Love, Death, Machines, and Humanity

The tattered banner burned with searing radiance. Looking down from the vault of heaven, it seemed like a dazzling thread of starlight rising amidst total pitch-blackness and smoldering embers, shedding its light in all directions. Yet within that vast projection, everyone's gaze turned to an even higher point—toward the terrifying shadow that loomed over and completely blotted out Quancheng. "It is already too late." A soft sigh sounded in the gloom. "The gloom of the four seas gathers, supported by the worldly abomination as its pillars; all of Quancheng is sinking into the shadow of the Vortex. "Lu Changsheng is gambling—gambling that he can endure Tao Cheng's Tianyuan assimilation, gambling that he can fulfill his ambition. I warned you long ago: once that lunatic won a single round, he'd want to win another. Once he tasted the sweetness, he'd only crave more. When has such a man ever known when to stop?" "Then what are you all still dragging your feet for?" From among the five seats surrounding the projection, an anxious middle-aged man demanded, "The legacy of the Celestial Rail is being abused, and the Federation keeps peppering us with inquiries. "They're acting as if we deliberately violated the T5 Protocol. "When the Celestial Rail collapsed, who knew there was still an Engine of Myriad Manifestations lost out there?" "Dumping another mess on us?" A person resembling a doctor, clad in a white lab coat and a surgical mask, said slowly, "The T5 Protocol hangs around our necks like a leash, choking us half to death. We've sat as mere decorations for all these years, handling just this little bit of business every day, reviewing and reviewing without ever getting anywhere. And now that trouble hits, now that they're sick, they remember: 'Doctor, hurry, save me!' ...Where were they before?" "There is even more troublesome news—" The agitated middle-aged man said slowly, "Two minutes ago, the emergency communications channel between the Federation's Midtown Council Emergency Office and the Empire's Senate was opened. "Both sides are currently assessing the situation. If it deteriorates any further, it is very likely they will deploy an unnumbered Supreme Artifice to carry out a purge." "Then why are they still pressing us?" "Do not forget, the T5 Alliance stands as one. By our pact of mutual existence, its responsibilities are shared by all of us." The elderly man who had convened the meeting rapped his knuckles on the table. "If this continues, once the Celestial Rail completely collapses and the seal on the Shadow Sun spins out of control, how will the fallout be cleaned up?" Everyone lapsed into silence. Only the old man cloaked in shadow snubbed out his cigarette and abruptly raised a hand. "The Everlasting Bank puts forward a proposal: to resolve the current abuse of the Celestial Rail's legacy, authorize the deployment of [Dust]." In an instant, amidst the dead silence, not even the sound of breathing could be heard. "Dust" sounded utterly negligible. In reality, the amount remaining today inside the Everlasting Bank's vaults was a mere 0.81 grams. A weapon of annihilation left behind by the Dragon of Mountain Light during the ancient Age of Chaotic Kings—a Supreme Artifice derived from the Desolate Ruins. It resembled fine powder, yet was the natural nemesis of all tangible things in the world. Less than 0.1 grams would be enough to completely erase the whole of Quancheng, along with everything within a radius of thousands of kilometers, right off the map. As though it had never existed in this world. And as the price, with the disappearance of tangible things, an equivalent quantity of intangible things would be born in their stead. The tangible took the form of objects, enduring through the ages. The intangible took the form of catastrophes, coming and going without a trace... If all of Quancheng were wiped out completely, what manner of horrifying catastrophe would be born from it? "...Must it really come to this?" Even the most impatient middle-aged man hesitated. "The Federation has already authorized it. Moreover, this complies with the emergency provisions of Supplementary Article 4 of the T5 Protocol," the old man sighed. "I have already telegraphed the Federation. If the proposal passes, the deployment of Dust will be completed in half an hour; they will have sufficient time to evacuate. "I know the consequences are dire, but as matters stand, you must choose between the two outcomes, mustn't you?" And so, no one spoke another word. "Gentlemen, the mission of T5 was completed long ago, and we are destined to withdraw from history step by step. What we must do now is preserve our final dignity and ensure our power is not abused. "Let the vote begin—" The old man was the first to raise his hand. "Everlasting Bank: in favor." A green light illuminated. From a seat that had remained silent in the shadows from start to finish, its occupant's features indiscernible, a clerk-like figure put down the phone and raised a hand. "Universal Heavy Industries and Grand Creation: in favor." A second green light. The middle-aged man sat in silence. After a long while, he let out a soundless sigh. "Boundless Telecom: abstaining." The third light went out. "Can you not bother me with murder and arson in the future?" The doctor waved a hand dismissively. "Hope Hospital: in favor." A fourth green light lit up. Three votes in favor, one abstention. "In that case, the meeting is adjourned." The old man stood up. "Preparations shall be left to—" *Beep!