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Chapter 1578 Final Chapter: Crossing the Sea [47] "Who Killed the Mockingbird (1)"

“Come here.” Hui Zi’s tone was sweet as she reached out her hand to Lun Xue. Under the light, her face, which was comparable to that of a woman dressed as Noel, was incredibly beautiful: “…Little girl, give me that stone.”

Lun Xue's expression momentarily dazed, and she subconsciously picked up the white stone.

—It's the "Lucky Koi System" cheat code at work!

Su Ming'an remained unmoved and directly grabbed Hui Zi's neck with one hand, instantly subduing her with a strong spatial fluctuation.

"White Group! You're also a conscious one, why are you helping the natives beat me!" the conscious one, Hui Zi, struggled to say.

"Why did you steal the white stone?" Su Ming'an clenched his fists.

"Uh...! With the immense energy of this thing, the person I serve can successfully remove the obstacles and ascend to the position of Lord of Eden..." Under the threat of death, the conscious Hui Zi was forced to reveal the truth.

"Whom do you serve?" Su Ming'an asked. "Pudding? God Lü?"

"What do these two have to do with the Garden of Eden, being the heirs of the Lord of Dreams?" The conscious Hui Zi suddenly strained to lift her head: "The one I serve... ah, he's here..."

Su Ming'an turned around—

Outside the mechanical door stood a tall, elegant figure with soft, flowing hair and dark, piercing eyes. His white suit was like a constellation of stars, radiating a luminous glow. His demeanor was gentle yet unassuming, like a sycamore tree perched outside a window.

His hands, with their distinct knuckles, were striking, as if carved from white jade. He held a cane inlaid with amethyst, and on his index finger wore a silver ring engraved with blood-red scales.

This wasn't the first time Su Ming'an had seen this person, but it was the furthest he had ever seen him.

The man slowly raised his hand, adorned with a silver ring, and placed it on his chest, revealing a perfectly appropriate smile:

"We meet again, my true form."

"No... I should call you Su Ming'an."

Hui Zi, one of the Awakened Ones, looked at Su Ming'an in surprise. The name "Su Ming'an" was well-known among the Awakened Ones; he was a savior who spanned the universe, and countless civilizations had been saved by him.

Lun Xue also showed the same blank expression as Su Ming'an, who was expressionless.

"Su Mingming." Seeing Ming change his address, Su Ming'an immediately changed his address as well, no longer referring to him as "Clone Ming," and said calmly, "It seems you've really gone astray with Hui Mo. Where is he?"

"Heh... You actually asked about him first, not my recent situation." Ming laughed, his chivalrous demeanor making the smile seem particularly warm and upright. "He spilled wine on my suit, and I particularly dislike that kind of behavior. So, he went his way, and I went mine. We only traveled together for a while before parting ways. Perhaps you'll see him in the organizer's section? After all, you killed the God of Inorganicity, didn't you?"

"You two are incredibly greedy." Su Ming'an remained expressionless, as if witnessing the betrayal of his clone Ming was nothing more than a common occurrence for him.

He's the kind of person who doesn't even trust pets, so how could he expect genuine affection from others?

Since Xiaona calls him a "perfect player," then Ming, as one of his possibilities, must have a very high score, even if he doesn't reach "perfect." If Ming wanted to surrender, no one would refuse him.

Su Ming'an clapped his hands slowly, encouragingly saying, "One of you is aiming for the position of the Lord of Eden, and the other is aiming for the host's seat. As expected of the Wheel of Fate, I originally thought your goal was to destroy the World Tree... It seems that this is just a link in the way you achieve your ultimate goal. You have connected with the Awakened Ones much earlier than me, and you are moving very fast."

“I am deeply grateful for your kindness to us. Perhaps after everything is over, you will set me and Ying free, allowing us to become independent individuals.” As Ming said this, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He was still smiling, but his voice grew colder and colder: “However, have you considered where Ying and I would be even then? We are nothing but a mirage. The ‘Noel,’ ‘Lu Shu,’ ‘Lin Yin’ who fought alongside us… are no longer our people, but your version. They have no memories of traveling with us, nor are they our familiar companions—rather than heading towards such an unfamiliar future, why don’t I set my sights on another twin-star world?”

“Si Que is asleep, and Su Liujin has no interest in it. If I wanted to, I would be the most suitable ‘Primordial One.’ You would become the ruler of the small world, and I would become the ruler of the Garden of Eden. What’s wrong with that?”

...Ming made him feel unfamiliar.

However, Su Ming'an had always been wary of this skill, so how could he arrogantly judge that Ming couldn't possibly have done such a thing? It was because he was scared by Noel that he truly believed everyone had a hidden story.

Su Ming'an's eyelids twitched, and he replied with an "Oh".

