novellk Chapter 1648 The Final Chapter IV "The Guiding Lighthouse in the OE Universe (4)"
Chapter 1648 The Final Chapter IV "The Guiding Lighthouse in the OE Universe (4)"
Chapter 1648 The Endgame Part 4: "OE: The Guiding Lighthouse in the Universe (4)"
Since then,
Since December 31, 2118, there has been no "Lord of the Realm".
No one else was granted the title of "Lord of the Realm." The highest decision-making body of the coalition government was jointly led by the rotating chairman and the committee, with power distributed and checked.
It's not that no one has the prestige to sit in that position, but the position of Realm Lord is only a temporary post. Su Ming'an returned the power to humanity, and humanity will not appoint another Realm Lord.
The offices at the highest level of the global hub have been permanently preserved. Access control remains in effect, but is only granted to a select few intelligent machines responsible for maintenance. Everything inside is frozen in time from the eve of the "Sun of God's Fall."
On the large desk, the open documents seemed to await review. The fountain pen Su Ming'an had once used lay quietly beside the inkwell, its cap still open, as if its owner had only temporarily left. The glass cabinet still held Naraku's wood carvings, necklaces, notebooks, and other items, while the green plants in the corner grew, day after day, year after year.
It wasn't converted into a memorial hall for public viewing because it would be too noisy; nor was it completely sealed away to avoid being forgotten. Everything about "him" is placed outside of time, like a wait that is not yet over.
Occasionally, Lü Shu would come to take a look, but he would only stand at the door and would not go in.
He feared that if he stepped in, the frozen time would be broken, and he would have to confront the fact that "he is no longer here."
The "Ming'an System" continues to operate efficiently, executing the long-term plan that Su Ming'an had set out before his death, a plan spanning over a century. The highest authority remains temporarily held by the system itself; no one has attempted to take it over.
At the very top of every official document, where the name or code of the person with the highest authority should be signed, in the signature field where confirmation is required—
It will always be a small blank space.
That place is a vacancy for Su Ming'an.
This is not a deficiency, but a gradually official format, as if humanity is saying—our future is extended because of Him, our path is opened because of Him, and our existence is made possible because of Him. We move forward, we unite as one, we ignite the flame, but we will never forget who tore through the darkness and brought us the dawn.
Therefore, we will always leave a three-word space for him as a tribute.
Perhaps many years from now, young people will forget why there needs to be a blank line at the top of every document to leave space for the name; they will simply treat it as a format taught in school and silently follow it. But someone will always remember that there will always be a space there for one person.
The sunlight of the Revelation Era is warm and bright, shining on the merged twin stars and on everyone who is about to be reborn.
Humanity has inherited the future he bought with his life, refusing to replace him in any form. They will use the eternal void as a mirror to constantly reflect on their own responsibilities and limitations, to be vigilant about the boundaries of power, and to remember the cost of sacrifice.
Thus, beneath the thriving new world, amidst the bustling administrative centers, and upon the documents that determine the course of civilization—
He will always "exist".
—【Su Ming'an】Ah.
This name itself is a new epic.
It is about responsibility, about sacrifice, about never giving up hope in desperate situations, and about the courage to do divine things with a mortal body.
The flame of civilization he ignited will burn brightly in this beautiful spring, illuminating humanity's long journey to the "New East".
"Everyone except you has found happiness."
Yes, they found happiness.
Everyone found happiness.
……
This is the whole story of that boy who was once nineteen.
……
……
……
……Really?
……
Beyond the universe.
Between the sea of stars composed of countless bands of light, the world of games flows gently, like a pure white eye of a hurricane, drifting towards the distance.
A figure whose outline vaguely resembled a rabbit withdrew its "gaze" from observation.
"...I never expected it to end like this. He chose to die for humanity." Tiny crumbs dripped from Boss Rabbit's fingertips as he stopped observing.
"Haven't he always been like this?" A charming yet slightly weary female voice rang out. "From the player who stumbled and fell in the first instance to now, every step he has taken is unparalleled. As a human, he actually managed to get a perfect score in the world game. If he had chosen to stay here, perhaps he would be the one controlling the world game in the future. He insisted on dying for those humans. Was it worth it?"
"Tsk tsk, it's a pity that our 'brain' went to great lengths to drive this game, yet couldn't even retain one of our most valued 'perfect scorers'," Boss Rabbit mocked.
"It's better than some crazy, numb original mascot who's long forgotten who he is. What can he do besides making sarcastic remarks?" Xiao Na said calmly. "If only Su Ming'an could stay..."
