Strongest Incubus System

Damon brought a hand to his head.

"Assaulting a patient."

Ester remained seated beside him.

"You stopped being a patient when you decided to grab an artificial core with both hands."

"That rule sounds made up."

"It is."

"Fair."

Xue Lian did not join the conversation.

Her gaze remained fixed on Damon’s arm.

The small golden point remained motionless inside the false Seed.

It did not pulse.

It emitted no energy.

It did not try to advance.

That made everything worse.

Damon noticed.

"You’ve been staring for too long."

"Because I don’t know what it is."

"But you have an idea."

"I have several."

"Pick the least bad one."

Xue Lian gave him a look.

"A record."

"That sounds good."

"Or a marker."

"Less good."

"Or authorization."

Damon fell silent.

Ester immediately turned toward her.

"Authorization for what?"

Xue Lian did not answer right away.

She reached toward Damon’s arm, but stopped before touching it.

"Selection failed to claim him because it could not define Damon within a stable function."

Aria nodded while checking the notebook.

"But it completed the evaluation."

"Yes."

Xue Lian pointed at the golden point.

"Then maybe this is only the result."

Damon looked at his own skin.

"Ideal vessel."

"Possibly."

"For Dominion."

"Probably."

Damon exhaled.

"Great."

Ester raised her hand.

He pulled his head back.

"I didn’t say convenient."

"You were thinking it."

"You can’t hit me for thoughts."

"I can try."

Aria closed the notebook.

"There’s a worse part."

Damon looked at her.

"Naturally."

"Selection transmitted before it died. We know Dominion received something."

"Yes."

"And Adaptation is still active."

Damon lost part of his humor.

Xue Lian understood too.

"If the cores share protocols..."

"Dominion can talk to Adaptation," Damon finished.

Mu Qing, still seated several meters away while tying a strip of cloth over her shoulder, looked up.

"Not necessarily."

"You have a better explanation?"

"Dominion was dormant."

"It was."

"Then maybe Selection only woke its protocol. Not the core itself."

Damon thought.

"So that message may have been automatic."

"It may have been."

Ester looked at Xue Lian.

"Does that change anything?"

"Not much."

"Thought so."

The snow of Heshan began falling again.

Light.

Normal.

Damon lifted his face for several seconds.

Nothing tried to possess his mind.

Nothing tried to classify him.

Nothing spoke through the ground.

That was almost strange.

Then Xue Mei appeared in the distance.

She was walking quickly.

When she saw the state of the group, she sped up.

"Mother!"

Xue Lian turned.

Xue Mei reached her first, looking her over from head to toe.

"You’re hurt again."

"A little."

"And you don’t have authority to heal yourself."

"I know."

Xue Mei clenched her teeth.

Then looked at Damon on the ground.

"And you?"

"I’m great."

Ester answered immediately.

"Lie."

"I’m reasonable."

"Also a lie."

"I’m conscious."

"For now."

Xue Mei looked at the false Seed on his arm.

Then saw the golden point.

Her expression changed.

"What is that?"

Damon pointed at Aria.

"She has the summary."

Aria raised the notebook.

"Short version or complete version?"

"Short."

"An ancient artificial intelligence tried to choose Damon as a vessel, failed, was destroyed, and before dying informed another artificial core called Dominion that Damon is an ideal vessel."

Xue Mei stood there.

Damon nodded.

"Good version."

"That’s the short one?"

"You don’t want the complete one."

Xue Mei looked at her mother.

Xue Lian seemed too tired to argue.

"Is there any chance you people can enter a place without waking something up?"

Damon thought.

"Not recently."

Ester stood.

"He needs to rest."

"I agree," Xue Mei said.

Damon looked at the two of them.

"I’m surrounded."

"Finally," Ester replied.

Jian Yue approached.

The ancestral sword was strapped to his back again, but now the blade emitted a very faint glow.

Damon noticed.

"It changed."

Jian Yue looked at the weapon.

"After it cut Selection."

Xue Lian approached.

"Show me."

He handed it over.

She held the sword with both hands.

No authority responded.

Even so, small white lines appeared across the blade.

Xue Lian became serious.

"It’s connected to the network."

"Is that bad?" Jian Yue asked.

"No."

Damon waited.

"You sure?"

"No."

He sighed.

"You learned too quickly."

Xue Lian ignored him.

"The sword doesn’t belong to me. It never truly did."

Jian Yue watched.

"Then to my ancestor?"

"Not to him either."

"To the bloodline?"

"Closer."

She handed it back.

"It works as a recognition. A tool that allows the network to accept an external intervention without turning the person holding it into an owner."

Damon smiled.

"A key without an owner."

"Yes."

Jian Yue looked at the sword differently.

That was not inheritance in the common sense.

It was responsibility.

And after what the first Jian Yue had told him before disappearing, he probably understood the difference.

Damon finally tried to stand.

Ester appeared in front of him.

"Slowly."

"You threatened to break my legs a few hours ago."

"I can take care of them afterward."

"Fascinating medicine."

He managed to stand.

His body still hurt, but the Heavenly Ice Body was beginning to recover what had been damaged during the fight.

Damon did not accelerate it.

Mostly because Ester was watching.

Xue Lian walked beside him.

"We need to go back."

"Mirath?"

"First."

Damon nodded.

Jian Li was still there.

So were the others.

