Chapter 2008

translation

Radiant splendor burst forth!

As Lin An's skull shattered, hundreds of millions of rays of light shot out from within him, as if a hidden supernova had fully erupted at this moment!

Endless starlight blazed brilliantly, filling the entire world in an instant!

Yet faced with such a shocking scene, the Second Will had no heart to watch!

Almost at the 0.1-second mark of the restart's beginning, a powerful suction burst forth from all directions, and the entire mission scene began to twist and reverse!

It was as if a playback button had been pressed—everything stretched like elongated light, rewinding back to its original form!

Unable to resist!

No matter how the Second Will burst forth with its own power, he was now like a bug stuck in glue, unable to move an inch!

Meanwhile, Lin An, who had triggered the restart, seemed to exist in another stream of time, and in less than a second he reassembled.

Seeing this, the resurrected Lin An, as if prepared, had his ring flash white light, scooping up the not-yet-revived corpse and charging straight toward the light gate!

Watching Lin An's move, even if the Second Will reacted slowly, it instantly realized it had been tricked!

The skull vanished! After the mission restarted, Lin An only needed to leave!

And he...

Then, as the price of the restart, he was left here!?

Furious, shocked, incredulous!

Even after understanding this, the Second Will could not accept any of this!

He couldn't figure it out! No matter how he tried, he couldn't! Even when Chu An had schemed against him before, it was only due to a stratagem, and he had been forced to admit defeat!

But this time, he didn't even know when Lin An began scheming against him!

"How is this possible! How could this be possible!"

"We are one! How could you possibly hide it from me!!"

No matter how many deadly situations the Second Will had endured, at this moment he could not maintain his sanity, and the body tightly held began to tremble with fury!

Lin An's reaction was clearly not a spur-of-the-moment decision; he was certain Lin An had never thought about him at all!

Even if he had awakened midway, it would still be impossible; he couldn't have failed to notice!

And Lin An's decisive act of restarting further meant that he had long planned for this moment, waiting until the last second to let him walk into the trap!

"Answer me!"

"Answer me..!!"

The situation changed in an instant, feeling his own memory and even thoughts rapidly rewinding, the Second Will stared fixedly at Lin An's back and roared in anger.

He didn't know if he would live or die, but even if he didn't die, he would remain here forever! Not knowing how he lost, how could he resign himself!! Even if he were to die, he would die with understanding!

Meanwhile, the system's countdown reached its final second.

Perhaps sensing his other self's anger and reluctance, Lin An, with half a foot already stepped into the light gate, suddenly halted his steps.

Turning around, seeing the Second Will beginning to "collapse," Lin An's eyes flickered with an indescribable complexity, and he softly replied:

"Faith Power."

"Ling An can help me think."

"As for when I realized you were still alive... probably on the Star Battlefield... but I only just confirmed you were truly alive."

As his words fell, the Second Will jolted, a rapid succession of images flashed through his mind, finally freezing on the scene where number 77 handed over the Eye of Creation.

(Lin An, before entering the skull, you need to first condense the embryonic form of faith..)

(To walk the path of faith, you must resolve the problem of divided thought..)

(Note, the price of restarting is great; you will leave a part of your consciousness forever there..)

(Lin An, come out alive..)

(Don't think! Don't think!)

How wise.

After piecing together the bits of information that had been overlooked, and even before this seemed impossible to combine.

The Second Will couldn't help but let out a half-relieved, half-bitter self-mocking laugh.

At this moment, the Second Will seemed to have given up resistance, and vividly before his eyes appeared the scene of number 77 giving him a meaningful look before entering the skull.

"I see..."

As it turned out, back then number 77 had already noticed him.

A sigh.

He did not lose unjustly.

Under the joint effort of his other self and the Overseer, his loss was also normal.

The only chance he had to discover the problem was that, after Lin An fully understood everything, the phrase "don't think" flashed instantly in his mind—a mistake that wasn't really a mistake.

The ironic part is, he took that to mean Lin An was opposing Andre.

Emptiness spread.

The Second Will slowly opened his eyes, calmly watching Lin An's back as he fully entered the light gate. He knew he had lost completely this time, defeated in utter disgrace, with no room for resistance at all.

