Chapter 45 The Returning Traveler

The tenth tier.

"If..."

"No."

Before the question of the Stairway to Divinity could even form in his mind, Mo Wen, passively plunged into the state of Energy Level 5 by a surge of overwhelming crisis, had already answered. The sense of peril vanished immediately, but the present reality was grim indeed.

An entity bearing the appearance of Qi Shiming stood before Mo Wen. Aside from him, completely unscathed, not a single living soul remained.

"Ah, what a pity that I couldn't simply kill you to avoid a fight."

"Those who climbed up ahead of you, hoping to wear down the enemy on your behalf, didn't expect this tier's opponent to be so formidable; I've already killed them all without taking a single scratch. Their fighting spirit is commendable, but sheer will alone can never truly challenge absolute power."

"Yet, do not worry. Unlike you, I will not prevent them from resurrecting; they are all safely preserved. In just nine minutes and twenty seconds, Qi Shiming will bring them back to life."

Mo Wen showed no inclination to converse. He scrutinized every detail of his opponent, attempting to decipher his combat style and pinpoint a weakness.

The enemy displayed a look of helpless resignation. "Ah, can't you understand? There is truly no need for us to fight."

"Up to this point, not a single member of the [Consortium] has chosen to destroy your souls. We are indeed trying our utmost to block your path, but solely because you are launching an assault on something of vital importance. If you attempt to destroy our project, we naturally have to retaliate."

"I have no desire to kill you; it is simply that persuading you is far more troublesome than fighting. It is much easier to just kill you first and strip away your capacity to resist. Once you are resurrected, you will naturally realize that there was never any need for battle."

With a sudden backward step, he dissolved into a flash of light and teleported three hundred thousand kilometers away—so distant that the space of the tenth tier felt abstractly desolate—successfully evading Mo Wen's strike.

Gazing at Mo Wen, who was already re-adjusting his posture for a frontal assassination, the entity patted his chest and sighed, "That was close, close indeed. I was nearly killed. But at this distance, I should think we can have a civilized, friendly chat."

"Let me introduce myself. You may call me 117, or perhaps 'The Defective Product', 'Little Qi', or 'Knight Dark'."

"Since I cannot easily kill you, I have no intention of wasting time fighting you. Please bear with me; I might well be liquidated and executed by Senior Qi Shiming once he resurrects, so indulge me and let me explain the whole story to you."

***

"The whole affair begins in the early months of 1788, near the tail end of the Corporate Wars. The few remaining super-conglomerates linked their secret technologies together in a chain reaction, deliberately triggering a supernova to drag everyone down with them."

"Qi Shiming's psionic perception detected the impending catastrophe that would silently annihilate humanity. His resolve reached its absolute zenith, propelling him—without any external aid—into Energy Level 6, a state uncontrollable even for him, the strongest psionic in human history. In a single instant, he snuffed out the light of the supernova, replacing the old sun with his failing mortal vessel, doing it so swiftly that barely anyone noticed anything was amiss."

"The event happened too abruptly. Aside from an absolute handful of individuals, no one knew he had sacrificed himself, let alone how he had done so. Even those in the know were only aware that he had exhausted his energy to the bitter end."

"Quite a few people noticed the abnormal illumination and temperature of the Avel Star, but none suspected that Qi Shiming's final parting gift was a psionic light source."

"To avoid disrupting post-war reconstruction, the [Consortium] covered up this sudden death, pretending he was still alive."

"Even so, the anomalies of Energy Level 6 are rather conspicuous. Gradually, people began to ascertain that Qi Shiming hadn't truly perished."

"For ordinary life forms, an excess of psionic energy destroys the physical body. For those at Energy Level 6, psionic energy transcends their flesh, blurring the very boundaries between life and death."

"And so, they began plotting to resurrect him."

"This world is full of Qi Shiming fanatics, and then there are the twisted Qi Shiming fanatics. You look at those people and think they are desperately trying to clutch power in their own palms, driven mad by ambition—but that is not the case at all. They are merely too shy to openly proclaim that their sole purpose is to resurrect Qi Shiming so he can lead them once again."

"Even when they realized the flaws, they refused to let go, purely because they believed Qi Shiming alone could fix everything."

"The Psionic Machine Project, the Sea of Life Project, the Artificial God Project, the Sea of Consciousness Project... Through one failed project after another, they accumulated sufficient experience, confirming that Qi Shiming lacked only guidance and a physical shell to return from death."

"Zero was the vessel they forged for this purpose."

"They condensed the kindness and beauty of an entire civilization into solid form. This miracle, symbolizing civilization itself, inherently possessed Energy Level 6, making the containment of another Energy Level 6 entity effortless."

"Originally, their guiding apparatus was tremendously complex, and you would have served as a disruptive interference source. But just now, the mutual resolve of the warring factions acted as a beacon."

"Truth be told, looking back now, we never needed all those messy technologies. All it took was gathering a sufficiently massive pool of psionic energy and calling out Qi Shiming's name to summon back the man who had departed with humanity still heavy on his heart."

117 said with profound sincerity: "You advanced all the way here simply to destroy Zero, fearing it might harm humanity. But the individuals who could have weaponized that power have already been slain. A Zero without a controller is entirely harmless."

***

"On the contrary, destroying Zero will scatter the stored souls into the void, ensuring that the people who could have been resurrected will now truly die."

"The flaws in the psychic network technology can also be resolved simply by disconnecting. When Qi Shiming returns, he will resurrect the others, kick them off the network, and the network will automatically dissolve. Once all external impacts are removed, everyone can slowly update to the new technologies."

"Furthermore, no matter how hard you try, you will never reach the Throne of Divinity. Beyond me lie seventy quadrillion tiers, encompassing vast issues of natural science, political ideology, and more, ensuring that whoever ascends possesses the requisite moral character, administrative prowess, and scientific research capability. To this day, not a single person in the [Consortium] has managed to reach the throne."

"Whether for the future of humanity, for the people eagerly awaiting resurrection, or for your own sake, I implore you to give this careful consideration."

"Even though you have slain many members of the [Consortium], they struck first, and your actions were driven by the desire to prevent them from driving humanity toward a erroneous future. Such a righteous deed will not be punished; it will only be rewarded."

"Patiently wait a few minutes, and you shall witness how humanity's greatest hero refines this world. All your fallen comrades will be resurrected, and you, too, shall become part of the utopia."

"It will be a wonderful world. Though I likely will not live to see it, I hope more people can witness it in my stead."

The truth.

Every single word was the truth.

Without a shred of falsehood, followed by an earnest, heartfelt admonition.

Beneath that expression and tone that Mo Wen found utterly repulsive lay a genuine, faint sorrow and prayer.

Mo Wen tightened his grip on the Dragon Blade, staring at the enemy who had just slaughtered his comrades.

Stop here?

No.