[The reaper cannot boast that you drift in his shadow,]
[for you dwell in my immortal poem, as long as ti.]
[—Shakespeare’s Sonnet 16]
...
At the mont the final cipher arrived, the Deity was imprisoned as an electronic spirit and dragged into an invisible space.
When the imprisonnt ford, Su Ming’an followed the Deity into it.
He wanted to have a final conversation with the Deity.
White data flickered around him, and everything in the shackled space was imagined by the imprisoned, like the dream of the imprisoned.
The Deity’s dream was a vast field.
Under the distant sunlight, the Deity stood there, beside an old, broken piano, playing discordant notes automatically. He appeared like an exile, far from ho, standing alone, with black hair fluttering in the wind.
"Su Ming’an."
As Su Ming’an approached the Deity, the Deity spoke softly:
"You’ve won."
Su Ming’an’s footsteps paused, and he said:
"It’s the billions of people of the Ruined World who won."
"It’s the Nine Thrones who won."
"It’s Yasa Acto who won."
"It doesn’t matter; it’s all the sa." The Deity shook his head.
Su Ming’an ca to the Deity’s side. The two of them gazed at the distant sunlight, with ginkgo leaves falling on their shoulders.
"By the way, you’ve never seen what I look like, have you?" the Deity said.
Su Ming’an gazed at the Deity until the Deity turned his head.
—revealing a face similar to Acto’s.
But Su Ming’an knew the Deity was not Acto. Their behavior and nature were different.
"Su Ming’an, have you ever heard of ’The Original’?" the Deity said. "Have you ever thought that in this vast world, there may be people with similar temperants to yours? People whose hobbies, character, and ideals are so alike, it’s like looking in a mirror?"
Su Ming’an: "’The Original’?"
The Deity said, "It’s the most primal form of humanity, like a reflection in water."
Su Ming’an said, "I don’t understand."
The Deity smiled:
"Su Ming’an—if you were born in Pulaya, you would beco ’Su Rin’. If Su Rin were born on Zhai Star, he would beco ’Su Ming’an’—this is ’The Original’."
"If Acto were born in my civilization, he would beco ’Deity’. If I were born in the Ruined World, I would be ’Yasa Acto’."
The Deity’s words caused Su Ming’an’s face to change dramatically.
He took a step back, pondering the philosophy in the Deity’s words.
"Everything about humans starts innately, and gradually a complete person is composed through subsequent experiences. When experiences and observations haven’t begun to fabricate us—our ’Original’ is the sa."
"When postnatal experiences start distorting us, humanity begins to divide into classes. Originally similar innate infants enter different family environnts, and their postnatal personalities undergo drastic changes, thus shaping different ’people’."
"An infant from a poor family would cherish the hard-earned material conditions more. An infant from a wealthy family would likely have eyes set beyond money. Their division only begins here. Other conditions are the sa—the level of care from one’s family, the personality of friends around, unique experiences... all begin to gradually shape this ’Original Soil’."
"If Lin Guang had all of Lv Shu’s life experiences, had your friendship from the start, wouldn’t he beco today’s ’Lv Shu’? If Lv Shu experienced the 2,300 tis of public coldness and fear as Lin Guang did, not knowing what love is, relying only on self-harm to feel, wouldn’t he beco today’s ’Lin Guang’?"
"Su Ming’an, this is ’The Original’."
"There are countless similarities between civilizations, including so people’s appearance, temperant, surna, just like you have seen before..."
"[Agnes Refrigerators]."
The Deity’s words left the entire live broadcast room stunned.
Su Ming’an pressed his heart, suppressing his rapid breathing.
"Then [Ninth World·Zhai Star]—!" he shouted.
The Deity paused slightly, with a hint of a smile in his eyes:
"Su Ming’an, how do you want to understand it? Future tilines, different original worlds, synonymous worlds, or the malice of the organizers? I don’t have an answer for this question either."
"So why does Noah resemble Noel, Lin Guang resemble Lv Shu, why does the Ruined World correspond so much with Zhai Star? I don’t believe one ’Original’ can answer the question, just like I don’t believe ’Zhai Star’ is rely a synonym." Su Ming’an imdiately asked: "Also, what is the Century Catastrophe? Why was the Dawn System born?"
The Deity said softly, "These questions, go back and ask the Dawn System yourself."
