The faint morning light crept over the sill of the porthole, illuminating the side of Xiao Yang's sleeping face.
As if sensing the touch of the light, she fluttered her long eyelashes, pushed up with the small hands that had been resting against the cryogenic hibernation pod, and yawned unconsciously.
"You're awake?"
A gentle voice came from beside her ear.
"Mm." She responded subconsciously, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and stared blankly out the porthole.
The sky was a resplendent red. The rising morning sun floated above a sea of clouds, casting a soft glow through the thin atmosphere.
Day had already broken?
While she was dazed, the gentle voice spoke again.
"Morning comes earlier up in the sky than on the ground. It looks even more magnificent from the deck... Everything around is still pitch-black, but the sun is already rising in the distance."
Xiao Yang looked to the side and saw the older sister who always examined her sitting nearby, watching her with a warm smile.
Memories of the previous night gradually resurfaced.
Loud noises had suddenly erupted outside, and then this big sister had brought her into the infirmary, locked the door, drawn the curtains, turned off the lights, and told her not to make a sound no matter what happened outside.
She had obediently done as told, staying by Yinyin's side and listening to the thunderous sounds outside, waiting and waiting until she had unknowingly drifted off to sleep.
Nothing really happened outside after all, right?
She gazed at the brightly lit porthole, blinking softly. No matter how many times she saw it, the breathtaking sunrise was still mesmerizing, keeping her gaze glued to it.
It was a sight she had never seen at Pinecone Wood Farm.
Sometimes she couldn't help thinking that if she spent her entire life in that place, she would probably never see such scenery.
Just then, Xiao Yang suddenly noticed that it wasn't just her and Big Sister Chen Yutong in the room; sitting in front of the neighboring cryogenic hibernation pod was an unfamiliar woman with twin ponytails.
A clear streak of tears ran down her fair cheek, standing out starkly in the sunlight spilling over the window sill. She must have been crying for a long time.
Xiao Yang fell silent.
The person lying in that hibernation pod was probably someone very important to her...
As if sensing her gaze, the woman lifted her head.
The instant their eyes met, the shy Xiao Yang hastily averted her gaze, staring fixedly out the window and pretending she hadn't been looking.
However, the woman didn't stare at her for long. She soon turned her gaze to Chen Yutong, who was sitting next to her, and spoke in a raspy voice.
"I don't understand... Why did you fake your own death?"
Chen Yutong sighed.
She had intended to stay hidden from Jiang Xuezhou until she left the airship, never expecting that Jiang Xuezhou would burst into the infirmary late last night along with a group of people.
Faced with this unexpected reunion, Chen Yutong hadn't known what to say. Looking at her shocked and bewildered friend, she had pointed to the sleeping Xiao Yang, pressed an index finger to her lips, and made a pleading gesture.
It had to be said that this was a clumsy excuse—after all, the corridor was right outside, and whatever they needed to say could easily have been discussed there.
Yet Jiang Xuezhou probably hadn't known how to face this "resurrected" friend who had kept her in the dark either, so she had simply nodded.
After placing Ye Shi into the hibernation pod, the Enterprise personnel had quietly left the infirmary. The two silent women had sat there like that all the way until dawn.
"...If I hadn't done that, there was no way I could leave that marsh." Knowing she would have to face her questioning sooner or later, Chen Yutong sighed. No longer avoiding her inquiring gaze, she looked up at the ceiling and said.
Jiang Xuezhou looked at her with a complicated expression.
"...Why did you have to leave?"
"If you ask why..." Chen Yutong thought for a moment and gave her a helpless smile. "There really isn't any special reason."
Just as everyone in the Academy shared a single purpose, pinning their hopes on escaping the barren land beneath their feet and traveling to a distant "paradise" to break free from all hardship...
It was only natural that an inconspicuous prospector would place her hope of escaping fate's shackles on fleeing the Wandering Marsh.
She only found out later that she wasn't the first person to flee the Academy; over the past century and a half, people had been leaving one after another.
Among them was White Dove, who had traveled to the southernmost reaches of the desert at the Zhuobar Mountains and penned *Oasis Beneath the Zhuobar Mountains*.
All of them had used their remarkable knowledge to make modest contributions to this desolate wasteland. She didn't think there was any shame in it.
However.
Jiang Xuezhou couldn't accept it.
Her once most trusted friend had turned out to be a defector, and what was even harder to accept was that she claimed there was no reason.
"No reason at all..."
Unable to bear being harsh to her grieving friend, Chen Yutong thought for a moment and offered a gentler explanation.
