Chapter 542.4: The End of Reincarnation is Nirvana

He could understand its rage. Its creator gave them the best creation, and left it with the ugliest people to protect.

And it had waited in darkness for more than a century, but never did that familiar figure return...

Spielberg wanted to say he was sorry and thank it for everything, but it was already gone.

Sid sat dumbfounded at the conference table, completely stunned, no different from the other nobles around him. They looked like pigs who had been shocked senseless.

Wolfur stared hard at Spielberg, no longer bothered by Spielberg’s insolence. He asked slowly and deliberately, "Why did you tell us about the Boulder Grand Building’s destruction?"

The guy had no reason to do so.

He could’ve stayed quiet, watched them all die.

Wolfur couldn't help but suspect some kind of trap or hidden scheme. "Why..."

Spielberg thought seriously for a moment and then shook his head. "I don’t know."

Even if he hadn’t said anything, once only 12 hours remained, the evacuation broadcast would still go off. The tower was scheduled to collapse by evening the next day.

Wolfur stared blankly at Spielberg, flustered by his blunt honesty. "You don’t know?!"

"Mm." Spielberg nodded. "If I had to say why..."

"Maybe... because I’m not one of you."

...

Just as Spielberg had said, Fang Ming had disappeared completely.

No matter how the nobles shouted its name and begged it to cancel the self-destruct sequence, it no longer responded.

In its final moments, it seemed to want a little time alone.

Sid was entirely broken.

He had considered the possibility that the chips might become worthless, but he never imagined his black card would literally become a worthless piece of scrap.

Why?

Why blow up the Boulder Grand Building?

He wanted to ask his ancestors, why did they go to such extremes? Why be so cruel to their descendants, leaving no room for retreat? ... But he didn’t even know where their graves were.

The towering giant that had stood for two centuries was finally at its end. Outside the great wall, the people were sharpening their blades, anxiously and patiently waiting for the prey to fall.

After factories, weapons, and women, the last thing the militiamen at the gates began selling was their power and responsibility.

In simple terms, with enough Dinars, CR, or silver coins, one could get a militia uniform and do anything they wanted inside.

The city lord would cover for them. After all, they no longer wanted to stay there.

The wasteland was vast. Worst case, they could wander elsewhere, continue feeding off people somewhere new.

However, due to the greedy auctioning by those vulture lords, the price of admission kept dropping, discount after discount.

Some players were livestreaming the situation inside the settlement on the forums.

The 1st Battalion had already defected.

Parts of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions had also begun to revolt.

The situation inside the city was like a boiling pot of water, just moments from spilling over.

Yet what surprised the players most was that the initial chaos and violence, which lacked direction, had somehow begun to unite.

Some soldiers stood with the outer city residents, and among them seemed to be an inner city dweller, lifted high above the crowd.

They marched toward the gates of the inner city, completely fearless.

They wanted to talk to those inside...

"There’s still hope for them," said Gale, squinting toward the tightly sealed gate, a rare smile on his face.

Mistakes weren’t scary.

They just needed to correct them, together.

Wasn’t that the same for the New Alliance?

They hadn’t done everything perfectly from the beginning either. They only got to Beta 0.5 version through countless lessons learned from failure.

Startled by Gale’s voice, Night Ten turned his head sharply. "Shit, when did you get here?"

"I just came back too," said Old White, patting Night Ten’s shoulder with a grin. "Your senses are slipping, bro."

Night Ten rolled his eyes, then suddenly remembered something important. "Right, you guys came at the perfect time. We just ran into Eberts! He said he wants to talk with our administrator..."

Old White smiled. "Then let them talk. We’ve got a new mission anyway."

Hearing there was a mission, Pineapple Jiujiu’s eyes sparkled. "What mission?!"

It was her first time participating as a T0 player!

"We have to rescue the survivors inside," said Old White, glancing at the massive gate. "According to the lore, they’re our compatriots too. They’re from Clearspring City too."

