Chapter 98

Heimu turned, with the system doll, like two shadows, along a deeper passage, heading to the core area that houses the body of Past World Paradise.

The Heimu Doll left behind silently returned to its original spot, its form after a burst of data fluctuation re‑disguised as Hui She's cold mechanical appearance, as if nothing had happened.

After passing through layers of guarded gates, Heimu and the system finally reached the destination.

Before them lay an immensely vast Underground Space, and at its center operated a massive facility of such complex structure it defied description, emitting a soft, ancient light.

Countless energy conduits, like plant roots, linked to it, sustaining its fifty thousand years long operation.

Gazing at this miraculous creation that witnessed the rise and fall of a former civilization and bore the memories and powers of thirteen heroes, even Heimu felt a fleeting sentiment flicker in those dull purple‑black eyes.

"Who could have thought this thing… could run for a full fifty thousand years."

She whispered to herself, as if questioning time and space itself.

Sentiment aside, the matter must not be forgotten.

She turned her head and gave the system doll a concise command: "Begin."

The system doll silently nodded, stepped forward, its petite body confronting the massive Past World Paradise apparatus, appearing wildly disproportionate.

Yet the moment she raised her hands, a torrent of purple‑red data surged from her palms like a breached dam!

The data stream, like living tendrils, swiftly enveloped the entire Past World Paradise facility, initiating an extremely complex parsing and transmission process.

The facility's surface light flickered violently, as if instinctively resisting this foreign force.

Heimu crossed arms, standing elegantly beside it.

Her purple‑black eyes watched the facility wrapped in purple‑red data, feeling leisurely.

Just as the transmission reached a critical stage, a sudden anomaly erupted!

Heimu felt her consciousness abruptly "yanked" out of her body by an irresistible force!

Her vision instantly blurred and warped, then cleared again within an extreme silence.

She realized she was no longer in the dim underground base, but standing on an endless, desolate plain of gray‑white soil.

Looking up, a pitch‑black, deep cosmic veil stretched above, and in the distance a beautiful blue‑white planet floated silently—that was Earth.

"…Moon?"

Heimu's mouth twitched slightly, "Where the heck am I? Is this still Earth?"

She quickly composed herself, her powerful perception scanning the strange space like radar.

Almost simultaneously, she sensed another "existence" approaching.

Her gaze fell upon a girl hovering mid‑air.

She bore a peculiar gray double‑helix hair, coiling like a genetic strand, and her ruby‑red eyes, like burning gems, stared calmly at her.

"Prometheus…?"

Heimu instantly recognized the figure, yet immediately sensed something deeper.

No, the force driving this image was not the AI that executed the "Holy Scar Project," but a far more vast existence—the World Will itself.

It merely borrowed the "Prometheus" image to manifest.

Simultaneously, Heimu's perception pierced the surface of this consciousness space, reaching a massive presence hidden deep within, beating like a heart and radiating a thrilling purple glow—the End Cocoon.

That was both the civilization's end and… its beginning.

Heimu's lips involuntarily curled slightly.

Things were getting interesting.

"What business do you have?"

Heimu spoke proactively, her voice carrying clearly through the thin air of this space.

No sound answered.

Yet an unmistakably clear thought imprinted directly onto her mind:

【Stop.】

Concise and authoritative, bearing undeniable gravitas.

Heimu tilted her head, a smile appearing on her face: "What if I said… no?"

That sense of the world's repulsion surged instantly!

As if the entire world's Rule were pressing on her, trying to squeeze this "foreign object" out completely!

The light warped slightly.

Heimu bore the pressure, her gaze growing sharper.

She quickly contemplated a counter, brute force not the best option, especially on the opponent's turf.

She needed… a lever.

"How about making a deal?"

Heimu suddenly spoke, breaking the stalemate.

She extended her hand, gloved in gray silk, "Give me Past World Paradise and this era's Ruler Core. In return…"

She paused, her gaze seeming to pierce the "Prometheus" image, staring directly at the World Will behind it, her voice laced with a beguiling power: "…I will help you cross The End."

She could clearly feel that the "Prometheus" before her, driven by the World Will, its eternally unchanged expression seemed to acquire a trace of stagnation.

(It's working!)

Heimu seized the moment, her tone becoming even more resolute: "Since you could 'invite' me here, you must have sensed my nature and the tier of power I possess that surpasses this world's ordinary cognition. Frankly, if I wish, I could even set π to zero."

Her smile deepened, exuding confidence.

Seeing the other still silent, Heimu decided on the next dose of Fierce Medicine.

She raised her hand again, palm upward.

A lifelike Earth model materialized above her palm.

Immediately, the purple‑red data stream coiled around the miniature Earth like a living thing, beginning to erode it slowly!

"Of course, I could do it with ease…"

Heimu's voice turned icy, like proclaiming the apocalypse, "Destruction."

Finally, that power that had been communicating by thought alone for so long conveyed a clear question for the first time in a more direct manner, through the image of Prometheus:

"Who are you?"

Heimu smiled, a smile of a scheme that had succeeded.

She lifted her shoulders gracefully, as if saying something trivial:

"Me? I come from another world, The End. Of course, you could also see me as… the embodiment of Destruction."

(When you're out in the world, identity is what you give yourself.)

She could feel the World Will sinking into deeper silence and contemplation.

"How can one trust?" — another thought arrived, bearing extreme caution.

Heimu withdrew the smile, her gaze becoming oppressive, she stepped forward, the heel of her boot lightly striking the Moon's soil.

"You have no choice but to believe."

At the very Shana the boot met the ground—

"Buzz—!"

Centered on her, a violet‑red torrent of data erupted on an unprecedented scale!

The desolate Moon scene shattered like a broken mirror, piece by piece, replaced by countless vast galaxies flowing with the light of destiny, their interwoven infinite paths — exactly the sight of the Fate's Narrow Passage!

Within this Fate's Narrow Passage forcibly simulated by Heimu, behind her, an immense phantom, as if formed from countless Destruction concepts, silently materialized!

That phantom bore a suffocating pressure, as if a single glance could ignite the stars and end civilization!

(Simulating an image of Nanuk, though it consumes massive resources, it is not impossible!)

"Prometheus" — the embodiment of the World Will, still maintaining a blank expression.

But Heimu keenly sensed that the ancient unchanging consciousness deep within finally stirred a genuine ripple.

That was not fear, but a weighing when confronting a higher tier…

"…Agree."