Right after that, Lam Huy Trường saw Professor X return to his office.
The man ignored his disheveled appearance—his clothes still stained with blood—and walked straight to his desk. Then he began yanking open drawers and rummaging through document boxes like a madman searching for something he had lost.
Boxes were dragged out violently. Papers scattered everywhere.
In just a few seconds, the entire room turned into a battlefield—research reports, classified files, experiment drafts… all of it strewn across the floor.
The professor kicked aside a stack of files at his feet.
He crouched down, flipped through several more bundles of documents—
then suddenly slammed his fist into the wall.
"…Where is it… damn it…"
The dull impact echoed inside the sealed room.
After that punch, his strength seemed to drain away.
Professor X leaned his back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor, leaving a smeared streak of blood across the white paint.
He sat there, clutching his head with both hands.
"…What… what have I done…"
His voice trembled, breaking apart.
Lam Huy Trường stood a few steps away, staring at the man's face hidden behind his hands.
For the first time, he saw that this man was no longer a cold, untouchable genius—just a human being collapsing under the weight of his own actions.
His own thoughts grew tangled.
Helpless… was this what it meant?
A sudden thought crossed his mind: if there was anyone in this world who could still save that girl… it would only be the man in front of him.
Lam Huy Trường slowly knelt down in front of the professor, even though he knew the man probably couldn't see him.
He whispered, his voice barely audible,
"If there's anyone who can save that girl… I believe it's you, Professor."
No reaction.
No glance in his direction.
He didn't even know… if the man could hear him.
A moment later, Professor X slowly lowered his hands and looked up at the ceiling.
The panic was gone from his eyes—replaced by emptiness. Then that emptiness gradually gathered into a single point, as if he were thinking very, very deeply.
The silence stretched for several seconds.
Then he suddenly stood up.
He raised his left hand and activated his communication device.
"I need to go to the Dawn Research Institute today. Arrange it immediately."
The person on the other end hadn't even finished responding before he had already turned and walked out of the room.
This time… Lam Huy Trường was not pulled along with him.
He remained standing in the chaotic office, watching the professor's back as he left.
The metal door slid shut with a dry click.
And then…
he was alone.
Lam Huy Trường looked around the room.
This was not a place he belonged to, not his memory—yet a strange feeling still rose inside him.
Admiration.
That man had just left all his weakness, all his pain… behind that door, and walked away without looking back.
If it had been him…
if he were placed in that situation…
He didn't dare continue the thought.
"…I'd probably just collapse on the spot."
He walked to the door and tried to turn the handle.
His hand passed straight through the metal—hazy and insubstantial, like smoke.
"…Right."
He sighed and lowered his hand.
Before he could figure out what to do next, the scenery around him began to blur, like a film reel being fast-forwarded.
The space in front of Lam Huy Trường stretched like cloth being yanked tight—
and then everything changed.
---
May 1st
The roar of helicopter blades slammed into his ears before he even had time to open his eyes.
When his vision stabilized, Lam Huy Trường realized he was sitting inside a military helicopter flying low beneath a dull gray sky.
Up front, Professor X sat in the pilot's seat.
Both of his hands were gripping the controls so tightly his knuckles had turned white. His voice cut through the engine noise, filled with fury.
"Those bastards… they dared to move the girl to the new research institute without my permission."
Lam Huy Trường had never heard him speak in such an uncontrolled tone before.
Keeping one hand on the controls, the professor used the other to pull up a floating data panel. Rows of numbers and graphs appeared, casting a pale blue glow over his tense face.
Then he leaned down and opened the metal case placed beside his seat.
Click.
The case sprang open, releasing a puff of cold white vapor that carried the faint smell of metal and chemicals.
Inside was a cylindrical device, its surface engraved with a medical cross symbol.
It was attached to a handle, making it look like a pistol from a shooter game.
The device rotated slightly within its padded mount. A small screen on its body lit up, displaying biometric readings.
The professor stared at it for several seconds.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"I hope… this works on you."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"Eva… wait for me."
Lam Huy Trường looked at the device and vaguely understood—
this had to be the thing the professor had been desperately searching for in the office earlier.
The scene shifted again.
The helicopter descended onto a wide concrete landing pad, surrounded by tall metal buildings bearing the research institute's logo.
A group of people was already waiting below—several professors in lab coats and soldiers wearing powered combat frames.
Lam Huy Trường watched Professor X step down from the helicopter, the metal case in his hand, and stride quickly toward the main building.
The people who had been waiting hurried after him, their faces pale as if they had just received terrible news. They said something to him, but Lam Huy Trường couldn't make it out over the fading roar of the helicopter's engine.
He was about to follow—
when a strange sensation suddenly hit him.
It felt as if an invisible hand had grabbed hold of his body… and yanked him backward with brutal force.
His heart skipped a beat.
His entire body convulsed. Waves of numbness ran down his spine as if real electricity were surging through him.
"AAAA—!"
The world shattered.
"Sorry, Professor. Emergency situation."
Mrs. AI's familiar voice rang out from his watch.
