Later, I finally found Xia Jiawen.

He stood on the rooftop, leaving me with a tall and slender silhouette, his long shadow dragging on the ground, surrounded by the sound of alarms.

In his left hand, he held a flower— a white morning glory. The soil of the Nine Serenities wasn't good, yet he managed to cultivate a flower over these years.

The screen displayed complex codes. I recognized it— it was the command to deactivate the Nine Serenities.

"...Is this your final decision, Fifth Principal?" I said.

At that moment, I no longer addressed him as "Mr. Xia" or "Jiawen," but solemnly as "Fifth Principal."

He heard my voice but didn't turn around, like a wooden post driven into the ground. I could only vaguely see through the reflection in his lenses the slight trembling of his eyelashes, moistened.

Next to him was a display showing the Life Hard Drive's memory, with the number [1628 people] on it, corresponding to the total lives in the hall, including Lin Yawen. So Xia Jiawen knew about their deaths even before I did— no, that's not right. When he left the hall in advance, he must have already agreed with Lin Yawen, and the collective order to die was his decision.

In just a few seconds, to make such a decision, I couldn't imagine his mood. I wasn't close to those children, but he was different; in that blood-colored hall was his lover and child. Yet he resolutely bid them farewell and ascended the rooftop alone for the final task.

... Did he give Lin Yawen a goodbye hug?

I don't know.

When his code reached the final stage, the Black Mist gradually approached, and this building was the last sanctuary. In less than a few minutes, it, too, would be engulfed.

"... Is it just the two of us left?" Xia Jiawen stopped typing and turned to look at me.

The cursor on the screen stopped at the last letter, only a simple "enter" remained for the Nine Serenities to be left in an inoperable state, with most functions abandoned— the monitoring room would enter sleep mode, and the Old God's body cultivation plan would be forever halted. Millennium later, the Old God might wake to find an empty Nine Serenities.

"Yes, it's just the two of us left," I replied to him.

Looking out, the building we were in stood like a pinnacle in the ocean, the Black Mist like a tsunami, spreading across most of the land, soon to engulf this height.

The life count on the screen was also telling us— only three lives remained.

Me, Xia Jiawen, and an Lv Shu somewhere unknown.

It was merely a researcher's act of selfishness, merely a millisecond of oversight... creating such a terrifying outcome— a deity can err a thousand times and still crush humanity, but a single human error demands a terrifying price. We were only responsible for the peripheral of the millennium plan, yet still met such tragedy.

... This is "contending with a deity."

Xia Jiawen's gaze pierced through the lenses to the outside. The hall was no longer visible, submerged in the dense sea-like fog, hiding the thousands of smiling corpses inside.

His expression felt unfamiliar to me.

He had always been a gentle person, caring to children, tender to his lover, never once raising his voice in all their years of marriage. I had nearly never seen him angry.

Yet now his gaze was profound, enduring, and cold.

As if he was startlingly aware of exactly what he was doing.

"Stop inputting the code, Fifth Principal," my voice was cold too: "Your action will permanently deactivate the Nine Serenities, which doesn't comply with the deactivation plan of the millennium project. Even if all personnel were dead, we could still bring a new team to station there instead of abandoning it."

Xia Jiawen looked at me.

His eyes carried something I couldn't decipher.

"Ming Yue," he used the familiar address, unlike me: "The location of the Nine Serenities has already been found out by the Dieying. Even if The Republic automatically expels all Black Mist, it won't take many years before the Dieying may come again. Its cost isn't high: possess anyone, release a large patch of Black Mist, and the tragedy could repeat. The surface now has fallen, and many people find it hard to have their own thoughts, we can hardly guarantee the trustworthiness of new recruits. This time we're lucky; you and I are both alive, and we can still carry out the final operation, but if next time, the time after next... in countless of the millennium, you and I happen to die unexpectedly? Who then will the Nine Serenities belong to?"

