"You don't remember me?" The man stared intently at Su Ming'an before saying: "...You can even forget your own son, truly not a qualified dad."

Luckily, Su Ming'an wasn't drinking tea, or he surely would have spit it out. He stared at the man in disbelief, as if hearing something more horrifying than Boss Rabbit dancing nude: "...Say that again?"

The Old Gods have been alive for hundreds of years; it's possible they had children. But this doesn't seem like something The Original would do. The Acto bionic body has been single for over a hundred years, and this... progressed so fast?

The man looked at him deeply.

Su Ming'an's gaze twitched, and he suddenly said: "Then call me dad."

The man looked at him in silence.

Su Ming'an sneered: "Xiao Ying, you disguised yourself to trick me. If you were to disguise yourself, you should at least have black hair and black eyes to look a bit like me. Who would you fool with white hair and blue eyes?"

He sensed it, the heavy smell of alcohol on this guy, only Xiao Ying could do this. Among a crowd of normal people, this guy reeked of alcohol and stood out.

Chao Yan, who had been watching the drama for a while, spoke: "Xiao Ying didn't disguise himself; this is his true appearance."

...True appearance?

Su Ming'an looked at Xiao Ying with slight surprise—did this guy look like this a thousand years ago? Though a thousand years later, Xiao Jingsan looked gloomy and twisted, now he seemed bright and cheerful.

"Hmph... have you seen through me? Then, if I call you dad, can you promise not to leave again?" Xiao Ying raised his chin, eyes full of resentment.

"...Impossible, don't call me that." Su Ming'an instantly thought of unpleasant memories and stopped that form of address.

...

"—Hello! 'Thorn Bird' Wang Mingming reporting to you! 43rd place in the third World Game rankings! Skilled in Exploration and Assault!" The boy wearing a military hat stood at attention, bright-eyed, saluting Su Ming'an with one hand.

"—'Ice Mystery' Jiang Xiaosan reporting to you... 128th place in the third World Game rankings... Skilled in Healing and Defense." The girl with pigtails shrunk her shoulders.

"—'Time Guardian' Lin Yuelin reporting to you. 467th place in the third World Game rankings, skilled in information analysis and computing." The middle-aged man with gray hair smiled.

"—'Puppet Master' Ya An reporting to you. 634th place in the third World Game rankings, skilled in control and support." The golden-haired girl smiled.

Su Ming'an sat at a high position, listening to these people report. It seems after the World Game ended, people introduced themselves based on their World Game rankings, a new criterion for value judgment—this is the "social structure after the World Game."

His eyes deepened. It seems he needs to learn this order structure to judge whether it suits Zhai Xing in the future. Regardless of whether he can win to the last, this post-apocalyptic structure is worth referencing.

"You've seen all the strong ones around who participated in the World Game." Chao Yan stood beside the seat: "Any more questions?"

"Oh. Why do they all put those overly dramatic code names at the front?" Su Ming'an tilted his head and asked.

Chao Yan, equivalent to a deity's right-hand man, is always guarding the Old Gods. She's also one of the few who participated twice in the World Game.

The first World Game was 202 years ago, with the Number One Player being the Old Gods, and nearly all the participants have passed away from old age.

The second World Game was 62 years ago, the Number One Player unknown. Chao Yan also participated and acquired the "Life" authority. At that time, Xiao Ying and Li Mingyue and others hadn't been born yet.

The third World Game was last year, about a week ago. The Number One Player unknown. Chao Yan, Xiao Ying, Li Mingyue, General Qin, and others were participants.

Information can be derived: 1. Except for the first time when the Number One Player was the Old Gods, there is no information about the Number One Player for the second and third times, all gibberish. 2. Chao Yan participated in the World Game twice, proving that the same person can be repeatedly selected. Thus, Chao Yan is very powerful, given she's gained from two World Games.

Chao Yan explained: "Referring to oneself with the esteemed name earned in the World Game has become a habit. Nowadays, society evaluates a person mainly by code names and rankings."

