first player

Chapter 1600 Final Chapter: Guarding the Coastline: "OE: Die from the Ocean (16)"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

In the dimly lit room, a young man with disheveled white hair sat amidst a pile of manuscript papers, picked up a pen, aimed at each illusory figure, and filled them with flesh and blood using words.

As the pen tip produced a blossoming effect, one form gradually solidified, revealing ocean-blue hair and blue eyes, and smiled:

“Su Ming’an, it’s me, Lu. I’m back.”

"Don't worry, I won't die."

"Oh!"

Paper flowers splattered everywhere as Su Ming'an threw a punch, his form transforming into ink that scattered in all directions.

“Why can’t I write it…!” Su Ming’an whispered, “I used Soul Ferry to record Lu’s final death, but he can’t come back… The pink-haired man’s weapon looks like an eraser, a kind of rule-based weapon, so is that why Soul Ferry failed…”

He continued writing, and one after another, blue-haired youths appeared before him, to the point of being indistinguishable from the real thing. But he knew clearly that there was no independent soul in those bodies.

"Su Ming'an, I'm back." A gentle voice.

"Su Ming'an, don't be afraid, I'm not dead." A gentle voice.

"Good evening, Su Ming'an. Don't worry about that attack." A clear voice.

One after another, human figures exploded, leaving ink-like liquid on the ground, resembling blood.

"What are you clinging to?" Dieying's voice suddenly appeared, coaxing, "You can't go back, you can't fix everything, you can't bring back the dead, and you can no longer use your own body to block the tram."

“…” Su Ming’an did not answer.

“You could never go home anyway…” Dieying said.

Su Ming'an got up and pushed open the door.

A ray of morning light pierced his eyes, and he recalled what had happened before.

……

The sky was cloudless.

When Su Ming'an stepped out of the dimly lit tower, he raised his hands, his fingertips still feeling warm, as if fresh blood had flowed through them.

He killed Eland.

Eland knows too much; he is very likely involved in the "Murder on the Orient Express" case.

When his hands touched that slender neck, Aland neither laughed nor cried. His calm eyes stared at him, his chest heaving like a bellows, his throat rumbling like a gust of wind. This sober man said, "And you—Lord of the Realm, what judgment will you render?"

“I am not qualified to stand on the side of Detective Poirot,” Su Ming’an said with clear eyes, “...because I am also the last link in this chain of events.”

Aland was wrong. Detective Poirot could calmly stand from an observer's perspective and judge whether everyone was guilty. And he himself did not stop people from exploring Zhai Xing; he was also the final link in this "Murder on the Orient Express" case.

"Then...you...are you going to...let...everyone go..." Aland's eyes were full of mockery.

“No,” Su Ming’an said, “Everyone, including myself, must be punished.”

In that instant, the weariness in Aland's eyes turned into shock, and even a hint of anticipation.

"Click."

But with a crisp crack, everything came to an end.

The boredom ended, the confusion ended, and the expectation ended.

Perhaps in the next distant cosmic cycle, Aland will still be a prophet with uncanny foresight, a genius adored by all... but this time...

“…You’re just a corpse on the ground.” Su Ming’an wiped his hands clean, didn’t even glance at the ground, and turned to leave.

Not long after, he heard something horrifying.

—Just as the pink-haired people launched their attack, Yamada Machiichi issued a decision to launch a sweeping attack, quelling the chaos of fighting among the people in one area, but also affecting Aini's family. Aini's relatives, her father, mother... all died in this attack.

This is a common occurrence. When a global crisis strikes, in order to quickly quell some kind of chaos, it is inevitable that innocent people will be affected. However, it was Aini who was affected.

Provoked by the corpses scattered all over the ground, Aini picked up her mother's severed hand and rushed straight to Yamada Machiichi, who was still inside the tower.

Why did he take this despicable position? It was precisely to protect his family!
But now, and now...!
At that time, Yamada was filled with anxiety. The order for this sweeping attack did indeed come from him, but he did not expect it to cause such heavy casualties.

Perhaps it is a mistake for a student to be placed in such a high position.

He stood there, his mind reeling from unprecedented pain, his thoughts blank. It was actually a trolley problem; to quell the chaos, there would inevitably be casualties, but the impact was far too great.

When Aini came to his door, Yamada Machiichi was still standing in front of the control panel, his fingers, which had transformed into mechanical arms, hovering over the buttons.

“Aini…?” Yamada Machi met Aini’s bloodshot eyes.

Meanwhile, Su Ming'an, having received the news, was rushing to the scene.

……

“We cannot escape from this interconnected power system.”

……

"boom!"

……

All the sounds and confusion came to an abrupt end.

All the palpitations and pain stopped abruptly.

Conversations, questioning, confessions, the sound of approaching footsteps, the roaring guilt in Yamada's mind, the boiling magma in Eni's chest... all sounds, all heart-wrenching palpitations, all soul-devouring pain, were completely erased in this one sound.

……

“There is never a future where ‘as long as I work hard enough, no one will have to sacrifice.’”

……

The world seemed to have frozen into a cold, inescapable ring. The weak, trampled upon yesterday, now hold the power of life and death; the strong, who wield power today, are reduced to dust in an instant.

