CHAPTER 1027: CHAPTER 1024: THE SO-CALLED BELOVED

His gaze lingered on the lapping waves before him, and Alice’s voice came to his ears:

"Detective."

Su Ming’an stiffly raised his head, as if controlling a vegetative state. He felt everything around him was extremely cold, as if ants were gnawing at his heart. Even though he had already escaped that fear, it was still difficult for him to recover as before.

He was still shocked by Chao Yan’s final act— she deliberately placed her head on his abdomen, right where the bomb was the closest.

So that when the bomb exploded, her death was one second faster than his.

It was this one second— due to the mechanism of "killing someone will gain the memory of that person," Su Ming’an gained her entire memory in that one second. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, with only a second to browse, he already knew what had happened in the past.

— She walked between loops, retaining memory.

— When his memories were repeatedly washed away, she became his memory storage. When she was killed by him, he could take over all her memories.

However, if this move was truly effective, why hadn’t Su Ming’an succeeded even once in the previous nine loops? Hadn’t he tried similar actions before?

"Detective, we’ve been lying on the beach for a long time, isn’t it time to leave?" Alice lay on the beach, her hair wet and dripping with water.

Su Ming’an moved his gaze, his movements were slow but very careful, adjusting the angle of his view bit by bit, fearing that if his gaze moved too quickly, he might suddenly see a deity that would make his heart stop.

Finally, he slowly confirmed his surroundings— there was no deity in sight around him.

— Was this triggered by his own death rebound?

— Was it?

He almost developed PTSD, as long as he saw the deity’s flowing white hair, saw its cold, inanimate gaze, and heard its flat and unremarkable voice— an instinctive fear would arise in his heart. Although his rationality managed to suppress this fear.

The sea breeze blew across, and at this point in time— it was when he and Alice were washed onto the beach by the waves, before going to Huo Muli’er Nation to find Hei Que for the bomb.

The waves continually caressed his stiff body, and he closed his eyes slightly— when suddenly a shadow cast over his head.

"...!" His heart skipped half a beat, and his fingers instinctively dug into the sand, hearing a familiar voice.

"... How many times has it been?" asked the owner of the shadow.

Su Ming’an slowly released his hand, he remembered— this was Su Wensheng. Su Wensheng should indeed appear at this point in time.

"... The first time." Su Ming’an answered again.

He knew what Su Wensheng would say next, Su Wensheng would provide information about Huo Muli’er Nation, persuade Su Ming’an to seek help from Hei Que, and then proceed to the Prophecy Stone Wall.

Su Wensheng stroked his chin.

Su Ming’an slightly closed his eyes, and from now on, he needed to avoid approaching the Prophecy Stone Wall. At the same time, he also needed to find Chao Yan... he finally understood everything she had done, he wanted to become companions with her. As long as they kept going together, they would eventually succeed.

"Is that so? First time?" Su Wensheng pinched his chin.

Su Wen Sheng’s words were no different from the previous loops, which made Su Ming’an feel at ease, it seemed that it wasn’t Little Su’s rebound that triggered.

Su Ming’an slowly got up and helped Alice up. He knew that the next thing Su Wensheng would do was to bring up matters regarding Huo Muli’er Nation.

...

["Is that so? First time?" Su Wensheng pinched his chin: "I do retain your rebound memories, but these memories won’t be very clear, they just let me vaguely know that you’ve rebounded. Now I do feel that you haven’t rebounded, but... you look very tired. You say, is it really the first time?"]

...

Come on, say it.

Su Ming’an already knew the words Su Wensheng was about to utter. He wiped the water off his body, planning in his mind what he should do next.

"But...," Su Wensheng touched his chin, paused for a moment, glanced around, and blinked his eyes:

"Why do I vaguely feel like it’s not the first time... Su Ming’an, have you really not triggered Little Su’s rebound?"

The sky began to drizzle, pattering on Su Ming’an’s eyelids.

Su Ming’an’s expression froze.

He felt like everything around him was caught in a summer night’s storm, endlessly swaying, along with his vision beginning to sway and tilt.

... What.

Su Wensheng’s confused expression was reflected in his eyes, he knew— Su Wensheng shouldn’t have uttered such words. If he said such things, it meant that...

