Tokyo Bay's morning mist still clings to the air as Team Rebellion's hovercar glides into the "Spiritual Pattern Symbiosis Garden". Rebuilt with pattern technology, this park nestles between the bay and mountains, where glass walls entwine with vine-covered steel frames, (deep blue spiritual energy fluid) flowing through metal pipes to weave nature and tech into a glowing web.
"Welcome to the Symbiosis Garden," Satō's voice crackles over the car comms, excitement unmasked. "This is the experimental base for pattern-tech and natural pattern symbiosis—and the best place to purify data space corruption..."
The hovercar halts before a pink light wall. A translucent figure materializes at its center: a maiden in a white dress, a cherry blossom hairpin glowing, her wrist's Sakura Patterns pulsing in sync with the data space's blue net.
"Su Li!" Sakura's Patterns burst into pink petals that flutter toward the wall.
The maiden raises a hand, her light orb perfectly mirroring Sakura's Patterns. As the wall fades, her face comes into focus—identical to the league photo from three years ago, save for a faint pink scar at her eye, a mark of the data space rift.
"Long time, Lin Ye," her voice is as delicate as melting snow, slightly ethereal. "You finally came."
Lin Ye's core trembles. He senses Su Li's consciousness tangled with residual data patterns, like threads bound by fate.
"Su Li?" Xiaotao steps forward, Starmoon bracelet glowing. "Is it really you?"
Su Li smiles, Sakura Patterns forming light chains that gently hook Xiaotao's wrist. "It's me... and not. I'm now the vessel for 'Data Spiritual Patterns'—and the Star Beast's... container."
Her gaze scans Team Rebellion's cores, pupils narrowing to slits. "But you are different. Your patterns hold something stronger than the Star Beast—"
"The bond," Lin Ye finishes.
Su Li's silhouette wavers, as if struck by the word. The light net behind her distorts, revealing coiled black chains—unpurified Star Beast fragments in the data space, trying to possess her through her consciousness.
"Watch out!" Ajiu's Ravens dive, dark purple mist corroding the sharpest chains. Her Shadow patterns etch claw marks into the net. "These are corrupted pattern shards!"
Su Li's Sakura Patterns bloom into a pink shield, encasing them. The shield's surface weaves spirals from data space with the dark gold totem of the Rebellion core.
"This is..."
"Our pattern resonance," Su Li says in wonder. "Look!"
She raises her hand, Sakura Patterns and Lin Ye's Burning Heaven Flames ignite together. The energies merge into a dual-colored lotus—pink petals, golden stamens, each petal rippling with data space's blue patterns.
"The embryonic form of 'Rebellion·Symbiosis'," Lin Ye breathes. "Our patterns are fusing."
Ajiu's Ravens shriek. Her Shadow Patterns resonate with Su Li's Sakura and Xiaotao's Starmoon, outlining the Symbiosis Garden's steel-frame structure in the net—a totem of tech-nature symbiosis.
"The corruption is receding!" Satō cries over comms. "Data space energy levels are dropping!"
Su Li's form solidifies. She points to the net's depths, where a dark gold energy stirs. "But the Star Beast's consciousness remains. It hides in the deepest corrupted patterns, like a tumor wrapped in layers..."
Lin Ye's core burns hot. He recognizes the aura in the dark gold energy—it's the masked opponent from the league finals.
"It's him," Lin Ye says steadily. "The true 'Pattern Tyrant'."
Su Li's Sakura Patterns glow pink on the dark gold energy, revealing a human shape: golden mask, mechanical left eye, dark gold right eye—identical to the Mechanical Pattern User from Chapter 17.
"Finally, Lin Ye of the Burning Heaven," the Mechanical User's voice drips with mania. "You thought purification worked? No... I merely stored power through tech. Now, I'll use the garden's energy to awaken the true Star Beast!"
He raises a hand, black chains in the net lashing at Su Li's silhouette. Her Sakura Patterns shatter, cracks spreading through the data net.
"Team Rebellion, coordinate!" Lin Ye roars. "Xiaotao, stabilize the net with Starmoon; Ajiu, sever the chains with Ravens; Sakura, awaken Su Li's consciousness with Sakura!"
Xiaotao's bracelet blazes, blue energy forming a new barrier over the cracks. Ajiu's Ravens slash the chains, but black slime eats through the net.
"It's no good!" Ajiu shouts. "His tech-corrupted patterns are stronger!"
Su Li's Sakura Patterns rain down, coating the Ravens in pink light. Their feathers soften, claws tearing through the slime with ease.
"This is..."
"The 'tenderness' of patterns," Su Li says warmly. "Tech patterns need guidance, not conflict. Your bonds hold a purifying power—the warmth of connection."
Lin Ye's core ignites. He realizes the "Rebellion" power lies not in pattern strength, but in trust. He presses his palm to Su Li's form, Burning Heaven and Sakura Patterns merging as the data net boils.
"By the name of Rebellion," Lin Ye's voice thunders. "By the oath of partners—
"Purify the corruption, awaken the light!"
Golden flames wrap pink Sakura, blue Starmoon, and purple Shadow energy, surging into the dark gold core. The Mechanical User's skeleton disintegrates, his core floating free. Lin Ye's core collides with it—not in explosion, but in a gentle fusion, forming a new core: pink surface, golden interior, blue data patterns, and dormant dark gold Star Beast energy.
"It worked..." Su Li solidifies, Sakura Patterns blooming on her face. "The Star Beast is purified—now just an ordinary core."
Satō rushes from the console, his badge glowing with the "Guardians' Alliance" emblem. "System reports pattern balance restored! The garden's energy is self-repairing..."
Lin Ye takes the new core, which bears the inscription: "To Rebellion—the symbiosis of light and shadow is pattern's ultimate form."
"This is..."
"My consciousness," Su Li smiles. "Now, I can walk with you as a whole."
Morning light pierces the garden's glass, gilding them in gold. Lin Ye's Rebellion core thrums, sensing global patterns like heartbeats in the clouds.
"Where to next?" Ajiu strokes her Raven. "Heard there are Aurora Patterns in Scandinavia, making rainbows bloom in snow."
"I'll pack extra hot cocoa!" Xiaotao waves her bracelet. "The garden's energy can make it sweeter now."
Sakura smiles, Patterns blooming as hand warmers. Su Li steps beside Lin Ye, her Sakura Patterns touching his flames. "Next time, I want to see the true 'Pattern Origin' with you—where ancient patterns and pure bonds reside."
Lin Ye looks at his core, seeing Su Li's fragments glowing within. He murmurs: "Pattern meaning was never in temples or deserts."
"Then where?" Xiaotao tilts her head.
Lin Ye looks to the horizon, where dawn gilds the sea. "Wherever life connects."
The hovercar roars to life, its wake shattering dawn into prisms. Team Rebellion's patterns shine, weaving pink Sakura, blue Starmoon, purple Shadow, and silver Data into a new totem—a star trail unfurling toward Tokyo Bay's horizon.