CHAPTER 811: CHAPTER 809·“REVIVAL OF ALL THINGS (4)”

Under the world broadcast, the world showed its myriad appearances.

The city-state was in chaos. People took advantage of the disorder to start fighting, banknotes and gold and silver jewelry scattered everywhere.

In the glow of fire, their greedy and crazed expressions were like evil ghosts from Hell.

"Even if I die, I want to wear something good! I want to wear a big gold chain! Don’t stop me!"

"Why! Why! Why!!"

"I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die! Damn your entire family, Deity! Ta Wei, you group of beasts! Why are you targeting us! Why isn’t it their civilization that dies!!!"

"Boom—Boom—Boom—!"

Flames rose from various buildings. People shuttled through chaotic streets, scattered bills slapped their emaciated faces, like heavy slaps.

Yet, they were like dogs licking bones, frantically waving their hands, reaching for those bills dancing in the wind, even though they had already become waste paper.

More and more crows flew over, landing on the corpses, pecking at their eyes corroded by the Black Mist.

In the sky, the world broadcast continued:

"—Humans are creatures that weave their own meaning; in this long war, we have done our best, achieving the mission of self-meaning."

"—In my eyes, you are steadfast, brave, rational. Even when facing enemies strong enough to crush the world, you still show your most brilliant side. Many have fought against Destiny until the last moment."

"—You are the heroes of the world; your united and loving spirit is the spirit that best represents humanity during the Dawn War..."

"Kill him! Kill him!" In the chaotic blocks, a group of people fought each other with blades over the flying bills.

"That’s mine! Mine! Burn this house down; if I can’t grab it, no one should!"

Amidst the chaos, people’s faces were like the most terrifying demons; within the Black Mist came horrific greedy laughter.

"Haha—Hahahaha—!!!"

A middle-aged man covered in blood rose from the flames, his hands covered in blood. Around his thick neck hung jade charms, gold chains, silver chains... all stained with human blood.

The middle-aged man clutching an unknown head laughed loudly, already mad:

"All die! All die!! Don’t think any of you will survive! When you die, you will only have rags; when I die, my neck will be full of jewels! In the next life, I will definitely be a rich man! In the next life, I will definitely be a High-Level Persona! I’m luckier than you! I’m luckier than you! Hahahahaha—!!!"

"Die! Humanity is done for! We are all doomed!"

"Ta Wei! If you can hear me, save me please! I don’t want this Ruined World, I’m begging you, Ta Wei, save me please, I want to join your civilization! I want to live!!"

The flickering firelight dimmed and brightened; the footsteps of people clearly weren’t loud, yet seemed to make ground-shaking sounds.

"Thunk."

"Thunk."

"Thunk."

Every step seemed to crush all the efforts humanity had made before into the mud.

Beside the street, a young woman with a ponytail stumbled forward, continuously calling out a man’s name, crying as she shouted:

"Azhuo, Azhuo..."

"Please come back, I won’t stop you from joining the army anymore, I don’t want you to buy me a diamond ring anymore, I’ve already bought a diamond ring, I just want you back. Azhuo, where are you..."

Suddenly, she halted.

At the other end of the street, a familiar figure staggered toward her. His slender form, right shoulder slightly collapsed, looked just like her lover Azhuo.

"Azhuo?"

Azhuo stepped toward her, in the backdrop of people smashing and fighting, his steps were extremely heavy.

"Azhuo... you came back?" The young woman, clutching the diamond ring, took a few steps closer, nearing her lover Azhuo.

Azhuo, wearing a white protective suit and carrying a gun, seemed to have just returned from the front. His mask was already shattered. He and the ponytail girl had been in a relationship for years and were already planning to marry, but when the Dawn Plan began, he actively chose to go to the front line. Before leaving, the girl even argued with him over this.

Now that he was back, he surely wanted to see her at the last moment.

The girl took a few steps forward, she wanted to give her lover a hug, even if it was just before death. She hoped to step into the Apocalypse with him.

However, when Azhuo fully stepped up to her, her smile faded.