The fear in his heart magnified instantly, he clamped down his rapid breathing, slowly turned back, and he saw—

"Detective...?" Alice shook Su Ming’an’s hand: "Are you alright? Is it too cold..."

— A patch of white shadow in the distance.

The next second, the white shadow was right next to him.

A cold voice, a faint smile, and a terrifying gaze.

"It’s unfortunate I blocked you, Su Ming’an."

The sound of wind, rain, waves, Alice’s exclamation, his own resounding breath in his ears.

One sound after another, heavy, cold, silent.

His hair gently swayed in the sea breeze, playfully dancing, yet he remained like a rock rooted in the sand, stiff, cold.

He suddenly noticed— the light in the sky was very dim, as if it was very late. And if he triggered his death rebound, the time wouldn’t be so late since he remembered the critical point was when they had just been washed onto the beach. Yet Alice said they had been lying on the beach for a long time.

Details slowly pulled back into his brain, he finally couldn’t help but realize— it was still Little Su’s rebound that triggered.

He didn’t know how to trigger his own rebound. Previously, he thought it was the difference between suicide and being killed by others, but this time it was Little Su’s rebound that was triggered, which confused him. Was it the difference in acceptance of death?

The critical time point for Little Su’s rebound was four in the afternoon.

The critical time point for his own death rebound was three in the afternoon.

There was only a one-hour gap in between.

Even if he triggered his own death rebound, going back one hour earlier, Su Wensheng would still appear and tell him about Huo Muli’er Nation. As long as he showed reluctance to approach the Prophecy Stone Wall, the deity would take action. Moreover, the most important thing is— he couldn’t rebound anymore.

The deity was close by, there was no bomb inside him, and his death had been completely forbidden. It was likely that before he woke up, the deity had always been watching him from the side, giving him hope and then extinguishing it.

— This is a place of complete isolation.

Xiao Jingsan was not by his side, nor was Li Mingyue. Only ALice, an Alice under the deity’s control.

— He was completely blocked at this save point.

Su Ming’an’s gaze trembled, once again meeting the deity’s eyes.

"— Your gaze makes me vaguely feel like you know a lot of things." The deity said.

"Ah, yes." Su Ming’an replied slowly. His voice was so hoarse it startled even himself.

"This journey has some regrets, let’s start the eleventh meeting." The deity said.

The deity’s voice held no mockery, no provocation, just the silence of a starry night. It was never about enjoying Su Ming’an’s suffering, only to achieve a satisfactory ending.

"..."

Su Ming’an said nothing. He simply stared quietly at the deity.

The headset carried the voices of Li Yuxuan and others, who were searching the Holy City. Yamada Machiichi was resisting the Exotic Species Royals, discussing sending out an airship to bomb them. The watch Adu flickered slightly, conveying Lv Shu’s greetings. But none of this mattered anymore.

"——Deity."

The lighthouse on the beach suddenly lit up, and a figure emerged. Her hair was dyed the color of flames, her entire body enveloped in fire.

When Su Ming’an rebounded, she was the first to arrive in front of him.

"Chao Yan. You are burning your life again, which reminds me of your predecessor, also a... very rebellious child," the deity said, "But it’s useless. This is not a world where being strong is enough to defy."

The sense of powerlessness in this world is extremely strong; even if you are strong enough, it’s hard to change destiny.

Just like Chao Yan, who burns her life to the extreme, her combat power reaching over five thousand, but challenges aren’t solved through strength because their true enemy is destiny.

"Chao Yan." Su Ming’an said, "Kill me."

His voice was neither too loud nor too quiet, enough for both to hear.

The deity glanced sideways and merely said, "It’s useless."

——It’s useless.

——The save point has been thoroughly stuck, and even if Su Ming’an’s own rebound is triggered, it’s only an hour earlier. An hour can’t change anything.

"Useless." Chao Yan also shook her head. It would only cause Su Ming’an greater pain with no meaning.

"Kill, come." Su Ming’an said.

He couldn’t commit suicide, and the deity was too close to him. But Chao Yan might be able to; in her full life-burning state, she could drag him to perish together with her.

Based on the experience from the previous nine rounds, he thought of a... possibility to break through.

