Chapter 1575: Self-Severing

No one knew how turbulent Chen Ling’s heart was at this moment.

In his mind, only the "greeting" Xuan-yu Jun had tossed out so casually remained... But the amount of information it contained was explosive for Chen Ling.

The Seventh Generation Red King...

But he himself was only the Sixth, right?

Chen Ling could already be certain that the Xuan-yu Jun just now definitely wasn't from another world; the power of the God Particle wasn't enough to support him in crossing different worlds. So, he must be from the future of the Era Archive world...

In other words, his world restart was successful? The Era Archive had overwritten the original world, and this had become the "Sixth Generation World" he had personally initiated.

But... a Seventh Generation Red King had appeared here.

The succession of the Red King position was by no means as simple as a normal job handover. Chen Ling had inherited the will of the Fifth Generation Red King after he died, managing the Twilight Society to become the Sixth Generation Red King... And Chen Ling also knew his own personality; he wasn't the type to give up halfway and hand the Red King position to someone else just because he didn't want to do it anymore.

So, did the appearance of the Seventh Generation Red King mean... that his future self was dead?

Could it be that in the sixth restarted world, humanity still failed to defeat the Red Star? Even with himself, a world-destroying calamity, becoming the Red King, he still couldn't rewrite the fate of human failure??

Or was Xuan-yu Jun playing another massive joke on him?

The Era Archive allowed Chen Ling to understand the past and also foresee a portion of the future. Last time, he foresaw the failure of Wu-ji Jun, and this time... he foresaw his own failure.

At this moment, Chen Ling suddenly felt that foresight really wasn't a good thing.

If he knew in advance that all his efforts would ultimately result in failure, what kind of mindset should he have to do what came next? What should he use to support himself through this current, most tragic and painful era?

"Director Chen..."

"Director Chen??"

Yang Xiao patted Chen Ling’s shoulder lightly, finally waking him from his confusion and self-doubt. He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm down.

He turned around and saw the Nine Juns waiting for him in the rain.

"That Ji Xuan just now was from the future, right? What on earth did he mean?" Wu Tongyuan muttered in a low voice. "Weren't we supposed to be comrades? Why did they start fighting?"

"I actually don't think he had any malice toward us," Lu Xun pondered. "Based on my understanding of him, he might... just have wanted to show off in front of us?"

"...Huh?"

"No, is he sick?" Qi Muyun couldn't help but curse.

"But I have to say, this is indeed the kid’s personality... After achieving great cultivation, traveling back through time to the original starting point to show off his powerful strength in front of his naive companions... Yeah, very showy." Wen Ruoshui nodded repeatedly.

“……”

Their eyes also held confusion and incomprehension, but unlike Chen Ling, they had Chen Ling as their backbone. Deep down, they knew Chen Ling would cover for them and guide them, so they weren't too panicked... But who could guide Chen Ling?

If he knew for a fact that the ending this time would still be failure, then what was the point of gathering the Nine Juns, painstakingly planning for the future, and betting everything to seek a glimmer of hope for humanity??

Chen Ling had thought he could settle his mindset, but when he actually saw the Nine Juns, that sense of self-doubt and nihilism surged into his heart. He knew he couldn't just ignore the facts.

"Director Chen, has your face recovered?" Yang Xiao walked up and asked.

"...Yeah."

Chen Ling looked up at the sky, where the light rain was still falling. He seemed to have made a decision and turned to the others. "You guys go to the tent nearby to hide from the rain... I’ll be back in a moment."

Although they didn't know what Chen Ling had to do, everyone nodded. After carrying the unconscious Ji Xuan, they walked straight toward the tent.

Once they were far away, Chen Ling slowly closed his eyes...

The next second,

an invisible Heart Python climbed onto his shoulder.

Chen Ling seemed to sense its presence and stroked the snake’s head, his tone complex:

"...It’s up to you."

The Heart Python flicked its red tongue as if responding to Chen Ling, then suddenly opened its bloody maw and bit into Chen Ling’s mind!

Foresight is a double-edged sword, especially when you know that your desperate efforts won't be rewarded; a sense of slackness will constantly grow deep within. And perhaps, this slackness during a critical period would become the reason for the final failure.

Chen Ling knew he was the core figure of both the real world and the Era Archive; his mindset absolutely could not have any weaknesses. Since that was the case...

Then forget it.

Forget Ji Xuan’s words, forget the unavoidable failure. Chen Ling actively severed a piece of his own memory, returning himself to that state of unwavering determination for the future.

As the Heart Python chewed and then swallowed that memory in one gulp, a moment later, Chen Ling’s eyes slowly opened.

There was no longer any confusion in his eyes, only the sharpness and determination belonging to the Sixth Generation Red King,

along with a hint of confusion:

"Huh?"

"What am I..."

Chen Ling turned his head and met the gaze of the Heart Python coiled on his shoulder. He was stunned for a moment when he saw the Heart Python appear inexplicably, then seemed to realize something, his brow furrowing slightly as if lost in thought.

After a long silence, he waved his hand, dismissing the Heart Python, and strode toward the tent ahead.

When Chen Ling entered the tent, Yang Xiao was on the phone.

"Yeah... right, we’re all together."

“……”

"What did you say? But..."

“……”

"No, I can’t agree to that..."

“……”

"I know, of course I want to... but we are scientists..."

“……”

"Yes, I can’t represent them... Anyway, that’s my answer."

The tent was very quiet, and everyone was looking at Yang Xiao. Chen Ling could feel an incredibly tense atmosphere the moment he walked in... and this atmosphere didn't dissipate even after Yang Xiao hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Chen Ling asked.

Yang Xiao held the phone for a long time...

"The war has begun... they want me to go to the front lines."

As soon as these words were spoken, the others’ brows furrowed slightly. Chen Ling, as if he had long guessed this day would come, narrowed his eyes involuntarily.

Nowadays, high-end scientific products have all failed. After experiencing global-scale, insane nuclear strikes, world war will not stop there... Nuclear-armed nations will continue to bomb and slaughter each other, and non-nuclear nations will not easily be spared. In this era of extreme chaos, human greed and ambition will not decline; on the contrary, they will expand rapidly.