The young man with disheveled brown hair stared at the cold ceiling, white smoke rising, making his vision blurry.

The most bitter thing is not the pain, but a sentence that keeps echoing in my heart—

"It's true, there's no going back."

……

"Only a future where 'as long as I work hard enough, I can choose who to sacrifice'."

……

Silence, an eerie silence.

An absolute silence that swallowed all sound, even freezing heartbeats.

"Tap." Su Ming'an's footsteps outside the door were the loudest sound in the room.

His gaze pierced through the billowing smoke, first landing on Aini's face. That face was devoid of twisted anger, devoid of mad hatred, leaving only a frozen, pure, immense emptiness.

All emotions and all purposes vanished at this moment, leaving only an incomprehensible bewilderment.

In Aini's hand was a gun with white steam rising from it, and the muzzle still sparked, indicating that it had already been fired.

This is a treasure that Aini obtained in the Ruins World: the purple-tier weapon, the Firework Gun. Its bullets can penetrate the human body, creating fireworks, and its destructive power is unparalleled.

A wisp of pale gunpowder smoke, carrying the scent of sulfur, rose upwards, distorting the world he was falling into.

As the smoke drifted by, Aini seemed to be burned by it, turning his head back extremely slowly and stiffly.

"Thud!" The gun fell to the ground.

He seemed to have burned his hand, waking up as if from a dream, clutching his forehead, his eyes trembling violently:

"What did I do...what did I do! Ah—!"

A buzzing sound filled my ears, and everything seemed to turn gray.

The lingering psychological impact of the eighth seat triggered him.

Su Ming'an knew that some of his companions were not on good terms, and this conflict would be amplified after the world game ended, but it was all within the scope of appeasement. Due to the desires of his relatives, Aini, a young man from a noble family, had done some shady things for his family, but they were all insignificant. However, he did not expect that a mistake by Yamada Machiichi would cause him to lose control.

Blood flowed to Su Ming'an's feet, and before him lay a pale, brown-haired youth lying on the ground.

All of this is incredibly absurd, like a dream, yet it is also the inevitable reality that will occur when things develop to a certain point.

There is never a gunshot without a reason.

If there's a gun in the first act, there will always be one in the third.

Su Ming'an walked to Yamada Machiichi's side, hugged the pale young man, and saw the hole in the young man's chest with the remaining tangible fireworks ribbons, which was the effect of the gun.

He looked up at Aini.

A voice echoed in my heart.

—Punish him.

—Because he fired the shot.

Even though he was mentally affected, even though he was stimulated by the corpses of his relatives.

Without punishing him, this trouble cannot be quelled.

If he is not punished, where is the law of this world?

For a fleeting moment, the shadow of the Lord's chair overlapped with that of his companion. The remaining ribbons floated upwards with the smoke, landing on his head and neck moments later.

A rainbow fell all over him.

Those who heard the commotion arrived a step too late. Upon seeing the scene, they were so frightened that they trembled, unsure whether to cling to the realm lord and pretend they hadn't seen anything, or to righteously condemn Aini.

The bleeding wouldn't stop, and the warmth in his arms vanished before he could hold on. Yamada Machiichi's pupils turned a dark gray.

Su Ming'an heard his own extremely calm voice, as if it came from another world:
“Take Aini away and lock her up...we'll discuss it later.”

……

In that instant, he felt a weight on his hand, as if he were grasping something heavy.

Looking down, I saw a blood-red scale.

……

Would you kill one companion for the sake of another?

Lord of the Realm.

……

[The pages of happiness, those delicate hands like lilies,]

[It grips my life with a deadly force.]

I will caress you, and hold you tightly with the softest ribbons of love.

Like a prisoner before a conqueror, you tremble with fear.

……

The weather is clear and clear.

Today is a beautiful day, worthy of the blessing "Have a nice day" from the people of the UK.

Su Ming'an put down a bunch of wild daisies and looked at a silent tombstone.

This is Eleven's grave; she died in the attack by the pink-haired man.

“Sorry, I forgot to give you the wild daisies,” he murmured.

Suddenly, he heard his wristwatch buzz.

“Su Ming’an, are you busy right now? She… wants to see you one last time.” Isabella’s hoarse voice came through the communicator.

"I understand," Su Ming'an said.

Around noon, Su Ming'an appeared in a room.

The place is full of the old Zhaixing style, with wooden window railings, old photos pasted on the walls, potted plants on the walls adorned with flowers and green vines, beige gauze curtains fluttering in the wind, and ginkgo trees planted outside the windows.

An elderly woman with white hair sat in a wheelchair, gazing into the distance.

"Why did you get out of bed?" Su Ming'an immediately helped her up: "You can't leave the medical pod for too long."

“It’s time…” The old woman smiled and coughed a few times. “My life is being clung to by the medical pod. Countless tubes have replaced my organs. I don’t know when, but I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to be alive. I know my days are numbered, and this is probably the last time I’ll see you.”

“No, I will bring you back to life,” Su Ming’an said resolutely. “By ferrying your soul.”

