Chapter 727: Chapter 724: "Of course, you are the best." (Alliance Hierarch "Feng Timo loves bags" 2k additional update)
"Ding dong!"
[Witness the death of a significant npc (Bi).]
[Ring of Time (Purple Grade) has been upgraded to Lv.3.]
...
[Civilization Contract signed; you have acquired the identity of an (Executor of Ta Wei).]
...
Bi jumping into the edge of the World essentially means a form of death.
Her body, shaped by Caius Tower, would instantly disintegrate once she left the dimension of Caius Tower, losing her human identity and leaving behind only an intangible program.
After her death, the Ring of Time gained an upgrade.
...
[Ring of Time (Purple Grade, Lv.3): "If everything leads back to the beginning, why then, add an illusory brilliance to my journey?"]
Spirit +24
Duration of control skills +0.5 seconds (cannot bypass strength differenced using forceful judgment)
Special Skill (Time Loop): Consumes Mana Points, select a certain range around you, and revert everything within that space to the state it was one hour and forty minutes ago. (This skill cannot be used on players)
Current Recordings of the Ring of Time: Tretiya, Bi.]
...
After two upgrades, the Ring of Time now provides 24 Mentality Points, equivalent to a Second Rank Mentality Series Player. Thus, with each upgrade, the ring adds 2 Spirit Points, and there’s no upper limit.
Besides, the ring’s attribute that enhances control effects is also of supreme quality. For large-scale battlefields, if Judgment is used, it’s like adding 0.5 seconds of control duration to tens of thousands of enemy troops.
Edward is really lucky to have obtained such a Purple Grade ring.
"..."
Su Ming’an looked up at the abyss-like edge of the World. The head of a deity was still there, with a pair of dark eyes peering out, its features hidden amidst the black mist.
Seeing Su Ming’an looking up, the deity squinted its eyes, appearing to smile briefly.
[(?)-Favorability: 50+10 points! (Friendship Line)]
...
"How does that feel?" the deity actually asked this question. Its gentleness is always a facade.
"..." Su Ming’an stared at It.
Thirty Roseblood shards were ravaging his internal organs, causing an overwhelmingly painful sensation. Su Ming’an staggered several steps backward until he stabilized against the motorcycle that swayed behind him.
"I think I know who you are," said Su Ming’an.
"Is that so?" replied the deity. "Then the guess you have is probably a wrong answer."
"Do you know where Lv Shu is?" Su Ming’an asked.
"Finally admitting that Lv Shu isn’t your real name?" the deity pondered for a moment. "You should ask the person behind you... Ah, he’s gone. Is it because he cannot face you? Or is his conscience bothering him?"
Su Ming’an turned around to see that no one was there; Lin Guang had silently left, leaving only the lonely motorcycle behind.
"... In accordance with the Civilization Contract, I will periodically provide you with resources sufficient to sustain human survival for 72 years. Once every two years. The first batch of resources has been sent to the coordinates of the City of Gods; you just need to go and receive them..." the deity’s voice gradually faded away, its head retracting as well. "Good luck."
The howling wind danced around, sounding like the devil’s screech in his ears. Su Ming’an clutched his chest, feeling as if a large spoon was stirring within him, twisting his innards and blood vessels.
... The deity.
Sooner or later, he would slay the deity.
The likely conclusion of this World Replica would be with the death of the deity. Several of the previously Perfect Pass TEs have developed in a favorable direction, and this time should be no exception.
"Cough." Another pool of blood stained the ground.
He inserted the keys into the motorcycle with a wobbly stance, put on the helmet Bi had worn before, mimicked her manner, started the motorcycle, settled into the seat, gripped the handle, and twisted—
"Ula—"
The motorcycle kicked up a cloud of dust, scurrying away like a pig with a burnt tail. Sand and smoke billowed together, clouding his entire view as he coughed up dirt, with blood and dust mixing together.
This time, no one remained at the desolate edge of the World to take him away.
He had learned to ride a motorcycle.
...
[Instance Activation Day 18 · Afternoon]
The massive resources enough to sustain humanity for two years descended upon the City of Gods.
As the mountain-high resources were taken out of the City of Gods by Su Ming’an and transported out truck by truck to the people close to freezing to death, the name of Yasa Acto was once again exalted.
People clutched Warm Stones, chewed on food, and hope once again sparked in their eyes. They discarded their weapons, retreated from the battlefield, transforming from fierce refugees to residents, and once again, they chanted the City Lord’s name.
Such is human nature.
When in the troughs of despair, they wish to spurn him and trample him underfoot; at the peaks, they take turns to deify him. Love seeks life for him, while hatred wishes death upon him.
Only when they need him do people respect and love him; the moment he fails to meet their demands, they see him as an obstacle to the times, eager to shove him towards death.
