Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1601: Final - : Guardian Shore Line – "OE: Demise from the Ocean (16)
[I also recalled the one night in the middle of the One Thousand and One Nights, where Queen of Sanluzode started to recite the stories of the One Thousand and One Nights word for word, and it might return to the night she tells, thus becoming endless.]
...
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
In the dim room, a young man with disheveled white hair sat amidst a floor full of draft papers, picked up a pen, and aimed at each illusory figure, filling them with flesh and blood using words.
The tip of the pen bloomed into flowers, among which a figure gradually solidified, revealing blue hair and blue eyes like the sea, and smiled:
"Su Ming’an, I am Lu, I am back."
"Don’t worry, I won’t die."
"Bang!"
Paper flowers scattered, Su Ming’an punched, the figure turned into ink and scattered into pieces.
"Why can’t I write it..." Su Ming’an whispered: "I recorded Lu’s final death using Soul Ferry, yet he couldn’t return... The weapon of the pink-haired person is like an eraser, a rule-type weapon, is that why Soul Ferry failed..."
He continued writing, one blue-haired youth after another appearing in front of him, even to the point of being indistinguishable from reality, but he knew clearly that there was no independent soul within those shells.
"Su Ming’an, I am back." A gentle voice.
"Su Ming’an, don’t be afraid, I didn’t die." An elegant voice.
"Su Ming’an, good evening, don’t mind that attack." A clear voice.
One person after another exploded, the ground covered in ink as if it were blood.
"What are you obsessing over?" The voice of Dieying suddenly appeared, coaxing: "You can’t go back, you can’t fix everything, you can’t save the departed, you can no longer use your own body to block the train."
"..." Su Ming’an did not reply,
"You were never going home..." Dieying said.
Su Ming’an stood up and pushed open the door.
A ray of morning sunlight pierced his eyes, reminding him of before.
...
The sky was cloudless as far as the eye could see.
When Su Ming’an walked out of the dark tower, he raised his hands, his fingertips still retaining a warm feeling, as if blood had flowed past.
He killed Aylan.
Aylan knew too much, and most likely participated in this "Murder on the Orient Express".
When his hands touched that slender neck, Aylan neither laughed nor cried, those calm eyes stared at him, chest heaving like a bellows, throat sounding like street wind, that Awakener said: "And you—World Master, what kind of judgment will you make?"
"I am not qualified to stand in Detective Poirot’s position." Su Ming’an said with clear eyes: "...Because I am also the last link in this interlocking chain."
Aylan was wrong, Detective Poirot could calmly judge from the perspective of a bystander whether people were guilty. And he did not stop people from exploring Zhai Xing, so he was also the last link in this "Murder on the Orient Express".
"Then you... will... let... everyone go..." Aylan’s eyes were full of mockery.
"No." Su Ming’an said: "Including myself, everyone must be punished."
At this moment, the fatigue in Aylan’s eyes turned into shock, even a bit of anticipation.
"Snap".
But with a crisp sound, everything came to an end.
Weariness also ended, confusion also ended, anticipation also ended.
Perhaps in the next distant cosmic cycle, Aylan will still be an omniscient "Prophet", a genius adored by all stars... but this time.
"...You’re just a corpse on the ground." Su Ming’an wiped his hands clean, not glancing at the ground, turned and left.
Not long after, he heard a shocking news.
——Just as the pink-haired person attacked, Yamada Machiichi issued a decision for a widespread attack, which settled the chaos of people fighting in a certain region, but it also affected Eni’s family. Eni’s relatives, father, mother... all died in this incident.
This was common, when world crises occurred, to quickly settle some chaos inevitably involved innocents, yet it affected Eni.
Stimulated by the sight of corpses everywhere, Eni picked up his mother’s severed hand, and rushed to Yamada Machiichi still inside the tower.
——He sat in this loathsome position for what? Wasn’t it to protect his family!
And now, and now...!
At that time, Yamada Machiichi was filled with anxiety, although the order for the widespread attack indeed came from him, he didn’t expect such a large number of casualties.
Perhaps a student sitting in such a high position was a mistake from the start.
He stood in place, his mind being hit by unprecedented pain, his mind blank. Actually, this was the trolley problem, wanting to settle chaos inevitably resulted in casualties, but the affected area was too large.
When Eni came looking, Yamada Machiichi still stood at the control desk, fingers transformed into mechanical arm hovering over the button.
"Eni...?" Yamada Machiichi locked eyes with the red-eyed Eni.
At the same time, Su Ming’an got the news and was rushing to the scene—
...
"We can’t escape this interlocking power system."
...
"Slam!"
...
All the sounds and confusion came to an abrupt halt.
All the heart palpitations and pain came to an abrupt halt.
Conversations, questions, confessions, rushing footsteps, Yamada Machiichi’s booming guilt, Eni’s chest full of boiling magma... all sounds, all heart-wrenching vibrations, all soul-devouring agonies were completely erased in this sound.
...
"There has never been a future of ’as long as I try hard enough, no one will have to sacrifice’."
...
