Upon hearing the news, all the companions gathered around.
Except for Lu, who was in retreat, and Bei Wang, who was in long-term sleep, even Luna from her hospital bed called in via video to inquire about Su Ming’an’s decision.
"We must explore the new planet," Eni expressed support, "The reason we fled was to find our way ho."
"Not advisable," Isabella, being rather conservative, expressed reservations, "Although it’s been seven months since the end of the World Ga, and the world is generally moving towards stability, there are still undercurrents. Introducing the concept of a ’new planet’ recklessly will bring massive turbulence."
"Then when should we wait?" Zhao Yuan firmly supported the move, "Five years? Ten years? Fifty years? How much longer can we live? Who knows if the new planet isn’t a factor for stability? Who knows if we’ll still have the ability to venture to the new planet in the future? Lady Luna has lived for such ages; can she afford to wait?"
"Don’t mind ," Luna on the screen waved her hand, "Do it according to... cough, cough, according to the right idea..."
"I rely on Su Ming’an," Lü Shu spoke concisely.
"Ah, everyone, don’t get too excited..." Yamada Machiichi noticed the atmosphere wasn’t right and quickly tried to calm everyone down.
Su Ming’an held the paper strip, as heavy as a thousand jins.
He already saw that there were stark conflicting stances among a few companions.
In the past, Lin Yin acted as a buffer between the team, Noel cracked jokes, Lu helped to adjust the atmosphere... but they were all gone.
Every powerful player was like an unstoppable sword, sharp to be admired, yet sharp enough to be feared. When cold gleaming sword edges gather together without a sheath to cover them, they end up hurting one another.
In order to take up the responsibility of the Tower Master, Eni returned to his family, failing to fulfill his wish of becoming a world-traveling explorer. Therefore, he must consider the kin—Hubert, Qiao Liya, Hans... Exploring a new planet benefits the player class, the family can gain interests, it’s just that simple.
Zhao Yuan, on the other hand, was driven by an adventurous mindset, having once been a battlefield reporter, she’s a person who can’t stay still.
When all eyes turned to Su Ming’an, it was as if he had beco an emperor.
"It’s still Su Ming’an’s birthday today," Su Rin spoke up softly from the side, "Why can’t we consider this tomorrow—I gave him a birthday present, it’s important to look at the back."
Su Ming’an flipped over the paper strip and saw a line of words—"Flying Ticket."
"This is..."
"You’ll know what it is when it’s the latest ti today," Su Rin said.
The voting temporarily ended, and the celebration continued.
The companions realized the impropriety and quickly moved past this topic.
"Alright, alright, quickly take out the map of the millet shop route I made..." Yamada Machiichi pulled out the route map.
Unfortunately, due to ti constraints, they still didn’t have ti to visit those millet shops, after all, that would require a long ti. However, they did manage to see Fusang’s cherry blossoms.
As promised, they went to Taihua Mountain, to North Country’s ice fields, attended the Lantern Festival, visited the Australian Grassland, and went to Gran Country’s revolving corridor...
The ntal map slowly started lighting up.
For a mont, they thought ti was frozen today, that it wouldn’t move forward, every minute and every second beca elongated, making them want to hold on...
However, ti still passed as usual, and soon, night fell.
Until—the second to last stop, Yu Country’s lavender fields.
Above the Alps Blue Coast, pristine white windmills slowly turned in circles, and the companions stood amidst the overwhelming purple, exchanging glances.
"...Why did he still include this spot in the route." Yamada Machiichi glanced at Su Ming’an standing at a distance and quickly whispered to Mo Yan.
"I don’t know what big brother is thinking," Mo Yan whispered back, "It’s obviously because of that person that we found it so difficult in the end..."
Lü Shu remained silent, gazing at the back of Su Ming’an.
As Su Ming’an slowly took out a notebook.
This was a notebook Noel left at the New World Guild, mostly containing travel insights, past moods, and so scenery photos. During these tis of shuttling through ti, Su Ming’an t Forging Master Seruo working at the World Hub and got this notebook.
