In the middle of the night, the sky was falling snow.

Dieying stood in the sky, strands of hair floating amidst the star sea, as if gazing at the stars.

Su Ming'an opened his eyes, lowered his head, nothing in his arms.

What a pity that the rebound returned to this point in time. Alice had already merged with him, he would become a god, and the crimson serpent would seize his consciousness.

A deadlocked time point.

He could no longer retreat.

…

Su Ming'an suddenly muttered to himself: "A deity disguised as the red-robed boy in the 'Fate Simulator'."

This was the answer he devised. If the deity wanted him to guess wrong, it would surely choose a key character that appeared very few times, making it nearly impossible to guess.

In the next instant, the quest bar [Identify the key figure played by the deity within ten days] was completed. Before the alternation of day and night, he ended the bet and actively removed the protective armor from his body.

Three seconds later, the deity appeared beside him. The deity perceived the end of the bet and came immediately.

In the silent snowfall, Dieying, the deity, and he formed a triangle, standing quietly, yet seemed to be confronting each other.

High above in the starry sky, scenes of the world reflected one after another. The battles on battlefields, the wandering refugees in the wilderness, the believers praying head down in settlements, the Dream Patrol Family fighting across eras, the anchors tearing painfully, the elderly offering flowers before graves... These three 'deities' stood here — the Old God from a millennium ago, the usurped deity, the high-dimensional being above the stars. They jointly overlooked all civilization.

Responsibility, destiny, civilization, things that were extremely distant to a nineteen-year-old youth, but at this moment, frost and snow tightly covered his brows and eyes, and he suddenly realized some things are impossible to escape, the critical time point was frozen at this moment.

Two 'deities' simultaneously looked at Su Ming'an.

Dieying laughed and said: "Su Ming'an. You completed the bet at such a moment, and gave up the bet's protection. Is it because on the other side of the time's long river, you have already gone back once?"

Su Ming'an sensed the crisis. He could even smell the scorched scent of joss paper.

──If what was triggered was Little Su's rebound, he should answer "yes", otherwise he'd be admitting he had a death rebound.

──If what was triggered was his own death rebound, he should answer "no", otherwise it'd expose that he couldn't distinguish between the two rebounds, still admitting he had a death rebound.

Once he answered wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable. The organizers might take him away for investigation like they did with Noel initially.

Thus he curled his lips up, laughing slightly, as if joking casually:

"...You tell me this now, are you worried the deity will take me away?"

Not letting anyone know if he had rebounded once, or not at all.

White snow fell upon his brows, and he faintly saw in the shadows of the distant sky a figure of a rabbit. The tip of his nose was filled with the scent of scorched joss paper and ash, a scent that made one shudder.

Dieying laughed:

"Alright, clever answer. Then let's not talk about this."

"Do you want to know what bet the deity had with the organizers? Long before you came to the world of old days, the deity made a bet with the organizers. I can tell you."

The deity's gaze shifted to Dieying, its eyes revealing a hint of threat, as if warning.

Su Ming'an calmly looked at Dieying.

His fingers involuntarily trembled for a while due to the pain of pollution, the warmth gradually fading away.

"...Do you want to know?" Dieying moved closer, starlight enveloping Su Ming'an's brows and eyes.

Su Ming'an moved his lips slightly: "You may speak."

Though the life levels of these two 'deities' were high, one was trapped above the starry sky, one could only induce others with words. They couldn't directly harm him, what brought him to this step wasn't their mighty powers or overwhelming violence, but merely their guidance regarding humanity, words, wisdom.

They never directly harmed him, always using indirect means.

Dieying leaned in, whispered by his ear: "What the deity wagered with the organizers was—[Within twenty days, whether anyone's positional rank could reach the highest]. There are two ways to reach the highest positional rank: one is to clear six Dream Patrol games, the other is to clear three towers. The principle is like how after clearing all instances, a perfect pass allows one to make a wish."

...So there are three towers in total.