The world seemed to freeze into a cold, escapeless loop. The weak trampled on yesterday, today wielded life and death; today’s strong, turned to dust in an instant.
The brown-haired youth gazed at the cold ceiling, white smoke rising, his vision becoming shaky.
The most bitter part was not the pain, but the sentence echoing repeatedly in his heart—
"Really, no way back."
...
"Only ’just as long as I try hard enough, I can choose who to sacrifice’ future."
...
Silence, absolute silence.
A silence that devours all sounds, even froze heartbeats.
"Tap." Su Ming’an’s footsteps outside the door, became the loudest sound here.
His gaze pierced through the hazy smoke, first landing on Eni’s face. That face bore no twisted anger, no insane hatred, only a frozen, pure, vast—emptiness.
All emotions, all purposes, vanished at this moment, leaving only an incomprehensible bewilderment.
In Eni’s hand, was a gun with white smoke rising, the muzzle still sparking, indicating it had been fired.
This was a treasure Eni acquired in the Ruined World, a Purple-level Weapon [Fireworks Gun], the bullet could pierce the human body, bloom fireworks, its lethality unparalleled.
A wisp of sulfur-scented gun smoke, slowly rising, distorted his fallen world.
As the smoke floated, Eni seemed burned by it, extremely slowly, extremely stiffly turned his head.
"Clatter!" The gun dropped to the ground.
He seemed to burn his hand, jolted awake, covering his forehead, his eyes trembling violently:
"What did I do... What did I do! Ah—!"
A buzzing filled the ears, everything seemed to turn gray.
The spiritual influence left behind by Eighth Thrones exploded on him.
Su Ming’an knew some companions weren’t harmonious, this conflict magnified after the World Game ended, but all within controllable range. Due to familial desires, Eni, from the noble class, did some shady things for the family, but they were inconsequential, yet didn’t expect Yamada Machiichi’s mistake caused him to lose control.
Blood reached Su Ming’an’s feet, before him lay the pale, fallen brown-haired youth.
This scene was utterly absurd, like a dream, yet was the inevitable reality of events reaching a certain point.
There’s never been a gunshot without reason.
The first act has a gun, the third act will ring.
Su Ming’an walked to Yamada Machiichi’s side, embracing the pale youth, saw the hollow left in the youth’s chest, residual substantial fireworks ribbons, as the effect of that gun.
He raised his head, looked at Eni.
A voice echoed in his mind.
——Punish him.
——Because he fired the gun.
Even if he was spiritually influenced, even if he was provoked by corpses of relatives.
If we don’t punish him, we cannot pacify this disaster.
If we don’t punish him, what justice exists in this world?
The chair of the World Master and the shadow of his companions briefly overlap, while the leftover ribbons rise with smoke, and moments later, fall upon his head and neck.
Rainbows fell all over him.
The people who heard the commotion arrived a step too late, witnessing this scene, trembling in fear, unsure whether they should cling to the World Master and pretend not to see, or condemn Eni with righteous indignation.
The palm couldn’t stop bleeding, and the warmth in the embrace vanished without any attempt to hold. Yamada Machiichi’s pupils turned into a gray color.
Su Ming’an heard his voice, so calm it seemed to come from another world:
"Take Eni away and imprison him... we will discuss this later."
...
At this moment, he felt his palm heavy, as if holding onto something weighty.
Looking down, it was a blood-colored scale.
...
Would you kill one companion for another companion?
World Master.
...
[Oh, pages of happiness, those lily-like pristine hands,]
[Grasping my life with the power of death,]
[Will caress you, binding you firmly with bands of love,]
[Like a prisoner before a conqueror, you tremble.]
...
The sky is clear and bright.
Today is a fine day, worthy of the Eagle Country people’s blessing of "Have a nice day."
Su Ming’an laid down a bundle of wild daisies, looking at a silent tombstone.
It’s Eleven’s grave; she died in the attack by the pink-haired ones.
"Sorry, I forgot to bring you wild daisies." he murmured.
Suddenly, he heard a buzzing from his watch. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
"Su Ming’an, are you busy now? She... wants to see you one last time." Isabella’s hoarse voice came through the communication.
"I understand." Su Ming’an said.
At noon, Su Ming’an appeared in a room.
It’s filled with the ambiance of Old Zhai Star, wooden window frames, old photos on the walls, potted plants on flower-adorned green vines, beige sheer curtains billowing with the wind, and ginkgo trees planted outside the window.
An elderly woman with white hair sat in a wheelchair, gazing into the distance.
"Why did you come out of bed?" Su Ming’an immediately supported her: "You can’t stay out of the medical cabin for too long."
"It’s time..." the old woman smiled, coughing a few times: "My life has been extended by the medical cabin, countless tubes have replaced my organs, and at some point, I almost forgot what it means to be alive. I know there’s not much time left; this is probably the last time I will see you."
"No, I will rebirth you." Su Ming’an said resolutely: "Using Soul Ferry."
"I can’t anymore, since the development of the small world... I’ve been here, and my soul is already depleted." The elderly hand gently patted Su Ming’an’s hand: "Come on, push me outside for a walk, one last time... let’s talk."
