Overturned Tower

Hua Mingshu, wearing a simple and tattered white robe, smiled and reached out to take the broth that people enthusiastically handed him, and drank the mutton soup that had no spices and was boiled with only thin salt and green onion and ginger in one gulp.

"It was delicious."

The angel in white clothes and white hair gave praise from the bottom of his heart.

That's not just being polite.

The pure golden mutton soup made from lambs under one year old looks like liquid gold under the reflection of noon.

Whether it is lamb or ginger, it is the highest level of tribute that these war survivors can give to these barren land - herding sheep requires eating a lot of grass and may be eaten by radioactive beasts; and planting ginger will A large amount of land fertility is lost, and ginger production will plummet when the soil is not fertile enough.

This is the most precious thing they can offer. More precious than the blood that comes out after cutting yourself.

Since the food has been cooked, it would be rude to refuse. This is tantamount to saying that their careful preparations and the price they paid were meaningless, and they caused losses to the other party out of thin air. This kind of politeness will hurt the other person's heart.

Therefore, Hua Mingshu chose to eat it gratefully and praise it.

and shared it with the child who looked eagerly at the soup bowl in his hand.

"Come on, kid."

He said gently: "Come here."

That was the son of the herdsman who brought him sheep soup.

He had tuberculosis and no anti-tuberculosis medicine could be found. He was almost dying before his eyes.

In this land, it is very normal to not receive medical treatment after getting sick. Because Ampoule Biomedical will not sell them drugs openly, the few drugs smuggled over are completely insufficient for use, and the types are even scarcer. If ordinary people want to get medicines, they have to brave radiation and curses to dig out ruins from hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

That would be tantamount to exchanging a life for a life.

His father heard the legend of the "angel", took the child, carried his luggage, and drove the sheep all the way over.

The whole journey was based on asking other villagers for the direction in which "Lord Angel" had left. Being able to find Hua Mingshu alive was largely due to good luck. Now that the autumn hunting season has arrived, the radiation beast has fallen into a frenzy. It is self-evident how dangerous it is to run outside with so much fresh meat.

"I am really lucky to meet you, sir."

The herdsman sat on his knees almost piously, watching his recovered son drink the mutton soup handed over by the angel: "What's even more fortunate is that I was able to meet you before David died of illness... I had a vague feeling a few days ago. I feel that David may not have much time left... It's all thanks to you to save our family! Sure enough, the legend is correct, there will be angels returning from ancient times to save the world..."

"There's no way this makes sense."

Hua Mingshu smiled helplessly and said gently: "I am not an omniscient and omnipotent god. I am just a mortal, and I can only save those within my reach. I will never be able to save everyone.

"What really saved David was the love and hope you had, and even more so, your determination and courage to sacrifice everything to save David - it was you who saved your son from the disease. .”

"Maybe it is."

The man said firmly: "But without a miracle, no amount of determination and courage means anything. Only in fairy tales can there be miracles where hard work will be rewarded. And you - are the miracle I have met!" "

Hearing this, Hua Mingshu paused slightly.

He nodded: "I remember this."

"You are truly amazing."

the man repeated.

Russell just laughed at himself: "Probably. The only people I can save are those within my reach.

"...Besides, there's nothing I can do."

During these few months, Russell walked the earth in confusion.

The more he absorbed the pain of the people on earth, the more confused he became. It's like coming to the realm of looking at mountains or mountains. After knowing too much, there is nowhere to start.

In a few months, the number of people he has come into contact with has been several times greater than before; the "other kind of suffering" he encountered - another kind of suffering that is contrary to the seven types of cyber societies on the empty island. , which made him feel a lot.

No matter how bad the order is, it is better than the wilderness without order; no matter how bad the civilization is, it is better than a forgotten civilization.

Russell's plan was to temporarily leave the island of happiness... to let people see what the world would be like without him. This will improve the status and voice of "Ultramar".

But now, he suddenly began to wonder - was everything he did too naive and arrogant?

True, he has memories from another world, another civilization. He is wiser than any of his peers in this world, and even any short-lived species. It was the spark that burst out when two civilizations collided.

——But, are those named elves worse than myself?