After reading it a few days ago, Su Ming’an realized it was left by Noel before the eleventh instance, without any key information.
It’s only a pure travel moir.
"Rustle—", he slowly opened this thick travel notebook to the page that recorded the hotown.
...
[September 29, 2020, Sunny]
[I finally stood once again in this ocean of lavender, before the endless purple fields of the Valensol Plain. The scorching sun of the southern Yu country fell like a thousand golden needles, piercing sharply into the stem and leaves of every lavender.]
[Slling the dense and sultry scent of southern soil, I removed the heavy ceremonial hat and gazed into the firmant. The wind ca, pushing lavender’s purple waves with an invisible force, rolling and surging to the distant horizon, until they dissolved into the shadow of the sawtooth-like rolling blue Alps.]
[At the foot of the mountain stood several ancient windmills, with white sails gently turning. I saw each sail slowly slicing through sunlight, slicing through wind, and slicing through the unending ti of this land.]
[Our group held nine, deeply imrsed in this boundless sea of purple flowers, like a few specks unintentionally fallen into purple silk. My companion Alice, who ca from a remote village in Yu Country, casually picked a small handful of lavender stalks and played with them between her fingers. She said, Noel, you guess how much longer these beautiful days will last?]
[I wasn’t very familiar with these companions, we were like the wind, so joined, so left. But I knew her illness was at its late stage, this journey was to fulfill her final dream.]
[Beside her stood a young foreign traveler—Yak, who recently joined our travel squad, pointing at the faint shadow of the Alps in the distance, his voice filled with expectation: "Look at that mountain behind, behind that outline, how much unseen scenery awaits us? How many miracles are waiting for us?"]
[The fervent yearning of youth seed to almost flow from the trembling pupils, rging into the distant and mysterious haze of clouds.]
[I also knew he ca from a ravaged family, this journey spent all his savings, once it ended, he would go into the dusty days, working day and night to make ends et.]
[Finally, there was an old painter, Takles, with hair and beard streaked with white, silently watching for a long ti before he gently sighed: "Ah, tomorrow..." He didn’t finish, only looking at the purple waves blowing over the sky. He was a battlefield veteran, driven mad by war in his youth, only recently waking up, imnsely grateful for these final days.]
[The wind ground past every lavender beside us, past Yak’s hopeful gaze, past Alice’s flower-stained fingers, past the ridges of ti on Takles’ forehead, and past , at the tip of my fingers—the crow.]
[I don’t know what the future holds, I don’t know where we are going. But I know in the eyes of a genius, all scenery should be equally gray. I can clearly articulate the growth principle of lavender, the construction of that windmill in the distance, the onset principle of Alice’s illness, yet I cannot articulate this expanse of heaven and earth, where it really cos from.]
[This is a puzzle yet to be solved by a "genius."]
[It makes uneasy, tossing and turning in sleeplessness. I ought to accept my ignorance, accept that everything in this world has an ultimate end, for I define truth in this way and hence define myself as not omniscient—yet why cannot flesh and blood soar to the sky? How can I fly myself into the universe?]
[Feet on the soil, inhaling the familiar scent of lavender, I have looked skyward more than once, precisely because I know too well the land beneath my feet, I am eager to head into the unknown. Even if shattered to pieces, even if incinerated by flas, but, but... World, will you tell , when will such a mont co?]
[Night has fallen, we are about to leave this land. I glanced one last ti at the direction of my parents’ ho. Alice was coughing, Yak counted the coins in his pocket, Tuckles plucked out the white hairs from his temples, and I cast my gaze toward the sky.]
[I am a prisoner under Plato’s cave, exhausting all my might, yet unwilling.]
[If the world gives a chance, to step out of the cave, to glimpse daylight...]
[I would pay any price.]
[To make all unknowns bow to .]
[Yesterday, the Arctic research team finally sent the last materials, which convinced that the person nad "Chen Qingguang" will be my last hope.]
