Chapter 1932 - 1931: Divergent Storylines

So in the story Lin Chichi went through, is there no place for herself?

He Ao gazed at the short-haired girl in front of him, faintly sensing a kind of ambiguous feeling.

The same events happened, only without He Ao’s ’participation’.

The originally failed plan became a successful one.

Then, from when did I stop ’participating’?

Where is the ’change’ point in this world, after all?

Could another ’self’ exist in this world?

And Lin Chichi looked at He Ao’s expression, seemed to ponder for a moment, and asked softly, "Should I know ’Hao Yi’?"

She paused, then asked further, "I haven’t asked your name yet?"

"He Ao," He Ao replied with a smile.

Lin Chichi was slightly taken aback, and laughed, "I thought you were Hao Yi,"

She looked at He Ao, "Who is this Hao Yi? Is he powerful? Will knowing him help me in any way?"

"Perhaps, if you know him," He Ao thought for a moment and replied softly, "you might walk a path entirely different from your current destiny."

"Is that so?" Lin Chichi paused, leaning against the courtyard wall, seemingly lost in some thought.

"After the Velora incident, have you been working for ’Boss Ruonati’? Did you join the Dawn Organization?" He Ao looked at her and continued to ask.

"Strictly speaking, I was following Jin Ya, doing some odd jobs," Lin Chichi chuckled, "Jin Ya is Ruonati’s capable assistant; she thinks I’m very capable, so she’s intentionally grooming me to become an assassin, she’s even planning some extraordinary items for me."

She reached out and touched her short hair, then glanced at the empty cabin of the pickup truck, and laughed, "Can you believe it? I used to have much longer hair."

"I can see that," He Ao nodded slightly, "Have you ever thought about escaping?"

"I can’t escape," Lin Chichi glanced at He Ao and shook her head, "Jin Ya said I’ve been involved in transcendent events, so I’ve been tainted with extraordinary power, leaving Dawn would likely drag me into other transcendent events, leading to certain death. I had to call my mom and say I found a job abroad and won’t be able to come home temporarily."

She looked at the dim sky, "Later, I soon learned about the existence of the Research Institute, then began to figure out how to return to Central Earth; maybe the Research Institute could protect me."

"But before you made it back to Central Earth, an accident happened?" He Ao looked at her and asked softly.

"Yes," Lin Chichi nodded slightly, "’Boss’ plan succeeded, I don’t know what he’s happy about, but he clearly was ecstatic, like those villains in stories about to rule the world—though my identity was a villain’s monster at that time."

She paused as if recalling something, then continued, "However, Jin Ya seemed not particularly happy, she and ’Boss’ had a clash, a big quarrel, and later one day, ’Boss’ suddenly disappeared with the Velora, no one knows where he went."

Her voice got lower, "Jin Ya seemingly also gave up arguing, she took me back to Central Earth, and told me to find the Research Institute. She’s always known I wanted to go home. Then, about half a month passed, the day of the World Apocalypse."

Her voice paused slightly, lifting her gaze, watching others in the courtyard, "The Velora returned, that car came back for ’Jin Ya’."

"Was ’Boss’ inside it?" He Ao asked softly.

"I don’t know," Lin Chichi seemed to recall something, shaking her head slightly, her voice paused a bit, "I only know Jin Ya entered the car, then there was a violent upheaval inside, by the time I went in again to check, she was already dead. I felt something terrifying writhing in the car; I ran out, kept running out."

Speaking of this, she took a long breath, looking up at the sky, "Then, the world was destroyed."

She paused and repeated, "That car returned, and the world was destroyed."

She lifted her gaze towards the huge stone pillars at the ruins’ end, "I saw those pillars rise behind me, saw the buildings around collapse one by one, saw people around me vanish one after another."

Listening to Lin Chichi’s words, He Ao also lifted his gaze, looking towards the gigantic stone pillars at the ruins’ end.

This is the first ending.

Ruonati, following the plan, controlled Velora, taking the Main World’s coordinates to the Relic World; counting the time, without the help from the Angel Power, he spent half a month to the Relic World, which is about right.

