Su Ming’an walked down the street, observing the recent changes in Doomsday City.
He glanced at the barrage of ssages:
[By the way, does anyone know what Edward is up to? Why hasn’t he shown up since his return?]
[I’ve been checking the United Group forum posts, and no one has leaked his location...]
[Recently, there have been red-eyed people in the Main God World. So say they’re cosplaying the Ninth World with red contact lenses, but sothing feels off to ...]
[...]
He shifted his gaze away. The Main God World now was full of crises, whether it was Noel’s authority or Edward’s predicant... His return had brought another storm.
The world ga was becoming increasingly abnormal, having lost the initial stability it once had. It seed as though many hidden elents were gradually slipping out of control.
He paused in thought, continuing to observe the street scene.
Most of the residents on the street had blood-red eyes. So continuously muttered the na "Yasa Acto," holding red-covered books like devout believers of the city lord. Others looked coldly towards the direction of the Inner City, mumbling words of curses, believing it housed a demon.
The attitudes of the people were split into two extres. One still revered Acto as a deity, while the other viewed Acto as a pawn of Ta Wei.
"Traitor!" "Pawn!" "Liar!"
Such voices occasionally reached Su Ming’an’s ears. Monts later, he clenched the garnt over his chest.
There were so protest marches on the street, holding signs that read[Reject the resources of Ta Wei, humans would rather die!] from one end of the street to the other.
Before being thrust into the dungeon, an old man scread wildly. He stretched his hands high towards the shimring edges of a large building, as if by doing so he could reach the city lord.
"—City Lord! You, from the Dawn War period—please, co back!"
"Please... co back..."
Su Ming’an silently walked past them.
The thoughts of the people were complex and contradictory, as if a sharp knife had split their factions. So couldn’t wait to use all forms of dirty words to curse the city lord, while others still recited words of gratitude, regarding the city lord as a deity.
Silence, solemnity, order. The city had decayed into a cold steel skeleton.
Su Ming’an slowly walked towards the core area of the city. When he encountered soldiers checking identities, he used the spatial domain to beco invisible.
As he withdrew the domain and walked on, suddenly, a delirious man in the corner grabbed his arm, mumbling like a madman:
"Please protect this world... You are, our god..."
Su Ming’an frowned, thinking the man had recognized him.
However, five seconds later, he realized the man was simply delirious, randomly grabbing a passerby, imagining the passerby as the gentle and rational Yasa Acto from the past.
The man had not realized that he had grabbed the real person.
"Please... continue to protect us..." the man mumbled unclearly, "Please, grant us ordinary people rcy..."
"..." Su Ming’an said, "...Understood."
The man did not realize whom he had grabbed, just blankly looking towards the distant sky, humming a sowhat familiar tune.
Su Ming’an listened carefully; it was the piano piece he had played at a dinner party.
...Even though it had been so long ago.
...yet people still rembered.
Su Ming’an moved the man’s hand away, and the Ginkgo Tree Tea House was still open. He silently walked into the teahouse. The teahouse was bustling as usual, with many people sitting around drinking tea, looking exhausted.
"...Is the big purge about to start again these days?" people whispered:
"Last ti they arrested over a hundred people, how many will it be this ti..."
"An army called ’New Beacon’ has appeared outside the city, aiming to overthrow Doomsday City. I want to go and find out more."
"It seems that Acto really is a monster reborn. He is so eager to be a dog for Ta Wei..."
"Ta Wei’s hound, a demon, a devil, a demon who has grasped the authority of deity... Is he really a bionic body? Could it be because of his immortal life, he needs human life force to sustain..."
People used all kinds of unsavory words to describe Yasa Acto. Su Ming’an frowned as he listened, suddenly hearing a loud "bang!"
A wooden table was smashed to pieces. A black-haired girl with a Demon Fox mask stood up gloomily, her eyes bloodshot.
"—Enough!" she yelled, and the teahouse fell instantly silent.
People looked at her, baffled by her sudden rage.
The black-haired girl, with bloodshot eyes, roared:
"—He is not a monster! Not a lackey! Not a devil!"
"—He is not an undead demon; he too feels pain and gets injured! He does not absorb others’ life force, nor does he slaughter others for sacrifice!"