Su Ming’an was stunned for a mont.
The Deity rely raised his head and looked at the distant sunlight.
He was imprisoned here, able to see nothing else.
His civilization was disintegrating.
And he could not return ho.
"A civilizational conflict... only one can survive, the side that loses loses everything, over a hundred billion lose their lives..." the Deity said wistfully:
"You defeated my civilization, my ’Source of Civilization’ will belong to the Ruined World, I suppose your civilization will have enough to survive."
"If we could et honestly, Su Ming’an, we could have been friends; we could have been the sa type of people who understand each other.
"But we must be like strangers because we must fulfill our own missions, which is our choice... because we are this kind of people."
"’This kind of people?’" Su Ming’an said softly.
"Idealists," the Deity said:
"Resolved, rational, mad, silent, misunderstood, relentless."
A spring breeze brushed the branches.
A long wind lifted their fluttering garnts, and for a mont, their reflections seed to coincide.
"My civilization was also invaded by ’Deities’, a civilization that, after falling into Zero-Dinsional, found my civilization’s ’Kaius Tower’ and began to invade my civilization," the Deity said:
"So, I beca the Evil Dragon invading new civilizations for the survival of mine."
"Over the years, I have seen supernovae disappear in grand explosions, and seen the splendid star rivers of the universe."
"I shouldered the responsibility of salvation, leading my civilization to the final Chapter of the New World."
"My soul is imprisoned here, the lifespan of my civilization as enduring as my life..."
"I thought that as long as I plunder, my civilization could survive."
"I thought that as long as I saved, I could achieve eternal life in their sight."
"I thought that as long as I walked in the abyss alone, beca the greedy Deity, others could smile under the light."
Su Ming’an stood by his side.
The Deity slightly turned his head.
Sunlight traced his pale face, beneath his eyes were deep dark circles. For the victory of his civilization, his expression was even more haggard than the Acto in Su Ming’an’s mory.
"...But I broke my promise to them."
"Couldn’t lead them into spring, I’m sorry."
Under the ginkgo tree, the deity’s eyes showed a hint of faint red.
His hand was raised high, unsure whether trying to grasp the sunlight or reach out to the civilization thousands of miles away.
In the places beyond his sight, all that he loved dearly, all that he cherished, were collapsing, disintegrating, disappearing.
"Deity," Su Ming’an said, "after today, the Dawn System will surely destroy all electronic ghosts, won’t give you a way out. I disliked you before because our positions were opposed... If we are no longer enemies, would you be willing to co with ?"
The deity’s favorability is as high as 80 points; if it were a bit higher, he could use the Ruler’s Skill to take him along. Both the deity’s wisdom and technological prowess are very practical.
The deity was slightly taken aback.
"The Ruler’s Skill is it?" The deity chuckled.
"Would you be willing?" Su Ming’an asked.
The deity smiled: "I said we’re the sa. If you were , would you be willing to live alone after your civilization has been destroyed?"
Su Ming’an was silent for a mont.
"I understand." He understood the deity’s answer.
"Go ahead," the deity said, "you have brought spring to the Ruined World, go see it for yourself. At the last mont, don’t stay with an enemy like ."
"May I know your real na?" Su Ming’an asked.
The deity just smiled wryly:
"I’ve forgotten."
"After becoming a ’deity,’ my na had long ceased to exist."
Su Ming’an turned away.
As he was about to leave, he glanced back.
Under the sunlight, the deity was still maintaining his original stance, standing under the ginkgo tree. The sunlight outlined his clear figure, reflecting the sky in the depths of his gray eyes.
Virtual white birds landed on his shoulder, and one by one, illusionary lilies blood at his feet, like a dream about spring.
One soul after another floated around the deity, whom he had imagined as his friends; they embraced him gently, as if softly bidding farewell.
"Indeed... the sa," Su Ming’an muttered.
He turned and left this confined space.
At the mont he left,
the deity closed his eyes, actively relinquishing the continuation of this electronic body; the body shattered.
His last dignity was self-destruction, along with the falling civilization.
The sunlight gradually faded, the ginkgo withered, souls fluttered.
The final ray of afterglow fell upon him,
also like a monunt to humanity.
...
In the 53rd year of the New Era, Yasa Acto detonated the Central Building, casting the Throne of Hephaestus with his body, dispersing along with the deity that was Ta Wei. He used his own life to kill the god.