But..

"Lin An... you really have grown quickly."

"But I will never admit defeat!"

"Someday.."

"We will meet again!"

"Beep, special mission 【Skull】 completed, now calculating completion rewards."

Beep, scene locked, settlement scene beginning to transfer...

Beep, settlement and resurrection process completed in one minute, please participants wait patiently.

Never before had the system prompts felt so reassuring.

In a vast white settlement space, Lin An fell with a thud from midair, crashing heavily onto the cold ground.

Gasping for breath, his stamina nearly exhausted, he now lacked even the strength to stand up.

Completely unlike his calm and carefree demeanor before the Second Will, only Lin An himself knew how he had actually completed the mission and the layout!

Without exaggeration, this was the greatest crisis he had faced since his rebirth!

Although relying on the faith embryo to think, deceiving the Second Will sounded simple.

But its difficulty was no less than fighting himself every minute and second! While fabricating two sets of logic and hiding his true thoughts, the pressure he bore was simply unimaginable!

Just as Lin An had answered the Second Will's question at the end.

Upon first realizing in the Star Battlefield that the Second Will might not be dead, he forcibly restrained himself from even entertaining that thought, not daring to let a hint of it arise.

Lin An was well aware of the Second Will's terror; without Chu An's plan, he would have long been completely devoured by it.

Fortunately, at that time he was in the Star Battlefield, where the subsequent difficulty was extremely high.

He had sufficient reason, or rather the ability to focus on breaking the situation, thus avoiding the most dangerous stage. After returning to Earth, 77 even hinted at how he should deal with the Second Will.

Of course, at that time he could not yet be sure whether his speculation was correct. Only after entering the mission did he gradually determine what 77 intended to do.

"Before the Star Battlefield, 77 never mentioned condensing an embryo, nor did it bring up thought-splitting."

"After the Star Battlefield, the big eyeball suddenly told me that solving the Skull task required first condensing an embryo. Initially I thought it was due to a mission mutation causing the difficulty increase."

"Now thinking back, at that time the big eyeball had already discovered the existence of the Second Will, which is why it deliberately said those words..."

"If at the exchange point my belief that the Second Will was still alive stood at thirty percent, after the big eyeball's reminder it rose to fifty percent."

"Later, Jiang Haochen also noticed my problem, and at that moment the confidence level rose to seventy percent."

Staggering to his feet, taking advantage of the settlement time, Lin An calmly reviewed the entire process.

To be honest, even now he remains somewhat shocked by the secrecy of the big eyeball's layout...

From start to finish, 77 seemed to know exactly what he would think at each stage and what he would discover.

All the hints and arrangements were utterly unrelated, and even though the Second Will possessed the same information as him, it was still deceived!

Know that the only difference between him and the Second Will is the faith embryo!

"But upon careful thought, the big eyeball's entire plan is actually also a test of me... If I can think of it and do it, I deserve his wager; if I can't, dying would be just deserts..."

Far from being the weakling he was upon his rebirth.

Repeated life-and-death battles, repeated difficult breakthroughs, finding life in desperation.

The present Lin An is no longer the naive novice who could be easily outmaneuvered by the Second Will.

"Jiang Haochen also helped me, his ability, however, is somewhat special."

Continuing the review, Lin An's eyes flickered as he recalled the scene of encountering Jiang Haochen.

While on Earth, he seemed indifferent to Jiang Haochen's reminder, but in fact, after Jiang Haochen spoke those words, he suddenly realized that even a Fourth Stage like Jiang Haochen could see his problem, meaning 77 must have discovered it long ago.

And after condensing the faith embryo and discovering that Ling An could assist his thinking, he became even more certain that 77 certainly had other purposes.

"The Skull task and faith condensation are actually not closely related; otherwise the big eyeball wouldn't have suggested I swap tasks at the start. Even if the Skull mutates, the key to solving it isn't greatly tied to thought-splitting."

"So what truly needs to be solved is actually the Second Will..."

"Moreover, condensing faith does not cause thought-splitting; it's merely a cognitive conflict, mistakenly believing there is another self..."

Lin An let out a long breath; this was the understanding he gained in the Skull.

