Time inside the giant cocoon is a thick, honeyed ooze. I cradle the ice sculpture of five-year-old Lu Zhao, the red-clad maiden's spinal umbilical cords twining around us both. They've woven the administrator's dust into a glowing star ring that hovers overhead. Every heartbeat shakes loose crystal dust, etching new laws onto the cocoon walls:
...
4.1 Grief is permitted
...
9.7 Hope's fulfillment may be deferred
...
A sharp crack shatters the silence. Tentacles of the Entropy Demon pierce the cocoon's membrane. It's the physical manifestation of pure entropy—everything it touches turns to ashen crystals. The defensive ramparts built by the rose roots crumble, and gray patches spread across the luminous chrysalis in the Nestorian Stele cradle.
"He's afraid of crying..." the ice sculpture suddenly speaks, the child's eyes moving behind the frost. "All gods fear the wail of the newborn..."
The spinal umbilical cords constrict violently. In searing pain, I glimpse the Entropy Demon's core: Inside a crystalline mountain range, the convenience store freezer lies frozen, locking away the moment when all universes reset. The star ring made of administrator dust begins to spin, birthing and destroying three hundred and sixty prism clones within its orbit.
Xiaoyu's ghostly form seeps through the cocoon walls. She's fully merged with the rose now, its petals cradling Dr. Lin's crystal skull. "Connect the umbilical cords to the demon's core!" The roots lash out, only to crumble into dust upon touching the crystal mountains.
The ice sculpture melts in my arms. Five-year-old Lu Zhao presses his fingertips against the cocoon wall, and the convenience store scene spreads like mold. The freezer door bursts open, unleashing a horde of gas-mask figures. But the ouroboros marks on their chests spin in reverse—these are the administrator's original antivirus programs, now hijacked by the Entropy Demon!
The maiden's spine suddenly pierces the cocoon. The umbilical cord snags the nearest gas-mask figure, transforming it into a living bomb that slams into the crystal mountains. In the chain reaction of explosions, the Entropy Demon emits a howl that warps time itself.
The demon's counterattack crystallizes an entire star system. Cracks spiderweb across the Nestorian Stele cradle, and the embryo inside begins to quantum-collapse. In desperation, I break the star ring overhead, scattering the administrator's dust over the gas-mask army. The moment the dust settles, all the figures freeze, their pupils reflecting ghostly smiles of mothers.
"Now!" Xiaoyu's rose stabs into the crack. Its roots entwine the embryo, linking with my spinal umbilical cords. Three neural streams converge within the demon: the rose's pain, the umbilical cord's memories, and the embryo's first cry, surging as a data 洪流 (torrent) into the freezer's console.
The Entropy Demon's crystalline mountains crack and collapse. The freezer screen flickers wildly:
Unparsable variable detected: Love
Initiating final purge protocol
The entire mountain range implodes into a light-devouring singularity. Just as we're about to be sucked in, five-year-old Lu Zhao leaps into the singularity's heart. The teddy-bear moon in his arms inflates, spewing forth memories—the convenience store hot pot machine, subway ads, the colosseum at the Endlands—all bursting from the doll to jam the singularity's event horizon!
"It's time to wake up..." The maiden's spine fractures piece by piece. She wraps the embryo in her final data stream, gently pushing it through the crack in the cradle.
A new cry pierces the void.
This isn't a sound wave; it's a proclamation at the level of laws:
The Zeroth Old Testament Law:
All beings have the right to err
The Entropy Demon's singularity vaporizes at the cry. Crystal shards reverse and 重组 (reassemble) into a nebula, and the rose roots bloom a garden of Earth's civilizations from the wreckage. At the heart of the collapsing cocoon, the embryo has grown into a teenage New God. He holds an observer ring forged from administrator dust in his left hand, and a permanently dead ouroboros coin rests in his right palm.
"Thank you for teaching me..." The New God's pupils swirl with the spectra of three hundred and sixty civilizations. "...Perfection is just another name for death."
With a wave of his hand, the convenience store rebuilds on the original site of the lunar crater. When the glass door swings open, wind chimes tinkle—a pot of steaming hot pot sits on the counter, and the screen plays ordinary news, free from death games.
The maiden's remaining spine transforms into ivy, twining around the store's doorframe and blooming quantum roses. Xiaoyu's voice drifts on the 花香 (flower scent):
"Welcome home, Lu Zhao."
(End of Chapter 21)