The terrace was too quiet.
After being inside the ancient host network, the normal world felt… distant. The wind, the ocean, even the hum of the island defenses all seemed muted compared to the overwhelming presence Shunya had just faced.
He stood still, breathing unevenly.
The system flickered in unstable pulses.
[Post-conflict recovery in progress.]
Feng Xia kept her hand on his shoulder.
"Stay steady."
"I am trying," Shunya muttered.
His head still throbbed faintly.
Not pain but Strain.
The kind that came from pushing beyond limits that had not existed before.
Lei Tian watched carefully from a few steps away.
"You lasted longer than expected."
"That does not feel like a compliment."
"It is."
Shunya exhaled slowly.
"I was not even close."
Feng Xia shook her head.
"You were closer than anyone else would have been."
"That is still not close enough."
The system pulsed again.
This time—
Differently.
[Symbiotic adaptation triggered.]
Shunya blinked.
