As Tokyo Bay's dusk turned honey-colored, the Reverse Scale Squad's hovercar headed for coordinates marked "Glyph Ruins · Zero". This final clue from Ming Yuan after his awakening led to an ancient structure forgotten at the bottom of a deep sea trench, said to hold "the original covenant between glyphs and life".
"Navigation shows this was the birthplace of Glyph Civilization," Ming Yuan's voice came from the comms, spiral glyphs on his ornament shimmering like mother-of-pearl. "Three thousand years ago, seven guardians planted the first 'Glyph Tree' here, nourishing all things with Origin power. Though the war destroyed the surface, its roots burrowed into the earth's core and still grow."
Lanye's Reverse Scale Core warmed slightly. He sensed rhythmic pulses from the ocean floor's rock layers—the Glyph Tree's roots beating like the earth's heartbeat. Xiaotao's star meteorite bracelet glowed deep blue, resonating with the core to project a holographic star map on the window: at the trench's depth, a glowing giant tree loomed.
"Here we are." A Jiu marveled as her shadow crows circled, dark purple mist forming "Welcome". The hovercar landed on a seaweed-covered plain, where a ten-meter-diameter tree rose from the depths, its trunk etched with spirals, leaves glowing in seven colors—gold, pink, deep blue, dark purple, snow white, silver, dark gold—matching the Reverse Scale Core exactly.
"This is..." Sakura's Cherry Glyph glowed pink as she touched the trunk. "The Glyph Tree! It truly exists!"
The trunk rustled. A golden leaf fell into Xiaotao's palm, transforming into Yue Kui's phantom. "Xiaotao, this is the tree I planted," her smile overlapped with memories. "When I fought the berserk guardian, he injected Origin into the seed with his last power, saying, 'Let glyphs live in every life'."
"So the Glyph Tree is the Origin's embodiment." Lanye touched the trunk, his core resonating to spark warm gold. He sensed countless memory fragments in the roots: babies' cries, elders' sighs, lovers' whispers, foes' confessions—traces of all lives protected by glyphs in three millennia.
"It's speaking." Su Li trembled as her Cherry Glyph merged with the Time Glyph cocoon, hearing whispers in the trunk: "I'm hungry... Need love..."
A Jiu's crows wailed, dissolving into dark purple mist to pull a charred branch from the roots—tainted glyph shards etched with the berserk guardian's spirals.
"The sealed curse from back then," Ming Yuan's ornament shimmered silver. "The Glyph Tree thrives on 'love'; polluted glyphs will wither it."
As he spoke, the tree quaked. Golden leaves fell, each a memory fragment: lullabies, teenage laughter, grandparents' advice... They wove a light net, but black mist corroded them on touching the cursed branch.
"It's in pain!" Xiaotao's tears fell on a golden leaf, which reignited. "Mom said the Glyph Tree fears 'forgetting' more than pollution!"
Lanye's core vibrated violently. He heard roots calling for forgotten love: mothers' final hugs, friends' support, strangers' kindness—warmth the tree needed most.
"Reverse Scale Squad, coordinate!" he shouted. "Use our glyphs to awaken forgotten love!"
Xiaotao's bracelet glowed deep blue, enlarging "mother" memories; A Jiu's crows bound the cursed branch, melting it with shadow warmth; Sakura's Cherry Glyph petals wove "friend" memories into light chains; Su Li's glyph touched roots, awakening "lover" memories; Wu Wang's ornament froze time on "stranger" kindness; Ming Yuan's ornament refracted a rainbow, linking all memories.
Lanye's Blazing Flame Glyph blazed, seven lights flying from his core into their glyphs. Xiaotao's star meteorite turned galactic, A Jiu's crows grew golden tails, Sakura's glyphs sunlit, Su Li's silver-moonlit, Wu Wang's ornament sprouted life, Ming Yuan's bone ornament bloomed flowers.
The Glyph Tree rumbled. The cursed branch turned to ash, golden leaves returned brighter. A seven-color flower bloomed at the top, petals inscribed with seven guardians' names—Yue Kui, the berserk guardian, Ming Yuan, Xiaotao's mother, A Jiu's crows' ancestor, Sakura's mentor, Lanye's mentor.
"This is..." Xiaotao choked. "All guardians protected by glyphs are reborn here."
Yue Kui's phantom emerged from the flower, her core merging with the Reverse Scale Core, falling as moonlight on the team. Wrist glyphs bloomed: sunset gold, candy pink, campfire orange—unique yet a starry sea.
"So that's it..." Lanye looked at his core, its seven colors warm. "Glyph Origin isn't power—it's love itself."
A Jiu's crows cried out as golden phoenixes, feathers dipped in healed glyph light. Sakura's petals landed on shoulders, whispering "You're not alone."
Su Li's Cherry Glyph and Time Glyph cocoon lit up, revealing futures: children playing under Glyph Trees, elders sunbathing on Glyph benches, even cold merchants offering Glyph bread—a world of love.
"Next," Lanye turned to the team, "we'll go everywhere to show: glyphs aren't weapons—they're the heartbeat connecting us to the world."
As the hovercar started, its glyph trail stretched long. The squad's glyphs shone together—star meteorite blue, cherry pink, crow gold, time silver—weaving a star track to the future across heaven and earth.