Chapter 477 Memory Fragments, Phoenix Nirvana
Chapter 477 Memory Fragments, Phoenix Nirvana
The voice wasn't loud, but it was ice-cold.
The moment those words fell, Sophia's body froze without warning.
A massive explosion went off deep in her brain, like some long-sealed gate had been violently smashed to pieces.
Countless chaotic, fragmented images came flooding in, wrapped in sharp ringing and the sharp smell of chemicals, pouring in without mercy.
"What's wrong?"
Nicholas noticed something was off and reached out to steady her swaying shoulders.
She didn't answer. She couldn't.
...A white laboratory, newer and brighter than this abandoned base. Blindingly bright.
...A man in uniform with his back to her.
Tall, broad-shouldered, but his voice was gentle. Beneath that gentleness hid something that made your skin crawl.
"Sophia, don't be afraid. This is the most beautiful flower in the world, 'Night-Blooming Cereus.' It was born for you."
...Inside a huge glass culture dish, a strange white flower swayed slowly in the nutrient solution, its petals layer upon layer, beautiful in an eerie way.
...The slight pain of a needle piercing skin.
...The man turned around. His face was blurry in the memory, but those eyes were crystal clear.
In them was fanaticism, obsession, emotion twisted to the extreme.
"You are my phoenix, my one and only phoenix. Old memories will only hold you back. I will give you the most perfect soul and let you be reborn in flames..."
...A cool jade pendant was hung around her neck.
"This is the key, the key to open the door to your new life. Only you, my daughter, can activate it."
Sophia let out a muffled cry of pain, clutching her head with both hands, her body staggering backward from the violent impact.
These memories weren't gently returning—they were being violently forced in. Every frame was like a shard of glass stabbing hard into her nerves.
"Sophia!"
Nicholas's face went dark. He stepped forward and pulled her completely into his arms.
Her body was shaking uncontrollably, her forehead instantly covered in cold sweat, her whole being about to be torn apart by the surging memories.
"Breathe."
He cupped her face, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Look at me. You're here, right now. Not in that hellhole."
His voice was steady, forcing its way into her chaotic sea of consciousness.
Sophia buried her face in his chest, gasping for air, trying to calm the overwhelming dizziness.
She wasn't remembering—she was reliving it.
Reliving that cold and hopeless childhood when she was treated as a "vessel," as the final carrier of the "Phoenix Project."
Gordon.
The man she'd called "father" for over ten years. The madman who gave her life, then personally pushed her into the abyss.
He wasn't trying to raise a daughter. He was creating a work of art.
Graham's goal was never simple business revenge, never just to smear the Martinez family.
What he wanted was her.
He wanted to use her to restart and complete Gordon's insane, unfinished "Phoenix Project."
After some time, the trembling gradually subsided.
Sophia slowly lifted her head. The terror and pain in her eyes had faded, settling into a heart-stopping calm. Beneath that calm, flames were burning.
"He thought he was God?"
She said softly, as if asking herself, as if stating an absurd fact.
She broke free from Nicholas's embrace and walked over to pick up the diary again.
This time, her hand was steady.
She opened the diary, her fingertips gliding over the familiar handwriting, finally stopping in the middle.
There, tucked between the pages, was a slightly yellowed envelope.
She laughed coldly, tore open the envelope, and found a neatly folded letter inside.
"My dear daughter, my phoenix:
When you read this letter, perhaps you've already awakened, or perhaps you're still confused. But either way, you are the most perfect work of my life, the continuation of all my heart and soul.
Forgive my selfishness. I cannot bear the fall of a genius, much less accept those mediocrities stealing the glory that should belong to us. Memory is humanity's most precious treasure, but also its heaviest shackle. What I must do is break that shackle for you and let you stand at the pinnacle above everyone else.
That jade pendant is the key to activate all of this, and also a guide. Its other half, I've hidden in a place only you can find. There, without our shared memories, lies the true secret of the Anderson family—a secret powerful enough to overturn everything.
Go find it, my daughter. Complete my unfinished work, become a true phoenix, and let the world tremble beneath your light.
—Your loving father, Gordon."
At the end of the letter, the ink had bled slightly from the pressure, revealing an unquestionable obsession.
Sophia held the thin sheet of paper, her knuckles white.
"Your loving father?"
She twisted her lips into a smirk.
"He probably doesn't even know how to spell 'love.' All he understands is possession and control."
There wasn't a trace of normal father-daughter warmth in this letter. Every line was filled with a scientific madman's expectations for his "work" and his need for control.
The true secret of the Anderson family...
Just then, Big Cat's anxious, almost unrecognizable voice came through Nicholas's tactical earpiece.
"Nicholas! Big trouble! I just hacked into this dump's internal network and found an emergency order issued half an hour ago with highest clearance! It says 'Destroy all physical and electronic materials related to the Phoenix Project, all personnel evacuate immediately!' He issued a top-level format command that doesn't even spare physically isolated servers! He's cleaning house and running!"
The air in the underground base seemed to be sucked out in an instant.
The enemy had caught on and was closing the net.
Sophia looked up, carefully folded the letter, put it back in the envelope, and slipped it into her pocket.
She looked at Nicholas. In those beautiful eyes, there wasn't a trace of confusion or fear anymore.
She wasn't some prize, wasn't some vessel.
"The Phoenix Project..."
She walked over to the laptop and looked at the words "Project Phoenix" on the screen. Suddenly she smiled.
"He wanted me to rise from the ashes?"
She was no longer that orphan Sophia struggling in fear and hatred.
From today on, she was the phoenix rising from the flames.
And the phoenix burns all enemies to ash.
She turned to look at Nicholas, her eyes shining bright.
"Mr. Martinez, which sounds better—a phoenix, or the screams of those trying to catch one?"
Nicholas met her gaze. Instead of answering, he pressed his earpiece, his voice calm without a ripple.
"Big Cat, don't stop him from destroying anything. Mirror everything he has, exactly as is."
Big Cat on the other end paused, then understood. His voice got excited.
"Got it! I'll make sure he can't run without looking over his shoulder!"
Sophia's smile grew wider.
"One fire isn't enough."
She said softly.
"We need to let everyone see just how bright this fire can burn."