Chapter 570: Impossible to Change?

Beichen walked back to her seat and took a palm-sized box from her robes.

The box looked ordinary—wooden, its corners worn smooth and shiny—almost identical to the one the Rat King had produced.

"This more powerful entity is the Disaster itself. It dragged us here for no reason, watching us struggle to survive. Our struggles, our efforts, our pain, everything we have done—in its eyes, it is all an immensely entertaining game."

"We losers, if we still want to live, can only follow the game rules it set, eking out survival beneath one red line after another."

Before Cheng Shuili could recover from these words, Beichen suddenly looked over: "The Rat King gave you three chances, right?"

Cheng Shuili nodded subconsciously.

A quill and a parchment scroll—those were the tools the Rat King had given her.

The first time, she used it on Bao Chi, seeking justice for that pitiful leopard-clan beastman.

The second time, she used it on the Black Feather members. Those people followed her, risking their lives for her, and she could not let them down.

The third time, she asked the Rat King not to interfere in human affairs, buying a moment of respite for herself, for Black Feather, and for humanity.

Beichen seemed to know all of this.

"You performed admirably. That is also one of the reasons I am willing to entrust the fragment to you."

"Do you also find it strange?" Beichen looked at Cheng Shuili's puzzled expression and said with a light smile: "The entity that caused all this has such a twisted sense of humor—how could it leave behind a shortcut like this for those who come after?"

What Beichen said was exactly what Cheng Shuili had been thinking.

After all, an entity that kidnapped every living creature of an entire race without a word of explanation could never tolerate that race passing through the game it had so meticulously designed.

It was just like Taibai—he was already this indignant when his Instance was cleared, let alone the Disaster itself, which had created an even more intricate game world.

With a hint of pride on her face, Beichen said calmly: "Because these were never the escape routes it left for us. These are the escape routes we found ourselves. Our systems manage the challengers who come after on its behalf. It gave us power, so naturally it had to be prepared for us to betray it."

"The three chances that each generation of losers gives to the next generation of challengers were all our scheming. When the Rat King was a challenger, I likewise gave him similar tools."

Saying this, Beichen shook her head. "It's just a pity that in the end, he still didn't succeed."

Cheng Shuili listened quietly, but Beichen said nothing more. She turned to look at everything outside Chenhuan, fell silent for a long while, then looked back at Cheng Shuili.

"That terrifying entity is twisted enough, but it also abides by the game rules."

She gently opened the box. Lying quietly inside was a thumb-sized fragment, just like the other pieces—like solidified flame.

Beichen handed the box to Cheng Shuili and said warmly: "The Sparks of Civilization are the only escape route we can grasp, and the only tool that can kill it."

"Even now, I still miss my homeland. You and the beastmen should both understand this feeling perfectly well."

She revealed a genuine smile, radiant and tinged with hope: "But you're right—we can build a brand new home here."

Seven fragments, all found.

When she exited Chenhuan, the image of Beichen's smile still lingered in Cheng Shuili's mind.

She held the box, motionless for a long time.

What Beichen had said and the truth she had witnessed with her own eyes in Chenhuan carried an overwhelming amount of information. She needed time to digest it all.

Though Cheng Shuili had long suspected it, only today did she confirm it: they humans were not the first unlucky ones. The systems were the first, and the second batch of unlucky ones was naturally the beastmen.

It was a cycle, yet not quite a cycle.

New players would appear in every round, and only by gathering all the Spark fragments could the players find a way to survive.

But Beichen hadn't succeeded, and the Rat King hadn't either.

The time for the challenge was not endless. The Disaster would intensify until no one could survive.

When a round ended and the players failed, the Disaster itself would seek out the next unlucky ones, while preserving some members of the failed race, turning them into NPCs.

Yes, some.

All the players who died in the game had not truly died. Only when an entire race completely failed would those players truly perish.

What the Disaster itself gave the systems was the ability to manage everything, yet it bred corruption. What it gave the beastmen was the right to survive on this land, but they too faced division.

If humanity also failed... what would become of them?

Cheng Shuili did not dwell on this question, nor was there any need to dwell on it.

Because it simply did not exist.

Not only had she gathered the Spark fragments, she had successfully gathered them twice.

Yes, twice.

When she merged all the fragments, the memories she had lost came back.

Only at that moment did Cheng Shuili understand—her experience as a programmer was already from two lifetimes ago.

How could she in her first life have achieved such a feat?

She had lived with difficulty, relying on a bit of luck, a bit of cleverness, and on Wan Yi, Xinxue... their lives.

She was not Lao Da back then, nor any Number One. She was very weak—even the weakest existence in the team.

A person who didn't dare to resist when her supervisor told her to work overtime, a person who had lived over twenty years without ever having any confidence—suddenly thrust into such a cruel world, how much ferocity could she muster?

Their team was solid; every single person had survived by fighting for their life.

The Number One back then was Qin Wen. She had done well enough, but the Disaster kept intensifying until no one could survive.

By the end of the first round, the surviving humans didn't even number four digits.

Only then, at last, were all the fragments gathered in the hands of an obscure nobody.

Cheng Shuili looked at the two options, looked at the last line of the first option, and resolutely chose it.

Just because the system said it couldn't be done, did that mean it truly couldn't?

She didn't believe it.

Cheng Shuili's gaze was resolute. Her finger pressed gently on the option.

The metamorphosis began from that moment.

Everything rewound to the very beginning, and everything began to change.

The new round of the world should have proceeded like the first, with each person walking toward their own fate, but the special ability Cheng Shuili drew was 【Bug Physique】!

This unreasonable special ability was just as unreasonable as disaster itself.

According to the first option's description, the special ability—Cheng Shuili had indeed obtained. The memories and abilities—Cheng Shuili had indeed lost.

But "but cannot change their original endings"?

When this question was put to the Bug Physique, it gently shook its head and refused.

It had already conceded two rules; this last one it absolutely could not concede!

Otherwise, where would its SSS-grade talent's face go?