Not only do they also have the memories of two or even three civilizations, they have even lived for more than a thousand years. It has experienced the destruction and rebirth of the world twice, and witnessed the passage of thousands of years. If we follow the well-informed theory, then each of these eighty-four sages should be wiser and greater than Russell.

But now, the reason why the world has become like this... is precisely because of those eighty-four people.

It does not mean that if you are more intelligent, you will not fall into corruption; nor does there exist an eternal and holy God-Emperor. Time will change everything, and the easiest thing to change is...the original intention.

——And I have already stepped onto the edge of danger.

How can he be sure that he is always right? Why did he acquiesce that the world needed him to save it?

Why does he naturally regard himself as the eternal "protagonist" of this story and the savior of destiny? Why do you take it for granted that you will always be with this world - regard yourself as the god of this world?

Is it because of his specialness? Is it because he is a "person from another world"? Is it because he bears the name of Dusk?

But he had already rejected the fate of becoming a dusk species, so why did he calmly accept this special nature based on "twilight"?

Then, Russell suddenly woke up...

It turned out that he had already fallen into the abyss of arrogance and arrogance, and he didn't even know it. He allowed the island to fall into chaos and waited for people to feel the pain before returning. The direct purpose of such behavior was to gain leadership; and the fundamental purpose was to lead people to save the world.

In other words...

Russell's behavior itself is "sacrifice the few to save the many."

From this point of view, there is no difference between him and those elf directors.

[I, ‘Marriage of Oppositions’ Kamalser. In the name of the forerunner, caretaker and guardian of mankind...]

The oath that Camarse made before his death suddenly echoed in Russell's mind.

Presumably a thousand years ago... when the eighty-four remaining survivors of the previous civilization, under the gaze of the dragons, took this oath... their hearts were also filled with excitement and excitement.

And now, what have they become?

This world does not belong to the dragon, nor does it belong to the elves. It should also not belong to Russell, who has rejected his own twilight nature - this is a world that belongs to ordinary people, and it should not have a transcendent God-Emperor to give eternal guidance.

Otherwise, Russell is essentially no different from the Pope, the dragon, and the eighty-four people.

The world continues to cycle.

Only new gods, new dragons, and new named elves were born.

Human beings have the power to correct history. But if there is an irresistible force in this world, it may eliminate the corrective force in a certain direction. After time, it will eventually deviate from the right track and enter the world of "punk".

...that's what it says. But what should Russell do?

If the dragon is destroyed, only new gods will be born; if the elven directors are eliminated, there will only be human directors; if the directors are eliminated, there will be something new. What has been done must be done again, and what has been done must be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.

Russell's thinking was stuck here.

If this world truly belongs to everyone, then everyone should work together to solve world disasters. But even such a call is impossible to complete, because not everyone wants to save the world... not everyone is full of hope for the future, and some people are not even on the side of mankind.

If we just leave it alone, I'm afraid the world will just be destroyed. The only thing that will destroy mankind will be mankind itself.

But if someone steps forward to guide us - can he always be right? But if he can't always be right, when will he know that he is no longer right? What is true for a moment, will it still be true after thousands of years have passed?

No matter how you think or deduce.

Russell could only feel despair.

If it is said that the world will destroy itself just by leaving him alone - doesn't that mean that it is time for it to perish and change?

The building will collapse.

Should he hold a sharp sword and personally lead people to destroy everything that brings despair; should he teach people wisdom and establish a perfect system so that they can overcome disasters; or should he guard the world from generation to generation and transform himself into a Guardian of civilization?

"--Ah."

The Pope who unites the world by himself and transforms the world with his own ideas; the Eighty-Four Sages who lead the development direction of the world and sacrifice themselves in the face of invincible disasters to cause miracles; the absolutely objective Immortal Dragon who protects Intelligent AI with civilization as its core command.

The ancestors certainly had wisdom. You are not the only smart person.

Just like the humans on the empty island, not all of the "group subconscious" is there. Those left on the ground are also human beings - no different, living species.

After gradually connecting to the real sea of ​​collective subconsciousness and gradually waking up from the fanatical destiny of the savior, Russell truly realized that what he was walking on was not the starry road opened by heaven and earth.

In front of this road, there are also the corpses of the forerunners. This is a proven path to failure.

Maybe in other worlds, such an approach would work - but not here.

Because the planet itself is a prison.

