The chanical beings, no longer part of the animal kingdom, played the part of so bizarre animals in their minds, which were governed only by program commands.
It seed that the "animals" in this zoo still appeared lively and lifelike.
Occasionally, people would co out of curiosity to visit, but these were not animals, they just looked like animals.
Long gone from being chanical organisms, they had turned into pure chanical beings.
Inside those steel-clad bodies, there was not a trace of anything that belonged to a living organism.
All of this had been caused by Jing. If Jing still had its own consciousness, it could restore everything.
But in this heavily deford world, Jing itself was eroded by pollution, transforming from a semi-chanical being into a purely chanical one.
It was not Zero, unable to block data with data, nor could it consu viruses with viruses.
Thus, Jing, the only Guardian that could have returned everything to the beginning, had fallen into a chanical being without a will of its own.
Like all chanical beings, it had but one purpose, to take revenge on humanity, to contaminate every human that ca here into one of their own kind.
Bai Wu and Wu Jiu were such powerful entities, and that "rabbit" used as a trump card could indeed contaminate them, but "contamination" itself was a twisted transformation.
Bai Wu had a strong resistance against distortion, so much so that it required all the chanical beings in the zoo to turn into sources of pollution.
After the rabbit self-destructed, the other chanical beings received their command to act.
Countless chanical beings—lions, white rabbits, fierce tigers, foxes, birds in the sky, and Jing, once a huge chanical creature with guns bristling from its form that countless animals shunned.
All chanical beings converged on Bai Wu as the center, attempting to transform him into one of their kind.
Of course, they had no such desire, it was rely a command.
Nobody could have predicted that this final strike from Baichuan City Zoo... would inadvertently turn into a masterful assist!
The mont the chanical beings made contact with Bai Wu, everything changed.
...
...
Destiny tried ti and again to make Gu Qingyu act against his character, but ti and again it failed.
As for Bai Wu, he had been completely controlled along with his captain.
He faced a monster that issued decrees that beca reality, able to change the world at will.
But when he realized that this monster could do nothing against his captain, he too was inspired.
With a heart as resilient as Wu Jiu’s, Bai Wu, who had been sowhat bewildered, also beca as indestructible.
Even separated, the two of them could not be prevented from finding each other.
Even the yellowed pages with words that seed like destiny could no longer affect Bai Wu’s psyche.
The zoo was their last gambit.
Will could not kill them, but through the rules of this place, it could erase their wills, turning the wills that resisted distortion into data that obeyed distortion.
At this mont, Bai Wu in the Inner World could not see the yellowed pages, nor the mocking words on them.
[The grand finale has arrived, the journey of the Dragon Slayer cos to an end. They showed great willpower, defying destiny and traveling far enough, but all was just a play put on by fate.
Now everything is over. So, when will soone next enter Destiny’s room? What kind of person will they be? I am very much looking forward to it.
—The end of the play]
The final character was never written, as the words on the yellowed pages suddenly stopped.
And in contrast,
the thing hidden by Bai Yuan in the deepest part of Bai Wu’s Inner World... was sothing even will could not peer into.
It was inherently a chanical lifeform, not of humankind.
So hiding in the Inner World of humans, it was simply a segnt difficult to perceive. It was like a file unknown, with no corresponding level to open it.
After opening, it was just a string of garbled code.
But once Bai Wu transford from human to a chanical body... that string of garbled code beca the "antidote" that turned the decayed into the marvelous.
Once again... the Will of the Well World had failed.
The surrounding chanical bodies wouldn’t beco alive due to a string of data, but interestingly, the Bai Wu they were connected to wasn’t a pure chanical body yet.
The characteristics belonging to living organisms in Bai Wu still possessed strong vitality, and with the help of mory from Zero, this vitality beca the very virus that genuinely destroyed the chanical contamination.
The pure chanical bodies unexpectedly reverted to... chanical life.
More and more biological traits began to appear in them.
And as the creature covered in gun barrels and imnsely huge gradually gained its own consciousness, it seed to finally wake up.
It let out a low hum, a sound as long and profound as a horn blowing on the frontier, carrying with it a power that turned the decayed into the marvelous, as if it were working in concert with Bai Wu inside the mist, purifying the chanical pollution on a large scale.
Bai Wu and Wu Jiu, whose bodies had already been enveloped in tal and would soon grow many strange chanical parts, were slowly turning back into humans.
