I Save Alone

“There are still five minutes left until Su Xiaoyou’s ability evolves.”

“Has everyone been evacuated?”

A woman wearing a silver mask sat quietly in front of the main control console.

“It was arranged long ago.”

Sitting next to the masked woman was the alluring No. 5 hero, [Crimson Sin Empress] Liselle Talin, dressed in a red uniform.

“But… since you clearly know she’s so dangerous, why did you still approve her participation in this trial?”

The masked woman’s gaze didn’t leave the screen, her voice calm and steady.

“Because in the future I’ve seen, Su Xiaoyou’s evolved ability will become an indispensable, decisive factor in a certain key event.”

“Then I really hope you don’t mess up this time,” Liselle shrugged.

Under their watch, the seemingly pure and cute girl on the main screen had already placed her hand on the blood-red “Heart Stone.”

“This little girl looks harmless. Will she really cause such a huge disaster as you predicted?”

“You’ll know in a moment. When has the future I’ve foreseen ever been wrong?”

As soon as her words fell, the curve on the screen representing Su Xiaoyou’s mental state began to jump wildly like an electrocardiogram.

Soon, the originally stable index instantly broke through the red warning line.

“It’s starting…”

The masked woman rested her chin on her hand, as if appreciating a play with a pre-written script, slowly drawing open the curtains.

On the main screen, the scene inside evolution chamber Z-01 began to distort, the pure white walls being eroded and covered by a color of despair.

Then, the first out-of-control black hole appeared out of thin air on the outer wall of the venue.

“Oh my god…”

Liselle’s expression became incredibly grave for the first time.

“A compulsory spatial ability…”

This was the first time in Liselle’s career that she had seen a girl with such a terrifying and unreasonable evolution process.

****

Far below, Yang Yuan was about to rush into the chaotic area to find Su Xiaoyou, regardless of the consequences, but his arm was held tightly by Li Yu’an.

“Are you crazy!” Li Yu’an’s tone was urgent.

“It’s so dangerous up ahead, buildings could collapse at any moment. What if you get hit by falling rocks now!”

“No matter how dangerous it is, I have to go. I came here to save people in the first place.”

Yang Yuan forcefully broke free from her hand and ran towards the area being ravaged by the black holes, step by step.

“Tsk… this guy!” Li Yu’an stomped her foot, her heart filled with anxiety.

“Where are the other heroes who are supposed to be providing support? Why aren’t they here to help yet!”

Li Yu’an had no choice. Although she wasn’t a combat-type hero, she couldn’t just let Yang Yuan risk his life alone.

So, she prepared her ability, ready to follow Yang Yuan.

But just then, another black hole appeared on the path in front of Li Yu’an, devouring a huge concrete ceiling panel and then throwing it to the ground, completely blocking her path forward.

“It’s over, I have to find someone to save Yang Yuan quickly!”

On the way to the evolution chamber, Yang Yuan continuously used his ability to observe the randomly appearing black holes.

Before his eyes, translucent information panels constantly appeared.

[Ability Name: Void Palm]

[Awakener: Su Xiaoyou]

[Ability Description: The holder can unconsciously and freely open multiple large and irregular black hole spaces. These spaces have powerful devouring capabilities and can store living beings or high-energy targets. At the same time, all black holes share information with the holder’s subconscious.]

[Potential Risk: The devouring behavior is completely influenced by the holder’s subconscious, resulting in random, uncontrollable rampages.]

[Evolutionary Status: Incorrect Evolution in progress… In this state, the mental link between the ability user and the ability is severely damaged, and autonomous control is impossible.]

“Incorrect Evolution? What does that mean?”

Seeing this term for the first time on the [Insight] panel, Yang Yuan was a little confused about its meaning.

But now was not the time for him to think about these things.

Yang Yuan remembered hearing a staff member shout about “anomaly in Z-01.” He figured that must be the evolution chamber where Su Xiaoyou was.

On the way to Z-01, Yang Yuan discovered a strange phenomenon.

All the other evolution chambers were empty, as if the participants inside had all been evacuated in advance.

‘But… with such a major incident, why hasn’t a single hero come to control the scene yet?’

