【Oh my god!! That scared the crap out of me!】

【Why did they suddenly start fighting??】

【What kind of movie is this anyway?!】

“CRASH!!”

The axe fell with a loud bang. Jiang Xindong screamed, almost closing her eyes, but thankfully there was no bloody scene. The female lead’s innate instincts saved her, and she avoided the attack.

The fire axe split the glass, cracks spreading out, and a thin stream of water shot out, grazing the masked person’s sleeve, tearing a slit in it.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A sharp, piercing alarm sounded, and red warning lights flashed wildly in the hall, making the scene even more eerie.

“Who are you?! Why are you trying to kill me!” The female lead was shocked and angry, and she grabbed a piece of furniture to fight the masked person.

The masked person’s gender was indistinguishable, but their height was similar to the female lead’s. For a while, neither of them had the upper hand, but the female lead lacked weapons and mainly focused on defense.

Crack, crack, due to the water pressure, the cracks in the glass grew larger, and seawater surged out, along with the strange creatures inside, making it difficult for the two to move.

The masked person was wearing a waterproof suit from the research institute, with a surface material like a raincoat. But the female lead was only wearing the male lead’s ordinary clothes, and her face quickly turned ugly—because as soon as she touched the seawater, her fishtail began to appear uncontrollably.

Because the film’s tone and atmosphere had always been dark and deep, the sudden turn of events didn’t seem abrupt at all.

Although Jiang Xindong was cursing in her heart, she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. The recorder honestly recorded her physiological reactions—she was watching the work with rapt attention, her heart racing!

The fight scene didn’t take long. The masked person seemed to sense something was wrong and began to retreat as the water reached their waist.

The female lead’s fishtail had fully emerged, and underwater combat was her forte. She wasn’t going to let the masked person go.

In the chaos, it was hard to tell who had the upper hand, but the masked person fled with injuries, and the female lead, exhausted, grabbed a bookshelf, panting.

At this moment, messy footsteps sounded outside the door.

【Ahhh, what to do! The female lead’s fishtail is going to be exposed!】

【The humans in this world don’t seem to know about mermaids. The female lead learned their language from the male lead. Help, is the female lead going to be okay?】

【And this is a research institute! They’re obviously up to no good!】

The screen went dark, and the scene changed.

A pair of sea-blue eyes slowly opened, belonging to the female lead. She took a breath, propped herself up, and found herself locked in an aquarium, surrounded by humans in white coats.

Unsurprisingly, her secret was exposed, and she was captured by the research institute.

Her boyfriend was arguing with them, trying to get them to release her.

“You can’t do this, she’s innocent…”

“Shut up! Didn’t you see? This is a new species! If we start researching, we’ll make history…”

“And she has the same infinity symbol on the back of her hand as we have in the lab. Oh my god, this must be a sign from God…”

The female lead covered her forehead. Her awakening startled the researchers, and they all excitedly surrounded her. The leading researcher, with blond hair and green eyes, was the director of the institute.

He injected her with a syringe, and she slumped down, unconscious again.

【After seeing this, I’m sure this isn’t a romance. I’m so afraid the female lead is going to die!】

【I’ve never seen this style before. Has the dreamweaving style of the Exiled Star System evolved to this point?】

The same IP user from the Exiled Star System said, 【No, only this newcomer is a horror genre dreamweaver…】

The comments and Jiang Xindong were all worried about the female lead.

In the story, it was night.

The female lead in the aquarium was awakened by a noise. She looked up and saw the male lead picking the lock on the aquarium.

“They sent me to a sea expedition to keep me out of the way. I’m the only leader, with a few crew members.” The male lead said quietly and quickly, “We’re leaving tonight. I sneaked over while the crew was changing to let you out.”

The female lead was stunned as he pulled her out, and she asked nervously, “What if they find you? The sea is so dangerous, what if they have bad intentions…”

Her fishtail gradually turned into legs in the dry air. The male lead put his clothes on her and smiled, “You’re worth the risk.”

【…Suddenly I’m not sure if this is a romance. The male lead is so loving.】

【Another sea voyage. The institute didn’t consider the male lead’s mental state at all. What if his PTSD isn’t healed?】

【I hope the protagonists have a happy ending!】

Jiang Xindong felt an indescribable sense of foreboding, feeling that this farewell was extremely ominous.

They only had a few minutes to say goodbye. The male lead pulled the female lead down the stairs. The camera panned down, showing the entire staircase of the institute.

