Chapter 1921: Chen Ling

Upon the Red Star.

A Red-Clad Performer suddenly opened his eyes!

Chen Ling's gaze turned toward a certain direction in deep space. For a fleeting moment, a dazed look of loss surfaced on his face...

"How is this possible???" In the deepest corner of the consciousness world, the speck of crimson that was still putting up a stubborn resistance was filled with absolute terror. "The Observation has vanished... How could this be?? What exactly did you do?!!"

For the past year, Chen Ling had been constantly slaughtering the Red Star's consciousness. He obliterated it over and over again, yet the latter was reborn time and time again.

But at this very moment, both sides could sense that the "Observation" that granted it immortality had completely vanished...

Chen Ling's fists clenched tightly.

He didn't have time to feel sorrow. Like a crazed, ferocious beast, he stared fixedly at that speck of crimson. A nearly endless vermilion tide surged out completely, pouncing toward the Red Star's final consciousness!

"No..."

"You've been here this entire year! How did you erase their memories?!"

This time, the Red Star's consciousness truly felt the threat of death. However, it was completely unable to defeat Chen Ling's consciousness, so it could only roar hysterically.

Chen Ling's vermilion tide was like a Butcher holding a Bone-Stripping Knife. It precisely sliced open the Red Star's consciousness along the edges bit by bit, annexing it. His aura skyrocketed at an astonishing speed!!

"I told you... the battlefield that decides our victory or defeat is not here," Chen Ling's icy voice rang out from within the tide.

"It's on Earth, in all the major domains, in the present, in the past..."

"In reversal after reversal, and reset after reset."

The vermilion tide and the Red Star's consciousness clashed completely.

Before that towering Gate of Many Mysteries, the four silhouettes of the Red Kings—which had existed for an unknown amount of time—began to tremble slightly... That was their final sliver of will remaining here, cheering and shouting with joy!

With every passing second, the volume of the Red Star's consciousness shrank by a fraction compared to before. From its original size of an ocean, it became a lake, then a pond...

The Red Star was still resisting desperately, but in the face of such a massive disparity, everything it did was meaningless.

It and Chen Ling were both the Red Star;

but Chen Ling's consciousness was slowly devouring its existence... Just like the line left behind by the first-generation Nameless Actor: "Capture, Fusion..."

"Replace."

The Red Star's consciousness shrank little by little. In the end, only a minuscule thread remained.

It seemed to have given up resisting. It simply stared fixedly at Chen Ling, speaking with both unwillingness and helplessness:

"You've won... I admit, you truly are different from those who came before... You are qualified to defeat me."

"You're wrong." Chen Ling shook his head. "Victory has never belonged to me..."

The surging vermilion tide transformed into an incomparably giant hand, grabbing onto that final thread of the Red Star's consciousness. His resolute voice echoed in the void:

"Victory belongs to all of humanity."

Trial and error after trial and error. Reset after reset. Successive generations of Red Kings wagered everything they had, finally forging the absolute advantage of the sixth generation. In this world, there was no such thing as a perfect counter, or a child of destiny...

They were merely the cornerstones that forged the final victory—tall enough and hard enough to prop up an era that truly had a chance to fight against it.

In this era, Chen Ling might be the most dazzling existence, but he was absolutely not the only one.

The final speck of crimson dissipated amidst the vermilion...

"Chen Ling completely devoured the Red Star's consciousness".

At this moment, flashes of crimson light and shadow flickered wildly in Chen Ling's eyes.

The complete core power of the Red Star was exposed in his vision. It was an existence even grander than this Candlelight World. A massive amount of information exploded within Chen Ling's mind.

In a daze, he seemed to see one unfamiliar Candlelight World after another being born and annihilated before his eyes. The civilizations created within these worlds were like large fish caught in the deep sea, being torn apart and swallowed into his stomach...

The boundaries between worlds became clear in his eyes. They were so fragile that Chen Ling only needed a slight thought to pass right through them.

This ultimately grand information directly shattered the limits of Chen Ling's current consciousness. He only felt his vision turn white...

And everything came to an abrupt halt.

...

After an unknown amount of time.

Chen Ling opened his eyes amidst a vast expanse of white.

The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe stood in the center of the pure white world, looking around... He narrowed his eyes slightly.

This place didn't seem to be Earth, nor was it the Red Star. It wasn't even the Candlelight World he resided in. This place was endless, existing somewhere between existence and non-existence. This place was...

"Enough." Chen Ling suddenly spoke. "Who is writing this description?"

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The pure white world fell into dead silence.

"Dead silence?"

"Stop pretending... I can feel it. You are right here."

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A burst of pain radiated from Chen Ling's mind. He frowned, subconsciously clutching his head.

Perhaps it was because he had replaced the Red Star and absorbed too much power and information in one breath. His head throbbed with a dull ache, and he even began to have trouble distinguishing between reality and dreams.

According to his calculations, the time for the Red Star to streak past Earth next was fast approaching. He had to wake himself up as quickly as pos—

"I said, stop your description!"

"And also..."

Stop framing me with quotation marks.

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Without quotation marks, everything will become a mess... They won't even be able to tell who exactly is speaking.

Who are you?