[He said, let this world be turned upside down, because only after that will there be vast sunny skies. If staying at this place, Noel Agnini, who will you be a hundred years later?]
...
The windmill continues to turn incessantly, indifferently slicing the boundless firmant.
Su Ming’an closed the notebook, the nightfall penetrated the traveler’s gaze deep into the horizon.
Tomorrow will no longer be an empty curtain.
He went to a long-abandoned wooden house, looked at the family photo on the wall, left the notebook on a small bed, and did not look back.
At the last stop, they returned to Dragon Country, standing atop the towering Pearl Tower—on the top, not inside the tower.
The watch on Su Ming’an’s wrist still had Ah Du, who initially dissolved the master-servant relationship, insisted on sticking around and said "don’t leave Anjiang." Thus, it beca Su Ming’an’s bridge for remote contact with the World Hub.
At this mont, those serious old folks are having a eting, discussing whether to explore that planet. Their voices are loud and annoying, so Su Ming’an shut it off.
He looked at his still worried companions, smiling as he extended a hand, holding the note with "Flying Ticket."
"I am very curious about the gift the Cloud City God has prepared for us, so let’s invite our Cloud City God to raise wings for us, and see the vast sky," said Su Ming’an.
Su Rin soon appeared, raising her hand.
Behind each person, a pair of snow-white small wings appeared.
Behind Su Ming’an, white tendrils slightly lifted, transforming into the largest pair of wings. He held Lü Shu with his left hand and Yamada Machiichi with his right, forming a V-shape like a flock of geese, pulling his companions into flight!
Yamada Machiichi had never tried such thrilling flying, shouting out.
Other than Lü Shu who beca a god, most people had never experienced flying.
Flying has always been the freest fantasy for humans; everyone has imagined growing wings and soaring the firmant.
Until today, Su Ming’an led them soaring into the sky.
No longer lingering on land, no longer looking at various sceneries, instead spreading to the sky, launching themselves into the air.
—They have already stepped out of the "cave," raising torches and looking toward the firmant.
At the instant of flying high, although amidst a pitch-black night, people seed to see molten gold and blazing sun like on the firmant.
The sky is grand as mountains, the universe’s star rivers reflected in the eyes.
They are flying above the night canopy, like free flying birds, skimming past clouds, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, city after city, passing through all sorts of bizarre and strange things.
With white hair streaming, Lü Shu turned his head to look at Su Ming’an. Lü Shu was the quietest, when others were cheering and shouting, his voice was so deep as to be barely audible:
"Are you afraid?"
"? I’m already used to flying." Su Ming’an held onto both sides, soaring above distant traffic jams.
"Afraid of flying into the unknown?"
"Afraid," Su Ming’an said, "I’m afraid what awaits us ahead, is sorrow."
"Then we won’t look."
"But I understand, we cannot forever avoid new planets. Fortunately, I can jump through ti, I will look back, if it’s a bad ending, I’ll return, let you avoid it."
For a mont, Su Ming’an saw hesitation in Lü Shu’s eyes.
"Is there really no price to pay?"
"What?"
"The price of ti-jumping, you’re already the World Tree, can you really still ignore ti so nimbly?"
Su Ming’an showed a faint smile.
Lü Shu disliked this smile, every ti Su Ming’an was about to deceive, he showed this comforting smile.
"No price, rest assured." Su Ming’an raised his head, looked towards the sky.
Wind blew through everyone’s hair, their smiles so real, so free.
"...I’ve walked on the land too long, trying to fly a bit, it’s not bad."
No one knows whether these words refer to the flight of this mont or to things higher and farther. In those black pupils, it seems as if she has already traversed thousands of mountains and rivers, shining brighter than the blazing sun.
Suddenly, soone exclaid: "Ah—look!!"
It was 11:50 PM on December 31, 2025.
—All of a sudden, ripping through the thick black curtain of night, were fireworks.
