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Chapter 1623 Final Chapter: Crossing the Sea [53] "The Great Sage Yang Mermaid and the Unsincerous People Arrive (9)"

“I’ve read some popular science books. Sunfish feed on jellyfish, so I always avoid them whenever I see one,” Su Liujin said. “A destined link in the food chain… a destined hunter and prey, a destined enemy.”

"But my mother read me a fairy tale."

"Once upon a time, there was a jellyfish who befriended a sunfish. The jellyfish was naive and unaware of the dangerous food chain between them. The sunfish was a very ambitious fish; it always longed to fly into the sky, but how could a fish become a bird?"

"The jellyfish kept comforting the sunfish and encouraging it to work hard. It believed that where there's a will, there's a way, and that one day the sunfish would be able to fly. Little did it know that in Rovasa, the deeply ingrained food chain was the only rule, and fish could never become birds."

"One day, the sunfish said it was going to fly into the sky. The jellyfish knew that the sunfish had a bright future ahead of it, while it was just a tiny jellyfish, so it could only say goodbye to its friend with reluctance. Later, the jellyfish lived alone for a long time before it learned from its companions that the only way for the sunfish to fly into the sky and leap over the dragon gate was... to eat a jellyfish that wholeheartedly believed in and cared for it."

"Love is the most delicious poison."

"The sunfish gave up the opportunity to eat jellyfish, abandoning its long-held dream."

Su Liujin paused here, then smiled. The frosting melted even softer in the warm breeze, making his profile appear gentle.

"But later, my mother told me the ending of the story."

"So this jellyfish isn't ordinary. It's a special kind of jellyfish. It won't die even if it's eaten. That's great! It goes to find the sunfish, hoping the sunfish will eat it and fly into the sky."

"However, the sunfish said, 'Even if you don't die, I won't go to the sky. Even if you don't die, I never want to eat you.' And so, the jellyfish and the sunfish became friends peacefully and happily, and lived together ever since..."

This is a heartwarming fairy tale.

But this made Su Ming'an vaguely understand that this was a fairy tale, but it was also Su Liujin's past experience.

“Look, that’s a flying sunfish. I don’t like it because it ate a jellyfish that cared for it wholeheartedly.” Su Liujin held up her finger. “Want to try it? I just taught you how.”

Su Liujin raised her right hand, extending her index finger and thumb while deftly closing the other three fingers to form a simple yet sharp angle, aiming steadily in the direction the bird's shadow had passed.

"Raise your hand and steady yourself." His voice was soft and clear.

Su Ming'an raised his right hand. Su Liujin's fingers gently pinched his wrist, adjusted her posture, and her thumb firmly gripped his wrist, guiding Su Ming'an's "gun muzzle" to chase after that golden flying shadow.

“That’s it,” Su Liujin whispered. “It’s like a shadow play, with shadows moving through the light, and us watching it steadily from behind the screen.”

The enormous candy tree cast its deep shade, enveloping everything in a gentle twilight, except for two pairs of bright golden eyes that kept their eyes fixed on the light of day.

"Bang." Su Liujin said softly.

The sunfish was still flying; it didn't fall, and nothing happened.

A gentle finger gun can cause no pain and won't make a fish fall.

"Let it keep flying." Su Liujin lowered her hand.

"Don't you hate it? It tricked the jellyfish." Su Ming'an glanced sideways.

“I am not an ordinary jellyfish, I am the Jellyfish Emperor, and you are the Lighthouse Cult Leader.” Su Liujin raised her hand, her palm filled with the crimson of the setting sun. “We will abolish those food chains sooner or later, so that such stories will never happen again. At that time, all jellyfish and sunfish can live happily ever after… This time, I will not punish it.”

“I live here as a carefree little king. I am of noble birth and can do whatever I want, but there is always a voice in my heart that says, ‘You are waiting, waiting to escape.’”

"I am a noble little king, but also a jellyfish. I am always waiting for the sunfish, just like a prince waiting for a princess... waiting for the all-powerful sunfish to come and devour my flesh and blood, to make the wingless fish grow wings, and for it to carry me away..."

"It's as if everyone is telling me: Don't wait, the sunfish won't come. Just be a little king who doesn't need to think, stay here forever, everyone will love you."

"Don't wait, the sunfish won't come."

"Yes, the sunfish won't come because..."

The white-haired youth bowed slightly and extended his hand to Su Ming'an.

Behind him, the final contenders made their dazzling entrance—the Holy Envoy Phoenix and the Summoner Bai Ran. Phoenix's pair of phoenix wings soared high, gleaming with golden light and shimmering with iridescent brilliance, perfectly aligning with the angle at which Su Ming'an looked up at Su Liujin—making it appear as if a pair of golden wings had sprouted from Su Liujin's back.