"It's not that we can't complete the hyperdrive, or that we're missing some necessary materials."

Zhu Rong once said frankly to Russell: "According to our research, it is because the local galaxy bubble where the solar system is located is locked. This is a hole with a range of three hundred light years, and space and time cannot be distorted in this area. This should be what the civilization that sealed the 'dream' into the interior of the earth did.

"If any civilization is infected by fantasy dreams, they will never escape in their lifetime. But there must be civilization here, because fantasy dreams can only remain asleep in this comfortable environment if they are raised in the dreams of intelligent creatures that form society. .”

"What if humans become extinct?"

Russell asked a somewhat extreme question at that time.

Zhu Rong gave a detailed answer. It was obvious that the dragons had discussed this issue a long time ago: "According to our research, even if you humans die completely, the dream will probably give birth to a new intelligent civilization. Just like it grants It has eliminated the differences among you individuals and given human beings the cognitive gap between 'self' and 'group'. From this perspective, Huanmeng is the creator god of this world - it did not create the earth, nor did it create Human beings, but it creates the basis of 'society' and 'civilization'.

"The setting of this planetary belt is to prevent humans from escaping. And those who can escape are no longer humans. In the forest, in order to prevent fire from spreading throughout the mountain, people will cut down and vacate it. Some trees to create a fire break. And the Earth is in this fire break."

The world is unfair. It is absolutely unfair not only between people, countries, and races, but also between civilizations and planets.

The fantasy is now gradually waking up.

Everyone is part of the dream... Even the Pope and Russell were infected by the dream and became extreme and arrogant. This change started from the dream, but even if Russell sealed the dream, the world would not get better immediately.

Just as a disease causes damage to the body, the damage remains after the disease has dissipated. The body does not recover in sync with the disease.

Under what circumstances can mankind unite?

"Why……"

Russell raised his head and looked at the sky in confusion.

But at this moment, he suddenly discovered that in a certain direction, a huge ship raised its head and hit the dome at high speed!

Russell suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked in shock.

At first glance, he could only recognize that it was not Zhu Rong - then he realized that it should be Kübler.

What is...what is she going to do?

Russell didn't understand her motives, but he understood her actions.

I saw "Kübler" probing out a red laser probe and embedding it into the sky.

At that moment, the "grey dome" briefly revealed its true nature.

The sun and gray clouds in the sky turned out to be just stickers!

When the layers of sun and clouds briefly dissipated, densely packed electronic units were revealed. They are shrouded in a transparent and solid shell, gradually becoming brighter with the injection of red light.

The sky darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The dark red stream of light crackled like lightning on the dome. As if time went backwards in the blink of an eye - noon turned into night in a matter of minutes.

The next moment, the crimson stream of light spread across the entire night sky and then completely disappeared.

The sky turned into complete darkness.

"--warn."

A voice that reached heaven and earth came. It was probably the first time that all mankind heard the "sky" speak.

It spoke in Elvish, but Russell happened to understand it: "Warning, virus injection detected.

"——The imaging unit is limited. The light-emitting unit is limited.

"Warning, the Gray Dome system has encountered a fatal error that prevents it from continuing to run!

"Warning, after the gray dome system is shut down, the surface temperature will drop to zero degrees within forty-eight days. Please contact the gray dome system administrator Kübler for timely repairs!"

"Warning, the Gray Dome system has encountered a fatal error that prevents it from continuing to run..."

"Gray Dome" kept making noisy sounds.

The projection inside it was completely extinguished, like a turned-off monitor.

But instead of revealing the starry sky outside... it went completely black.

——The whole world fell into eternal night.

The pattern looked very familiar to Russell. That was when Paradise Bird awakened to the Holy Order, and the data light wings protruded from behind her and disappeared into the void.

That is the power of Holy Orders!

The digitized power of the Holy Order, this is exactly what the Pope and the Sheath are studying!

It was Andrew who drove the "Kübler" and directly closed the Gray Dome with his authority!

Russell suddenly realized what the Pope was going to do.

He became impatient and radical, and when the conflicts on the air islands began to intensify, he chose to kidnap all humans!

——Or, accept the incomplete cyber ascension technology and upload your consciousness immediately.

——Or, under the eternal night, accept the slow death that is destined to come!

Four thousand and five hundred words in two!