CHAPTER 816: CHAPTER 814·“TE·REBIRTH OF ALL THINGS (9)”

Noel’s outstretched hand froze in the air.

He glanced at the suddenly appearing Su Rin and withdrew his hand.

"Su Ming’an, I have information to tell you." Su Rin turned to Su Ming’an and said, "Lie down and sleep."

Su Ming’an understood. Su Rin intended to use the Dream Weaving Technique to pass a message to him, a message that could not be overheard by [Ta Wei]. The Dream Weaving Technique belonged to the realm of mysterious abilities, and no matter how omnipotent [Ta Wei] was, they could not peer into Su Rin’s dream.

"Are you injured?" Su Ming’an noticed Su Rin was covered in blood.

"A minor issue." Su Rin did not elaborate: "Lie down."

"Does Su Ming’an sleep here? Can he really sleep?" Noel looked at the ground.

On such a cold, hard surface, how could anyone possibly fall asleep? He himself needed a bed to sleep comfortably.

"I can weave a hammock for you with threads..." Noel hadn’t finished speaking when he noticed Su Ming’an had already lain down and fallen asleep.

Almost as soon as he touched the ground, he closed his eyes. Su Ming’an’s ability to fall asleep so quickly was astonishing, like a traveler who had finally found a water source after a long journey.

Noel was silent for a moment, watching as Su Rin’s fingers waved slightly in the air, like a conductor of an orchestra. Clear, bright light flowed gently through her five fingers. Noel turned his head, observing this former deity of Pulaya.

"Su Rin, you must have known the essence of this world a long time ago. You were always wandering outside, never seen. You must have known part of the truth early on." Noel said.

Su Rin’s fingers paused slightly: "I do not deny it."

Noel said: "You knew the truth but never told Su Ming’an, waiting for him to discover it on his own today."

Su Rin said: "Yes."

Noel said: "Why? You could have told him the truth in a more gentle manner instead of waiting for him to discover these words of [Ninth World·Zhai Star] by himself."

Su Rin’s gaze fixed on Su Ming’an for a moment and said:

"Some things, if not experienced personally, lack much introspection. If the instance is approached with shortcuts provided by others, essential clues might be missed, making it more like a positional rank elevation training."

"Just like in the Eighth World Dome, if he hadn’t been pushed to the brink, he couldn’t have discovered that Xiber’s authority was reincarnation. If everything was meticulously taken care of for him, and all clues were laid out before him, do you think he would possess the acuity he has today as the ’Number One Player’?"

Upon hearing this, Noel fell into brief silence, his fingers lightly tapping on the Blue Rose Scepter.

Su Rin continued:

"I always found it strange that the atmosphere between you and Su Ming’an was so unusual; he seemed a bit overly trusting of you. You all want to endure any hardship for him, but his future will surely bear even heavier trials than now. If we don’t increase his threshold and upper limit, someday, combined, you all won’t be able to bear it for him."

"Unless one day he chooses to give up the identity of ’Number One Player’, suffering and madness will definitely be important components of his being that no one can replace. Taking care of him now is harming him. He cannot stop to wait for anyone, nor can he lie in his comfort zone for someone to feed him. No matter how much anyone cares, they shouldn’t take on everything for him."

Su Rin’s tone turned slightly somber here:

"Thus, I will not be his nanny, nor will I always stay by your side providing help."

Noel was stunned, carefully pondering the philosophy in Su Rin’s words. He quickly exclaimed: "Not a nanny?"

Clearly, Su Rin was already almost recognized on the world forum as a nanny. Now denying it, specially waiting for Su Ming’an to fall asleep before denying it, does it help?

Su Rin said: "Is this the only sentence you understood out of everything I said?"

Noel said: "That’s the only sentence I acknowledge."

Su Rin said: "No wonder your team is somewhat discordant... Your attitude towards others is too sharp. If you weren’t so antagonistic towards Lv Shu, he wouldn’t have felt so inferior in the Eighth World. If one day your team falls apart, you will definitely be a major reason."

After Su Rin said this, the room fell silent. Noel hung his head, the golden tuft of hair on his head twirling in the wind.

Only Su Ming’an’s even breathing remained in the room. He still had his eyes closed, unable to hear these arguments.

"...So Lv Shu disappeared because of me?" A moment later, Noel looked up, the smile on his face gone, his eyes cold and sharp, even extremely piercing.