Lam Huy Trường opened his eyes and realized he had returned to reality—lying amid a pile of rubble, his body still twitching slightly from the electric shock.
He gritted his teeth and pushed himself up.
"Damn it… seriously? No time-stop while watching memories or something…?"
He muttered under his breath, his hair standing on end from the shock, making him look like a malfunctioning robot.
The AI's voice immediately followed, more urgent than before.
"Professor, the black creature is approaching rapidly. Estimated distance: within ten meters. Please move to a safe position immediately."
Lam Huy Trường took a deep breath and forced his trembling body to stand.
"Yeah, yeah… I got it."
He started moving in the direction the AI indicated, trying to avoid the area where Eva was rampaging.
But after only a few steps—
a sudden force clamped tightly around his ankle.
He lost his balance and crashed face-first onto the cracked concrete.
The AI let out a startled sound, while Lam Huy Trường twisted around to look at his leg.
From within the rubble, a human arm—covered in blood and dust—reached out and clutched his ankle like it was the last straw keeping her alive.
Lam Huy Trường pushed himself up, trying to stand, but the hand gripping his ankle refused to let go.
He bent down to look closer.
It was a woman's arm—bruised, smeared with dust and blood—sticking out from a narrow gap between collapsed slabs of concrete. Her trembling fingers clung to him as if she feared that letting go for even a second… would make her disappear from the world entirely.
Ahead of him, Eva's roar echoed—warped and metallic, like twisted steel grinding against itself.
Lam Huy Trường knew—
it was getting very close.
A weak voice, barely more than a breath, drifted up from beneath the rubble.
"H… help me…"
He froze.
Mrs. AI's voice immediately cut in, still mechanical but faster than usual.
"Professor, please continue moving. The creature is clearing obstacles and advancing toward this location. We cannot rescue this girl within the available time."
A crimson data panel flashed into existence before his eyes.
If the target is abandoned, your survival probability will increase to 73%. Please prioritize your own safety.
Lam Huy Trường lowered his hand, intending to pry the fingers off his ankle.
But at that exact moment, the AI's next sentence made him stop midway.
"Please place the highest priority on your own life."
Another voice—one that did not belong to the AI—suddenly echoed in his mind.
"I don't understand why you think my life matters more than yours."
The words sounded distant, yet so clear they made his ears ring.
The image of the girl from his memory—standing in front of him to shield him—flashed through his mind.
Lam Huy Trường clenched his teeth.
Still, he forced himself to think realistically.
If you don't look out for yourself, heaven and earth will destroy you.
"…Sorry."
He roughly brushed the fingers off his leg and stood up.
Behind him, the AI continued urging him forward, as if afraid he might change his mind.
Lam Huy Trường clicked his tongue.
"Knew it…"
He turned and took half a step—
then stopped.
In his mind, the image of Eva when she was still human resurfaced—
the girl standing alone, two streams of red tears running down her cheeks, surrounded by corpses.
No one helped her.
No one comforted her.
Lam Huy Trường clenched his fists.
"…Damn it. I'm not Cao Cao."
He spun back around.
Ahead of him, the massive black mass was crushing everything in its path, now only a few meters away.
He let out a short laugh.
"Let's do this."
A system interface appeared before his eyes as he opened his inventory. From it, he pulled out a strange pair of boots.
He glanced down at them.
"…Guess I just need to put them on… right?"
The monster's roar thundered closer, the ground trembling with each step it took.
The AI practically shouted,
"Professor, what are you doing? Why are you changing shoes at a time like this?!"
Lam Huy Trường didn't answer. He crouched down and quickly slipped his feet into the new boots.
The material felt soft as silk, wrapping around his feet in faintly glowing strands. It felt like stepping barefoot onto fresh grass.
Then he put his old shoes back on over them—so from the outside, it looked like he was still wearing a normal pair of shoes.
"Good…"
he muttered.
"No idea how to use these… but I've got to gamble."
The AI's voice trembled.
"Distance to creature: ten meters."
Lam Huy Trường dropped to one knee and reached out to grab the trembling hand still sticking out from beneath the rubble.
"Nine meters."
He fixed his gaze on a spot roughly ten meters away, behind a collapsed wall.
"Eight meters."
A ticking sound suddenly echoed in his ears—tick… tock… tick… tock—like the pendulum of a clock.
"Seven meters."
A faint golden light began to rise from his feet, wrapping around his body like a thin layer of mist.
"Six meters."
The AI sounded like it was on the verge of crying.
"Five meters."
Lam Huy Trường took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the girl's hand.
"Four meters."
He gathered strength in his legs.
"Three meters."
He slammed his foot into the ground—
it felt as if a starting pistol had gone off inside his head.
"Two meters."
His body turned into a streak of golden light and shot forward in an instant—
"One meter."
The colossal black tide crashed down on the spot where he had just been standing… and swallowed only empty air.
A metallic clanging rang in Lam Huy Trường's ears—
and then, suddenly… silence.
He opened his eyes.
The scenery in front of him had changed.
He was standing behind the collapsed wall—the exact spot he had locked onto earlier, about ten meters from where he had been.