After this.
Spring arrived.
...
When the sun rose fully, people still shed tears.
So collapsed on the ground, bathed in golden sunlight. Others still held up torches, their wrists stiff.
Even they couldn’t believe they would et such an end. It was like standing on a small boat about to be swallowed by a tsunami, only to suddenly reach land.
Many clung tightly to each other, releasing laughter and tears from their desperate reprieve.
Rebirth.
"City Lord... City Lord..." The white-haired Anjie raised her head, eyes red from crying, tears breaking through. She cried and laughed, unable to control her emotions like most people here.
"City Lord, City Lord..."
He had already perished with the deity, leading people into a new century.
Not a traitor, not a fugitive, not Ta Wei’s lackey.
He was a hero.
He brought rebirth to this world on the brink of shattering, to this civilization consud by flas, guiding the destined souls who would die through the ages to the other shore.
Countless players stood in the sunlight, holding unextinguished fireseeds, gazing at the Central Building ablaze with flas.
On the rooftop, the figure who promised them spring was no longer there.
The long wind blew up dust, and bits of wildflowers erged under the soil, spring had truly arrived.
But that person was no longer there.
Millions of leisurely hours passed, only then did a truly historical mont appear, the mont of mankind’s starlit brilliance.
He stood on the other side of the river of ti, watching the myriad lights of the world, bidding each farewell.
This is the battle of civilization.
Despair and rebirth. People united as one, using life, using soul to win a future for their ho, for their world, for their civilization.
Nothing is more stunningly beautiful than such a sight.
Above the City-State, a soul invisible to everyone floated in the air.
He stepped out of the confined space, the soul floated in the air, the body had long burned away in the airplane explosion.
The dawn of the new City-State pierced through his transparent soul, spilling onto the flas, rging bit by bit, like a dance of red and gold.
He quietly listened to the cheers of the people, light spilling inch by inch onto the street, bricks and tiles from the shattered building fell down.
White birds flew from the bell tower, diving into the radiant dawn.
In the system prompt, a line of text was shining brightly.
...
[Perfect Completion Progress: 100%]
...
He gazed at the joyful crowd, suddenly feeling out of place in this world. But as he turned his gaze away, a figure embraced him.
"...Grandpa."
A blond-haired boy ca from behind him, hands wrapped around his neck. Under the grand sun, the boy was like a little sun, warm and dazzling.
Two transparent figures intertwined, sunlight passed through their bodies.
"Is it an illusion?" Su Ming’an’s voice was very soft.
"Does Grandpa believe in ideals or reality?" Noah blinked: "If you believe in ideals, does it matter if I’m an illusion? If you believe in reality, then bid farewell to the mirage. Years ago, I walked too fast, didn’t have ti to properly say goodbye to Grandpa."
"..." Su Ming’an’s hand rested on Noah’s illusory fingers.
He saw the white bird of the bell tower fly toward the distance, over high walls, carrying the green leaves of spring.
He saw the webs under the street eaves, dancing like rainbows in the long wind.
He saw the towering ginkgo trees, the golden leaves fluttering like butterflies, inch by inch.
More and more souls gathered around him, indistinguishable from reality or illusion.
If you believe in fairy tales,
perhaps you’ll believe they are real.
"Chief, goodbye." The white-haired Sen Kylstia smiled: "Thank you for fulfilling our wish."
"Lord, goodbye." Xia Sheng, still youthful in appearance, saluted Su Ming’an goodbye.
"City Lord, goodbye. I’m going to find Fayse Mom." Yao Wen waved to him.
"You without a na... goodbye." The beige-haired Tretiya gazed at his figure with longing. She pursed her red lips and quickly smiled.
"Su Ming’an, goodbye." Xiao Bei finally acknowledged his na.
"Grandpa, goodbye." The golden-haired young boy cried out loudly: "The city-state really does have spring. I saw it; you didn’t lie to —it’s truly the most beautiful spring. If there’s a next life, Grandpa, we’ll ride motorcycles together to see the seabirds, to see the flowers."
"Xiao Shuai, goodbye." The girl wearing a Demon Fox mask waved a hand full of threads, still wearing a mischievous smile: "There won’t be a next ’goodbye’ this ti, rember my appearance, okay?"
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye..."
