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Chapter 662 - 659: ’Because of Love.

Chapter 662: Chapter 659: ’Because of Love.

"I won’t play," Su Ming’an said.

The voice fell silent.

Perhaps it hadn’t expected Su Ming’an to refuse so outright.

Su Ming’an had long discovered that the organizers could only intervene with the players to a limited extent, executing those who violated the "Rules."

The game world’s mechanisms of "skill data, death resurrection, and instance parallel copying" seemed more like a two-dimensional world, where the organizers had to act according to the "game rules." And Zhai Xing resembled the three-dimensional world, closer to reality.

Introducing three dimensions into two dimensions was like digitizing humanity to initiate the world game.

And the Observer, as Yuanyuan had described, seemed like an existence between two dimensions and three dimensions, potentially possessing a perspective close to higher dimensions.

This formed a tripartite balance of power involving the "world game, the organizers, and himself."

At the same time, Su Ming’an speculated there might be another factor—akin to the Dawn Code, allowing a relatively weaker party to possess it. For example, the death rollback, Yuanyuan’s special observer status, or Noel’s mysterious background.

If one could keep getting stronger through the game and find a way to suppress the organizers of this "other dimension," could one consider the possibility that the "world game was artificially created as a two-dimensional world to delay the invasion from other dimensions"?

He had already realized the significance of the Ninth World; its essence was too similar to that of the world game.

As he contemplated, the deity’s voice persistently resounded:

"Yasa, I have been observing you these past few days, and I quite like you as a person.

"I can guide you—I will provide you with wisdom destined for success. If you follow my advice, I will make it very easy for you to save this world.

"What do you say? Shall we make a bet?"

The deity paused slightly, seemingly waiting for his response.

Su Ming’an looked up: "I won’t play."

The deity fell silent again.

In the cave, the surrounding people were also silent.

They looked at Su Rin with questioning eyes—why, after the surgery, did the city lord seem delusional, always talking to himself?

Su Ming’an bowed his head, still communicating with the deity.

"Deity, have I heard your voice somewhere before?" he asked.

This gentle male voice... it sounded very familiar.

It seemed like a long, long time ago... he had heard it somewhere.

Yet the deity denied it:

"No. Yasa, listen well: what I want to bet on is the World Origin in your hand.

If you win, we will no longer invade your world; deities, exotic beasts, and spatial turbulence will all vanish. If you lose, it is merely handing over the World Origin to us, granting us a further opportunity to invade.

Regardless of whether you lose or win, as long as you agree to the bet, I promise to help you stop the nuclear explosion. Either way, you will not lose out.

Our bet is about—whether you can successfully restart the Dawn System within twenty days."

Su Ming’an’s pupils constricted.

—He had originally thought this deity was just an "other dimension" entity from the Caius era, but hearing this, the deity knew about the triple timeline streams and might even know the essence of the world replica.

The deity said, "I remind you, many in the Doomsday City have been infiltrated by me; they are dying to see you dead. If you wish to compete with me for faith, your mere few days in Caius Tower are far from enough—this is my final question to you, bet or don’t bet?"

His tone carried an air of certainty, as if he was sure that Su Ming’an would agree.

Su Ming’an remained silent for a while.

"No bet."

Perhaps angered, the deity finally fell silent.

Through this test, Su Ming’an had understood—Yasa Acto was indeed the representative of the current world, only he possessed the eligibility to wager the "World Origin." To invade the present world, "Ta Wei" needed to employ such "wagering" means to obtain the "World Origin" from Acto.

As for why the ownership of the "World Origin" lay with Acto, it might be related to the Century Catastrophe. Acto had saved all of humanity at that time.

Su Ming’an speculated that the "World Origin" could extend the world’s lifespan, serving as the world’s last line of defense. If it was lost, "Ta Wei" would not be limited to indirect means like whispering or mental invasion; they would directly attack the world with force.

He absolutely could not lose it.

When Su Ming’an looked up, he realized that dozens of people in the cave were all staring at him intently, as if he was suffering from some severe illness.

"City, City Lord..." Xia Sheng looked mournful.

They had stood there for a while, hearing the City Lord muttering to himself "no bet," "not playing." With such difficult times and treason afoot, it seemed the City Lord had indeed gone mad.