Dust still hung in the air around his feet.
In his arms, the girl was still there—her body limp from exhaustion, but her breathing steady, her chest rising and falling faintly.
He had succeeded.
Mrs. AI's voice burst out, more panicked than ever before.
"Professor… what did you just do? Why did you appear here? How—"
Lam Huy Trường let out a breathless laugh as he looked down at the girl in his arms.
He scooped her up in a princess carry.
"…She's heavier than she looks."
Behind him, the black mass did not stop. It surged forward like a living tide, devouring everything in its path before abruptly changing direction—charging straight toward him again.
The AI's voice instantly switched to alert mode.
"Estimated time before creature contact: five seconds. Distance: ten meters."
Lam Huy Trường glanced around and quickly chose a higher position—a partially collapsed rooftop that was still holding together.
"Four seconds. Distance: seven meters."
Golden light began to rise from his boots again, spreading up along his legs.
"Three seconds. Distance: five meters."
The ticking sound returned in his ears—steady, cold.
Tick… tock…
"Two seconds."
Lam Huy Trường turned around just in time to see the black wave rising like a gigantic beast about to pounce.
He grinned.
"Bet you can't catch me, Eva."
He even stuck his tongue out at it.
"One second."
Golden light flared—
his body and the girl in his arms vanished just before the black tide slammed down.
Every five seconds, a streak of golden light flashed into existence at a new location.
On top of a broken wall.
On a twisted steel beam.
Then on open ground.
Each time he appeared, Lam Huy Trường barely had time to catch a short breath—before disappearing again, just before Eva could reach him.
The distance between them gradually widened.
Ten meters.
Twenty meters.
Fifty meters.
By the time they passed the hundred-meter mark, the black mass finally slowed, stopping at the edge of the devastated zone like a beast that had lost track of its prey.
The final teleport dropped Lam Huy Trường beside a shattered forest.
He dropped to one knee and gently laid the girl down on the ground covered in dry leaves.
In the distance, Eva was still screaming, her black tentacles smashing apart what little remained of the ruins as if venting her rage.
Lam Huy Trường pushed himself back to his feet, chest heaving.
An indescribable thrill surged inside him—this was the first time in his life he had experienced instant teleportation like something out of a sci-fi movie.
"…Holy crap."
He shook his head, stretched his stiff shoulders, then looked back toward the distant black mass.
"Hang on a bit, Eva… just a little longer."
He raised his right hand and shaped it like a gun, aiming it toward the girl far away.
"Just wait."
Lam Huy Trường let out a long breath and looked down at the unconscious girl lying at his feet.
She was still alive.
For now… that was enough.
In the distance, the black mass continued thrashing through the ruins, its tentacles slamming into concrete with bone-chilling force. But the hundred-meter gap was enough to buy him a few seconds to think.
He reached into his inventory and pulled out Professor X's memory fragment.
The paper still glowed faintly, as if waiting for him to touch it again.
Meanwhile, on the watch screen, countless error warnings and flashing red exclamation marks blinked continuously. The AI system still hadn't fully recovered from the series of teleports he had just performed.
Lam Huy Trường chuckled softly.
"Mrs. AI."
The voice inside the watch responded, distorted and slightly stuttering.
"Y… yes. I'm listening, Professor."
"If that monster gets close… shock me again."
There was a brief silence.
"…What? But why aren't you continuing to move? If you keep using that teleportation method, you can reach a safe zone."
Lam Huy Trường looked toward Eva—the black mass roaring like a child that had been abandoned.
He sighed.
"No. I still have something I need to settle with her."
"…Huh?"
The confusion in the AI's voice was obvious.
Lam Huy Trường kept staring at the distant ruins, his gaze darkening.
"There's a girl… crying and waiting for me to go comfort her."
He let out a quiet laugh, but there was no joy in it.
"So I'll leave you to watch over me, Mrs. AI."
"…Understood."
This time, the AI's reply came softer, as if it still couldn't comprehend his decision.
Lam Huy Trường didn't wait any longer. He looked down at the memory fragment in his hand and tightened his grip.
I need to return to the memory I just left.
He closed his eyes.
Immediately, a terrifying force wrapped around his consciousness.
It felt like being strapped into a roller coaster plunging down a steep drop—fragmented images flashing through his mind at dizzying speed.
Corridors.
Laboratories.
Cold white lights.
The memory rewound like a film reel being yanked backward.
The last thought he managed to form was:
That device the professor brought… it can definitely help Eva. I need to know what it is.
The scenery stabilized.
Lam Huy Trường saw Professor X standing before a thick metal door reinforced with multiple layers of electronic and mechanical locks.
A small screen beside the door displayed biometric data and blinking red warnings.
Through the reinforced glass, he saw the girl inside.
Eva.
Her hands were shackled with black metal chains bolted into the wall. Around her body, dark-red tentacles writhed slowly like living creatures.
Patches of scale-like growth had already begun to spread across her skin.
A sharp pain spread through Lam Huy Trường's chest.
This time, he wasn't inside the professor's body—just a ghost standing behind him, watching.