Chapter 1501

The sunshine was brilliant.

In the dry, cold wind, the unobstructed sunlight pouring straight down from overhead drove away the chill.

Under a cloudless sky, on a small peak of the Konstantin Mountain Range, Lin An silently raised his head and stared at the blazing sun.

"What is difficulty?"

"What is weighing pros and cons, preserving oneself?"

"What is right? What is wrong?"

He had a sleepless night.

After repeatedly questioning himself, Lin An vaguely obtained the true answer that transcends reason and humanity.

If one says they want to survive in the apocalypse, to strive for that sliver of hope in catastrophe after catastrophe of ever-increasing difficulty...

Then, what must one rely on?

Rely on strength?

Rely on absolute reason, rely on wisdom, rely on cold-blooded ruthlessness, rely on always seeking the optimal solution, rely on making the correct choices to survive?!

No!

The answer is negative.

Is the Alien Species Emperor not rational enough?

He would stop at almost nothing to achieve his goal.

Lin An also believed that a civilization leader who could reach the Fourth Stage Peak, strive to break through to the Fifth Stage by every possible means, and even be willing to sacrifice half a civilization spanning endless light-years, the Alien Species Emperor would certainly be qualified.

But he died, he failed, and his loss was somewhat laughable.

Are the Heaven Eye People not smart enough? Do they lack wisdom?

No.

A Heaven Eye People with frail bodies who nonetheless turned the tide with psychic technology are absolutely not fools!

Have they not learned their lesson? Have they not made the "correct" choice?

No.

They have done so, and they have made the most correct choice possible for their civilization at its current stage.

They have suffered too many casualties, and in the repeated internal wars before the apocalypse, they have already elevated the meaning of the individual to a collective height.

After the apocalypse, they united wholeheartedly, hoping to end this disaster with the smallest loss.

But they still lost, losing over a mistake so small it was almost ironic.

But Lin An knows that even the Heaven Eye People themselves know that mistake was bound to happen.

Why?

Lin An slowly closed his eyes; after staring long at the blazing sun, his eyes ached, and even when closed, a black sun lingered in his vision.

Is it because he is not rational enough?

Is it because he is unaware of the danger?

No.

If these two civilizations are not considered excellent, their perfected ones appeared too late to have any effect!

What about those who fled at the Fifth Stage or higher—even the Sixth Stage! Seventh Stage!

In what Lin An can imagine, those powerful beings above the Fifth Stage must be extraordinarily excellent! They must be stunningly talented and gorgeous!!

But they seem to have all failed upon reaching a certain stage.

Lin An likewise believes that among the Heaven Eye People, someone must have realized they must not be arrogant, and someone must have considered the potential danger!

Likewise, based on his understanding of Faith Power over this period, he could roughly guess what the Alien Species Emperor had once done!

The Alien Species Emperor certainly also realized how Faith Power is generated!

He also certainly realized that concentrating internal resources would lead the civilization into predicament!

So he chose to "manufacture" a Land of Death Battle, continually killing high-stage Alien Species under plausible pretexts! And the dissipated energy would return!

As for why the Alien Species Emperor did not choose to condense Faith Power, or could not choose to.

Lin An could only guess that perhaps it had to do with the Alien Species' main body.

"Actually, they all made correct judgments, and they were based on their own cognition."

His face pale, under intense thinking, Lin An murmured to himself.

"The so-called transcendence, near-divine reason and wisdom, is utterly meaningless in the face of the apocalypse."

"The so-called weighing of pros and cons, the so-called optimal solution, simply does not exist!"

"The answer thought up by insects is utterly meaningless!"

"Why haven't the Heaven Eye People resolved the hidden danger? Because they think it might not be important, or that it can be left for later! They think the cost of resolving it is too great! It's not worth it!"

Taking a deep breath, Lin An's mind conjured the Heaven Eye Council—that remorseful, humble old man who could only beg for his own help.

He could imagine that, on the eve of the Heaven Eye People's utter defeat, someone surely wanted to raise these questions, but the person—or group—who did so ultimately still 'feared'. They weighed pros and cons, believing that letting their people avoid danger was the optimal solution.

Are there no sages among the primitive humans? They don't know that the solidification of the Fourth Rank—killing their own perfect beings—what consequences would that have?

No, their choice at that time was the most correct.

They merely took a chance, thinking that dealing with these problems later would suffice, and that it would be even better!

Furthermore, Lin An does not believe that the Alien Species Emperor does not want to condense Faith Power, but why hasn't he done so?

If nothing unexpected happens, for the Alien Species to condense Faith Power, essentially it requires reshaping the entire species! Because the Alien Species, from the moment of their birth, have been the "Apocalypse" of the primitive humans! Their hatred target is very likely only the Alien Species Emperor himself!

