The ice vault was collapsing—or, more accurately, the living tissue encasing it, resembling the innards of a colossal beast, was writhing and contracting violently! The dark purple bio-veins ruptured, spraying thick "blood" that reeked of formaldehyde and rust. Lila's body floated mid-air, enveloped by a newborn, chaotic, and overwhelming force. She could feel her bones shifting, as if cold flames were coursing beneath her skin. "The Crown of Thorns"—the entity born deep within her consciousness—was greedily experiencing this destruction and... rebirth through her senses.
Her gaze (or rather, "The Crown of Thorns'" gaze) pierced through the collapsing ice walls and writhing biological tissue, locking firmly onto the woman encased in ice who bore an uncanny resemblance to her mother. She's alive! Beneath the ice, those pearl earrings twitched faintly! The cold luster of the pearls seemed to resonate faintly with something awakening within Lila.
"Mother..." Lila's own consciousness whispered weakly, filled with anguish and confusion. But "The Crown of Thorns" responded with cold calculation: "Biological signs weak, energy structure unstable, low recovery value. Priority: escape the current unstable environment."
No! She couldn't leave her mother (if it truly was her mother) here! Lila tried to regain control of her body, but "The Crown of Thorns" was too powerful. Her resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. All she could do was watch as "herself" raised an arm already etched with frost-like patterns, aiming at the pulsating, esophagus-like living tunnel above, and unleashed a beam of energy mixed with frost and blue arcs!
"Boom——!!"
Flesh and gore flew everywhere! Foul-smelling "bodily fluids" splattered in all directions! A scorched, frost-emitting passage leading upward was forcibly opened!
"Her" body surged into the passage without hesitation, leaving behind the thunderous collapse of the ice vault, forever burying (or perhaps fusing?) the frozen woman within this living hell. Lila's consciousness screamed, but "The Crown of Thorns" remained unmoved, interested only in survival and... greater power.
The passage was highly unstable, its "meat walls" still wriggling, attempting to heal. Lila's body shot upward like a cannonball, smashing through countless biological tissues and metal remnants along the way. She could feel her body changing more and more intensely, her power growing uncontrollably, while her humanity seemed to be slipping away bit by bit. She even began losing clear memories of Ethan's face, replaced by cold data related to energy, betrayal, and fusion.
Finally, with a deafening crash, she broke through the surface—not any floor of the clinic, but... hard, icy, earth-scented... gravestones?!
She erupted from underground, landing in a muddy cemetery! The torrential rain instantly drenched her tattered clothing (or rather, the crystalline shell-like skin that was forming?). Cold raindrops sizzled on her burning skin, releasing wisps of steam. Lightning split the sky, illuminating crooked tombstones and swaying cypress trees, like a demonic dance.
This was... St. John's Cemetery? One of Manhattan's oldest and most forgotten graveyards. How had she come directly here from beneath the "White Iris" clinic? Could the entire living structure beneath the city be sprawling like a massive, unknown... parasitic tumor?
"Inappropriate landing site." "The Crown of Thorns" spoke in her mind, tinged with displeasure. "Energy fluctuations too high, likely to attract lower lifeforms."
Lila ignored it, struggling to her feet and surveying the surroundings. The rain washed over the names engraved on the tombstones, blurring the boundary between life and death. The air was thick with the smell of rain, mud, and... decay. In the distance, faint sirens could be heard, muffled by the storm, distant and unreal.
Why had she come here? Was it coincidence? Or... was something guiding her? She remembered Ethan's childhood diary, mentioning his mother buried in this cemetery. She thought of her own mother, whose death had been disguised as suicide... Could her gravestone also be here?
She staggered among the tombstones, rain blurring her vision, mud making every step arduous. The icy force within her continued to surge, making her feel like an outsider walking among humans, alien to this sorrowful, cold, wet world.
Suddenly, she stopped.
Under a lightning-struck old oak tree, near the cemetery's most secluded corner, she saw a familiar figure.
It was Ethan!
Drenched, his once-expensive suit now smeared with mud, he looked like a wretched ghost. He knelt before a fresh mound of earth, unmarked, his shoulders trembling slightly. Rain slid down his soaked black hair, indistinguishable from tears.
Lila's heart—or rather, the remnants of Lila Weston's heart—ached sharply. It was him! Truly him! He wasn't dead! That mechanical skull had been fake!
She wanted to rush forward, confront him, beat him, pour out all her pain and anger. But "The Crown of Thorns"'s cold awareness stopped her, analyzing, assessing: "Target: Ethan Weston Prime (or highly similar clone). Vital signs unstable, emotional fluctuations intense. Threat level: low. Potential information value: high."
She forced herself to stay calm, hiding in the shadow of the oak, observing him. Who was he? The real Ethan? Another clone? Why was he here? Whose grave was he kneeling before?