"Well, if I had to name a reason, it would be that I couldn't see any hope."
"...Hope?"
"Humans are creatures that need hope to survive. When they can't see hope, they feel misery. You might not understand that feeling—no matter how hard you work, you'll spend your whole life as an insignificant Rank E, a dispensable prospector. Just like the least notable pawn on a chessboard, able only to move forward according to preset rules toward a destination you don't even know."
Jiang Xuezhou pressed her lips tight.
"I worked hard to become a Rank D too..."
"I'm not denying your hard work. In fact, I truly admire your persistence, because that's a quality I don't possess. But I don't envy it... I just want to live my own life, that's all."
Watching Jiang Xuezhou search for an argument, Chen Yutong smiled faintly and looked toward the increasingly dazzling morning sun outside the porthole.
"Did you know? Before leaving that swamp, I didn't even know that besides rule-bound AIs, an entirely different kind of existence existed in this world. Rather than programmed routines, they are more like living people with thoughts of their own... Two centuries ago, this was actually common, but now we treat it as taboo."
Jiang Xuezhou bit her lip and voiced a different view.
"On that point, I agree with Doctor Conclusion. Unconstrained AI is very likely to cause severe disaster... Tools must remain tools; they shouldn't possess self-awareness."
Chen Yutong looked at her and asked in return,
"Then what about people?"
Jiang Xuezhou froze, unsure why she had suddenly said that.
"...People?"
"Mm," Chen Yutong nodded, speaking in a light tone. "Should human beings born to be tools possess self-awareness? I pondered that for a long time without finding an answer, so I decided to go elsewhere and look around..."
"If I had stayed in the marsh, the highest rank I could reach in this lifetime would probably be Rank D, right? Haha, don't think I'm bragging—researchers are one thing, but as a prospector I still had that confidence... After all, while researchers need promotions, prospectors can always find a way to rank up as long as they work hard to stay alive."
"Too bad I never wanted to become a Rank D at all. In fact, not just Rank D—I never wanted to be labeled in the first place. Haven't you realized? In this game of Snake, no matter how long your tail grows, no matter how many servants you can order around or how many resources you command, as long as you're still on this pyramid, you will never control your own destiny."
"I have no interest in manipulating other people's lives, nor do I want to be pushed around, much less go die in some random place for some inexplicable reason. I just want to be an ordinary person, research what interests me, and if I have to die, die a slightly meaningful death. That's all."
"Fortunately, though, I've already found my paradise. It isn't dozens of light-years away; it's right under my feet. Here, if my research happens to interest others, I get plenty of attention. If not, it doesn't matter; I can entertain myself. As long as I don't get in anyone's way, nobody bothers me."
"Materially speaking, this place really can't compare to the Academy, but I'm quite satisfied with my life right now. There are many things here that don't exist in the swamp, and so many interesting people. These aren't miracles that only abundant resources can produce; they come from human imagination and creativity... If you really can't understand it, just consider it as the Alliance offering me a better deal."
Having rattled off so much without noticing, Chen Yutong saw Jiang Xuezhou staring at her dumbfounded. She suddenly burst into laughter and joked,
"Ah, even though I say all that, don't you go following my example. I wouldn't want to corrupt a good girl."
She understood this close friend of hers.
Unlike a lazy "bad woman" like herself, Jiang Xuezhou was more like an obedient, well-behaved girl. She possessed not only extraordinary talent, but also ample diligence and focus, along with unyielding passion and determination to climb the ranks.
The Academy's promotion paths were wide open to her; her future was bright. Someday she might very well become a Rank B or even a Rank A, and in the Academy's core Department of Research at that.
After all, her current mentor was from the Department of Research, making future advancement natural and seamless.
Jiang Xuezhou stared unblinkingly at Chen Yutong. After a long silence, she lowered her head and said,
"I'll keep your secret... We never met on this airship."
Chen Yutong smiled gently and said sincerely,
"Thanks."
Her family was still in a settlement administered by the Science Committee, and might have already collected the bereavement compensation paid by the committee.
If the Academy learned she was still alive, things would get awkward.
It was unlikely she would ever return in this lifetime, but she still hoped her family in the Wandering Marsh could live well, untouched by her actions.
Jiang Xuezhou silently turned her head toward the hibernation pod before her, her eyes filled with sorrow and conflicting emotions.
At that moment, she suddenly felt her hand being held.
She looked up, surprise flashing in her eyes.
The child who had just woken up was holding her hand, looking at her earnestly, and speaking in a soft, childish voice.