Su Ming'an recalled that the condition to clear the second tower was to seal the Exotic Species King, if he hadn't attempted to awaken the Exotic Species King, the second tower would have been cleared. Completing the third tower would elevate his positional rank, allowing him to maintain rationality during his ascent to divinity.

"What's the difference between these two methods?" Su Ming'an asked.

"In your players' words—one is the 'Deity Line', the other is the 'Dieying Line.'" Dieying bent his eyes: "Dream Patrol games are the deity's handiwork, the towers are my handiwork. Whichever you complete first is equivalent to helping that side."

...No wonder the deity always blocked him from contacting the tower, but had no animosity towards his engagement with Dream Patrol games.

Su Ming'an had long noticed that Dream Patrol games and towers were similar in nature, one was a game staged within the Dream Patrol Helmet, the other was a game staged in reality. The methods of the deity and Dieying must be alike, both aimed at deepening the fusion between the world lines. But their goals should be completely opposite.

Regarding Su Ming'an's world line, there are only six Dream Patrol games, namely the Ancient Era, Military Age, The Witch Age, Steam Age, Louyue Era, and the present world. But for players of other world lines, their Dream Patrol games may be another six eras, such as Primitive Age, Martial Heroes Age, Electrical Age, etc., presenting a cycle, eventually covering each era.

The forms of Dream Patrol may also slightly adjust. For players living in ancient times, a technology-based Dream Patrol Helmet may adjust into "ancient god artifact that can play different eras".

"So?" Su Ming'an said.

"The deity believes [someone's positional rank will reach the highest], while the organizers believe [no one's positional rank will reach the highest]. Their bet is the World Origin." Dieying said: "Do you know? Within twenty days to reach the highest positional rank, based on the players' panel, is almost impossible, because the difficulty is extremely high."

Su Ming'an's eyebrows slighted raised.

Under the overwhelming snow, the warmth from his skin faded little by little, even cold was drifting away from him.

"Unless, possessing special authority..."

Dieying's words hung there, like leaving a tail note full of flavor.

"Ha."

Su Ming'an breathed out white air, even his oral cavity began to lose warmth.

His soul seemed to exit his body:

"So what the deities and the organizers are betting on is actually—whether Su Ming'an possesses authority, right?"

He tried to keep this sentence steady, like a casual joke after tea and dinner. He often used this tone, making it sound like he found this possibility very amusing.

... But how could it be funny.

Obviously.

The organizers had long started to suspect him; Noel was just a temporary obstacle. The conclusion had essentially been set; all that was lacking was evidence.

Either, let him admit he possesses authority.

Or, create an extreme predicament that's nearly impossible to break without authority, forcing him to inevitably reveal he has it. And it's necessary to separate Noel to prevent the identity issue from happening again.

So, The World of Old Days is simply the best environment.

—Ten thousand world lines, separating him from his teammates, putting him in a helpless situation.

—The ultra-high difficulty Dream Patrol game and the tower, inducing him to continuously rebound and pass through. As long as he reveals even a tiny hint, it's all over.

The organizers cannot interfere with the game; this is already recognized. Otherwise, they could just put all Perfect Pass players in the same instance, directly terminating the competition.

But what about inducement? What if people in the instance actively make requests to the organizers?

Jiu Shen Aier Ya from Qiongdi, transformed into a pink fox and left the instance. What did she say then? —"I made a deal with the organizers, got to leave Qiongdi, and threw the authority of reincarnation to Cici." This proves that it is feasible for the leader of civilization to make a deal with the organizers at the cost of civilization. But it's limited to trading; the organizers cannot intervene further.

So, if the leader of The World of Old Days—deity made a deal with the organizers, essentially placed a bet...

"If the organizers win, the World Origin from The World of Old Days goes to them. If the deities win, they'll receive a World Origin granted by the organizers, which will help The World of Old Days' civilization's lifespan extend by at least a thousand years." Dieying laughed: "And even if the organizers lose, they're still gaining—because they would then know you have authority. So, it's a completely win-win situation."

Su Ming'an appeared expressionless.

But the deities must know if he slips up, what kind of irretrievable situation he'll be in? Yet, they still placed this bet.