* In that instant, a shrill chime rang out. The fifth light came on—a blazing, brilliant crimson! It froze everyone where they stood. Stunned, they turned back to look toward that long-empty seat. [—Celestial Rail Transit: veto!] According to the T5 Protocol, the five parties maintained a unified front and shared responsibilities, but to avoid mutual interference, when voting on proposals concerning any party's internal affairs, the managing party held a unilateral veto! At this moment, upon that dust-coated seat that had sat vacant for who knew how many years, a figure appeared. It scrunched forward on its own initiative, sitting where the light could reach it. It was a sheepdog. As if it had crossed mountains and rivers to get here, its sleek, glossy coat was smeared with machine oil and grime, sodden wet, and bore scorch marks from smoke and fire. It looked so utterly disheveled. Only its two dark, beady eyes remained limpid and bright. Reflecting the light. Silently pleading. The middle-aged representative of Boundless Telecom froze for a second, then flared into fury. "Hey, you damn mutt, do you even understand what's going on?" "President, this isn't a joke," the doctor said, reaching out to gently wipe the grime from its face. "You can't fool around, understand?" "What on earth were those people thinking? I said long ago that letting a dog hold proxy voting rights was completely unreliable!" The old man's expression darkened, glaring furiously. "There's no time left! I move to forcibly replace the proxy!" Under the weight of their gazes, President lowered his head dejectedly. Ears drooping, he whined softly twice. "Wait, wait." He hurriedly leaned forward, poking his nose against the speech button on the table. "Me! Me! Me! Speak!" "Group! Defense! Must!" He raised his head to look at everyone, pleading, pressing down with his paw: "Problem, President, good, employees, together, solve! Employees, good, very good, President, trusts!" "Everyone, trust, President, please, trust!" "..." The old man fell silent for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but gazing into those clear, innocent eyes that no human could ever match, he sighed soundlessly. "Do you truly understand the consequences? This is not a duty you should bear." President's eyes lit up, as if he were smiling, and he pressed his paw onto the buttons: "President, likes, humans! Likes! Likes! Likes! Likes!" "President, loves, humans, more than anything!" "More, than, himself, loves!" "Please humans, do not hurt humans!" Frantic and anxious, he searched for the buttons, pressed down, and pleaded: "—President, definitely, will, protect humans!" In the silence, no one spoke another word. After a lapse of two hundred years, Celestial Rail Transit submitted an application to the T5 Alliance once more. Special operational authorization granted! Duration: three minutes! *** Many people hold different views on what the world looked like at its creation, yet what it looks like in destruction seems almost universally the same. Just like all those years ago. The earth was pitch-black, the sky burned fiery red, and a rain of ash drifted between heaven and earth. Like the lingering resentment of the departed, the leftover embers called death... "It's so similar." Ji Jue gazed out across the world before him, suddenly feeling that what Kanemoto had said wasn't entirely baseless. Perhaps he had never truly escaped the hell of his past. Perhaps this was merely a dying child's hallucination, a fleeting dream, which was why it was so absurd and bizarre. In that disaster more than a decade ago, destruction and incineration had come so swiftly that everything he was had been torn apart. One half was buried in the past, slumbering in eternal silence. The other half had stumbled forward in haste, drifting farther and farther away. Now, witnessing it all once again, he suddenly began to wonder: was some part of the ash drifting in the wind derived from the former him? When hell was so terrifying, why were there still so many people eager and impatient to create even more hells? "Why throw yourself into Stagnant Decay, Kanemoto?" Ji Jue turned his head and asked curiously, "You've clearly never been infected by an abomination. Clearly, you don't give a damn about the so-called Great Abominations at all." At the instant Kanemoto had ignited the engine and unveiled his soul, Ji Jue had seen it with absolute clarity. Within Kanemoto's body, traces of both Supreme Virtue and Great Abomination coexisted, yet neither held absolute sway—just as his words held equal contempt for both Great Abominations and Supreme Virtue. He treated everything as raw materials, using them purely for utility, with no intention of picking a side. So why was he so obsessed with destruction? "Does that really matter? I don't care." Kanemoto moved his fingers, effortlessly mobilizing the Celestial Rail he had forged to maintain Quancheng's stability. He countered indifferently, "Why should I