"If Nine Serenities is deactivated, leaving only fundamental functions, allowing it to mechanically operate autonomously, there'd still be zero chance of anything going wrong. What happens if Dieying releases Black Mist again? It cannot directly intervene in the world, only manipulate others, and here, there are no humans to heed its call."

"Under these circumstances, Nine Serenities at least could never be taken by the enemy, the largest Life Hard Drive transformed by General Qin would safely survive a millennium— and that is what matters the most."

"—That's an excuse!" I said, "—You just don't want to see any more deaths!"

His reasoning actually made sense. The primary mission of Nine Serenities was to store the Life Hard Drive. Building a monitoring room, cultivating Old God bodies, nurturing researchers' reincarnations... were all secondary tasks. Although without these tasks, flaws would inevitably surface in the plan, at least it would still run.

Yet the probability Xia Jiawen mentioned of "you and I accidentally die" was too low; he wasn't truly afraid of Nine Serenities falling but didn't want to witness such total destruction again. The millennium plan was flawless; it couldn't be deserted due to a single attack— but the cost of maintaining Nine Serenities after the coordinates were leaked was too weighty, a heavy toll paid in lives.

At first, Xia Jiawen was chosen as the Fifth Principal of the Nine Serenities because of his gentle, loving nature, his ability to educate children. Yet now, it was also this softness that led him to abandon it.

—He wouldn't sacrifice so many lives for mere secondary tasks. His choice was a refusal.

Xia Jiawen looked at me.

Dust stained his figure, the fabric on his knees torn and ragged, the soles of his shoes stained with blood. He must have witnessed many tragedies on the way here— mobs shooting at children, dying kids covered in blood crying out to him for help... but he didn't stop; he needed to ensure he reached the rooftop in time. In those scant few seconds, his heart shattered.

When he ran here, he was utterly alone.

The Black Mist slowly rose, gradually reaching the rooftop height, with only a few dozen meters to go.

"... Ming Yue." His voice grew hoarse.

I recalled the starlit night, him lying on the bench, crying and yelling... he wanted a pair of long pants, the freedom of buying a pair at the mall. Over the years, malls in Nine Serenities were built, and he had many pairs of long pants, neatly hanging in his closet.

His wish was fulfilled.

... But it felt like his wish never truly came true.

"... We have never had freedom."

My fingers aimed at his fingertips, ready to use Word Spirit to stop him the moment he showed signs of pressing "enter."

He looked at me.

His eyes bore a profound, bone-deep sorrow.

"... Ming Yue. That day, I told you, I wanted a pair of long pants. Could you let me have this 'pair of pants' too?"

"Reason." I needed him to convince me.

"After Nine Serenities is deactivated, many areas won't be within The Republic's protection, thus it'll be separated out. I'll give that part to you, and you can take The Republic wherever you want. You can protect any place you wish, you'll be free."

"..."

"With The Republic's protection, you can safely write the 'Rule Book,' right? The deity can't erase it from your hands; eventually, you'll have it written."

"..."

"With The Republic's protection, it'll be easy for you to cultivate an Old God body. You don't need Nine Serenities; you can create a backup Old God body yourself. A millennium later, you can personally guide an Old God; you could even create a natural Newbie Village for them. It would certainly be better than them being born into the world in ignorance."

"..."

"I trust your strength more than Nine Serenities, Ming Yue."

I knew he was using rhetoric.

I understood his feelings.

For some incidental tasks, watching generation after generation die miserably... Even with my indifference, I feel some resistance. If the ark of civilization needs to sail over the skeletons of children, he would rather not raise the sails.

I began to hesitate. Although Nine Serenities has the highest success rate, if I do it myself, the success rate shouldn't be low either.

So beneath my gaze, his fingertip pressed down.

Enter.

With a click, like destiny turning towards a deeper direction, I felt myself standing at an unknown crossroads.

At this moment, the Black Mist was less than five meters away from us.

...

"Beep—beep—beep—"

The brilliant blue-purple light flowed through the pipelines, resembling veins and arteries delivering blood. Surrounding mechanical assembly sounds echoed, I closed my eyes, walked forward step by step amidst the buzzing, with hot wind brushing past my ears.