Calculating, cold-eyed, utilizing... this is all he encountered. But this was expected. Sacrificing one to bring prosperity to an entire civilization, the deities made their choice.

So the deities played a big game of chess—civilization was on the brink of destruction, they deliberately used the World Origin as a bet to attract the players of the World Game, betting Su Ming'an's positional rank could reach the highest level. When the players arrived, their Dream Patrol would help consolidate ten thousand world lines, reducing resource consumption and extending the precarious lifespan of civilization. Even if they lost the bet and forfeited their World Origin, the civilization could still survive for a few hundred years, better than immediate destruction. If they won the bet, then it's truly a win-win arrangement where they can obtain a new World Origin, and the organizers can probe Su Ming'an's authority.

Win → the deities get the World Origin, the organizers probe the authority.

Lose → the deities successfully consolidate the world lines, the organizers get a World Origin.

Whether winning or losing, neither side suffers a loss. From the start, the deities stood undefeated—players helped them consolidate the world lines, and The World of Old Days would survive regardless, winning additional World Origin would make it thrive even more.

As long as Dieying's invasion is firmly locked away, the deities fundamentally can't lose.

...

Su Wensheng chuckled lowly: "But, the only potential failure lies in—what if Su Ming'an insists on going to Nine Serenities one day. Then, we must stop him. If the Exotic Species King awakens, Dieying can succeed, and you'll lose."

...

This is the only potential loss—Dieying's successful invasion. Besides, the deities can't lose with millions of possible scenarios.

... This is the "God's" amount of calculation.

Civilization planning envisaged by a ruler spanning thousands of eras.

—Why would a god care about what happens to 9999 world lines? Their gaze is far too vast, only caring about the concept of "civilization" itself, only caring about fusion to save resources; they wouldn't care how painful the disappearing humans will be. As long as civilization can extend for hundreds to thousands of years, what does one short generation's suffering matter? Their vision and nature simply aren't geared to this.

For the deities, this perspective is correct. From the angle of future generations, they are the Savior. But from Su Ming'an's and the audience's viewpoint, they're great villains.

Soul Hunt and Soul Clan fought for generations of false hatred. If they knew that all this was manipulated by the Cloud City God to prolong Pulaya's lifespan and establish the Storm Barrier, while they might accept it, how could they not be painful? Does this prove the Cloud City God's actions wrong?

This is the deity's vision. Once the focus is fixed on civilization itself, everything else becomes unimportant. If they didn't act, there'd be no chance of extending civilization at all.

Su Ming'an viewed the deities.

... Just like the Ta Wei Deity of Ninth World viewed Acto.

All for civilization's survival, exhausting every possibility to calculate the opponent. But Acto sacrificed himself, and the deity sacrificed Su Ming'an.

...

In the distance, the Galaxy stretched like a ribbon across the sky, with nebulae emitting rainbow-like colors.

The deity stood quietly beside Su Ming'an, with fine snow falling on their body.

Their gaze was faint and cold, resembling a never-ending snow.

"Su Ming'an," the deity said.

"I very much liked the story you once told me. After the civilization was destroyed, the remnants of mankind boarded the Ark, traveling far across the Universe, loving each other in the dim chambers. For a moment, this story touched me in a way akin to shedding tears."

"I don't understand what this feeling is."

"But I liked the story, even if only a few remained, civilization still had newfound life."

"It made me feel hope."

Su Ming'an's gaze became fixed.

Despite having countless words, he couldn't speak—how could you say enticing words to a deity shaped like a civilization computer? How could you awaken the sense of morality and conscience that they inherently lack? How could you "strategize" against an inorganic life form?

So the deity's favorability never existed. They inherently lack everything related to humanity. Su Wensheng's feeling was correct; even the deity's tenderness was imitation.

Perpetually unmelting frost won't turn into flowing water; withered branches won't bloom.

Yet, the deity explained nothing of their actions, they obviously could use verbal tactics to refute Dieying's words or beautify their moves, making Su Ming'an less repulsed by them.

But they didn't.

This allowed some other things to mix into the frost and snow, yet the snow remained snow.

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