Blood-red light flickered at Azhuo’s nape, his eyes had turned crimson. Judging from the brightness of the red light at the nape, he had been fully invaded for a long time, almost becoming a walking corpse, without memory or Rationality.

"..." The girl quietly stared at her irrational lover.

"After being invaded, how did you manage to hold such a determination to walk back step by step to find me?" She murmured.

The front line is so far from here, without food, warmth, or a Chariot, he managed to, with a shattered protective mask, unconsciously, through the instinct before losing rationality, leap over vast sand, enduring the stinging Black Mist, to come back to see her.

What kind of will that breaks the limits of the human body does it take to make such a move?

She also approached him step by step, swinging her hand, throwing the ring into the nearby burning flames.

"Sizzle."

With a soft sound, the diamond ring, that once made her lose temper at him, dropped into the intense flames, never to be seen again.

"Do you remember me?" The girl trembled, staring at him.

Azhuo tilted his head, confusion flickered in his crimson eyes, he scrutinized the girl, seemingly observing a magical being. She appeared to hold a completely different meaning in his eyes than others, yet he couldn’t recall, he couldn’t remember anything.

... Who is she?

... Why did he travel such a long way, endure so much pain, to return to find her?

... Why did seeing the scars on her face from the Black Mist make him so sorrowful?

Who is she? Who is she?

Soon, uncontrollable violence and madness climbed from his crimson eyes, his last thoughts completely suppressed.

When the irrational Azhuo lunged at her, the young woman did not resist.

Those invaded would eventually attack others indiscriminately, like monsters.

"Azhuo, the soldiers say that if the red glow on the nape of a person doesn’t die, the concentration of Black Mist increases, you can’t stay here." She said, "Let me take you away, okay?"

Azhuo squeezed her neck tightly, confused as he nodded.

She reached out, hugged him tight, dragging him step by step backward, retreating into the flames behind her, leaning back with him. At the end, Azhuo seemed to realize something, clarity flickered in his pupils at the last moment, yet he didn’t resist; instead, he hugged her tight.

"I love you." He whispered.

"Sizzle."

A pair of lovers fell into the flames, hair intertwined, cheeks touching, making "crackling" sounds as the skin split open, exposing soon-to-be-charred-black bones.

"I love you..."

This was the girl’s final response.

"Clang—Clang—Clang—"

The bell tower of the City-State rang out the six o’clock chime at dawn.

A pair of white birds on the bell tower flapped their wings and flew off into the sky together.

During this Eternal Night, fires ignited all over the City-State, never pausing for a moment.

...

In a house beneath the bell tower, an elderly grandmother with white hair watched the flames and closed the door.

She placed the knitted sweater for her grandson by the bedside, opened the cabinet, hunched over, and slowly retrieved dozens of pills as red as roses.

"Are we having noodles again today?" asked an old man with squinting eyes, sitting on the rocking chair beside her.

Upon hearing this, the grandmother spat:

"You old fool, your noodles are so salty, I don’t want to eat them in this lifetime."

She lined up the pills in her hand and placed them on the old sewing machine.

Black Mist drifted into the room through their drafty window, strand by strand. The grandmother caressed the knitted sweater in her hands, leaned against the rocking chair, wearing the large floral coat she loved in her youth, a silver bracelet, and a pair of black cloth shoes. She looked into the mirror.

"Don’t look, you’re still as beautiful as when you were young."

The old man on the rocking chair reached out his hand towards her.

She squinted, the wrinkles on her face twisted together. She smiled and grasped the rough hand of her old man. They rested their heads together, silver-white hair entwined as if they had merged into one.

"Will we eat noodles in the next life?" the old man asked her.

"Put less salt, less oil, and the next time you chase me down the alley, remember to cook a bowl of noodles with scallions..." the grandmother said.

"You always have so many conditions." the old man said.

Swallowing an excessive amount of pills, the elderly couple leaned against each other, holding each other’s wrinkle-filled hands, and slowly stopped breathing.

Their heads touched, shoulders pressed together, as if they had fallen asleep together.

Under the dim lamp light, the silver ring on the grandmother’s ring finger glowed.

A bowl of steaming noodles with scallions still emitted white hot steam in the Black Mist.

