"What do you mean?"
A wicked chill flickered across the Earthly Soul's face. I stared at him in silence.
"Just what it sounds like. You still haven't realized how dire things are. Rachel Lan is human—truly human, unlike you, me, or the Forsaken. If you and I die here, it's nothing; we're already dead, and this world rejects the dead, so it will cast us out. But Rachel Lan is different. If she dies here, it will be a real, final death."
I stared at the Earthly Soul in shock. I’d known this truth for a long time, but there was no passage out, so Rachel Lan couldn’t leave. Earthly Soul glanced at the dark red thorn branch in my hand.
"That's impossible, isn't it?"
I quietly watched the Earthly Soul. Its power was undeniable—I’d sensed it the moment I touched it. But that strength only worked here. Creating a passage to the Living World was utterly impossible.
"You should ask that woman named Sylvia Blue how she came to this world. There’s always a way—you just don’t know it yet. And they don’t want to tell you."
I turned to glance at the moonlit city wall behind me. Inside the house, Rachel Lan and Sylvia Blue were already fast asleep.
"But we can’t just ignore this place. Someone has to act—they still have hope. They don’t want to be buried with this world."
I stared blankly at the Earthly Soul. He turned away without a word.
"Suit yourself. If you want to shoulder everything alone, just keep going like this. Still the same as before—you can't even hear the voice of the one you love most."
"Think whatever you want. Whether it's reality or illusion, I have my own beliefs."
The Earthly Soul gradually faded into the distance, and my thoughts drifted to the structure of robots—I needed something precise, at least on the surface.
But for some reason, my mind kept scattering—I couldn't focus, fatigue rolling over me in waves. Beside me, Spirit Snake gently stretched its head toward me.
"Get some rest tonight, Qingyuan. We'll talk specifics tomorrow. You're exhausted. You can't reclaim your feelings without a body to anchor them—your spirit and your current strength are the same."
In the end, I nodded, stood up, and put away the Thorn of Imagination, heading to a room on the left side of the city wall. No one lived there—it was just a dozen meters from Rachel Lan and Sylvia Blue's place. I opened the door, went in, and lay down on the bed. Sleep rushed in, and I closed my eyes.
A faint rustle. I opened my eyes and saw John Chou's half-smiling face. I scrambled up in surprise.
"Brother, I know you're exhausted, but I have to let you know about something."
"Is it about the Sundusk Cataclysm?"
I snapped alert. In my dreamspace, the Wraithlord was nowhere to be found. He surely knew something, but John Chou would be clear and straightforward.
"It's a general way of putting it, but it really exists. When a world is about to be destroyed, this phenomenon appears—the sun, moon, and everything in the world overlap as one."
"What does that mean?"
I looked at John Chou in confusion. He smiled and continued.
"Someone must've warned you already—the Earthly Soul."
I nodded. Before I fell asleep, Earthly Soul did rush in to remind me to create a passage and get Rachel Lan out of this world. I told John Chou everything.
"That guy has the power to foresee things reaching their end—it's called 'Finality,' so naturally he knows."
"How much time is left?"
John Chou shook his head.
"Normally, every world is divided into yin and yang. The sun and moon represent yin and yang. If those two merge, what do you think will happen?"
John Chou chuckled. I silently shook my head.
"Both time and space collapse into a single point—called Primordial Chaos. Nothing remains; that's annihilation. It's impossible to explain, but Old Hell is the classic example—it happened there once."
I stared at John Chou in shock. He started to laugh.
"But it was stopped. How, nobody knows. This phenomenon has been stopped eight times before. This is the ninth—almost impossible to prevent. So what will you do, brother?"
I fell silent, lost in thought, recalling what Earthly Soul said before leaving.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll go talk to them."
"To create a passage, you need something connected to the Living World. The Thorn of Imagination in your hand might be one—or maybe not. Think carefully; the only thing in this world linked to the Living World is right before your eyes, isn't it?"
Suddenly, I lifted my head, looking at John Chou, and murmured.
"Rachel Lan, right?"
"Correct."
John Chou smiled.
"In this dying world, the only thing still connected to the Living World is faith—faith in the Four Guardians. And only that woman has it. After all, the Four Guardians have already gone to the Living World. A new storm is coming."
I let out a sound, quietly watching John Chou. From his expression, he wasn't about to tell me what this so-called new storm was.
"People always believe what they see, but never think about what's behind it. Remember, brother, you have to hurry. If things change, by the time you want to act, you'll find every step impossible."
John Chou's figure dissolved into blood-red particles and slowly vanished before me. I couldn't quite figure out what he meant—maybe he was telling me to leave this world as soon as possible.
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading!)
The next day, I woke to laughter. My eyes were sore as I looked out the window—it was already noon, not morning. I hurried out of the room. Sylvia Blue was laughing, pointing at the robot and making suggestions.
"See? The appearance is really bad. There's definitely room for improvement."
I walked over quickly. Agent Seven glanced at me and spoke.
"We've settled the details. Tonight, you can finally go all out."
As he spoke, Entity 004 waved his hand. A sheet of paper floated into my hand, covered in dense writing. I was immediately entranced.
The final conclusion was that to increase the robots' lethality, endurance was essential. They needed to store full photonic energy, and their classification was based on the mass of the mindless Forsaken.
There were small, medium, and large types. Small ones needed long range and endurance—so a range within 300 meters, not much power, but strong endurance. Once fully charged, they had to fire 100 to 200 laser shots in succession.
Medium types focused on lethality, with a range of 100 meters. They were meant to deal with any enemies that slipped through. Their laser count was set at 30 to 60 shots. The large type, as discussed yesterday, only needed a single main cannon—range over 1,000 meters, the strongest firepower, able to wipe out distant enemies in one blast.
After reading the rough concepts on the paper, my mind cleared up. These were concrete details. The actual robots might differ, but as long as they fit within these parameters, it would work.
"Thank you."
I glanced at the Forsaken. Entity 004 smiled and shook his head.
"These were all Agent Seven's ideas. So, Zhang Qingyuan, is there something you wanted to tell us?"
I began to explain, telling them about the Sundusk Cataclysm and the need to create a passage to get Rachel Lan out.
The sun was already slanting—night would fall soon.
"Hmph, you want to run away, don't you?"
Entity 001's eyes flashed with anger, and the other Forsaken said nothing, just stared at me coldly. I knew well that just days ago we'd all agreed to face this crisis together, but now things had changed completely.
Rachel Lan gazed at me quietly. I turned my head away; her eyes held a faint sadness.
"That's not really a bad thing, is it? After all, Ethan Zhang came to this world for Rachel Lan alone."
Agent Seven spoke, then sat down and looked into the distance.
"Our cooperation was always about finding a passage. We said that from the start. We are just abandoned faith, but they're different—they're still alive. No need for them to die with us. We'll all die eventually, but I don't want to die lying down. In the end, I want to die standing. Dying without resistance just isn't my style!"
Entity 005's face showed difficulty, anger flickering in his eyes as he glanced at Rachel Lan.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Suddenly Rachel Lan spoke. Everyone turned to her, and I quickly walked over.
"You should leave. You're just a burden here. To be clear, Ethan Zhang never said he wanted to leave!"
Qi's voice was icy as she spoke. Both Entity 005 and Entity 004 looked at me. I made a sound of surprise.
"I won't leave. I'll fight with you all until the very end. But I beg you—help me get Rachel back to the Living World first. Please."
I lowered my head, bowing slightly.