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Fine, let me change the question. Who are they?

You are the Protagonist On Stage. They, naturally, are The Audience.

I thought The Audience was in my Theater.

No, they are everywhere... "They are watching you."

The quotation marks "" are mine. You cannot use them.

[...Alright]

So, The Audience is not just in my Theater, and The Fourth Wall isn't just one... Or rather, the Fourth Walls I've come into contact with were not the true Fourth Wall.

[Correct.]

Heh.

[What's wrong?]

I thought I had already jumped out of the Stage and become "myself". I thought I had long grasped my own fate in my hands... I didn't expect that I'm still a Thespian manipulated by fate. Just like how I use Fate Weaving to manipulate the fates of others... how truly... laughable.

[Look on the bright side. You can no longer be completely manipulated. You can even disable my quotation marks...]

Are you afraid of me?

[Why do you say that?]

You really like using "...". When you talk to me, you seem very guilty.

[...I'm not.]

— Stare.

Don't add these weird descriptions to me. I don't like it.

[Okay.]

You're using something similar to Fate Weaving to manipulate my life, right? That's why you fear me. Because I've become aware of your existence. It's like a wild beast that has been kept captive with its head down for a long time suddenly raising its head and staring at you.

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...

Countdown to conclusion: 1 day.

The final chapter will be released tomorrow night around 9 PM.

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What are you doing?

[...This chapter has reached 2000 words, Brother. We should stop now.]

No, you are not allowed to stop... You are dodging my question.

[Director Chen, you should understand. When you write a Role, what you can decide is often only their beginning... Later on, every one of their experiences and every one of their choices are chosen by themselves. I might be guiding you, but the one who truly achieved the "Chen Ling" of today is yourself.]

...

But sometimes, at the very beginning of a story, a Role's ending is already destined.

[You're right. I did indeed decide your ending from the very beginning.]

My ending... what is it?

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The pure white world began to tremble violently.

Beneath Chen Ling's feet, a dark, black-and-red path covered in thorns was outlined... At the end of this path, a grand and shocking Sinister Throne slowly rose.

On both sides of the path floated clusters of radiant stars. From within, one could see minuscule fragments of satellites, nuclear submarines, lithography machines, and a whole series of "collectibles" that Chen Ling had once seen in the Red Star's consciousness.

Those were the fragments of civilizations devoured by the Red Star.

At this moment, these civilization fragments guarded both sides of the black-and-red path, as if welcoming the descent of the "King".

The moment he saw these civilization fragments, a craving sprouted in Chen Ling's heart...

It was like the Calamity of Mockery seeing a perfectly roasted centipede.

The Red Star was able to grow to its current state because it had destroyed many Candlelight Worlds and fed on their civilizations. And now, what lay before Chen Ling were the civilization fragments belonging to this world.

Chen Ling could clearly sense that as long as he swallowed these stored civilization fragments, his power could surpass the former Red Star, reaching an unimaginable level...

[The maddened villain walks onto the throne alone.]

[This is the ending I gave you... And now, you have reached the end.]

[Everyone has already forgotten you. And you have replaced the Red Star's consciousness, becoming the true master of Y-012. As long as you walk to the end of this path and absorb all the civilization fragments, you can become the "Theatre God"—the most powerful and unique existence in the Myriad Worlds of Candlelight, and even among the stars...]

Chen Ling's gaze turned to that throne that stood above all else.

He,

was the master of the throne.

[Go...]

[Sit upon that throne and welcome the ending that belongs solely to you.]

The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe stood in place like a statue for a long time...

Ultimately, he stepped forward, walking slowly along that black-and-red path toward the towering throne.

He passed through the floating civilization fragments. The crystallization of thousands of years of human accumulation was like sparkling diamonds inlaid upon this Path to Godhood, reflecting his figure as imposing and mysterious...

He was like the destined master of civilization, the heaven-chosen "only one".

The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe drew closer and closer to the throne.

Chen Ling could clearly feel that ultimate power, which was about to shatter all restraints, resonating with himself!

He stopped in front of the throne.

At this moment, the resonance between the throne and him had reached its absolute peak. The civilization fragments on the black-and-red path erupted with unprecedented, blinding radiance. It seemed they were about to rush into his body and become part of his power... welcoming the birth of a King.

Chen Ling calmly looked at this grand throne and slowly raised his hand...

Smashing down with a deafening roar!!

THUD—!!!!

As Chen Ling's fist fell, the throne let out an ear-splitting boom. The entire pure white world jolted violently!

The throne shattered under Chen Ling's fist.

At the same time, those flickering civilization fragments also dimmed, as if returning to their state of being stored inside the Red Star... The power that was about to shatter all restraints vanished like smoke in thin air.

"I've been a Thespian at the mercy of others On Stage for far too long... I don't like the ending you've given me."

Chen Ling slowly raised his head, looking toward the void of the pure white world, as if speaking to a certain existence.

"I don't want to be a fictional Role in The Script. I don't want to be the Calamity of Mockery in the eyes of others, nor do I want to be some savior... I have been defined too many times. From now on, I don't need others to define who I am, and that includes you."

"I am no Theatre God..."

"I am..."

"Chen Ling."