Ethan seemed unaware of her presence, lost in his grief. He reached out, gently touching the wet mound of earth, his voice hoarse and broken, as if he had spent every ounce of strength:
"I'm sorry... Lila... I'm sorry..."
Who was he talking to? Her? Or this nameless grave?
"I shouldn't... I shouldn't have believed Harlowe's lies... He said if I cooperated, he could cure your 'illness,' free you from the family curse... He said the 'Thorn Project' was to create a perfect world, one without pain, without betrayal..."
"I thought... I thought suppressing your memories with drugs, making you 'forget' the pain, was protecting you... I thought cooperating to complete that cursed wedding, gaining control of the fusion, would let me destroy him and take you away..."
"But I was wrong... so wrong... Harlowe's a madman! What he wants isn't a perfect world—it's immortality! Control over everything! He treated everyone as pawns, as experiments!"
"Scarlett... she didn't choose this either... She was just an earlier clone, modified and implanted with false memories... Even in the end... she tried to help you..."
"And our... our child..." Ethan's voice softened, filled with heartbreaking despair. "Harlowe told me the fusion couldn't have self-awareness, that it was just a perfect energy vessel... But I saw it in the lab... its fluctuations... It seemed... to feel your emotions..."
Lila's heart clenched painfully. He knew! He'd known about the fusion all along! And he even called it... "our child"?
"The fire... I set it..." Ethan's voice was like a delirium, each word piercing Lila's heart like a knife. "Harlowe threatened me—if I didn't follow his script and accuse you, he'd activate the 'purge protocol,' erasing you and... and it... I had no choice... I chose to make you hate me, to keep you alive..."
"I hid all the clues... the music box, the painting, the medicine bottles... I thought you'd find them... I thought there was time... But I underestimated Harlowe's madness... He activated a backup plan... He created more... of me..."
Ethan suddenly lifted his head, gazing at the blackened sky, rain washing over his pale, handsome, yet anguished face.
"I escaped... using my last resort... destroying most of the clones... But I know, as long as I live, Harlowe will never stop... That AI... it's infiltrated the city's network... It's hunting me... and searching for you..."
"Lila... if you're still alive... if you can hear this..." Ethan's voice grew urgent and resolute. "Go... go to the bottom of the Hudson River... There's my final safehouse... The coordinates are... in the energy frequency of the sapphire heart... There's... there's the 'Iris Key' to completely destroy Harlowe's AI core..."
"And... be careful... be careful of the 'Crown of Thorns'... It's not... it's not..."
Ethan's words cut off abruptly.
A blinding blue light, like lightning from hell, pierced the rain, striking him squarely in the back!
Not a laser, not electricity—but a beam of pure, icy energy... an icicle?!
Lila's pupils contracted sharply! This power—it came from "The Crown of Thorns" inside her! It attacked through her body without her even realizing it!
Ethan's body stiffened, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked down at the glowing blue tip of the icicle protruding from his chest. Slowly, he turned to face Lila's hiding spot, his expression complex, like a universe on the verge of shattering—shock, pain, acceptance, and even... a trace of gentle apology?
"Find... the key..." With his last ounce of strength, he uttered a few words, then collapsed limply onto the muddy mound, blood quickly washed away by the cold rain.
"No—!!!" Lila's own consciousness finally broke free of "The Crown of Thorns'" suppression, emitting a piercing scream! She stumbled out of the oak's shadow, rushing toward Ethan's lifeless body.
But it was too late.
Several agile shadows darted out like phantoms from behind the tombstones, their movements unbelievably fast. Clad in black tactical suits, their faces obscured by insect-like goggles, one of them quickly checked Ethan's body, whispered into a communicator, then together they lifted his corpse and vanished into the darkness and rain.
Who were they?! Harlowe's private army? Or... some other faction? What did they want with Ethan's body?!
Lila collapsed into the mud, rain mixing with uncontrollable tears streaming down her face. She reached out to touch where Ethan had fallen, finding only blood-soaked earth and... a platinum ring covered in mud.
His wedding ring! The one inscribed with "EW❤LH" on the inside! The one that had rolled away during her humiliation with red wine, which she later found... Now it was back here, forever without its owner.
"Foolish emotional fluctuations." "The Crown of Thorns" spoke again, disdainfully. "Target eliminated. Information acquired. Threat level increased. Recommend immediate withdrawal."
Lila didn't move, clutching the cold ring tightly, letting despair and rage consume her. Ethan was dead... killed by her (or rather, the monster within her)... His final confession, the clues he left behind... the bottom of the Hudson River... the sapphire heart's frequency... the Iris Key...
Suddenly, she felt something pressing against her finger inside the ring. Flipping it over, she saw, under the flash of lightning, that the inscription "EW❤LH" was now covered by an extremely thin metallic foil. Carefully peeling it back with her nail, she revealed not the familiar engraving, but an incredibly tiny... QR code?!