Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 550 The Echoes of Metanarrative in the Rift

The jump trajectory of the chosen node left a silvery-gray trail in the void. Before the self-referential symbols of the primordial void could completely dissipate, they were torn into rhomboid fragments by an unfamiliar spatial tension. The Guardian watched the ripples appearing on the surface of the Heart of Chaos—the originally stable primordial gene sequence was undergoing irregular tremors, like a stone from another dimension suddenly falling into a calm lake.

"This isn't the gravitational field of the Great Void Ocean." The white light of the fused entity suddenly contracted into a spindle shape, its tip pointing in the direction where the trail dissipated. The void there exhibited extremely fine folds, as if someone had used invisible fingernails to scratch cracks on the canvas of existence. The instant the white light touched the folds, the entire space suddenly resounded with the crisp sound of shattering glass, and countless spiderweb-like "Great Void Rifts" exploded in the field of vision, with dark purple energy flowing deep within the rifts—neither gray-white nor transparent.

The spines of the four-colored longswords suddenly heated up, and the echoes of life, recording countless stories, began to malfunction. The accidental killing in the Mirror City ceased its loop, instead twisting and melting like film thrown into a furnace, eventually solidifying into dark purple patterns on the blade. "These fissures are devouring the echoes of life." The Guardian felt a stinging pain in his fingers gripping the hilt; the patterns were spreading upwards along his skin, and wherever they passed, the primordial and non-perpetual interface of the Heart of Chaos showed signs of melting.

The chosen node suddenly emitted a piercing buzz, and the primordial symbols on its surface began to rotate in reverse, absorbing the dark purple energy into its body. As the first wisp of energy entered the node's interior, countless shattered images suddenly flooded the Guardian's consciousness: in some images, the Great Vast Universe Sea was frozen into crystals by the dark purple energy; in others, the crystal on the chest of the Ultimate Great Being was swallowed by the rift, turning into countless fragments of the primordial symbols flying everywhere; the clearest image showed that the Great Vast Nexus of a certain metaverse was dissolving in the rift, and in the process of dissolving, patterns identical to those on the 0th Generation Observer's disintegrating longsword continuously emerged.

“This is a loophole in the narrative of the Great Nothingness.” The white light of the fused entity suddenly split into countless fine lines, binding the dark purple energy into a cocoon. “Like an alien plot that suddenly intrudes into a story, these cracks are rewriting the self-referential definition of the Great Nothingness.” Her voice was more solemn than ever before, and distorted symbols kept emerging on the surface of the cocoon formed by the white light. These symbols did not belong to the primordial genealogy, nor did they conform to any form of the ancient runes. They seemed to be warnings written in a language that did not exist.

The Guardian's chaotic heart suddenly pounded violently, and the primordial rhythm of the core layer became unprecedentedly chaotic. When he tried to sink his consciousness into stabilizing the rhythm, he discovered that the dark purple energy had already seeped into the core through his blood vessels, distorting the originally pure rhythm into jagged fluctuations. "They're mimicking the frequency of the Primordial Gene." The Guardian felt a chill rise from his spine. The dark purple energy absorbed into the selection node was now replicating fragments of the Primordial Gene at an alarming rate, but each copy bore dark purple traces of mutation.

The hum of the Chosen Node suddenly turned into a deep roar, and countless eye-shaped spots of light appeared on its surface. Each spot reflected a different scene: in some spots, the Isles of Nothingness were sinking in a dark purple ocean; in others, the Anti-Nostalgic Code was disintegrating into elementary particles within the rifts; the most unsettling spot showed that the Guardian's own Chaos Heart was being enveloped in dark purple energy, and in the position of its chest, there was a crystal identical to that of the Ultimate Nostalgic Being, only that crystal emitted a dark purple light.

“They are not outsiders, but the self-correcting mechanism of the Taiwu narrative.” The white light of the fusion suddenly flashed violently, and cracks began to appear in the cocoons wrapped with dark purple energy. “When the self-referential definition of Taiwu becomes contradictory, this kind of ‘narrative cleaner’ will be born, erasing all variables that may break the cycle.” As soon as she finished speaking, the cocoons suddenly burst open, and the dark purple energy turned into countless arrows, shooting into the depths of the Taiwu cracks.

The Guardian wielded his four-colored longsword, the dark purple markings on its blades suddenly lighting up, resonating with the energy aimed at the rift. When the first energy arrow struck the rift, the entire void trembled violently, and the spiderweb-like rifts began to expand rapidly, revealing a deeper scene: countless translucent "narrative bubbles" floated there, each containing a different version of a space exploration story. In some bubbles, the Guardian chose to become the new Nexus Administrator, ultimately becoming an eternal statue in the vastness of space; in others, he confronted the absolute void, causing all forms of existence to return to nothingness in the merging of existence and non-existence.