"Everything will be okay... The doctor said that as long as life signs are detected when the pod lid closes, the light stays green."
Unlike Yinyin...
Yinyin's light was dark.
Even so, Xiao Yang wouldn't lose heart. She would keep waiting for her to wake up, and then tell her everything that had happened during this time.
Feeling the warmth from that small palm, Jiang Xuezhou felt her spirits lift slightly. A faint smile broke through her sorrowful expression.
"...Thank you."
That was right.
That guy was still alive. He hadn't truly died; he was just gravely wounded and unable to wake up for now...
Even if he could never stand again, it didn't matter.
Jiang Xuezhou resolved in her heart: she would definitely wake him up, even if it meant replacing his entire body, even if it turned him into a "Xiao Wang."
This time—
It would be her turn to save him!
Even as Jiang Xuezhou clenched both fists, Kuang Feng and Fang Chang, standing at the hospital entrance, exchanged a glance, their faces wearing utterly bizarre expressions.
After waiting so long without the NPCs inside coming out, they hadn't even found an opportunity to pull the plug on Ye Shi's ICU equipment.
Then again...
Was there even any point in pulling it?
The two communicated with their eyes.
Kuang Feng: *Looks like it isn't a bug.*
Fang Chang: *Yeah, it's still a bit different from Luo Yu's situation. This guy just hasn't fully kicked the bucket; he didn't die and then resurrect.*
Kuang Feng: *So do we still finish him off?*
Fang Chang chuckled.
*Tsk. Even though seeing that punk act like a spoiled brat after getting lucky is pretty annoying, out of our paternal bond... I'll spare his miserable dog life this time.*
Kuang Feng: "..."
...
The morning sun climbed above the horizon. Floating above the clouds, the *Heart of Steel* remained towering and immovable.
At eight o'clock sharp, its artillery began to roar on schedule.
Having rested overnight, the various corps deployed across Jinhe City launched a fierce offensive against the Champion Biology Institute under cover of the bombardment.
Flashes of explosive fire rolled continuously over the concrete ruins; the surface bunkers thrown together from trash by the Qi Tribe crumpled like paper.
Green heads cowered in the shadows of the ruins, every face uniformly filled with terror.
Those feeble expressions were the spitting image of the prey they had once toyed with.
Only now, it was their turn to be the prey.
Yet the Alliance was civilized and merciful after all.
The great Administrator had no intention of playing with these beasts strapped to the execution scaffold; the hammer of judgment would grant them all an equal death!
"Advance!!!"
Leaning halfway out of the turret of a Chimera armored fighting vehicle, Mole roared into his headset, barking offensive orders to the other crews and accompanying infantry.
"All squads, advance on the institute!"
"Show these sneak-attacking cowards what an iron fist really looks like!"
Keeping pace with the armored vehicles, the hyper-excited players yelled in response.
"Awoooo!"
"Kill!!"
"Crush them!!!"
The 37mm autocannons hammered continuously, their rhythmic booms sounding like war drums. Every flash of tracer fire heralded a storm of blood.
Under that fierce onslaught, the street positions established by the Qi Tribe tore open like wet paper, riddled with holes in moments.
Listening to the deafening rumble of artillery, gunfire, and battle cries in the distance, Gomo, draped in his ritual robes, stared blankly at the sky, muttering under his breath.
"Why... Why is it still there?!"
At nightfall yesterday, Clan Chief Gahn had led over ten thousand Batwings in a raid against the *Heart of Steel*. By now, that fortress should have been taken...
Yet the dense bombardment fell directly upon their heads with pinpoint accuracy, no different from yesterday morning.
That left only one possibility...
Despair gradually crept into Gomo's eyes.
"No... This isn't real. Something must have gone wrong."
With trembling hands, he clutched his wrinkled face, his chapped lips rapidly chanting the "incantation" Luo Qian had given him.
Soon, a pale golden light visible only to him projected beside him.
Yet the figure standing within that light was not Luo Qian, but an old man clad in an exoskeleton.
His name was Arzu.
He was the Apostle sent by the Church to replace Luo Qian, as well as the man who had granted Gahn the biomass armor and command over more than ten thousand Batwings.
Gomo had met him before. The moment he saw him, he frantically asked:
"What happened? Why... Why isn't it what we agreed on?! Why is the *Heart of Steel* still firing at us?!"
Arzu stared at him in silence, waiting for the elderly mutant to finish speaking, before looking away.
"We did our best. Unfortunately, your child was useless, squandering countless efforts and years of our operations... Honestly, that trump card was originally prepared for the sons of the Reconstruction Committee, yet that fool played his hand so terribly that I am at a loss for words."