The sunlight is perfect, the flowers are perfect, everything is... so good.
Pushing the silver-haired Luna through the vibrant flowers, Su Ming’an momentarily saw the white-haired woman on the Pulaya ship. She was cheerful yet proud, not yet a distinguished knight, she would try to attack him with props but was instead backfired by them, standing awkwardly in the rain, soaked like a drowned rat.
Later on, she met him, and during Lin Guang’s raid, she bravely dragged Lin Guang and jumped off the train, shattering into pieces.
When did that happen?
Seems like... the last lifetime.
Su Ming’an and she talked, spoke of the yellow rose, wild daisies, trains, New Year, dumplings, fireworks that night, Pulaya’s waves, his twenty-first birthday, the universe, Anthony and Hua De, the ginkgo full garden, the moonlight, the candies in the ruined world, the bears in North Country...
"I heard you brought wild daisies to Eleven." Luna said.
"Yes, I promised her." Su Ming’an replied.
Then he pulled out a trembling bouquet of yellow roses from his bosom and handed it to her.
"Today, I’m bringing yellow roses for you."
Luna received them in astonishment, lowering her head, her eyes reddening.
She never particularly longed for flowers, life was more about swords, battles, and creeds, naming her guild "Yellow Rose" was only because Ms Lu liked the flower. But somehow, seeing this flower today, she couldn’t hold back her tears.
She recalled that upon returning, she went to see her mom first thing.
...
["Mom!" Luna sat in the wheelchair, heading to her mother.]
["Luna...?" The middle-aged woman stared in astonishment at her silver-haired daughter, yet through her features, she could recognize her as her child.]
["I thought mom wouldn’t recognize me and would kick me out." Luna’s raspy voice was filled with girlish joy.]
["Go, go, go!" Ms Lu struggled to remain steady, "Only if you bring a girl home will I kick you out, Tell me, what happened for you to turn out like this."]
[Mom had always been a strong woman, always composed, rational, and determined. Even faced with such a matter, she remained calm and listened carefully. Luna recounted everything about the world game, how for seventy billion human beings to adapt to this new world, she joined the small world as one of the first pioneers, how many years she spent in the small world...]
[She described how she had no regrets, how rich and fulfilling her life had been.]
After she finished, Luna felt anxious, but her mom vigorously tousled her hair, turning that silver-white hair into a tangled mess.]
["So, you still haven’t fallen in love or gotten married? Ungrateful daughter!" The broom seemed raised again.]
["Mom!"]
[Luna intended to protest but suddenly she was embraced tightly. Her mother held her, tears falling onto her head, onto her dry silver-white hair.]
["My good daughter, my good Luna, my good Luna..." Whispered in her ear.]
["Mom is proud of you."]
["Whatever world, whatever righteousness, whatever responsibility, none of it matters to Mom..."]
["Mom has only one request, don’t leave before Mom does..."]
...
"Humans, truly are like ephemeral insects..."
Luna looked at the ginkgo leaves fluttering in the sky.
Unfortunately, Mom, she broke her promise.
In this life, she never had anything to regret, she would still dive into this life if given the chance again. But there’s one thing... she still lamented...
Suddenly, at the edge of her vision, she saw a flash of fiery red.
Her pupils contracted slightly in disbelief, she raised her head a bit, looked at Su Ming’an, wanting a certain answer.
"I didn’t ask her to come; she came to see you herself." Su Ming’an said, "She must be curious... about what you liked about someone like her."
The old woman’s face revealed a gentle smile.
Actually, youthful impulse, love at first sight, those are things long gone. She couldn’t deny having genuine feelings, but it was more like child’s affection rather than love. After so many years, it was treated as a joke by others.
But at this moment, her arrival meant a completion, a closure.
Thankfully, her mom wouldn’t kick her out for this sort of thing.
Luna covered Su Ming’an’s hand:
"I know some incidents happened lately... you’ve been blaming yourself continuously."
"I won’t say much, but, as your companion, an older sister by several years, I want to say... thank you."
"Thank you for fighting with us, thank you for all the efforts, thank you for the yellow roses, thank you... for accompanying me this last journey."
"Life is like an inverse journey; we are all travelers. Everyone will make mistakes, take wrong paths, some will head to the mountains, some to the sea, some into the mire, some deep into ginkgo..."
She slowly released his hand:
"Just know that, we all love this path."
Su Ming’an watched as the elder’s wheelchair moved forward, its wheels rolling over ginkgo leaves, creaking, the red-robed, white-haired girl as always, looking over.
He walked towards the door, taking one last look at Luna. The elder was heading towards the vibrant figure.
"Xiber." Luna said.
"Who are you?" Xiber tilted her head. The frail, white-haired elder was weak and haggard, far from beautiful, yet Xiber felt something within her akin to herself.
Finally, this was their true meeting.
"I’m Luna." Luna smiled, extending her hand: "I find you really cool, would you like to be friends with me?"
In the final moments,
You are my last friend.
...
In the cold winter of 2027, after several jumps, Su Ming’an traced Alger’s trails.
