He clarified the relationships.

First, the Second Tower opened, Alice came to the present world as the vessel of the Crimson Python, leading Su Ming'an into the Shadow's trap.

Then Su Ming'an used the Third Tower to travel back a thousand years, imprinting the sole successful path simulated by the Deity into reality through Time authority to complete the causal connection.

Finally, Su Ming'an traversed through the millennium, began his vacation, and experienced this naturally established only reality.

Therefore, this Alice is essentially not the original Alice, and can be understood as one ten-thousandth of Alice's future. Their differences are like Su Wensheng who did not die by the lake versus Su Wensheng who died by the lake. This Alice is independently derived from the sacrificed Alice - a happy Alice.

Whether she returns to the present world does not change the current outcome. Thus, this Alice doesn't need to be sacrificed; she can have the happy life of a normal girl. She is not the descendant of Chao Yan, merely herself.

...

In the Old Day 515 years, Alice became a famous violinist, performing at various places with Diff.

In the Old Day 517 years, Alice and Wendell went to the lake to watch fireworks and raised a cat named Xiaomo.

In the Old Day 518 years, Alice and Part rebuilt the slums together, accepting more children, eating birthday cake, blowing out candles.

In the Old Day 519 years, Alice and Mei Mi cultivated a large quantity of beautiful white lilies to give to the Knights.

In the Old Day 520 years...

In the Old Day 525 years...

In the Old Day 530 years...

Her face always bore a happy smile.

Due to conflicts between countries, war was inevitable, and Alice was again chosen as the Goddess. This time, Su Ming'an did not leave her growth process.

Su Ming'an watched her grow step by step, attend classes, give speeches. With his protection, she didn't need to wield a sword; playing the instruments she loved was enough.

With responsibilities and obligations upon her, Alice remained very happy.

In the Old Day 535 years, at the end of the Steam Age — the Kingdom was lost, the Holy City fell.

The Steam Age was the most severely polluted era by Shadow and the most dangerous era mentioned by Deity's instructions. People's eyes were blood-red, deeply bewitched by Shadow. They derided the God as the Evil God and embraced Shadow as the New God, considering Alice to be the Evil God's Witch.

As Su Ming'an and Alice walked onto the city tower, angry shouts echoed from below.

Su Ming'an raised his hand, intending to end this era - just like ending the Heavenly Era back then. During the chaotic battles between immortals and demons, pollution was rampant, the world reached an uncontrollable state, deities could only erase history using strong methods. The situation now was quite similar.

... Should this era be ended? It's already beyond redemption, extremely sinful. Su Ming'an gazed at the twisted faces full of hatred, where only pure evil remained in their eyes.

Yet at this moment... he hesitated.

To actively sever an era also meant all emotions of this era would be eradicated, all isomorphic forms would disappear. Before, he didn't understand the essence of ending an era, but now... it's too wasteful, too cruel.

... Maybe there's another possibility.

He lowered his hand:

"Alice, I still want to try saving this era. Everyone is bewitched, condemning me as the Evil God, but you... are you willing to believe in me?"

Alice's eyes brightened, and she smiled:

"Detective Master, even if a thousand people say you're a bad person, I'd cover my ears to not listen to their words. Even if ten thousand say you're selfish, I'd close my eyes to not watch their evil deeds. Even if billions clamor that you're a demon, I'd still stand by your side and accompany you to the very end."

—These are the words she said as a child.

They believed in each other.

After this, Alice rallied the army, corrected things in the name of God, fervently emphasizing his justice, urging people not to believe in Shadow.

Su Ming'an watched her striving harder and harder, yet felt... the malice accumulating within him was growing, this body was starting to give way.

In the Old Day 537 years, during Alice's all-out effort in battle... Su Ming'an's body died in her arms.

At that time, she was still wearing armor, intending to rush to the next battlefield, only to suddenly realize he had ceased breathing beside her.

She held him, in silence for a long time, suddenly understanding why he was eager to end this era.

"— Found her, the Witch is here! The Witch is here!"

