"I won’t play," Su Ming’an said.
The voice fell silent.
Perhaps it hadn’t expected Su Ming’an to refuse so outright.
Su Ming’an had long discovered that the organizers could only intervene with the players to a limited extent, executing those who violated the "Rules."
The ga world’s chanisms of "skill data, death resurrection, and instance parallel copying" seed more like a two-dinsional world, where the organizers had to act according to the "ga rules." And Zhai Xing resembled the three-dinsional world, closer to reality.
Introducing three dinsions into two dinsions was like digitizing humanity to initiate the world ga.
And the Observer, as Yuanyuan had described, seed like an existence between two dinsions and three dinsions, potentially possessing a perspective close to higher dinsions.
This ford a tripartite balance of power involving the "world ga, the organizers, and himself."
At the sa ti, Su Ming’an speculated there might be another factor—akin to the Dawn Code, allowing a relatively weaker party to possess it. For example, the death rollback, Yuanyuan’s special observer status, or Noel’s mysterious background.
If one could keep getting stronger through the ga and find a way to suppress the organizers of this "other dinsion," could one consider the possibility that the "world ga was artificially created as a two-dinsional world to delay the invasion from other dinsions"?
He had already realized the significance of the Ninth World; its essence was too similar to that of the world ga.
As he contemplated, the deity’s voice persistently resounded:
"Yasa, I have been observing you these past few days, and I quite like you as a person.
"I can guide you—I will provide you with wisdom destined for success. If you follow my advice, I will make it very easy for you to save this world.
"What do you say? Shall we make a bet?"
The deity paused slightly, seemingly waiting for his response.
Su Ming’an looked up: "I won’t play."
The deity fell silent again.
In the cave, the surrounding people were also silent.
They looked at Su Rin with questioning eyes—why, after the surgery, did the city lord seem delusional, always talking to himself?
Su Ming’an bowed his head, still communicating with the deity.
"Deity, have I heard your voice sowhere before?" he asked.
This gentle male voice... it sounded very familiar.
It seed like a long, long ti ago... he had heard it sowhere.
Yet the deity denied it:
"No. Yasa, listen well: what I want to bet on is the World Origin in your hand.
If you win, we will no longer invade your world; deities, exotic beasts, and spatial turbulence will all vanish. If you lose, it is rely handing over the World Origin to us, granting us a further opportunity to invade.
Regardless of whether you lose or win, as long as you agree to the bet, I promise to help you stop the nuclear explosion. Either way, you will not lose out.
Our bet is about—whether you can successfully restart the Dawn System within twenty days."
Su Ming’an’s pupils constricted.
—He had originally thought this deity was just an "other dinsion" entity from the Caius era, but hearing this, the deity knew about the triple tiline streams and might even know the essence of the world replica.
The deity said, "I remind you, many in the Doomsday City have been infiltrated by ; they are dying to see you dead. If you wish to compete with for faith, your re few days in Caius Tower are far from enough—this is my final question to you, bet or don’t bet?"
His tone carried an air of certainty, as if he was sure that Su Ming’an would agree.
Su Ming’an remained silent for a while.
"No bet."
Perhaps angered, the deity finally fell silent.
Through this test, Su Ming’an had understood—Yasa Acto was indeed the representative of the current world, only he possessed the eligibility to wager the "World Origin." To invade the present world, "Ta Wei" needed to employ such "wagering" ans to obtain the "World Origin" from Acto.
As for why the ownership of the "World Origin" lay with Acto, it might be related to the Century Catastrophe. Acto had saved all of humanity at that ti.
Su Ming’an speculated that the "World Origin" could extend the world’s lifespan, serving as the world’s last line of defense. If it was lost, "Ta Wei" would not be limited to indirect ans like whispering or ntal invasion; they would directly attack the world with force.
He absolutely could not lose it.
When Su Ming’an looked up, he realized that dozens of people in the cave were all staring at him intently, as if he was suffering from so severe illness.
"City, City Lord..." Xia Sheng looked mournful.
They had stood there for a while, hearing the City Lord muttering to himself "no bet," "not playing." With such difficult tis and treason afoot, it seed the City Lord had indeed gone mad.
Su Ming’an didn’t pay them any heed, turning to ask Su Rin, "What can your Dream Weaving accomplish?"