It was pure white, like the tower outside, spiraling down, surrounded by thick glass filled with seawater. Strange sea creatures with inorganic eyes quietly watched the fleeing lovers.

“This floor is full of valuable experimental items. They rarely come here because it requires a lot of approvals. You can hide here for now.”

On a certain floor, the male lead told the female lead, “See that machine? It has a passage to the sea. When the time is right, you can escape from there.”

He was referring to a huge white machine, part of which looked like a pool, and part of which looked like a sealed box. “Try not to touch the liquid inside. Before you escape, drain the liquid… in your terms, it’s a ‘multiplier.’ Any medicine will be analyzed and mass-produced once it goes in. Its valve connects to the sea. I suspect the pollution is spreading from here.”

There was another machine that stood out. It was a white barrel, like the institute building, with an infinity symbol on it. Seeing the female lead looking at it, the male lead introduced it.

“As for that machine… it’s said to be able to rewind time.” The boyfriend’s expression turned strange. “Our director’s most passionate research is this. But I’ve never seen it used.”

With mermaids in this world, it wasn’t strange to have such a machine. Jiang Xindong thought, the Dreamweaver was probably going to use this machine to tie into the theme of “reincarnation,” but she couldn’t figure out how to use it yet.

It was time for the male lead to go. Before leaving, the female lead hugged him and said in mermaid language, “Dai Fu Rui Ka Xi… which means, ‘I must see you again.'”

The male lead gave her a kiss and said gently, “Yes, Dai Fu Rui Ka Xi.”

As soon as the male lead left, the surroundings were empty and silent. The female lead leaned against the window, watching his ship sail away. Jiang Xindong thought she could breathe a sigh of relief, but she sensed something was wrong.

【Hmm, is there something else moving in the background noise?】

【Ahhh, I’m scared. Don’t tell me there’s another twist!】

【Help, it sounds like something is hitting the ground!】

The female lead heard it too. She immediately tensed up and followed the sound, searching the floor, grabbing a fire axe from the wall for self-defense.

The instruments stood in the darkness like ghosts. After bypassing a machine, the source of the sound was revealed—it was another mermaid!

She had short, curly black hair, wearing a white lab coat from the institute, and a purple-red fishtail. Although her scales were dull, their shape was beautiful. The sound was from her tail moving.

But when she raised her face, everyone gasped.

Her face and shoulders were disfigured, as if they had been splashed with corrosive liquid, revealing red flesh and bone, with charred edges.

One eyelid was corroded, and the eye underneath was cloudy, but the other eye was clear, sea-blue like the female lead’s.

【Even though she’s so pitiful, I’m going to have nightmares!!】

【I’m so impressed. What kind of mindset did the Dreamweaver have to make the model look so terrifying…】

【Were there other mermaids before the female lead? Was she injured during research? That’s terrible!!】

The female lead was also frightened, but her identity and responsibility as the queen of the tribe made her ask, “Were you injured in the institute?”

Due to the facial muscle damage, it was difficult to interpret the disfigured mermaid’s expressions. The female lead perceived only a slight tremor in her eyes, followed by a nod.

Her vocal cords were also damaged, leaving her unable to speak.

This mermaid seemed to have a problem with her tail, unable to transform it into legs. The female lead had to laboriously drag her to the machine.

But for some reason, this mermaid kept resisting, as if she was very afraid of her.

“Don’t be afraid of me. You’re my kin, and I have a duty to help you…”

The female lead was comforting her in mermaid language when she suddenly stopped. During the process of being dragged, the disfigured mermaid’s sleeve slipped, and she clearly saw an “∞” symbol on the back of the disfigured mermaid’s hand!

–

At this time, at the exam center.

“Phew—”

Shang Jingyan stretched out a big lazy stretch and walked out of Building 18.

After being locked in the same room for ten days to create a dreamscape, even the most introverted person would feel stifled. Right now, she just wanted to get some fresh air.

Once the dreamscape was submitted, there was nothing for the dreamweavers to do. The audience had been pulled into the anonymous judging process, and the examiners were ready.

However, according to the rules, they still couldn’t leave the exam center until the final results were out, and they could only wander around inside.

After finishing dreamweaving, the dreamweavers also needed to have their mental strength retested to generate qualification certificates after joining the association.

The restaurant was full of dreamweavers, and various aromas filled the air.