After Su Ming’an fell asleep, Noel uttered words he would’ve never said, as if peeling off a mask of smiles.

"He himself is so sensitive to that extent, insisting on doing some useless things, making the ’Number One Player’ concerned for him, is that also my fault?" Noel said coldly:

"Su Ming’an doesn’t need his efforts. Lv Shu has been missing in the Ninth World for so long, is this also triggered by me? If I don’t remind him, how long will he remain blind?"

Su Rin simply shook his head: "In my view, some of Lv Shu’s actions have significance."

"Su Ming’an doesn’t need them—" Noel took a deep breath, closed his mouth, and didn’t say more. He knew many of Lv Shu’s actions were due to the lack of information symmetry. Lv Shu didn’t know that Su Ming’an had the ability for Death Rebound, so he did many things that seemed useful but were effectively useless from Su Ming’an’s perspective.

Noel knew this well, so he tried to subtly hint to Lv Shu that there was no need for him to do too much.

But from others’ perspectives, it was clear their team was somewhat discordant. If not for Su Ming’an and Lin Yin acting as mediators, Noel and Lv Shu would have ended up fighting sooner or later.

"...There’s some movement outside, I’ll go guard, prevent any mechanical men from barging in." After being silent for a while, Noel turned and left the room.

He knew all Su Rin’s words were true, without much personal sentiment. But since ancient times, honest advice is hard to hear, and he had the freedom to not listen.

Only the quietly sleeping Su Ming’an and the silent Su Rin remained inside the room.

Five minutes later, the Dream Weaving Technique ended, and Su Ming’an opened his eyes. Upon opening his eyes, he realized only Su Rin was left in the room; the bright, golden-haired boy was nowhere in sight.

"Where’s Noel?"

"He left." Su Rin didn’t mention Noel much: "You should know what to do next."

Su Ming’an nodded: "I originally had a preliminary idea, now I’m more sure."

In the dream, Su Rin had conveyed to him important information about the deities, which he might be able to leverage for a counterattack.

Su Rin stared into his eyes and suddenly said: "Actually, there is a simpler approach."

"What is it?" Su Ming’an asked, puzzled.

Su Rin said: "You could choose to immediately descend into the Zero-Dimension, wait for everyone in the Ruined World to perish. Then, in the Zero-Dimension, using the positioning information provided by Lin Guang T-0321, you can search over the long period for the new [Ta Wei]’s location, infiltrate their ’Kaius Tower’, destroy their civilization, and build a new one on their ruins. Although I don’t know how instance time is calculated, and whether it will allow you to skip the lengthy period, the concept should be feasible."

"..."

Su Ming’an was taken aback.

Was Su Rin saying...

It felt as if he was deeply trapped in the deep sea, with invisible chains piercing his body. Su Ming’an breathed, the slightly dry and cold air piercing through his lungs.

He remembered the words once spoken by the deity.

...

[Su Ming’an, clearly we are the same...]

...

It was chilling to the bone.

"Su Rin, are you saying..." Su Ming’an said in a low voice:

"...Let me become a new ’deity’? To find the next ’Ruined World’ to invade?"

"This should be the most achievable ending for the Ruined World, relatively speaking, it’s also easier," Su Rin said. "I personally also recommend this ending. The sooner you complete it, the sooner you’ll be back for the New Year."

When Su Rin said these words, his expression was nearly indifferent. He was merely evaluating the success rate of this ending and the survival possibility of human civilization intuitively. As for the residents of the Ruined World who were about to die, they were not within his consideration.

Even if the people of the Ruined World all died, his emotions would seemingly remain unshaken. In his eyes, these 2.8 billion humans were more like the building blocks of civilization. If the blocks couldn’t hold up anymore, then replacing them all wouldn’t be out of the question.

This is truly thinking from a deity’s perspective.

Su Ming’an had long realized that Su Rin’s nature was arrogant and exclusionary. Although he loved Pulaya, when disaster struck, even if he was saddened, he would decisively choose to take half of the people on the ship to die. Even though he loved his Pulaya in Yun Shang City, he would also deliberately incite wars between the Soul Clan and Soul Hunt, using hatred to sustain civilization. When dealing with Pulaya-related issues, Su Rin would still retain enthusiasm and sentiment, trying to preserve them, but when standing above the Ruined World, Su Rin would not be considerate of any humans unrelated to him. He was a contradiction poised between absolute rationality and Pulaya sensitivity, inherently holding great divinity.

