Chapter 1913: I Am the Answer Itself

Seven hundred twenty hours later.

Leader! The West Capital Safe Zone sent a team of Third Level fighters to raid our newly found supply point!

Our comrades are trapped there; the First Legion is asking when we'll prepare to rescue them!

Clad in a sleeping robe, reclining in a rocking chair in the warm room, the youth listened grimly to the report under the tree. Faced with those anxious, expectant eyes, he couldn't speak for a long time.

Let... let the First Legion go first, I think... I think they are...

You won't go!? In recent battles, you...

Impudent! How dare you speak to the Leader like that! If every problem requires the Leader to personally solve it, what use are you?

Not waiting for the crowd's grim looks at the girl beside Li Xianming who was scolding them, the youth, as if finding an excuse, hastily spoke up.

I said before, I will definitely fight alongside everyone!

But this is obviously a trap; they might be deliberately luring me out! Once you've figured it out, I'll rush to the battlefield!

Still resolute, but after the youth finished speaking, he again felt his dwindling strength drop another notch.

For the first time, he saw disappointment in people's eyes.

Dear, don't worry about them. Some lies just need to fool the underlings.

Who are you fighting? Even if you aren't afraid of Third Level fighters, what about Fourth Level? Even if you aren't afraid of people, what about monsters? No matter how strong you are, constant fighting will eventually lead to disaster.

As long as we can survive and live well, that's enough.

Do you really think we can oppose it? That's a genuine apocalypse...

I know...

But I'm scared, I'm scared...

What are you afraid of? The only thing you should fear now is that the people below are losing faith in you. Just follow your father's approach: give those peasants a little hope, and they'll demand more!

Brainwash them, exploit them, make them kill each other! Haven't you noticed? The title 'Grand President' is far more useful than what you had in mind...

After hearing that, the youth gaped blankly.

The girl was right. Since he had the underlings spontaneously call him Grand President, he no longer needed to constantly boost morale with lies he himself felt guilty about.

He could feel people beginning to fear him, to be afraid of him, and not dare to resist him.

Just like...

He was the same...

One thousand hours later.

Run!! Hurry and run!! Monsters are attacking the city!! Monsters are attacking the city!!

The earth rumbled, and an endless corpse tide surged forward like a black sea.

The youth looked in horror at the sudden mutant uprising; amid the terrifying corpse tide in the distance, he even sensed the aura of a Third Level peak. The tremor came from underground!

Why!? Didn't I agree to join the West Capital Alliance!? Hurry, go beg them to send more Third Level fighters! They aren't just trying to study me, are they!? I'm willing—I'll tell them what it is!

That thing is easy to deceive! Just promise it, and you'll gain power!

Sir, calm down! Let's flee ourselves! The West Capital Safe Zone over there also has a corpse tide—if they can just save themselves, that's already good!

Flee!? How can we flee? How can so many people flee!?

The youth instinctively looked toward the countless panicked cries in the city, and saw that some brave survivors were spontaneously forming teams to fight.

But it's obvious that, given the speed of the corpse tide, only those of Second Level or higher can escape; the people below have no chance to flee!

Even...

Obviously we should flee ourselves! Do you really want to stay here and wait to die!?

Boom!!!

The earth instantly split open; unseen until now, a blood‑filled maw a hundred meters wide had already emerged from underground.

Heaven and earth collapsed; the youth stared in shock as the giant mouth devoured crowds of people—and there, amid them, he saw his sister!

Sis!! Sis!!

Like a madman, the youth's eyes turned blood‑red as he unleashed all his strength, trying to rush forward.

But soon, the terrifying aura emitted by that super mutant struck him like a hammer, snapping him awake.

He was no match for that monster; even looking into its eyes filled him with terror, making him scream!

I will die; I cannot win—this is an enemy I cannot defeat!

Ahhhhh!!!

Sis..!

I'm so scared, I don't dare, I really don't dare!!

A few seconds later, in the girl's despairing gaze, the youth turned and fled.

Like sulfuric acid, gastric juices corroded her face, yet she seemed to feel no pain, her stare vacant.

For some reason, she suddenly recalled that day when the youth stood before her, unwavering, telling her he would never let her down.

Why..

This child has become even more cowardly..

When did this start..

With a "plop".

After his belief was completely shattered by his own hands, the youth, having barely flown less than a hundred meters, instantly lost his power and fell like a wingless bird from the sky.

Above Gao Tian, Lin An silently watched all of this.

The second simulation failed.

Why... why can I only get this far?

One thousand hours, a little more than a month.

He didn't even simulate many desperate situations; the disaster of the final trial was nothing more than the simplest mutant.

Indeed, the simulated youth differed from reality, but Lin An likewise did not project his own experienced despair onto him.

He gave the youth a perfect start, almost effortless power, a bit of difficulty, a bit of obstruction. He was certain that before death the youth truly harbored resentment and was indeed willing to resist to the end. Yet people really are that fragile.

Lin An was doubtful, even somewhat lost.

He kept guiding the other, telling them what the true disaster was. But the more they knew, the more the youth feared, eventually losing all courage.

"This path is not wrong; at least at the beginning it was right."

"What's hard is being unable to persist, unable to keep fighting in the face of one desperate situation after another."

"The more one gains, the more they fear loss. Yet having nothing leaves them unable to resist. The stronger one becomes, the more fearful they feel. The more they know, the more they sense their own insignificance... helplessness."

"This seems like a dead end that can never be passed."

"So, is this why even advanced civilizations can only despairingly give up, why even those at the Fifth Stage, Sixth Stage, and even stronger beings can only compromise?"

"From the small see the large; an individual is already a microcosm of civilization."

"The simulation on the youth is no different from that on everyone, on the entire civilization. The only difference is that perhaps some can endure longer, but ultimately they all seem to give up."

