I'm going to find your whole family! Your whole family in the present world!

Facing the mermaid beauty who couldn't help but start being abstract after regaining her composure from her shock, Leon directly gave up on explaining to her and prepared to call over Miss Salted Fish's entire family.

If her whole family, including Miss Salted Fish, were present, even with the thickness of the mermaid beauty's face, she probably wouldn't dare to... challenge me face-to-face... right?

"Oh dear! Look at you, already in a hurry!"

Realizing that this kind of rhetoric wasn't working on Leon, the mermaid beauty regretfully licked her lips, quickly grabbed his arm, and said with a smile:

"I'm not that kind of frivolous woman; I was just joking just now. Why did you take it seriously?"

"..."

Yeah, right!

Seeing the lingering disappointment in the mermaid beauty's eyes, Leon's mouth twitched instinctively, feeling that it probably wasn't a joke just now. If he dared to agree, she'd probably make it real immediately.

"You know, I'm about to die."

After stealing a glance at Leon, the mermaid beauty sighed softly, with an expression difficult to discern as true or false:

"Though I've already died once before, at least my will was maintained without disappearing. But when I actively plunge into the root and facilitate the fusion of the two worlds, the remaining will also will disappear, and then I'll be truly and completely dead."

"..."

After listening to the mermaid beauty's words, Leon's expression froze slightly, and his gaze inevitably became a bit complicated.

After a slight hesitation, he couldn't help but speak:

"If you just want to revive your people, there's actually no need to plunge into the root. With so many Evil Gods captured this time, reviving the Cleanup Crew along with your people would be more than sufficient.

For a population of over three million, the resources in the present world wouldn't be a strain, and the very few who don't wish to continue finishing their original life can have their memories erased and new bodies sculpted without needing you to plunge into the root."

"That's different."

The mermaid beauty shook her head upon hearing this:

"You brought back over three million from the Abyssal Realm, but that doesn't mean my people are only this many. There are many who left the Abyssal Realm before the 'Corruption' rule dissipated, and I wish to make up for the life I owe them.

Moreover, besides this, the space between roots is the material world's limit. Given the current situation in the present world, there's no way to compete with Number 1 in the future. Only by me plunging into the root and helping Number 3 space fuse with Number 9 space do you have any chance to compete against him."

Number 1...

Leon paused in silence upon hearing this, then spoke up to ask:

"Was it Number 1 who defeated you and took away the root, causing the entire Abyssal Realm to head towards destruction?"

"That's right."

The mermaid beauty laughed.

"He should be the strongest among all known 'root remnants' and the most obsessed with completing the ultimate mission... Oh, right, 'root remnants' refer to people like you and me. I heard this term from the guide between Number 9 roots."

"So what exactly is this ultimate mission you mentioned?"

Leon couldn't help but frown:

"I don't understand; how important can a mission be to make Number 1 ruthless enough to kill you, a kin, and then destroy the entire Abyssal Realm, killing so many people along the way."

"The ultimate mission..."

The mermaid beauty sighed, looking a bit wistful:

"That's the meaning of existence for us root remnants; it's also the curse we must bear... um..."

At this point, the mermaid beauty paused slightly, then raised her head to look at Leon, a puzzled look in her eyes as she asked:

"What was our mission again?"

"???"

Seriously? You, a genuine remnant, are asking me, a fake, instead?

Facing the mermaid beauty, who was seemingly trying to be abstract again, Leon's expression darkened. Just when he was about to ask her to be serious, he noticed her face suddenly tense, then she lifted her pale arm and casually touched the back of her head.

Under Leon's surprised gaze, a deep blue mark with five eyes wide open pulled out a mass of seemingly indistinct confused images from the back of her head, then shattered loudly in the palm of the mermaid beauty's hand.

"What is this?"

"Omnia Cicada's mark... I underestimated him."

Glancing at the palm where the fragments disappeared like melting snow, the mermaid beauty closed her eyes, sighed helplessly:

"When he was creating this body for me, he had already tampered with my brain, not allowing my complete will to reside directly, but making a very subtle and hidden segmentation in the zones of knowledge and memory, and attached a mark representing 'Known'.

This mark normally poses no problem, nor does it cause any harm to my brain, but if I want to communicate 'knowledge' that he doesn't wish others to know, this mark would shatter along with the hidden 'Known', confusing part of my memory."

"..."

"Leon, I fear I can't tell you what the ultimate mission is."

With a hint of apology, the mermaid beauty gazed at Leon, her brow furrowed:

"All my memories regarding the root remnants, the Four Pillar Gods, Old Soil, and Number 1 have been mostly shattered by him, and mixed with plenty of false knowledge. Even if some of my original memory remains, as a whole, it's no longer reliable.

Leon, in the future, my memory can only serve as a reference. You must never fully trust it; otherwise, a piece of intelligence with a slight deviation might lead you into traps they've set."

Again, the handiwork of Omnia Cicada...

After hearing the mermaid beauty's warning, Leon pondered slightly, then pursued:

"What about memories related to the present world? Are there any messages you can tell me and confirm aren't confused?"

"There are indeed some."

After contemplating for a moment, the mermaid beauty responded:

"For example, the origin of the Source God Platform... Leon, did you know? The thirteen planes surrounding the present world, four major and nine minor, were originally all part of the present world.

However, after humanity fled from Old Soil, the Number 3 space bound to the human race brought over the entire Source God Platform, and upon 'landing', directly shattered the complete present world, which led to the current fourteen planes."

"?!!!"

"Just like Heavenly Mountain is called Heavenly Mountain because angels reside within, the true foundation of a material plane isn't the plane itself, but the race living upon it."

Seeing Leon's eyes widen suddenly, the mermaid beauty patiently explained:

"In other words, it's not that you humans chose to live on the Number 3 material plane, but only races bound by Number 3 roots can gradually broaden the world under the root's support, making this plane become the Number 3 material plane."