In the Ruined World, Su Ming’an had gained many friends who treasured him. Yet Su Rin had none because he looked down on them, because he didn’t care.

Su Ming’an stared at the words on the screen, and said, "No, I refuse."

If the Ruined World was indeed closely related to Zhai Xing, with an ineffable connection, then he definitely couldn’t just watch everyone die. Let alone become a new deity.

"As expected, you’re more like Acto," Su Rin said.

"..." Su Ming’an remained silent.

"Understood," Su Rin said. "Go ahead."

...

Death Rebound.

Due to the intense emotions triggered when he first saw the line [Ninth World·Zhai Xing], and after learning information from Su Rin’s Dream Weaving Technique, Su Ming’an decided to reset.

The timeline returned to the moment he was lying in the hibernation capsule, just as Noel burst through the door, and they had yet to see "The Republic."

At the moment he saw Noel, Su Ming’an started transmitting a coded message. After conveying the codes regarding his plan, Su Ming’an gestured for Noel to leave.

[No, want, save, me.]

The four words were transmitted through a combination of initials and finals, and Noel quickly understood Su Ming’an’s intent. While attempting to rescue Su Ming’an from the hibernation capsule, Noel deliberately did not avoid the mechanical attack from behind him.

"Swish!"

Blood splattered, Noel took a solid hit from the mechanical man’s sword, with the sharp metal sword piercing straight out from his abdomen. He spat out a mouthful of blood and withdrew his hand from rescuing Su Ming’an.

Through the glass of the hibernation capsule, Su Ming’an clearly saw several drops of Noel’s blood splattered on the glass.

The reason Noel got hurt on purpose was to deceive the omnipresent surveillance—he couldn’t suddenly stop rescuing Su Ming’an, as capriciousness would only arouse suspicion. He needed to be wounded enough to justify not saving Su Ming’an. For instance, "severely injured himself, so he gave up on saving Su Ming’an."

For cross-timeline communication, Noel couldn’t suddenly change his actions, as it would invite suspicion.

Noel’s acting was not clumsy, it was even superb. To portray the scene of "unable to rescue Su Ming’an," he took several more gunshots, making his body increasingly shaky to the point where even lifting the lid of the hibernation capsule was difficult.

"Su... Ming’an."

Noel called, stepping on his own bloody footprints. His fingers clinging to the side of the hibernation capsule, choking in sadness, with even a faint glint in his eyes:

"I’m sorry, I can’t save you anymore..."

"...," although knowing Noel was acting, Su Ming’an still felt a bit cringed. Noel’s acting seemed a bit over the top, such a mix of grief and despair, such a posture of clutching the edge of the hibernation capsule and weeping, even a heroine in an eight o’clock soap opera couldn’t compare.

"Just go," Su Ming’an played along with gritted teeth, letting Noel quickly leave.

"Su Ming’an... I will definitely figure out a way to save you..."

Until the machines outside gathered more and more, Noel reluctantly withdrew, struggling to leave. Even when leaving, he looked back step by step, fully showcasing such unwillingness and reluctance, moving the live broadcast viewers to tears.

The room quieted down, all players coming for rescue had been stopped, even Noel had been "repelled."

Su Ming’an lay in the hibernation capsule, quietly counting his plan in his mind, closing his eyes.

...

At the abyss of the bottomless heavenly pit, Yuanyuan mounted her motorcycle.

She revved up along the way, her black hair dancing like elves in the wind. The wheels kicked up dust, and she saw endless bones on the way, mostly an assortment of wanderers.

The sky presented interwoven colors of blood red and pitch black, the thick black like heavy clouds. She reached the hot zone, jumping off the motorcycle, tying her black hair into a neat short ponytail.

"Beep beep."

[Current Temperature: 40℃]

The helmet emitted a temperature alert, indicating the environment had heated to a level intolerable for humans.

Yuanyuan stared at the blood river in front of her. Even though it was already Catastrophe year 102, she still remembered this blood river. During the Caius Tower period, she almost died here if it weren’t for Su Ming’an opening a 1.5-dimensional space in time; this would’ve been her burial ground.

"Beep beep."

[Current Temperature: 45℃]

The air slightly distorted from the heat, and the closer it was to the blood river, the higher the temperature rose.

Yuanyuan put on her protective clothing, trudging through the river of magma-like blood, with her boots emitting a "chacha" corrosion sound.