The humans of the Dawn War era were so, and those of the City of Measurement era too—Molite Snow, the leader of Eden, and the Hawk Hound Kaskining Feiluo. And those red-eyed residents of the City of Measurement who hated Acto for constructing the Dawn System and the A-type personas, believing that once Acto died, people could obtain freedom and equality.
They did not realize that without him, they would have long perished under the invasions. Without the A-type personas allocating resources, they would not have been able to survive all those years.
No one could think from the perspective of Acto, nor experience all the hardships and pains he felt, not even Su Ming’an when he first came to the City of Measurement, who thought of Acto as a bad person because of the experiences of those in The Fringe.
It’s very pragmatic.
There’s nothing worth hating. The human desire for self-preservation is stronger than anything else.
"..."
Su Ming’an sat in the governmental building of Doomsday City, examining the resource distribution report in his hands.
"City Lord, after the news of the resource distribution spread, most of the refugees chose to lay down their weapons. We are also doing our utmost to save people," reported Sen Kylstia: "However, some have been bewitched by Ta Wei for too long, and no matter what we do, they cannot be persuaded..."
"...I understand," Su Ming’an said. "If they really can’t be saved, then just let it be."
"Understood," Sen replied.
"You need to take care of yourself," Su Ming’an said while flipping through the report, taking a glance at Sen’s complexion.
"Thank you for your concern, City Lord. But every additional minute I work now means more people can be rescued, maybe even saving several families," Sen said. "Once the resource distribution is over, I will rest."
"Mhm," Su Ming’an hummed a response.
Sen gave a bow and left the office.
Su Ming’an watched the slightly stooped figure of the old man exit. His blood-colored cloak, worn for over thirty years, had long since faded and was ragged as an old rag.
After the news of the resource distribution was released, people behaved as if nothing had happened before. All those remarks like "Hand over Yasa Acto immediately!" and "How could Doomsday City shield Yasa Acto!" seemed as if they had never existed.
People timidly ate the food in their hands, not daring to meet him, even some subordinates’ gaze flitted when they looked at him, clearly harboring guilt for having wronged him.
He reached out and placed a picture of two people on his desk.
In the photo, he and a rosy-cheeked Tretiya were smiling towards the camera. She was dressed in a fashionable t-shirt, lips a healthy red, making a "Yay" gesture to the camera. It was an old photo.
This was a keepsake of Tretiya.
Because of Tretiya’s will, he was unable to vindicate her. He could only erase as much of her existence as possible, to reduce the criticism of her by others.
At that moment, he suddenly remembered the information he collected on the eighth day of World Replica Activation from the City of Measurement forum:
...
[There is little historical record of Tretiya. Even after scouring the data from the four great libraries of the city-states, it’s hard to reconstruct her life.]
[All I know is that she was a woman with an extraordinary story, a companion of the Lord of Acto City. Public opinion during the war was divided about her, and it seems she made a grave mistake, leading to a parting of ways with the city lord.]
[Scandal is always a matter of great interest, and there’s plenty of historical records about it. It is believed Tretiya and the city lord had a special relationship, and her cause of death seems to be disappearance. Some also speculate she died of old age...]
...
So that’s how it is.
The cause of Tretiya’s death was unknown because she should not have died as the leader of Ta Wei.
...
"...Bi, Bi, are you there?" Su Ming’an called into the air.
He heard an odd "click" sound, like a phone connection.
[I’m here, can you see my text? ♪(^∇^*)] A line of text appeared in mid-air.
The two could communicate through the written word.
"Bi, are you already in Ta Wei?" Su Ming’an asked.
[Yes, I can’t see anything here, nor can I see what Ta Wei looks like. I seem to be trapped in a computer and can only act as a messenger. If you want to find me, just call my name (づ￣3￣)づ╭]
"Okay," Su Ming’an replied.
Bi: [You’ve consumed so much Roseblood, you need to rest. Every activation of the administrator body requires a lot of resources, and you don’t have a second administrator body.]
"I know," Su Ming’an replied.
The text disappeared, and their exchange ceased.
"Cough, cough cough..." He coughed a few times, when suddenly he heard a series of noises from outside the window.
He walked to the window, pushed it open, and the wind and snow poured in over his collar. He saw the towering bell tower not far away, covered with hundreds of figures, dense as a forest.
The bell tower, at the center of Doomsday City, had three large bells that rang with the wind. Its surface was gilded, dazzling with gold in the sunlight, visible even from outside the city, and celebrated as one of Doomsday City’s landmark structures.
...Why were there so many people on the bell tower?
The next moment, Su Ming’an saw a figure on the bell tower take a step forward, dropping like a fallen leaf—
"Smack!"