The heroes Yang Yuan was hoping for were all in the highest observation room at this moment, watching him run alone through the ruins via the monitors.

“What’s going on…”

The masked woman’s brow furrowed for a rare moment.

Yang Yuan’s appearance was a deviation from the future she had foreseen.

While pondering why the heroes were late, Yang Yuan finally arrived at evolution chamber Z-01.

Then he discovered that the closer he got to where Su Xiaoyou was, the fewer the rampaging black holes were, as if they were trying their best to avoid harming the core area where she was located.

‘Is even the automatic mode this intelligent?’

Yang Yuan stood outside the evolution chamber made of special reinforced glass and finally saw Su Xiaoyou.

At this moment, the girl was as sweet and lovely as ever, with no negative traces on her body.

‘It seems this is completely different from what happened last time.’

Su Xiaoyou was just quietly floating in mid-air in the room, her eyes closed and motionless, as if she were asleep.

But Yang Yuan could see that her complexion was getting worse and worse, paler and paler.

He immediately picked up a broken steel bar from the side and smashed it against the glass with all his might, but the quality of the glass was astonishingly good, leaving only a white mark.

“Which country made this? The quality is so good.”

Yang Yuan fell into deep thought. He knew he had to find a way in, or find a way to wake Su Xiaoyou up.

His gaze swept over a slowly rotating black hole not far away, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

The [Insight] panel information appeared again.

“All black holes share information with the holder’s subconscious.”

“Which means…”

He might be able to use these black holes to directly transmit his voice to Su Xiaoyou’s sleeping consciousness.

Yang Yuan immediately ran to a black hole that looked relatively stable, took a deep breath, and shouted at the deep darkness with all his might.

“Su Xiaoyou! Can you hear me? Wake up!”

It actually worked!

Of course, not in a good way.

As soon as Yang Yuan’s voice fell, all the surrounding black holes, as if enraged, began to become even more violent. Their rotation speed suddenly increased, and the frequency of their devouring and throwing also became higher.

But Yang Yuan confirmed one thing from this: this method was effective.

He had no choice but to become even bolder.

Yang Yuan knew that a simple call wouldn’t wake Su Xiaoyou up. He had to use something stronger, something that could stimulate her subconscious core.

He shouted at the black hole again:

“Do you know that the black holes are currently devouring the main support structure of this building?”

“If you don’t stop right now, the whole building will collapse, and even I will be buried inside!”

This time, all the black holes showed a significant change, and their devouring behavior also paused.

This showed that Su Xiaoyou’s consciousness still remained. She had heard him, but it wasn’t enough.

Yang Yuan gritted his teeth and could only say the words he least wanted to say.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to use your evolved power to protect me?”

“But now, I’m about to be crushed to death by your own hands.”

“Protect me… or kill me. You choose.”

This sentence, like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake, stirred up a monstrous wave in Su Xiaoyou’s chaotic subconscious.

‘Protect A’Yuan…’

‘Kill A’Yuan…’

Two contradictory and absolutely incompatible commands clashed most violently in Su Xiaoyou’s consciousness.

In the end, it was the supreme command to “protect Yang Yuan,” stemming from her instincts, that overwhelmed everything.

In order to get rid of the out-of-control self that was killing Yang Yuan.

Su Xiaoyou’s subconscious made one last, and most insane, decision.

“BOOM!!!”

An unprecedentedly huge black hole appeared not elsewhere, but directly inside the evolution chamber where Su Xiaoyou herself was.

The indestructible reinforced glass was useless in the face of the devouring, directly sucked in, and at the same time, Su Xiaoyou also wanted to suck herself in.

“Wait, no need to be so harsh on yourself, you can just stop.”

Yang Yuan’s command was very effective, and after exhausting all her strength, Su Xiaoyou finally fell powerlessly from mid-air.

“The black holes have disappeared…”

Before Su Xiaoyou hit the ground, Yang Yuan used a once-in-a-lifetime flash to catch her.

“Thankfully… she’s still alive.”

But after carefully observing his surroundings, Yang Yuan found that the scene was completely different from the one in his prophetic dream.

This made a terrifying thought rise in Yang Yuan’s mind.

‘Could it be that what happened in the prophetic dream… wasn’t today?’