An extremely bland answer.

Ming's smile faltered for a moment, his clear black eyes fixed on Su Ming'an, trying to detect a trace of emotion in the other: "That's it? Is this your reaction?"

"What kind of reaction do you want from me? Shock? Disappointment? Pain?" Su Ming'an spread his hands, his eyes extremely calm: "Since you want to be the Lord of Eden, then be it. It just so happens that Su Liujin doesn't want to be. I believe in 'my' character. You won't make that world too bad. If things get really bad, there's always Si Que."

“You really are…” Ming paused, his tone tinged with anger and a deeper meaning, “trusting him…”

Lun Xue watched from the sidelines, remarking on the dramatic family drama within the Su family compound. She never imagined that the seemingly righteous Ming would turn out to be a traitor, while the wicked and sinister Ying remained steadfastly by Su Ming'an's side.

Suddenly, she noticed Su Ming'an's hand behind his back and made a gesture.

Run!

This was Su Ming'an signaling her to take Bai Shitou and run away quickly!
Ming's audacity in appearing so boldly clearly demonstrates his lack of fear of the White Clan's strength. As the White Stone is part of Su Liujin, Ming's possession of it is tantamount to holding the emperor hostage to command the princes, thus granting him the qualifications to become a realm lord.

...Su Liujin really is a little prince, representing "orthodoxy".

Although Su Ming'an outwardly doesn't care that Ming becomes the world lord, there are clear-headed people behind Ming. If they control Eden, who knows if it will affect the small world in the future?

Lun Xue pursed her lips, knowing this matter was extremely crucial, concerning the future of both worlds. She pondered for a moment, then used her most proficient skill, "Shadow of Slacking Off"—leaving an illusion in place while her true body quietly departed. This was an indispensable slacking-off technique; one appeared to be at their workstation, but had actually already flown far away.

Silently, she hugged the white stone and quietly retreated...

"Madam, please wait." Ming's voice was gentle and clear.

Lun Xue slowly turned around—

The young man in the white suit held a dagger to the throat of the white-haired boy, with his other hand on the boy's shoulder.

“Ms. Lun Xue, if you take one more step back, my dagger will rise an inch,” Ming Wen said gently.

Su Ming'an's eyes flickered. Ming's strength, speed, and endurance were indeed formidable. In the blink of an eye, he was beside him. However, he calmly said, "Mr. Su Mingming, if your dagger moves an inch upward, my spatial vibration will tear you to shreds."

Ming raised an eyebrow, his smile widening: "It seems we're destined to perish together. That's wonderful."

...How could I have such a neurotic personality?

Su Ming'an thought he had seen through Ming, but the personality revealed today exceeded his expectations. Or perhaps, it was just acting?

“However, I know… you traveled through time, didn’t you?” Ming’s voice was soft: “Your true form is under the World Tree?”

"It's no use. When I arrived, time was almost frozen on Rovasa's side."

“Almost paused, but not completely paused. What if my accomplices have already appeared beneath the World Tree and taken control of your uncontrolled body…”

Su Ming'an raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, without warning, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. There were no wounds on his body; it was more like some kind of trauma that had transcended time.

“…Hehe.” He smiled, suddenly finding it amusing. He immediately turned the page and returned to the original point in time. Ming did not stop him.

The next moment, Su Ming'an opened his eyes and saw a blond youth. The man's eyes were like a piece of clean jade, giving people a feeling of spring breeze. He was wearing a silver-white bishop's robe embroidered with a lighthouse pattern, as pure as frost and snow.

Beneath the World Tree, the blond youth appeared incredibly holy. Yet, the papal scepter in his hand pierced through Su Ming'an's abdomen.

“I never imagined that my chief bishop would fall into such a state.” Su Ming’an placed his hand on the gleaming scepter.

“Not depravity.” Boris’s emerald pupils faintly shimmered with a radiant light.

“The Radiant Mother Goddess summoned me and told me the truth about the cycle. It turns out that we have repeated the same tragedy more than once.”

"He showed me many possible endings and let me experience them firsthand..." His fingers gently brushed his lips, as if in remembrance:
"...Only then did I realize that in one particular development, you and Noel perished together, your blood staining the world, and I consumed your flesh and blood. That experience truly captivated me. I suddenly understood...what I really wanted."

“I hypnotized myself into a fervent belief in you, but this was not my true desire; rather, it was my fervent pursuit of power and desire. To this day, my faith in you remains sincere, except that I wish you to be the best God… without action or words, simply existing. That way, I can simultaneously satisfy my sincere faith and my burning desire.”

"I don't care whether you want to seize power or if it's genuine," Su Ming'an said calmly. "All I can tell is that you've been hypnotized by the Radiant Mother Goddess's magic. If it were the old you, you would rather die than try to control a god."