For these ten days, everyone’s food had been delivered by the exam center robots. Although it was nutritionally balanced, it was inevitably bland.

Shang Jingyan poured herself a cup of milk tea and took several small cakes. Her mental strength had been so depleted that she now craved sweets. For a moment, she missed Pei Yi and You Yao’s cooking.

While eating, she browsed the dreamscapes on the official website.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious about what her competitors had created. Almost all the dreamweavers around her were also scrolling through the light screens.

Shang Jingyan watched at four times the speed, eating and watching: 【Hmm… my competitor classmates are performing very well.】

She was referring to Hua Feitian. Shang Jingyan actually knew about Hua Feitian before, but she hadn’t connected the name and face, and she hadn’t paid attention to the gossip. Now, she was catching up and realized that Guan Gaoyang had actually hooked up with her.

Hua Feitian’s dreamscape was called Heaven-Sent Starship, and surprisingly, it had a family theme rather than a love theme.

“A gift from heaven,” this phrase was often used by elders to describe younger generations, saying that children were gifts from God.

But Hua Feitian reversed it, starting from the child’s perspective.

The protagonist was a girl from an orphanage, poor and struggling to grow up, with a dream of becoming a space pirate.

Children’s ideas were very naive. In her mind, to become a space pirate, she should first have a starship.

After waking up on the street again one day, she was covered in a pile of flyers. Picking one up, she saw that a company was holding a competition, and the first prize was a starship.

She immediately signed up, but she didn’t really expect to win, just for the free fried chicken at the sign-up point. The competition required two people, and the girl didn’t know anyone, so she pulled in a lone passerby to team up.

The passerby had a disabled right hand and a patch over her left eye, looking fierce, more like a space pirate than a space pirate. She was old enough to be the girl’s mother.

The pair initially disliked each other, causing a lot of laughs, but gradually opened up during the process, going from being underestimated to becoming a dark horse combination in the competition.

The woman learned about the girl’s past, and the girl learned that the woman was a retired soldier from the Alliance.

In the climax, the competition actually attracted real space pirates. The scene was chaotic, but the two protagonists managed to turn the tide.

In the end, they won the championship trophy, and the retired soldier also obtained an adoption certificate, becoming a real mother and daughter with the girl.

This dreamscape had a complete structure, clear transitions, and both funny and tearful moments. It was definitely an excellent commercial work.

Luo Zhiyu’s dreamscape was also very good. The topic she drew was Group C. After Shang Jingyan added her as a friend, she had suggested that she change her style.

And this time, she boldly abandoned the making of love theme. The dreamscape was called *The Return of the Princess*, telling the story of a princess who was avenging her country’s destruction and ascending to a high position.

The process was thrilling, with conspiracies intertwined, making people feel excited.

And the only part that love played in it was… the princess sacrificed her first love to seize power. Even after having countless concubines and being surrounded by men, she would still feel lonely, forever missing her white moonlight, praised as a king with deep feelings.

Shang Jingyan was amused, feeling that Luo Zhiyu also had a bit of mischief in her personality: 【I’m really looking forward to the reactions of the people in the Galactic Era when they see this ending.】

She scanned a dozen or so dreamscapes, feeling that only those two were worth paying attention to. She stood up and stretched her shoulders: 【The line for mental strength testing must be long. I should get in line early.】

–

In Jiang Xindong’s live broadcast room, *Moebius Sea* continued.

After seeing the infinity symbol, the female lead’s pupils narrowed, like a beast.

The red-tailed, disfigured mermaid paused, then her fingernails extended, transforming into an attack form, and fiercely scratched at the female lead’s face!

Jiang Xindong and the comments didn’t expect her to attack suddenly and were stunned.

The female lead also didn’t seem surprised at all, and the fire axe in her hand directly smashed over, and she fought with the red-tailed mermaid!

    【What the hell is going on?】

    【Looking at the female lead’s expression, she really wants to kill this mermaid too!】

    【Why does the red-tailed mermaid want to attack the female lead, just because the pattern on her hand was seen?】

The mermaids in the film were not some beautiful fairy-tale species, but a cruel and powerful species with a bloody nature, as could be seen from the beginning when they tied up the small fish.

The disfigured mermaid was injured, after all. Even though she attacked first, she didn’t get the upper hand and was quickly pinned against Machine No. 1 by the female lead, who was choking her neck.

“There is only one inherited totem of the Mermaid King, and only I have it.”

