Chapter 169: Time Bomb

Two days later, at dusk, Yang Yi temporarily concluded her assistance with the scientists' research and prepared to return to the Awakening Bureau.

Looking down, the entire world resembled a miniature model; cars were like moving little boxes, and humans like tiny ants. Whenever this happened, she felt a strange sense of distance from the human world.

In the past, this sense of distance stemmed from deliberately closing herself off to avoid harm from the outside world; now, it came from a vague sense of unfamiliarity...

She abruptly cut off her train of thought, feeling she might have become somewhat detached from the life of ordinary people, far removed from the smoke and fire of the mortal realm, to the point of forgetting her true self. It was like those ordinary people who, upon suddenly becoming rich, felt themselves different from others, believing that those who were once like them were suddenly unworthy of walking alongside them.

She quickly altered her appearance, took a mask from her pocket to wear, concealed her form, and descended toward the ground below.

She queued up to buy a cup of iced lemon tea and walked aimlessly with the crowd along a street outside the Third Ring Road.

It had only been a little over ten days since the celestial anomaly; the streets were somewhat quiet, yet most of the shops along the roadside had already resumed business. Only when occasionally passing certain destroyed buildings did one clearly realize that the disaster had occurred not long ago.

The evening air was somewhat stuffy and hot; condensation gathered on the plastic walls of the iced lemon tea cup, sticking to her fingers, wet and damp.

Arriving at a park, under a large tree with dense shade, several elderly men were gathered playing Chinese chess. She walked over, sat on the stone railing nearby, and watched the game.

"Old Zhang hasn't come lately; what a pity. His terrible chess skills were a perfect match for yours, Old Han!" The opponent before them made a bad move, and the bald elderly man jabbed at the man opposite.

"How could Old Zhang have the mood for this? His son is gone. Last time, a monster fell from the hole in the sky and took his son... Old Zhang and his wife had only this one child; he never married, leaving no descendants. Last time I saw the couple in the residential compound, they were wooden and stiff; their hair had turned completely white overnight," an old man holding a palm-leaf fan sighed.

"Old Li hasn't come lately either; I heard he's dead..."

"The whole family of four, Chang Si'er, is gone..."

The old men spoke one after another, listing all their acquaintances, until finally, someone sighed, and everyone fell silent, with only the clicking sound of the chess pieces on the board remaining.

Yang Yi felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.

"... If you are truly so powerful, so miraculous, why didn't you close the otherworldly spatial channel sooner? Why didn't you extinguish it in its budding state before the otherworldly spatial channel even opened? Why did you insist on waiting until matters developed beyond retrieval, using hundreds of millions of lives to pile up your honor..."

She remembered; this was the accusation leveled against her at the funeral by Liu Liu Xinfan, the brother of her colleague Liu Liu Xinyu from the Awakening Bureau.

This unease mixed with guilt suddenly ignited her anger. Another voice within her heart said coldly, "What does this have to do with you? Have you not already done your best? Everyone has their own destiny. If you carry the destinies of every person in the world upon your shoulders, that is not kindness, nor responsibility; it is stupidity, it is arrogance, and indeed, an extreme arrogance."

And Director Liu, on what grounds did he claim you are the sole hope for the continuation of human civilization? On what grounds did he forcibly impose this responsibility, too vast to bear, upon you? Did they ever seek your consent?

Has this world ever given you warmth, importance... or similar positive things? Those things that would make you willing to give your all for them?

This world has always advocated equivalent exchange, but can they give you corresponding remuneration? If not, your contributions have already far exceeded everything you have received in this world, let alone the fact that you must contribute even more for them in the future!

All of humanity owes you! Not only should they not resent you, but they ought to be grateful and indebted to you, shedding tears of gratitude!

She couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, crushing the plastic cup in her hand, causing the cold lemon tea to instantly overflow all over her hand.

Casually tossing the cup into the trash bin, she stood up and left the place.

She did not want to return to the Awakening Bureau; instead, she randomly found an internet cafe, went in, and booked an overnight session.

She still remembered that many years ago, when she first arrived in Haibei City and could not temporarily find a place to stay, she had muddled through a few nights inside an internet cafe. Revisiting those old days now, she actually felt a sense of novelty.

Somewhat unfamiliarly turning on the computer, she clicked the game icon and played a few rounds of Dou Dizhu, gradually finding it meaningless. She then played two rounds of checkers, but suddenly recalling the words of the several elderly chess players just now, she immediately found even checkers meaningless.

She sat anxiously and bewilderedly in the sofa, staring blankly at the computer screen.

Subsequently, she opened a forum she used to frequent. It contained many sections: general discussion, entertainment gossip, serialized novels, and so on. Entering the familiar general discussion section, she saw a bolded title pinned to the top, accompanied by a torch icon, indicating that this topic was currently quite popular.

"How strong is YY's power right now?"