not throw myself into abominations? "And why must virtue and abomination be divided in two? "Incompetents always draw line after line to deceive themselves that some things are simply beyond human capability, so they can comfortably face their own insignificance and ineptitude—just like the pedantic fools of the Association. "Yet some people take those excuses and lies as truth, treating them as eternal wisdom—just like you. "Boundaries exist solely to be crossed. The so-called rules never existed from the start! "Complacent, stagnating, covering one's eyes to pretend nothing happened, plugging one's ears to pretend nothing was heard—deceiving oneself like that, what kind of artisan can that be called!" He looked back, as though sick of hearing a madman's sleep-talk and the laughable posturing of fools troubling themselves. "Supreme Virtue or Great Abomination, both are principles of this world. "If the principle lies there, I shall go there to seek it. "I should ask you instead: why should there be anything in this world that I am forbidden to know?!" Ji Jue remained impassive, merely asking, "Even if it spreads boundless poison?" At that moment, Kanemoto could no longer hold back and burst into loud laughter. "After me, let the deluge come—what has that to do with me?" "No, it has everything to do with you." Ji Jue shook his head, telling him with utter solemnity, "When an avalanche falls and the torrent breaches the levee, among tens of millions of snowflakes, perhaps one or two innocent flakes will land before you. "Amidst that boundless torrent, couldn't a single drop of vengeance fall upon your head?" For example—right now. In that instant, a violent rumble detonated beneath Kanemoto's feet. Blazing light shot into the heavens. Compared to it, the silver luminescence appearing in Ji Jue's eyes was so minuscule. It was merely a single wisp, yet as it circulated, it tore through every seal Kanemoto had placed upon him like a hot knife slicing through wax, destroying them in crushing ruin. Crushing Ruin! Completely exhausting that wisp of aura left within him by the Edge of Revolution, Ji Jue regained his freedom. Without a moment's hesitation, he pounced! He had been consoling himself all along that things hadn't reached their worst yet, that perhaps not everything was so dire. Be patient, hold steady, wait for an opportunity... But he couldn't wait any longer. "I'm fucking blowing you to pieces!" At some point, the skull discarded at Kanemoto's feet roared furiously, completing its final translation duty. And then, inside the sealed skull, the interlocking spiritus structures concealed beneath the Knowing Hearts boon toppled like dominoes, triggering an irreversible chain reaction. All the blazing heat and flame Ji Jue had stolen from the furnace over the past several days detonated violently within the phlogiston explosives purified to their limit by Non-Offensive. Yet regrettably, it didn't do a damn thing. The moment the fiery explosion surged, it froze in place. At most, it merely forced Kanemoto to reach out and point downward. Desolate Ruins—Stasis Zone! Yet that was enough to buy Ji Jue a crucial split second. Even as he broke free from his bonds, the wheelchair beneath him suddenly roared and howled. The hand-crafted electric motor spun wildly, its mechanisms engaging, and the quicksilver hidden beneath the steel tubes surged and shifted. From the armrests, seat cushion, and wheels, corrupt blades unsheathed from the quicksilver's seal, slashing forward. Like a storm of steel, it engulfed everything, seeking to hack Kanemoto into a thousand pieces! Unfortunately, it was still useless. The high-tier dominance of the Path of Embers was near absolute. To a Grandmaster like Kanemoto, none of Ji Jue's tricks could escape his eyes—much less those he had observed right under his nose while feigning ignorance all along. Even Ji Jue's sudden eruption now was entirely within his expectations. The only miscalculation was... Ji Jue's counterattack was too weak! He hadn't found a better opportunity, hadn't even had the patience to wait for Kanemoto to expose a flaw. Rushing forward so recklessly and meaninglessly yielded no result at all. What was more, this was nothing more than trivial parlor tricks! Boom! With a mere flick of his finger, countless blades and edges, along with the entire wheelchair, disintegrated and collapsed into dust. Tianyuan—Kinetic Impact! And so, at last... the dagger was revealed at the end of the scroll! From behind the wreckage of the wheelchair, a wisp of gray fluorescence illuminated Kanemoto's pupils. It sent a sudden shiver through this heavily scarred husk of his! That was what Ji Jue had ruthlessly carved out from Master Zhou Chong's hands, forcibly embezzling for himself... —The Heart-Poison Arrow! The instant it emerged, it had already dissolved into countless minute motes of light, converging into a single strand that fully activated and locked on! No, Kanemoto had leaked no spiritus outward to serve as a medium for targeting, so how could it work? In a flash of lightning, the corner of Kanemoto's eye caught the remains of the skull, and he couldn't help wanting to burst into enlightened laughter—so that was it? Back when Ji Jue created that comical toy to tempt him into testing it, he had already begun planning for this day? He truly did have some skill! Yet it was still not enough! He didn't even deign to mobilize a boon, much less bother defending. He raised his head indifferently, letting the Heart-Poison Arrow pour into his body as boundless resentment, bitter hatred, and aberrations flooded into his soul. So what? In the next instant, it was completely swallowed up by his battle-scarred soul! Mere heart poison—nothing more than this! *Crack!