She grabbed the disfigured mermaid’s wrist and asked, word by word, “What exactly are you? Are you a replica created by them?”

Scenes flashed back in the female lead’s mind, obviously starting to suspect how long she had been unconscious and whether the research institute had used her to create this mermaid.

    【How is there cloning too? My brain can’t keep up…】

    【Wait, I have an idea, I think I know who this mermaid is! Maybe it’s not a clone! [Shocked]】

    【Don’t leave, what do you know? Confused.】

The disfigured mermaid couldn’t answer her, only shaking her head constantly. The female lead’s expression darkened.

Anyway, as long as she confirmed that the totem was unique to her, that was enough. Everything else could be killed.

At the critical moment of life and death, the red-tailed mermaid suddenly exerted force, desperately struggling backward, and slipped into the liquid of the first machine. The female lead shook the water off her face and hurriedly lunged forward to grab her, but missed.

The red-tailed mermaid sank rapidly, her short, curly black hair swaying like seaweed, and blood from her wounds spread through the liquid.

And her damaged lips moved, and the audience and the female lead understood her lip reading—

“You… will… know…”

Know what?

The female lead cursed inwardly, hesitating whether to chase after her, after all, her boyfriend said to be careful not to get contaminated by this liquid, but her face changed in the next moment.

The red-tailed mermaid’s blood spread in the liquid, and the coral reefs that originally grew inside quickly grew black spots, and the seaweed was also corroded and turned yellow.

This symptom was exactly the same as the pollution of the sea!

Was the pollution created in this way?

From the female lead’s expression, you could see her inner shock and confusion. The comments were also in chaos.

【Could it be that other mermaids were killed here before?】

【It’s definitely more than that. That mermaid’s blood must be special, otherwise, the female lead and others would have been injured in the sea, but we didn’t see any pollution of the ocean, right?】

【Ahhh, I’m a fool, I’ll just see what the dreamweaver says. Anyway, no matter what, for the sake of her people, the female lead definitely wants to stop the pollution from getting worse… Ah, I know, is she going to try that time-reversal machine!】

The female lead had the same idea as the comments. After panicking for a while, she turned her attention to the other huge white machine.

The 【∞】 symbol on it was like a pair of eyes, coldly watching her, enticing her.

She gritted her teeth and opened the machine’s door. A burst of white mist floated out, revealing a cold blue passage, with frost on all sides.

The audience watched as the female lead climbed into the narrow passage. She found the time adjustment screen and set it to shortly after she was released from the aquarium by her boyfriend.

Although it was her first time using the machine, the female lead seemed strangely skilled.

Because the inside of the passage was very humid, and there was water, her scales were starting to show a bit, but she could barely maintain the shape of her legs. After selecting the time, she continued to crawl inside.

Jiang Xindong looked at the progress bar, thinking, could it be that only now, for the first time, did the film touch on the theme of “reincarnation”? Isn’t this a bit late?

She was thinking this when she saw the plot that made her feel cold all over.

“Hiss…!”

The female lead let out a soft cry of pain as she crawled, looking down to see that a scale on her fishtail had been scratched off by the ice crystals.

It was a scale from her side fin, very special, purple-blue, and glowing. The female lead only had five or six such special scales on her body.

And this one was about to shed anyway, with a small gap on one side.

The scale was washed away by the water and fell into the crevice. The female lead frowned but didn’t pay attention to this small episode.

The beautiful blue fishtail gradually disappeared at the end of the passage, but the camera stayed in place. The perspective slowly turned, following the washed-away scale.

Jiang Xindong widened her eyes, a chill spreading through her heart.

In the depths of the crevice, there were countless purple-blue scales!

They had the same gap, like layers of copied and pasted images, crowded together, the glow illuminating the dark crevice.

It was just a simple scene, without any horror elements, but Jiang Xindong still uncontrollably blurted out, “Holy crap.”

If she were an animal, the fur on her body would have stood on end.

【Oh my god!! What does this scene mean? I just shivered all over!】

【Don’t forget the theme is reincarnation… My god, could it be that the female lead has crawled through this passage countless times??】

【It’s so terrifying, every time is a repeated reincarnation!?】

The audience was almost completely blown away, and all kinds of comments instantly covered the screen. Jiang Xindong’s heart was beating as if it would jump out of her chest, while on the other side, the female lead was still unaware.

She crawled to the end and opened the machine’s door.

Had the time reversal succeeded? The female lead poked her head out, then suddenly froze.