"Haha!" Boss Rabbit laughed so hard his body trembled as if he had heard a joke. "I'm just stating a fact—people like him are born to cause trouble. You think you can bind him with ridiculous points and privileges? Sooner or later he will see through this so-called game and go further than our finish line... He might even kick you, this stumbling block, away. Too bad, he's moving too fast, too fast to kick you."
Unfortunately, there is no such thing.
Some people, despite having a bright future, decide to wallow in self-pity and stay in their hometown to die.
"At least he was recognized by the system and got a perfect score," Xiaona retorted sarcastically. "And you? Chen Qingguang, do you still remember what a perfect score feels like? Do you still remember the glory of your civilization? Or is it that beneath this rotting rabbit skin lies a madness that even you despise?"
The rabbit's shadow remained still in the light.
Immediately afterwards, a shy laugh rang out: "Hehehe, hehehe! What does Chen Qingguang have to do with my boss, Rabbit? He's just a cute and innocent little rabbit, he doesn't know anything!"
A hint of disgust flashed in Xiaona's eyes.
The pristine white space remained still for a long time, with countless floating world scenes resembling cubes, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing. Two inhuman figures remained silent, seemingly complete strangers despite their "father-daughter" relationship.
I don't know how much time had passed, but a voice said:
"(That's enough. The old story has come to an end; it's time to find new 'players.' Let's set off for the next stop.)"
The mission of the World Game is not over. It has the responsibility of selecting and evolving civilizations, and like a spaceship, it must travel to the next civilization to start the next game.
The rabbit's shadow took a step forward.
Over the years of the World Game, Su Ming'an was the contestant that Boss Rabbit remembered most vividly... It's a pity, if Su Ming'an had decided to stay in the World Game, how wonderful things would have been. But Su Ming'an chose to die.
In the pure white space, Xiaona embarked on her next journey. This was something they had done countless times—ending the previous game and moving on to the next.
"The game concerning Zhai Xing has ended, and a new game is about to begin. Begin scanning neighboring dimensional regions to search for new targets that meet the civilization potential assessment criteria."
Xiao Na raised her hand, and a massive star map light screen unfolded before her, countless points of light from civilizations flickering like fireflies on a summer night. Data streams extended like tentacles, filtering and evaluating—
[Scanning... High-activity consciousness fluctuations detected in sector K4237... Intermediate civilization discovered!]
[Preliminary assessment of rule adaptability: Good.]
[Entropy increase trend: Moderate, possessing purification value.]
[Initiating deep information sampling to analyze this civilization's history, technology tree, and cultural characteristics...]
[We are about to travel to this civilization to begin the next game...]
Just as we were about to set off, and a large amount of system resources were being diverted to external resources—
"--boom!!!"
A dark red energy, brimming with corruption, struck the outer barrier of the World Game from the depths of the universe without warning! The entire core space trembled violently, and the light bands flickered wildly!
"Om-!"
The alarm sounds!
[WARNING! The world game is under attack from a high-intensity unknown dimension!]
[High concentration of negative aggregate characteristics detected...identified as: Demon Mother Goddess Isabel!]
In an instant, several figures appeared around Xiaona.
The fourth seat, Elia, the eighth seat, the Lord of Thought and Faith, the ninth seat, Laplace's Demon, and the tenth seat, the Lord of Emotion, appeared simultaneously. They sensed that the World Game was under attack.
In the past, the World Game has been attacked; however, the World Game is a monstrous mechanism, absorbing a full twelve higher dimensions. If they don't want to be destroyed together, these twelve higher dimensions have no choice but to fight for its survival. Now is precisely when the World Game is at its most vulnerable. The second, third, sixth, and seventh seats are all absent.
“(Isabelle…? Daring to attack this place, does she have a death wish?)” Xiao Na looked at the star map. For a mere high-dimensional being to provoke a cosmic organ is tantamount to courting death.
“(Ah... another fight is about to break out, I don’t want to move...)” Aierya lay lazily.
"(Go and stop Him immediately.)" At Xiao Na's command, several projections of the organizers appeared outside the world game and tracked after Isabelle.
Xiao Na was fully focused, directing operations from the command center.
Nobody noticed...
The Eighth Seat, Lord of Thought and Faith, who had been standing silently to the side, shrouded in a gray mist, made his move without warning!
He actually set his sights on Xiaona!
The gray mist condensed into a gray spear, piercing straight at Xiaona's form! This attack came too suddenly; none of the high-dimensional beings present expected this abrupt attack.
Xiao Na is the embodiment of the "brain" of the World Game, an innate life form born from the World Game, with authority higher than the Twelve Seats. If the Eighth Seat attacks her, he will be mercilessly punished by the rules, even to the point of death and annihilation! The Eighth Seat has no reason to attack Xiao Na; he has always been purely a self-preservationist!