Su Ming’an didn’t pay them any heed, turning to ask Su Rin, "What can your Dream Weaving accomplish?"

"It can’t be used for combat," Su Rin said indifferently.

Su Ming’an felt somewhat disappointed.

But he suddenly remembered the night-time instance of the Seventh World.

At that moment, he was astonished:

"—Wait, that night-time instance of Pulaya’s ’Demon King and the Brave,’ was that your doing?"

That night-time instance he could dream of as soon as he fell asleep—he had originally thought it was just a simple system mechanism, but now it seemed there was an origin for it?

No wonder all the characters in the night-time instance were puppets. Wasn’t this exactly something Su Rin could pull off?

"You can understand it as a dream I wove to force my heir to come and kill me," Su Rin admitted. "If I want to counterbalance Pulaya’s ’Equivalent Principle,’ I need to use this method of Dream Weaving to tell people what they should do."

"So it really was you?" Su Ming’an said. "So you were specifically naming me a vile person from the start."

"’The vile person from Heaven,’ I was scolding myself, not you," Su Rin replied.

"That very over-the-top prompt, was that also your doing? It said ’Let the Demon King’s sins spread fire across the whole world, let darkness envelope this world, let endless flames scorch the entire land, turning the mortal world into a blood hell...’" Su Ming’an said.

This night-time instance’s extremely dramatic and impassioned prompt had always made a deep impression on Su Ming’an.

Su Rin’s expression slightly collapsed.

"No..." Su Rin’s gaze shifted slightly.

Su Ming’an shifted the topic: "Since it can forcibly pull me into a dream, and there exists a certain causality inversion, it seems this Dream Weaving Technique is very powerful."

"The Dream Weaving Technique is very weak now," Su Rin brought the conversation back. "Your doing."

...

[Doomsday City]

Edward opened his eyes, slowly stretched out his sore arm, and tousled his blond hair.

His head was still dizzy, as if a hammer was pounding inside his brain. He had drunk a bottle of red wine that had been drugged.

"Tap, tap, tap." The sharp clacking of high heels came closer, and Edward, with a befuddled gaze, looked up through the iron bars of the prison, seeing a head of beige hair that seemed to emit a thin layer of light.

Tretiya stood at the entrance of the prison, gazing at him indifferently.

"Tretiya—I didn’t lie to you, the experimental plan is real, and you’ve seen the sample yourself, Acto is indeed a bionic body now!" Edward howled hoarsely.

His body was so limp that he could barely move, after he had convinced Tretiya to broadcast to the world, Tretiya had drugged his drink and locked him in the prison.

He had never expected Tretiya to betray him, especially since they had been getting along so well before. Why were all the NPCs around Su Ming’an so Underworld-like?

"Hmph." Tretiya revealed a smile that could be described as a pleasure to the eye, "You are right, the experimental plan is real, but that doesn’t mean... "

She leaned forward, her red lips slightly parted, carrying a hint of lemon fragrance, "that doesn’t mean I will let you go. You betrayed the Deity camp and were chased by Lin Guang’s mechanical army, fleeing to me—did you really think I would trust you completely because you had no other choice?"

"You betray me after crossing the river!" Edward was so angry his face turned red and his neck swelled.

He had raised Tretiya’s favorability to 60, which was a very safe threshold. But to his utter surprise, Tretiya had a favorability of a full 90 points towards the impostor Su Ming’an. She did not trust him at all.

—Again, the Ruler! Again, the identity advantage of the Ruler!

Edward subconsciously blamed everything on identity oppression, as if that was the sole reason for his failure.

Tretiya couldn’t be bothered with him, she waved her hand, and the soldiers behind her raised their guns, aiming at Edward.

"Tretiya—" Edward roared, activating a life-saving prop, and with a flash of azure brilliance, he disappeared from the prison.

Tretiya frowned, she had wanted to press him further for some information.

She stood for a moment, then footsteps approached again.

"—Tretiya, you’ve disclosed the experimental plan privately, leading the public to doubt the City Lord. Prepare to face the military tribunal," Noah said coldly.

"I know," Tretiya said calmly, "but now that the City of Gods has launched a nuclear attack, this matter can be discussed later."

"Do you think you can escape?" Noah challenged, "What’s the difference between Acto now and the previous Acto? What good does it do you to overthrow him? Do you think he can’t come back to punish you?"

