The moment Lin Mo met the crimson gaze...
Everything disappeared.
The roaring sea.
The silver tree.
The battle.
Even the sound of his own heartbeat.
Silence.
A silence so complete that it felt older than the universe itself.
When his vision returned, he was no longer on the island.
He stood alone in an endless void filled with countless floating clocks.
Some moved forward.
Some backward.
Many had stopped forever.
At the center of the void sat a throne forged from black crystal.
Upon it rested a figure wrapped in darkness.
Only two crimson eyes were visible beneath the hood.
"So..."
The figure spoke, its voice carrying neither anger nor warmth.
"The Child of Time has finally looked at me."
Lin Mo instinctively took a step back.
"Who are you?"
The figure chuckled.
"Mortals have given me many names."
"The Devourer."
"The End of Ages."
"The Void Sovereign."
"But once..."
"...I too was called a Keeper."
Lin Mo froze.
"What?"
The Void Sovereign slowly rose from the throne.
"Does that surprise you?"
"It surprised them as well."
With a wave of his hand, the void transformed.
Lin Mo saw twelve Keepers standing around the Eternal Clock.
Beside them stood a **thirteenth** figure.
His robes were silver.
His smile was kind.
He laughed with the others as equals.
"The histories you have inherited are incomplete," the Sovereign said.
"There were never only twelve."
"There were thirteen."
Lin Mo stared at the vision in disbelief.
"The Thirteenth Keeper..."
The Sovereign nodded.
"I was the first to question eternity."
"The first to realize that Time itself was flawed."
He looked toward the Eternal Clock.
"It allowed suffering."
"It allowed death."
"It erased every civilization, no matter how glorious."
"So I sought to perfect it."
His expression darkened.
"They called it betrayal."
"I called it salvation."
The vision shifted.
Lin Mo saw the thirteen Keepers arguing.
The First Keeper, Aster, stood firmly before the Eternal Clock.
Lyra and the others stood behind him.
The Thirteenth Keeper reached toward the Clock.
Darkness spread from his fingertips.
The other Keepers drew their weapons.
The greatest war in history had begun.
"You lie."
The words escaped Lin Mo before he realized it.
The Sovereign laughed softly.
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps not."
He stepped closer.
"So tell me, Successor..."
"When you have the power..."
"Will you allow those you love to die?"
Images appeared around Lin Mo.
Grandmother Yun growing old.
Chen Yu lying on a battlefield.
Han Qiu bleeding beneath a broken spear.
His parents fading into darkness.
"If you could stop their time..."
"...wouldn't you?"
Lin Mo remained silent.
The question pierced his heart.
The Sovereign smiled.
"I can."
He extended one hand.
"I can return everything you have lost."
"Your parents."
"Your childhood."
"Every regret."
"I can freeze them forever."
"All you need to do..."
"...is abandon the Keepers."
For a brief moment...
Lin Mo imagined it.
A world where no one aged.
No one died.
No one disappeared.
It was tempting.
Very tempting.
Then he remembered Aster's words.
> **Observe before acting.**
He activated the **First Hour**.
The vision changed.
The smiling faces around him...
Had no temporal rhythm.
They weren't alive.
They were illusions.
He looked directly at the Sovereign.
"You don't want to save people."
"You want to own them."
Silence.
Then...
The Sovereign laughed.
Not with amusement.
With satisfaction.
"Excellent."
"You saw through the illusion."
The darkness surrounding him slowly settled.
"I was wondering whether the Chrono Heart had chosen wisely."
Lin Mo frowned.
"You were... testing me?"
"For now."
The Sovereign returned to his throne.
"You are far too weak to become my enemy."
He rested his chin upon one hand.
"Or my successor."
"My successor?"
The Sovereign nodded.
"The Keepers believe the Chrono Heart chose you."
"They are mistaken."
"I allowed it."
Lin Mo's pupils contracted.
"What?"
"I wanted to see..."
"...which path you would choose."
Suddenly, cracks spread throughout the void.
The Guardian's voice echoed loudly.
> "Lin Mo!"
> "Wake up!"
The Sovereign sighed.
"Our conversation ends here."
"For now."
He pointed toward Lin Mo's silver watch.
"Tell the Guardian..."
"...that I still remember our promise."
Before Lin Mo could ask what he meant—
The void shattered.
Lin Mo gasped as he returned to reality.
He was kneeling beneath the silver tree.
Only a single heartbeat had passed.
Lyra stood before him, concern visible on her usually calm face.
"You saw him."
It wasn't a question.
Lin Mo nodded slowly.
"The Thirteenth Keeper..."
Lyra's eyes widened.
"He told you?"
Before she could continue—
A violent explosion erupted across the island.
The masked leader had broken through the final wave of silver water.
His black spear pointed directly at Lin Mo.
"Enough!"
He leaped into the air.
The spear gathered an enormous sphere of darkness.
"I'm ending this!"
Lyra stepped forward.
The silver tree blazed with brilliant light.
"Then..."
"...come."
The Second Keeper and the leader of the Eclipse Court charged toward one another.
Their collision shook the entire Sea of Forgotten Time.
Far away, hidden deep within the Silent Interval, the Guardian slowly closed his eyes.
"He remembers..."
The ancient guardian whispered to himself.
"After all these years..."
"...he still remembers."