The Hollow Sky was quiet.
Not dead. Not erased.
Just… listening.
In the orbital shadow above Neo-Ilium, Jian Lin stood alone. Kai had gone ahead, already syncing with ground-level rebellions, tracing scroll after scroll as the world tried to teach itself how to move again.
But Jian lingered.
He looked out the viewport—watched Earth rotate in silence.
Below, scrolls unraveled.
Styles reformed.
And in the chaos, something new stirred.
A message flickered on the Hollow Sky console.
[UNKNOWN UPLINK DETECTED][NEW ENTRY REQUESTED: "GENESIS SEED"][AUTHOR: UNKNOWN][ALERT: SCROLL ZERO IMITATION ATTEMPTED]
Jian froze.
Another had found the source.
Not just mimicking it.
Writing it again.
He stepped away from the console, breath caught between warning and awe.
"Already?" he murmured. "Already they're trying to write their own beginning?"
The flame inside him didn't flare.
It shifted.
A quiet heat.
Not of fear.
But of responsibility.
He turned toward the exit ramp.
The world didn't need another master.
But it needed a scribe.
A witness.
A hand to guide—not define.
He left the Hollow Sky.
And stepped into the beginning of his next breath.