There was a sound on this floor, and it was the director’s voice!

Could it be that the director was here before she and her boyfriend came to this floor? Then they almost ran into him!

The female lead was both scared and relieved, and immediately made a decision: she was going to deal with the director.

The lights on the test bench were on, and the director was focused on the research in front of him, not hearing the movement behind him. In his hand, he was preparing a purple-red potion, the liquid seemed corrosive, bubbling and hissing against the glass.

The female lead spread her fingers, her battle-form nails popping out, and silently approached the director.

Just as she was about to strike, the director suddenly turned around, as if he sensed something.

“Who’s there?” He asked, his voice sharp.

The female lead froze, her heart pounding. She had been too careless.

Before she could react, the director lunged at her, grabbing her arm. He was surprisingly strong for his slender build.

“You!” He exclaimed, his eyes widening in recognition. “How did you get here?”

The female lead tried to break free, but the director’s grip was like iron.

“Let me go!” She hissed, her voice low and dangerous.

The director ignored her, instead pulling out a syringe from his pocket.

“I can’t let you interfere with my research,” he said, his voice cold. “I’m so close to a breakthrough.”

He pressed the syringe against her neck. The female lead struggled, but it was no use.

The director injected her with the liquid, and she felt a burning sensation spread through her veins. Her vision blurred, and she collapsed to the floor.

The director looked down at her, a cruel smile on his face.

“You’re just a tool,” he said. “A means to an end.”

He turned and walked away, leaving the female lead lying unconscious on the cold floor.

The scene shifted, and the female lead’s eyes fluttered open. She was back in the aquarium, surrounded by white-coated researchers.

“She’s awake!” Someone shouted.

The director approached, his expression unreadable.

“How do you feel?” He asked.

The female lead tried to speak, but her throat was dry.

“What did you do to me?” She managed to croak.

The director chuckled. “Just a little experiment,” he said. “Nothing to worry about.”

He turned to the researchers. “Prepare her for the next phase,” he ordered.

The female lead’s heart sank. She knew she was in trouble.

The researchers led her away, and she was taken to a dark, cold room. She was strapped to a table, and a strange device was placed over her head.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her voice trembling.

No one answered.

The device hummed to life, and a surge of electricity coursed through her body. She screamed in agony.

The scene faded to black.

When the female lead regained consciousness, she was back in the aquarium. But something was different.

She looked down at her hands, and her eyes widened in horror.

They were no longer human hands. They were claws, sharp and deadly.

She looked at her reflection in the glass, and her blood ran cold.

Her face was disfigured, her skin scarred and mangled. One of her eyes was cloudy, the other still a clear blue.

She was the disfigured mermaid.

The realization hit her like a tidal wave. She had been turned into the creature she had just fought.

The director approached the aquarium, his eyes gleaming.

“Welcome back,” he said, his voice dripping with malice. “Or should I say, welcome to your new reality.”

The female lead stared at him, her mind reeling. She understood now.

The time travel machine hadn’t just sent her back in time. It had sent her back into a loop. A loop where she was destined to become the disfigured mermaid, the one who tried to warn herself.

The infinity symbol on her hand, the countless scales in the crevice, the disfigured mermaid’s warning—it all made sense now.

She was trapped in an endless cycle of pain and transformation.

The director smiled, revealing sharp, predatory teeth.

“You see,” he said, “time is not a straight line. It’s a circle. And you, my dear, are stuck in it.”

The female lead’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t give up.

She knew what she had to do. She had to break the cycle.

She had to find a way to stop the director, even if it meant sacrificing herself.

The scene shifted to the male lead’s ship. He was looking out at the sea, his face etched with worry.

He had a feeling something was wrong.

He turned to his crew. “We’re going back,” he said. “We have to go back.”

The crew looked at him, surprised.

“But sir,” one of them said, “we’re already halfway to our destination.”

“I don’t care,” the male lead said. “We’re going back.”

He couldn’t explain it, but he knew the female lead was in danger.

He had to save her.

The scene returned to the female lead, now the disfigured mermaid. She was pacing back and forth in her aquarium, her mind racing.

She had to find a way out.

She looked at the infinity symbol on her hand, and an idea sparked in her mind.

She had to use the time travel machine again.

She had to go back further, before the director’s experiments, before the pollution, before everything.

She had to change the past, to change the future.

She had to break the cycle.

The scene faded to black, and the words “To be continued…” appeared on the screen.