Russell sighed deeply, closed his eyes slightly, and said softly:
"I can actually understand you, really. It must be very hard to play someone else's ideal role with all your heart."
How could he not be who he is now?
Isolated, bullied, despised, forgotten... longing for love but no one comes to love, longing for light but unable to find it.
I can only put on a hypocritical smiling mask for myself, keep pretending, keep escaping.
They are also trusted by others, they also have trustworthy friends and descendants, and they also receive the love of others - not the love for the mask, but the love for the inner self, the core under the mask.
How much difference is there between them?
How much difference can it make?
Apart from the differences in their natural talents, and the fact that Russell holds memories of another world... there must be more fundamental differences between the two.
"It is because of my understanding of you that I can confirm... that we are completely different."
Russell was very convinced that even if he became a sheath, even if he personally faced the situation he once faced, he would never become the empty and desperate man he is now.
He raised his head, and a pure white flame ignited at the bottom of the hole.
As the psychic energy fluctuations spread out, with Russell as the center, a weak wind blew up.
His hair was windless and a strand of hair covered one of his eyes.
"You want to stop me?"
But Russell's other eye shined brighter and brighter.
"Do you think that the world is no longer worth saving? Humanity is facing a destined death, and today's entire civilization is nothing more than the self-entertainment of death row prisoners...?"
Russell murmured softly, took out the Saint's Beheading from his arms, and poured the determination to kill into it.
This psychic weapon, which had been used by Alice, slowly but resolutely ejected the dark red light blade.
He slowly raised the saint's beheaded head and held it on the bottom with his left hand. The light blade had been extended to more than one meter and now looked like a sharp long sword.
But the sheath just remained silent, without saying a word.
He didn't even pull out his sword, but his "eyes" flickered on and off with an ominous bloody light, staring at Russell like a silent robot.
"Then I'll be honest - I don't think so.
"I can continue to stay here and discuss with you until the sun goes down. I can leave here and feel the warm light of the setting sun. I can continue to say what I want to say, or I can not say it. I can talk to you
You fight, and I can leave. All I need to do is choose.
"This is my freedom to make a choice.
"You said that all humans cannot be saved - because only the elves can leave this corrupted planet on the dragon. If that's the case, why didn't the elves and the dragon just leave from the beginning?
"——Because they are unwilling. Because they want to try to see if there is any way to change everything.
"Because they don't want to just run away. Because they want to resolve the situation... because they don't want to just run away yet.
"Starting from the year 0, the spirit relatives were born... They tried for a whole thousand years. But it was not until a hundred years ago that the dragon initially compromised...
"Because until then, the "psionic qualifications" will still penetrate the dream world and come to the residents. There is no point in killing psykers, it is just deceiving people. Because psionic energy itself is not a threat, but humans can still
The "qualification" to awaken psychic powers means that the spiritual plague still lurks in the hearts of humans.
"Sixty years ago, the mind protection chip was another attempt. Thoth psychics are still trying to block the possibility of awakening psychic energy. They have added another layer of protection to the mind... but there are still things that can penetrate the protection."
"Psychic" is born.
"Until twenty years ago, the Seven Giants still did not give up. They tried to exhaust all possibilities of psychic energy, which in turn catalyzed the birth of psychics, and tried to solidify and control all demons into the human world. Through this method, they stopped human beings.
Continue to awaken spiritual energy...
"But even so, there will still be people who awaken new spiritual powers and awaken demons that don't exist in the world."
Russell suddenly thought of monkeys
Faced Eagle.
He couldn't help but sigh for this...
Whether it is himself or the monkey-faced eagle...their essence is the twilight egg of twin opposites, an embryo that has not yet hatched.
And what provides them with nutrients should be this banned "God's Core".
But these are just emotions.
The decisive evidence that really made Russell think that Sheath's decision was a big mistake was the demon named "Budding Lover".
"Maybe you don't know yet... Oh, of course you don't know. Because you have been away from Sky Island for too long."
Russell sighed: "The soul is solidified, and theoretically the elves will no longer awaken spiritual energy - not long ago, they also awakened spiritual energy and awakened the devil.