Su Ming'an frowned. This way, society will automatically divide into two levels—those who participated in the World Game and those who didn't. Although it won't result in the ruin world scenario of strong preying on the weak, the former will surely look down on the latter. Though Word Spirits run rampant now, with the strong teaching the common people how to grow strong, there's still a power gap. If it weren't for the deities' suppression, chaos would have long erupted.

In the long run, it's not a good thing. This order seems stable but is actually precarious. If unexpected situations arise, like deities turning traitor, a dissatisfied new Number One Player, or a failed game... it could lead to consequences more terrifying than the world of ruins.

Later, Su Ming'an went to watch an event.

To showcase the individual power of the awakened Old God, people sparred on the arena, stopping short of serious harm. With various light effects and overly dramatic code names, "Flame Demon," "Tainted Hand," "One-Eyed Mandala"... each slogan was announced enthusiastically.

In the World Game, many people created code names for Su Ming'an like "Hand of Space" or "Traveler of Time," while Lv Shu was given "Cold-faced Asura" or "Mantis Blade," and Yuanyuan was dubbed "Frost Rose" or "Sword of Moonlight"... giving one goosebumps. No matter the world, people are the same.

"...As expected, after the war, the status of Casual Players can't compare to Adventurer Players." Su Ming'an murmured: "But Casual Players haven't degraded to being oppressed, thanks to the deities' suppression, managing society smoothly."

At that moment, a figure approached, it was Xiao Ying.

"How do you feel? Do you like this era?" Xiao Ying asked. He had indeed changed to black hair, and his eyes turned pitch black.

This guy actually, because of Su Ming'an's words, changed his hair and eye color entirely; it's unclear if he really had the intention to acknowledge a father.

"This world... is indeed quite good." Su Ming'an looked down at people sparring. These people had about two thousand combat power levels, not particularly destructive, evidently well-controlled by the deities.

So... it seems humans still need a "God."

He clasped his hands together, silently watching the distant fiery clouds. He could see middle-aged people buying groceries, stalls on the street, moving cars... people's lives seemed unaffected.

But it's as if there's an invisible undercurrent flowing... in places the Old God can't oversee, in some dark corners, in the unseen chains of social discrimination, in frequent conflicts, in the next bomb that could explode at any moment...

He once thought that human destiny should be determined by themselves, without needing the Cloud City God to balance everything for them. But now reality told him, humans seem to... need gods. They need "measurement," need "observation," need "the gods' stabilization."

"The third World Game, an instance of the Blood Clan and Blood Hunt, I was carrying a suitcase through the dark streets, and then I thought, if one day you came back, I would definitely pour the Truth Serum into your mouth, to make you stop speaking insincere words." Xiao Ying tilted his head: "But in the end, you forgot everything after waking up, even obsessing over the falsehood after a thousand years."

"You can speak about it...?" Su Ming'an was surprised. Clearly, Chao Yan couldn't speak of matters inside the World Game, yet Xiao Ying could mention the type of instance.

"My Perfect Pass count is above Chao Yan's, so my Positional Rank is higher than hers, and some restricted words can be conveyed to you." Xiao Ying said: "Are you curious about subsequent instances? Don't think about it, you definitely can't say, and it might not be trustworthy either."

So the Pattern Mark from a Perfect Pass represents the level of Positional Rank. Su Ming'an looked at the back of his hand, where the white pattern mark, like flowing water, rested quietly.

Until the arena event ended. For a moment, only three figures remained on the high platform.

In the distance, migratory birds flew high with a long cry. Chao Yan's black hair was stirred by the long wind, she stood like a patch of lush green leaf at the edge of the railing, casting a slender and narrow shadow.

"...Don't leave anymore." Xiao Ying's voice suddenly rang out, very softly.

His hand lay on Su Ming'an's backhand, the white pattern mark shaped like a rose.

"...Don't you want to live this kind of life forever?"

He looked at Su Ming'an with a half-joking, half-pleading gaze.

Su Ming'an slowly moved his hand away, unfamiliar with Xiao Ying, he spoke in the tone he used with Xiao Jingsan: "Dieying has its eyes on this world, if your simulation is one hundred percent accurate, then everything in the future will happen. War, disaster, exotic species, not one less. Moreover, I remember in General Qin's memory, just because of a game of Russian roulette, you reluctantly became my student. In reality, you're very unconvinced with me, then why are you so persistent about me?"