"Hypnosis?" Boris tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with a light that had never been so bright before, his pupils usually dull and lifeless. "Or... wakefulness?"

Su Ming'an sighed inwardly.

...surrounded by mentally ill people.

Having spent so much time with "normal" people like Si Que, Su Liujin, and Qian Qin, I've almost forgotten what it feels like to have a lunatic around me.

Su Ming'an grabbed Boris by the collar and threw him to the ground, but the guy just looked happy. It seems the Radiant Mother Goddess's magic was very effective.

Su Ming'an pulled out the scepter and shoved the pointed end into Boris's mouth, piercing through the back of his head. The brilliant golden tip pierced through his soft blond hair. However, this blow did not kill Boris; instead, the hideous wound began to heal.

...The Radiant Mother Goddess could give Su Ming'an a small sun powerful enough to kill the Inorganic God, and she could also grant Boris such formidable regenerative abilities.

“I almost forgot you have the ‘Phoenix’ skill.” Su Ming’an thought of Boris, who died repeatedly in the Eighth World. He stopped dwelling on it, decisively turned the page, returned to the past, and opened his eyes to see Ming’s unchanging smile.

"what do you want?"

"Do you have a solution to this?" Ming lowered his head, fiddling with the silver chain with the lighthouse hanging from his wrist: "I've been watching you miraculously solve all sorts of dead ends, come up with all sorts of amazing ways to break the deadlock, and play with your powers in all sorts of ways... I wonder if I can witness you perform a miracle?"

"A miracle?" Su Ming'an retorted without any politeness: "You think you can even describe this kind of predicament?"

He was not afraid at all.

He had anticipated this situation beforehand, so he planted a time bomb in his body in the original timeline. It was an improved version of the White City bomb he learned in the Second World. Once a certain time had passed, or the body had been damaged to a certain extent, the bomb would automatically explode and send him back to the previous timeline.

At worst, he could turn Boris into mincemeat.

So, he wasn't actually worried about what would happen to him; he was just...amused by Ming's behavior.

Looking down from a high vantage point.

A godlike arrogance.

I'm curious about what this person can achieve, how resolute they are, and what the attitudes of those who are clear-headed behind them are.

...Did Si Que feel the same way when he saw Su Wenjun resisting?
"Do you know why Huimo calls me 'Demon Lord'?" Ming was not annoyed at all: "In their eyes, we extraterrestrials are demons. And the one who commands demons is the Demon Lord. By the way, do you remember the first story in the twelve stories, 'A Jellyfish in the Sea'?"

Su Ming'an quickly found the story in the clues section.

“This is actually an acrostic story.” Ming smiled slightly. “The first word of each paragraph, when put together, tells you what Oliver wanted to tell you in secret. But you don’t seem to have noticed. The incident of the top-numbered person, the exclusion, the wariness… The Rovasa people never trusted us in the first place, so why should you risk your life for them? Why not just give me the white stone?”

“Only we are together.” Ming’s voice was seductive and soft: “Only we are on the same front… the core.”

Su Ming'an remained silent for a while.

After a moment, he said:

“I promised the Emperor that I would take him out of the sea and not leave him in my dreams.”

"I also promised Si Que that I would not let down all the skills and knowledge he taught me."

"Qianqin saved me more than once, Huanjiala sacrificed himself to help us replenish our energy, and Su Wenjun told me many truths about the universe, which made me realize how I have come to where I am today."

"I also promised Hui Zi and Qi Zhou that I would become their master."

"If I hadn't formed so many ties, perhaps I wouldn't care about the life or death of a white stone. But this time, I can't stand on your side."

There are still many things he hasn't said, things buried in the abandoned time.

Hui Bi turned and walked into the night; Tian Ying's eyes were touched as if ice and snow were melting; Le Zi, the devil, descended at the last moment to stop the organizers from taking him away; and Li Ziqi's eyes burned with pain.

So he asked, "What makes you think you can sway my will?"

That warm, gentle smile disappeared.

“I know where your arrogance is based… It doesn’t matter.” Ming brandished the dagger: “I’ll sever your tendons in your hands and feet, and cut off your tongue, then you’ll never be able to go back.”

...Could Ming really do such a thing?

A strong sense of "interest" rose in Su Ming'an's heart. He felt that his mental state was extremely unfamiliar at this moment, as if something that had been suppressed for a long time was about to explode.

what.

It is trust, an anchor point.

Once this trust was ignited, it acted like a fuse, detonating the long-collapsed mountains in his mind. Despite all his precautions, he never truly considered that Ming would betray him, until the blade of Damocles fell. In an instant, everything in his eyes displayed bizarre and grotesque colors, and his crumbling soul burst open, oozing black filth.