Moderator "I Just Want to Know": I just want to know exactly how strong YY's power is right now? More than two months ago, when she first appeared on the beach, she was rated Class A. Later, when she made her first move at the United Nations, she was rated Super Class A. Then, after slaying the Fire Demon in Jin Shan City, she was rated Class S. By now, no one dares to rate her anymore.

Two days ago, she returned safely from the otherworld, and during the ceremony to bestow the insignia, she also mentioned that she had encountered a Super Class S otherworldly creature. Experts in the forum have already calculated the probability of otherworldly creatures of each rank appearing based on the sky channel incident. Given the density of otherworldly creatures in the otherworld, it is impossible that there were only a few Super Class S beings. Did she kill them all, or did she let them escape?

She is definitely the strongest on Earth now, but exactly how strong is she? Can anyone give everyone a concept of it?

Yishen is the Greatest: Yishen is not only the strongest on Earth but also the strongest in the otherworld. Those cultists of the evil gods are idiots; they should abandon their masters and convert to the "God of the Human World"! Join the Yiyishen Sect, and receive the protection of our Yishen!

Several people followed up in succession: Join the Yiyishen Sect, and receive the protection of our Yishen! Yi Gate!

Little Bear is the Cutest: I guess she must have killed them. A few days ago, experts in the forum analyzed her micro-expressions during her speech at the ceremony to bestow the insignia. At that time, she said she suddenly recalled the cry of a certain Super Class S otherworldly creature, which might indicate it possessed intelligence. When she said this, her tone was relaxed, her pitch rose, her eyebrows lifted slightly, her eyes naturally looked straight at the camera without blinking, and one corner of her mouth curled up slightly—this usually represents confidence and contempt. Forum experts have analyzed that this might represent her having absolutely no regard for the power of such Super Class S otherworldly creatures.

On the contrary, her pause earlier, her micro-expressions were somewhat strange...

Loves Lollipops: Begging the expert for the link! I want to see the analysis of her micro-expressions!

Gentle as Steel: Regardless, she is already too strong, isn't she? If one day she suddenly wants to rule the world and become a queen, wouldn't it be effortless?

Li Bai is Busy: That's quite good. If she is willing to become a queen, it shows she is willing to take responsibility for her kingdom and protect her subjects. For the common people, this would actually be a good thing.

Liu Shijiu: Is the person upstairs crazy? What if she is a mad dictator?

Yishen Cultist 193: A mad dictator? You're the one who's crazy, aren't you? If Yishen really wanted to be a dictator, she wouldn't have kept hiding her strength. According to some analyses, she awakened at least a year ago, but during this period, she never once used her abilities to profit for herself! Ask yourselves, if you possessed such immense power, would you still honestly go to work? Would you strictly earn money with your own hands? Among everyone present, who dares to guarantee they could do such a thing? She even established a principle of not killing people!

Liu Shijiu: The principle of not killing people might be a rumor; she has never stated this in front of the media.

Xiao Si is So Big: But what is even more terrifying is the meaning of her existence, isn't it? Now, we have a "deity" standing above all of humanity. Her power is so great that she could wipe out all of us humans at any moment! Just if she is in a bad mood, or if we somehow offend her and make her unhappy one day, or even if she is on her period and feels upset... for various inexplicable reasons, we could suddenly suffer a catastrophic disaster! Everyone, whether or not she has such thoughts is not important; what matters is that she has such capability!!!

Yi Gate Lives Forever: Hey! Wake up, all of you! She just saved the world! She just saved every single one of you? And in return, you give her malicious speculation! If one day she really destroys the world, it will be caused by you! Bah! You are not worthy of Yishen's salvation!

Xiao Si is So Big: Look, even you worshippers do not deny the possibility that she could destroy the world, do you? As long as she possesses such capability, the entire world will have this worry; this is an objective fact! What we are discussing is this possibility!

Hometown Grass and Trees Deep: What then? Should we give this capability to you? Let you protect the world? I feel that having this capability in YY's hands makes me feel far more at ease than having it in the hands of anyone else on Earth! Especially as I learn more about her through various channels, this feeling of mine grows even deeper.

Push Over the Older Sister: Everyone, do you know how serious the consequences are when power is unrestricted? Back then, the failed art student merely controlled one country and caused the Second World War. Nowadays, she can destroy the Earth just by moving her hand? It's too terrifying, everyone! If one day she suddenly "enlightens," goes mad from cultivating, no longer wants to be an Earthling, or ascends to some higher level of life and needs to "kill humans to prove the Dao," the lives of our entire humanity will rest in the turn of her mind, everyone! How terrifying is this!

Psychology Newbie: Has everyone seen her growth experience? I really cannot believe that such a person would be pure and flawless, without a single dark thought. Many psychology experts have vaguely hinted that someone with such a growth experience has a high probability of developing an antisocial personality! And some deep-scheming people will conceal this personality, deliberately appearing very harmless. Everyone, this is a time bomb!