While the Midway Islands were roasting under the midday sun, Hong Kong was still wrapped in the darkness before dawn. The waves rolled in and out, their soothing rush more hypnotic than disturbing, as if the ocean was a giant white noise machine for insomniacs. Meanwhile, the little study was just as tranquil.
Epic battles that decide everything aren’t always about earth-shattering explosions—sometimes the real fireworks happen in dead silence. A faint, divine glow drifted around the study like mist, and the three figures bathed in its light had already plunged deep into the labyrinth of memory, searching for that elusive sliver of hope.
Not a single soul on the island dared to interrupt this journey into memory.
In the world of the mind, size is irrelevant—it can stretch to infinity or shrink to a speck. Here, thoughts shape reality, and everything exists because someone imagined it. Jack Young’s ice lake is his mental sanctuary: a peaceful, powerful place where memories can be plucked like flowers or picked up like pebbles. That’s why his memories bloom as ordinary flowers and grass, and his inner world is an idyllic paradise.
But for Susan Morrow, everything was unknown, mysterious, and dazzling—so her mental world was nothing like her son’s.
Her mental world was a vast universe.
This universe was dark and deep, mysterious enough to make anyone hesitate, yet so stunning it sent chills down your spine. Endless nebulae rivaled the most beautiful astronomical wonders, and those clouds—sometimes close, sometimes far—were her memories. The twinkling stars were her past. As for her spirit, it looked like an angel, or maybe a Kunpeng—two ethereal wings carried her across the cosmos in the blink of an eye, soaring for countless light-years.
It was wilder than any sci-fi movie, and more real than any VR simulation—she was absolutely gobsmacked by the view. But she didn’t stay stunned for long; maybe three minutes, maybe an hour. Suddenly, a thought popped into her head.
"How did I end up here?"
The moment she had that thought, her wings stopped flapping. She wasn’t drifting aimlessly anymore—she hovered in the void, frowning and deep in thought. Then, another question hit her.