CHAPTER 1010: CHAPTER 1007: THROUGH THICK AND THIN

Su Ming’an opened his eyes.

Next to him, Alice also slowly opened her eyes.

After being unconscious for an hour, he felt some soreness in his limbs, but fortunately, the basement had not been discovered. Shadow remained by his side as a clone, and Su Ming’an instructed Shadow to go find Noel and the others, to try and contact their teammates.

The collective discussion held every five hours didn’t seem to have started. Perhaps someone had completed a task, delaying the start time.

"Have they checked here? Be thorough in your investigations!" Footsteps echoed from above; knights and soldiers had already narrowed their search area, gradually closing in on their location.

Alice rubbed her sore arms and whispered in Su Ming’an’s ear: "We can’t be discovered..."

Su Ming’an also whispered, "We shouldn’t be..."

He glanced up and saw her trembling, asking gently, "Are you very nervous?"

He had never seen her so frightened before.

"I... when I participated in the Goddess’ ceremony at the Sacred Cathedral, I left a Soul Mark there... as proof of piety. If priests and knights come after me with the Soul Mark, I might be unable to move at any time, so... I’m sorry, I’m a burden..."

Su Ming’an shook his head: "I understand."

At this moment, he sensed the absurdity of destiny.

Since childhood, Alice had always wanted to help others. She assisted Knight Wendell in searching for exotic species, helped Diff with hunting, helped Mei Mi with gardening, helped Nun Rita clean the cathedral, and helped Part with slum construction... The entire town of Burg Castle knew that there was a helpful little girl living on the street. Even Princess Avetina favored her.

Almost every day, she went to the cathedral to pray, her piety surpassing even the priests. Later, she became a Goddess, determined to shoulder the responsibilities of all living beings, aspiring to fulfill the duties of the Goddess and lead people through difficult times.

—However, her becoming a Goddess wasn’t due to her immense piety, touching the Deity day by day. Instead—she was a trap set by the Deity from the beginning to restrain Su Ming’an.

The Deity made her a Goddess, possibly just to set a trap for her soul during the Goddess ceremony. As long as Su Ming’an cared about her life, she could become his weakness. Even if Alice chose not to betray Su Ming’an, she would still be controlled by her soul in this way.

The Deity’s methods were indeed extraordinary. Instead of using conventional tactics familiar to people against Su Ming’an like previous enemies, the Deity restrained him from the position of observing the World Game—by, for instance, setting traps for Su Ming’an’s mission targets or tempting him with a Perfect Pass, elevating to the high-dimensional level of the World Game.

—They were like two chess players in a duel. The Deity understood what Su Ming’an cared about most, with thinking patterns remarkably similar to his.

"If... if I wasn’t the protagonist... it would be better," Alice whispered.

After the second tower opened, she quickly understood what the "Girl’s Dream Plan" was; she was the protagonist of the game, so Su Ming’an couldn’t abandon her, and she’d become his burden.

"We’re both protagonists, so protagonists will overcome hardships together." Su Ming’an shook his head: "Protagonists will defeat all villains, pass all levels; challenges will eventually be resolved, and all villains will be vanquished. So, you can be glad you’re the protagonist; the ending for protagonists is always beautiful. Because that’s how stories inevitably play out."

Alice stared at him blankly.

Her eyes, like purple gemstones, appeared obscure in the darkness, yet her slightly raised brows and willow-like eyes were faintly visible, akin to a painting.

...Detective said they are all protagonists.

The Heroine of the Steam Age, the Protagonist of the Technology Age. They met in the fusion of past, present, and future. Thus, a beautiful ending will surely be penned because stories are always told this way.

"Protagonists... will truly have a beautiful ending?" Alice asked gently.

"Of course," Su Ming’an replied.

...

[NPC (Alice) Favorability: 95 points.]

[Current favorability evaluation: Share life and death.]

...

Su Ming’an gestured for silence to Alice, telling her to lower her voice. Although he wasn’t afraid of the soldiers and knights on the ground, these people were, after all, townsfolk; some were even Alice’s neighbors, merely acting on orders.