"(Lilia, are you crazy?!)" Xiaona was shocked and furious. The rules around her reacted automatically, and the white data chains instantly intertwined into a net to block the gray spear!
The eighth seat's attack was long in the making; the gray spear clashed violently with the chain, producing a tooth-grinding corrosive sound!
"Rip—!"
This is clearly a moth drawn to a flame. There is no benefit for the Eighth Seat to attack Xiaona. Even if he succeeds, Xiaona will use the rules to execute him before his destruction. Why would he attack Xiaona knowing that he is going to die?
“That’s…!” Aria turned around.
Suddenly, deep within the layers of gray fog, beneath the misty body of the Eighth Seat, a pair of eyes gradually emerged.
A pair of human eyes.
A pair of dark, bright eyes with a slight smile.
Why is there a pair of human eyes inside His body?!
Aierya felt vaguely familiar with these eyes, as if she had seen them somewhere before. The next moment, her pupils narrowed to a slit!
correct!
Those eyes, those eyes, they were—
“You are—!” Xiao Na’s eyes were icy cold.
"Ah……"
A low, pleasant chuckle came from the gray mist.
Those were a pair of eyes.
Pure, deep, pitch black as if it could absorb all light.
A voice emanated from the Eighth Seat's body, filled with mockery and madness, as if two souls were speaking simultaneously—one was the Eighth Seat's roar, and the other was the will of humanity:
"Athena, thank you for taking care of my original self for so long..."
“You are—” Xiaona found the name deep in her memory, but in everyone’s mind, this person had been missing for a long time—
"What a pity..." The Eighth Seat's body trembled, his eyes bloodshot yet filled with a smile, "I really survived..."
For a fleeting moment, those pupils turned into pure black, devoid of any white...
……
[Click-clack-click-clack—]
Several golden chains suddenly appeared from Ming's chair, clicking and locking his wrists and ankles.
Hui Mo walked up to him and poured a wine cup...
Ming's face still wore a smile, but the light in his eyes had turned cold.
……
"I'm sorry, I'll get you a new suit."
In the early stages of the Rovasa instance, in a quiet room, Huimo hands a towel to Ming.
The young man in the white suit wiped the red wine from his face, his anger turning into silence. He wiped for a moment in silence, then suddenly looked up: "Now, is no one watching us?"
“Yes.” Hui Mo nodded. “Their eyes were drawn to Su Ming’an, and our act was over.”
"How can you be sure that after you pour the red wine on me, those eyes won't keep looking?" Ming stood up from his chair.
“There is only one narrative anchor… It only favors the most brilliant protagonist.” Hui Mo held up a finger. “Even if it occasionally falls on other people, it is because these people have a direct connection with the protagonist and can highlight a certain quality or action of the protagonist. When the importance of the protagonist’s actions is higher than the supporting role of others, the narrative anchor will turn back to the protagonist.”
"So—you caused a very important situation on Su Ming'an's side? The narrative anchor shifted back to Su Ming'an the moment you poured me the red wine. As long as the narrative anchor doesn't shift back to us, in 'their' observation, our movements are as if we've disappeared, a vacuum." Ming folded the towel and gently placed it on the table. "You're really something, Mr. Huimo, not just a hothead who only knows how to rush into things."
"You jest. My brothers and sisters are no ordinary people, I can't lose to them." Hui Mo gave a soft shushing, his dark eyes flashing. "Shh... To prevent the importance of the two of us from surpassing the importance of Su Ming'an's actions, and to prevent the narrative anchor from shifting back to us, please follow me."
"What's going on with Su Ming'an?" Ming was more concerned about this.
The fact that they were able to cover up their crucial conversation suggests that Su Ming'an's situation must be extremely serious.
“A situation has arisen that threatens his safety—Ashley, in a yandere guise, stabbed him in the back in the cave, leading him to the hellish realm of Arthas,” Huimo said. “When the protagonist is attacked, the narrative anchor naturally shifts back immediately. We can’t let the protagonist die in the darkness where no one cares, right? So now no one can observe us.”
"An attack?" Ming frowned.
“Only when the protagonist’s life is threatened can we ensure that our conversation remains unobserved. When it comes to great things, we don’t concern ourselves with trifles. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want our savior to actually die; it’s just an act.” Hui Mo glanced sideways. “If you can’t accept that, then go back. I don’t need collaborators who are hesitant and indecisive—even if you lose the chance to save him forever, is that all you care?”
A second later, Ming caught up.