CHAPTER 1029: CHAPTER 1026: THE SO-CALLED BELOVED

Su Ming’an’s hands covered his face, trembling as if from the cold, his eyeballs squeezed between his fingers.

His mouth did not move, but in his heart he repeatedly whispered—

[Su Ming’an, you must kill everyone, you must commit suicide.]

[Su Ming’an, you must kill everyone, you must commit suicide.]

[Su Ming’an, you must...]

Again and again, again and again.

Kill, kill, kill, kill.

Words laden with the meaning of slaughter bounced in his mind, yet his pupils were clear and bright.

——This was a concept he must remember firmly; only by repeatedly reciting it could he proceed with the next step to break the situation.

——Just looking at him, it seemed he was already insane.

Su Wensheng took a step back, frowning slightly: "Let me point out a path for you; if the Holy Church won’t work, seek help from Hei Que of the Huo Muli’er Nation, then go and break the Prophecy Stone Wall... Hey, are you listening to me?"

Skip, skip, skip.

Su Ming’an silently ignored him, like a player skipping dialogue through multiple playthroughs. Right now, he had to hurry to imprint the concept of "kill" repeatedly in his mind, and then—

"...Su Ming’an?"

At that moment, Su Ming’an suddenly saw a golden figure.

Amidst the swaying shadows of the trees, blue ribbons fluttered in the wind. Noel parted the shrubs, with a smile on his face.

"I’m here," Noel said.

"..." Su Ming’an looked at him.

"I felt you needed help, so I rushed over from the second tower." Noel smiled, raising his hand: "High five?"

Su Ming’an and Noel used "piano" as their topic for exchanging signals. Noel and Su Ming’an used different actions according to the time of day. Since it was three o’clock in the afternoon, the signal action was a high five with a slightly bent thumb.

Su Ming’an extended his hand, gently high-fiving Noel, and Noel’s thumb bent slightly. They matched the signal.

"You’re heading to Huo Muli’er Nation, right?" Noel looked at the sky: "Shall I accompany you?"

"No need."

"... Hmm? Why?" Noel tilted his head.

"Guess?" Su Ming’an said.

Before Noel could react, Su Ming’an suddenly reached out his hand, gripping Noel’s neck.

"Su... you..." Noel hadn’t anticipated this action at all. He didn’t even fight back, his arms hanging by his sides. His azure pupils reflected Su Ming’an in confusion:

"Su Ming’an... just what are you..."

Su Ming’an’s fingers retracted.

"Boom——!!"

A violent explosion rang out, spatial vibration bursting between his fingers.

Noel’s body was instantly torn apart by this nearly zero-distance spatial vibration; had he made no defense, even with high combat power, he couldn’t withstand it.

Su Ming’an looked at the blood on his palm and withdrew his hand.

A fine thread remained at his neck—even if he had been slower by a step, he would have been subdued.

——He had already anticipated this.

If he had been reset so many times, then each time he and Noel first met, they would definitely exchange a signal. The deity, just by keeping watch, could easily discover that each meeting would mention "piano."

Therefore, in these ten loops, as long as once Su Ming’an and Noel exchanged signals at three o’clock in the afternoon, the deity could fabricate a "Noel who understands the signal" based on their action.

Although this Noel was full of flaws, it was sufficient. The deity, adept at creating clones, would have little trouble fabricating Noel’s image, and even this fake Noel might think he was the real Noel.

Su Ming’an raised his hand and gently untied the thread from his neck. This thread appeared quite inferior, not as smooth and transparent as Noel’s thread.

"..." He released it, letting it soar like a butterfly kite amidst the sea breeze.

He gazed at the sea, his chest full of chilly wind.

So... it’s very likely that even now, on the correct timeline—

He and Noel had never met.

Furthermore, throughout this long journey—he had never met many people at all. Many he encountered might be the deity’s puppets, acting with him in a script already penned by it. Each scene, each dialogue, even a subtle glance—could very well be from the deity’s pen.

"Are you real...?"

Su Ming’an looked at his palm, blood flowing between his fingers. Bright red threads seeped into his hands, inch by inch.

The blue eyeball embedded in the sand, even at the last moment, reflected the azure sea and sky.

"Who is... real?"

He couldn’t ascertain.