When he looked up, he saw Alice had clasped her hands, praying that they would not be discovered here.

...The Deity had already abandoned her, yet she remained so devout.

"I feel uncomfortable... my heart..." Alice murmured.

Many people possessed her Soul Mark, causing her distress.

"Take a deep breath..." Su Ming’an advised.

Just then, footsteps approached, seemingly from more than ten people.

"Captain, there should have been several basements here before; let’s search them." A voice that filled Alice with dread resonated.

"Okay, we can see if there are people below through the gaps." Another voice sounded.

Alice immediately tightened her grip on Su Ming’an’s hand, her purple eyes full of fear.

Su Ming’an raised his eyes, focused on the gaps above the ground. Among layers of wood, a few knights’ iron boots stood above them.

...If they were discovered, he must silence them immediately. In the Steam Age, people were ignorant believers of the Deity, with blasphemers directly dragged out and burned. This radical faith led to nearly everyone submitting to the Deity, their thoughts far from the freedom of modern times. Being discovered meant endless pursuit.

However, many of these soldiers were Alice’s friends, who grew up with her before joining the army. If he massacred them outright...

Just then, a knight discovered their location.

"There’s a basement here; you stand guard, and I’ll look through the gap to see if there’s anyone inside."

The knight crouched down, eyeing the gap. From a distance, Su Ming’an could vaguely see the knight’s brows and eyes.

Su Ming’an instantly felt Alice’s grip tighten tremendously; her pupils trembled uncontrollably, with every cell in her body shouting fear.

...Please don’t be discovered, don’t be discovered! She cannot be found here...

In her frightened gaze, the face of the knight slowly approached the gap. A pair of eyes blue as the ocean peered through, locking eyes with Alice.

Alice was certain that this knight had discovered her.

The light in the basement was faint, but the knight could undoubtedly see her atop the haystack.

"..." The knight stared at her, one second, two seconds, three seconds...

She covered her mouth, shaking her head desperately.

Su Ming’an tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

After a few seconds of eye contact, the knight slowly straightened up.

"——There’s no one here." The knight said.

"Alright, another fruitless search. Let’s check over there..." The soldiers’ iron boots clashed as they departed.

Alice released her hand, gasping heavily, as she recognized who the knight was.

——Wendell.

As if struck by the hand of fate, the usually righteous, god-fearing, and dutiful Knight Wendell, upon seeing Alice——betrayed his deity for the first time.

"Let’s get out of here first." Su Ming’an pulled Alice up.

They left the basement, and on the way, Su Ming’an kept browsing the internet. During the duration of the Second Tower, he was essentially fighting on enemy territory, with most environments, figures, and events belonging to the Steam Age. The Steam Age was already in the midst of a fierce world war, and now modern people were also caught in it, with many cities ablaze in the flames of war.

"It’s said the Exotic Species King is linked to the scarlet snake. If you see anyone with a scarlet snake, it means they’re connected to the Exotic Species King..."

"All major cities are now hunting down Goddess Taslyche, determined to bring her back to the church for judgment..."

"Disciples Mizushima Kawa Sora and Xue Qixia are vying for faith, using the ignorance of Steam Age people, winning trust with science and technology like dry ice and rainmaking..."

"Divine Son Bluebird posted a statement saying he’s been cyberbullied. Please stop making ghost videos using his rejected recording by Su Ming’an, or he’ll provide proof of his depression..."

"Lin Yunting became the sixth person to publicly reveal disciple identity, creating an account and using her disciple fame to film various Try Not to Laugh challenges, quickly amassing over ten million fans..."

"Louyue Nation’s Wind and Cloud Swordsman Mo Changhe posted a marriage ad, looking for a modern girl to play asymmetrical games with him without breaking defense. He said the modern era is his favorite place now, unwilling to return to Louyue Nation because they lack computer games..."

Su Ming’an browsed the various information, finding humanity truly diverse and colorful. The fusion of different eras had brought about very interesting catalysts.

At eleven o’clock in the evening, Su Ming’an and Alice arrived at Dao Ya City.