Su Ming’an awkwardly and clumsily rembered their appearances; as he recalled bit by bit, their every smile and movent quickly appeared in front of him.
More and more people surrounded him, sunlight piercing through their transparent bodies. They smiled as they bid him farewell, as if at a grand banquet.
They addressed him with different titles, used different words of goodbye, for their final farewell.
The images they presented were, without exception, the most dazzling monts of their lives, the deepest mont in Su Ming’an’s mory.
At that mont between life and death—
Su Ming’an rembered them forever.
"..."
Finally, a white-haired young man gently hugged him.
"Although I waited for a long ti, spring is beautiful, so it’s okay."
The white-haired young man smiled at him.
"That’s great."
"eting you was really great, Lewis."
Su Ming’an stared blankly into his eyes.
Maybe a long ti had passed,
or maybe it was just a mont.
All the chaotic sounds suddenly dissipated, as if they had lost their hearing.
Su Ming’an’s soul sent a clear burning sensation, the pain growing like wild branches, wandering within his perception.
Mana Points exhausted, Puppet Threads severed, his soul uncontrollably falling, about to return to the body already burned to death. Then, awaiting him was complete death, consciousness transferring to cloning.
Endless sunlight descended from the sky, like a vast ocean.
He fell from the sky, like a whale sinking to the bottom.
Countless departed souls brushed past him, waving goodbye like flying birds ascending toward the dawn of the sky. As if transford into dense stars scattered across the sky.
One person falls, thousands rise.
He will fall back to the human world, while the souls lost in war will ascend like free birds to the high sky.
"—Next life, I still want to be Yao Wen’s mother."
"—If there’s a next life, Grandpa, we must go see the seabirds. I want to truly live in spring."
"—I want to try to learn making Hanfu, it seems very interesting..."
"—You without a na, next life, can I personally ask your na?"
"—Xiao Shuai, rember my appearance, okay?"
"—Programs can’t reincarnate, nor have a next life. But if I can et you again, I want to grow my ginseng for you to eat, strawberries too, anything delicious, it’s all okay."
"—Spring is really beautiful; I want to see it for a lifeti. Next life, old man, I must eat noodles with green onions..."
"—Grandma, Grandma, I want to see what the universe looks like, how far the sky is..."
They are no longer limited by harsh winters, like white birds breaking free from shackles, heading toward the rebirth above the sky.
And Su Ming’an reached out, smiling, and waved with them.
The deities who imprisoned this world can no longer intervene in the world, long-awaited sunlight swirling between souls like scattered particles of the galaxy.
The sun seed particularly fond of Su Ming’an; as he fell, the orange-red sunlight always followed his outline inch by inch, clear.
A silhouette suddenly appeared from the sky, approached him, her black hair distinct, erald green eyes like a pair of jade, her body transparent like his.
She and he fell together in the collapse of the building, behind them a new dawn rising.
"Dong An’an...?" Su Ming’an called out her na.
"I’m antivirus program T-0001. You can call Su Xiaobi, or Dong An’an." A string of emoticons appeared above her head, reflecting light in the girl’s eyes:
"Thank you for saving us, Su Ming’an♪(^∇^*)"
"Airplane explosion, it must hurt." Su Ming’an said.
Su Xiaobi hesitated, then smiled:
"It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt (′▽`ʃ♡ƪ)"
Orange-red dawn splashed over their falling figures, inch by inch dyed with golden radiance, the distant mountain outlines gradually clear, like a continuous dragon.
She looked up, gazing at millions of souls rising and singing.
"Thank you."
Tears suddenly flowed down her cheeks:
"Turns out electronic sheep can see spring."
"You, you were ant to belong to spring." Su Ming’an said.
The girl hesitated, then just hugged him tightly, smiled close to his ear.
"Thank you."
"Thank you to everyone in the world."
"You are the most beautiful idealists."
They fell in brilliance,
like a new dawn once again.
Being an idealist is a kind of sorrowful and passionate romance.
It is the burning candle in the winter blizzard, offering a little light and warmth to an unknown future.
After burning, the ashes carried away by the wind, the flying gray, is what constitutes the colors in the eyes of idealists. They always support each other, always stand up again, until they completely see the dawn, freely stand beneath the blue sky—
Never yield.
Never fall.
The shattered sunrise rising in the distance illuminated Su Ming’an’s soul, making it shine like a beautiful diamond.
