The geothermal magma well before them surged violently, with the massive emplacement device standing like an immovable pillar amidst the fiery chaos. The sight of the scorching magma below made it impossible not to connect this place to the undersea volcano Laine had mentioned earlier.

Lin Xian even wondered if this device had a direct connection to the abnormal activity of that undersea volcano.

"KIKI, based on the Phoenix Society's previous timeline estimates, how long would it take for the expansion of Abyss No. 8 to completely engulf Haiyan Island?"

Inside the sweltering geothermal cave, Lin Xian leaned against the emplacement device while conducting mechanical scans. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

KIKI hovered mid-air and responded immediately, "For Haiyan Island? Nine days and eighteen hours. Given the current situation, that shouldn't pose an immediate threat, right?"

Lin Xian fell silent for a moment. All the data had been calculated before their departure, yet his mind was restless, trying to find some connection to the countdown he had witnessed. But KIKI's words made it seem irrelevant.

"Lin Xian, is something troubling you?"

KIKI deactivated her nano-armor and studied him keenly. "Did that Chen Yanxiu do something to you earlier? Why did you suddenly collapse?"

Lin Xian also removed his power armor, exhaled deeply, and replied, "I don't know what he did, but it felt similar to that eerie radio incident from before."

KIKI's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Were you transported to another dimension again?"

Lin Xian shook his head. "No, not exactly. It was just... similar. Both incidents involved Forbidden Artifacts. My consciousness was pulled by the Flickering Bullet, and I saw something in the cosmos. Then... a countdown appeared before my eyes."

Scanning the Deep-3 nuclear thermal emplacement was a massive undertaking. Fully analyzing its structure would take at least seven to eight hours. But Lin Xian had no intention of resting. Since KIKI had brought it up, he decided to explain the situation to her.

"A countdown?!"

"Yes. I've been studying it for a while now. There are roughly thirty-four hours left. I don’t know what it means or who planted it in my vision, but it doesn’t seem like a good sign. Also... do you remember that 1,000-ton metal die we found at Taku Deepwater Port? I noticed its numbers keep flipping uncontrollably. Coincidentally, the four digits I saw matched the countdown—34:14. It’s bizarre..."

KIKI's expression shifted slightly. She quickly floated closer, her large eyes scrutinizing Lin Xian’s face intently. After a moment, she said, "I don’t see anything unusual. Are you sure it’s in your eyes?"

Lin Xian shrugged. "Either in my eyes or my brain. Either way, it’s not a temporary hallucination."

"I see." KIKI frowned, crossing her arms in thought. "Knowing you, you wouldn’t dismiss any coincidence as mere coincidence, right?"

Lin Xian nodded.

"Right."

"Then, do you know how often that metal die flips its numbers?" KIKI suddenly asked.

Lin Xian paused. He hadn’t considered that. "I never paid attention. I just checked whenever I remembered. The intervals varied. I only noted the numbers I happened to see."

"That’s strange." KIKI tilted her head. "Why don’t you take it out? I’ll keep watch."

"Why?"

KIKI smirked. "If the next number matches your countdown, we can discuss it together. If not, then they’re probably two separate events. At the very least, you’d have solved one mystery, right?"

Lin Xian’s eyes lit up. "Ah, clever. I’ve been so fixated on the countdown that all these bizarre occurrences have muddled my thinking."

Without hesitation, he retrieved the metal die using his magnetic mechanical arm. KIKI immediately caught it with her telekinesis. As they both stared at it, they noticed the number had changed again.

Last time, it was 4. Now, it displayed 6.

"Six."

KIKI glanced at Lin Xian, who was now staring at the countdown in his vision.

33:48:01

This time, the number didn’t match the countdown. Lin Xian was stunned. Was it really just a coincidence?

"The numbers don’t align this time."

"That means they’re separate events." KIKI carefully observed the floating metal die in her palm. "Now, we need to figure out why this super-massive die—clearly not of Blue Star origin—keeps changing. Could someone be remotely controlling it?"

"Also, a die only has six sides. The numbers shouldn’t exceed six. What if it shows 7, 8, or 9?"

Lin Xian chuckled. "I thought about that too. But when the numbers matched earlier, it felt too surreal to ignore."

"Lin Xian, doesn’t carrying this thing around feel unsafe?" KIKI asked pointedly.

Lin Xian exhaled. "If it’s not safe in my mechanical storage space, then I don’t know where else would be."

"Fair enough."

KIKI’s eyes gleamed as she added, "I think the countdown might not necessarily be a bad thing."

"How so?" Lin Xian asked.

KIKI raised a finger. "First, as you’ve said, if the dark civilization wanted you dead, they wouldn’t give you a countdown, right?"

"True." Lin Xian nodded.

"An apocalypse countdown?" KIKI suggested.

"Unlikely. How much worse could things get?" Lin Xian countered.

"Exactly." KIKI’s gaze sharpened with confidence. "Since this countdown is visible to you, it must be a warning—something will happen when it ends. And you’d naturally want to know what that is. It might just be a heads-up."

Lin Xian’s expression hardened as he grasped KIKI’s logic.

A warning. A heads-up.

Warning of what?

Heads-up about what?

His thoughts darkened as he glanced at the scanning interface before him and muttered, "That time would be the morning after tomorrow, just after dawn."

"Where will we be then?" KIKI asked.

"We..." Lin Xian met her gaze. "Tomorrow, I must find a way to leave this island..."

His voice trailed off as an unexpected memory surfaced—the time dilation effects he’d experienced inside Abyss No. 5 and its internal-external discrepancies.

But first, he needed to decipher this device. Then, at daybreak, he planned to search for traces of the Falcon Sea Group and locate Laine, hoping for new leads.

After a moment of contemplation, he added, "But there’s a chance we won’t make it out."

"What?" KIKI was baffled by his sudden muttering.

Just then, unnoticed by either of them, the metal die in KIKI’s hand silently changed once more.