369: Chapter 370 Three Hundred and Seventy-Four Seconds and "That Ray of Light"

A bizarre scene unfolded on the battlefield.

The Heavenly Soldiers charging at the very front suddenly stopped.

It wasn't that they were struck; it was as if something had frozen them in place, standing there blankly with vacant eyes.

"What's going on?!" a Heavenly Soldier squad leader shouted, "What are you doing?!"

No one answered him.

Those Heavenly Soldiers just stood there; some were weeping, some were trembling, and some had lips moving, as if speaking to someone.

"What... what happened to them?" Little Li, hiding in the trench, looked at the frozen enemies with shock covering his face.

Zhao Iron Pillar was also stunned. But he quickly reacted—it was Little Girl, it was that Seed Crystal.

"Kill!" he roared, "Who cares what happened to them! If we don't kill them now, will they just wake up and kill us later?!"

He was the first to rush out, sweeping his greatsword, and three of the standing Heavenly Soldiers fell in unison.

The thousand remnant soldiers behind him seemed to wake from a dream and followed him out of the trench.

On the battlefield, the sound of killing shook the heavens.

But those Heavenly Soldiers still did not move.

Three hundred and seventy-four seconds.

The three thousand six hundred Seeds left by the founder of Cracked Eye, the three hundred and seventy-four that finally sprouted, were using their own 'hesitation' to buy these three hundred and seventy-four seconds.

Every second, Heavenly Soldiers fell.

Every second, people from New Homeland charged forward.

In the East District Node Control Room, Wen Youyi stared at the surveillance screen, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

The screen displayed the real-time status of three hundred and seventy-four signals.

The strength of each signal represented the degree of clarity of the awakened medium-to-high-level consciousnesses of the Heavenly Court.

Some signals were already beginning to weaken.

Those were the people currently being 'formatted' by the Heavenly Court System—their consciousnesses were being forcibly erased, and it wouldn't be long before they turned back into Puppets who only executed orders.

"How much longer?" he asked.

Silver Thorn's voice came through: "The strongest signal is estimated to last another one hundred and twenty-three seconds.

The weakest... seventeen have already disappeared."

Seventeen people.

Seventeen people, after three hundred years, finally had that moment of 'hesitation,' and then were discovered, erased, and vanished by the System.

"Was it worth it?" Wen Youyi murmured.

"It was," a voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw Lin Jiang standing at the doorway.

Her severed arm was simply bandaged, her face was pale, but her eyes were bright.

"Three hundred years ago, my mentor asked me: 'If one day, you hesitated for just a moment, and then died, would you be willing?'"

"I said: 'I would be willing.'"

"Because that single moment of hesitation proves you are still human.'"

Wen Youyi was silent for a few seconds, then said, "One hundred seconds left.

How many more enemies can we kill in that time?"

Lin Jiang did not answer.

Because she knew the answer was not a number.

On the battlefield, Zhao Iron Pillar had already lost count of how many enemies he had killed.

One hundred? Two hundred? It didn't matter.

What mattered was that those Heavenly Soldiers were still stunned, still weeping, still trembling.

Killing them was as easy as chopping vegetables.

But suddenly, he felt the sword in his hand grow heavy.

A young Heavenly Soldier stood before him, unmoving.

The tear tracks on his face had not yet dried, and he was mumbling three words: "Mom... Mom... Mom..."

Zhao Iron Pillar's sword stopped mid-air.

He looked at that young face and suddenly remembered when he was in the Ranch World, he had also called out for his mother like that.

Later, his mother died.

She was marked by the destiny system, taken away by the 'Guiding Golden Light,' and never returned.

"Captain!" Little Li's voice came from behind him, "Hurry up and kill! What are you spacing out for!"

Zhao Iron Pillar gritted his teeth and stabbed down with his sword.

The young Heavenly Soldier fell, still wearing that expression—an expression of missing home, missing his mother.

Zhao Iron Pillar stood there, panting heavily.

He didn't know if he had done the right thing or the wrong thing.

He only knew that if he hadn't killed, the people behind him would have died.

"Captain!"

Little Li shouted again.