Therefore, the Alien Species Emperor abandoned this path; he thought the cost was too great, and he would rather spend decades slowly gathering power.

"So, the so-called optimal solution is merely self-deception. When an individual and civilization reach a certain height, any judgment they make essentially considers their own gains and losses."

"The stronger one is, the more fearful they become. Just as those who possess greater wealth are the ones most afraid of losing it."

Under this interference, the choices made will become increasingly wrong.

And the so-called sages and wisdom are essentially just a summarization of information, the resulting judgment.

But before the vast universe, before the catastrophe that exterminates countless civilizations, what essential difference is there between the information and wisdom we possess and that of insects?

Because we fear loss, we retreat.

Because of our self-righteous weighing of pros and cons, believing that solving it later would be better, we give up.

Placing hope in tomorrow, treating self-delusion as wisdom...

Turning retreat into consolation for the future!

How ridiculous.

Lin An muttered self-mockingly, perhaps his actions during this period weren't that wrong.

Just...

But he suddenly realized what exactly he had discarded.

He lacked the courage to fight desperately; he abandoned the belief that he must control his own fate!

He was too strong—so strong that he believed restoring his power would solve everything. He dared not die; for the theoretical optimal solution, he should have acted contrary to his usual approach.

"Without mentioning my past self, could I just watch these events unfold while only thinking of hiding and doing nothing?"

"Even if it were me who had just awakened power, I wouldn't be as cowardly as I am now."

"Can I really hide? I fear attracting the pursuit of refugees, and I fear the Alien Species."

"The ridiculous part is that I almost died at the hands of a zeroth-rank."

"A month seems like a lot of time, but perhaps tomorrow I'll be killed by the lowest-level thugs. Perhaps, just because it was convenient..."

"I clearly still have 'power' in my hands; I know how to quickly produce Awakened Ones to protect me. Yet, after weighing pros and cons, I think hiding is better..."

"I place my hope in my future self—how is this not avoidance?"

Step back, step back ten thousand steps!

Lin An slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the sun.

Before his eyes, he seemed to see himself on that rainy night.

During the first encounter with the ghost infant, as the only one unaffected, the theoretical optimal solution was to abandon everyone and flee immediately.

Anyway, he had the Savior System, and he was already an Awakened One; he could deal with it later... even if he ran far away.

But in that heavy rain, he chose to fight desperately, choosing to live by facing death.

How foolish...

Why is that?

Because he knows that when encountering difficulty or desperation, he must not flee. He craves power too much; having died once, he is willing to stake everything to fight desperately.

Fear of death is what truly leads to death.

He actually also wanted to save everyone, even if Lin An isn't much of a good person.

"Watching these children die before my eyes, watching these people suffer—what's the difference between that and watching a million, ten million people die?"

"I could abandon them because of current difficulties, but what if it were half of humanity? All of humanity? Even Jing Tian and the others?"

"Waiting a month to clear all this—what's the difference between that and waiting a year or ten years?!"

"I fear being killed by the Alien Species—what's the difference between that and being killed by a fire wolf?"

"I fear these scavengers losing control after transformation—what's the difference between that and a sudden zombie outbreak?"

"If I don't know, if I haven't seen it, if I can't do it, if I'm powerless, if I don't even have a chance to struggle, then I can flee."

Clenching his fists silently, Lin An slowly turned his head, looking toward the children behind him who were diligently piling stones.

Is losing power a desperate situation?

Compared to a sudden Sixth Rank descent upon Earth!?

The former is merely a trivial difficulty; the latter is the true desperate situation!

During this time, he was terrified of death! To the point that he hardly dared do anything besides 'defrauding' food and cautiously probing the Term: Faith Power!

He feared attracting attention, but did he really know what methods they could use to find him!?

Perhaps in the next second, the Alien Species would lock onto him!?

Taking advantage of now, while fate could still be controlled in his own hands, he didn't want to avoid anymore!

Even if he attracted attention, so what?

Then hurry up, hurry even faster! Use every means to absorb the Term: Faith Power, use every means to contact Faction: Long An, use every means to regain power!

Rather than wait like a coward for a month later! No one knows what will happen in this month!

If he must die, he wants to die at the hands of the monster he himself created!

Or perhaps...

Trembling all over, Lin An lifted his head high, gazing at the ever more scorching sun. Even if his eyes stung, even if his body could no longer endure the cold wind on the mountaintop.

But at this moment, a sudden clarity and conviction seemed to erupt completely from deep within his heart.

"In this Apocalypse, we actually have nothing."

"No power, no wisdom, no reliance..."