The white-haired youth raised his gaze, looking directly into Su Ming'an's eyes, piercing through the approaching twilight. The golden light seemed to ignite the dusk.

The auspicious fortune slip lay quietly on the eaves, its vermilion characters resembling a tiny heart in the setting sun.

"because."

"I can become a sunfish."

His eyebrows curved, and his smile was gentle.

A sudden evening breeze swept across the candy-covered roof, ruffling a few strands of hair on Su Liujin's forehead, and tiny sugar granules floated around the two of them like golden sand.

That hand gripped Su Ming'an's hand tightly, like a pact between "rebels".

"Let's go."

"Let's go out."

……

If going out were really that easy, Su Liujin wouldn't have stayed here all this time.

Like a butterfly that has lived in a greenhouse since childhood, if you suddenly release it... will it soar high? Or will it fall in panic and die a gruesome death?
Su Ming'an observed for a long time but still couldn't figure him out—was he the tool that grew up under endless malice and the moral kidnapping of the whole world, the zeroth disciple game champion No. 001 who was killed in the end while pursuing the truth, the lonely boy waiting in the sea holding a wooden box, the cheerful and playful voice of the War God Dragon King in his ear, the ruthless and desireless observer who traveled all over the world, or the little king who grew up surrounded by countless loves?
So many versions of him, like a shattered mirror, broken into countless fragments.

Which one is the real him?

……

"Shh-!"

White tentacles bloomed like flowers, piercing the phoenix's burning body.

Phoenix was extremely brave, his head held high, determined to leave a wound on Su Ming'an with his last bit of strength, but he was pierced through the chest by the Yarman Sword.

"The chosen one...cannot prevail..." Phoenix murmured, his heart filled with resentment, yet he still laughed wildly, "Today, I, Phoenix, have not lost to you! Not to the king and the gods! But to this world! This world that only cherishes you, only loves you, only brings you happiness! Su Liujin!!!"

Suddenly, his form vanished, transforming into an egg. The phoenix does not die; it only transforms into an egg and is reborn.

Unable to retaliate, Bai Ran had no choice but to raise his hands and admit defeat.

Su Liujin grasped Su Ming'an's hand. As the champion, he should go and pay homage to the Radiant Mother Goddess and have a wish granted.

When they stepped onto the highest rooftop of the palace and looked down upon all things, the subjects knelt down, their blessings echoing like a thunderous roar.

"Please make a wish, that these wonderful days may continue forever!" Hui Chi—no, the paper figure wearing a golden-haired, red-eyed mask—shouted, his figure flat and lifeless.

"Please make a wish, so that the Candy House may grow ever larger, and people may continue to enjoy happiness without having to work!" Hui Bi—no, the paper doll with blonde hair and blue eyes—shouted.

"Please make a wish, that the whole world will continue to love you!"

"Please make a wish, and let everything in the world conform to your desires!"

The love and reverence of all beings lifted up the young king, adorning him with golden robes, studding him with jewels, and crowning him.

however--

"Shh!"

The young king turned around, decisively threw away his crown, smashed the jewels, tore off the red silk covering his body, grabbed Su Ming'an's hand, and jumped off the highest roof!

The gleaming staircase leading to the abode of the gods was right before him, yet he chose to fall.

He laughed loudly, like a sunfish that had willingly lost its wings, clutching Su Ming'an as it tumbled and fell.

……

My gaze once hovered over nothingness, where birth and death were as constant as the tides. Stars revolved, all things flourished and withered, and humanity was but a speck of dust.

—Until that day, when that person arrived, I inadvertently drew back the veil of humanity.

I saw it as soon as I looked down.

I saw the wind's sobs drown out the children's cries, the groans beneath the soil drown out the budding spring shoots; I saw valiant soldiers reduced to money bags, unbelievers forced to believe for survival; I saw in this world, jellyfish can only be jellyfish, and sunfish can only be sunfish.

"Among so many brocades, which one is me? And why did I appear in this country, and why did I become a king?"

I don't understand. All I understand is why a dancer, knowing that day and night are unchangeable and life and death are inescapable, would still dance with lightning speed and brave fire and water for the world.

[In a daze, I saw many "me"s—I saw Shili Qizhou and the others transform into the War God Dragon King, lifting me high; I saw Huibi holding a wooden box, drowning in the sea for me; I saw Shiying pierced through the chest by steel bars, yet desperately throwing me into the sky; I saw why Icarus died, Lin Qinghuan, Li Qingyu, the little monk, the storyteller, the old man on the cliff, Chen Ping, Locke, Qianqin, the Great Sage… walking towards me one by one, lifting me into the sky.]