Zhao Iron Pillar took a deep breath, turned around, and continued to charge.

In the Technology Center, Little Girl's eyes were closed, and her face grew paler and paler.

The memories of three hundred and seventy-four people flowed through her consciousness like three hundred and seventy-four rivers.

She was merely a 'transfer station,' but the aftershocks of those memories would still remain in her mind.

She saw the wheat field when the Deputy Commander named 'A Yuan' was seven years old.

She saw the nightmare of the Heavenly Soldier named 'Seventeen' after killing someone for the first time.

She saw the tears of the female officer named 'Qing He' when she secretly let a child from the Ranch World go.

She saw countless moments of hesitation, countless regrets, countless instances of 'humanity' being forcibly erased by the Heavenly Court System.

"Are you tired?" Silver Thorn's voice sounded softly.

Little Girl didn't open her eyes, just hummed in response.

"Thirty seconds left."

"Mm."

"In thirty seconds, you can rest."

Little Girl did not reply.

She was trying hard to let those memories flow past her consciousness instead of staying.

But one memory got stuck.

It was the memory of an old man.

He was wearing the robes of a Heavenly Court Star Lord, standing before a massive golden palace.

At the entrance of the palace knelt several thousand children—all 'Children of Destiny' just 'harvested' from various Ranch Worlds.

The old man's hand was trembling.

Behind him, an aide urged him: "Star Lord, the time has come."

The old man did not move.

He looked at those children and suddenly remembered something.

Three hundred years ago, he also had a child.

That child had also knelt like this, waiting to be harvested.

Later, that child died.

Died during the harvest ceremony.

The old man's eyes became moist.

Then, he turned around and said to his aide:

"Let them go."

The aide was stunned: "What?"

"I said, let them go."

The old man walked into the palace, to the front of those several thousand children.

"Get up," he said, "All of you, get up."

The children looked up at him blankly.

"Leave through the back door.

Someone will meet you."

One child asked timidly: "Sir, you... you aren't going to kill us?"

The old man paused for a moment, then smiled.

"My name is A Yuan," he said, "Seventy years ago, I was one of you."

The children were led away.

The old man stood alone in the empty palace, waiting for the Heavenly Court's Law Enforcement Team to arrive.

He knew he would die.

But he had no regrets.

Because that single moment of hesitation proved he was still human.

Tears streamed down Little Girl's face.

She didn't know what happened to that old man named A Yuan later on.

But she knew that those three thousand-plus children survived.

Thirty seconds arrived.

All three hundred and seventy-four signals vanished.

On the battlefield, the last dazed Heavenly Soldier fell.

Zhao Iron Pillar leaned on his sword, panting heavily.

He had several new wounds, his body half-soaked in blood, but he was still standing.

"Is... is it over?" Little Li collapsed on the ground, his voice hoarse.

Zhao Iron Pillar looked up at the sky.

The dark gold fleet was still there, but their attack had stopped.

The ships hung in the air, motionless, as if waiting for something.

"No," he said, "It's not over yet."

In the distance, a golden light descended from the sky.

It was the main cannon of the Heavenly Court flagship, and it was not aimed at the battlefield—it was aimed at the direction of the Technology Center.

Wen Youyi's pupils contracted sharply.

"Little Girl—!"

He rushed out of the control room, desperately running toward the Technology Center.

But it was too late.

That golden light was too fast, too thick, too bright.

The Technology Center was engulfed by the golden light.

The light dissipated.

Only a pile of ruins remained there.

Wen Youyi knelt on the ground, staring at the ruins, motionless.

Behind him, Lin Jiang stumbled over, saw the ruins, and froze.

"Little Girl... Little Girl...!"

She rushed over and desperately started digging through the rubble.

Wen Youyi did not move.

He just knelt there, staring at the ruins, his face devoid of expression.

On the battlefield, everyone stopped.

They looked at the ruins in the distance, at the kneeling figure, in silence.

Zhao Iron Pillar gripped his greatsword and slowly stood up.

"Little Li."

"Yes."

"Charge with me."

"Charge where?"

Zhao Iron Pillar pointed to the massive flagship hanging in the sky:

"There."

(End of Chapter)