310: Chapter 310 Return to the Ruins

The massive, pale golden spatial array—a multi-dimensional geometric miracle composed of pure Order energy, slowly rotating with ultimate precision—floated above the console.

At its center, that needle-point-sized, absolute, dark point was expanding at a visible, steady, slow but irreversible speed.

It devoured all light around it; even the pale golden light of the array, when approaching it, was ruthlessly sucked in and annihilated.

The entire room—no, the entire core area of the Star Gate that had been "Folded Seal"ed—was trembling and groaning violently.

Spatial cracks on the walls were spreading like spiderwebs, emitting sharp, teeth-aching sounds like shattering glass.

The air was filled with a thick, heart-palpitating scent of ozone and the ionization and scorching typical of collapsing spatial structures.

Ling Ye pressed firmly against the crystal, feeling as if his body and Soul were being completely drained by the massive, operating "Return to Ruins" program.

His consciousness began to blur, his vision went black, and his ears were filled with the chaotic, thunderous roar of energy and spatial collapse.

He felt like a falling leaf in a storm, ready to be torn apart and annihilated at any moment.

But he still held on tightly.

Not for himself, but for Old Shi beside him, who was completely unconscious and whose life force was so faint it seemed ready to break at any moment; for the final hope and sacrifice represented by the peaceful remains sitting against the wall; and for… a slim possibility that might completely end this nightmare.

That needle-point-sized dark spot had expanded to the size of a fist.

It no longer just devoured light; it began to emit a terrifying gravitational and spatial distortion force that seemed to freeze the Soul—a pure, void-like force that seemed capable of sucking in and completely erasing all existence.

Fine cracks began to appear on the floor around the console, and some small metal fragments and dust, pulled by that invisible gravity, drifted slowly toward the rotating dark spot, then vanished silently upon contact, as if they had never existed.

The "Return to Ruins" program had entered its final, irreversible stage.

When that dark spot expanded enough to cover the entire control room—or rather, the entire sealed core area—the spatial transfer would activate, throwing everything into that distant star destined to consume all.

Ling Ye felt his consciousness was about to completely detach from his body.

He seemed to stand in an extremely high, void-like place, overlooking everything, coldly watching the tiny, broken control room below that was about to be swallowed by darkness, as well as the two equally tiny figures about to be ended.

Perhaps, ending like this was also fine.

He was too tired.

From escaping the underground hub, to traversing the Rift Canyon, to going deep into the Geocentric Furnace, to fighting in the buffer zone, to drifting in the Void Realm, to struggling in the flesh Hell… all the way, countless battles, countless pains, countless alternations of despair and hope.

He could no longer remember how many times he had been on the verge of death, or how many times he had stubbornly carried on, relying on his tenacious will and the support of his companions.

And now, it was finally going to end.

He slowly closed his eyes, preparing to welcome that final, all-consuming darkness.

But at the very last moment before he was about to give up completely and sink into that endless darkness and void—

An extremely warm, gentle, yet unquestionable pale golden light, carrying the meaning of Guardian and blessing, like a mother's gentlest touch and the firmest dawn before daybreak, was gently transmitted from his fingertips pressed against the crystal.

This light did not come from the crystal itself, nor from "the key" mark on his chest.

Instead… it came from the peaceful remains sitting against the wall.

To be precise, it came from the badge mark in the shape of "the key" on the chest of the remains, which had long since dimmed and seemed completely dead.

At this moment, that mark was emitting an extremely faint, yet exceptionally pure and warm pale golden light.

The light, as if possessing life, flowed slowly along the floor and the metal structure of the console to Ling Ye's feet, then, like the gentlest vine, it softly wrapped around his body, gently enveloping, guarding, and nourishing its broken body and dissipating Soul, which were about to be completely drained by the "Return to Ruins" program.

At the same time, an extremely clear, gentle, final thought message full of maternal love and determination flowed along that warm pale golden light into the depths of Ling Ye's sinking consciousness:

"Child… you have done very well… better than we imagined…"

"Do not be afraid… and do not feel guilty… this is the final gift… we prepared for you long ago…"

"Go… take our blessings… and complete… that final… and most important… step…"

"Live on… for us… take a good look… at that… world without a 'Gate'…"

The thought message, at this point, gently dissipated like light smoke blown away by the wind.

And the remains sitting against the wall, after transmitting this final thought and light, saw the mark on its chest lose all its radiance, turning into a most ordinary, dust-covered metal carving.

The remains themselves, as if having lost the last trace of supporting and maintaining power, began to rapidly weather and disintegrate, turning into a fine, pale golden, dust-like light, which was then pulled by the increasingly strong gravity from the dark spot, drifting slowly toward that expanding, all-consuming darkness.

But before completely dissipating, those pale golden, dust-like light particles seemed to have consciousness, splitting into two parts.

