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Chapter 1729 Final Chapter: The Shore [74] "1-point contestant".

Chapter 1729 Final Chapter: The Shore Crossing [74]: "A 10,000-Point Contestant".

Upon hearing this, Su Ming'an immediately made a decision: "God Lü, send me back to the Sea of ​​Consciousness, I will go and meet Chen Yuhang and the others."

Chen Yuhang must arrive with the key as soon as possible, as the key can break the seal on the Demon Mother Goddess. Regardless of whether He is grateful or not, once He leaves the Source, He will inevitably confront the Radiant Mother Goddess, as they are mutually exclusive deities.

With a flick of its tail, the white wolf sent Su Ming'an immersing himself in the undercurrents, returning to the sea of ​​consciousness and speeding toward the location of Chen Yuhang and the others.

The scene in his sea of ​​consciousness receded rapidly—vibrant colors, floating fragments of memory, and the bizarre, surreal collective subconscious. Su Ming'an focused his mind, sensing the lingering aura of the Lin Clan on Chen Yuhang; this was their only point of resonance…

“…Su Ming’an, I won’t let you go.” He suddenly heard a familiar, hoarse voice.

The voice of Eland.

The eighth seat's divine messenger, the magician of the Mist Rift.

"He's like a persistent ghost." Su Ming'an felt this person could appear anywhere. He appeared once during the succession ceremony, and now he's appeared again.

This is not Ailand's true form, but rather a part of the massive mind aggregate of the Eighth Seat, essentially an avatar of Ailand, which surged out with this eruption.

“Seeing how hard you’ve worked, I wanted to tell you… You’re right, this is indeed a grand scheme orchestrated by the Lord of Dreams. If we don’t intervene, everything will be reduced to nothingness…” Aland held Su Ming’an’s leg and whispered like a water ghost.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming'an confirmed his guess.

As I suspected, this cycle is indeed pathological.

The universe should be the universe—eternal, vast, and profound… But their current understanding of the universe seems shallow and childish, like a game that can be played indefinitely. What are clearly billions of years are described as a mere blink of an eye.

Considering the methods employed by the Lord of Dreams, this raises many questions.

Therefore, Su Ming'an had to meet the Lord of Dreams. The players gradually stopped treating life as life and death as death, and all they could think about was "I can just try again." Seeing Su Ming'an continue forward, they thought, "That's enough, let's just go home and stop pursuing anything. Even if it's a trap, we can just live again..." This is absolutely wrong and biased.

Su Ming'an didn't believe everything Ailand said. Ailand's words were all meant to make Su Ming'an feel "approval," so as to subtly integrate them into Su Ming'an's consciousness and eventually usurp his power.

He looked down and saw a phantom, heavy figure tugging at his legs in the sea of ​​consciousness—it was Aland, like a water ghost bound to the legs of a drowning person, with the deep sea beneath his feet. The surface of the sea was the iceberg of reality, but what lay at the bottom… pitch black, it didn’t look like a good place.

Su Ming'an slashed at the water ghost-like Eland, and in an instant, the transparent consciousnesses around him dimmed, even on the verge of extinguishing.

...This is the sea of ​​consciousness; sweeping attacks will disrupt the entire area.

"Let go of me. Whatever the Eighth Seat gave you, I can give you too." Su Ming'an raised his foot to kick.

“I won’t let go,” Aland said.

"A great prophet shouldn't resort to such ugly tactics. The whole world has witnessed your 'sticky' behavior," Su Ming'an lied to him.

"I won't let go," Aland said stubbornly.

Two players at the pinnacle of the world are bickering like elementary school students, each trying to outdo the other with their own counter-attacks.

A chaotic gray mist surged up. Without the suppression of the World Tree Seed, the power of the Eighth Seat, which had almost forced Su Ming'an to commit suicide, swept over instantly, turning his figure gray.

The boundaries of his senses began to melt, as if his brain was being squeezed by something sticky... Su Ming'an had a bad feeling and immediately a golden light flashed in his palm.

……

[Effect 1: You can select any player to share any hostile damage you receive over the next 3 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

……

In an instant, Su Ming'an's condition improved, and he immediately initiated a spatial displacement towards the sea surface.

Three seconds was still too short. Su Ming'an quickly reviewed his trump cards, which he had originally planned to save for the final battle against the Lord of Dreams. Using even one more trump card here would reduce his chances of winning the final battle.

A flash of light appeared in his palm, and he was about to use his trump card—

"Splash! Splash! Splash!"

Suddenly, he heard countless sounds of water entering the sea.

...The sound of the sea entering the ocean?

Suddenly, he looked up—and saw dozens of figures swimming towards him, shouting, "Divine Child! Come with us!"

...Son of God?

This title was quite novel; Su Ming'an confirmed he didn't have any aliases using that name. The group swam closer, dressed in white robes embroidered with an eye and a sun symbol. They were followers of the Radiant Mother Goddess. When had he become a child of the Radiant Mother Goddess?