The person leapt from the bell tower, and moments later, hit the ground with a skull bursting open like a watermelon being smashed, splashing blood in an instant. It was then that Su Ming’an realized— at the foot of the bell tower, the bodies of people were piled up like sacks, forming a small mountain. Blood flowed, staining the ground red.
The people on the bell tower... were clasped their hands together in prayer, closing their eyes and leaping from the tower in succession, staging a performance of suicide.
Many residents in the central square were watching this scene, their faces full of shock.
Su Ming’an suddenly understood why the people on the bell tower were jumping.
These people... had been bewitched by a deity for a long time and were beyond salvation, their eyes blood-red.
When the Dawn War had just ended in the 49th year of the Catastrophe, the soldiers of the deity faction had carried out actions of collective self-immolation after their defeat. Now, in the 65th year of the Catastrophe, the deity had disappeared again, and these believers had also chosen to collectively leap to their deaths—they were unwilling to live in a world without the deity, even though the deity was essentially an invader.
Faith... is truly a terrifying thing.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The sounds continued to come, as people leapt from the bell tower one after another.
An old woman wrapped in a cloth robe, carrying a cloth bag in her hand, gasped for breath as she ascended the bell tower. There was no red light in her eyes, and her suicide seemed to be a matter of her own free will.
There were many people like her, most of whom had lost the will to live, all of their family members dead, not willing to linger in the world.
She softly called out a word twice in staccato succession, hugging the cloth bag, her body leaning forward—
Like a kite with its string cut, her silver hair took flight in the breeze, her brightness and outline ever so clear.
As she fell, the cloth bag involuntarily opened, revealing the contents inside fluttering about—withered yellow, pale yellow, snow white, charred black, carrying a hint of green, lacking luster, like mud, of various shapes.
They accompanied her and the other jumpers, and due to their light weight, were caught in the wind and took flight, like the seeds of a dandelion, as if about to scatter across the wide earth, or like the ephemeral light and shadow of a stage.
Her head tilting downward, her worn cloth robe fluttering, as if wings from heaven, and the corners of her mouth curved in a smile, as though she would embrace the light with this act—
Like water flowing over a lotus leaf, leaving not a single trace behind.
"Boom!"
A loud noise.
Then silence ensued.
After her, there were a series of loud noises, and the bodies piled up into a mountain.
Su Ming’an watched all this quietly.
Five minutes later, atop the bell tower, the performance of the suicides had ended. Soldiers began to clear away the bodies.
"Ding—Ding—Ding—"
The ancient bell tolled, deep and resonant, ringing the farewell tones for the departed souls. The passing of human life was all too common, whether it was dying in battle, freezing to death, or starving, life seemed as light as a feather.
Only this scene—hundreds of people queuing up, dying in the same way by clasping their hands and leaping to their deaths, made the onlookers feel the weight that struck their souls. The weight of life seemed heavy only at this moment.
"..."
The barrage of comments was shocked, even jamming for a few seconds, and Su Ming’an looked at the empty top of the bell tower for a few seconds before closing the window.
...My body feels so heavy, perhaps I should rest for a while.
Blood slid from the corner of his mouth, he wiped the bloodstains from his chin, lay on the bed, and a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed him—
...
He smelled the fragrance of fresh grass.
A pavilion built from stone columns was covered with reeds and green grass, beneath which rivers flowed like white ribbons, carrying the fallen ginkgo leaves downstream. Sunlight shone on the waterside pavilions, the surroundings vast and tranquil.
Su Ming’an was sure—this was a dream.
He was behind a sturdy ginkgo tree, stepping on the leaves.
Suddenly, he saw a figure moving not far away. The person wore a white robe, with a stern look and pale eyes, exuding a murderous aura while walking that made people keep their distance.
...Lin Guang.
Su Ming’an was puzzled...why would he dream of Lin Guang? He mostly dreamed of his father and Yuanyuan, and had never dreamed of an NPC
Lin Guang went to the pavilion and began to brew tea with utmost seriousness, meticulous in every step, the tea liquid was clear and the fragrance wafted out.
In the moment Lin Guang picked up the tea cup, he suddenly looked up and saw Su Ming’an behind the ginkgo tree. The two weren’t far apart, so it was normal for Su Ming’an to be spotted.
Lin Guang’s expression became confused for a moment.
Su Ming’an looked back at Lin Guang.
As they locked eyes for a while, Lin Guang suddenly lowered his head and sighed:
"...I’ve dreamed of you again."
"..."
Su Ming’an realized something—could it be that this wasn’t his dream, but he was now in Lin Guang’s dream?
This was a good opportunity.
He stepped out from behind the tree. Lin Guang was still bowing his head and steeping tea, the tea pouring into the cup, revealing an amber hue.
"Lin Guang," Su Ming’an said.
