CHAPTER 820: CHAPTER 818·“TE·REBIRTH OF ALL THINGS (13)”

Su Ming’an was long accustomed to facing the gaze of others.

When he stood at the only point of light in the pitch-black world, naturally, all eyes gathered on him. Be it reverent, jealous, admiring, or hateful.

"The City Lord said we should use the Dawn System to exchange for the survival of one billion of our world’s people?" whispered the residents between districts.

"With a current population of over 2.8 billion. The survival probability of one in twenty-eight, it seems it wouldn’t be me."

"Out of 2.8 billion, only leaving one billion? Then I surely won’t make it."

"This is..."

Amidst the rolling pitch-black dense clouds, Su Ming’an seemed to stand at the center of the storm. When he raised his head high, a somewhat excited voice came from above the firmament:

"Are you serious? Acto, I can promise you first, I will spare the lives of one billion people in the Ruined World; this survival list can be decided by you."

Before Su Ming’an could speak, another different voice rang out from the sky:

"Acto, choose me. I can also agree to this bet with the Dawn System and one billion people as equal stakes. I guarantee I won’t harm your billion people."

"I was the first to promise Acto; Acto should agree with me," the previous voice sounded.

"No, the choice depends on his own will. Acto, if you do business with me, the survival number can increase to 1.1 billion. I offer you better terms, and you should choose to cooperate with me."

Su Ming’an listened to the conversation between the two in the firmament.

He glanced down. The air was filled with a low pressure. The torrential rain had completely soaked his frozen robes. He put down his purple hand, pressing his five fingers against the hand warmer, which was already devoid of temperature.

The streets and alleys of the City-State were crowded, even people hiding indoors came out to watch this spectacle. Every eye was full of bewilderment and helplessness. The elderly held children’s hands, young couples embraced each other. They were like lambs awaiting judgment, waiting for their "God" to reach an agreement with another civilization’s "God."

Among the black mist, dim red lights flickered intermittently. That was the Mechanical Army that had long since fallen into dormancy. They lay on the ground like the remnants of civilization.

"Yasa Acto. Choose me; I will treat your people well," the previous voice promised.

"Yasa Acto. Choose me; I can increase the survival quota by ten million," the subsequent voice quickly followed.

"Yasa Acto. I believe I also have the capital to trade with you. If you need food and warmth, I can provide it to you after the war..."

"Yasa Acto..."

More and more voices followed suit as if a pack of hyenas fighting over prey.

Su Ming’an listened to these greedy voices, the corners of his lips curved upward, then quickly lowered.

"Su Ming’an, stop this. I can make the same promise to you, if you want one billion people to survive, I can agree to you too." At this moment, the Deity finally spoke.

"Du," Su Ming’an called, interrupting the Deity’s words.

"Coming, Anjiang!" The image of Du quickly emerged from the wristwatch.

"Isn’t there a game in your functions? Launch ’Civilization 6,’ with voice control," Su Ming’an said.

"Ah?" Du looked at the situation... this situation didn’t seem suitable for playing a game, no matter how you looked at it. It glanced at the rolling black firmament above, then at the towering buildings below, and finally, hesitantly opened ’Civilization 6.’

The virtual screen appeared in front of Su Ming’an, equipped with a voice control operating system.

"Su Ming’an, what do you mean?" the Deity asked.

"For you to play." Su Ming’an said, "It’s none of your business here, go play the game."

"..." The Deity was silent for a moment: "There’s no need to use such means to try to provoke me."

"You’re very unwilling," Su Ming’an said.

Although their stances were oppositional, Su Ming’an believed that if he were in the Deity’s position, he would also take the same actions—doing whatever it took for the survival of his civilization, even at the cost of plundering others. The Deity had invaded the Ruined World for so long, now only short of the final harvest, yet the victory was about to be stolen by others. The Deity was certainly unwilling.

"Do you think I’m unwilling because they want to snatch my position?" the Deity said.

"Isn’t it?" Su Ming’an asked.

The Deity paused for a moment, seemingly taking a breath.

