"Where did you go before?" Su Ming’an asked.
Su Rin replied indifferently, "There’s no need to worry about ." He lowered his head, continually reading the docunts in his hands.
Su Ming’an was pleased to have so free ti. He hadn’t expected that Su Rin, aside from being a fighter, a delivery man, and a wearer of pajamas, could also function as a humanoid printer, processing various docunts with much versatility.
"...What strange things are you thinking about?" Su Rin acutely sensed the change in the other’s emotions.
"Nothing."
"Rember, after the ruler advances, take back to Pulaya," Su Rin said.
"Alright."
Su Ming’an planned to go down and see if there were any faction contribution points left to glean. His contribution points were currently at 2300, and he could probably exchange them for a piece of Purple Grade equipnt before Caius Tower ended.
He looked downward from the hallway. The city exhibited a scene of rejuvenation.
Right now, he had three main tasks, one was to survive till the Catastrophe’s 72nd year, another was to secure the remaining "third" and "fourth" Dawn Codes, and one ruler’s quest [Seeking the Thing of Truth].
As the instance progressed, he felt the "danger" looming over his head becoming increasingly glaring.
"—City Lord, there’s a suspicious person looking for you; she has a highly advanced weapon, and we suspect she’s a spy..." Suddenly, a soldier ca running to him.
"What weapon?" Su Ming’an asked.
"A silver six-pointed star pistol..." the soldier replied.
Su Ming’an frowned. "Bring her here."
"Yes, sir." The soldier imdiately turned around, and monts later, several soldiers escorted a young girl. Her black hair was disheveled, and a massively obese white cat sat on her shoulder, nearly crushing her frail half. A modern-model silver six-pointed star pistol was tucked at her waist.
The mont she saw him, the girl’s originally pale and fearful face suddenly flushed. She gazed at him in a daze, forgetting her fear.
"City Lord, this woman suddenly appeared inside Doomsday City, and she doesn’t have any identification..." the soldier explained.
"It’s alright, she’s not a spy." Su Ming’an dismissed the soldiers. After a mont, he looked at Xiaobi, "How did you end up in Caius Tower?"
"Councilman Atlanda said I am a ’key figure’ of so world and could definitely help you. So, he took advantage of the Dawn System’s authority to teleport into Caius Tower all by myself..." Xiaobi explained.
...Atlanda? That sounds like a top-ranking player, soone Su Ming’an had encountered in the Eighth World Do.
Xiaobi’s mode of entry into the tower should be similar to Noel’s. Both were given individual privileges by the Dawn System, but once inside, Xiaobi, like all other participants, couldn’t exit at will; she had to wait for the rest period to briefly return to the City of asurent.
Without any combat power, it’s overly dangerous for Xiaobi to be here. Atlanda really ant well but did wrong.
"For now, stick with , and I’ll find soone to protect you until Caius Tower ends," Su Ming’an rubbed his temples.
"Ah... Okay," Xiaobi lowered her head.
Just as Su Ming’an was about to turn around, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His coughing of blood was always sudden, the warm blood spraying directly onto Xiaobi’s forehead.
Xiaobi was stunned. She could feel the warmth on her forehead, and involuntarily reached out to touch the blood. Her first thought was—this was the closest she had been to him.
These days, she had been listening to a historical radio station, getting acquainted with the story of the Dawn War. The radio host had discussed nurous topics... there was Tretiya, speculated to be the enemy’s leader, the suddenly disappeared Deputy City Lord Su Xiaobi, the missing City of Gods’ Agent Lin Guang... She had been thinking, in such a legendary tale, as the leader of humanity, what experiences would he face?
She heard so people who called themselves "Players" say that Kaius Tower was reenacting the history of the Dawn War. Hence, when Atlanda asked her to enter Kaius Tower, she agreed.
She was not clear on the essence of Kaius Tower, but if she was the "Key Figure," could she aid the City Lord?
This was the only consolation for her as a "Key Figure." In fact, just being able to see a glimr of his brilliance was enough to satisfy her...
Su Ming’an walked downstairs, and Xiaobi imdiately trotted to follow.
"Ming’an, why did you co down?" Yuanyuan was tallying resources at the doorway.
Su Ming’an said, "I won’t rest now, there should still be things I need to do."
Yuanyuan shook her head, "There’s no need for you here; Su Rin has taken on your part, and the rest has been handed over to Lu. Lu is very good at this and is almost finished."
Su Ming’an: "Is that so..."