Lin Guang placed the tea bowl in front of him and actually began to boast that he was good at making tea:
"Lewis, do you want to learn how to make tea from me? I’m really good at it now."
Su Ming’an immediately tactfully declined, "Not for me, I don’t have a knack for it."
"Not true," Lin Guang said, "The tea you make would surely be the best. Anyone who says otherwise just doesn’t appreciate it."
"...Lin Guang, why didn’t you kill me before?" Su Ming’an changed the subject.
"Why would I kill my own friend?" Lin Guang asked, puzzled.
"Then why wouldn’t you respect your friend’s wishes and insist on killing all of humanity with a nuclear blast?" Su Ming’an said.
Lin Guang’s expression changed slightly, his eyes filled with confusion and icy resolve, firmly fixed on Su Ming’an’s face. Su Ming’an gave nothing away, his expression natural.
After a moment, Lin Guang finally said, "I launched the nuclear blast, not really to save resources... Without this simulation, there would be another. What’s the use of saving resources every time? I did it only for..."
At the critical moment, he shut his mouth.
Su Ming’an didn’t expect that even in a dream, Lin Guang could still be so cryptic—can’t you just openly discuss once why you set off the nuclear explosion? What exactly did the pangolin tell you?
There’s no one else here, so who could possibly overhear...
Wait a moment.
Su Ming’an suddenly realized—why Lin Guang had been avoiding mentioning "the reason for launching the nuclear blast".
Someone was watching.
Ever since the Catastrophe of year 32, even up to now, even in dreams... someone had been watching Lin Guang. The most likely suspect was "Ta Wei". So Lin Guang had been tight-lipped about "the reason for the nuclear blast" so as not to let "Ta Wei" know.
Su Ming’an had encountered this situation before. Back in the City of Measurement, the Dawn System made it clear that someone above was watching, and it couldn’t answer his questions. One time, Su Ming’an exposed that he was not Acto during a nighttime meeting and was killed by the Dawn System itself.
All this indicated... above people’s heads, there was a watcher. "Ta Wei" had been overlooking this world for a long time.
Just like... three-dimensional humans watching two-dimensional comics on paper. They can easily know everything shown on the page.
This was also the reason why the people of the Ninth World were all so enigmatic—someone was always listening, who would dare to speak the truth? Their real plans could only be kept in their own hearts.
"Lin Guang, will you tell me? I promise no one will hear," Su Ming’an said.
Lin Guang just shook his head.
Lin Guang wasn’t as intelligent as Noel and couldn’t have cross-loop conversations with Su Ming’an. He was simply a fool who, apart from shaking his head, only knew how to shake his head. Su Ming’an couldn’t hint that he could rewind time after learning the truth, because if he was even slightly obscure, Lin Guang wouldn’t understand.
It looked like this task could only be left to Noel...
Su Ming’an furrowed his brows, while Lin Guang suddenly stood up.
"0321..." Lin Guang said.
"What?" Su Ming’an said.
Lin Guang walked on, and Su Ming’an immediately followed him.
They walked past the gravel path and came to the edge. Only then did Su Ming’an realize the special scenery outside; beneath the pavilion was a cliff, shrouded in mist, with their location on the mountainside.
"Do you know where this is?" Lin Guang said.
"I don’t," Su Ming’an said. He was not familiar with the scenery of the Ruined World.
"...This is Taihua Mountain," Lin Guang said.
Su Ming’an looked up.
The distant mountains were vast, thick with clouds and fog. Taihua Mountain stood amidst the mist, with high peaks overlooking deep valleys and tranquil pools leaning against heavenly pillars. A myriad of mountains and ravines soared into the clouds, like a grand tapestry of majestic mountains.
He suddenly heard the soft laughter of a young girl. He turned his head and saw a black-haired girl leaning against a tree, her hair lifted by the wind, with the scent of jasmine. Both the scenery and the person were extremely serene and beautiful.
Soon, her figure dissipated into the mist, seeming to be just an inconspicuous part of Lin Guang’s dream.
"...Lin Yin?" Su Ming’an was stunned. Why would Lin Guang dream of her?
Lin Guang’s gaze suddenly sharpened, staring intently at him.
Before Su Ming’an could take another look, a ripple surrounded them, and when he opened his eyes, the dream had ended.
He sat up in bed and saw Su Rin at his desk.
"You’re awake? I saw you were asleep, so I helped you enter Lin Guang’s dream. Was it useful?" Su Rin said with his head down, looking at some documents. The paperwork Su Ming’an hadn’t finished was mostly sorted out by him.
Using his wristwatch’s Baidu Baike, Su Ming’an searched for "Taihua Mountain".
...
[Taihua Mountain: One of the five remarkable mountains of Zhai Xing’s Dragon Country, known for its majestic mountains.]
"..."
Zhai Xing’s Dragon Country...
He clenched his brows.