【who I am? 】

This is probably a question we'll only know once we wake up.

[But more voices surged forth, heavy enough to crush the long wind. "Son, son, where have you gone? Since you went to the battlefield, there's been no news. Your mother has been waiting for you..." "Mom, where did Dad go? Why has he turned into a photograph?" "Grandma, why won't you open your eyes? I finally brought back this bread..." "What is real in this world, and what is fake... When will we have the freedom from manipulation and observation..." "Save us, save us..." These cacophony of voices pierced through the cocoon, allowing me to see for the first time that beyond the immortal kingdom, there exists something immense called loss.]

In that instant, my throne slumped—the cries of the people pulled me back. For the first time, my body, as slender as a dragon, felt a profound weight. The sounds that I should have ignored like dust coalesced into a mighty river, shattering my throne that held sway over heaven and earth.

[Even the War God Dragon King can fall; even the Great Emperor—has an unbearable weight.]

As my body crashed into the scorched earth, my palms touched the blackened soil. A sensation I had never felt before spread from my fingertips. I heard a heartbeat throbbing deep within the earth, and I saw countless sunfish that refused to grow wings.

—Distant “eyes,” my friends and I declare war on you. Sooner or later, you will no longer be able to see the glorious kingdom of the Emperor, nor the beacon of my friends.

I leaped into the abyss, no longer content with this blissful land. When I wake, where will my friends and I be? Who will I become, and what labels will I be labeled with?

[Is the dream of brocade a dream of fish, or a dream of fish a dream of brocade? Did I become a butterfly in my dream, or did the butterfly dream of the Great Emperor?]

[Then I'll leave that to when I wake up; at least, I need to open my eyes.]

[It turns out that the so-called fall of the Great Emperor was not the death of the Dragon King, but rather his awakening. On this vast and fertile land where suffering and hope must be measured—I opened my awe-inspiring golden eyes.]

I stepped forward, the red ribbon brushing against the scorched earth and new shoots, heading towards the depths where sounds converged—not the kingdom of gods, but the human realm where all beings prostrate themselves.

[In the human world.]

The sunfish won't come, because I am a unique jellyfish. I will show everyone that the sunfish doesn't need to devour jellyfish to grow wings.

So what if I have wings? Ha! I possess fins more beautiful than wings.

……

Su Ming'an woke up from his dream.

He stood up instantly, only to find that he was still not back in the prince's room. Before him was a cold, pale room with a narrow, technologically advanced bed.

He looked out the window and saw a pure black curtain like velvet, with nebulae like splashes of fluorescent paint, crimson and cobalt blue intertwined to form a huge vortex, adorned with thousands of stars.

The porthole reflected Su Ming'an's suddenly contracted pupils.

—Outside the window is the universe!
He was on a giant ark that was traveling through space!
He pinched himself hard, wondering if this was still a dream—this should be where Su Liujin woke up, and he could find Su Liujin if he just looked around.

“This is still a dream. Su Liujin is trapped in one dream after another…” Su Ming’an understood. He looked at the mirror next to him.

—The face reflected in the mirror was his own.

He rummaged through the small cabinet and found an identification tag:

……

Name: Su Qing

[Identity: Su Ming'an's clone]

[Permission Level: S]

[Position: One of the Twelve Seats of the Ark.]

……

An Ark? What Ark?
That said, Rovasa couldn't possibly have a view of the universe, so what exactly is this place...?

Su Ming'an pushed open the door and stepped out, catching sight of the wall clock—

……

【2021年9月22日，14点24分】

[It has been 27 days since I left Zhai Star (The time flow in the Ark is different from that of the original Zhai Star, please take note)]

……

Tick, tick.

The bright red numbers changed second by second, and narrow lounges spanned the icy white corridor, with individual names written on the doors.

As if his heart had been suddenly clenched, Su Ming'an knew—he knew what time it was.

"Su Qing." A surprised voice came from beside her. "You're not asleep? You have a good schedule today. We've discovered a new habitable planet, it's colorful and exceptionally beautiful. Would you like to come and take a look in the observation room?"

What came into view was a blonde girl with a beautiful face, like a bright pearl.

—Antetoria, the second-ranked player.

Su Ming'an sensed Su Liujin's presence nearby. A jellyfish that should have grown up in Rovasa was actually in this vicinity.

Behind her, the huge glass porthole reflected the vast, dark universe.

—A colorful planet, quietly resting in the distance, like a dazzling gem.

The ark is approaching it.

……