Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 589 - 552 End of the Death Month

Chapter 589: 552 End of the Death Month

I held Little Bowl’s hand as we walked through the Tai Sui Army’s stronghold. Lady No. 7 had already issued orders for personnel movements, and I could see people around us busily preparing for battle. Little Bowl and I, being "idle," stood out somewhat. However, no one really regarded us as low-ranking idlers. The occasional glances cast our way were mixed with awe and respect.

Although holding hands wasn’t really necessary, and no one here would take Little Bowl away, seeing her small body closely following by my side always brought out a "need to watch over her" feeling in my heart. Perhaps this is a natural instinct adults have when taking care of children.

Maybe Mazao did the same when adventuring with Little Bowl before, even though Mazao was just a child too.

Little Bowl and I, of course, were not just strolling idly. Along the way, we exchanged views on a series of intelligence insights previously provided by Lady No. 7. Because we received so much information in a short amount of time, Little Bowl also showed signs of indigestion. Focusing on the intelligence at hand, we might have missed asking some necessary questions at the time. It would be necessary to consult Lady No. 7 for further clarification later.

While passing the periphery of the stronghold, I could see the outside sky through some observation windows. It was as dark as ever. Even though there were no clouds, there was no trace of stars or the moon, inspiring an instinctive feeling of suffocation. What was once perplexing became inexplicably reassuring upon realizing this is the post-mortem world.

As Gua Tianshi used to say, the apocalypse can’t be a cosmic-scale disaster; it is a calamity that occurs on the planet where humans live. Its scope might change with the expansion and movement of human history, but it wouldn’t affect the entire universe.

The sky’s darkness wasn’t because all the stars had been destroyed, but because this wasn’t the real world; the sky did not connect with the universe.

This is the place where Ming Zhuo was so determined to enter... I recited in my heart.

Currently, Naraku’s Will is incommunicable. Even Little Bowl, a Divine Son, could only vaguely hear its chaotic murmurs. Even if Ming Zhuo manages to enter the post-mortem world, it’s unlikely he’ll instantly achieve his desires.

To terminate the contract with Naraku’s Will, yet the key contractee has become a bewildered "mental patient," how can he apply for dissolution? It might not be very kind, but I can’t help but want to laugh just thinking about it.

Little Bowl then inquired about the post-mortem world.

"Lady No. 7 previously mentioned that the post-mortem world is a shared dream of humans; it is human history itself... But what about other creatures?" She was curious. "Where do the souls of other creatures go after death? Do they have nowhere to go? Or do they have their own post-mortem world?

"Is the reason why there are no lifeforms other than humans in this ’Doomsday Era’ not that non-human life was annihilated, but because this space-time doesn’t accommodate non-human souls?"

The question happened to be within my capability to answer. Little Bowl seeking knowledge from me is rare, and maybe in the future, even less frequent. I cherished this opportunity, satisfying the part of me that likes to teach in front of Little Bowl.

"There are narrow and broad meanings to the post-mortem world." I explained, "The narrow sense of the post-mortem world is the shared dream of humans, the space-time where human souls go after death; while the broad sense refers to the space-time where the souls of all living beings in the planetary ecosystem go after death. When demon hunters mention the post-mortem world, they generally refer to the former."

Little Bowl asked, puzzled, "Why are there two post-mortem worlds?"

"The post-mortem world is the spirit world, adhering to laws different from the material world. Some materialists criticize idealists using this argument—if a person closes their eyes and doesn’t see the moon, does the moon cease to exist?" I said, "Of course, the moon doesn’t cease to exist just because one person can’t perceive it. But in the spirit world, things that cannot be perceived are equivalent to non-existence.

"The shared dream is like a network formed by radio waves, with different channels. Parts that match your frequency appear, and those that don’t, don’t appear. It’s actually like how we view objects in the three-dimensional world; we can’t visually see all angles of an object, only the facet that presents itself at any given time.

"What we encounter now is the human aspect of the post-mortem world."

And so, when we moved in the outside world, we mostly moved to city and village areas. When we occasionally ventured into the wild, we easily found traces of human activity because this space-time holds more human death memories; finding an entirely human-free zone is impossible.

Due to mentioning "the moon," I couldn’t help but think of the "Doomsday Era" moon, supposedly visible only to those near Sin Demonization and Blessed Monks.

What exactly is that legendary moon?