All the strange cables entwined around Bai Wu’s body also dissipated.
The zoo was reverting to how it was seven hundred years ago.
Wu Jiu had already woken up, unaware of what had just transpired.
He should have been very anxious, being surrounded by a group of chanical monsters, but for so reason...
He could feel that these chanical creatures bore no hostility.
Not only was there no hostility, but they seed to have developed a special emotion towards Bai Wu.
The Heart Net made Wu Jiu’s perceptions extrely delicate, and he quickly realized...
They revered Bai Wu like one would a sovereign worth serving.
"What on earth has happened?"
Bai Wu hadn’t woken up yet, and Wu Jiu didn’t know what had happened either.
...
...
Everything in the Inner World seed to have gone through a collapse, but shortly after the collapse, the mory of Zero led to a rebirth of everything.
After figuring out what happened, Bai Wu was able to understand why Bai Yuan had praised Zero so highly, even extolling him.
"He is indeed incredible. chanization is like a twisted branch, and in that branch... even Alpha might not compare to him."
Seeing that the Inner World had been restored, Bai Wu knew it was ti to go back.
But strangely, he found himself still lingering here.
"I should leave."
Two voices spoke at once.
Bai Wu, Bai Yuan.
Both had said the sa thing.
Bai Wu thought he was still here because Bai Yuan had so arrangent he couldn’t attend to since there were more important things to do now.
"So... goodbye?" Bai Wu thought that when Bai Yuan said it was ti to go, he ant leaving the coffee shop for a while.
But after speaking, when he saw the calm, sowhat severe expression on Bai Yuan’s face, Bai Wu suddenly realized:
"What do you an?"
"I should go. I was considering answering so of your questions, but it seems unnecessary now."
"Where are you going?"
Bai Wu reacted.
No matter how outstanding Zero was, soone like Bai Yuan would never praise others as such.
Especially when he also incidentally praised himself.
When I think about it, it seems like it’s been a long ti since I’ve seen Bai Yuan.
After Bai Yuan’s charming smile faded, he looked not as approachable due to the absence of that warm gentleness, but he beca much more solemn.
He truly is a guy who’s perfect from every angle.
Bai Wu had to admit, even among the Yan Family’s lineage, one couldn’t find a face more perfect than Bai Yuan’s.
No wonder Jing Yi always thought highly of Bai Yuan, even though others of his generation were all monsters in their own right.
"I want to witness many interesting things; actually, I’m very interested in your upcoming adventures as well."
"The Well World Will must have granted you quite a few things, which seems to be a set of ga rules. I’m curious, after Dandelion and Bai Xiaoyu reconcile, after Jing submits to you, after you discover the source of the city’s identity rules collapsing, what will you beco?"
"Will the Well World Will appear before you in another form? Will he let you see sothing even more astounding about the origin? He always calls you Dragon Slayer, is that to imply that eventually, the Dragon Slayer will beco the evil dragon?"
"Or can you really slay the dragon?"
Bai Yuan should be saying these things with a smile, but he didn’t smile, his seriousness tinged with regret:
"I really want to go see for myself, but unfortunately, I can’t."
"What do you an... All this ti, haven’t you been peering into my Inner World, experiencing what I see, what I go through? Will this ti be different?" Bai Wu didn’t quite understand.
"The obsessions created by the Full Moon Fragnts are actually the real souls," Bai Yuan suddenly said.
"This world has many bizarre fragnts, ford by the obsessions of living beings. You should know what Jing Si’s obsession is, and that’s why the Full Moon Fragnt exists."
"But ironically, he lost his heart and discarded the Full Moon Fragnt as well; naturally, he couldn’t make ands for his mistakes."
"Fortunately, you picked it up, which was beyond my expectations. When I appeared in your Inner World in the form of an obsession, I knew you had grown a lot."
"Because this wasn’t the thod of ’rebirth’ I had planned. But it’s interesting enough, so I stayed here too."
Bai Yuan looked at Bai Wu:
"Actually, I’m also surprised, why is your obsession ?"
Bai Wu was taken aback by the question.
"In your heart, there must be quite a few important people, like the short fellow who would instinctively protect you even after losing his mory, like the girl with facial paralysis who, in both worlds, even the World Will determines loves you, and like the little robot who didn’t join your adventures but helped you through crises again."
"You are a defective product, my child, your sense of morality towards this world is actually very low, and even I was surprised that under such pain, you didn’t beco a monster."