...

"Sizzle——"

Su Ming’an lowered his gaze.

The fires burned all over the City-State, dyeing the entire sky red.

A flow of pure white data enveloped him. From one surveillance screen after another, he saw countless lives.

Facing the Apocalypse, some people chose to sit quietly. One after another, they sat shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, with their hands folded over their chests, backs straight as a rod, lips tightly pressed, as if determined to live and die with the City-State.

Outside, the expedition team and researchers continued to walk the roads, dragging heavy equipment, leaving a glowing green trail like a path of starlight.

A girl draped in black cloth approached a pile of bones and prayed with closed eyes. In the outside world, the clerics of the old era still existed, reciting prayers for the departed.

Travelers yearning to return home tightly grasped each other’s hands. Even if they were ultimately consumed to ash by the Black Mist, they steadfastly took their last steps toward home until they completely collapsed.

Soldiers whose eyes had been burnt through by the Black Mist marched in groups, leaving a trail of corpses behind, insisting on delivering resources to the energy station.

They were idealists.

They believed spring would come, believed this was not humanity’s end, believed that doing their best could achieve a perfect outcome.

They believed their City Lord would bring a revival of fire to humanity, believed they were leaving behind more than just cold words and images. Believed hope would not wither, and pearls remain untarnished.

From a personal perspective, the outcomes of such a conclusion make little difference, for a person’s life is too short, far less than the evolutionary span of a civilization measured in billions of years. But stepping beyond the individual, from the broad perspective of the Universe, every civilization has gone through a process of destruction and adaptation to rebirth.

——When the race reemerges, everything becomes the history of civilization.

"Please continue the transport, do not let down Captain Li’s sacrifice!"

"Do not worry about our safety!"

"I am willing to pledge with my military order, I will surely bring the resources back for you!"

"Move forward——go! go!!"

Su Ming’an watched these images, listened to these voices, remembering a promise he once made. He once led the entire human race, human civilization, declaring war on the self-proclaimed Deity Ta Wei, and witnessed all the efforts of the Ruined World.

He looked at the tens of millions of names on the death lists on the screen, the numbers in his eyes growing increasingly blurred.

Heaven always presented him with a shattered world and told him, you must save them. Demanded him to defy fate, to find the only path, to light a star in the Black Night, to become a torch, to fight with all strength down to the last drop of blood.

But this time...

The rule of man and the rule of mechanics, the alternation of old and new eras, the Keeper of Secrets and the Traitor, the governance of the City-State and the spying of the outer city, the clash of armies and factions, the struggle of civilizations.

The war once raged day and night, until Dawn.

The survivors moved towards a brand new next century, and the endless pioneers were overturned before Dawn.

——And what about the next century?

——Where is the Ship of Theseus?

Could a god existing in the Zero-Dimensional, having lost everything yet still unending, be the conclusion of a civilization?

Then Zhai Xing...

The Dawn System stood silently behind him, watching over Su Ming’an, like companionship, yet also like surveillance.

A white bird flew in from outside the window.

It landed on his Mechanical Ring, pecking at the metal patterns of "t-0321," then perched on his shoulder, rubbing against his slightly reddened eyes.

The morning wind was slightly cool, a faint light appeared on the eastern horizon, but was suppressed by the heavy Black Mist. The outlines of distant buildings were intermittently clear and blurred, the surroundings solemn and serene.

He remained silent for a long time, his hand on the receiver, and made the final broadcast:

"Civilization is an abstract concept. Civilization without the continuation of people is merely a legacy. What’s important are the people, not the meaning of civilization. I deeply understand this."

"I failed to successfully resist Ta Wei’s invasion, I failed to bring victory to you."

"Regarding this ending, I am deeply sorry. In the future tens of millions of years, I will carry the last Fireseed of humanity, plotting the final opportunity for counterattack, holding the last information and resources for humanity..."

"——To every single one of you, I express my sincerest respect."

...

"I didn’t manage to lead you into spring."

"I’m sorry."

...

...

[(TE·Rebirth of All Things) Perfect Completion Progress: 89%]