Day of Imprisonment

Located in the underground of the Time Assembly, in a certain closed room.

Old A's eyes were fixed on a door placed in front of him.

The door was a solitary door frame and panel standing in the center of the room. It looked very old and out of place compared to the closed room.

The basement had no decorations, and the walls were rough cement, but the door frame and panel were exquisite. If you looked closely, you could even see some patterns on it.

Besides Old A, there were three other people here.

They were all members of the Time Elders Council, the true core of the Time Assembly.

Some people believe that these Elders Council members have preserved the memories of hundreds of cycle days, but in reality, the truth is even more exaggerated than they think.

"Old A, normally, the few of us only need to take turns guarding this door. What's wrong this time? Why have you gathered everyone together? Did something happen?" One person asked.

Mr. C, a core member of the Time Elders Council, met Old A 4300 cycle days ago.

"Yeah, Old A, we've been taking turns guarding this door for over 1500 cycle days. We believe you when you say this was left by Number One, but what is the use of this door anyway?

We're not allowed to touch it or open it for so long, just guarding it like this. Oh, right, this door doesn't make any sound either. To be honest, guarding here alone for a day is boring to death."

This time, it was Mr. W who spoke, also a member of the Elders Council.

"Old A, our Time Elders Council used to be full of talent. There were twelve core members, but now, only the four of us are left.

Guarding the door is one aspect. Some people couldn't stand the loneliness, and some couldn't see any hope, so they chose to give up. We're all a little tired too."

"Number One has appeared!" Old A interrupted Mr. Z before he could finish, and his words instantly caused an uproar as if a bowl of water had been poured into hot oil.

"Who, who did you say?"

"Old A, this is not a joke. Is it really Number One?"

"Didn't they say that Number One might have lost his memory? No, under normal circumstances, he must have lost his memory, otherwise there would be no news at all.

So, even if it's the same person, it's not Number One, because Number One is not a shell, but a memory."

"I said, Number One has appeared, then Number One has appeared."

Old A was very certain. The other three people no longer questioned him. With surprised expressions, they immediately stepped forward and surrounded Old A. They put their arms around each other's shoulders, formed a circle, bent down, and squeezed their heads together to talk in low voices.

"Did you see Number One with your own eyes? What did he, what did he say to you?"

"I didn't see him."

"What? Then what you just said..."

"Number One left us a message on the task wall of the Time Assembly."

"A message? How can you be sure that it's Number One's message? Maybe someone else wrote it, or maybe it's just a coincidence."

"It can't be a coincidence. That's content that only I know. In short, I can be sure that it's Number One's message.

Maybe he didn't write it himself, maybe someone else passed it on, but it must be Number One's intention, even if the current Number One has lost his memory, or this is just a plan he secretly arranged a long, long time ago."

Listening to Old A's words, the other few people were no longer as excited as they were at the beginning.

"Old A, have you ever thought about whether all of this is meaningful? Number One's promise back then has not been fulfilled until now. Many brothers have been disappointed and left, even..."

"That's no wonder Number One. It's their own fault for not being competitive. I notified you to come here to tell you about this.

Number One said that no matter how long it takes, when I hear or see that keyword, it means the plan has begun. From now on, the few of us will always guard this door and wait!"

"What if we can't wait?"

Thump, thump, thump, thump~

It was confirmed that the knock came from that door.

In an instant, including Old A, several people felt goosebumps all over their bodies, as if they had been electrocuted.

Shock, excitement, agitation, and a hint of fear.

"Number One didn't lie to us!" Old A said in a low voice. It could be heard that his voice was trembling.

This time, none of the other three people sang a different tune. Instead, they all nodded seriously.

"Do you all remember what we have to do?"

"We can't forget. It's all engraved in our memories."

"Let's begin!" Old A took the lead and walked over. He stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, raised his hand, and tapped lightly on the door panel.

He used Morse code, a combination of long and short sounds, which can also be distinguished by the rhythm of tapping.

One long sound and four short sounds, followed by four short sounds and one long sound, two short sounds and three long sounds, five long sounds...

Old A stopped tapping here.

He was very uneasy and waiting.

Before, he had tapped four numbers, 6420, but there was still one number left, a total of five digits, but Number One said that the person on the other side of the door would tap it.

If the tap was correct, it meant they could continue. If the tap was wrong, they would immediately destroy the door.

So what happens next depends entirely on how the other side responds.

A few seconds later.

The door was knocked.

Only the Morse code for one number.

One long sound and four short sounds!

Representing the number 6.

64206, Project Metamorphosis!

"It's a match!" Old A's excitement at this moment was beyond words. He felt that at this moment, his life truly had meaning.

In his opinion, waiting for too many cycle days, day after day, could make even the most determined people waver and doubt.

He had also doubted and wavered.

It's just that he showed great determination and persevered.

To him, Number One was a belief, a 'mentor' in the true sense.

So he always believed what Number One said.

At this moment, all this waiting had a result.

The other three were also very excited, some even crying, tears flowing freely, but they didn't dare make a sound, forcing themselves to hold it in.

Old A also wanted to cry, but he had more important things to do.