Speaking of this was indeed humiliating.
Though he knew the Alliance was no pushover, losing to this ragtag bunch was genuinely embarrassing for him.
He could only blame Luo Qian.
If that fellow hadn't suddenly dropped his responsibilities and pulled a disappearing act, they wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.
Or if he had been in command from the very beginning, they wouldn't have lost so bafflingly.
Too bad the wreckage of that biomass armor couldn't be recovered...
Otherwise, he could have figured out exactly what had happened up there.
Gomo had no inkling of his thoughts, only feeling that this detached attitude looked rather like an attempt to shift the blame.
Staring blankly at Arzu, he asked in a trembling voice:
"Then... what do we do next?!"
"Next?" Arzu chuckled. "Do whatever you want."
"Whatever we want is..."
Seeing Arzu prepare to leave, Gomo vaguely guessed his intentions and cried out in panic:
"Wait... What about the Na fruit core?! You don't want it anymore?!"
At the mention of the Na fruit core in the lab, Arzu's brow twitched involuntarily. He said darkly:
"We would love to keep it, but the question is, at this point, can you even hold onto it—"
Before he could finish, Gomo cut him off rapidly:
"We haven't lost! We still have people, we can still fight! As long as we keep fighting... the mere Alliance is no match for us!"
Even if they had to shed their very last drop of blood!
As long as a single person survived, hope for restoring Singularity City's glory would never be extinguished!
Gomo had that confidence.
Even if only he remained, he was confident he could breed another tribe!
Arzu looked at the grimacing old creature, a trace of pity suddenly surfacing in his placid gaze.
What a pathetic wretch...
In truth, he was one of the few sober mutants in this absurd, foolish tribe, but what use was one person's lucidity?
At this moment, he was like a gambler who had lost all his chips and still refused to face reality, even though he should have realized long ago that this was a high-stakes gamble.
Considering that this old creature was an elder of Singularity City and might still be of some use, Arzu said casually:
"If you want to live, head south. The bishop down there will assign you new work."
Without a second thought, Gomo refused:
"No! I'm not leaving! I only need you to help us—"
"Then struggle as long as you can."
Looking at this stubborn fool, Arzu tossed out those words impatiently. Then, beneath Gomo's despairing gaze, he vanished silently from the empty street...
...
At the southernmost edge of Jinhe City.
Three stealthy figures gathered together, like rats whispering in the sewers.
The clamor of artillery could no longer be heard here.
Word was that the Alliance had already breached the main entrance of the Champion Biology Institute and was locked in fierce firefights with the mutants stationed inside the building.
None of that mattered anymore, though.
The outcome of the war had already been decided last night.
"Kill... hehe, kill..."
His facial muscles twitching, Tang He kept muttering incessantly, an eerie smile plastered across his face.
He was always like this. Chi Mo paid him no mind at all, staring intently at the Apostle named Arzu before him.
"What about Luo Qian? We still haven't found him... Are we just retreating like this?"
Standing before the Executioner, Arzu said calmly,
"We've exhausted our final trump card and lost this battle. The fall of the Jinhe City Diocese is only a matter of time... Does finding Luo Qian make any difference now?"
Chi Mo's expression remained unmoved as he spoke word by word:
"I will not let any traitor go."
"Then go look for him. That's your job anyway, and I only care about the final plan." Arzu turned around impassively, walking toward the dark shadows nearby.
He knew the Alliance would not let things rest here. Once they secured a foothold in Jinchuan Province, they would definitely continue south.
Furthermore, knowing their usual pattern, they would drag as many people onto their chariot as possible—very likely pulling in both the Enterprise and the Academy.
This was a war of faith.
It was also a war of survival.
Until one side was completely annihilated, this war would not stop.
He would fight everything from the old world to the very end. If these stubborn vermin clinging to the past still refused to embrace glorious evolution—
Then they could go die!
Chi Mo glared at the direction Arzu had taken, gritted his teeth, and turned away, leading his deranged partner in another direction.
He didn't care about the Godservants' plans, nor did he care about evolution; that was never something achieved in a day or two anyway.
As the sword of the Tribunal, cutting down disloyal traitors for the Church was his lifelong conviction, one he would carry out until his dying breath.
Seemingly sensing the murderous aura radiating from him, Tang He's eyes glittered with feverish light, and he muttered under his breath:
"Kill..."
He cared about nothing.
All he wanted was to slaughter every soul in the city!
Chapter 610