Chapter 187 Two Paths
‘Only {Participants} will face annihilation.’
Qi Xia grasped the meaning—that the {indigenous inhabitant} and the {Earthly Branches} would not disappear during the tenth day.
"But how do you know the {indigenous inhabitants} would not be annihilated?" Qi Xia inquired. "The ones we’ve encountered...are they really the originals?"
"I conducted an experiment," Chu Tianqiu replied with a smile. "To determine whether those lunatics would be reborn, I spent ten months testing this theory out."
"Ten months...?" Qi Xia knitted his brow, as though a sudden realization had dawned on him.
"This is a sordid tale, one you might not want to hear," Chu Tianqiu chuckled and remarked. "We’ve strayed off topic."
Qi Xia looked at him contemptuously, realizing that Chu Tianqiu was even more deranged than he had imagined.
"Indeed," Qi Xia nodded, "That’s a perfectly normal occurrence."
"Well then," Chu Tianqiu extended his left fist and said, "let's assume this is the corpse of A."
With that, he slowly extended his left thumb, saying, "This is the {Reverberation} that A once obtained."
Next, he extended his other hand, clenched into a fist again, "This is a new version of A."
He extended his thumb once more, "And this is the new {Reverberation}. Look at this scene, doesn’t it seem strange?"
Qi Xia stared at the two thumbs-up in front of him, pondering what Chu Tianqiu was trying to convey.
Before he could fully process it, Chu Tianqiu asked, "Qi Xia, since {humans} can be replicated, does that mean {Reverberation} can be replicated too?"
"You... wait a minute..." Qi Xia felt like he was being brainwashed by a madman, but fortunately, he quickly interrupted the thought process and retorted, "There seems to be a flaw in your description."
He pointed to Chu Tianqiu’s left hand and said, “Since this is the corpse of A, when he died, his {Reverberation} should have disappeared along with him. Your assumption doesn’t hold.”
"No, no, no..." Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "Qi Xia, that view of yours is misguided. The {Reverberation} of A’s corpse is just {inaudible}, it hasn’t {vanished}. Do you see the difference?"
"Inaudible...?" Qi Xia paused, then added, "What exactly are you trying to demonstrate with this example?"
"Let me put it this way..." Chu Tianqiu lowered his hands. "I’ve collected many corpses, trying to figure out how to extract their {Reverberation}. Unfortunately, without a mortuary, these bodies decay within days, and I’ve had no success so far."
This statement left Qi Xia dumbfounded.
"Do you recall, Qi Xia?" Chu Tianqiu continued. "No matter which {Earthly Branches} we question, the answer is always the same: they aim to create a {God}, a {God} as great as Nüwa. So when I can accumulate everyone’s {Reverberation} into myself, I’ll become an omnipotent {God}, and this place will serve no further purpose, as the organizer’s objective will be fulfilled."
He had often pondered Chu Tianqiu's plan, but never anticipated that the other party was so thoroughly insane that it was impossible to deduce his reasoning through conventional thought.
He wasn’t collecting the three thousand six hundred {Dào}, nor was he breaking all the games. Instead, he was focused on constantly creating corpses, in order to research the method of becoming a {God}.
Thus, he would not hesitate to kill anyone on his team.
But this time... could Chu Tianqiu be telling the truth?
"When I ascend to become that omnipotent {God}, I will have the power to send you all out," Chu Tianqiu said, his lips curling into a smile. "That is the crux of my plan. So, shall we consider this a deal?"
"You don’t want to leave; you simply wish to become a {God}?" Qi Xia inquired.
"Of course," Chu Tianqiu nodded with delight. "What’s the point of being human? I have the chance to become an {Omnipotent Being}, yet you expect me to return to the real world and suffer the fate of aging, illness, and death? Don't be foolish."
Qi Xia slowly straightened his back, instinctively distancing himself from Chu Tianqiu, before speaking again. "However, due to the existence of the {God Paradox}, this world will never witness the emergence of an {Omnipotent Being}."
"The {God Paradox} is a concept created by humans," Chu Tianqiu said. "After all, humans can’t comprehend {Omnipotence}. They mock the self-contradictions of an {Omnipotent Being} from their narrow perspective. But why should {Omnipotence} prove itself to humans? Why should {Omnipotence} answer their questions?"
Qi Xia took a deep breath, his mind consumed by one thought—he needed to race against time.
Otherwise, he too would eventually become a madman like Chu Tianqiu.
Like Lin Qin, Chu Tianqiu appeared normal on the outside, but inside, both harbored extremely radical thoughts.
Lin Qin had lasted seven years; Chu Tianqiu had lasted two.
Day after day, they awaken in {End Point}, gradually abandoning their humanity, their morals, and legal constraints.
So, is the prolonged preservation of memories ultimately a blessing or a curse?
After a long, contemplative silence, Qi Xia slowly inquired, "Chu Tianqiu, what exactly does {I never left} mean?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Tianqiu’s lips curved into a smile once more. "Qi Xia, I am inclined to believe that I have been present from the very inception of {End Point}."
"I'm not sure how many times I've lost my memory, but I've definitely been here for a long time..." Chu Tianqiu said with a bitter smile. "There are traces of my presence everywhere here. The oldest traces seem to date back many years. It seems I once investigated something. Now, all I can find are the results of my investigations left behind in {End Point}, but I can't recall what prompted the investigation in the first place."
"An investigation?" Qi Xia knew that if Chu Tianqiu's {Reverberation} was indeed triggered by {witnessing the end}, then conducting such an investigation would be incredibly dangerous for him. "So, what were the results of your investigation?"
"I once penned a sentence, {I must ensure Qi Xia obtains his Reverberation}." Chu Tianqiu smiled, "Could it be that you are the stepping stone in my ascent to divinity?"
"A stepping stone, huh?" Qi Xia smiled as well, asking, "Chu Tianqiu, is your only goal in collaborating with me to generate corpses?"
"No..." Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "It’s not so simple. We can tackle this from two angles. By {selling food}, {Passage to Heaven} has already collected two thousand nine hundred {Dào}. I will {become god}, and you will {collect Dào}. No matter what actions we take next, we are increasing our chances of leaving. I've said it before—only you and I are qualified to survive here and to walk out."