"It can’t be used for combat," Su Rin said indifferently.
Su Ming’an felt sowhat disappointed.
But he suddenly rembered the night-ti instance of the Seventh World.
At that mont, he was astonished:
"—Wait, that night-ti instance of Pulaya’s ’Demon King and the Brave,’ was that your doing?"
That night-ti instance he could dream of as soon as he fell asleep—he had originally thought it was just a simple system chanism, but now it seed there was an origin for it?
No wonder all the characters in the night-ti instance were puppets. Wasn’t this exactly sothing Su Rin could pull off?
"You can understand it as a dream I wove to force my heir to co and kill ," Su Rin admitted. "If I want to counterbalance Pulaya’s ’Equivalent Principle,’ I need to use this thod of Dream Weaving to tell people what they should do."
"So it really was you?" Su Ming’an said. "So you were specifically naming a vile person from the start."
"’The vile person from Heaven,’ I was scolding myself, not you," Su Rin replied.
"That very over-the-top prompt, was that also your doing? It said ’Let the Demon King’s sins spread fire across the whole world, let darkness envelope this world, let endless flas scorch the entire land, turning the mortal world into a blood hell...’" Su Ming’an said.
This night-ti instance’s extrely dramatic and impassioned prompt had always made a deep impression on Su Ming’an.
Su Rin’s expression slightly collapsed.
"No..." Su Rin’s gaze shifted slightly.
Su Ming’an shifted the topic: "Since it can forcibly pull into a dream, and there exists a certain causality inversion, it seems this Dream Weaving Technique is very powerful."
"The Dream Weaving Technique is very weak now," Su Rin brought the conversation back. "Your doing."
...
[Doomsday City]
Edward opened his eyes, slowly stretched out his sore arm, and tousled his blond hair.
His head was still dizzy, as if a hamr was pounding inside his brain. He had drunk a bottle of red wine that had been drugged.
"Tap, tap, tap." The sharp clacking of high heels ca closer, and Edward, with a befuddled gaze, looked up through the iron bars of the prison, seeing a head of beige hair that seed to emit a thin layer of light.
Tretiya stood at the entrance of the prison, gazing at him indifferently.
"Tretiya—I didn’t lie to you, the experintal plan is real, and you’ve seen the sample yourself, Acto is indeed a bionic body now!" Edward howled hoarsely.
His body was so limp that he could barely move, after he had convinced Tretiya to broadcast to the world, Tretiya had drugged his drink and locked him in the prison.
He had never expected Tretiya to betray him, especially since they had been getting along so well before. Why were all the NPCs around Su Ming’an so Underworld-like?
"Hmph." Tretiya revealed a smile that could be described as a pleasure to the eye, "You are right, the experintal plan is real, but that doesn’t an... "
She leaned forward, her red lips slightly parted, carrying a hint of lemon fragrance, "that doesn’t an I will let you go. You betrayed the Deity camp and were chased by Lin Guang’s chanical army, fleeing to —did you really think I would trust you completely because you had no other choice?"
"You betray after crossing the river!" Edward was so angry his face turned red and his neck swelled.
He had raised Tretiya’s favorability to 60, which was a very safe threshold. But to his utter surprise, Tretiya had a favorability of a full 90 points towards the impostor Su Ming’an. She did not trust him at all.
—Again, the Ruler! Again, the identity advantage of the Ruler!
Edward subconsciously blad everything on identity oppression, as if that was the sole reason for his failure.
Tretiya couldn’t be bothered with him, she waved her hand, and the soldiers behind her raised their guns, aiming at Edward.
"Tretiya—" Edward roared, activating a life-saving prop, and with a flash of azure brilliance, he disappeared from the prison.
Tretiya frowned, she had wanted to press him further for so information.
She stood for a mont, then footsteps approached again.
"—Tretiya, you’ve disclosed the experintal plan privately, leading the public to doubt the City Lord. Prepare to face the military tribunal," Noah said coldly.
"I know," Tretiya said calmly, "but now that the City of Gods has launched a nuclear attack, this matter can be discussed later."
"Do you think you can escape?" Noah challenged, "What’s the difference between Acto now and the previous Acto? What good does it do you to overthrow him? Do you think he can’t co back to punish you?"
