[When the film of Su Ming’an was playing, Mizushima Kawa Sora’s eyes widened.]
[She saw a line of white text on the movie—"You will die in the sky." Imdiately, the players seated were also stunned, staring at the screen.]
[...Die in the sky? The white text on the movie said Su Ming’an would die in the future. Did Su Ming’an really lose to her in the end?]
[She recalled that before the Tenth World began, Boss Rabbit spoke a secret to her alone.]
[—Mizushima Kawa Sora, due to your special identity, I can tell you a secret about the Tenth World.]
[—So, what do you want to tell ?]
[—The Tenth World is a very special instance. You can use all your "abilities" to try to "break the ga."]
[—Just this one sentence?]
[—And... what do you think "independence" is?]
[—Independence? I recognize soone as independent, and he/she is independent.]
[—Is that so? Mizushima Kawa Sora, it seems you are more inclined to subjective recognition, not constrained whether that person really independently exists. As long as you think he/she still independently exists, in your eyes, he/she independently exists?]
[—Yes. Isn’t the human brain like this? Humans evolved eyes to have vision, humans evolved ears to have hearing. Our perception of the world relies on individual eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and skin to feel. If we were deprived of these five senses from the start, then the biological electrical activity of the human brain could be completely dominated. In so sense, the biological electrical activity provided by the body to the brain and the information transmitted by a computer to a hard drive are no different; both are "constructed." When a person loses all five senses, he can only act as a brain in a vat, like deep-sea creatures without eyes cannot see colors other than black, so they can only accept the truth that "the world is black." Thus, I always believe the entire world exists according to my own five senses. Whatever I see, I can only believe because I have no other ans of falsification. When I lose the five senses, the world in my eyes is dead.]
[—So, this is what we wanted to tell you.]
[—You clearly said nothing... Wait, I understand. You’re trying to tell ... what I see with my own eyes, what I hear with my own ears, may not be absolutely real?]
[—Mizushima Kawa Sora. We look forward to your performance. You may leave.]
[—Okay.]
...
[Mizushima Kawa Sora left.]
[What she didn’t see was that Boss Rabbit, originally sitting in the great hall, kept staring aningfully at her back.]
[When the great hall beca completely quiet, Boss Rabbit rubbed his face, pulled off the mask, revealing the face of Su Wensheng, and his originally bloated three-ter stature also reverted to a height of one ter seventy-six.]
[Su Wensheng glanced at the rabbit mask in his hand and smiled. He looked at a shadow standing next to him: "So how many tis is this for Mizushima Kawa Sora’s big reset? You still need to pretend to be Boss Rabbit, making her think she hasn’t entered the Tenth World yet. You’re truly bad..."]
[The shadow was silent for a while, then slowly said: "If she believes ’Su Ming’an’ is not ’Su Ming’an’, this cycle should be more interesting."]
[Su Wensheng covered his face with a laugh, tossing the rabbit mask onto the ground: "I’m really about to choke to death. Quickly cover the sll of joss paper. You didn’t really burn joss paper, did you? Deity."]
[A pure white figure erged from the shadow, the Deity’s expression calm and unruffled: "Since ’vision’ has already been presented before her, ’sll’ naturally must also be done correctly. Her understanding of the ’Organizers’ is Boss Rabbit, various eerie shadows, the pitch-black great hall, and the sll of burnt joss paper in the air. As long as these four points are achieved, through guiding vision, sll, and hearing, a person can be easily deceived."]
[Su Wensheng grinned, expressing his amazent: "You really play these players like puppets. By the way, which of Su Ming’an’s world resets is this?"]
[The Deity replied: "The ninth ti. Hopefully, in the tenth cycle, he can be more obedient."]
[Su Wensheng raised an eyebrow: "How many tis do you intend to reset? Surely you don’t plan to drag it out until his clearance ti is completely exhausted, it’s nearly thirty days now."]
[The Deity said: "It won’t exceed ten tis at most. I believe, at most ten tis, he won’t be controlled anymore, even if I want to reset, he may be able to dodge it, that’s his intelligence and acuity."]
[Su Wensheng marveled: "Your evaluation of him is really high."]