Lin An let out a light sigh and paused the simulation program.

Faith was not chosen wrongly, the way of condensing was not wrong, but judging by the current simulation, he likely could successfully condense faith in the early stage.

But as time passes, he will likely suffer an unimaginable backlash.

Following Chu An's line of thought, according to humanity's past experience, his simulation could actually continue, perhaps there is a solution.

For example, during the guidance process, let each person who condenses faith serve as a spark, simultaneously guiding others, rather than letting the youth bear the brunt alone.

Furthermore, let each survivor share their pain with each other, deepening hatred and strengthening faith.

Just like before the apocalypse, the once worldwide steel torrent, with the political commissar serving as a node spark, through collective education, maintaining combat power. To prevent people from losing will after completing personal revenge.

But it's quite obvious.

"This path, in the end, also runs into problems..."

"They also realized this, realized that people's nature is still to fear difficulty, fear death. This is life's instinct: selfish, greedy, seeking survival."

"Even if we awaken people's conscience, let them sympathize with each other, strive to build ****, this cannot be avoided."

"People deep down actually do not wish for everyone to live well."

"Even if people know that collective decline leads to individual death, they ultimately cannot change selfish genes."

"So-called kindness, sympathy, and pity are essentially arrogance, also another degree of selfish expression."

"When a person sees their kind suffering, the reason they choose to help others is actually fear that they themselves might encounter the same hardship, yet no one would help them."

"Thus it is called 'sympathy'."

"Likewise, when helping others, one must be in a position of advantage, not in danger, to offer help."

"If they are simultaneously in disaster, people are like prey chased by tigers, only thinking of running faster than others. Even when seeing their kind die miserably, they feel relief, a sense of lucky survival."

"Such things engraved in genes, I cannot change."

Lin An constantly reflects and summarizes, trying to find a solution from a third-person perspective, devoid of any emotion.

"Based on sympathy and responsibility, letting those who have become faith sparks fight for others is impossible."

"Even my willingness to bear this responsibility is solely because only my strength can shoulder it."

"Unless we give them the same strength..."

"No."

"I cannot give the believers equal strength; even if I give them power, it is only to guide them to draw solar power from the faith entity. Everything, they must rely on themselves..."

Lin An frowned; this is a dead end.

"Just as the fugitives said, walking the path of faith is far harder than simply using humans as fuel."

"Giving doesn't work; not giving also doesn't work."

"Just like the youth, if he gave a bit more power, the youth could certainly persist longer. Even if faith is not steadfast, it would not collapse upon the appearance of mutants."

"But it's still the same problem: if he does that, what faith is he still condensing? Sharing his own strength? Then waiting for backlash?"

"Constantly overturning his own ideas."

Lin An could sense that deep down he was already linking all thoughts and clues together; being wrong is normal, but precisely because there exists a right answer, there is wrong.

He could sense that he had already infinitely approached the truth, approached the correct answer.

"Only the path of hatred..."

"Hatred and revenge, likewise, are the greatest power in life's instinct."

"Only after experiencing pain, death, and despair can one burst forth with true power, condense infinite faith. Only by exerting all strength, even if dying a hundred, ten thousand, a hundred million times, still resisting, still reversing all this with courage, can one face everything!"

"Just like me, I..."

"I...!?"

"I!?"

Within the Thought Space, Lin An suddenly startled, like a sea of spiritual energy akin to a galaxy, instantly roaring, as if in this moment stirring up tremendous waves in his mind.

Stiff in place, Lin An subconsciously looked toward the simulated version of himself, toward his own back.

At this very moment, an indescribable, unbelievable thought, as if suddenly exploding in his mind, abruptly appeared!

He thought of it.

Just this answer, this truth, made him even tremble with fear, like a worm first seeing the starry sky, unable to bear the vast, boundless impact.

He knew where he was wrong.

He knew where the problem lay.

He also knew the answer that could truly condense faith, truly become a god, truly resist the apocalypse!

The answer is very simple...

Or rather, he is the answer itself.

Lin An stiffly lifted his head, gasping heavily, looking at himself within the Thought Space.

Why can't people hold firm to their beliefs, why can't they persevere?

Because they have never truly died, because their pain and hatred are limited to what they themselves have experienced.

Just like a person walking down the road carrying a bundle of hatred and vengeance, when the bundle is set down, all that persistence naturally falls away.

But for Lin An,

What hatred could be greater than death!

"Why can I persevere, why is my belief to resist the Apocalypse, to end the Apocalypse!?"

"Because I have died! In the Long'an Project, in my Past Life I experienced countless deaths, undergoing innumerable torments! So I know, what is the source of that empathic pain, of the despair suffered by countless versions of me!"

"This pain even includes Long An, includes every Fifth Stage I have devoured!"

"I know, if I don't kill it, nothing will end!"

"I have died and been reborn! Empathic suffering!"

"So it is my pain, my hatred, that can support me to get to where I am now!"

"I am both.."

"All beings!!"

The space shattered, Lin An stumbled and fell from within the Thought Space.

Under the endless starry sky, he seemed like a fish falling into Shen Yuan, slowly descending.

He found the answer.

But this also means a more unimaginable truth has surfaced.

To condense true faith, it suffices to have humanity repeat his experience, or to become another him—even half of him would be enough.

Continuously falling.

Lin An's voice hoarse, as if questioning this world, questioning everything.

Questioning the entire universe.

"So."

"Who am I a follower of?"

"And who am I... the spark scattered throughout this universe..."

In the darkness, sounds like resonances, crossing endless worlds and planes.

Either resembling Shen Yuan, or like a demon, or like void darkness, seated upon the bone throne.

At this moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

"We are.."

"One entity."