"— The Evil God is here too! Kill them!!!"

The sound of iron hooves arose from behind.

Alice held his corpse, motionless in the heavy snow.

She suddenly realized it was her trust in kindness... that led to his demise. If she had let him wipe out this irrecoverable era from the beginning... he wouldn't have died.

"Detective Master..." she said quietly, eyes flashing with scarlet light.

The black sesame-filled dumplings rampaged at that moment, and the surrounding ten-mile Red Eye Army were all torn to fragments. Yet she no longer cared about the rise and fall of this era, just quietly held his corpse until frost and snow covered them both, until she sat ashen for half a month, her bodily functions ceased, breathing stopped.

She had said, she would accompany him. Even if billions clamored him as a demon, she would accompany him to the end.

She fulfilled her promise.

On this day, malice erupted over the world, and the deity stirred Chao Yan from the seabed to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.

...

[— If you can't find happiness, Chao Yan will be your guarantee.]

...

This was a sentence said by the deity at the beginning of a millennium vacation.

Now, it was clear that Su Ming'an could no longer continue enjoying happiness. As time moved forward, Shadow's penetration grew deeper, and with three hundred years left until the millennium, the vacation was completely over.

After Su Ming'an's death, he returned to the Holy City and asked, "Deity, what does guarantee mean?"

The Deity answered, "Your goodness has already reached the fullest extent you can perceive; you've become numb, haven't you?"

Su Ming'an was silent; indeed, his emotions wouldn't fluctuate much.

The Deity said, "Next, Chao Yan will help you take away this goodness, creating space for you. You only need to do short-term hard disk transfers, transmitting goodness to her long-term hard disk each time to ensure safety."

"What is the transfer method?"

"The simplest way: kill. After you've received enough goodness, she kills you, and she gains all the savings on you. You then switch to another body and can have another cycle of such steps, ensuring you don't collapse."

"I see. I am the power bank, Chao Yan is the power source."

"Yes."

"She and General Qin have similar roles, both are life hard disks."

"Hmm, General Qin undertakes all emotions in the world, Chao Yan only targets you individually. The former accumulates emotion, the latter ensures your rationality when awakening the Exotic Species King. The former is the lock, the latter is the key. The former is evil, the latter is good. Like a complete circle."

Su Ming'an suddenly remembered a concept from the beginning of the instance.

——The world is a circle.

Half is good, half is evil.

Half is the key, half is the lock.

...

[Speaking of "deity," Yvette's face showed a pious expression. Like her, most people held up the redwood ring in their hands—a symbol of faith.

The deity once delivered an oracle, saying the world is a "circle." Although no one has understood the exact meaning of the deity's words to this day, the circle has become the pattern most revered by believers.]

...

It turns out everything was planned from the beginning.

Su Ming'an took a deep breath and suppressed the memories in his heart: "What about Chao Yan?"

"Chao Yan holds the Life Authority, and she's almost fully restored now. She will spend the next three hundred years with you."

"I mean... in the end, what about Chao Yan? General Qin has already lost his consciousness, so what about her? I can't bear it; she has to take the burden from me again and again, how could she possibly withstand it?"

"..."

"She will die in the end too, right?"

"Su Ming'an, the Steam Age is already so dangerous, and it will only get more dangerous. You can't handle it alone. You absolutely need her."

"..."

"We cannot know if the goodness you've accumulated is enough, whether you can maintain rationality when the Exotic Species King awakens. If not, history will painfully repeat itself—only if she personally kills you, takes over the burden from you, bears the pain of soul ferrying, and possesses the step of 'storage,' will there be a next, stronger 'you' to withstand the malice of the Exotic Species King, establish The Republic, and end this endless disaster."

"... Deity, may I ask a question?"

"You may."

"Why in the end do I have to unlock the Exotic Species King? Those are all ownerless emotional energies, even if you, the deity, were to take them, it wouldn't be a problem. Or let Noel or Lv Shu go, they can also receive the emotional energy of a thousand years and establish The Republic. It doesn't have to be me, does it?"

