Chapter 112: The Mirror Maze Deep in the Power Plant

Shen Yan kicked open the iron door, its rusted hinges letting out a piercing screech. He half-stumbled into the power plant’s main hall, the Programming Pen clenched so tightly in his palm that his knuckles turned white. Luo Li pressed close behind him, her Fox Tail rigid and straight, like a steel whip ready to snap forward at any moment.

“This place feels off,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “The air has a… taste of echoes.”

Shen Yan had no time to respond. Leaning against the wall, he caught his breath, then jabbed his right hand sharply at the Programming Pen—the “Reverse Heartbeat” Code hidden deep within his Source Code Spiritual Root was finally activated. The pen tip flickered with a faint light, and immediately, a line of green text surfaced in his mind:

【Local Permission restored. Unable to invoke external Protocols.】

“As long as it works,” he grinned, nearly biting his tongue. “At least I don’t have to test the System by bashing my head against a wall.”

No sooner had he spoken than the surrounding mirrors suddenly lit up in unison. They weren’t reflecting light—they were glowing on their own. Countless versions of “Shen Yan” and “Luo Li” stood in the mirrors at different angles: some covered in blood, convulsing on the ground; others holding a Scythe with a cold sneer; and one cradling Yu Xiaotang’s corpse, muttering something under his breath.

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted.

The Terminal immediately flashed a Warning: 【Mental Pollution Program activated. Current Pollution Level: 47%】

“Damn, who wrote such a vicious Virus?” he cursed, raising his hand to delete the Process, only to find he couldn’t even open the task manager.

But Luo Li moved at that moment. She swung her Fox Tail, lashing it hard against the nearest mirror. With a crisp crack, the mirror shattered, but instead of falling to the ground, the fragments rippled like water, revealing a fleeting glimpse of reality—

Yu Xiaotang, bound by chains around her limbs, was suspended in the center of a massive energy pillar. Her chest rose and fell faintly, her face as pale as paper.

“She’s inside!” Shen Yan’s heart tightened. He was about to charge forward when he noticed that all the mirror images of “himself” stepped forward simultaneously, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Even more eerie, one of the Mirror Images suddenly picked up Yu Xiaotang’s corpse, knelt on the ground, and wailed loudly. The Terminal simultaneously displayed a Popup Window: 【Mission Failed. Worldline Collapsed.】

A heavy blow struck Shen Yan’s chest, as if someone had hammered him.

“Don’t look!” Luo Li grabbed his arm. “These aren’t just Images—they’re rehearsals! They’re stealing your thoughts!”

“I know,” Shen Yan bit the Tip of his Tongue, the taste of blood sharpening his focus. “The problem is… how do we tell which one is real?”

He closed his eyes, abandoning visual reliance, and instead used “Reverse Heartbeat” to scan the environmental Data Stream. The Code ran slowly within him, like a blind insect crawling along the ground. A few seconds later, he detected an Anomaly—the Energy Fluctuations of all the false Mirror Images followed a regular Loop, but one signal was chaotic and irregular, like a Lagging video frame.

“Over there!” He opened his eyes and pointed straight ahead. “Irregular signal source—must be the real passage!”

Without a word, Luo Li swept her Fox Tail sideways, shattering three mirrors in succession. But with each broken mirror, new Images immediately formed, like endless, unkillable Popup Window ads.

“So damn annoying!” Shen Yan’s temper flared. He pulled a half-crushed bag of potato chips from his pocket and tossed it aside. “This lousy maze is even more frustrating than the company’s annual lottery System!”

Potato chips scattered across the floor, grease dripping precisely onto a metal seam. Shen Yan’s eyes lit up: “Wait… oil conducts electricity!”

He immediately bit his finger, smeared blood onto the Programming Pen, and swiftly wrote three lines of Code: If mirror image energy does not equal true thought, then destroy

The Code injected into the ground, instantly spreading into a ripple of waves. With several rumbling sounds, large swathes of mirrors collapsed one after another, revealing a metal corridor leading deeper inside.

“It worked!” Shen Yan grinned, about to step forward when Luo Li grabbed his arm.

“Slow down.” She stared toward the end of the corridor. “Did you notice… in those mirrors just now, even when I didn’t move, they were moving?”

Shen Yan froze.

Right. Some of the “Luo Li” figures had already swung their tails before he gave the order, even shouting out words he hadn’t yet spoken.