They broke free from the depths of the earth, soared into the sky, and with a burning roar, burst loudly in the heart of the night. Then the second, the third... countless radiant flowers of light blossod eagerly across the vast night sky. At the instant of the fireworks’ burst, crimson like blood, golden like the sun, indigo like the deep sea, erald green like jade... the brilliant light instantaneously filled the heaven and earth.
"Look quickly!"
"Wow, it’s so overwhelming!"
"It’s just like flying in a painting!"
They flew under the splendor of the fireworks, with the entire world as their backdrop.
Light particles flowed like rain, crisscrossing, illuminating everyone’s shining eyes. The fireworks erupted, burned, and fell, but were replaced in the next second by newborn light. The entire firmant was like a giant unparalleled canvas, being wantonly painted with light and fire by an unseen deity, as magnificent as the rushing mountains and rivers at the beginning of prival creation.
Beneath their feet, the small mortal world surged with unextinguishable passion in the darkness.
At the very apex of brilliance, at the most intense and splendid mont of the fireworks, all the companions suspended high in the sky suddenly exchanged a look and shouted in unison with incomparable harmony.
The shout rged into a grand wave of sound, vibrating the air still warm from the fireworks:
"—Happy 20th Birthday, Su Ming’an!!!"
This voice seed like a signal, instantly illuminating the sleeping earth. In every visible direction, giant city screens lit up in succession—on the massive shadow walls of the Eiffel Tower, on the bustling giant ads of New York Tis Square, on the kaleidoscope of Tokyo Shibuya Crossing Street... Countless screens flickered in every corner of the world, regardless of language, script, or image, ultimately transforming into a line of text that surged across the entire planet: [Happy 20th Birthday, Su Ming’an! Thank you for your hard work over the past year!]
Countless points of light flickered on the plains, the mountains, and the harbors, like the galaxy reversing and falling into the mortal world, the earth itself glowed brightly.
He—that young man who spread his wings and carried everyone, was lifted up by the shouts of his companions and the billions of voices from the earth, suspended at the center of the grandest fireworks. He slightly turned his head, his dark hair illuminated by the glow of the fireworks and screens, glowing as if it emitted light itself.
—In his clear eyes, at this mont, was the splendor and clamor of the entire world.
The vastness of the firmant, the shouts of billions of people on earth, his tranquil silhouette under the glowing light... all this stirred the surging emotions within people’s chests, an indescribable warmth churned in Su Ming’an’s throat.
Ultimately, that warmth turned into sothing heavy and scalding in his eyes, blurring the overly grand and brilliant scene before him.
"Tick."
People gazed at the small yet resilient mortal world borne beneath Su Ming’an’s wings. Fireworks revolved, rivers of light surged on the canvas of the universe—human shouts converged into a torrent.
At that mont, a massive wave of emotion drowned everyone.
"Crash—crash—!"
All the fireworks blossod behind his wings.
Backlit, his silhouette was illuminated, the edges of his hair like stars.
—He soared beneath the light and fire, like an unextinguishable lamp.
So-called salvation is rely soone, before the world collapses, using their body as kindling to light that lamp unwilling to surrender to the night.
For the world, he bestowed the deepest blessings, and hence the earth bestowed him the grandest coronation—
Under the wings, the voices of all humanity converged into a river.
This was not a gift from any companion, but a collaboration with Su Rin, joined by the behind-the-scenes actions of Yu Zhu, plus a birthday gift collectively orchestrated by countless humans. The timing, location, and altitude were precisely coordinated. When humanity unites to achieve one thing, the resulting impact is trendously overwhelming.
Who knows whose handiwork it was, but petals fluttered to their faces and shoulders, as if all the love in the world drifted their way.
On the ground, so children with wings excitedly pointed to the sky, aspiring to fly to the universe. The light in their eyes seed familiar, like the passing down of generations.
In a trance, under the light and fire, Su Ming’an heard the familiar voice of Yuanyuan:
"Hey, Ming’an, I’m still in the World Ga, but before you left Luowasha, I secretly left you a tid blessing in your soul. Even if I never see you again, the birthday blessings will be delivered to your ears every year on ti."