"It's no use. I've been here since the beginning of the small world's development... My soul is already failing." The old hand patted Su Ming'an's hand: "Let's go, push me outside for a walk, and talk to you one last time."

The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, everything is... just perfect.

Pushing the white-haired Luna through the blooming flowers, Su Ming'an caught a glimpse of the white-haired woman on the Praia ship. She was cheerful and proud, not yet a skilled knight. Upon seeing him, she tried to attack him with her items, but was instead attacked by them, leaving her standing helplessly in the rain, soaked to the bone.

Later, she met herself, and when Lin Guang suddenly attacked, she grabbed Lin Guang and resolutely jumped off the train, only to be smashed to pieces.

When did that happen?

It seems like... something from a past life.

Su Ming'an talked to her, talking about yellow roses, wild daisies, trains, New Year, dumplings, the fireworks that night, the waves of Playa, his twenty-first birthday, the universe, Anthony and Ward, the garden full of ginkgo trees, the moonlight, delicious candies in the ruins, the bears of the North...

“I heard you brought the wild daisies to Eleven,” Luna said.

“Yes, I agreed to it,” Su Ming’an said.

Then, he took out a bunch of swaying yellow roses from his pocket and handed them to her.

"Today, I bring you yellow roses."

Luna took it in astonishment, looked down at it, her eyes red-rimmed.

She didn't crave flowers that much; her life was more about swords, battles, and creeds. Naming her guild "Yellow Roses" was simply because her mother liked the flower. But for some reason, seeing these flowers today brought tears to her eyes.

She remembered that the first thing she did after returning home was to see her mother.

……

"Mom!" Luna, in her wheelchair, drove towards her mother.

"Luna...?" The middle-aged woman stared in astonishment at her white-haired daughter, yet she recognized her daughter by her features.

"I thought Mom wouldn't recognize me and would kick me out," Luna said in a husky voice, filled with girlish joy.

[“Get out of here!” Lu’s mother forced herself to remain calm: “I would only kick you out if you brought a girl home. Tell me, what happened to make you look so old?”]

[Mom has always been a strong woman, consistently calm, rational, and resolute. Even in the face of such a situation, she listened attentively. Luna recounted the entirety of the World Game, how she entered the smaller world as one of the first pioneers so that seven billion humans could adapt to this new world, and how many years she spent there…]

[It tells the story of how much she has no regrets and how fulfilling and happy her life has been.]

After speaking, Luna felt a little uneasy, but her mother patted her head hard, ruffling her silvery-white hair.

"So you still haven't dated or gotten married? You unfilial daughter!" The broom seemed about to be raised again.

【"Mother!"】

[Luna was about to protest when she was suddenly embraced tightly. Her mother held her, tears falling one by one onto her head, onto her dry, silvery hair.]

"Good daughter, good Luna, good Luna..." whispered in her ears.

"Mom is so proud of you."

"What world, what righteousness, what responsibility, none of it matters to Mom..."

"Mom only has one request: don't go before me..."

……

"Humans are just like mayflies..."

Luna gazed at the ginkgo leaves fluttering in the air.

It's a pity, Mom, she broke her promise.

She had no regrets in her life, and if she could have it all over again, she would still choose to live it. There was only one thing she regretted…

Suddenly, at the edge of my vision, I saw a fiery red color.

Her pupils contracted slightly, and she looked up at Su Ming'an in disbelief, seeking a definite answer.

“I didn’t ask her to come; she wanted to see you herself,” Su Ming’an said. “She’s probably curious… about what you actually liked about someone like her.”

A kind smile appeared on the old man's face.

In truth, the youthful flutter of attraction and love at first sight were long gone. She couldn't deny that she had been moved, but it was less like love and more like a childlike infatuation. Countless years had passed, and it was now seen as a joke by others.

However, she came at the last moment, which is also... a fitting end.

Fortunately, Mom won't kick her out of the house because of this.

Luna covered Su Ming'an's hand:
“I know something happened a few days ago…you’ve been blaming yourself.”

"I won't say much, but as your companion and an older sister who's always been a few years older than you, I just want to... thank you."

"Thank you for fighting with us, thank you for everything you've done, thank you for the yellow roses you gave me, thank you... for pushing me along this path."

"Life is like a journey, and we are all travelers. Everyone will take the wrong path and go astray. Some will go up the mountain, some will go into the sea, some will go into the mud, and some will go into the depths of the ginkgo trees..."

She slowly released his hand:
“As long as you’re sure, we all like this road.”

Su Ming'an watched as the old man's wheelchair moved forward, the wheels crunching over ginkgo leaves. The girl in the red robe and with white hair looked over as always.

He walked towards the door, giving Luna one last look. The old man was heading towards that fiery figure.

“Silber,” Luna said.

"Who are you?" Siber tilted her head. The old woman with a full head of white hair was weak and thin, not beautiful at all, but Siber felt that there was something similar to her in her bones.

In truth, this is the one they truly know.

"I'm Luna," Luna said with a smile, extending her hand. "I think you're really cool. Would you like to be my friend?"

In his final moments,
You are my last friend.

……

In the cold winter of 2028, after several leaps, Su Ming'an tracked down Alger's trail.