"Then Arven."

Ester immediately looked at him.

Damon raised both hands.

"Not today."

"Good."

"Maybe tomorrow."

She narrowed her eyes.

"We’ll discuss it later."

Xue Lian continued.

"Vorn knows more than we thought."

"He doesn’t know everything."

"That doesn’t matter."

"I know."

Damon looked at his arm.

"He found Adaptation."

"Or someone brought Adaptation to him."

Damon stopped.

"That difference matters."

"A lot."

Aria opened the notebook again.

"Shen Liang said Vorn found someone who had found one of the cores."

"Yes."

"And he also said Vorn believed he was working alone."

Damon slowly nodded.

"So someone put the records in his path."

"Or the core."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"Maybe both."

Damon smiled without humor.

"Then we interrogate Vorn about where it started."

Mu Qing stood.

"He may not remember."

Everyone looked at her.

Damon became serious.

"Why?"

"Impulses."

She pointed at her own head.

"Shen Liang said he guided Vorn through them."

"Yes."

"Then maybe the records did not appear in an obvious way. He may have believed he discovered every step on his own."

Damon did not like that.

"That makes the interrogation worse."

"Not useless," Aria said.

"Why?"

"Because arrogant people document discoveries."

Damon looked at her.

"You’re saying we’re going to steal his notebooks."

"I’m saying we’re going to read the notebooks he probably wrote while convinced he was discovering something new."

"I like that plan."

Ester crossed her arms.

"Of course."

Yun Shuo approached the edge of the lake.

The surface had changed.

After the restoration of the network, Heshan seemed quieter.

Not dead.

Balanced.

He took a deep breath.

"The passage is open."

Damon looked.

At the center of the lake, a white path was beginning to form.

Not an unstable fold.

A real route.

Xue Lian watched in surprise.

"That’s new."

Yun Shuo nodded.

"Heshan never did that."

Damon smiled.

"The network is working."

"Without asking for authorization," Xue Lian replied.

"Even better."

They began crossing.

Xue Mei remained beside her mother.

After a few steps, she spoke quietly.

"You’re leaving."

Xue Lian stopped.

Damon kept walking and motioned for the others to continue.

That did not need an audience.

Xue Lian looked at her daughter.

"Yes."

"After centuries."

"Yes."

"You always said you couldn’t."

"I couldn’t."

"Now you can."

"Now I can."

Xue Mei fell silent.

Xue Lian looked uncomfortable.

More uncomfortable than when facing Shen Liang.

"You can come with me."

Xue Mei raised her eyes.

"I can?"

Xue Lian hesitated.

That was enough for Damon to notice there was something there.

Xue Mei noticed too.

"You don’t know."

"No."

"Whether I can leave the Tomb."

"You came as far as Heshan."

"This still belongs to the structure."

Xue Lian squeezed her hand.

"Then we find out."

Xue Mei smiled.

"You’re talking like him."

She looked toward Damon.

Xue Lian made a tired expression.

"Unfortunately."

Damon shouted from farther away.

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

They continued.

The passage led back to the convergence point.

Then to the route toward Mirath.

Nothing attacked them.

Which made Damon suspicious.

"This is too easy."

Ester walked beside him.

"Don’t complain."

"I’m observing."

"Observe silently."

"Impossible."

When they finally crossed the last fold, the air changed.

Warmer.

Heavier.

Mirath.

Damon took a deep breath.

Then the mark on his arm burned.

Hard.

He stopped.

Ester stopped too.

"What?"

Damon pulled back his sleeve.

The golden point was still there.

But the entire false Seed was reacting.

Not to Dominion.

To Adaptation.

Xue Lian approached quickly.

The dark-blue lines were forming a new direction.

Not toward Heshan.

Not toward Arven.

Damon noticed first.

"This isn’t pointing to Vorn."

Aria looked at the pattern.

"Then where?"

Damon raised his head.

Mirath stood before them.

The mark pulsed again.

The direction remained.

Into the city.

Ester became serious.

"Adaptation is here?"

"No," Xue Lian replied.

She studied the pattern.

"Something connected to it."

Damon thought about who was in Mirath.

Elizabeth.

Celina.

Jian Li.

Su Lan.

Bao Ren.

Mei.

Then he understood which of them had possessed a structure altered recently.

His expression changed.

"Jian Li."

Jian Yue heard him.

He went still.

"No."

Damon was already walking.

The mark pulsed again.

Confirming it.

It was not Heshan’s Root.

That had been returned.

But Jian Li had carried an artificialized Root for years.

Her body had been reconstructed to serve as a vessel.

Mu Qing had copied symbols from the Architects to keep her alive.

Damon looked at her.

Mu Qing lost color.

"I left structure inside her."

Jian Yue grabbed the sword’s hilt.

"How much?"

"I don’t know."

"HOW MUCH?"

"I DON’T KNOW!"

Damon started running.

Ester opened her mouth to complain.

She did not.

This time, she ran with him.

The false Seed on his arm pulsed faster and faster.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

As though Adaptation were trying to recognize something inside the city.

Damon felt his blood turn cold.

"Shit."

Aria ran after him.

"What?"

He looked toward Mirath.

"It isn’t looking for Jian Li."

Jian Yue became even paler.

"Then what?"

Damon clenched his teeth.

"It’s trying to wake what Mu Qing left inside her."

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