Nine Serenities was abandoned.

All this because of a researcher's selfishness, just like an empire's downfall due to a horseshoe.

... Will we become a horseshoe in this millennial layout?

The possibility of Nine Serenities' fall exists; we can't guarantee it won't be seized every generation. For the safety of General Qin's Life Hard Drive, we chose a more moderate, more stable, more humane path — abandoning Nine Serenities, letting it run on its own.

This isn't included in the millennial plan. But plans are dead, people are alive.

I don't know if this is right, but I can't see what direction another destiny would lead to; that would be a bloodier, colder, more exquisite path.

Xia Jiawen put the dismantled Republic into my hand — a small cross necklace.

"The design is so unique. We are anti-deity, yet the Republic takes the form of a cross." I hung it around my neck.

"The design isn't important; its essence is an energy shield that can block the interference and gaze of 'God'." Xia Jiawen said.

"How did you get it?"

"Given to me by the first Principal, perhaps an old God's treasure."

I took off the white coat on me and threw it into the Black Mist — now I'm free, no longer needing it.

At this moment, the Black Mist was less than three meters away from us.

Within a thousand miles, pitch-black, as if in endless hell.

"Ming Yue, how do you want to live your life in the future?" he asked.

"I will find a place to establish the Republic. Not confined to Nine Serenities anymore, elsewhere in the world will also have a small Republic." I said.

"Sounds good."

"How about you?"

"I have stored Yawen's data within General Qin, maybe they can be reborn a thousand years later. As for this millennium... I should travel around, trying to save the children on the ground."

"If you get tired, come to my Republic. No matter your age, no matter how many times you've reincarnated."

"...Alright, it's a promise."

"You can do anything you want, even be a teacher. I can build a school in the Republic, and the Peace Festival can continue."

"...Alright."

So we promised each other. His originally gloomy expression had brightened.

I pushed him into the teleporting apparatus, went downstairs once more, found Lv Shu who was fighting the Black Mist alone, and pushed Lv Shu into it too. Thankfully, the apparatus was large.

The teleportation white light activated, I stood in the gradually tightening Black Mist, across the glass, gazing into Xia Jiawen's eyes.

He kissed the Morning Glory flower in his hand, tears finally fell from his eyes.

I suddenly remembered... This flower is the one he gave Lin Yawen last night.

Perhaps during today's final farewell, she returned it to him.

I remember one of this flower's meanings,

Love till death do us part.

...

As I went downstairs, I suddenly saw a figure.

It was a black-haired youth, with a bewildered look on his face.

Nine Serenities was already deserted, I recognized who he was.

"Hello." He turned his head to look at me: "I am the backup body of the old God."

"Which generation are you?" I asked.

Over the years, the old God's bodies changed one batch after another, each batch closer to the historical old God. Looking at this youth, he almost indistinguishable from the old God.

"I am the 3030th." He calmly replied.

... Is that so, so quickly it's 3030, seems the renewal is fast.

I passed by him without staying.

Yet he said: "The cultivation plan stalled, I am the last 'old God.' Do you have anything to say to me?"

After I leave Nine Serenities, it would be sealed. If this 3030 Su Ming hasn't died in the Black Mist, he would stay here for a thousand years, and human souls rarely have such a long lifespan. In the end, he might go mad, fall into self-dormancy, or abandon all memories to maintain rationality. When I see him again a thousand years later, surely he won't recognize me.

So I have nothing to say to him.

But at this moment, I briefly regained my thoughts, Li Mingyue wouldn't say anything, but Su Ming'an would.

So I said: "...Be yourself."

That's the only thing I wanted to leave him.

Be yourself, 3030.

We have already stopped all planning regarding Nine Serenities. You can do anything you want. It's big here, with various entertainment facilities; you can do everything you want, and your free time lasts a thousand years.

You're free, escaping is fine too.

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