Tretiya stared at him, then suddenly laughed.

Her smile was brilliant and elegant, yet it sent a chill down Noah’s spine, who could not understand why the scientist, once mature and stable before the Century Catastrophe, had changed so much.

—Because of love?

—Because of her almost insane love for her "teacher"?

What is love?

"Because I love him," Tretiya’s eyelashes trembled, and the shadow in her pupils dissolved, "So, this will serve as my testament to pave the way for him. Don’t stop me, Noah, you poor soul artificially elevated in favorability by a strange skill."

Noah took a step back.

He stared at the face of a crazed Tretiya, his gaze trembling.

...

Su Ming’an returned triumphantly to Doomsday City with Xia Sheng and his party.

A row of soldiers stood at the outer city gate, led by a tall man named Wooly Field, the commander of city defense, with a stern expression.

After the City of Gods launched the nuclear attack, the people plunged into unbearable despair. Except for the mythical Dawn System, no one could save them.

The Dawn System required the Dawn Code,

and the Dawn Code required one person to die.

When the calamity came, people instinctively grasped for the last straw, whether it was likely to work or not.

Outer City district, residents sat on the ground like dominoes, staring blankly at the sky as if venting their dissatisfaction in a unique way.

——They seemed to think that by demonstrating silently in groups, they could compel Acto to die.

"A bunch of fools," Luna said indifferently.

They bypassed Wooly Field, ignoring the soldiers at the door.

"Ah..." Wooly seemed to want to say something, but when he saw Xia Sheng’s cold gaze, he couldn’t help but back away.

Su Ming’an and his companions made their way to the Inner City, where the atmosphere was equally tense, with slogans and flyers everywhere and the sound of emergency communications constantly being broadcast.

"Second City emergency communication——"

"Freedom Alliance emergency communication——"

"Tribunal, (298, 498) emergency communication——"

The sound of transmissions was incessant, with all the allies urgently requesting help.

Seeing Su Ming’an and his group arrive, Joslin and others’ expressions shifted slightly. Some looked panicked, some guilty, some awkward, but most revealed fear and detachment.

Su Ming’an noted these gazes and was not surprised.

He still remembered the early years when Caius Tower had just opened, how meticulously he had taught these people how to manufacture mechanics and use biochemical technology for healing, staying up all night.

The outcome...

"I only ask one thing," Su Ming’an looked at the silent people. "Do you wish for me to die?"

The room fell eerily silent.

People dodged his gaze, faintly hearing the sounds of protest coming from the Outer City.

"——The City of Gods has launched a nuclear attack; we cannot sit by and await death! Human Civilization cannot end here!"

"——He has deceived us for over a decade, hasn’t he? He is not our true God!"

The information released by Tretiya was all accessible to the public. Su Ming’an had established the Divine Sect in the name of Acto. Once the name of Acto was proven false, the Divine Sect would also collapse.

Back in Qiongdi, people only acknowledged him as "Bai Shen"; if someone proved he was not "Bai Shen," the Lighthouse Church would collapse on its own. It was the same now.

The old iron laws loomed over people’s heads, forming an incessant and stubborn shadow that could not be dispelled, fully reflecting human desires and emotions at this moment.

"If the death of one being can lead to the continuation of an entire civilization, then its death will be seen as a step forward." At that moment, a young man named Balk spoke up from a corner, his face flushed red: "City Lord, you... should understand this."

If Su Ming’an died, Acto would completely disappear, then they might still hesitate.

But if Su Ming’an died and a new Acto emerged, what else was there to hesitate about? The difference between Su Ming’an’s death and survival for them lay merely in that bit of "emotional burden," trivial compared to their lives.

"Balk!" Xia Sheng’s eyes nearly spat fire. He hadn’t expected the one to speak up to be the child of a former Beacon.

Balk hung his head, and the room remained silent.

Through the surveillance hung on the wall, one could see the chaotic people in the Outer City carrying big and small bags, their expressions bewildered and helpless. Many simply wanted to survive alongside their loved ones, and for this, they could "sacrifice" an imposter.

All the evasive gazes in the room seemed to silently say,

——If it’s for the survival of civilization, why can’t one person die?

Moreover, he isn’t even considered a ’person’.

"Very well," Su Ming’an suddenly spoke.