The Black Mist annihilated among the data, as if falling into the vast universe. Thick frost cracked, springs gushed with water, rainbows hung in the sky, and wildflowers adorned the branches.
When Dawn completely enveloped the earth, people were first hesitant, afraid this was a dream. Until an old man holding a vermillion sniper rifle stumbled and charged outside, instantly like a stone falling into water, breaking through the glass-like shell—
"It’s the real sun! It’s real! It’s real!"
"Go! Let’s go!"
"Windsor, bring mom, let’s step into spring!"
"Step in! Go go go!"
People were awakened by the Dawn that descended from the sky, a faint light illuminating from the ruins—
Then, the wildfire ignited, spreading widely.
They desperately stepped into the sunlight, running into the brand-new spring, laughing, crying, embracing each other, screaming loudly, baring their teeth and claws, pounding their chests, weeping profusely.
Rolling in the wildflowers, singing loudly under the sun, dancing with butterflies and white birds, reciting poetry in hardship, laughing in joy.
Oh people full of scars,
quickly take your steps,
step into spring.
The world frawork is layer by layer stripped away, an intricate network of dinsional relationships, a dazzling collection of souls.
Humanity, sacrifice, faith. Human wisdom at its limit, like moths to a fla in confrontation with deities, the solitary journey through the night, the philosophy of the pioneers, the silence of the wallfacers, the sacrifice of the burial victims, the turning back of the rebels, the argunt of the life program, the clash of civilization and universe, the epic of ti.
One Ouroboros, two trap programs, three dinsions, four tilines, nine pioneers, thirty-six pieces of Roseblood, one hundred and two harsh winters, two thousand three hundred simulations, five billion seven hundred and one million sacrifices, countless souls unyielding to defeat.
——This is what constitutes ’humanity’.
No matter how many tis, they will save themselves from the waters and fires of the world, again and again, without hesitation, a thousand tis, ten thousand tis.
Life is as short as morning dew, the long river of civilization flows eternally.
But the brief mont that stays on humanity,
——is Eternal.
...
He has reached the end of his journey.
Humanity will create a brand-new future.
...
...
[You have completed the Ruler’s Quest, discovered the (Thing of Truth)]
[(Thing of Truth):
Not confused by the virtual and dinsions, seeing programs and life as equals, always believing that electronic sheep can see spring—
Those who always seek the ’Thing of Truth’,
——are the true ’Thing of Truth’.]
...
"Ding Dong!"
[Congratulations on the Perfect Pass!]
[Achieved Perfect Pass Route·(TE) Rebirth of All Things]
[Route Evaluation: SSS (Perfect!)]
[(TE·Rebirth of All Things):
"Ti is not ti, space is not space, dinsion is not dinsion, code is not code, Zhai Star is not Zhai Star."
"The Mobius Ring spirals through two thousand three hundred simulations, crosses the Klein Bottle, links the Grandmother Paradox, turns the universe into a program, humanity into electronic sheep, roams the three-dinsional parallel space-ti network."
"Thus, a long road of spring erges."
"A new dinsion is established here, as if an ark for a distant journey."
"Countless souls take it as their vessel, enduring and everlasting."
"People sing together——"
"Am I to swallow the blood of the Slaughter,
"——and sing with the brutal deities?"
"Am I to swallow the pain of war,
"——and coexist with civilization’s tombstone?"
"Am I to seal the song of the white bird,
"——and let the lamb die on its knees?"
"Am I to sleep through the eternal night of harsh winters,
"——and let the burial victims live in silence?"
"Born in the program, I shall move to reality."
"Born in cruelty, I shall pursue dreams."
"Born in harsh winters, I shall beco the scorching sun."
"Born in the ’past’, I shall build the ’future’."
"[If we are idealists, incurable idealists, dreaming of impossible things.]"
"[Then——I shall answer a thousand and one tis.]"
"[Yes, that’s who we are.]"
"Pioneer Immortality, spearhead brilliantly honed, indestructible Starfire."
"Eternal Dawn, candlelight glowing brighter, the ark anchored."
"Even if I fall——"
"Look, in this world, countless,
"..."
"——millions are ’’."]
...
[Ending has been recorded, will be included in the final evaluation]
...
...
[Doctor.]
[Welco ho.]
...
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