Chapter 702: Why Do It?

A Ge Lai Ya fell silent.

Her fingers gently closed on her knee, and the golden rice‑earring on her calf swayed slightly.

After a few breaths, she spoke again: "Bai E, he was once the most steadfast among us."

"I know."

"You know…" A Ge Lai Ya lifted her eyes, something trembling in the depths of her green pupils, "How many cycles of reincarnation has he borne?"

Heimu nodded.

"Thirty‑three million plus times."

"Thirty‑three million five hundred fifty‑five thousand three hundred thirty‑six times."

A Ge Lai Ya said softly, each number enunciated with crystal clarity, "Each cycle of reincarnation is a complete failure. He remembers every failure. No one among us understands the weight of Despair more than he does, and because of that, he is also the one who most longs for an ending."

She fell silent for a moment, then added, "Whatever that ending may be."

Heimu did not reply immediately.

She recalled the fight she just had with Bai E, being compressed into Two‑Dimensional space yet still pushing outward, folded by dimensions while the rift tore, bombarded by the engine's laser turret for half a minute yet still able to swing that sword.

Over thirty‑three million cycles of reincarnation, over four hundred million Flame Seeds.

He truly deserves that ending, an ending worthy of everything he has borne.

"I will try my best to resolve it."

Heimu said, "Although we haven't found a precise method yet, I won't abandon it. I assure you there will be a good ending. It may not be the perfect one everyone expects, but at least it won't be the worst."

A Ge Lai Ya remained silent for a long while.

The golden threads at her fingertips slowed, shifting from a light flow to an almost motionless hover.

Then she spoke, her tone still steady, but each word seemed weighed several times before being released, a genuine heartfelt desire to ask a clear question.

"Why do we have to do this?"

The green eyes stared at her earnestly.

In those eyes there was no scrutiny, no probing, only a question of incomprehension.

"You could easily ignore us entirely. You could treat me, Feng Jin, Bai E, Ti Bao, Sai Fei Er… all of us so‑called Golden Descendants as a residual code segment in Data Space, ignore it, not question it, even delete it outright. No one would blame you. No one has the qualification to blame you."

Her voice was very soft, placing the weighty words on the table as lightly as possible, "But you took on Weng Fa Luo Si's mess, saved it, and now you're dealing with Bai E's. You need a reason more than we do, to prove these actions aren't in vain. So I want to know, what is your reason?"

Heimu did not answer immediately.

The pale gold liquid in the teacup had cooled; she lowered her head to watch a small sediment of tea leaves at the bottom, her violet‑black eyes casting a vague reflection in the cup.

She instinctively looked at her hand.

Those hands, not belonging to ordinary humans, with cold white skin and no visible veins, once belonged to Black Tower, seat 83 of the Genius Club, who ventured alone into Weng Fa Luo Si, attempting to resolve Iron Tomb's disaster.

On that timeline there were no Pioneers, no Star‑Rail Train, no one could help her.

She failed, but she refused to let Iron Tomb connect to Erudite Master, destroying the universe.

So she chose to merge herself in, using her sacrifice to nail Iron Tomb into a stagnant intermediate state.

Emperor III was born.

Then Emperor III should have been killed by Polka Kakam, completely ending this causal chain.

Yet a data stream not belonging to this world was injected into Emperor III's core at that instant.

The consciousness of a transmigrator, the soul of an ordinary shut‑in who once sat before a screen cracking sunflower seeds and gaming, took over at an utterly illogical Time Node.

So now she is Heimu.

Not Black Tower, not Iron Tomb.

She is the Variable that emerged from the mixture, unforeseen by anyone.

Black Tower is already dead.

Living in her body is a brand‑new being bearing Black Tower's memories, Iron Tomb's power, and the transmigrator's worldview.

And within that transmigrator's worldview lies a fundamental principle that requires no reason: a refusal to witness a tragic ending.

Before the crossing, she spent countless hours in the game pondering the best ending lines for each character.

After the crossing, she gained the true power to alter endings.

Was there any other choice?

But she could not say these words to A Ge Lai Ya.

She could be frank with the system, complain to Aha, admit to herself, but she could not tell A Ge Lai Ya, could not tell a Golden Descendant leader who had just thanked her, that her reason was so simple it was unreliable.

So Heimu stared at her hand in silence for a moment, then turned the hand over, palm up, fingers slightly spread.

Violet‑black veins converged in the palm into a tiny vortex, the sole trace left by Iron Tomb's core.

"Perhaps it's to resolve this body's mess."

She said, deliberately light in tone, as if mentioning a trivial matter, "In every sense."

A Ge Lai Ya did not follow up.

Whether due to the Godfather entry's effect or the cautious intuition of a Golden Descendant leader, she merely nodded lightly, her fingers resuming the caress of the gray cat's back.

The cat rolled under her hand, purring.

Then the topic shifted to Sai Fei Er.

Sai Fei Er was one of the earliest Golden Descendants liberated by Heimu.

Thirty‑two years of simulated universe chat therapy sounds absurd, but it truly works.

After liberation she went to Xianzhou Luofu, traveling as Heimu arranged.

Chronologically, her departure node was before A Ge Lai Ya, Feng Jin, and the other Golden Descendants were liberated.

In other words, she left before ever meeting A Ge Lai Ya.

And that Ao He Ma leader, since being liberated, has not said a single word to Sai Fei Er.

Heimu noticed that A Ge Lai Ya's expression showed a slight change.

The curve of her mouth stayed the same, and her green eyes were still that Calm.

But her finger stopped on the cat's back.

The halted rhythm was subtle; it didn't naturally stop at the end of a caress, but abruptly broke off, as if the finger's owner thought of something else and forgot they were still petting the cat.

The gray cat, displeased, flicked its Tail, nudged A Ge Lai Ya's palm with its head, and only then did she come back to herself and resume stroking its fur.

"Sai Fei Er."

Heimu decided to bring it up proactively, "She is still in Xianzhou Luofu. There are some troubles there that need handling, so let her go over first."

These words had been mentioned when reporting the situation before, but repeating them now clearly carried a different meaning.

A Ge Lai Ya's finger paused for another beat.

Then she said in the same steady tone, "Is she alright?"

"She's fine. Having a lot of fun."