"Your stubbornness sometimes leaves me baffled," the deity said. It had seen thousands and thousands of people in this world, yet few like Su Ming’an. Very rare, very special. It could not see any path to breaking through, all roads were blocked.

Chao Yan raised her sword, her whole body burning with flames that pained her.

Once more... once again. The scorching flames. Every time, it was the same pain. The fierce fire dyed the sky red, enveloping it in a beautiful fiery cloud-like hue.

Su Ming’an tilted his head upwards, the firelight illuminating his pupils—those pupils were overflowing with brilliance. The sound of the wind in his ears was scorching.

"Sorry, Chao Yan." At this moment, Su Ming’an spoke.

Sorry I forgot you so many times.

Sorry for making you endure the pain of burning many times.

I forgot the promise under the stars.

And she only smiled, as the blade entwined with increasingly fierce flames:

"...It’s okay."

"Anyway, your candy from Italy was already melted."

...

[TE6·"Floating Through the Mortal World, Fortune and Scenery to Dawn" (Within twenty days, "Chao Yan" does not die): 5%]

...

...This TE, which had always been 0, unexpectedly rose by 5%.

The blade in the high sky slashed against the wind.

Su Ming’an closed his eyes, but the corner of his mouth still held a smile.

...

[Main God World]

The streets were silent.

Under the falling sunset, the air was imbued with the gentle scent of osmanthus.

The live broadcast screens hanging on buildings still showed the adventurer players’ broadcasts, but most focused on one person.

Sometimes people would stand in front of the broadcast screens for a long time, then sigh softly. Some would shout, trying to project their voices into the screen. Some deliberately avoided their gaze, refusing to look at the images on the broadcast screen, as if doing so made nothing happen.

"Human Self-Rescue Alliance... A newly established human organization? Alright, I know. I’ve been considering leaving the United Group lately; let’s discuss it in detail when I have time and talk about treatment and cooperation." Eni hung up the phone, straightened his suit, and walked out of the office building.

The city had already raised light rail lines, new airships hovered high above; the now advanced Main God World zone wasn’t much different from a modern metropolis.

Eni walked into a cafe, where the person he had arranged to meet was already waiting.

The young man with white hair still wore a robe like a mage, a blue rose embroidered on his chest, and his transparent icy white eyes. His hand lightly touched the coffee cup, took a sip, and cast a somewhat melancholic gaze out the window.

The sunset lay between them, silhouettes moving outside the window.

"Bei Wang, I’m here." Eni sat down on the chair.

"Mm." Bei Wang replied briefly.

Eni could see the perfect clear seal on the back of Bei Wang’s hand—completely intact with eight bars, but the eighth bar was extremely faint, as if faded.

Eni extended his hand and looked at the back of his own right hand—he also had four perfect clear seals, and the fourth bar appeared faint.

"You also achieved a perfect clear in the Tenth World?" Bei Wang asked.

"Mm, just this one." Eni pointed to the fourth perfect clear seal on his hand.

"As long as... you listen to the deity, it seems really easy. Easier than before." Bei Wang struggled to speak: "It’s like... in every parallel instance, someone achieves a perfect clear. It’s unprecedented. It’s like the deity is giving us a benefit."

"Mm." Eni’s expression remained gloomy.

"But, this perfect clear seal... it looks very faint. Never happened before." Bei Wang touched the seemingly faded seal.

"Doesn’t matter. Even if it’s faint, it’s still a perfect clear. Maybe it’s because the difficulty was too low, so it looks fainter." Eni said.

"...Mm." Bei Wang said.

They had their faces obscured by a vague masking effect, unnoticed by anyone.

Only the sound of flames burning could be heard from the live broadcast screen hanging in the cafe.

"Is the other person you invited not here yet?" Eni asked.

"Not yet... Hmm? They’re here." Bei Wang saw the person approaching from the entrance.

Their guest had black hair, a small braid swinging at the back of the neck, their golden eyes particularly calm. They pulled out a chair and sat down, moving quickly, looking impatient.

"I’m here. Speak." Su Rin said.

"——Su Rin, you’re here." Eni raised his head: "Sit down, we’ll just chat..."

He pointed to the broadcast screen:

"...Su Ming’an."