"... You're right, but the one most suited to unlock the Exotic Species King is you."

"Why?"

"Because you and General Qin have the highest compatibility; you are the key-and-lock relationship. I chose General Qin as the 'lock' for the millennium emotions because a key with a sufficiently high compatibility is needed to unlock him. Otherwise, what if Dieying randomly assigned someone and unlocked General Qin prematurely?"

"So that's where the problem lies—why is my compatibility with General Qin the highest?"

"..."

"Looks like I hit the key point; even at this late stage of the instance, there's still something you can't tell me. This must be the biggest secret of the instance."

"..."

"What is General Qin's real name? What is his true appearance?"

"..."

"Old God?"

"... No."

"Alright, I won't press any further, I will just wait for an answer. But I have one request."

"What is it?"

"I don't need Chao Yan to bear the burden for me, let her continue to rest, I will handle the issues of the Steam Age alone."

"You... sigh. Chao Yan has already been awakened by me, there's no way to send her back into the sea."

"Then temporarily erase her memories related to me, let her happily vacation. Since it's something I might be able to do, there's no need for her to die for me—remember, make sure she doesn't remember me, or she will definitely die for me, I know her too well."

"You're still the same... always standing in front of the train. Just a reminder, your actual instance time only has 25 hours and 12 minutes left, you need to hurry and get through the millennium, don't linger too long in any era."

"Thanks for the compliment, I'll be quick."

...

When Chao Yan wakes up, she vaguely feels she has forgotten something.

She glanced at the calendar, it is now Old Day 515. She just climbed up from the sea, resting in a hotel, with the pansies outside the window swaying beautifully in the wind.

…What did she forget?

Thinking for a long time, she couldn't understand.

She lives peacefully, vacationing in the Steam Age, living the life of a wealthy young lady until the candies in her arms start to spoil. She feels somewhat sad because these candies were given to her by him…

Hmm? "He"?

Who is he?

For nearly twenty years, she contemplated this question until Old Day 538 when she heard news from afar—the Goddess Alice and Su Xiaobai, the deity, had both died. Before she could regain her senses, time suddenly flowed back to Old Day 515.

She suddenly realized—someone is constantly reversing time, trying to find a way to save this era. And this sensation of time flow could only be perceived by someone of her positional rank.

She has a premonition that this person is very important to her. They must have fought side by side before. Otherwise, why does her heart always feel like something is missing?

Piloting an airship, crossing the kingdom, traversing every city, she finally found a black-haired youth by the roadside in Burg Castle. He was holding the hand of a girl with purple eyes, boarding the airship headed for the Holy City. People said it was the Goddess Alice and her guardian.

…Is it him?

Chao Yan squinted her eyes but felt immensely unfamiliar, her head splitting with pain. She wanted to call out to him, but she didn't know his name.

But… if she doesn't grab his hand, if she doesn't keep him…

"Hey! Hey! Please stop for a moment!" In the end, no matter how much she ransacked her mind, she couldn't find his name, as if they were truly strangers.

"…?" The black-haired youth turned back, glanced at her, his eyes fluctuated for a moment, then quickly turned back.

The airship departed, and she still hadn't caught up. In her heart, she faintly felt… she must have been mistaken, she really didn't know him.

Old Day 539, Su Xiaobai still died, this time, maybe Su Xiaobai had explained in advance, Alice did not go berserk, but continued to lead the army; however, the trends were overwhelming, and she couldn't hold back the tide, eventually failing in battle.

Old Day 540, cornered to the absolute end, Alice buried Su Xiaobai in the lily garden of Burg Castle, and then she disappeared as well. Shortly after, it seemed two of the brightest lilies grew in the garden.

"..." Chao Yan stood for a long time in front of the lilies.

When she opened her eyes again.

Old Day 515, she sat by the window, pansies swaying in the wind, as if trapped in a reset dream of plum blossom twice.

...

[Hidden TE·(I Seal) Perfect Completion Progress: 95%]

...

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