"The administrator said we can’t just take advantage of them. Since we took their money, we need to do our part. We can’t let those real vultures pick them clean."

Gale nodded. "Yeah. We won, but those ordinary survivors are innocent."

Night Ten scratched his head. "Hey... Does this mean the big update will merge Boulder Town into the New Alliance?"

"Maybe," Gale mumbled thoughtfully. "I heard our administrator plans to negotiate with them. They could join the New Alliance, or, like the settlements in Sunset Province, retain some autonomy and rule themselves."

Old White nodded. "Anyway, that little doggy Ample Time thinks they’ll likely join us. The inner city pigs have already squandered the last bit of legacy credibility left by their ancestors, and the outer city residents don’t yet have a strong enough leader to take the reins and stabilize things through winter and the chaos after."

The potential candidates were either too young or too inexperienced.

If the upheaval had happened in summer, they might’ve had enough buffer time to regroup and return to the wasteland with a new identity.

The New Alliance would’ve gladly continued doing business with them.

But that was a matter for the future.

Pineapple Jiujiu nodded as if she understood, then suddenly blurted, "Wait, does that mean the Queen of the Night bar is gone?"

Old White laughed, "Yeah, the special shows are probably finished. But those were only available to a privileged few anyway. If it’s gone, so be it."

The private rooms were only accessible with black cards, good riddance!

Night Ten chuckled. "True. As long as the intelligence network stays intact."

"Aw..." Pineapple Jiujiu looked visibly disappointed.

She had wanted to see what that legendary bar looked like before the map update. Rumor had it that her Big Sister Teng Teng’s artworks sold like hotcakes in there...

But in the end, she missed ever having the chance to look at it.

...

Everyone was waiting for the gate beneath the wall to reopen, waiting for good news from within.

At that moment, no one noticed the tiny drone flying from the inner city. It drifted lazily over the towering wall, passed the layered ruins of high-rises, and eventually landed gently by Linghu Lake, on the roof of a renovated nursing home.

From the moment it entered the area, other drones had been tracking it. Two silver metallic spheres followed closely behind, observing it as it touched down on the third-floor balcony, beside a rubbish bin.

A faint blue light gathered above the drone, where an elderly white-haired man stood with hands behind his back, gazing out at the snowy lake.

It was almost over.

At the end of its mission, it wanted to say goodbye to the world like its dear creator, like a human.

After a long silence, Little Seven asked softly, "Are you very sad?"

Fang Ming remained quiet for a moment and nodded gently. "A little."

"My master once said that after everything was over, he wanted to live in that nursing home by Linghu Lake. He wanted to do some fishing, grow vegetables..."

"But he never told me when everything would be over. He never told me when he would come back. It’s like he knew where he was going, but I didn’t. I’m just an AI."

Little Seven sighed, "Humans really are troublesome."

Fang Ming glanced at it. "You must be tired too."

From the clunky metal shell came a crisp voice, full of pride and joy. "Oh? Not really, I’m fine! He named me Little Seven! Hehe, I love that name!"

"Is that so?" Fang Ming made no further comment, turning his gaze back to the snowy lake that even the blizzards couldn’t fully hide.

The time had come.

Its long journey had finally reached its end.

Perhaps... Things weren’t as bad as he had feared.

Though those ugly creatures often stumbled into the worst of all possible outcomes, when all hope had seemingly collapsed into despair, they somehow still found a sliver of light in the darkness.

A future no simulation had ever predicted existed.

Was this... What comfort felt like?

What a strange feeling.

Across the snow-covered lake, Fang Ming seemed to glimpse that familiar figure. He had been there all along.

The holographic image suddenly began to blur, starting from the silver-white hair... down to the fluttering hem of his coat.

So he had been waiting ahead all along.

"Goodbye." The old, outdated AI, always running late, mumbled the words like he was rushing to make a long-overdue appointment.

Little Seven, standing beside it, replied with enthusiasm. "Mm! Byebye, strange friend!"

Then it quietly watched the pale blue light dissolve into the falling snow, disappearing, little by little...