Xiao Ying was stunned for a moment, then looked down and chuckled: "Yes, why am I so persistent about you... Is it because the simulation of the future is too real? So many, so many characters based on me, that part that belongs to me, seems to always be waiting."

"Just like there's really a guy named Blackberry, always waiting for a Supreme Mage who doesn't care about him at all. Just like there's really a fool named Hei Que, waiting in the Nine Serenities for thousands of years, just for a plan of a body that won't have any effect at all..."

"Even though my Positional Rank is higher than Chao Yan's, I've always been playing a role that's at a loss for a thousand years. From beginning to end, it's had no effect... Is this the destined fate?"

"My whole life seems to always revolve around you. Clearly, we... are the same, there isn't much difference. Mainly that... you lived two hundred years longer than me."

"You're not a god, Su Ming'an. What makes you carry so much heavier responsibility than me, what makes everything revolve around you?"

His eyelids drooped, looking at Su Ming'an, words cut off, as if he no longer wanted to continue. Despite the words filled with resentment, he was the first to point out that Su Ming'an shouldn't become a god.

When he looked at Su Ming'an, his pupils were always focused; what's on his mind?

Resentment over his unawareness? Regrets about his future? Unwillingness to accept the presentation in the simulation? But he actually didn't seem furious.

But at this moment, everything was silent.

In the wind came a rustling sound, like the sound of white feathers drifting. Su Ming'an, feeling something, turned back, and a pure white figure appeared far away in the silence.

With an electric-like exchange of glances, it was just a moment, and that patch of Bai Xue was very close to him.

Su Ming'an almost instinctively erected a guard, already conditioned to a reflexive fear. But soon, the deity's words left him startled:

"Su Ming'an. The world situation report for today is as follows: 52,819 deaths, of which 78% resulted from strife, I've already punished the sinners inciting the strife. Additionally, the millennium plan's scheme has been preliminarily finalized, and your experiences in the simulation made me realize the possibility of the 'Old God being imprisoned by Dieying in Nine Serenities after a thousand years.' Therefore, after officially starting the millennium plan, I will arrange more apparatus in Nine Serenities to prevent Nine Serenities from being abandoned. To date, the completion rate of the millennium plan has risen to 97%, and the success rate has risen to 56%, ready to start anytime."

A lengthy string of words, like a broadcast, spoke plainly from the deity's mouth. He placed his hand on his right shoulder, slowly bending over, his white hair like feathers of a bird in the wind:

"...In any case, welcome back, Su Ming'an."

Su Ming'an suddenly realized that at this point in time, the deity hadn't seized power to overthrow and erase the history of the Old God. So the deity was surprisingly in a subordinate posture, reporting these things to him. This scene seemed somewhat subtle. The god, wielding the three elements, actually bowed its head to a human.

I'm afraid this point in time won't be far off.

He knew very well that the now courteous deity, in the future, will be how intensely rebellious.

"...Deity. You've seen the future simulation too, after all, the simulator comes from your 'Observation' Authority." Su Ming'an said: "You must have seen your future action— you seized my position and proclaimed yourself as the new god."

"Yes." The deity said.

"You have nothing to explain? For instance, assure me you definitely won't do so." Su Ming'an said.

The deity silently looked at him, eyes snow-like silent.

"That is a future that is bound to happen. So I can't give assurance." The deity said.

"Impossible. The future must be changed by the present." Su Ming'an said.

"Naturally. The world of course has a myriad of futures, countless roads, innumerable possibilities." The deity said: "But the ones that can withstand Dieying's invasion, there are only two or three roads. And what you see is the one with the highest success rate, so, this determines that our future always has only that one."

Su Ming'an understood— it's not that there's no other future, but that other futures can only lead to destruction.

Only by doing so, will there be everything after a thousand years. Rather than saying they're simulating futures, it's more like they're searching for the only light source among countless dark roads.

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