Then he didn’t usher in his glory in the Relic World but was directly captured by the Tuning Master, becoming a ’courier’.

Then the Tuning Master directly descended to the Main World, directly destroying the entire world.

If not for He Ao’s obstruction, this would have been a matter of course.

And because Ruonati’s plan always went smoothly, the Tuning Master hadn’t arranged things afterward, leading to no subsequent Underground Palace event, City of Rong Guang, etc.

History and fate took a turning point right there.

Then, the world was destroyed.

He Ao’s gaze rested on those gigantic gray stone pillars.

So, what is the purpose of those pillars?

At this time, Lin Chichi had stabilized her emotions too; she lifted her head to look at He Ao, "This is all I know. Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"From the day you entered the Velora," He Ao looked at her, "how long has it been?"

"Sixty-nine days, today is March 24th," Lin Chichi pondered and said slowly, "although the world is destroyed, the calendar remains."

The date is the same, the times between the two worlds should be completely synchronized.

He Ao lifted his gaze again, sweeping over the desolate ruins around, "Last question, do you know ’K’?"

"Hm?" Lin Chichi raised her head, glanced at him, "Who is this? Is it a similar name to ’Hao Yi’?"

"Similar to the entity you’re trying to communicate with in your hand." He Ao lowered his head, sweeping over Lin Chichi’s denim jacket, speaking calmly.

Lin Chichi’s body paused slightly, and at this moment, Ye Ying lifted her head, looking at her, seemingly ready to walk over.

"Praying to unknown gods can lead to death." He Ao withdrew his gaze, also looking at the approaching Ye Ying, speaking softly.

"If one has no power," Lin Chichi whispered while lowering her head, slightly lifting the sleeve of her left hand and murmuring, "death comes quicker."

Beneath her sleeve was supposed to be smooth, fair skin, now completely occupied by twisted red-gray patterns. These patterns tore open wounds on her skin, revealing bright red, twisted flesh.

As if in the next moment, the flesh beneath that pattern would swell and grow, transforming into a monstrous terror.

Unlike Ye Ying, who has a special constitution, Lin Chichi is truly an ordinary person.

Moreover, the extraordinary items left behind by Yang De are not purely rational items.

The short sword from the Warrior Talent Sequence has been eroding Lin Chichi’s body, just as it eroded the body of the sword-taking woman, with a slight misstep leading to being devoured by this short sword, transforming completely into a monster.

Lin Chichi’s handling method is simple; she engraved those gray patterns on herself, praying to another unknown being, suppressing the pollution from the short sword, thereby maintaining her combat power.

And those grey markings are similar to those on the enormous stone pillar, most likely pointing towards the God of Machinery or related Higher Beings.

He Ao didn’t know how Lin Chichi discovered these markings were useful, but these markings aren’t without ’side effects’.

He Ao could feel that Lin Chichi’s mind was currently enduring continuous pollution shocks, and she could go completely insane and become a twisted monster at any moment.

The footsteps of Ye Ying were getting closer and closer, and Lin Chichi also rolled down the sleeves of her denim jacket, saying naturally, "No matter what, people always have to live."

He Ao glanced at her.

Although the world is different, this girl’s personality is still similar to what He Ao remembered, she’s a crazy girl.

No matter what price has to be paid, as long as one can survive, one must try.

"Do you have paper and pen?" He Ao asked casually.

"I have a pen, but you need to find paper inside," Lin Chichi took a ballpoint pen out of her pocket, handed it to He Ao, then glanced at the approaching Ye Ying, opening her right hand, "If there’s something you want to write, you can write it directly on my hand."

He Ao glanced at her, reached out to take the ballpoint pen from her hand, and drew a ’K’ symbol on her hand.

Then he put away the ballpoint pen and placed it back in Lin Chichi’s palm, "You can use this symbol to replace the markings on your arm."

"’K’?" Lin Chichi looked down at the symbol, "So this ’K’ is also the ’unknown deity’ you talked about?"

"Perhaps," He Ao shrugged, "But you can pray to it."

"I’ll try." Lin Chichi paused for a moment, put away her hand, and pulled down her sleeve a bit more to completely cover her arm.