"—He used to be gentle, he used to sing, play the piano, work through the night until he collapsed exhausted at his desk, and he did everything he could to save each and every comrade..."
"He is just... he is just..."
Her voice trembled, her shoulders shook slightly:
"He is just too tired now..."
Su Ming’an’s gaze shifted slightly.
As people listened to her defense, a man sneered, "What are you talking about? Are you defending him? Defending that increasingly ridiculous Ta Wei Executor?"
"—What’s wrong with the city lord becoming the Ta Wei Executor to keep humanity alive?" The black-haired girl gritted her teeth. "Maybe, maybe his thods have been too harsh these past six years, and the brainwashing and purges are indeed aningless. But why must you demand he be perfect? No one can avoid making mistakes. He dragged us from the Catastrophe of the 32nd year to the 71st year. He’s just a bit lost now..."
She defended Yasa Acto desperately, facing everyone’s cold eyes and spittle, like an ant trying to withstand the waves.
"I believe..." she said tremulously, "that he will co to his senses..."
However, no matter how she argued, Acto’s behavior in the past nearly six years had been too absurd; he had tamorphosed half the city’s residents into red-eyed people, slaughtering countless innocent warriors.
In many people’s eyes — as long as he committed the slightest sin, it was enough to obliterate all the honors he had previously earned because he was no longer perfect.
The countless spit was almost drowning the black-haired girl, as she kept retreating, her pupils shaking violently.
The next mont, a figure stood in front of her.
Su Ming’an protected the black-haired girl.
"You..." The black-haired girl looked at the suddenly appearing Su Ming’an.
"Xi, I’m back," Su Ming’an turned his head, smiling at her. His dark pupils in the light of the teahouse seed like condensed amber.
He had not expected that upon his return, the first person he would encounter would still be his old friend Xi. Now it was Fuyuan Festival, and she was probably going to give him a new net...
"...Who is it?" Xi finished the remaining words.
Su Ming’an’s pupils constricted.
He had forgotten, he was just Su Ming’an now.
People looked at the suddenly appearing Su Ming’an, first startled, then quickly soone noticed sothing was amiss.
"Wait, he doesn’t have an identity badge on his chest!" soone pointed at Su Ming’an.
Nowadays, under martial law, everyone entering the city had to wear an identity badge, yet the Su Ming’an in front of them didn’t have one—he must be an invader of Doomsday City.
"It’s an invader!"
"There’s an invader! Quick, go report to the Hawk Hound Guardians!"
The people’s faces turned pale, imdiately stopping their quarrelling and running out. Instantly, the teahouse was a ss of skewed tables and chairs, swiftly emptied of people. Invaders often possessed formidable force, and they did not want to be cannon fodder.
This scene, akin to the way people had shunned Lin Guang in the teahouse initially, was exactly the sa.
—No one recognized him anymore.
Su Ming’an looked up to see a squad of soldiers with bright red eyes rushing towards him. They were ready for battle, weapons aid at him, a scenario that had never happened before.
"Arrest that man!" the squad leader, a tall blonde woman, commanded coldly. She aid her gun, the muzzle pointed directly at Su Ming’an.
Su Ming’an recognized her instantly—this blonde squad leader was Anjie. She was one of the earliest mbers of Beacon, who had always admired him. She had once smiled, clapped him on the shoulder, and said she would always protect him.
However, Anjie’s gaze now was extrely cold. She was rely capturing a "trespasser" who broke into Doomsday City, not welcoming the city lord she admired.
Bi, Tretiya... those who could recognize him as "Su Ming’an" rather than the intrinsic "Acto" had all died before him, even sacrificing their lives to glorify "Yasa Acto" as the hero who killed Ta Wei.
The love and hate of the Ruined World did not belong to him. He had participated in everything, sacrificed so much, yet in the end, in others’ eyes, he was just a non-existent ghost.
As Anjie aid the gun at Su Ming’an, she said to Xi, "Xi, stay away from him, co here! I’ll help you with the gun!"
"Okay." Xi nodded, looking at Su Ming’an sowhat defensively, and cautiously stepped back. For so reason... she actually felt a hint of familiarity in Su Ming’an.
It was as if... they had t before, and had shared significant emotions, even made promises to each other.
But why didn’t she recognize him?
Why did his face... feel so unfamiliar to her?