Tretiya stared at him, then suddenly laughed.
Her smile was brilliant and elegant, yet it sent a chill down Noah’s spine, who could not understand why the scientist, once mature and stable before the Century Catastrophe, had changed so much.
—Because of love?
—Because of her almost insane love for her "teacher"?
What is love?
"Because I love him," Tretiya’s eyelashes trembled, and the shadow in her pupils dissolved, "So, this will serve as my testant to pave the way for him. Don’t stop , Noah, you poor soul artificially elevated in favorability by a strange skill."
Noah took a step back.
He stared at the face of a crazed Tretiya, his gaze trembling.
...
Su Ming’an returned triumphantly to Doomsday City with Xia Sheng and his party.
A row of soldiers stood at the outer city gate, led by a tall man nad Wooly Field, the commander of city defense, with a stern expression.
After the City of Gods launched the nuclear attack, the people plunged into unbearable despair. Except for the mythical Dawn System, no one could save them.
The Dawn System required the Dawn Code,
and the Dawn Code required one person to die.
When the calamity ca, people instinctively grasped for the last straw, whether it was likely to work or not.
Outer City district, residents sat on the ground like dominoes, staring blankly at the sky as if venting their dissatisfaction in a unique way.
——They seed to think that by demonstrating silently in groups, they could compel Acto to die.
"A bunch of fools," Luna said indifferently.
They bypassed Wooly Field, ignoring the soldiers at the door.
"Ah..." Wooly seed to want to say sothing, but when he saw Xia Sheng’s cold gaze, he couldn’t help but back away.
Su Ming’an and his companions made their way to the Inner City, where the atmosphere was equally tense, with slogans and flyers everywhere and the sound of ergency communications constantly being broadcast.
"Second City ergency communication——"
"Freedom Alliance ergency communication——"
"Tribunal, (298, 498) ergency communication——"
The sound of transmissions was incessant, with all the allies urgently requesting help.
Seeing Su Ming’an and his group arrive, Joslin and others’ expressions shifted slightly. So looked panicked, so guilty, so awkward, but most revealed fear and detachnt.
Su Ming’an noted these gazes and was not surprised.
He still rembered the early years when Caius Tower had just opened, how ticulously he had taught these people how to manufacture chanics and use biochemical technology for healing, staying up all night.
The outco...
"I only ask one thing," Su Ming’an looked at the silent people. "Do you wish for to die?"
The room fell eerily silent.
People dodged his gaze, faintly hearing the sounds of protest coming from the Outer City.
"——The City of Gods has launched a nuclear attack; we cannot sit by and await death! Human Civilization cannot end here!"
"——He has deceived us for over a decade, hasn’t he? He is not our true God!"
The information released by Tretiya was all accessible to the public. Su Ming’an had established the Divine Sect in the na of Acto. Once the na of Acto was proven false, the Divine Sect would also collapse.
Back in Qiongdi, people only acknowledged him as "Bai Shen"; if soone proved he was not "Bai Shen," the Lighthouse Church would collapse on its own. It was the sa now.
The old iron laws lood over people’s heads, forming an incessant and stubborn shadow that could not be dispelled, fully reflecting human desires and emotions at this mont.
"If the death of one being can lead to the continuation of an entire civilization, then its death will be seen as a step forward." At that mont, a young man nad Balk spoke up from a corner, his face flushed red: "City Lord, you... should understand this."
If Su Ming’an died, Acto would completely disappear, then they might still hesitate.
But if Su Ming’an died and a new Acto erged, what else was there to hesitate about? The difference between Su Ming’an’s death and survival for them lay rely in that bit of "emotional burden," trivial compared to their lives.
"Balk!" Xia Sheng’s eyes nearly spat fire. He hadn’t expected the one to speak up to be the child of a forr Beacon.
Balk hung his head, and the room remained silent.
Through the surveillance hung on the wall, one could see the chaotic people in the Outer City carrying big and small bags, their expressions bewildered and helpless. Many simply wanted to survive alongside their loved ones, and for this, they could "sacrifice" an imposter.
All the evasive gazes in the room seed to silently say,
——If it’s for the survival of civilization, why can’t one person die?
Moreover, he isn’t even considered a ’person’.
"Very well," Su Ming’an suddenly spoke.
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