The Parker pen lay in my palm like a piece of burning coal.
The barrel was ice-cold, but my fingertips burned with a rule-level scald—Scarlet had written the 24-hour countdown into the pen's "Existence definition." Holding it meant holding a ticking time bomb.
[24 hours until Gaokao]
The text was engraved inside the cap, faint but deep—impossible to erase. This wasn't a threat; it was Scarlet's "narrative anchor." If I didn't produce a story that satisfied her within 24 hours, the anchor would detonate, rewriting my Existence from "Lin Jin" to "dead man."
"Can't write it?" Zhou Fang leaned over to look. "Then don't. Let her come and kill us. B-07 Squad—have we ever feared anyone?"
"We have." Gu Yan adjusted his glasses. "We fear she won't kill Lin Jin, but kill Captain Shen."
He pulled up 17 Authority resonance waveforms. One showed an abnormal spike at 4 AM: "Through that pen, Scarlet has reverse-locked onto Captain Shen's spatial coordinates. Now she can deploy War Authority directly beside Captain Shen anytime, without any clearance."
"She wouldn't dare!" Tang Lan's Oscillating blade slid half from its sheath, humming.
"She would." White Gloves emerged from the shadows, still in his Tang suit but without the cigarette this time. "Because she knows: Captain Shen won't dodge."
"Why?"
"Because if she dodges, Lin Jin dies." He said. "Scarlet tied Lin Jin's life to Captain Shen's Spatial sovereignty."
He displayed the pen's internal structure. At the nib was a microscopic rule-lock. Its core was a golden Authority fragment engraved with two characters:
[Exchange]
"This is War Authority's 'equivalent exchange' rule." He explained. "Lin Jin's life in exchange for Captain Shen's choice."
"What choice?"
"Choose to accept, or reject." He said. "Accept Scarlet's love, Lin Jin lives. Reject, Lin Jin dies."
"Then Captain Shen..."
"Captain Shen has already made her choice." He looked toward the Old campus. "She's in the laboratory now, locked inside, saying she'll refine that 0.3% contamination into a knife to stab into Scarlet's heart in 24 hours."
"Can she refine it?"
"She can." He nodded. "But the price is her sync rate rising to 25%. War Authority will completely contaminate her Spatial sovereignty, transforming her from 'Spatial holder' to 'War-Space holder.'"
"Would she still be herself?"
"No." He said. "She would become Scarlet's... other version."
---
05:00, Old campus laboratory.
When I found Shen Xingyao, she had immersed herself in a glass tank. The silver liquid rose past her neck, leaving only her head exposed. Her pupils had turned completely golden—like two melted suns.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice was hoarse, sandpaper-rough.
"I'm here to exchange for you." I said. "Scarlet wants me, not you."
"She doesn't want you." She said. "She wants my reaction."
"What reaction?"
"The reaction of rejection." She said. "She knows I'd rather die than submit, so she forces me to choose—kill you with my own hands, or kill myself."
"What if you accept?"
"If I accept, she wins." She smiled, silver-white liquid overflowing from her mouth's corner, "What she wants has never been my body, but my 'non-acceptance.' My resistance is her stimulant."
"Then we'll do the opposite." I said. "We won't resist. We'll accept."
"Accept?"
"Yes." I raised the golden pen. "I'll write the story. Write that you accepted her, write that you two are together, write your wedding in the war museum, inviting the whole school to drink wedding wine."
"You're insane?"
"Not insane." I said. "Scarlet wants desperate love, one-sided conquest. If we give her mutual love, her Authority will crack."
"Why?"
"Because War Authority cannot tolerate 'mutuality.'" I said. "War is one-way. Conquest is one-way. Love is two-way. Once it's two-way, it's no longer war."
"It's peace."
"Correct." I said. "We'll use peace to disgust her to death."
She stared at me. For the first time, something other than gold appeared in her golden pupils—silver-white, her own color.
"Lin Jin." She said, "You're a genius."
"I'm Homework Bro."
"Homework Bro is more useful than a genius." She extended her hand. "Give me the pen."
I handed her the golden pen. She held it, aiming the nib at her wrist.
"What are you doing?"
"Redefining." She said. "Change 'Exchange' to 'Share.'"
She wrote two characters:
[Share]
Golden characters floated on her skin like tattoos.
"Scarlet wants to share my space—fine." She said. "But sharing means she must also share her War."
"Will she agree?"
"No." She said. "If she doesn't, her Authority will backfire, treating the concept 'share' as betrayal."