Xi’s dark pupils flickered as she stepped back, her footsteps growing more hesitant and uncertain... In fact, for the past six years, the city lord’s personality had drastically changed, she always felt that Little Handso shouldn’t be such a cold person...
Dozens of gun barrels aid at Su Ming’an, his expression remained unchanged.
Suddenly, a loud explosion ca from outside the teahouse.
"Boom—!"
Following that, a stream of air rushed from the distant streets, sweeping through like a tsunami and spilling into the teahouse. "Whoosh whoosh—" The impact wave shattered the glass, sending it flying like spray. The spectating crowd, the moving vehicles, the cold red-eyed soldiers... were all blown away by the blast, like popcorn kernels being tossed.
Guns clattered to the ground, and the soldiers’ formation was disrupted by the storm.
"I created that air blast, run with now!" Suddenly, soone grabbed Su Ming’an’s hand.
Su Ming’an was wary of those who approached him. He was about to resist when he heard a very familiar call.
"—Grandpa!"
At that mont, Su Ming’an felt relaxed as he was led away by the person who called him "grandfather."
That person’s golden hair fluttered under the sky, reminding Su Ming’an of Noel’s hair color. Both had similarly lively and elfish dispositions. Sotis, when he saw Noah and Noel from behind, Su Ming’an would even mix them up.
Noah took his hand and led him into a narrow and concealed alley, shaking off the crowd.
As for why Noah could recognize him at a glance—Su Ming’an had a guess in his mind.
It wasn’t because Noah was particularly fond of him, but simply because—
...
[Ruler’s Skill].
...
At the start of the instance, Su Ming’an had used the [Ruler’s Skill] to forcibly increase Noah’s favorability.
This full favorability arrived without any reason. With just one glance at him, Noah had suddenly beco a friend bound by life and death, resulting in Noah having absolutely no emotional foundation for the character role of Yasa Acto.
According to the system’s judgnt, Noah had mandatory, nonsensical, pitiful, and completely reasonless full favorability only toward "Player Su Ming’an."
His will and emotions were taken; his caution and rationality were stripped away. He hopelessly "fell in love" with the player in front of him. Thus, when Player Su Ming’an appeared before him, Noah’s favorability system was triggered, and the "love" in his heart activated; he flung himself at Su Ming’an like a programd entity.
The sole reason the only person who recognized Su Ming’an did so was rely because the system had forcibly seized his favorability.
"..."
Letting Noel lead him, Su Ming’an suddenly beca aware of the silence in the street behind them.
"Wait a mont," Su Ming’an stopped, peering through the narrow gap between the walls, quietly looking onto the street—
The silent street, where people stood frozen in place, their gazes fixed in the sa direction. They were either silent, admiring, worshipping, or hatingly—staring at a figure slowly approaching from the end of the road.
"..."
The mont he saw that person, Su Ming’an’s breath hitched.
As if a strange emotion had risen from his heart, it fiercely gripped his heart.
"Gurgle—Gurgle—"
On the deadly silent street, only the sound of wheelchair tracks remained.
Under the high wind, the newcor’s black hair seed to be caressed by the wind; his pupils shrouded in a layer of unfathomable deep gray. His gaze was too cold, yet his appearance was perfectly like that of finely crafted porcelain, or a deity that should be surrounded by hymns and flowers, making it hard to speak aloud in his presence. Anyone who fell into those deep gray, seemingly empty eyes, felt as though they were stripped of the power to speak.
He wore a black robe, the edges tipped with golden patterns, and wore a golden [Ta Wei Executor] dal on his chest.
As he drew closer, people bowed their heads silently, not daring to make eye contact with him.
The chanical Army clustered around this [Ta Wei Executor]; he too seed to blend into the icy white chanical Army, his face bearing a faint, detached smile, like that of a dormant volcano.
This posture closely resembled Lin Guang, the Godly Agent Su Ming’an had t 32 years after the Catastrophe in Zone Eleven. Back then, Lin Guang was similarly clustered in a white chanical Army, uncommunicative and indifferent.
Doomsday City had transford into the City of Gods. The leader of the Freedom Faction had turned into an executor of the deity.
—This was the first ti Su Ming’an had observed closely the character he had taken over.
Acto had turned into the spitting image of Lin Guang.
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