And upon realizing this, he became even more certain of the Second Will's existence. From then on, he completely deceived "himself," controlling his thoughts to avoid any logic that would alert the Second Will.

Fortunately, the faith embryo could barely help him share part of the thinking, ultimately enabling him to complete the whole plan.

"Of course, the Creation Eye that 77 produced is also a crucial clue."

"After rebooting, part of consciousness will merge into the Skull; at the time I still felt the cost was too great—would I, having lost part of my consciousness, really be fine?"

"Looking back over the whole logic, that thing was fundamentally prepared for the Second Will."

Lin An lowered his gaze to his chest; frankly, he always felt the effect of the Creation Eye was actually far from the "simple" claim made by 77.

Even in one line of logic he had worked out, he suspected this Props was also used to deceive Andre...

If one thinks a bit deeper...

"Andre... why did he go in..."

"Is the mutation really just because Andre caused it... a task that endangers even Seventh Stage beings, why did the Second Will ultimately find nothing?"

"The Second Will cannot help but manifest; essentially it also realized this point—it wants to locate the Skull's source to counter Chu An."

"Unfortunately, this is merely a trap."

"Or rather..."

Lin An couldn't help but raise his head, gazing outside the settlement space.

In the place he cannot see, the Second Will remains there forever.

Merged with the vanished Skull.

"Three in one..."

"Could it be what I think..."

"Beep, mission settlement complete."

"Special task Skull: scene exploration 70%! Base completion 70%!"

"Slay the Skull, completion +10%!"

"Survivors completion +5%! Sole survivor completion +10%!"

"Beep, detected player Lin An bringing out all participants, this mission zero deaths! Achieved perfect clearance achievement, gaining an extra 20% completion!"

Ding, detected player Lin An as a third-stage participant (2), gaining an extra 10% completion! Ding, detected that the remaining participants in the third stage cannot be identified, reward transferred! Completion +10%!

Ding, this mission's settlement completion rate: 135%!

Ding, detected that player Lin An's actual level is lower than the entry level, reward increased by 100%! This mission is a variant mission, reward increased by 100%!

Ding, rewards stacked, this mission's completion will be increased to 540%! And rewards will be distributed according to the same level!

Ding, obtained special title: Bright Moon!

Title effect: You can, in missions, be immune to the command of Awakened Ones no higher than your Second Level, and obtain independent camp authority.

Title note: Do you even deserve to command me?

Long time no see, well, maybe it's not been too long, the system prompts rang densely.

Looking at the reward bonus that had been fully increased to 540%, Lin An suddenly froze, the fatigue in his heart instantly swept away.

Although the system prompted him to claim the reward at the redemption point, which is somewhat different from the missions he previously completed. But even thinking with his toes, one could tell this reward wouldn't be much worse than the Star Battlefield.

For a moment! Lin An couldn't help but feel some anticipation.

Speaking honestly, the Star Battlefield's rewards were exchanged for the Restart Prop by the big eyeball; this matter, he actually always felt heartbroken. But he also knows this is unavoidable.

But this time...

Lin An couldn't help but show a hint of a smile on his face.

Speaking of which, he had expended too much energy on the Second Will matter, almost forgetting how high the Ghost Skull Mission's level was, or that it was a special mission!

But looking back, as a Star Destroyer, Qing Kai not viewing him as an enemy is already ghostly!

A Fourth Stage, completing a mission by surpassing the level, in Qing Kai's eyes still seems like cheating, and is highly likely to earn a high rating!

If it were any Fifth Stage, they'd probably be driven mad with jealousy!

"I don't even know what the reward will be..."

Before Lin An could become curious about the mission reward,

The next second, as the space before his eyes spun wildly, when Lin An came to his senses, he discovered he had actually been transported to in front of Number 77.

It seemed as if they had been waiting for a long time, or perhaps never left, just waiting for him to come out.

Only seen under the starry sky, Number 77 at this moment silently waved the tentacles behind it, sizing him up.

After a moment, Number 77's eyes flashed with a hint of satisfaction, smiling as it blinked.

"Kid, it looks like you've solved the trouble."

"Well done."

Lin An's expression stalled, then he also smiled.

"Fortunately, I did not disgrace my mission."