* The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. The cold smirk on Kanemoto's face froze. He slowly lowered his head and saw a short section of a blade poking out from his chest, running clean through him. Then, the corrupt venom that he had meticulously taught Ji Jue how to forge spread, poisoning his flesh and blood. That was... a shard of the skull. A fragment that had broken off from the main body of the skull during the explosion. Yet with the collapse of the main structure, what emerged from it was surprisingly another boon of the Swarm! [Battle-Tempered Edge]? Where did it come from? When? In that instant, what flashed before his mind was actually that backscratcher, which had seemed like an absolute piece of junk... Deliberately making the backscratcher useless, while hiding the incomplete boon within the skull? A fist-sized creation had actually harbored a dual boon, and with the hidden explosives, it had completely deceived his eyes structurally. Beneath the secret chamber lay yet another secret chamber. Beneath the shift lay yet another hidden shift! The moment the fragments scattered, a third, invisible spiritus hand caught the blade-like shard and gripped it tight. Then, without hesitation, it drove the shard through his back and into his heart. In an instant, the blade—barely an inch long—drained his blood, multiplying itself. Then, dozens, hundreds of crimson blades erupted from within his body, spreading outward. Hacking him into pieces! If doing so truly had any meaning, that is. Boom! Ji Jue's body flew backward through the air. His newly healed legs shattered inch by inch, and his ribs cracked under the crushing pressure, stabbing into his lungs as agonizing pain flared. Yet his hands, of all things, remained completely unscathed. Mockingly leaving him the possibility of resistance. Kanemoto's fragmented body reassembled itself in midair. Even a mere Regeneration possessed boundless vitality; why underestimate him so? Or did Ji Jue know the outcome all along—that he stood no chance against him, that this dying struggle was solely to splash that single drop of the deluge and that solitary snowflake onto Kanemoto's head? "I truly underestimated you." Waving his hand, Kanemoto effortlessly crushed the spiritus hand, snatched the remaining blade, and scrutinized it closely in his grip. Glancing at Ji Jue's battered and bloody state, he couldn't help marveling in mocking "admiration": "How is it that only today I discover... the Path of Embers has gained an envoy of justice willing to sacrifice his life? A warrior who fears no authority?" Kanemoto sneered, "And how should I address you?" Ji Jue remained silent. As if his mind had wandered. Yet for some reason, he remembered the immortal patients in the Chrono Ruin not long ago. Their cries, their shouts, their soundless weeping echoed through the rain and the dark, just like everyone else before his eyes now. So familiar. Just like himself back then. The earth burned, ash falling like rain. Flames rushed forward, carrying hell, carrying even more agony, sweeping through a desolate world before pouring into an ocean of tears, vanishing forever. Yet what did he amount to? Among so many suffering people, there was no need for Ji Jue to be an extra exception; among so many innocent dead, there was no need for him to be spared. From start to finish, he had simply been lucky. He had simply been fortunate enough to be loved by the best person in the world, by... her. Therefore, there was no need for any special title, nor any grandiose name to define him. And precisely because of that, he felt such regret and shame. *I'm sorry, Director Qian.* He sighed in self-mockery. "I truly am not a good doctor." In that instant, the bone blade extended from the flesh of Ji Jue's hand, settling into his grip. Above the translucent blade, benevolence was gone, replaced by exposed, sharp brilliance. It pointed at Kanemoto's face. Yet immediately after, before Kanemoto could react, it reversed. And stabbed down! Plunging into his own heart, twisting! "Call me whatever you like, Kanemoto." Amidst the Profound Grandmaster's stunned expression, Ji Jue smiled serenely. "Anything is fine." He harbored no great love, nor did he possess much benevolence. Hypocritical, indecisive, cold and callous, possessing nothing but a chest full of resentment and fury, and petty tricks unfit for the table. He could never be a champion of justice, nor a physician with a miraculous touch and benevolent heart, much less an indomitable hero... "I am your enemy, Kanemoto." He raised his eyes disdainfully, meeting Kanemoto's gaze, and told him: "Nothing more!" In that instant, the bone blade was ripped from his chest. Then, what seemed like an endless torrent of crimson surged