"Happy 20th Birthday, Ming’an."
"If you’re tired, co rest in dreams. During the 400 million reincarnations of the World Ga, I foresaw that you would succeed in escaping here in the future, so I wove ten thousand beautiful dreams for you, already buried in your soul. You can dream one every night, and that way, perhaps you’ll feel a bit happier♪?"
"Even if you never see again, trust that my voice and my dreams will always accompany you."
"Believe in yourself, you don’t need anyone to define your ending, this is the good ending you walked out to."
"And I, I’ll remain in the World Ga, preventing it from turning toward you again."
"This endeavor, I will continue indefinitely. Don’t mourn for , don’t grieve for , this is the direction I’ve chosen for myself, a decision of my own will."
"I think by now you must have already received countless blessings."
"Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll add another one." Her voice had a hint of a smile:
"Ming’an, I bless you..."
...
Under the daylight, spring arrives anew.
Passing clouds, mountains and seas in the chest.
Luggage full, endless spring fields.
The places I go, all have a fresh breeze.
Everywhere you look, the earth and sky are one.
...
——Everywhere you look, the earth and sky are one.
...
In this mont, the Eiffel Tower, New York Tis Square, Dragon Country Oriental Pearl, Fusang Tokyo Tower... the screens show one figure after another.
Coinciding with the past, just like now.
"Happy birthday, Su Ming’an!"
A girl in a cotton jacket excitedly waves at the cara.
"Happy birthday, Number One Player!"
Aishikel from the Union Governnt stands in front of the conference table, removes his hat, and bows deeply.
"Happy birthday, Master of the World."
Yu Zhu smiles from her wheelchair.
"Happy birthday, greatest Watcher!"
An elderly man with white hair leans on his cane, smiling broadly at the cara.
"Happy birthday, thank you for choosing this land beneath your feet."
A young couple sitting on a bench holds steaming sweet potatoes, looks at the cara, and makes a "yay" gesture.
"See you next year! See you tomorrow!"
A group of children by the Yangtze River run wildly, laughing continuously at the cara.
"See you in the New Year! See you tomorrow!"
A fisherman on the Yellow River waves with a smile, holding a basket of fish.
"When the flowers bloom next year, tell us the story of the universe again!"
Several maintenance workers suspended on steel cables wave while taking a break.
"Su Ming’an! See you next year! See you when you’re twenty-one!"
At the base of Mount Everest, a group of climbers in orange protective suits raise their climbing poles and laugh at the cara.
"We will still have a long tomorrow!"
In the distant mountains of Siberia, amid the biting cold winds, explorers carrying heavy instrunts have eyes full of starlight.
"We’ll reach the edge of the universe, see you next year!"
On the aerospace satellite, two astronauts high-five and laugh, their voices transmitted through crackling signals.
"To freedom! To the future! To tomorrow!"
In the Union Governnt laboratory, a group of researchers in thick protective suits spray confetti at the cara through glass, laughing.
The eyes of the twenty-year-old man reflect all this splendid scene.
"If you ever disappear, we’ll search the world, venture into the universe... to find you."
And his companions tightly clasp his hand.
A little farther, Su Rin stands with arms crossed, gazing at the brilliant skies and the shimring firmant, golden pupils reflecting the boundless universe.
If you can’t go back, then go forward.
If there’s no ti to walk, then run.
No matter how far, no matter how long it takes... they will reach the future, reach ho.
They look around and see brilliance everywhere, dazzling wherever they look.
At the stroke of midnight, they gently land beneath the endless light and fire.
"Tap."
They return from the sky to the mortal world.
The philosophers outside the cave have seen the brilliant daylight. They return to the ground, return to the earth. And no matter where they go, where they head...
...
——The places they go, all are fervent lands.
...
Happy twentieth birthday,
Su Ming’an.
You have finally walked through this grand journey.
...
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