"We have..."

"Only a heart that will never retreat, forever! Forever! Face disaster, face every difficulty, and always resolve it the moment difficulty arises!"

"Don't think about tomorrow! Don't think about the future! Don't think about later! Don't think about relying on luck!"

"Abandon delusions! Fight forever!"

"At worst, I'll become a monster again!"

"Sir, the Revelation Tower is being built.."

On the mountaintop, Anduyin looked somewhat surprised at Lin An slowly descending from the highest point.

He hadn't finished speaking.

Instinctively, he wanted to support Lin An, who seemed about to fall at any moment.

But for some reason, looking at that extremely weak gait and at this not-so-tall man, he felt a spiritual tremor.

Watching Lin An step by step descending under the scorching sun, he felt Lin An had become a different person.

If before he merely thought Lin An mysterious, someone who perhaps held a godlike secret for him. But essentially, he was just a silent, reticent person who seemed constantly hiding his ordinary self.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt that Lin An descending from the mountaintop seemed transcendent of this world, yet bringing something back to humanity.

Lin An nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the pyramid built according to his request.

Under the sunlight, the pyramid built of bluish stone and bricks was so rough, yet in the sunlight it actually reflected a faint glow.

He stepped forward, and Lin An carefully adjusted the three pyramids according to the structure in his memory.

He no longer wanted to wait, nor did he want to flee.

According to the three structures tested in his memory that showed the strongest effect, the three pyramids soon slightly changed their form.

Clearly just a minor internal adjustment, but in Anduyin and others' eyes, this strange pyramid seemed able to even absorb sunlight.

It felt... as if it were even more mysterious than the pyramid previously built by Lord Ling An.

Half an hour later.

Watching the sun already at its highest point, Lin An furrowed his brow slightly and looked down the mountain.

According to the agreed time, he had already had Anduyin notify An Ge Si and others to gather here today. Logically, given those scavengers' yearning for divine revelation, they would surely arrive early, not late.

Before Lin An could realize what accident might have occurred, the next second a panicked shout suddenly came from the mountain base.

One saw twelve scavengers carrying a middle-aged person up the mountain, shouting loudly, their voices full of grief and anger.

"Lord Ling An!"

"An Ge Si..."

Somewhat stooped and dejected, he stood beside Lin An, tightly clutching a blood-stained bundle of food in his arms; Old Pu Te's face showed grief and anger, yet he looked at Lin An as if resigned.

"When we came, we wanted to bring more food; you told us we might need to stay here for two or three days."

"So I brought An Ge Si and them to my place, intending to take out all the food I had hidden."

His voice trembling, Old Pu Te wiped a handful of dried blood from his face and couldn't help but clutch the bag in his hand tightly.

In his mind, that food was an offering to the gods! It was what Lord Ling An needed!

If they couldn't even do this, what would they do if they provoked Lord Ling An's wrath!?

He patted Old Pu Te on the shoulder, gesturing that he need not feel guilty; but seeing An Ge Si's pallid face and his arms severed, his heart suddenly grew heavy.

"An Ge Si had his hands cut off by those fire-wolf people while trying to protect the food!"

"Fortunately we all had weapons; that rabble, fearing we would fight to the death, snatched most of the food and fled."

Everyone bore a look of sorrow and unwillingness.

Although they were scavengers, An Ge Si had once been a soldier and had helped them greatly after the apocalypse.

If Old Pu Te is the team's kind old man, then An Ge Si is the captain in everyone's hearts.

Lying on a makeshift stretcher, An Ge Si's eyes were lifeless, his chapped lips opening and closing.

He strained, dazedly gazing at Lin An and at the erected pyramid.

From massive blood loss, he felt he might be dying soon.

"My lord..."

"I truly... am so unwilling..."

His voice hoarse, weak.

An Ge Si forced a twitch at the corner of his mouth, speaking hoarsely like a grim smile.

He actually had guessed what Lin An wanted them to do today.

But he never imagined that, perhaps after receiving a few more revelations, he could obtain the power he had long dreamed of—yet he collapsed on the road.

This world seemed never to have treated him kindly.

Even if gods existed, they would merely cruelly let him fall before hope.

However, the next second.

As everyone could not help but sob with sorrow, An Ge Si weakly closed his eyes.

The ever-silent Lin An suddenly spoke softly:

"An Ge Si, you weren't asking me whether there are gods in this world? Whether a god would come to save this world?"

"Before I told you, perhaps there would be one later."

"Now."

"He is here."

Gesturing for everyone to push An Ge Si into the pyramid, Lin An silently raised his head to look at the sun that seemed to burn eternally.

After a moment, his gaze resolute, he strove toward another one.