forth, spreading, meandering, splashing in all directions, spattering outward—until a single drop among tens of millions landed squarely on Kanemoto's face. Just like a snowflake falling during an avalanche, or a splatter of mud flung from a raging deluge. A single drop from the blood debt was cast down. So tiny, so negligible. Yet enough to settle the board! In that moment, as his blood poured forth, the Mercy Blade wailed. Ji Jue's aura withered completely, his life slipping away beyond retrieval, death arriving on schedule. And along with it came a transformation Kanemoto had never imagined. Abruptly initiated! The moment he sensed something amiss, Kanemoto reached out without hesitation, marshaling all his power—no longer cherishing talent or holding back—to grind Ji Jue to dust. Yet right after, heaven and earth shook violently. Steel roared. A boundless tide of spiritus came howling forward, turning into a torrential flood that swept over and crashed into Kanemoto, forcing him backward inch by inch. The engine transformed! In disbelief, he looked up at Ji Jue. Or rather, behind Ji Jue, upon the surface of the engine, a streak of crimson slowly trickled down, evaporating amidst the searing heat. The engine, bound beneath countless chains, suddenly shuddered, belching thick smoke and raging fire as it let out a furious howl. As though from a deep slumber, it had heard a call after two hundred years of absence... And so, the departed spirit opened its eyes once more. In an instant, beneath the engine's violent backlash, countless chains shattered inch by inch. The key Kanemoto had forged was instantly ejected, twisted into a crumpled lump. At this moment, the central hub, combining all the power of the entire artificial Celestial Rail, launched a ferocious counterattack against its controller. As if... it had been endowed with life and a soul! —[Deus Ex Machina]! "All this time, relying on this, relying on that, relying on others... I completely forgot I still had a palm strike falling from the heavens..." Leaning against the engine, Ji Jue chuckled in self-mockery. At that instant, as life drained away, the familiar notification window surfaced before his eyes once more. [Life-threatening danger detected. Standard Emergency Survival Protocol activated—during protocol duration, the Celestial Chosen's ability undergoes qualitative advancement by one rank—dual advancement complete!] No longer Calling; elevated by the protocol, Deus Ex Machina—now stepped into Metamorphosis—took effect here. Just like a reenactment of the scene at Mercy Hospital, except this time, the target of his ability was no longer electric scooters costing merely a few hundred or a thousand yuan. It was the colossus right before him... Truly endowing the engine with life! The violently turning engine showed no resistance whatsoever to his ability. Quite the contrary, as if it had waited for who knew how long, it took the initiative to unlock all its internal spiritus sequences and verifications. An eager wait. All he needed to do was present the key... Nothing more! Countless spiritus structures overlapped in an instant, the verification locking into place. The moment it finished, a vast, magnificent, high-pitched screech burst forth, soaring into the sky. A resonant, distant echo, like the whistle of a train about to depart, proclaimed itself to all directions. Under the transformation of the advanced Deus Ex Machina, the ecstatic engine spirit swallowed every drop of spiritus in the artificial Celestial Rail, running in overdrive. The corruption that had seeped into every single component and structure was drawn out under the control of the Celestial Rail. The ring of screaming steel rang without pause. Amidst the burning ruins, iron plates and wreckage shot from all directions, falling onto the engine to repair its missing pieces. It was like time running in reverse! And accompanied by the call of the whistle, one door after another swung open in the void without warning. Without hesitation, it emptied every last reserve from the storehouse. Amidst President's excited howls, steel frameworks, transmission shafts, pipes and cables, instruments... countless parts poured down like rain, surging forward like a flood. The once-dead behemoth roared back to life, regenerating internal organs and limbs at a speed visible to the naked eye, regrowing flesh and blood once more! A colossal beast rose from the ruins, towering above the earth. Yet in front of the billowing dust and smoke, Ji Jue sat calmly upon the steps. He lowered his head, curiously studying the wound in his chest. Reaching out, he toyed with his shattered heart, examining it closely, and grew only more perplexed. Where was the Great Abomination? Where was the Supreme Virtue? He couldn't hold back a laugh. It was nothing more than a chest full of blood. What arrogance or emptiness was there to speak of? Just like that, from beneath his heart, he pulled out that blood-stained wristwatch. Right before Kanemoto's eyes, he fastened it around his wrist. "No need for the Grandmaster to fret. Whatever is in this blood, I shall choose for myself!" No need for someday, Kanemoto. Nor any need to wait for some great menace to arise... Right now, the enemy you crave stands right before your eyes!