Inside the golden glow of the Spire, time didn't feel like a ticking clock anymore. It felt like a river. For Xin, being the "heart" of the world meant his physical body was gone, but his mind was everywhere. He could feel the heat of the soup in the Resistance base, the cold wind hitting the skyscrapers, and the rhythmic breathing of every survivor in Jiangnan.
But it was too much. It was a roar of data that threatened to drown him.
"You’re trying to listen to the whole ocean, Xin," a voice echoed through the golden light.
It was Captain Han. He wasn't physically there, of course. He was standing on the observation deck outside the core, wearing a special headset Mei had built. The headset translated Xin’s energy into sound, allowing them to talk across the veil of the crystal.
"I
