Chapter 368: The First Alarm Clock

Su Lin lifted a section of space as if pulling back a curtain:

"Hurry up! I've distracted them—seal the new Grand Grail and shove it in!"

"Move it physically—don't use spiritual power."

"Big Boss, why not just smash open the path to the Root yourself?" Zhang Chuang tossed the Grand Grail inside: "It's trivial for you now, isn't it?"

Zhang Chuang had just spoken casually—after all, from start to finish, even when there were benefits, he quietly stayed in the background like an invisible extra; he only got involved when it came to his boss Meng Qi's affairs.

In the last blame-shifting meeting, Zhang Chuang's personal participation rate was 0 percent—so even if the world got ruined by the Big Bosses, he felt no guilt.

"If I could forcibly turn the blacklist into a whitelist, the entire Type-Moon universe would be under my control," Su Lin said:

"Just stick to exploiting bugs—I can only fight the Goddess of the Primeval Universe with my current power."

Su Lin stressed the words "current."

"That phrase was well-used—don't use it again," Kleine leaned against the wall, watching the diligent puppets, and sipped his tea:

"Where's Weigong Shilang? He's the main character of the plan."

"Probably filming the Winter City Knife story again—damn, that perverted Shilang…" Su Lin grunted in annoyance.

"I originally planned to stir up a modest disturbance, grab some Root specialties, and casually watch a romantic soap opera livestream—but now I'm stuck playing the villain."

"Everything started smoothly, but now it's turned into this."

"Huowang, I'll tell you a secret—after Kleine ascended to the Fool, his mouth gradually disappears."

"Really?!" Li Huowang placed the Grand Grail into the extradimensional space and stared in shock at Kleine.

Splash—

Kleine felt the warmth at his neck and the red tea stains on his white shirt; he sighed and dismissed his current historical projection from his semigod phase.

His true body stepped out of the air and said:

"You'd believe Su Lin's nonsense before believing you're the Omniverse Devourer—I'm not playing that meme."

Kleine shrugged, realizing Zhongli's gaze had grown distant—if this continued, his ability to draw hatred might surpass Su Lin's.

It was just coincidence, though.

But the coincidence felt off.

Yet these superstitious people never think: how could a mere Sequence 0 god like themselves interfere across multiple multiverses and void dimensions?

Su Lin's past troubles were purely because he stole too much—and creditors came knocking.

This world's mess happened because everyone got too lax lately and lost control.

Kleine understood his groupmates but rejected their one-sided stereotypes of him; use your brain—if the Omniverse Devourer could become real, wouldn't he have truly evolved from "Zhou Mingrui" into "Azathoth"?

Possible? Clearly not.

"Su Lin, everyone's here? Good—I have something to tell you." Weigong Shilang walked through a nearby portal; though his expression hadn't changed, his steps were hurried.

"Why did you suddenly grow stronger?" Su Lin eyed Weigong Shilang strangely. "Which system gave you a cheat?"

"No, not that," Weigong Shilang smiled awkwardly, then addressed the group: "I made a pact with the Alaya."

"." Su Lin's face froze. After a pause, he suddenly laughed:

"I'm gonna… Type-Moon's gonna… right now…"

"Calm down, Su Lin," Kleine stepped beside him and patted his back, then said to the group: "Let me translate—he's saying, 'We're about to die in battle, why did you surrender first?'"

"No," Su Lin pushed Kleine away:

"I mean—give me a moment. I'm feeling awful."

"Right now, the universe is mine—I used a hard-won trump card. I can even make the Counterforce turn into a little girl right in front of you."

"It's already changed. Thanks," Weigong Shilang clenched his fist.

And took the form of Dada Liya.

"Already changed?!" Su Lin blinked: "That's not what I meant."

"Neither is that what I meant. Anyway, take a look at this," Weigong Shilang sighed, glanced around, and said:

"This world isn't a place to talk."

Same as before.

Earth's Counterforce, Gaia, is one that only cares if the planet itself still exists; Alaya is one that only cares if humanity survives and its bloodline remains pure.

Thus, Alaya made a pact with Weigong Shilang, striking a deal.

