Chapter 625

And when the members heard this order, they already knew that the person who issued this command had lost confidence in the future.

All of Sanchez's beliefs were just a tower of sand facing a tsunami; the moment the supreme divinity's pressure descended, it was beaten into the finest powder and vanished.

He was shrouded in the darkness of "nothingness," with no path forward in front of him, unable to grasp any reeds to borrow strength from, and all instructions were just used to struggle for survival.

This instruction was just used to comfort himself that "I have tried my best" when the final moment arrived, and to face death calmly.

After that day, Ulrich never saw Sanchez again.

After understanding the form of existence that is SCP-3125, the entire galaxy was in an uproar.

"It can be like this? We can achieve immortality like this???"

"But the Foundation hasn't opened up the purchase of memory-enhancing agents yet. Are we supposed to go in and research how to develop them ourselves?"

"I'm going to try taking the agent in the 'Big Game' to see if it has any effect."

"You're dreaming."

Without a doubt, this was another way to achieve immortality. Although one lost their physical body, they were no longer bound by the laws of physics.

Moreover, judging by the state of SCP-3125, this technology had no side effects; there was no need to worry about being converted into "Abundance Civilians" by the "Abundance," or being hunted down by the "Hunt."

"Does this count as the domain of 'Memory'? I just don't know if 'Memory' will meddle in this, but the Memoralists would probably be very happy to conduct relevant research."

Herta crossed her arms, a glimmer flickering in the depths of her eyes.

The Foundation's technology was too unrestrained. Using collective cognition and memory to allow agents to achieve immortality, and extending the Foundation's influence into that realm—such a method was unheard of.

Compared to physical immortality, this technology was clearly more reliable. After all, Ma Ma Liang, who had been killed by "SCP-3125," could enter the Kingdom of Heaven; this was already the greatest advertisement and publicity.

This was almost a declaration that as long as galactic civilization remained forever prosperous, the Kingdom of Heaven would exist forever.

Even if one's time had come, there was no need to fear death, or the void after death, because death meant ascending to a new form and beginning a brand-new life.

"Now... any force intending to destroy civilization will be attacked by all... they won't even need the Foundation to specifically name them."

"Besides the Foundation, who else in the galaxy can escape death, and who would hope to be finished off by some force after achieving immortality?"

Ulrich was fleeing frantically.

She, Ma Ma Liang, and the remaining members of the detachment crossed the edge of the increasingly desolate and uninhabitable conceptual realm.

Under the influence of "SCP-3125," the entire world had become twisted, becoming prey captured by a black hole, falling into it, being plundered, and being torn to shreds.

She knew that "SCP-3125" was building something in the center of the city.

It spat out some kind of substance, spreading like spores, and giant structures that looked like monuments rose from the ground.

Millions of humans were ruthlessly stuffed inside, used to nourish something.

No one knew what kind of terrifying things were happening inside these megastructures.

Perhaps some might be lucky enough to survive, but since they were already in hell, they had no chance of good luck.

Equally bad was that even if the remaining SCP-3125s had escaped the first round of mass cleansing, the members among them were still gradually perishing.

During one operation, the agents discovered a chilling fact.

"SCP-3125" had enslaved a massive number of anomalous legions, driving them like hunting dogs to search everywhere on Earth, throwing every individual who dared to resist into its abyss-like maw.

The agents did not know if this was a strategy formulated by "SCP-3125" or if it was driven by its own greedy nature.

But regardless of which it was, "SCP-3125" had successfully driven the remaining "Kingdom of Heaven" members into a dead end.

Either they launched a desperate challenge against the supreme divinity, or they huddled in the corners of the conceptual realm, waiting for the collapse of their anchors and the disintegration of their own forms.

And in this catastrophe, Ulrich's anchor also snapped.

That was a woman who had never known what the Foundation was, yet had always silently cared for Ulrich.

She was found in a mountain shelter that she had once thought was safe, and then dragged into hell.

Ulrich did not know this; by the time she realized it, it was already too late.

At that moment, the bond that had firmly tethered her and stabilized her on the sea of collective unconsciousness suddenly snapped; the strong pillar that maintained her existence and confirmed her form collapsed.

Ulrich became a lone boat in a storm, tossed high and smashed hard by the surging giant waves; she had no direction, could not stabilize herself, and could vanish into thin air at any moment, perishing right there.

Unprecedented fear, the dread of death and the void, enveloped her.