One part merged into Ling Ye's body, turning into a pure, gentle life energy carrying the Guardian intent of a "mother," instantly repairing the most serious hidden injuries in his body and reigniting a small, yet exceptionally tenacious and never-extinguishing pale golden spark of life deep within his almost exhausted "the key" mark.

The other part drifted toward Old Shi, who was completely unconscious and in critical condition nearby, gently covering its right hand that was covered in black cracks and embedded in the slot.

Those pale golden light particles, like the most precise repairman, slowly infiltrated those hideous black cracks, not to dispel the pollution, but to forcibly perform a final, mandatory Seal and stabilization on those polluted energies that were about to completely lose control, erupt, and devour the last vitality of Old Shi, along with the "interface" itself.

At the same time, it also injected an equally gentle and pure life energy into the heart of Old Shi, which had almost stopped beating.

The body of Old Shi twitched violently, emitting a faint groan that seemed to be squeezed from the deepest part of its chest.

Its life force, though still weak, finally stopped sliding further and instead stabilized, with extreme difficulty, on the edge of the cliff.

And at the very moment this final gift and protection from the mother was completed—

The fist-sized, absolute, dark point at the center of the huge, floating pale golden spatial array suddenly stopped expanding, and then began to rotate, collapse, and erupt crazily with even more rapid and irreversible speed!

"Boom—!!!"

It was not a loud noise of sound, but a silent, yet all-destroying final resonance of Order and void that transcended hearing, transcended perception, and exploded directly at the level of the Soul and space!

The dark spot instantly erupted, turning into a huge, all-consuming dark vortex!

At the edge of the vortex was the final, brilliant light emitted when the pale golden Order energy and spatial structure disintegrated!

The entire control room—no, the entire core area of the Star Gate that had been "Folded Seal"ed—began to irresistibly collapse, shrink, and be sucked toward the center of the vortex under the gravity of this terrifying, all-consuming dark vortex!

Huge metal components, like paper crumpled by an invisible giant hand, were twisted, broken, and sucked into the darkness!

The charred, crystallized ground, like a cream cake scooped up by a giant spoon, was shattered, lifted, and sucked into the darkness in whole pieces!

The rich scent of gunpowder and pollution permeating the air, like water being sucked by an invisible giant whale, formed a visible vortex of gray energy and dust, crazily pouring into that darkness!

Everything, absolutely everything, was being ruthlessly devoured, shredded, and sent to that distant, destructive star by the dark vortex!

Ling Ye felt his body also being firmly grabbed by that terrifying gravity, drifting involuntarily toward the center of the dark vortex.

But he felt no fear, nor did he struggle at all.

He just tightly, using his last ounce of strength, grabbed the arm of Old Shi, who was also being pulled by gravity and about to drift away.

He took one last look at the place against the wall—there, only an empty, dust-covered, shallow human-shaped mark remained.

Mother had completely dissipated.

Then, he closed his eyes, held onto Old Shi tightly, and let that huge, all-consuming dark vortex completely swallow them.

At the very last moment of being completely swallowed by darkness, he seemed to hear an extremely distant, extremely ethereal, crisp sound like glass shattering, as if coming from another world.

Was that… the sound of the "Star Gate" completely shattering?

Or… the sound of the "Seal" being completely broken?

Or was it… the final wail emitted by that cursed existence, which had been polluted for countless years, before finally being thrown into the stellar furnace and completely destroyed?

He did not know.

He only knew that everything around him had completely quieted down.

No light, no sound, no energy fluctuations, no spatial perception.

Only an absolute, void-like, dark, warm tranquility, as if having returned to a mother's womb.

And the hand of his companion, which he held tightly, which was also cold but still carried a faint pulse.

The "Return to Ruins" program was complete.

Unknown how much time had passed.

When Ling Ye regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a soft, moist patch of land with the scent of green grass.

Above his head was a deep blue, clear, strange sky dotted with white clouds.

Warm sunlight spilled through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadows.

A breeze blew by, bringing the faint fragrance of unknown flowers from afar.

In his ears were the crisp chirping of birds and the babbling sound of flowing water.

He struggled to sit up.

His body was still weak, but that near-death emptiness and severe pain had disappeared.

The "the key" mark on his chest had completely dimmed, turning into an ordinary, pale golden, birthmark-like trace.

Inside his body, there was no longer that sense of surging Order energy flow.

He seemed… to have become a completely ordinary person.

And on the grass not far from him, Old Shi was lying quietly, breathing steadily; although its face was still pale, it already had a hint of color.

On its right wrist, that "interface" scar that had once been hideous and covered in black cracks was now, like the mark on Ling Ye's chest, completely dimmed and silent, turning into an ordinary, dark silver, birthmark-like trace that seemed to have been there since birth.

The scent of pollution had disappeared.

The power of Order had also disappeared.

Ling Ye slowly raised his head, looked at that deep blue, strange sky, and took a deep breath of the fresh air carrying the scent of grass and flowers.

The corners of his mouth, extremely rarely and extremely slightly, curved upward into an arc.

Alive.

It's good.