Regarding city-state decisions, lost without the Whispering of the Gods, he was completely out of his depth. Su Rin and Lu were countless tis more adept than he.
Su Ming’an was sowhat lost, thinking of the teahouse owner from before, he decided to go check on him. He had already sent people to help restore the teahouse owner’s mories.
Securing his mask, he walked among the bustling streets; the roads were still the sa as years before, the white hair was still as dense as years before, and people revered the white hair more and more.
Suddenly, he heard Xiaobi’s voice:
"City Lord, I’ve seen many geniuses, so can solve problems that confound experts at the age of five or six, so only need to hum a tune to compose captivating lodies..."
"Hmm?" Su Ming’an didn’t understand what she was trying to say.
"Being a genius is really fortunate. They grasp their domains instantly and excel effortlessly, far surpassing others," Xiaobi said:
"After entering the Core Area, I’ve encountered more and more of such geniuses... No matter how hard I try, I can only see their backs. No matter how many nights I spend studying sothing ten tis over, they understand it with a single listen...
I hear so emotional radio hosts say, we shouldn’t overthink, just being content with diocrity is fine... but I feel that doesn’t really provide relief, it just leaves us breathless from our own incompetence, continuously crushed by geniuses, deceiving ourselves with comforting lies...
I even think, if I could have such a talent, I’d be willing to have my legs chopped off, but I don’t even get the chance to lose them... But City Lord, you are such a genius, and one in a billion unique geniuses..."
Hearing this, Su Ming’an understood. Xiaobi was comforting him, urging him not to belittle himself.
...She went to great lengths to subtly comfort him; it seems Xiaobi also has the talent to be an emotional radio host.
"Okay, I get it," he said.
He glanced at Xiaobi, who looked just like an ordinary young girl he had seen in Zhai Xing, with black hair cascading down and youthful blemishes on her face. Her deanor was no different from an ordinary middle or high school student, reminding one of those girls in class who studied silently.
"...So, what kind of talent do you wish for?" Su Ming’an said.
Xiaobi’s topic resonated with him, after all, he himself was a diocrity. In his previous nineteen years of life, he too had suffered countless setbacks.
In terms of intellect, he was inferior to Noel; in terms of emotional intelligence, he was inferior to Lu; in terms of experience, he was inferior to Su Rin. His only presentable skill, the piano, was rely average, otherwise, the won wouldn’t be constantly frustrated with him, threatening to break his fingers.
If only his piano talent were a bit higher, just a bit more, not necessarily comparing to Mozart, but just a bit more spirited, surely she would have been satisfied, and that ho wouldn’t have been so chaotic.
"I wish for..." Xiaobi raised her head.
At that mont, as she looked up at him, her dark eyes seed to contain starlight. When a person looks up at the sunlight, their own eyes actually shine as well.
"Actually, any talent would do..." she said.
Just to be a bit closer to you, just to narrow the chasm a bit.
She could want everything, because she had nothing. In her eyes, he was a genius capable of overshadowing all other geniuses—every genius paled in comparison to him.
She didn’t know who else Su Ming’an could possibly admire; he was already the most formidable person...
"—Grandpa! Found you!"
Suddenly, a blonde youth darted over, like a golden-furred big mouse.
When Xiao i heard Noah use this na, panic flashed in her eyes...
Right, the City Lord must be quite old this year, so having a grandson... seed normal. Although it was said that the City Lord had always been single, that was just the official statent; perhaps he actually had several wives in private...
But, this grandson... why blonde hair? His features looked too Western, not like his descendants at all... Could it be...
For a mont, Xiao i’s pupils dilated.
... He was such a good person, how could soone, how could anyone accuse him...
Su Ming’an was completely unaware of what Xiao i had imagined, and he looked helplessly at Noah who kept calling him grandpa as he approached, "What’s the matter?"
"Grandpa, no matter what, I will always stand by your side," Noah swayed his arm back and forth as he held it.
Why suddenly make such a pledge...
Su Ming’an responded, "Got it, got it." Thinking of Noah’s full admiration, he pushed Xiao i towards Noah, "From now on, you’re responsible for her protection, don’t let anything happen to her."
"Oh..." Noah glanced at her.
Su Ming’an stepped away to leave, but was pulled from behind. Noah, with his head bowed, now looked earnest instead of his usual cheerful self.
"Grandpa, my words just now... were serious." Noah spoke softly, "Even if you beco a ’Ta Wei Executor,’ I will always believe in you. No matter what happens to the world, I will protect you..."