Recognizing someone relies on appearance, voice, personality, demeanor, and power. But in the Tenth World, appearance can be disguised, voice can be modified, personality can be fabricated, demeanor can be imitated, and power can be implanted—how could he actually recognize someone familiar?

At that moment, Su Ming’an looked up. He saw a white shadow in the distance—no need for a closer look to know who it was.

Although Su Ming’an had just triggered his Death Rebound, as long as he was unwilling to approach the Prophecy Stone Wall, the deity would forcibly arrest someone, after all, the two rebound points were only an hour apart.

[Killing a person can acquire their memory] seemed to be his unique mechanism. He could only rely on himself.

"Goodbye, Su Wensheng." Su Ming’an casually said.

"Oh, goodbye," Su Wensheng casually replied.

Su Ming’an raised his hand.

——Annihilation, rebound.

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

Su Ming’an sat up.

"...Which time?" From behind came Su Wensheng’s voice, exactly the same words.

This time, Su Ming’an didn’t even bother to respond.

Su Wensheng scratched his chin: "...Hmm, it should be the second time, I speculate."

Su Ming’an ignored him entirely, like a student silently reciting during a class meeting, letting the teacher’s words go in one ear and out the other, focusing solely on reciting [Su Ming’an, you must kill everyone, you must commit suicide.]

Soon, the deity arrived.

Su Ming’an raised his hand.

——Annihilation, rebound.

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

The sea breeze lifted Su Ming’an’s black hair, deepening the exhaustion in his eyes. He sat up slowly, once again reciting the concept [Su Ming’an, you must kill everyone, you must commit suicide.]

"...Which time?" The familiar question came again.

Su Ming’an didn’t even bother standing up, directly sitting on the beach, like a salted fish about to be dried.

Su Wensheng watched Su Ming’an for a moment, his mouth slightly curving.

"...Third time?" Su Wensheng murmured to himself.

Su Ming’an kept reciting until the deity came to capture him again.

——Raise hand, annihilation, rebound.

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

Su Ming’an didn’t open his eyes, reciting [Su Ming’an, you must kill everyone, you must commit suicide.]

"...Which... hmm... seems like more than four times. Five times? Six times?" Su Wensheng’s voice floated by.

Su Ming’an felt a slight twitch in his heart. Whether Su Wensheng genuinely possessed insight skills or purely relied on guesswork, Su Wensheng’s words this time were truly surprising. Since Su Ming’an repeatedly triggered his Death Rebound, Su Wensheng couldn’t possibly sense how many times it was, only Su Wensheng was exceedingly astute.

"First time." Su Ming’an replied for the first time in a long while.

"Ah, first time. Is it? First time." Su Wensheng merely smiled slightly: "Perhaps I should cherish this period of time, how about I go have a cup of coffee?"

... Don’t drink coffee, it won’t be long before the next time anyway.

Su Ming’an closed his eyes silently until the deity approached, and he raised his hand to rebound.

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

"...You look very tired, like more than five times."

"..."

"...Then, I’ll take this time to quickly grab a cup of coffee."

"..."

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

"If it’s too many times, your spirit won’t be able to handle it."

"...First time."

"Alright, I’ll take your word for it, it’s the first time. Although it doesn’t feel like it. More like seven or even eight times."

"What on earth are you rambling about."

"I just want to ask—did I succeed in having coffee before?"

"..."

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

"It doesn’t look like it has reached ten times yet."

"...Don’t say anymore." Su Ming’an really didn’t find any meaning in Wensheng’s words. Besides giving him a slight jolt, he felt no effect at all.

"I just want to remind you to remember to rest."

"..."

...

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

Su Ming’an opened his eyes for the eighth time, this time, he didn’t recite to himself anymore.

...The "number of times" should be about enough.

He looked at the waves by the sea, his mind peaceful.

A shadow loomed over, a young man in a white shirt stood by his side, with a mandala flower embroidered on the collar. His features appeared gentle under the soft light.

"Which time? You look very at ease." Wensheng had his hands in his pockets.

This time, Wensheng didn’t say those words that made Su Ming’an’s heart jolt. It was as if Wensheng realized that this was Su Ming’an’s last time. If he spoke randomly again, it wouldn’t be overwritten.

"First time." Su Ming’an said: "Wensheng, what do you want to tell me?"