Su Ming'an suspected that these people had ulterior motives, but the charm passive of the "missionary halo" allowed him to instantly perceive their emotions... worry, admiration, affection, love... it didn't seem fake.

Someone outside is deceiving these people, making them believe they are the divine son of the Radiant Mother Goddess? Is it Su Lin? But shouldn't Su Lin be facing off against the Radiant Mother Goddess?

The fact that these people are here means they too have shed their physical bodies and sunk into this place. They lack Su Ming'an's divine status and cannot survive for long as a consciousness; abandoning their physical bodies means there's no going back. In other words… they were prepared to sacrifice themselves, knowing they would never return. Who could possibly deceive them to this extent?

Seeing them rushing towards him one by one, pulling him upwards, a vast array of consciousnesses came to his protection. Some dispersed the chaotic currents, some shone with divine light, and some lifted Su Ming'an upwards...

"You can't escape..." A gloomy voice suddenly erupted.

The light of Noah's Chain dimmed, the three-second invincibility ended, and Su Ming'an's figure froze instantly.

A searing pain shot through my heart, and something seemed to leap out of it.

"Ayland!" Su Ming'an shouted, "Why are you stopping me? You clearly said that I am right!"

He had realized that Eland was not an absolute enemy. Unlike the pure egoist Alger, Eland had vision and a sense of the big picture, but he still insisted on standing in his way!

A flicker of pain crossed Aland's eyes:

"'Correct' doesn't mean 'can be done'! I've seen it countless times, countless times...! You've been crushed to dust on this path, don't you understand? Humans are inherently inferior life forms, we are as fragile as paper, a single misstep, a fall can kill us, disease and natural disasters can destroy us at will, even if the world game forcibly gives us a boost—we can't possibly defeat the existence at the pinnacle of the universe! Isn't it enough to perfectly complete everything, to stick to this ideal you've held from beginning to end! Give up, close your eyes, cover your ears, accept the happiness that inferior life forms deserve, what are you thinking! You greedy bastard!!!"

At that moment, Su Ming'an looked at Ailand.

Aland's roar stopped abruptly, leaving him speechless, as if he were being watched by a wild beast. He saw Su Ming'an's bloodshot, crazed eyes, filled with an inescapable "greed".

—That was a greed that was so fierce, so terrifying, so rampant.

People were all deceived by this man. The broadest benevolence means he is not attached to anyone; the most tenacious ideal means he is more greedy than anyone else; the most loving person is also the most lustful; the most emotional person is also the most rational; the person most adept at self-destruction is also the most terrifying madman. He treated himself as a tool, dismantling his own human desires and emotions, which means he severed his biological instinct for survival, like a person who has lost the ability to feel pain and is completely unaware that he can feel pain.

At the start of the game, he refused to accept that humanity's future lay in collective annihilation.

At the end of the game, he refused to accept that humanity's future was reduced to nothing.

Aland saw through that look; this person's core had never changed. This man, running headlong towards a powerful enemy, was just like the man who initially charged into the World Game without regard for his life.

His lust and dictatorship were entirely for the benefit of others, not himself. Absolute altruism is absolute selfishness, and absolute selfishness is also absolute altruism.

“After defeating the Radiant Mother Goddess, I will initiate a vote.” Su Ming’an looked down at Eland. “If the vote proves that humanity wants to stop… I will not become a dictator, I will stop. By then, I will have obtained all the divine power and energy of the Radiant Mother Goddess, and I will become a first-level god, enough for me to protect the entire Zhai Star, preventing it from falling into chaos and crisis, and without fear of the higher dimensions that follow. I will use abilities such as soul ferrying to resurrect the dead… if it can be called resurrection.”

At this point, his head suddenly throbbed with pain... Many images rushed into his mind, as if his own feet were stepping on golden sand, struggling to move forward step by step, but then a huge wave crashed in and everything disappeared.

He seemed to see a scene—in a dusty café, a flowing, viscous substance wearing a royal blue top hat was making sounds—

……

"Happy 21st birthday," Noel Agnes said.

"To end your life."

……

Su Ming'an slapped his forehead hard, his temples covered in cold sweat. He knew he had triggered a sense of déjà vu, recalling a memory from a certain cosmic cycle—a memory of being hunted down by Noel and other higher dimensions after he and Zhai Xing escaped.

But things are different now. Once he defeats the Radiant Mother Goddess and ascends to the level of a first-tier god, he will no longer need to fear this situation. Zhai Xing is not forced to flee, nor does he need to transform into the World Tree; he will remain in a completely higher-dimensional form.

This is also part of the meaning of moving forward.