With an expression of understanding, Little Bowl asked, "Can’t we connect to other ’channels’?"

"Yes, we can." I said, "Although previously it might have been impossible because the post-mortem world had simulated the ’future living world,’ now we’ve gained the understanding that this is indeed the post-mortem world. Once we overcome the influence of the chaotic space-time, we should be able to perceive other aspects of the post-mortem world."

"However, even if we perceive it, there might not be anything interesting. From the data I’ve encountered, even when Luoshan Headquarters still resided in the post-mortem world, other aspects were rarely discussed. That’s because the aspects formed by the memories of other animals and plants are beyond human sensibility’s comprehension.

"Sometimes, there are mediums who try to perceive those facets, and what they end up sensing are just incomprehensible lights, sounds, and tactile sensations... Those creatures, even when alive, sensed the world through sensory organs incomprehensible to humans, and the things that precipitate after death are even more so."

However, if it’s Little Bowl, the situation might be different.

She is a natural ultimate medium who can communicate with all things in nature, the possessor of Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena, and she might effortlessly interpret the post-mortem world aspects beyond human history.

It’s truly unbelievable how a paradox that cannot be self-explained in human history could transform into an ultimate disaster affecting the objective world. Relying solely on scientific explanations is insufficient. A mysterious dimension must be incorporated to make sense of it.

In the past, in Mr. Zhu’s Great True Spirit hypothesis, the "world" is a dream by the Great True Spirit, and all living beings residing in the world are simply roles played by the Great True Spirit. The event of "human history being unable to self-explain" might be akin to an unavoidable logical conflict appearing in the dream of the Great True Spirit, making the play unsustainable, and the dream must end here.

When the Master of Divine Seal wished to merge the two worlds, didn’t he realize this issue could arise? Calmly reflecting, although the current Master of Divine Seal has lost omniscience and omnipotence, at the time of his wish, he must have been in a state of omniscience and omnipotence, so it is hard to imagine that the current situation is due to a "mistake" he carelessly made.

Yet, I also find it hard to imagine that he used this situation as a means to seek a deeper purpose. Again, the theory goes that an omniscient and omnipotent being doesn’t need to use means other than their omniscient and omnipotent power to achieve any purpose, for omniscient and omnipotent power itself is the universal solution.

Unless... This situation now is precisely his goal; he wanted to see the end of the world.

Even the fracturing of the divine seal might be something he is pleased to see. Although losing omniscience and omnipotence puts him in a dangerous situation, he might simply enjoy being in danger, enjoy this type of "game"...

Am I the only one thinking so audaciously? Could "the true Master of Divine Seal" actually be myself? I even had such an absurd thought.

However, I am self-aware. This world has never lacked "adventurers who put life and death aside," and I never considered myself uniquely characteristic among humans. There are far crazier daredevils than I.

That’s when I noticed Little Bowl had stopped at one of the observation windows, looking at the dark sky outside.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"The moon," said Little Bowl.

Only those on the verge of Sin demonization and Blessed Monks can see the moon of the post-mortem world. Little Bowl is not a Blessed Monk, so upon hearing this reply, my heart reflexively tensed.

"It’s okay, Brother Zhuang Cheng, I haven’t been heavily infected by Frenzy now," Little Bowl explained promptly, "Actually, I’ve always been able to see the moon—whenever I want to."

The ability to perceive things others cannot is also a common power of the Divine Son. I believed this explanation and then felt Little Bowl, through the hand she held with mine, initiate a connection of Spiritual Synchronization.

I accepted this connection, and then Little Bowl sent me her perceptual information. She shared with me the scene she saw.

The world before my eyes instantly changed.

Bright white light shone through the window, like white gauze floating in the air, mysterious and beautiful, mixed with a strange sense of danger.

I followed the light to look outside and saw a bright full moon.

Pretending not to see it was almost impossible; this full moon is ten times larger than a normal moon. It doesn’t resemble scenery one could see on Earth, but rather the satellite of an alien planet. The abnormal size might even stir up a fear of giant objects within people’s hearts.

"After hearing the truth from Lady No. 7, I’ve been unable to comprehend why, in the post-mortem world void of stars and the moon, some people can see a moon." Little Bowl also gazed at this nightmare-like full moon, "But after listening to Brother Zhuang Cheng’s earlier explanation, I finally understand.

"This moon should be the evil will that the Evangelical Institute now worships, the invader intending to annihilate us humans."