“This isn’t prediction,” his voice grew heavy. “It’s replication. The entire maze is learning from us.”

The two exchanged a glance, instinctively lightening their footsteps as they moved step by step toward the end of the corridor.

A circular hall appeared before them. At its center stood a multifaceted mirror array, with Yu Xiaotang trapped at the highest point, several Data conduits connected to her body, her face pale and bloodless. Ye Shi’er stood with his back to them, the Blood-Colored Scythe resting gently against Yu Xiaotang’s neck, motionless.

A Popup Window forcibly appeared on Shen Yan’s Terminal: 【Mental corruption level 97%, recommend immediate self-destruction of Source Code to prevent tampering】

“Ninety-seven?” he sneered. “Three points short of graduating with honors, huh?”

But Luo Li wasn’t looking at him. Instead, she was staring at the nearest mirror. Her Fox Tail slowly rose, then abruptly pierced the mirror’s surface—

This time, the image in the mirror didn’t shatter.

Instead, it extended into a tangible sensation: she saw Ye Shi’er crouching in a pile of ruins, holding a broken stone tablet engraved with the name “Shen Yan.” The tip of his finger traced the character over and over, as if afraid it would disappear.

“This isn’t a trap,” Luo Li murmured. “This is his Memory.”

Shen Yan shuddered.

A palace of memories? Meaning the entire power plant had been transformed into a Data graveyard of Ye Shi’er’s consciousness? The path they were walking now was his sealed past?

“So these mirror images…” his voice grew dry, “aren’t just illusions, but his Obsession?”

“Exactly.” Luo Li withdrew her Fox Tail, her expression complex. “He doesn’t want to kill you. He wants you to ‘see.’”

At that moment, Ye Shi’er slowly turned around. The Bronze Mask reflected the cold light of the mirror array, his voice unnervingly calm: “Brother, you’ve come.”

Shen Yan tightened his grip on the Programming Pen, his knuckles cracking. “You kidnapped her just to lure me into your mind?”

“I merely gave you a choice,” Ye Shi’er gently stroked the Scythe. “Hand over the Source Code Spiritual Root, and I’ll let her go. Otherwise, she’ll be drained of her life force bit by bit before your eyes, becoming the next Data Puppet.”

Shen Yan scoffed. “You think I’d believe that? If you could really kill her, you would’ve done it already.”

“I don’t need to kill her,” Ye Shi’er said flatly. “I only need to keep her alive, and you’ll never be able to bring yourself to leave.”

The air froze.

Shen Yan stared at the Data conduit connected to Yu Xiaotang, his mind racing. His System Permissions weren’t fully restored—a direct confrontation was out of the question. But if he agreed to the exchange… once he lost the Source Code Spiritual Root, he’d be an ordinary person, unable to save anyone, let alone protect himself.

“You’re hesitating.” Ye Shi’er smiled. “Because deep down, you know you’re the only one who can save her. But you’re also afraid—afraid that once you hand it over, you’ll no longer be ‘you.'”

Shen Yan remained silent.

He knew the other was right. He wasn’t afraid of death; what he feared was losing the ability to change everything.

Luo Li quietly leaned close to his ear, her voice barely a whisper. “I can cut two of the conduits, but the third is connected to the core. Touching it will trigger self-destruction.”

Shen Yan nodded, his fingers lightly tapping on the Programming Pen as if debugging a piece of Hidden Code.

“You know,” he suddenly spoke, “when I was little, I had a dream too. In it, there was a younger brother who always hid in a cabinet and sang to me. Later, the cabinet burned down, and I never saw him again.”

Ye Shi’er’s hand trembled slightly.

“I always thought it was a hallucination after the fire,” Shen Yan stared at him. “But now, thinking back… maybe it wasn’t.”

Ye Shi’er fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “Then why did you never look for me?”

“Because I was afraid,” Shen Yan whispered. “Afraid that what I’d find wasn’t a brother, but a madman wielding a Scythe.”

Before the words fully left his mouth, Shen Yan abruptly thrust the Programming Pen into the ground, Initiating the final segment of Cache Code. At the same moment, Luo Li’s Fox Tail surged forward, aiming straight for the middle conduit!

Ye Shi’er’s eyes turned icy cold. With a swing of his Scythe, a streak of crimson light swept out—

(End of Chapter)