“If the vote proves that humanity doesn’t want to stop, then I will continue to move forward,” Su Ming’an said resolutely. “I will not force everyone to follow my path based on my own will and the word ‘ideal’. If they are willing to follow, then I will lead the way forever, be the first to fight, the first to meet the enemy, and the first to win, until I am certain that the future will be bright and glorious, and I will bring victory to them.”

“But if the vote proves that humanity wants to stop, I can stop and choose to protect the happiness that humanity is willing to accept.” Su Ming’an pursed his lips. “Then, after ensuring their complete safety and that they are not implicated… I will go to see the Lord of Dreams alone.”

Hearing this, Aland initially thought that once humanity supported stopping, Su Ming'an would agree to shut his eyes and ears and enjoy ordinary happiness with humans. He never expected this guy to still want to move forward, even alone, still wanting to challenge the Lord of Dreams… He almost laughed; how could there be such a guy in the world!

Walking alone, without the help of other gods, without the support of pioneers, without like-minded partners, without help in critical moments, without isolated cooperation to pass on information, without information support from a large group... the difficulty increases exponentially.

Alone... Alone, it's as difficult as climbing to heaven.

"..." Aland's gaze softened.

He recalled his early reincarnations... Back then, he was naive, believing that even though humans are born insignificant, as insignificant as ants on the scale of the universe, as long as they work hard enough, they can become towering figures and break free from their fate... Later, after countless tragic endings and countless times of pain more terrifying than death, he gradually became numb, desperate, and speechless.

The despair of dying from a single glance from some higher dimension after working diligently all the way to the very end, only to have one's entire body explode.

When a mayfly realizes the lifespan and power of other creatures, it experiences a moment of collapse and bewilderment.

All his efforts, all his sacrifices, all his pain... were nothing more than ants jumping around in the palm of his hand. It's like a child who finally gets a perfect score on a test, excitedly taking his 100-point paper out the door, only to find that the perfect score is actually 10,000.

The most terrifying thing is that it's not that he can't score 10,000 points, but that the test he's given can only score a maximum of 100 points in total. He will never get any other test papers.

After discovering the Lord of Dreams, Aland also tried to challenge him. However, as the number of attempts increased, he gradually forgot how to count and realized that even if he worked hard to go from 60 to 70, or from 70 to 80... it was useless to stay 10,000 points away.

Until he discovered a peculiar person.

—Su Ming'an.

Su Ming'an, who never retains memories, has a pure and clear soul. Each time, he tries to break through the limit of 100 points and endure the pain and despair that Ailand cannot accept.

The most astonishing thing is that Su Ming'an actually broke through 100 points.

It broke through the limits that Alan believed were completely insurmountable for humanity.

Even though Su Ming'an didn't perform well in some of the cycles, he was a human, not a machine. Humans make mistakes, and they are also the most adept at learning and improving. In most cases, Su Ming'an showed potential that shocked Ailand.

On one occasion, Su Ming'an achieved a score of 101... He reached a position that was previously difficult for humans to reach.

Then, his scores kept getting higher and higher.

Two hundred points, five hundred points, one thousand points, five thousand points...

A first-level god, a higher dimension, the ruler of the world's games...

Like a frog leaping out of a stagnant, dull well and running towards freedom. Aland was uncontrollably drawn to it, and although his own memories were mostly fragmented, he would always see Su Ming'an.

Dazzling, shimmering, blinding, and awe-inspiring, like the blazing sun, like the gentle moonlight, like a lighthouse, like a wildfire.

However, this was useless; it still couldn't reach 10,000 points.

Gradually, the initial anticipation and appreciation turned into anxiety...

Then, anxiety turned into numbness. Aland realized that no matter how hard humans tried to climb, they would always pay a bloody price for various reasons: backstabbing from higher dimensions, the dissolution of souls, bets from the organizers, backstabbing from companions... They could not reach 10,000 points to defeat that unattainable guy.

Finally, numbness turned into a slight jealousy.

See, you can't do it either. So what if you get thousands of points? Rather than watching you get a brilliant score and then fall flat on your face, leaving no trace... I'd rather step on you and get my happiness.

After all, that perfect guy is becoming increasingly wary of you—He can't control you, so he kills you. He can control me, so he uses me.

However, this time it was different...

Aland had never had such a strong and subtle premonition before; perhaps this time, Su Ming'an really could get the highest score. In fact, he felt he already had around seven or eight thousand points, and there was a real possibility of success.

Therefore, Ailand hesitated all along. Until now, the best opportunity to act had arrived—the World Tree Seed's suppression in Su Ming'an's heart had failed, and the calamity that the Eighth Seat had long ago sown had instantly erupted.

Stop, stop, it's not too late, Su Ming'an.

Stop being so stubborn. So many people want you to stop. What are you thinking?

……

"Stop! That's not an enemy you can defeat!"

The prophet roared, finally unable to maintain his outward elegance.

……

"I refuse," the person replied decisively.

Like a saint.

Like a ferocious beast.

……