[The Deity said blandly: "Just calculations."]
[Su Wensheng rubbed his forehead: "Luckily, I don’t retain mories during the world resets, otherwise I’d be truly annoyed to death."]
[The Deity glanced at him, reminding him: "You signed a contract with to work for , don’t forget."]
[Su Wensheng chuckled lowly: "Of course... However, our only point of potential failure lies in—if Su Ming’an insists on going to Nine Serenities one day. At that ti, we must stop him, even if it ans killing him, he cannot awaken the Exotic Species King. Once the Exotic Species King awakens, Dieying may succeed, then you lose."]
[The Deity nodded: "Naturally. But if matters get out of control, and even Mizushima Kawa Sora can’t stop Su Ming’an... he really might succeed in entering Nine Serenities."]
[Su Wensheng said: "Then we’re dood."]
[The Deity said: "If he insists on awakening the Exotic Species King, then at that ti, we can only kill him, forcing him to try again. The more stubborn he is, the more tis he’ll have to try again... Ultimately, there will be a ti when he gives up on awakening the Exotic Species King."]
[Su Wensheng stared at the Deity for a long mont. Until the Deity’s gaze shifted away.]
[Su Wensheng slowly said: "Deity, sotis I think you understand Su Ming’an very well, and sotis I feel like you don’t understand him at all. You think the more tis he faces death, the more he’ll resist it, and then he’ll comply with you, but I believe he won’t. Humans have feared death throughout history, but many things can elevate us above these deaths, and Su Ming’an is an outstanding example."]
[The Deity said: "I do not understand."]
[Su Wensheng said: "Indeed. You do not understand humans at all."]
[The Deity left.]
[Su Wensheng knew that the Deity was going to guide the tenth cycle. This ti, it was unknown how far Su Ming’an could go.]
[Su Wensheng sat in the joss paper-slling hall, raised his hand, and picked a fake flower, a white imitation morning glory.]
[He then spoke to this ordinary flower, talking to himself, pondering what he should do next:]
...
["Yamada Machiichi is soone with weak independence. Although he can think independently in most situations, as long as Su Ming’an is present, he will be more inclined to hand over his thought process to Su Ming’an."]
["He is a very sensitive person, but as long as he develops a sense of trust, his thick defenses will naturally lower, making him more vulnerable than anyone."]
["I will first na Yamada Machiichi ’A’."]
...
"—Crash!"
Yamada Machiichi kicked open the building’s glass and successfully entered. In front of him was a white circular lobby, and an elevator flickering with red light awaited on the first floor.
He glanced at the elevator and shouted into his communication device, "Su Ming’an, we’re coming up the stairs. Your black cat is with too! We’ll arrive in five minutes."
Su Ming’an responded, "I’m at the top floor, be careful of the pollution."
The black cat darted up the stairs, and Yamada Machiichi along with Lu’s four-man team imdiately followed.
...
Su Ming’an looked down at the floor below.
... Yamada Machiichi and the others had finally arrived.
He withdrew his foot, and Hei Que had already been kicked out.
Glass fragnts fell downward, reflecting a bluish-green light. Hei Que clung to the edge of the glass window with one hand, suspending his entire body weight with just his fingers. His cheeks were grazed by the shattered glass, and the face that looked identical to Su Ming’an’s instantly flowed with blood.
Su Ming’an looked at this face that was just like his own, suddenly rembering he once hung at the edge of a glass pane like this. At that ti, Lin Guang had pushed him down, leaving him gravely injured. Now it seed like a scene replayed. Staring into those identical black eyes... there was even a feeling of "killing oneself."
"...I don’t need anyone to replace my destiny." Su Ming’an looked down at Hei Que.
Hei Que opened his mouth, suddenly feeling a deep sense of powerlessness, unsure of what to say anymore.
He always wondered what kind of relationship he would have if he t Su Ming’an, the true kindred. Perhaps Su Ming’an would acknowledge him, after all, they were so alike; they might even beco good friends with nothing left unsaid, connected at heart.