"Betrayal?"
"Yes." She smiled. "She betrayed war, so war betrays her."
The golden pattern on her wrist began to recede, like a tide.
0.3% became 0.1%.
"Effective." She said. "But not enough."
"Then add another." I wrote on her palm with my HB Pencil: [Scarlet, loves, Shen Xingyao]
The characters were silver-white, like a brand.
"What is this?"
"The story's core." I said, "Not that she wants you, but that she loves you. 'Want' is conquest. 'Love' is surrender."
"She surrenders?"
"Yes." I said, "She loves you, loves to the point of surrender, loves to the point of being willing to close the war museum and turn it into a love memorial."
"She'll be furious enough to die."
"Furious enough to die, and the story ends." I said. "When it ends, you're free."
She stared at the characters on her palm for a long time, then clenched her fist.
"Fine." She said. "We'll use romance to disgust her to death."
---
06:00, Administration intranet.
Zhou Fang posted the new thread: "Scarlet-Xingyao Romance: From War to Wedding Dress—Secrets Divine Authority Holders Won't Tell."
The images were photoshopped pictures of Shen Xingyao and Scarlet—Shen Xingyao in a wedding dress, Scarlet in a suit, background of the war museum, but hanging on the walls weren't weapons, but love letters.
[I heard Scarlet renamed her War Authority for Captain Shen, changed it to 'Love Letter Authority]
[Is that true?]
[True. My cousin works in logistics. Says Scarlet carved love letters to Captain Shen with Authority fragments mixed with blood, one character one drop of blood]
[Holy shit, divine romance!]
[Not romance—divine battle!]
The post instantly hit 100,000+ views. The entire Administration, top to bottom, gossipped about Scarlet and Shen Xingyao.
07:00, Shen Xingyao's dorm door was knocked on.
No one outside—only a bouquet of roses remained, golden, petals made of War Authority fragments.
A card among them read:
[Shen Xinyao, I'm willing to close the war museum for you]
[But you must open your heart for me]
[Within 24 hours, I await your answer]
Shen Xingyao burned the flowers. The ashes condensed into a line in the air:
[Fuck off]
The characters were silver-white—her Spatial sovereignty.
08:00, my dorm door was knocked on.
It was Scarlet. This time, she wasn't wearing Shen Xingyao's tactical gear, but her red cloak. Sixteen-year-old appearance, golden pupils.
"I received your story?" she asked.
"She accepted." I said. "But she has a condition."
"Speak."
"She wants your War Authority core as dowry."
Scarlet froze, then laughed—doubled over, like hearing the world's greatest joke.
"She wants my Authority?"
"Yes." I said. "She said, to marry her, you pay with your life."
Scarlet's laughter stopped. She stared at me, the gold in her pupils like molten iron.
"She really said that?"
"Really." I said. "She said, if you don't give it, she'll self-destruct her Spatial sovereignty, leaving you with nothing."
Scarlet was silent for a long time—so long I thought she saw through it.
But she didn't see through.
She only wanted too badly to win.
"Fine." She said. "I'll give it."
She extended her hand. A red crystal materialized in her palm, like a heart, beating.
"This is War Authority's core." She said. "Take it. Tell Shen Xingyao, I await her—wearing a wedding dress, marrying me."
I accepted the crystal. It scorched like a coal.
"I'll tell her." I said. "But you must also promise me one condition."
"What condition?"
"Let me die first."
I pulled out my HB Pencil, aiming it at my throat.
"If I die, she said she'll marry you." I said. "She doesn't want me alive, watching you win."
The pencil pierced skin. Blood flowed out—golden.
It was Scarlet's blood.
She had contaminated my Existence with her own blood.
"Stop!" She shrieked, reaching for the pencil.
That was the second.
Shen Xingyao emerged from the void, Oscillating blade pressed to Scarlet's throat.
"You lose."
Scarlet stiffened, then laughed—laughing until tears fell.
"I didn't lose." She said. "I gained your weakness."
"What weakness?"
"You love him." She looked at me. "You love him enough to bow your head to me."
Shen Xingyao's blade didn't move, but the gold in her pupils instantly flooded her entire irises.
"You..."
"I won the bet." Scarlet said. "0.3% War Authority is enough."
She extended a finger, touching it to my forehead.
"Now, you're mine."
My consciousness was instantly ripped away, plummeting into a golden void.
In the void, only one line remained:
[War Authority, new holder: Lin Jin]