When he spoke again, his tone was much lower:

"The first one who spoke to you is a schemer ambitious. He wreaks havoc freely in my civilization, killed tens of thousands who opposed him. He was once under the control of a large organization, and when he developed his own force, he turned around and killed everyone in that large organization, including newborn babies."

"The second one who spoke to you is a vain woman. She always uses the righteousness of civilization as a guise, brainwashing those who think they are just and bright. Her followers are like religious fanatics, anyone who opposes them is deemed heretical and persecuted to death."

"The third one who spoke to you is my mother, she is a madwoman who thinks controlling me means controlling the entire civilization. She only wants to be a power holder and does not want to bear any responsibility or obligation. Her eyes are only filled with control and desire for me."

"So, Su Ming’an—should I be willing? Should I hand over my civilization’s future to these people?"

Su Ming’an was slightly taken aback.

For some reason, when he heard these cold-biting words from the Deity, he had a momentary feeling that the person saying these words was himself.

—Should I be willing?

—To hand over my civilization’s future to these people?

Due to the high brightness of the building, his vision was a blinding white, even the ground he stepped on sparkled like diamonds.

"..."

He tried to look down, but could only see the heavy night fog. He couldn’t see the streets or the millions of people obscured. At this moment, his every word and step, every decision, would affect the lives of millions.

The heavy weight of these people was enough to crush anyone.

"Deity, you’re unwilling," Su Ming’an’s voice was very soft: "But I’m also unwilling."

"What are you unwilling about? Why should you be unwilling? Why do you bear the responsibility of civilization?" The Deity slowed his tone:

"Su Ming’an, once you hand over the Dawn System to those people, you will no longer have any room to fight back. When [Ta Wei] formally enters the Ruined World, the fate of your one billion people will only be to be driven to the edges of the world, exiled, oppressed, and regarded as inferior. Those people can easily slice and dice you with soft knives, starving you to death slowly or ruling over you with years of technological and class oppression, turning you into slaves."

"At that time, will you receive the gratitude of the living billion? Maybe some will, but most will absolutely hate you, curse you, and even want to kill you. Every second alive is torture for them, yet the grand principle of ’civilization continuation’ forces them to survive, to reproduce, and then allows their descendants to remain inferior for generations. Harboring hopes of reviving civilization but enduring lifelong humiliation and oppression."

"The most painful part will be for you. Without the Dawn System, on what basis can you become their ’God’? When someone starts regretting, someone begins rebelling in an extreme hunger-stricken scenario, directing their fury at the decision-maker you once were—what will you use to calm them? They won’t care if you’ve saved the lives of a billion, they’ll only think you’ve killed twenty-seven billion others."

"This is civilization, this is human nature. Su Ming’an."

"You are only nineteen, you have no obligation to make this decision. Let it go."

After the deity finished speaking, Su Ming’an’s ears were engulfed in silence.

Ears numb from the cold, crusted with unmelted frost. Su Ming’an gradually lifted his wrist, his gaze fixed on the six pattern marks on the back of his hand, staring for a long time.

"Nineteen." Su Ming’an said, "Acto was also nineteen when he died under the people’s artillery."

"So you want to become him?" the deity said, "Become a fleeting dawn?"

"No." Su Ming’an shook his head:

"Dawn has its own origin."

"I will not become the dawn itself."

...

[Eden Phylogenetic Core Lab]

[198km from Central Building]

A khaki-shadow passed through mechanical wall barriers, surging through layers of traps, and for any impassable code door, simply blew it open with fire. Amidst a violent breakthrough, Su Rin arrived at an icy white room.

Here was the Eden Phylogenetic Core Lab located at the edge of the City of Measurement. Su Rin pushed open the door and saw rows of sealed hibernation capsules like wooden stakes.

He opened each hibernation capsule one by one until the Dawn System appeared behind him just as he was about to open the eighth capsule.

"Intruder, you do not have permission to enter here, please leave." said the Dawn System.