Weigong Shilang didn't reveal what he gave up—but from his current transformation, his gains were substantial, and he also demanded a "special timeline" coordinate—the same one Faran Lin had failed to find: a Parallel World.

"Brilliant," Su Lin clapped, sincerely saying:

"Not as grand as the cosmic scheme between Yuanshi Tianzun and God inside my mind, but equally without any moral底线."

"So, regardless of whether this universe faces annihilation, as long as its goal is achieved, everything else doesn't matter?" Zhongli shook his head, marveling internally at the boundless strangeness of all worlds:

"For us, it saves considerable time and greatly increases success probability."

The original plan was to use the Fool's rank and abilities, along with other Path powers from the Source Fortress, to have the familiar Weigong Shilang "parasitize" or "steal" the identity of another mainline Parallel World's Weigong Shilang, while that version was swapped into this timeline.

With Su Lin and Meng Qi's help, it would be effortless for the Fool to deceive its "cognition" and "fate," enabling an identity swap between two identical-origin entities without alerting the Counterforce.

The only issue was potential failure at the critical moment—but as long as this continued, the Holy Grail War, as a key node in this timeline, would eventually be usable.

Originally, they intended to use the gathered Grand Grail at the right moment to open the path to the Root; now, perhaps they could shift their approach—accelerating the process, since the mainline of that other timeline is…

"Solely Dominating the Ages."

Su Lin regarded Weigong Shilang with interest and said:

"The Heaven Emperor who never existed in this ancient history—so that's it. Fits your otaku, little-girl-loving persona perfectly, Weigong Sword Shadow."

"Didn't we agree not to play memes?" Weigong Shilang sweatdropped: "I'm not a little-girl or sister lover."

"I just happen to like…" Su Lin smiled, then his expression changed—behind him, the serrated light wheel began to spin.

A middle-aged swordsman's spectral shadow crossed layers of space and appeared before Su Lin; after a few seconds of stillness, the soul dissolved into pure white energy and surged into Su Lin's chest.

The sky was nearly torn apart; countless spatial cracks appeared in every corner of the solar system, and then, like glass shattering, those gaps were about to split the world into fragments of all sizes.

"Be quiet."

Su Lin lost his earlier casual demeanor, immediately pressing his hand against his chest where the Primordial Light erupted, his tone icy, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

His free hand reached toward the shattered sky; guided by his will, the world fragments drifting apart were forcibly drawn together, like shattered reflections of moonlight on water reappearing after ripples faded.

Inside Wangshu Pavilion, the Divine King Jiang Taixu suppressed his shock, gripped his spear, and turned to continue attacking Ye Fan.

Standing in the void, his aura unstable, Xiao Yan silently watched this scene from the Flame Peak, then removed his helmet and returned to his Own World, planning to visit Yunlan Sect to find Yunshan for a good laugh to steady his mind.

In the spirit field, Han Li removed his conical hat, a faint smile curling on his lips, then turned and planted a damaged Holy Herb he had taken from Ye Fan's world.

Nearby, Lu Mingfei plucked a spirit fruit from a tree, glanced once at the sky's anomalies, then resumed familiarizing himself with his own power, as if such cataclysmic scenes had long ceased to surprise him.

Or rather, he had become immune to someone's outrageous behavior: "Hope the Moon isn't broken. Amen."

"Are you alright, Su Lin?!" Weigong Shilang watched Su Lin hunched over, as if forcibly restraining himself, and worried: "Could it be your trump card is backfiring?"

"Sorry." Su Lin slowly rose, his hand still pressed to his chest as the light gradually retracted: "The Great Will has awakened within me."

"The First One awakened within me too." Kleine's feet transformed into slick, grotesquely inscribed tentacles: "Scared by you."

"Really?" Su Lin pulled from his system a gray, ever-shifting mass between states of matter and hurled it at Kleine; upon it floated illusory needles woven from light and darkness:

"Just let Him go wild. I'll find a way to bring Carosso over—we'll throw a party with this universe and the Source together."

"How's that?"

"Send this planet away, then stage a cosplay of 'Zone: Seal Broken' in this universe."