First it was Noel, then the White Ball, and then Ming.

Perhaps the safest thing to do is to throw yourself into the desolate snowfield.

This is the final moment. I can't let emotions cloud my judgment. Anyone could be the mastermind behind it all, just as he never imagined that Bai Tuan was the clear-headed one, while Ming was the enemy.

He closed his eyes and activated the authority of "faith".

he told himself.

— Set aside enthusiasm and remain rational.

Su Ming'an, you can't let anyone sway your judgment. If Ming doesn't show up today, but instead stabs you in the back, you might truly fall into the abyss.

You have chosen an extremely radical and daring path—the narrowest golden road, a direct challenge to the lucid and the dreamer. Therefore, you must remain steadfast in the face of everything you are about to encounter.

On this most difficult road, you may see things you can't believe, and you may know things you can't imagine.

So, calm down in their presence.

Tell yourself that these things cannot affect your whole heart.

When he opened his eyes again, there was no pain in them. As if hypnotizing himself with the lighthouse of his faith, he hypnotized himself and calmly looked at Ming, as if he were looking at a stranger.

Suddenly, a tearing sound rang out.

Ming suddenly stepped back, releasing Su Ming'an, and a pale blue scythe swept across the spot where he had been standing.

Her beautiful long hair flowed like a flower branch, and an exquisite and gorgeous mask came into view. The pink-haired person met Ming's long sword.

"clang--!"

The two exchanged blows, and Ming quickly retreated.

The pink-haired person was on the left, Ming was on the right, and Su Ming'an was a little further away, forming an equilateral triangle.

...You've come just in time, pink-haired person.

Su Ming'an wiped the blood from his neck.

"Su Ming'an, come over here," the pink-haired woman said, her voice androgynous. She didn't make a move, seemingly on guard.

"Heh, this pink-haired girl has been chasing you all along... She's just trying to trick you into coming over so she can kill you." Ming waved his hand dismissively: "Come over to me, at least I won't kill you."

They blocked the door.

One is on the left, and the other on the right, seemingly waiting for Su Ming'an to make a choice.

Su Ming'an looked towards the middle of the doorway.

"—Activate the cheat item—Forced teleportation!" A bright voice rang out. Outside the door, a girl with fiery red hair held a white stone in the hands of Su Ming'an and Lun Xue.

—Then the oriole arrived.

She appeared to be threatened by the man in black robes and forced to steal the white stone, but in reality, she seized the opportunity and used her cheat item to teleport Su Ming'an and herself away, escaping to safety.

Ming immediately blocked him, slashing with his sword.

"Shh!"

The teleportation device emitted a shimmering light, and the sword blade slashed Shi Ying's abdomen. In the next instant, the light flashed, leaving only a pool of blood.

……

"Huh...huh..."

Shi Ying clutched her stomach, breathing heavily. She and Su Ming'an landed in an empty laboratory, surrounded by pale and dark blue light.

“We’ve been teleported to the other side of the experimental area, let’s go!” Shi Ying grabbed Su Ming’an’s hand: “You’re Su Ming’an, right? You’re the chosen one who conquers the seven-star difficulty level, I remember.”

The girl's delicate yet proud face, her fiery red hair—Su Ming'an's eyes flickered for a moment before clearing.

"You're not selling white stones anymore?" Su Ming'an glanced at the white stones in her arms. The white stones seemed not to have expected Shi Ying to come back, and displayed a sullen emoticon "(￣︿￣)".

"I've figured it out. Selling it here is too much of a loss. How much money can a lousy mechanical experimental city give me? If I take this stone to the New World and sell it to the gods and emperors, they can give me endless wealth." Shi Ying gritted her teeth in pain, tightly hugging the white stone.

Su Ming'an heard a somewhat surreal voice:

(...He actually chose to come with me, even though I've been chasing him the whole time.)
Su Ming'an frowned. When had Shi Ying ever chased after him? Was there something wrong with this "stalking mode"?

Shi Ying gripped Su Ming'an tightly and walked towards the door: "Let's go, let's take it out!"

……

From afar, Yamada watched as Su Ming'an and the pink-haired man teleported away together. He glanced at Tianyu, who had strangulation marks on his neck, and then stared blankly at Shi Ying, who was standing on the left side of the door.

Just now, Shi Ying suddenly made a move, forcing Ming back and asking Su Ming'an to come over. But suddenly, a pink-haired person rushed in from outside the door and used a prop to teleport Su Ming'an away.

On Yamada Machiichi's shoulder, there were still cat paw prints and clothes scattered in the closet.

He murmured:

"How long... has he been insane?"

"Who are we in his eyes?"

……