"Even just a few days ago - even artificial intelligence, an artificial soul composed of numbers and codes, also gained its own spiritual power. A brand-new spiritual power that does not belong to the devil.
"So far, all the protective measures against the "God Core" have been penetrated - psychic disease, psychic protection chips, and elf transformation rituals. The only one that is still in effect is this self-isolation
The gray dome.”
"That's why I want to stop you..."
"——Don't you understand yet?"
Russell interrupted Sheath.
The rising air blew away his hair that blocked half of his sight, and the white light on his boy bottom shone brighter and brighter: "Even if the elves and dragons leave this planet, it has no meaning. Even if they imprison all the demons, even if their souls
Solid like amber... Sooner or later, they will awaken their psychic powers.
"They are just "unsusceptible people". They are not easily infected by psychic powers when other people have priority in obtaining psychic powers... But if everyone else is dead, then it will be their turn.
"The current situation has proven that running away is useless."
Therefore, the elves will begin to prepare the final plan...
That's why this world believes in that religion...
Cyber Church. Cyber Eternal Life.
The only reason why the dragon allows the Cyber Church to exist is to use them as a "last resort".
If even elves can be infected, then it is necessary to abandon all bodies and enter the server.…
The "cyber immortality" that the Cyber Church has been talking about is the "vaccine" that has been injected continuously for a long time.
That is not to "save resources" at all, but to store the entire civilization through another means - artificial intelligence instead of named elves as the "caretakers" on the journey. Store human consciousness in the form of data, and
After finding a habitable planet, humans will be "downloaded" into the body again, and the "pre-humans" themselves will take care of the development of the new humans.
That's another way.
However, the monkey-faced eagle proved that... even artificial intelligence can be infected by psychic abilities. Even if humans abandon their bodies and enter the data world, they still cannot get rid of the terrible spiritual plague.
The spiritual plague that nearly wiped out the entire old civilization is still lingering around them like tarsal bones.
"Your obstruction is meaningless.
"If we are destined to be destroyed eventually... then the same is true for the elves. As long as there is an infected person, as long as a crack is seen, it means that there are already many holes in places that cannot be seen."
"Then you tell me, what else can we do with this world?!"
Sheath's voice suddenly became louder: "Even the elves... are destined to die, and live with a glimmer of hope -
"What's wrong with me choosing the future with greater possibilities?"
As the red light at the bottom of the sheath boy lit up with a buzzing sound, an invisible wave suddenly spread.
Russell's head raised back as if he had been hit hard.
His left arm prosthetic suddenly lost its kinetic energy and fell straight down. It pulled on his tendons and felt severe pulling and soreness. It was as if his left arm was no longer a prosthetic body that could be used at will, but heavy.
of iron.
In front of Russell's eyes, the UI menu and various information provided by the chip were instantly covered with snowflakes, garbled codes and red pop-up windows. All that sounded in his ears were a bunch of warnings and noises, and his eyes instantly became a blur. Everything.
Technological UI interface, including friend list and
and body intelligence information, as well as the clock, news and memos that were always present above disappeared in an instant, turning into an unadorned naked eye image blurred by tears.
As the hormone control plug-in failed, the hormone secretion in Russell's body was instantly disrupted. As the neuromodulation plug-in failed, his muscles and nerves became weak, causing him to feel like motion sickness, feeling nausea and vomiting, and his body just stood there,
There are signs of imbalance.
And the most important thing... With the failure of the psychic protection chip itself, Russell's psychic energy also began to become restless. He felt a subtle whisper ringing in his ears... It was not anyone related to him, but Russell
A whisper that I have never heard before.
It was like the shackles were being lifted—Russell felt as if he could just reach out and grab the sheath's personality and master his abilities.
As long as he wants to, he can integrate the sheath's unique talents into his own body.
The dim yellow part of his bottom proliferated rapidly, and the pure white "flame" from the outside began to become dull.
"What a troublesome ability..."
Russell gritted his teeth.