Then she hesitated and quietly asked, "Why are you helping us?"

"Maybe because I ’know’ you," He Ao said casually.

Can’t exactly say you two are my disciples in another world, can I?

Lin Chichi opened her mouth, just about to say something when Ye Ying had already approached the two, "What are you talking about? Is there anything I can help with?"

She looked at He Ao, "The environment inside might not be great, but it’s a little better than outside. Do you want to come in and chat while sitting down?"

"It’s nothing," He Ao smiled and shook his head, he glanced at Lin Chichi, "Lin Chichi gave me a lot of useful information, now I need to go to the next place."

"You’re going to the Stone Pillar?" Lin Chichi looked up at He Ao and quickly guessed He Ao’s target, "It’s very dangerous there."

"Is the Velora ship still around there?" He Ao asked slowly.

Lin Chichi returned with Yang De, but she doesn’t have the ability to move quickly, so the place she mentioned where she and Jin Ya met the Velora ship is most likely Nandu, which is here.

He Ao has to find this world’s Velora ship first.

"At the westernmost, the earliest Stone Pillar," Lin Chichi raised her gaze, looking towards the western Stone Pillar, "At least it was still nearby when I left."

"Why not have a meal before you go?" Ye Ying looked at He Ao, hesitated for a moment, and said softly, "We just managed to gather quite a lot of things, and there are some homegrown vegetables in the yard."

"No need." He Ao smiled and shook his head slightly.

Ye Ying still wanted to say something, Lin Chichi looked at her and shook her head slightly.

"Alright then," Ye Ying nodded, she lifted her gaze to look at He Ao, she suddenly remembered something, "We still have a car at the entrance, I’ll go find you the key."

"No need," He Ao shook his head slightly, "I don’t need a car."

But by this time, Ye Ying had already run into a nearby house.

Lin Chichi lifted her head, gave He Ao a glance, "Actually, I still don’t know why you could call my name the first time you met."

She paused, "But my intuition tells me, you’re someone who can be trusted, so,"

She clasped her hand with the runes drawn on, took a slight breath, "Thank you."

She’s different from Ye Ying. Ye Ying’s brother is a genius at the Research Institute, and big figures knowing Ye Ying through her brother is normal.

But she, she’s just a nobody.

He Ao looked at her and smiled slightly.

"Found the key." And at this moment, Ye Ying came out from the room.

"Then I’ll be leaving." He Ao glanced at the two of them, his figure flickered for a moment, and he disappeared from the spot.

Ye Ying saw this scene, was stunned for a moment, and only reacted after a good while, "He just disappeared like that?"

She gestured with her hands, "Just a moment ago, such a big person, now gone?"

"He’s different from us." Lin Chichi looked at Ye Ying, shook her head, then turned her gaze towards the distant Stone Pillar.

"But still, the difference is too great," Ye Ying clicked her tongue, as if recalling the recent encounters, "Feels like he’s a god, like a dream."

She lowered her gaze, looked at Lin Chichi, "Chichi, I feel like you seem a bit happier, not so distressed."

"Survived another day," Lin Chichi smiled, took a bite of the bread in her hand, "Gotta be happy about that."

"True," Ye Ying walked to Lin Chichi’s side, "I still have two bottles of cola, let’s open them today and celebrate."

Lin Chichi nodded slightly, smiled, "Okay."

Her gaze lifted, taking another look at the grey Stone Pillar on the horizon.

Then she withdrew her gaze and walked into the house with Ye Ying.

——

And above the horizon, He Ao’s body turned into a stream of light, swiftly passing through the sky.

He cast his gaze downwards, glanced at the Conch Gemstone in his hand, the faint green light lightly shimmering on this gem.

Although he has no ’Dao’ to borrow in this world, he can cheat a bit, use some other methods.

For example, the permissions theft of ’Sound of the Star Sea’, which allows him to bypass the ’Establishing Dao’ phase and communicate with the world’s essence directly.

In fact, during the chat with Lin Chichi, he was already trying this.

And the feedback this world gave him was extremely bad.

The essence of this world is collapsing at a perceptible speed.