide, beak raised, as though crying out against the heavens.
Mo Chen stepped forward. "This symbol… it's older than any reincarnation file. It was used in the Forbidden Archives of Sector Z."
Bai Xueqing nodded slowly. "It's calling me."
She stepped forward, placing her palm flat on the center of the symbol.
The door lit up with golden lines of light, scanning her. A soft chime echoed, and the vault hissed open.
Inside, instead of weapons or data cores, lay a single glowing sphere suspended in midair, pulsing softly like a heartbeat. All around it, walls were etched with names—hundreds, thousands of them—all bearing the surname Bai.
"This is…" Xueqing murmured. "A soul archive."
Lin Nuo stared in awe. "Every previous Phoenix incarnation… their memories, their strength… all stored here."
A whisper of a voice echoed, not from the speakers but directly into their minds.
> Bai Xueqing. Cycle 999. Last Reincarnation. Final Choice Awaits.
Mo Chen's brow furrowed. "Final choice?"
Another memory fragment shimmered into view—a flickering image of Bai Shenhua again, older now, battle-scarred, standing beside a young child.
> "If Cycle 999 survives the test, she will be offered the last integration. She will remember all. And if she chooses… she may rewrite everything."
The sphere brightened.
Xueqing felt her breath catch. "Integration means I take all their memories. All their lives. I become… them."
"Or," the General said quietly, "you walk away. Live this life, with your memories, your choices, untouched."
Xueqing turned to Mo Chen, and for once, uncertainty shadowed her eyes.
He stepped forward, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever you choose, I stay. I've walked through lives to find you again. I won't leave now."
A long silence passed.
Then she stepped toward the sphere.
"Show me… who I've been. And who I must become."
The light enveloped her.