—Speak up, Wensheng. Although I know what you want to say, I need you to say it for me to show that "I got it."

Wensheng met his gaze and smiled slightly:

"...I’ll point you a way, if the Holy Church doesn’t work out, go seek help from Huo Muli’er Nation’s Hei Que."

—Alright, then I’ll hand you this step, letting you "know" this information.

Although Wensheng repeated what he would say in every round, like a fixed-pattern NPC, Su Ming’an knew well in his heart, at this moment, Wensheng said this sentence just beyond the fixed NPC pattern.

Because Wensheng clearly knew—Su Ming’an needed this sentence at this moment. Only upon hearing this sentence did Su Ming’an have a further reason to act.

"I got it, I’m going now." Su Ming’an said.

He started walking towards the direction of the Huo Muli’er Nation.

Then, he repeated what he did before—using the Ruler’s Skill to increase Hei Que’s favorability, going to the Holy Church with Hei Que, walking to the Prophecy Stone Wall—detonating a bomb—breaking the Prophecy Stone Wall—

Flames swirled, eyes filled with transparent red, the drifting wind brought scorching fire.

The Prophecy Stone Wall shattered in the fierce flames, the words Su Ming’an had already seen appeared once again:

[On February 3, 827, Su Ming’an initiated...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[Instance countdown return: twenty days.]

...

The last time Su Ming’an saw these, he immediately fell into extreme panic. At that time, he didn’t even know about Chao Yan, he didn’t even know he had experienced a major rebound.

However, this time, his heart was incomparably calm because he already knew everything.

In the vast flames, a figure walked with an umbrella.

"—You’ve made it here once again." The Deity smiled, approaching, white hair fluttering in the raging fire, the smile exuding an inorganic cold:

"How many times has it been... Su Ming’an."

"How to use ’save points’ to expand the possibilities of the future, how to use ’load points’ to change the laws of fate, how to use..."

Watching the Deity saying the same words, Su Ming’an felt a sense of relief.

—His Death Rebound always takes top priority.

Even if the Deity could reset the world, erase his memory. But as long as he triggered his rebound before the Deity reset the world, he would erase the Deity’s memory first, just like now.

Even though Su Ming’an had reached here once before. As long as he triggered his Death Rebound, the Deity wouldn’t know he had been here before.

—The Deity wouldn’t know that Su Ming’an already knew everything.

—The Deity believed that in the Tenth World, it was the first time Su Ming’an reached the Prophecy Stone Wall.

However, the tricky part was, even if Su Ming’an could reach here countless times, he would still be stopped. Because even if he rebounded, he could only go back to three o’clock or four o’clock in the afternoon, and the Deity would still bring him to the Prophecy Stone Wall.

So—this is the reason he kept silently reciting that sentence. Because he buried his chance to break the stalemate—in the—

—future.

And—in the past.

"Click," the umbrella ribs closed, the Deity gazed at him, smiling gently:

"However, there is indeed not much time left in the instance."

"Next time, who do you want Su Luoluo and them to become by your side? Friends, family, lovers, or... a happy family of four?"

Listening to the similarly phrased words from the Deity, Su Ming’an felt the irony.

—The Deity took him as a reset target to manipulate at will. Little did they know, in his eyes at this moment, the Deity was also someone he could reset over and over. Even though his time span was very short, only a few hours, it was still above the Deity.

He could even predict the Deity’s next sentence—

He watched the Deity, silently reciting in his heart—

...

["How many times has it been..." The Deity says.] Su Ming’an thought.

"How many times has it been..." The Deity says.

—Exactly the same.

Both the Deity and Su Ming’an wore smiles.

—See, exactly the same.

—Deity. Once you foretold my words, now I can foretell yours.

Flames spread between them, like an inverted long river of time.

Su Ming’an stood up, the fiery blaze soaring around him.

...

...

[World Major Rebound: Tenth World.]

[Su Ming’an’s Death Rebound: Seaside, three o’clock in the afternoon. (This critical point has had rebounds: 5 times (seeing pre-Prophecy Stone Wall) + 8 times (seeing post-Prophecy Stone Wall))]

[Little Su’s Rebound: Seaside, four o’clock in the afternoon. (This critical point has rebounded: 1 time.)]

...