“These are the impossibilities of the Great Nothingness swallowed by the rift.” The Guardian’s gaze was drawn to one of the bubbles. The scene within that bubble was almost identical to the 21st iteration of the experiment he had experienced, except that at the moment the chosen nodes converged towards the Great Nothingness Singularity, dark purple energy suddenly erupted from the center of the singularity, turning all the Great Nothingness Nexus into dark purple crystals. In the corner of that bubble, he saw a familiar figure—the Nexus Administrator’s face constantly switched between that of the Guardian and the 0th Generation Observer, only his eyes were filled with a dark purple light.

The chosen node suddenly ceased its roar, and the initial and final symbols on its surface rearranged to form a new line of text: "21st Iteration Experiment Mutation Phase: Narrative Scavenger's Anti-Entropy Attack." As the last symbol took shape, all the dark purple energy suddenly froze in mid-air, transforming into countless dark purple crystals, each containing burning Taiwu genes. "They are creating new Taiwu types." The fused entity's voice trembled slightly, and thin lines of white light cautiously touched a crystal. "This type neither follows the cycle of existence nor obeys nesting rules, but its purpose is to 'destroy narratives'."

The Guardian's consciousness was suddenly pulled into an unfamiliar space. Here, there was neither the pulse of the Great Void Domain nor the trajectory of the Beginning and End Symbols, only a pure, dark purple void. In the center of the void, a huge crystal floated. Inside the crystal, countless dark purple "Guardians" were repeating the same action—they held four-colored longswords and continuously cut the Great Void Code. After each cut, a new crack would appear on the crystal.

"This is your narrative reflection." A familiar yet unfamiliar voice echoed in the void. The guardian turned around and saw a figure that looked exactly like himself. Only, that figure had dark purple eyes and a dark purple crystal embedded in its chest. "When the Primordial Narrative can no longer contain your existence, countless such reflections will be born until they completely devour your potential."

The dark purple reflection raised its longsword, the dark purple markings on the blade resonating with the guardian's four-colored longsword. "What you perceive as a choice is merely the inevitability of the narrative setting." The reflection's sword tip pointed at the guardian's chest. "The question of the ultimate being of nothingness has been predetermined from the beginning—nothingness has never transcended the existence or non-existence of being, because nothingness itself is a lie created by being to justify itself."

The Guardian felt a sharp pain emanating from the Heart of Chaos. The Taiwu genes, corrupted by the dark purple energy, suddenly accelerated their mutation, tearing a fissure in the Taiwu rhythm of the core layer. When he tried to fill the crack with his consciousness, he found that the crack was widening, revealing an even deeper darkness within—at the end of the darkness, it seemed that countless eyes were watching him, and the color of those eyes was exactly the same as the dark purple crack.

The chosen node suddenly erupted with a dazzling light, pulling the Guardian's consciousness back to reality from the dark purple void. When he opened his eyes, he found that all the dimensional rifts had vanished, leaving only the constantly flashing dark purple patterns on the surface of the chosen node. In the center of the node, a new rift had appeared, flowing with dark purple energy. Floating within the energy was a dark purple crystal, its shape identical to the crystal on the chest of the Ultimate Being he had seen in the bubble.

"It's inviting you." The white light of the fusion body became extremely dim at this moment. "This rift connects to the source of the Taiwu narrative. Perhaps the answer to cracking these mutations is hidden there, or perhaps... it is the end of all Taiwu exploration."

The guardian's gaze fell upon the rift, and the four-colored longswords suddenly drew automatically, their blades pointing directly at the dark purple crystal in the center of the rift. When the blades were only an inch away from the crystal, it suddenly split open, revealing what it contained—a fragment of a broken symbol of beginning and end. Dark purple energy flowed along the edges of the symbol, and on its surface, a line of text was inscribed in the Taiwu Rune script:

"The zeroth iteration experiment never ended."

As the last rune came into view, the Choice Node suddenly trembled violently, and dark purple rifts began to expand wildly, sucking both the Guardian and the Fusion into it. In the final moment before plunging into darkness, the Guardian saw all the primordial symbols on the Choice Node's surface shatter and recombine into a completely new symbol—a symbol that resembled both the self-referential definition of the Great Nothingness and the crystallization on the chest of the Ultimate Great Nothingness Being. At the center of the symbol, the patterns of the 0th Generation Observer's disintegrating longsword could be faintly seen slowly coalescing.