Ulrich followed the bond into physical reality and saw the fluttering end, and there was nothing there.

In a forest where the traces had been carefully cleaned, she saw an overturned tent, a fire pit that had been erased, and a pile of items that had once been precious but were now reduced to charcoal.

An SCP-3125 agent followed her here.

"Who is she?" he asked.

Ulrich had never mentioned this name to anyone.

"I only knew her for two days..."

Ulrich was like a true ghost now; she stared blankly at the empty shelter, a large hole seemingly opened in her heart.

"When I was a child, she saved my life..."

But she had remembered Ulrich for so long, even after Ulrich was erased by the anti-meme effect, she still cared about the little life she had once saved.

At this very moment, she suddenly realized that although she was a senior Mobile Task Force agent who had experienced countless unspeakable terrors and turned them into the motivation to move forward.

However, the scene before her—Julia's tent, the silent world, and Julia herself who had disappeared forever—was the cruelest and most heart-wrenching experience of her life.

If the invasion of "SCP-3125" had sounded the death knell for the SCP-3125s, then the hunting dogs it kept became the final straw that broke this group of elite agents.

The hope of resistance was completely shattered, and these ghosts had no resources left to utilize.

In a desperate situation, the detachment, which only had 4 people to begin with, split up again, leaving Ulrich with Ma Ma Liang, who was like a vegetative patient.

Ulrich and Ma Ma Liang formed a subtle symbiotic relationship; she remembered Ma Ma Liang, maintained Ma Ma Liang's existence, and was in turn remembered by Ma Ma Liang, allowing her to survive.

Such an alliance might allow the two to linger a moment longer in the apocalypse, but it clearly could not last forever.

After a long and desperate escape, the two found a shelter in the desolate borderlands of the conceptual realm.

It was a mysterious ruin left behind by human civilization a thousand years ago, and the thaumaturgical structures within still emitted a faint aura.

On a night when the stars and moon were silent, Ma Ma Liang finally said something new.

"Adam."

For the first time, Ma Ma Liang did not repeat "Concepts can be killed" or "With better concepts."

"You remember him?" Ulrich was surprised.

"I remember everything." Ma Ma Liang struggled to spit out a few words.

An unexpected sentence made Ulrich's eyes widen.

She knew deeply that the Z-class memory enhancement brought not only the inability to forget, but also the possibility that those memories which had been deliberately erased could reappear.

She had once hoped that Ma Ma Liang's memories of her husband would fade forever, because those memories would only lead to the most terrifying existence.

"...I don't know where Adam is."

Ulrich told the truth.

The SCP-3125s had once witnessed the mind-wiping of Adam Wheeler with solemn and grave eyes.

But, out of respect for Ma Ma Liang's decision and consideration for Adam's safety, they deliberately did not pay attention to Adam's subsequent actions and destroyed the relevant records.

"He might still be alive, I'm not sure."

Ulrich was conflicted in her heart; she didn't know which situation would be better.

To die early and be spared from suffering in hell, or to still exist, struggling to survive in despair, or to be enslaved by 3125 and become its servant.

In the face of the supreme divinity, all resistance of human civilization seemed so weak, and the Foundation's past experience in dealing with "anomalies" seemed pale.

Perhaps a supreme divinity in conceptual form could be killed by a better concept, but what if it entered reality and possessed a physical body?

Ulrich understood Sanchez's despair very well, because she was also deeply trapped in it, only she still wanted to struggle a bit.

"Look," Ma Ma Liang whispered.

In her palm, she held a stream of consciousness flowing with brilliance, fragments of someone's thoughts.

That was Adam; this was a memory bond leading to him, like a miracle.

Ma Ma Liang had actually stripped him out of the core of "SCP-3125."

He was unrecognizable, almost completely controlled by "SCP-3125," as if every nerve and everything in his brain had been replaced by it.

However, deep in his heart, there was still a shining seed struggling stubbornly; Adam had not surrendered and was still fighting hard.

Ulrich hesitated.

She knew clearly that Adam's mind structure possessed a rare and unique characteristic, having extremely strong resistance to external interference.

There were tens of thousands of people in the world with this characteristic, but they had no appearance different from ordinary people; it was too difficult for the SCP-3125s to find them from a base of billions of people globally.

They might be the sparks that could start a prairie fire, but reality showed no signs of improvement; perhaps everyone with this characteristic had died, leaving only Adam to survive, and only he had made it through.