He held the undisturbed decapitated saint in his mouth and covered his face with his only movable right hand.…
Suddenly the psychic protection chip was "removed", and his spiritual energy began to expand out of control. Russell's rationality was suppressing his spiritual energy. At this time, he could only use this... the self-suggestion method he used at the beginning to help him.
"Put on the mask" yourself.
The next moment, a faint green flame ignited——
When the flames dissipated, Alice stood in front of the sheath.
Seeing this, Sheath's face finally showed an expression of emotion.
His first reaction was a look of astonishment on his face...and he took half a step back.
Having lost her eyes in time, Alice could clearly feel that Sheath's heart became confused in an instant.
"It might be better to fight you in this form."
Alice took off the beheaded saint with her hands again and said softly: "No enhancement or modification...the original, intact body."
She slowly raised the sage's beheaded head and pointed the tip of its sword toward its sheath.
"It turns out you didn't see me clearly at that time."
She showed a solemn and dull expression. There was no smile on her face, but she was not sad either: "That's normal...because you have become 'blind'."
"Alice..."
Sheath slowly read out the name, her voice trembling a little.
Russell wasn't pretending to be Alice...at that moment, he seemed to see the real Alice.
That was the Alice that was etched in his memory twenty years ago.
"I'm not Alice. I'm just her illusion..."
"Alice" sighed: "She is dead...father."
Ahhh...
She opened her mouth slightly, her teeth numb.
His head trembled slightly for a moment, and an inexplicable feeling came over his heart.
It was like the warm sun shining on him, but he felt cold and despair.
It was only then, when she saw the living Alice appearing in front of her eyes, that Sheath finally realized something belatedly.
——Alice is dead.
He died because of the stupid choices he made.
He has never seen Alice's body, nor has he attended Alice's funeral. Until now, he has not realized that Alice is dead.
It seemed like it was just an extremely long separation. As long as she didn't face it, she was still not dead.
But until now...
There has never been a moment when Sheath felt such intense loneliness and pain.
At that moment, Sheath felt like crying.
"Ahh..."
He opened his mouth and made a dry sound.
It was like trying to sneeze but not being able to sneeze - except that what he wanted was to cry.
But he couldn't cry anymore.
"Do you understand? This is death. The end of the meaning of life. Hope and despair turn into nothingness."
Alice said softly and suddenly rushed forward.
She aimed at the sheath and swung the sword lightly.
He instinctively flicked the sword out of its sheath. The ordinary iron sword could not withstand the sharpness of the psychic weapon.
In the light and heat that cut like a chainsaw, the iron sword in his hand was melted in an instant.
——Before that, he could swing a sword and cut off Alice's head.
But just looking at Alice, he couldn't make a move at all...
It's like falling into a dream, or like drinking too much.
He just stood there blankly, enduring Alice's swirling blows as graceful as a butterfly and as fierce as a tiger——
Before her sword could succeed, she swung another sword.
Sheath awkwardly dodged the sword, but the wings on one side of his back were cut off.
He staggered and fell to the ground, and the light gun on the deer-headed statue suddenly dissipated. She regained her vitality, and the surrounding lights turned on again.
The severe pain made Sheath regain consciousness in an instant, and he realized what kind of unfavorable situation he was in... But Alice did not take advantage of the situation to pursue him.
She just looked at the fallen sheath and said softly: "Whether it is to escape from this planet, or to extend human life; to find the truth, or to open the sky... it is all for "continuation", for "survival"
"Awareness.
"Instead of giving up.
"Humanity is not over yet. Even if I fight until the last day, I will still die standing... I don't want to give up before the last day.
"——I feel disappointed to defeat you like this. It can be said that there is no real sense of revenge. It is really ugly and disappointing in every sense... I'll sort out my mood and come back next time."
Alice looked at the embarrassed sheath, which had lost its will to fight, and shook her head in disappointment.
She suddenly seemed to have remembered something and showed a subtle smile.
"Oh, by the way, you remember this sentence very clearly, right.
"Then listen to it again——
"If this is a stage that only happens once in your life... just let go and play it to your heart's content."
The dreams of the past and the illusions of the present overlap with the present moment.
