Elia stopped. Her biological sensors, linked to the Primordial Spore in her heart, screamed a warning that no Hive-mind could ignore. Someone had folded the space around her, creating a silent bubble in the middle of the crowded market.
"The Hive taught you to hide in numbers," a child's voice resonated, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "But to a Weaver, numbers are just threads. And yours... yours is glowing with the scent of creation."
From the shadows of a massive ventilation pipe, Fang Yuan stepped out. He looked small, almost fragile, but his Binary Heart pulsed with such gravitational density that the metal floor beneath his feet began to warp.
"Who are you?" Elia whispered, her hand clutching her chest where the Spore burned. "You aren't a Cleaner. You... you feel like the Void itself."
"I am the one the Council fears," Yuan replied, his eyes swirling with indigo pulsars. "And I am the one who will save you from them—only to consume the gift you carry."
Before she could react, Yuan raised his hand. [TECHNIQUE: GRAVITATIONAL ANCHOR - STASIS]. The market-goers around them froze like statues, their time-flow slowed to a near-halt.
"The Primordial Spore," Yuan walked toward her, his face a mask of obsidian-etched cruelty. "It can rewrite a galaxy's DNA. But in your hands, it is just a shield. In mine, it will be the bridge to the 4th Star: Nebula Weaver."
Elia felt her knees buckle. The pressure was immense. "You... you are a Monster. Worse than the Hive."
"A Monster?" Yuan tilted his head, a thin smile touching his lips. "No. I am just a Farmer, Elia. And you are the most exquisite fruit I've ever found in this desert of stars."
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the upper levels. The Council's Inquisitors had found the breach. The hunt had begun, but the hunter had already found his prize.