Girl Zero walked barefoot across the bone-tiled floor, trailing silver light behind her.
Her voice still echoed in Liam's skull.
> "They want me back. I was the first seed."
They moved fast.
Artemis took point.
Naomi and Maya shielded Girl Zero in the center.
Vira walked behind her, watching her with interest that wasn't entirely sane.
Liam led from the rear.
His system pulsed nonstop with alerts:
[System Alert – ROOT ZONE COLLAPSE IMMINENT]
> Time Until Domain Crumbles: 9 Minutes
Hostiles Approaching: 12+
Girl Zero Vitality: Linked to Liam | 74%
Cure Fragment: 8 Secured
Harem Sync Field: Stable
Ember clung to Liam's arm.
Ava stayed behind to collapse the stairwell—blocking the path behind them with a detonated beam charge.
Liam turned back once, saw the shadows crawling up the walls.
Bodies that weren't bodies.
Hands that didn't belong to anything human.
"Run!"
They reached the chamber of weeping pods again.
Only now… the pods weren't weeping.
They were singing.
Each one pulsated with dark Root light.
Each face inside distorted.
Melting.
Screaming.
Maya staggered.
Naomi threw up.
Girl Zero? Calm.
"They are not real," she said softly. "They are echoes."
"Then how do we shut them up?" Artemis asked, flinching.
"Let me," Girl Zero whispered.
She stepped to the center.
Lifted her hands.
And released a sound that made the pods explode into ash.
[System Alert – Resonance Pulse Activated]
> Effect: Area Cleanse
Trait Progress: Girl Zero → Bond Ready (Emotional Link Forming)
A shockwave of light passed through the chamber.
Liam collapsed to his knees.
Vira caught him, grinning.
"Your body's burning from her wavelength."
"She's… linked to me?" he gasped.
"More than that," Vira whispered. "She's tethered. You die? So does she."
Liam stared at Girl Zero.
She smiled faintly.
"I don't want to die again."
As they neared the final stairwell, the wall exploded.
And something stepped through.
Tall.
Rot-armored.
With three faces.
Each one female.
Each one once-human.
[System Alert – BOSS ENTITY: ROOT HARVESTER]
> Classification: Bloom Reaper
Size: Large (3.2m)
Traits: Hive-linked, Regenerative Limbs, Bloom Seed Projector
Weakness: Fire, Anti-Root Resonance, Combined Harem Sync
Recommended Strategy: Multi-Target Distraction + Resonance Burn
"I'll hold it," Ava said.
"No," Liam said instantly.
"We all do it. Together."
He looked at Girl Zero.
"Can you still pulse?"
"I can try."
He turned to the others.
"Maya, Naomi, Ember—you shield her. Artemis, Vira, Ava—stay with me."
Everyone nodded.
Then the Root Harvester charged.
The first swipe shattered the wall behind them.
Ava leapt, blade cutting one arm clean.
It regrew instantly.
Artemis opened fire.
The bullets staggered it.
But only Girl Zero's scream slowed it.
Liam activated Gardenbreaker.
His aura burned into it.
Then Vira whispered, "Want to see something new?"
She pulled a black vial from her chestplate and drank.
[System Alert – Vira Mutation Active]
> Trait: Controlled Bloom Surge
Effect: +40% Reflex, +30% Aura Burn
Side Effect: +5% Corruption (Current: 17%)
Vira screamed and leapt at the Harvester.
Her fists burned with white fire.
She slammed them into the core face.
The creature shrieked and collapsed.
Artemis stabbed it through the chest.
And Liam fired a final round through the central eye.
Silence.
Ash.
Only breathing.
And system alerts.
[System Notice – ROOT HARVESTER DEFEATED]
> XP Gained: Distributed
Bond Sync Boost: +8%
Girl Zero Sync Level: 62%
Bond Trigger Unlocked: Trust Link
Cure Fragment 9 Location: Unlocked
> Site: Forest of Veins – 40km north of Sanctuary Thirteen
Liam looked at Girl Zero.
She walked to him.
Took his hand.
And held it against her chest.
"You carried me," she said.
"Now I'll carry you."
[Bond Initiated – Girl Zero]
> Emotional Link Formed
Trait Unlocked: Root Shield – Liam gains a one-time immunity to Root Death Event
Passive: Girl Zero senses all Root entities within 100 meters
Engagement: Not yet available (requires full memory unlock)
They climbed the final stairs.
And as they broke through the tunnel wall into daylight—
The sun rose.
For the first time in days.
Liam stood at the edge of the ruined Sanctuary, Girl Zero beside him.
The others around them.
And far away… the sky bled.
The Root was coming.