Tokyo Bay's morning light had just crept over the Symbiosis Garden's glass walls when Satō's urgent transmission cut through the mist. His voice trembled with suppressed panic: "Lin Ye, return to Spiritual Pattern Tech City immediately! The 'Star Cocoon Project' in the new lab has gone haywire—the purified Star Beast remnants are merging into..."
His words dissolved into static. Lin Ye clenched his Rebellion core, watching the deep blue data patterns on its surface twist into chains before his eyes.
"Let's move," he told Xiaotao, Ajiu, Sakura, and Su Li. "Bring Starmoon, Shadow Ravens, and Sakura Patterns—we might need your resonance."
—
The "Star Cocoon Lab" in Spiritual Pattern Tech City perched on a Cloudtop Plateau cliff, the entire structure encased in a transparent spiritual energy dome like a giant cocoon embedded in the mountain. As Lin Ye's hovercar landed, the lab's dome rippled blood-red, black chains slithering from within to entangle the metal pipes.
"That's... " Sakura's Patterns glowed pink upon touching the chains. "The Star Beast remnants' 'Binding Patterns'—they're devouring the lab's spiritual energy!"
The lab doors slid open, and Satō stumbled out, his chip badge cracked in half. His left wrist was wrapped in a bleeding bandage, where a Data Spiritual Core had been embedded, now oozing black slime.
"They... they fused the Star Cocoon Core with my spiritual core!" Satō sobbed. "The Star Cocoon Project was meant to seal Star Beast remnants with tech, but the remnants... they're reverse-devouring the tech patterns!"
Lin Ye's core thrummed violently. He sensed the lab's spiritual energy vibrating at a bizarre frequency—the "heartbeat" of Star Beast remnants, stronger than ever before.
"Let's go in," he ignited his Burning Heaven core, golden flames dancing in his palm. "Xiaotao, stabilize the energy with Starmoon; Ajiu, cut the Binding Patterns with Ravens; Sakura, awaken Satō's consciousness with Sakura."
Inside the lab, the sight was stifling. The pod containing the Star Cocoon Core had deformed, spiritual pattern engravings on its walls leaking black, blood-like slime. At its center hovered a two-meter-diameter dark gold cocoon—the legendary Star Cocoon Core—wrapped in chains connected to every spiritual energy pipeline.
"That's... " Xiaotao's Starmoon bracelet heated, blue energy freezing onto the cocoon. "The Star Cocoon Core is absorbing the lab's energy!"
The cocoon trembled, and a shadow emerged: a figure in a white lab coat, face covered in black slime, only dark gold eyes visible—the Mechanical Pattern User, his mechanical eye now replaced by the Star Cocoon Core's dark gold patterns.
"Welcome to the true 'Star Cocoon'," his voice a blend of metal and patterns. "You thought tech could seal me? No... the Star Cocoon Core is the Star Beast's nest, and you are the sacrifices who came to us."
Lin Ye's core blazed, golden flames wrapped in pink aura, blue Starmoon, and purple Shadow energy surging toward the cocoon. But the flames dissolved into ash on contact—the Star Cocoon Core's energy surpassed all previous foes.
"His patterns are completely corrupted by Star Beast remnants!" Ajiu's Ravens dive-bombed, dark purple mist etching claw marks into the cocoon. "Normal pattern attacks are useless!"
Satō suddenly rushed forward, pressing his chip badge to the Mechanical User's temple. The chip flashed white, freezing the User's movements for an instant.
"Look here!" He pointed tremblingly to the cocoon's base. "The core has a gap—only 'Rebellion Patterns' can unlock it!"
Lin Ye's pupils contracted. He saw the chains' patterns—identical to the Rebellion core's spirals, obscured by the Star Beast's dark gold.
"Rebellion·Symbiosis!" he yelled. "Xiaotao, link my patterns with Starmoon; Ajiu, transfer energy with Ravens; Sakura, infuse warmth with Sakura!"
Four patterns blazed, weaving the Rebellion totem: Lin Ye's Burning Heaven, Xiaotao's Starmoon, Ajiu's Shadows, Sakura's Sakura. Golden flames wrapped in pink aura melted a crack in the cocoon—the "Rebellion Lock" hidden by Star Beast slime.
"We did it!" Satō exclaimed.
The cocoon shuddered, black slime erupting. The Mechanical User's body disintegrated, his dark gold core floating free. Lin Ye's core collided with it—not in conflict, but like key in lock.
"By the name of Rebellion," Lin Ye's voice thundered. "By the oath of partners—
"Purify the Star Cocoon, awaken the light!"
Golden flames surged into the core, peeling away slime to reveal a crouching figure: a maiden in a white dress, cherry blossom hairpin glowing, wrist Patterns pulsing with data space's blue.
"Is that... Su Li?" Xiaotao gasped.
The maiden looked up, the faint pink scar at her eye shimmering. Sakura Patterns bloomed on her face as she smiled in relief: "I can finally... meet you as a whole."
The Mechanical User's skeleton dissolved, his core merging into the Star Cocoon Core before scattering as golden dust. Su Li solidified, stepping beside Lin Ye, her Patterns touching his flames: "The Star Beast remnants in the core were actually 'guardians' sealed by ancient spiritual veins. It rampaged because the veins' balance was broken..."
Satō rushed from the console, his badge's "Guardians' Alliance" emblem glowing: "System reports pattern balance restored! The lab's energy is self-repairing..."
Lin Ye took the new core from Su Li, inscribed with: "To Rebellion—the symbiosis of light and shadow is pattern's ultimate form."
"This is..."
"My consciousness," Su Li smiled. "Now, I can walk with you completely."
Morning light pierced the lab's dome, gilding them in gold. Lin Ye's core thrummed, sensing global patterns like heartbeats in the clouds.
"Where to next?" Ajiu stroked her Raven. "Heard there are Aurora Patterns in Scandinavia, making rainbows bloom in snow."
"I'll pack extra hot cocoa!" Xiaotao waved her bracelet. "Symbiosis Garden's energy can make it sweeter now."
Sakura smiled, Patterns blooming as hand warmers. Su Li stood beside Lin Ye, her Patterns touching his: "Next time, I want to see the true 'Pattern Origin' with you—where ancient patterns and pure bonds lie."
Lin Ye looked at his core, seeing Su Li's fragments glowing within. He murmured: "Pattern meaning was never in temples or deserts."
"Then where?" Xiaotao tilted her head.
Lin Ye looked to the horizon, where dawn gilded the sea: "Wherever life connects."
The hovercar roared to life, its wake shattering dawn into prisms. Team Rebellion's patterns shone, weaving pink Sakura, blue Starmoon, purple Shadow, and silver Data into a new totem—a star trail unfurling toward Tokyo Bay's horizon.