He seemed to be diverting his attention, or deliberately soothing some inner emotion.

"What is this?" Kleine asked. "Who's Carosso?"

"The First One's alarm clock. I got it the other day while preparing to film 'Love Apartment: Cryptic Annex' in your world." Su Lin urged.

"Once you become an Ancient, just go all out: three years as an Ancient, five years as a Creator."

Kleine fell silent, staring at the object in his hand—the very thing he'd long heard of, once intended by Su Lin as a bargaining chip for friendly talks with Outer Gods. After a long pause, he sighed:

"You've already paved the whole path for me, boss."

"I think I'm already crazy enough."

"After all, I have to protect the best cat in the world—that phrase almost made me vomit." Su Lin's face twisted as if disgusted by his own words, yet the faint glow on his skin now retracted into his body:

"You know, I originally planned to launch a performance review system, with year-end profit sharing—top salesperson could exchange one-quarter of their sales value for anything they wanted here."

"Now, Weigong Shilang leads in performance, Lu Mingfei is second, but you, my friend, your monthly output remains consistently stable."

"If this company weren't a lifetime employment system, I'd have fired you long ago and sent you to the South Pacific to meet Cthulhu!"

"Don't gross me out." Kleine held the alarm clock, considering whether to sacrifice it onto the Source Altar, and said:

"As a worker, slacking off on the job is normal, right? Work isn't about pursuing value—it's labor exchanged for pay."

"Fine, I'll just work then."

He disliked publicly manifesting his true identity; his pursuit of power was merely to survive the apocalypse, since such acts risked being traced online and eliminated by powerful figures—far safer to manipulate puppets or historical projections from within the Mists of History or the Source Altar.

But since Su Lin had gone this far, he might as well give the work a try.

"So, as long as I stand out or generate enough karmic ties, I can exchange them for resources?" Weigong Shilang suddenly felt unsure how to repay Su Lin—for the system, and now this treatment.

Su Lin is actually quite a decent guy.

Su Lin nodded:

"You can milk Alaya for more. When I could still communicate with them, I added some settings using your name—though the returns were small, they were still there, since they're products of collective unconsciousness."

He'd be better if he were a little more normal.

"The Great Will, Carosso." Meng Qi appeared beside Su Lin holding a jade scroll tube: "Is your power derived from toxic milk powder?"

Li Huowang, deep in thought nearby, suddenly brightened—memories from another world surfaced: "Offline City and 300 Million Mice?"

"It's Offline City and Eight Hundred Thousand Warriors." Kleine deadpanned, then abandoned the idea of sacrificing the dangerous object onto the Source Altar, instead transforming it into a cane: "I have an appointment. I'm leaving."

Night deepened. In the auditorium of Shirayama Private Academy, Yuwen Mushi.

"Good evening, Mr. Fool." Abigail greeted timidly.

"Good evening, Miss Williams. It's been days—still as lovely as ever." Kleine removed his hat, placed it over his chest in a formal gesture, and smiled:

"And Mr. Van Gogh—you look well. Has recent happenings given you much inspiration?"

"Of course, Miss Moreau, Miss Katsushika, and Lady Yang Guifei—what an honor to gather with you all tonight."

"Where is Miss BB? I believe on this wonderful night, all past misunderstandings among us can be resolved."

When these Servants from Chaldea contacted Kleine, he was surprised but understood why.

Su Lin's rank indeed corroborated certain film fragments, yet these Servants favored or dominated by Outer Gods should never mistake someone for another.

"I'm right here."

He sensed nothing—not even as a Rank 0, nor did his intuition warn him?!

Kleine's heart tightened, but he showed no sign. He turned toward the right side of the auditorium, where in the darkness, a pair of grotesque crimson eyes stared at him with unmasked malice and amusement.

From his face to his upper body, as if seeing through Kleine's essence, the gaze finally halted, resting on the cane in Kleine's right hand.

Kleine saw BB blink—next second, the figure stepped forward from the darkness, hands folded before her, and bowed deeply before Kleine.

"Good evening, Mr. Fool."

(End of Chapter)