Chapter 669: Please Heaven and Earth Bestow a Rank!

The old man held the boy, and both of them took a step at the same time, stepping onto the next level of the staircase.

Thump—!!

The cries of a chaotic world echoed in their ears.

Artillery fire filled the sky, high-rise buildings collapsed, and countless former relatives and friends fell in pools of blood. The killing intent and despair impacted these two figures, like a surging wave of the era, threatening to swallow them completely...

The boy had grown up.

He transformed step by step from that young child into a young man capable of standing on his own. He grew taller and taller, tall enough to carve out a place for himself and those he cared about in the torrent of the chaotic world with his tall, sturdy build.

The confusion in the young man's eyes grew less, and the scars on his body grew more. In the end, only incomparable determination remained in his eyes.

"Do you still dare to move forward?" The old man asked.

"I dare." The young man nodded heavily. "I must become stronger... just like my sister and him."

The old man smiled. On his weather-beaten, wrinkled face, the aura of the boy he once was could still be faintly seen. He and the young man lifted their feet at the same time and stepped onto the sixth level of the staircase.

Thump—!!

……

"What did you say??!"

"When we woke up the Red Dust Monarch, the hibernation pod was damaged... The X-113 agent that maintains life functions at low temperatures cannot be circulated internally and externally by conventional methods, especially since the Red Dust Monarch has lost self-awareness... So...

The Red Dust Monarch cannot hibernate."

The young man's breathing was heavy. He looked through the laboratory's observation window at the figure lying on the metal table, his eyes full of struggle and pain.

"How could this happen... how could this happen..."

"Mr. Yao, our only way now is to send a distress signal to other bases... The Red Dust Monarch's hibernation failed, and there is only one final result: dying of old age in her sleep. So in the most optimistic scenario, the Red Dust Base can only last for fifty years.

Within these fifty years, we need to transfer the million-strong population of the Red Dust Base to other bases in batches. Now that the domain train tracks have been destroyed, this will be an extremely challenging task..."

"Is there no... is there no other way?"

"I'm sorry, without the hibernation pod, we cannot fight against time, Mr. Yao."

The young man's fists clenched involuntarily. As if thinking of something, he suddenly turned back to look at the researchers:

"You just said the hibernation pod's malfunction is because that agent cannot be circulated internally and externally by conventional means?"

"Yes, Mr. Yao."

"Then what if... what if I could intervene in the human body by some means and manually control them to circulate?"

The researcher was stunned for a moment. "This... theoretically it's possible, but the original connection device is also broken. Forcing a connection will cause irreversible damage to the body... And the Red Dust Monarch has already fallen into a deep sleep. If we rashly connect the device and fail, it might actually accelerate her death."

"What is the probability of the connection failing?"

"...Seventy percent."

"...I understand." The young man took a deep breath. "Connect the device to me."

The researcher was stunned. "What did you say??"

"Connect the device to me. If I die, then continue with the original plan to evacuate the residents of the Red Dust Base... If I survive, I have a way to extend my sister's life."

"But, but even if you connect to the damaged hibernation pod and barely extend her life, you can't pass the time by sleeping..."

"I know, I just need to survive... even if I'm just lingering on." The young man walked into the laboratory, came to the side of the sleeping figure, and looked at her cheek, muttering to himself:

"As long as I'm alive... I can fight against time for her."

An embroidered thread drifted from his fingertip and silently burrowed into the sleeping Su Zhiwei's body.

Green God Path — [Human Body Embroidery Map].

……

Thump—!!

As the two stepped up another level, the young man's body suddenly exploded in a mist of blood.

Circular wounds the size of fists pierced his limbs and back, like some extremely thick tubes connected to his body. His originally tall and healthy body was like a gradually withering flower, becoming haggard and hunched.

"Do you still want to move forward?" The old man asked.

"...Yes." The young man smiled miserably. "Just a few hundred years... grit my teeth, and it'll pass."

……

The torrent of history swirled around them like a surging vortex. Countless figures gathered in the small sand and stone, waving flags and roaring at the sky.

狰狞 (Hideous) and thick black pipes extended from the damaged hibernation pod, connecting to the figure covered in frost.

He hung his head, his skin pale without a trace of blood, like a puppet parasitized by the device. At this moment, several figures were standing before him, respectfully bowing their heads, listening to that weak but unquestionable voice:

"I believe... art can change the era."

"I promised those pioneers... their children would live a stable and happy life..."

"We cannot eliminate nuclear radiation, we cannot guarantee they will always be healthy, but we can make the most brilliant flowers grow on the withered earth... Isn't that the meaning of art's existence?"

"Use the Green God Path to embroider a utopia for the masses... One day, this wasteland will change because of us."

"Let's call it... the Floating Life Gallery."

Many figures responded, bowing respectfully to the haggard figure, and then hurried away into the distance.

The haggard, pale figure with dense pipes inserted into his body watched them go, then slowly lowered his head to look at the sleeping figure shrouded in embroidered threads before him.

He smiled slightly:

"If that day really comes, if I can really take that step... this picture should be finished."

"When that time comes, will you come back?"

……

The young man's eyes opened instantly. He stepped forward violently, and together with the aged figure beside him, stepped onto the eighth level of the staircase!

Thump—!!

A deafening sound echoed over the Red Dust domain.

At this moment, the young man's appearance gradually aged under the erosion of time, finally becoming a weather-beaten old man... He stood together with the old man beside him, like a pair of shadows spanning time and space.

The two figures stood on this level of the staircase, gradually overlapping, as if the trajectory of history was gradually overlapping with reality. Past and present were witnessed by heaven and earth at this moment.

The next moment, an aged and firm voice echoed over the sky:

"Green God Path Leader Yao Qing... please heaven and earth bestow a rank!!"