Along the way, all he saw was devastation, plagues rampant, corpses strewn everywhere, with only Dao Ya City being exceptionally peaceful. Upon returning here, he immediately rushed with Alice into the church, startling the students who were having evening study.

The stained glass cast a mottled moonlight, a blue full moon hanging high in the dome. This holy and towering church remained an inviolable place, with intricate murals surrounding the benches and angel statues under the moonlight, seemingly isolated from the world.

The students rose one after another, putting down their books, looking at the blood-stained, hay-covered Su Ming’an with complex expressions.

"Can we... still call you Brother Wensheng?" Jiang Yunmeng asked softly.

"Are you really the Old God?" Jojo asked.

"Is Divine Son Bluebird as handsome as on camera?" Chen Tiange asked.

"Brother Wensheng, is the girl behind you Alice from the Dream Girl Project? She’s so beautiful. Is she really just like in the game?"

The familiar feeling returned.

Instantly, Su Ming’an’s ears felt like they were filled with the chatter of three hundred nightingales. He responded to these students in a low voice, then quickly took Alice through the back door.

In the azure moonlight——

The bishop, clad in white, stood silently in the light, holding a book.

"Godfather." Su Ming’an felt as if he had met a relative. In this overwhelmingly oppressive world, only Li Mingyue was a symbol of safety.

Li Mingyue closed the book, his voice light and gentle: "Back already?"

"I heard the fourth game came out, thinking you might have it. Now that Alice is being hunted, I can only see if the fourth game can break the deadlock." Su Ming’an closed the door, and instantly, he felt as if he had entered a safe house.

Alice cautiously followed behind him, helping to tidy the hay on his back.

"Yes, you can rest here tonight. Rest assured, this is still the safest place." Li Mingyue took out the Dream Patrol Helmet and the disc from the cabinet, which was the fourth game.

Su Ming’an’s eyes lit up. His next plan was to nest here and play the game, see if there were any new clues, then, when the Exotic Species King Su Sheng emerged, take Alice to fight the Exotic Species King and complete the Second Tower. Everything was planned out, his thoughts clear.

"Is... it over yet?" Alice was still a bit scared.

On this journey, she had seen nothing but armies besieging the Goddess, convoys executing innocents, battlefields littered with corpses. With the Exotic Species King about to resurrect, the church had taken extremely radical measures——burning everyone suspected of being an exotic species. As long as they could be burned to death, it proved they were innocent. If they couldn’t be burned, it proved they were an exotic species.

Such absurd and cruel measures were actually popular among the ignorant populace. Even if modern people pointed out how foolish it was, the people of the Steam Age wouldn’t listen, they didn’t understand concepts like blood tests or microscopes, only following the church’s orders.

The two sides had comparable military strength, causing fierce conflict to erupt. Alongside the pursuit of immortality by Louyue Nation and others, the situation among the three parties was extremely chaotic.

In the Tenth World, Su Ming’an couldn’t govern the battlefield with his own strength as he did in the Ninth World, fully concentrating to resist the invaders, those scenes were unreproducible. Because the Tenth World was too vast, he was merely an Old God constructed by lies here, targeted at all times, overshadowed by both ancient deities with millennia of reign and the secretive Exotic Species King Dieying. He couldn’t rally responses as before and lacked a system like the Dawn System capable of governing everything.

Here, he was just an ordinary person in a chaotic, fiercely competitive world. Most power and abilities had to be obtained by his own hands, apart from the special medicine left by the Fire Transmitters, he had no predecessor’s shade, everything had to be started from scratch.

——Therefore, the pressure was immense.

——No longer was there a Yasa Acto, no longer was there a Cloud City God, and no longer was there a Holy Initiation, paving the way for him. This time, his foundation was merely the sacrifice of others, not some superior entity of the world.

The enemy’s oppressive force, number of factions, difficulty, level of chaos, world tier, and complexity were on a different scale than before. He had to pay attention to all aspects, including Little Su’s archival, Su Wensheng’s assassination, the deities’ targeting, Dieying’s prying, stability in cognition, Dream Patrol game’s plot, the Exotic Species King’s pressure in reality, Eligibles and special medicine protection, tower’s fusion timeline... Any carelessness could lead to total defeat.