"Could be all of them," Sarah said, gripping the dashboard as Atlas swerved around an abandoned delivery truck. "The void, the Academy, even your father—they all want our synthesis completed."
"But for entirely different outcomes," Atlas replied, golden energy crackling around his hands as he gripped the steering wheel tighter.
The taxi's engine whined in protest as he pushed it beyond its limits, weaving through Shanghai's increasingly distorted landscape. Buildings stretched and compressed around them like living organisms, the very architecture of the city warping under void influence. Yet strangely, the path toward the Forbidden City remained clear, almost as if reality itself was creating a corridor for their journey.
"What if none of them get what they want?" Sarah leaned forward