In one’s life, there is a constant search for a soul match. He had always felt lonely deep inside because fundantally, everyone differed, even if they appeared similar on the surface. There would be a significant deviation in independent thoughts, let alone the so-called "soulmate" or "soul friend," normally not without conflict.
But, if it’s Su Ming’an, it’s different. Hei Que’s entire life value was built on Su Ming’an. Through countless rounds of data matching... only they were the most compatible. He knew Su Ming’an’s reaction in most situations and was aware of his habits and way of speaking.
Therefore... he knew what words to say now to gain Su Ming’an’s favor.
[Su Ming’an. Since you are firmly requesting, I give up replacing you. Can we talk further?] This was the most appropriate statent in such a scenario. It would make Su Ming’an recall Hei Que’s value, and after weighing it over, he would choose not to attack Hei Que for now, thereby easing the tension of the situation.
As long as Hei Que used so verbal skills... he could execute the strategy on this "npc Su Ming’an," who acted consistently throughout ten resets. Hei Que knew better than anyone how to strategize him.
However...
Hei Que opened his mouth, suddenly feeling a deep sense of helplessness. The words he had prepared were stuck in his throat; he felt it was aningless.
"Freedom" had no aning from the start.
... he didn’t know what he was pursuing.
"... Su Ming’an." Hei Que could only utter the na hoarsely.
...
["And then, it’s Lu." Su Wensheng stood up from the chair, pacing and pondering in the main hall:]
["Lu is soone with a great discrepancy between exterior and interior; he may often smile on the outside but often imagines slicing people into potato chips in his mind."]
["To make him feel trusted is not easy. Hence, through detailed aspects, his suspicion needs to be overpowered by belief."]
["I’ll first na Lu ’B.’"]
...
Lu followed behind Yamada Machiichi, ascending the stairs, leaving floor after floor behind them. The black cat led the way at the front, swift like an arrow.
"Yamada, did you bring the life recovery potion?" Lu inquired, "We need to support Su Ming’an later; I’m afraid our blood won’t recover in ti."
Yamada Machiichi scratched his head helplessly, "I ran out too, there’s none left."
Lu nodded, "Alright."
They had fought a prolonged battle earlier, indeed with few potions remaining; it seed they would have to persevere later.
Yamada Machiichi thought for a mont, "No worries, we’ll have Isabella make more later. She’s quick. We’ll let you fly us over then."
Lu chuckled, "Okay."
He knew his teammates always looked forward to flying in the plane he piloted, and he didn’t mind showing off.
The markers of the upper floors were now in clear sight, with green lights flickering in the stairwell.
...
Su Ming’an heard the footsteps growing closer; Yamada Machiichi and the others were about to reach this floor.
Behind Hei Que spread chanical wings, flying up effortlessly. He was the master of Nine Serenities, not soone who would fall to his death with one kick; he had just been hesitating... whether to take action or not.
Conflict and mission clashed like two battling hands inside him, tearing him apart. He was nearly torn in half, one side telling him: cultivating and replacing Su Ming’an was his thousand-year mission, his purpose since creation. The other side told him: he was Hei Que, and of course, he could continue being Hei Que. Even if he resembled Su Ming’an, he could abandon this mission and no longer replace him, as you see, Su Ming’an didn’t want to be replaced either.
Su Ming’an flicked his wrist, the blood on the Sword of Yarman splattered onto the ground in a crescent shape.
"Tell , why do you want to replace ?" He discerned that Hei Que wasn’t willing either, then why do sothing neither wanted?
Hei Que’s eyes lowered for a mont.
On that identical face appeared a similar pained expression. Before him, it wasn’t like a shattered glass window but more like a mirror.
"...But if I don’t do it, no one else will." Hei Que’s voice was very soft.
Su Ming’an gripped the sword hilt tightly.
"...The mission of a thousand years requires to do this." Hei Que said, "If I don’t beco you, everything is in vain. I don’t know the point of this plan, but I know it’s ’correct,’ otherwise the ancestors wouldn’t have created Nine Serenities. In other words, I am... [the chosen one], so I can’t, at the mont I et you, abandon the entire plan."
"..." Su Ming’an realized that sense of "similarity" between them. Like myriad strands of silk, invisibly suspended between them.
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