Number One had instructed him on the 'Breaking the Cocoon' plan, which was to transmit a string of numbers through this door.

As for the specific purpose of this string of numbers, they didn't know, but all the core members of the Time Elders Council had memorized it and kept it in their hearts.

Members of the Elders Council had to bear a [Contract], which was to keep secrets and fulfill their mission.

Wanting to break away was simple.

Remove the card ring, abandon all the cards, and then commit suicide!

Amnesia was the only way to break away from the [Contract].

Other Elders Council members who left all used this method to leave.

But even so, some still couldn't bear it, preferring to give up their memories to leave.

"If they knew that waiting was meaningful, I wonder if they would regret their initial choice?"

Old A sighed in his heart.

And his hand began to continue tapping on the door panel, which was a very long set of numbers, 256 digits long. The arrangement of this number was the most core secret of the Time Elders Council. Initially, only the twelve of them knew it.

They spent a long time just memorizing these 256 digits.

After that, the Time Elders Council completely disappeared. This organization, which was at its zenith thousands of cycle days ago, almost abandoned its development in a short period of time, keeping a low profile. The members of the Elders Council could enjoy a sufficient supply of [Memory]. They didn't need to do anything, they only needed to guard this door, and at the same time, constantly consolidate that long string of numbers.

Thousands of cycle days had passed like this, which would indeed drive a normal person crazy.

The scariest thing was that if doubts and suspicions arose about this matter, the collapse of faith would almost happen in an instant.

Therefore, some people quit, preferring to commit suicide and lose their memories rather than continue to endure the torment. Despair was enough to kill any rational person.

Unless they were crazy!

Beside him, Mr. C and the others were constantly reminding and correcting the numbers. The few of them were like a whole at this moment. If Old A was tired of tapping, someone else would take over, and they had to maintain a high degree of concentration, because they were not allowed to tap a single number wrong.

Each number's Morse code needed to be tapped five times, and 256 numbers meant 1280 taps.

It didn't seem like much, but because they couldn't tap a single one wrong, it was extremely exhausting.

It took a full hour to transmit all the numbers through Morse code.

When the last number was tapped, Old A and the others were covered in sweat, almost collapsing.

"Over!"

Finally, there were four letters of code. Doing so was also necessary, representing that the information transmission was complete, avoiding misunderstandings, and ensuring the integrity of the information.

After that, the few people seemed to have completed a mission.

They slumped to the ground, silent.

"Number One said that after doing this, we should immediately destroy this door," Mr. C said, opening his card album and taking out a card from it.

[Burning], activation requires three [Mana], which can incinerate the target with flames.

This was a very powerful offensive card, and it was very suitable to use it to destroy this door at this moment.

The few people looked at Old A, after all, he needed to nod his head on this matter.

The latter had a look of relief on his face. He was just about to nod when, at this moment, the knocking sound came from the door again.

It was still a string of Morse code.

Deciphered, it was a few letter words.

'who are you?'

"Who are you?"

Old A and the others were stunned.

Number One hadn't said anything about this situation.

Mr. C didn't know whether to activate [Burning]. He glanced at Old A and whispered, "Give me a definite answer, burn it, or not?"

"You, wait a moment!" Old A seemed to have made an extremely difficult decision. He took a deep breath, quickly walked to the door, and tapped back nervously.

"I am A, who are you?"

The response from the other side of the door was even faster this time.

"Hello, A, I am LX!"

Old C and the others had strange expressions after deciphering this passage.

"What does LX mean?"

"It's Number One, Number One's earliest code name in the Elders Council was Mr. L, quick, quickly burn it, burn it..."

Old A then remembered the order left by Number One, which was that after hearing a knock on the door, connect with the secret of 64206, then transmit the string of numbers, and then immediately burn down the door.

They had already broken the rules, not immediately burning it down, and even talking to the existence on the other side of the door.

Doing so might cause unpredictable consequences.

"Burn it, burn it immediately!" Old A was almost roaring at this moment, and Mr. C immediately activated [Burning]. In the next moment, the raging flames instantly engulfed the door.

In the flames, there were faint knocking sounds.

However, this time, it was chaotic and disordered, making people's scalps tingle.

It seemed to be able to decipher letters and numbers similar to 'V' and '4'.

In the flames, the wooden door made strange cracking sounds, and just as Old A and the others breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly, a terrifying scene happened.

Bang~

Someone was hitting the wooden door.

"Something wants to come out?" Mr. C's eyes widened. At this moment, he felt an unprecedented fear.

What exactly was the number that Number One asked them to transmit, and who was it being transmitted to?

The Breaking the Cocoon plan, according to Number One, was the most important step in the day of liberation from confinement. Then, was Number One lying?

At this moment, even Old A had doubts in his heart.

Bang~

The sound of impact sounded again, along with the sound of the wooden door breaking. There was no doubt that no matter what was on the other side of the door, it would definitely be able to break through the door next time.

Just as Old A and the others were waiting for the next impact, suddenly, the ground shook, and they seemed to hear a huge noise in their ears. Then, everyone was plunged into darkness.