"But still, you’ve grown into what you are today, with the help of a group of people, and you’ve gradually understood your mission."
"Should I be regretful? Or happy? Even if you beca a monster that disregards human emotions, that seems pretty interesting, doesn’t it?"
Bai Wu didn’t speak. Was Bai Yuan really going to leave?
It should be a very normal thing, just as for so long, if he did not return to the Inner World, he wouldn’t notice Bai Yuan either.
So the question becos strange, so strange that Bai Wu himself is curious—
Why is my obsession Bai Yuan?
The answer, in fact, he already knew.
"I acknowledge you now, my defective product, you’ve gradually beco whole. The torture you endured in your childhood was my deliberate doing, not out of personal perverse desire. But I wouldn’t mind if you took it that way, because maybe I really enjoyed the process?"
"Still, that wasn’t my sole intention; I also hoped that because of so experiences, you would have abilities that others do not possess."
Bai Yuan said the words Bai Wu had longed to hear, but for so reason, Bai Wu felt a bit panicked.
Is this still Bai Yuan?
He was gradually understanding that the inhuman tornt he’d suffered indeed gave him so unique advantages in this twisted world.
But whether Bai Yuan acknowledged that or not had always been very important to him.
Father and son squatting in a room, playing a ga together with controllers, Bai Yuan would say:
"You must have absurd imagination for the future."
When torturing him, Bai Yuan would say:
"Let the pain make you alert, let the harsh environnt give you a clearer mind."
Nearing death, he said on his sickbed, "Death is just the beginning of the next leg of the journey."
Bai Wu resented Bai Yuan, but everything about Bai Yuan had made a deep impression on Bai Wu.
It was always Bai Yuan who had turned Bai Wu into Bai Wu.
But now, it seed that Bai Yuan wanted to untie a certain knot in his heart:
"Alright, I’ve said everything I needed to say. Next, I will change a few things. I ntioned the Full Moon Fragnt because it has imprisoned your obsession in the form of your soul in your Inner World."
"But a person cannot possess two souls; only when I am no longer your obsession can I return to where I originally should be."
"Our journey has co to an end. I owe you and your son, but I have also brought you things you’ve never had before. We’re even now."
"You don’t need for the next part of the journey. I’m going to witness another fascinating battlefield."
The always serious Bai Yuan finally restored his charming smile from the old days.
A huge wave surged in Bai Wu’s heart.
He had always thought that he and Bai Yuan were ant to oppose each other, that he could forever stand against Bai Yuan.
But now, it all seed unnecessary.
"Where are you going?"
Bai Yuan did not hide it:
"You are touching the true source of the distortion, but for , the source of distortion has always been the monster in High Tower. Now, as you are uncovering the secrets of the Well, I imagine a great battle is about to unfold in the real world."
"I need to see it."
"But you are already dead, you have no body..."
Bai Wu pointed out the key issue.
Bai Yuan made a shushing gesture:
"Shh, I have already revealed many tricks to you, this is the last one. Please let keep so suspense."
Bai Wu couldn’t fathom it.
Bai Yuan was always Bai Yuan, the finest man of his era. So were stronger than him, so were more like heroes than he.
Even compared to other k, his ultimate choice was more like that of a coward...
But strangely, just like Bai Wu now, the focus of everyone. In the previous era, Bai Yuan was always the focus.
"Perhaps we’ll et again, and by then, it won’t be the Inner World anymore."
"So, I’ll unilaterally declare that our father and son are reconciled, shall we? After all, it could be a worse ending, and we may never et again."
Those were Bai Yuan’s last words. After that, Bai Wu opened his eyes.
He took no notice of the machines around him that regarded him with awe, he only felt...
As though he had lost sothing.
...
...
Denglin City.
A sandstorm swept through, covering the entire city with a layer of withered yellow like a filter.
At the edge of Denglin City, heroes who had long been in training and preparation felt the terrifying presence encroach.
All the Evil Fallen of Denglin City were also intimidated by a formidable power.
Inside the scientific building of Denglin City, the scientists trembled with fear, but finally, soone mustered up the courage:
"It’s ti to check the results!"
Xie Yingjie looked off into the distance, and gradually, more people gathered behind him.
Everyone turned their eyes toward the edge of the city.
A long-prepared great battle was about to begin on this battlefield, as the two opposing sides finally made their appearance.
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