...What did that an?
Su Ming’an was puzzled, why was Noah suddenly so serious?
He was about to speak when suddenly the surroundings fell quiet, and the scenery instantly froze.
"Ding Dong!"
[Dawn War·Final Stage Complete. As the initiator, please decide whether to enter rest ti? (If you wish to experience the full Caius Tower, please choose to enter rest ti.)]
[The rest ti is two hours, and you will automatically teleport back to Caius Tower after two hours.]
...
"Enter," Su Ming’an said.
A flash of white light from the teleport, and he returned to the City of asurent.
The mont he returned to the city, he sensed sothing was amiss. It was afternoon, yet the sky was... too dark.
He looked up only to see what should have been a sunlit sky, now a murky, gray-black like dirty water, as if dark sludge flowed within. The streetlights were all on, transit systems like trams and buses had stopped running, and there was silence even from hotels and entertainnt venues.
In the distance, from the dark alleys, ca the clashing sound of steel, that of a rapidly advancing army.
"Swoosh!"
He had just landed when the Dawn System appeared beside him.
"Doctor, welco back to the City of asurent, there’s sothing very important I need to notify you of," the Dawn System began.
"Mm, go ahead," Su Ming’an braced himself.
The scene was clearly off, like plunging into the ’Eternal Night.’ The One Dinsion City of asurent was supposed to be the safest dinsion, but even from the first few days of the instance’s opening, Su Ming’an had found the Red Eye residents were not few, and even had Edward leading the Red Eye Army straight toward Central City, which suggested the extent of the invasion in One Dinsion was very deep.
The dinsions ran in parallel; ’Three Dinsions’ had already beco shrouded in Black Mist. ’Two Dinsions’ was on the brink of destruction, surviving solely by the resources granted by ’Other Dinsions’ through Civilization Contracts. Thus, ’One Dinsion’ could not possibly be unaffected.
The instance nearing its end, it finally began to reveal its fangs. The arrival of Players was tid at a point when a world neared destruction, requiring their efforts to alter the outco.
"Based on the data analysis, this invasion will be the City-State’s last line of defense. ’Other Dinsion’s’ invasion plan is ticulous, calculating our resource shortage, they decided to launch the final battle." The Dawn System bowed slightly:
"Invasion level of the City-State is at 76%, and the final defense tifra won’t exceed 100 hours...
"To centralize resources for support transport operations, the City-State will fully activate a low-energy mode, providing only minimal water and electricity, and conscripting temporary soldiers from common residents—’Dawn Plan’ for human self-rescue fully initiated, hoping to receive your permission."
"Ding Dong!"
A system panel appeared before Su Ming’an.
...
[Do you grant permission to activate the ’Dawn Plan’?]
[Once this plan is activated, the instance will enter its final stage and issue tasks to all surviving players. You will beco the highest task issuer of the instance, please use your authority to coordinate personnel.]
["Dawn Plan": The Dawn System isn’t spontaneously generated; it has established one thousand six hundred energy stations on the edge of the safest One Dinsion World, half of which have been destroyed. ’Other Dinsion’s’ plan is to destroy these energy stations, and you need to mobilize all available forces to travel to the edges of the world to protect and repair these energy stations.]
[Once the total energy of the energy stations is insufficient, the Dawn System will enter hibernation, the dinsions will fracture, and all players will undergo an instant death judgnt.]
...
At the sa ti, all surviving players received this system notification.
Players like Lv Bolong, dressed in military uniforms, and hundreds of other players stood in the military lineup, staring blankly at the system interface before them.
[Player (Su Ming’an) has authorized the activation of the ’Dawn Plan’.]
[Please await his assignnt of your tasks...]
"Damn..." many people exclaid.
"Is he a player, or an NPC?" Li Yuanyuan wondered aloud, "Why are all the player tasks issued by him?"
"Big scene..." Ke Yuxia beside her remarked, "I’ve never experienced such a big scene in a world..."
"Wars, nuclear explosions, dinsional fractures, we’ve managed to encounter all kinds of crap..."
...
"While you execute the Dawn Plan, you still have to complete the Caius Tower process—both sets of humanity need you.
"The City-State has entered Eternal Night because ’Other Dinsions’ have destroyed the energy stations, causing to lose the ability to simulate sunlight."
The Dawn System bowed slightly to Su Ming’an:
"I hope you can... let us see the dawn."
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