Su Rin ignored the Dawn System, directly opened the hibernation capsule, and saw a slumbering body inside. The body rested quietly in a luminescent green liquid, hair hanging down, eyes closed.

"Intruder, I repeat, you do not have entry permission. Please leave." The Dawn System floated beside him.

Su Rin still did not respond to it.

He stared at the body, speaking softly: "I see... So this is the method for creating a ’Quantum Ghost,’ through high heat and extreme cold to stimulate the human consciousness, causing immense pain, making the consciousness detach from the body and merge into a pre-prepared void in low dimensions, thus creating an electronic ghost existing in none of the dimensions visible to the naked eye. And the Dawn Code is this pre-prepared void."

He took the body out from the hibernation capsule, surrounded by golden light fluctuations, and in the next instant, the body disappeared, hidden somewhere by him.

After completing all this, he raised his head: "Dawn System, I have a question."

Dawn System: "..."

Su Rin said: "Collective unconsciousness refers to the universal human spirit of numerous similar experiences preserved through genetic inheritance. It’s a possibility, sedimenting in people’s brain tissues in the form of an undefined memory, more like primitive imagery of human original consciousness or distant echoes. Dawn System, have you heard of this concept of collective unconsciousness?"

Dawn System: "Intruder, I am not obligated to answer your question."

Su Rin said: "I seem to vaguely understand your form of existence. Dawn System, if I’m not mistaken, [Ta Wei] might have one similar to you as well."

Dawn System said: "I don’t understand your words. In your player’s terms, your actions now can be summed up in one word, ’Riddler’."

Su Rin laughed softly, closed the hibernation capsule lid, and left Eden, with the Dawn System standing there, watching him leave. Its eyes mixed with white light, gradually returning to tranquility.

...

[Outer City Peace Dove Hospital]

[12km from Central Building]

"I regret to inform you that your Type II Roseblood Syndrome is already in the late stages."

In the white space, a doctor slowly pushed a diagnosis notification toward the patient.

"There is currently no effective treatment plan for this disease; we can only delay the time of death. If you purchase the special medicine, one treatment course is seven days, each course costing 10 Tai He, which should allow you to live a few more months."

"My monthly income doesn’t even reach 1 Tai He." the patient replied softly, "If I don’t treat it, how long can I live? Just tell me directly, it’s okay."

The doctor shook his head: "It’s already late-stage, all internal organs are rapidly deteriorating, the lungs can’t catch a breath, you can live at most two months. You’ve delayed treatment for far too long, you should have come to the hospital early when you first started coughing... but even the initial medication wouldn’t have been affordable with just 1 Tai He."

"Thank you, doctor." The patient stood up politely, bowed, "To keep working under these circumstances, you’re quite remarkable yourself."

"I might not last two months myself, might die today." The doctor said with a bitter smile, "If the City Lord really successfully negotiates with [Ta Wei], and one billion people can survive, share both technologies, maybe there’s hope for your disease. [Ta Wei]’s medical level must be much superior."

"..." The patient turned and left the room, holding her diagnosis notification.

"The cat in your arms is pretty cute." the doctor said from behind.

"Thank you." the patient replied politely.

The corridor ahead was cold and white. Walking through such a hallway, smelling the scent of disinfectant, the patient felt as if trapped in a white vortex. Impossible to see the end, or reach the beginning, life seemed like such a corridor, uncertain which door might be the end.

There were many people around her who finished their medical appointments, unwilling to leave the hospital, sitting collectively at the entrance like camping, staring at the black fog outside the door.

"If [Ta Wei] can coexist with us, my disease would have a treatment plan." said an elderly man full of sickness.

"Who doesn’t want to survive?" another patient said, "But given such odds, even if we survive, the family would be fragmented, does such survival hold any meaning?"

"I don’t understand any civilization gambling pact. Anyways, my grandson must live to carry on the family line, and if he isn’t among the billion people chosen by the City Lord, I’ll rush out, head to the Central Building, bang my head, and splatter blood onto him." said an elderly lady in a floral jacket.

At this moment, everyone suddenly heard a "beep-beep" sound at the back of their necks.