103: Chapter 103 Negotiation of Will

The point of light grew larger and larger. Chen Mo walked at the very front, followed by hundreds of Chosen Ones.

Golden lines surged out from the point of light, floating in the Void Realm like tentacles, yet no one stopped.

Iron Bear gripped his iron rod, Eagle Eye aimed his sniper rifle, Shadow disappeared into the darkness, and the Knight raised his greatsword. Everyone was prepared.

After walking for about ten minutes, the point of light finally appeared before them.

It was not the Source of the Sequence, nor an Agent, but a human figure.

It was small, only the size of an ordinary person. Wearing tattered clothes, with a face full of wrinkles and tired eyes—it was Zhang Yuan.

Chen Mo stopped in his tracks. "You are not Zhang Yuan."

The "Zhang Yuan" smiled. "I am. And I am not."

He took a step forward. "I am the will of the ghost realm. I am also Zhang Yuan. I am also Li Xiuying. I am also Liu Tao. I am also Wang Jianguo. I am also everyone who died here."

Chen Mo looked at him. Through the Pupil of the Sequence, the essence of that human figure was clearly visible—it was not a physical entity, but a web woven from countless lines of rules.

The source of those lines was in a deeper place. There was a point there, very small, very bright, like a heart. That was the core of the will of the ghost realm.

"What do you want to talk about?" Chen Mo asked.

The will of the ghost realm fell silent for a few seconds. "Let's talk about your choice."

He raised his hand, and those golden lines formed an image in the Void Realm—a vast space where countless golden points of light floated. Each point of light was an Observer. No body, no emotions, only pure consciousness and rules.

"You can become one of them," the will of the ghost realm said. "Forsake your physical body, forsake your emotions, and become pure consciousness. This is the end of evolution."

Chen Mo looked at the image. "And then?"

"Then you will exist forever. You will not age, you will not die, you will not suffer."

Chen Mo shook his head. "That is not living."

The will of the ghost realm was silent. The lines began to flow slowly, as if it were thinking.

"You do not understand," the voice said. "Emotions are products of a lower dimension. They interfere with judgment, cause errors, and lead to destruction. We discarded them to exist more precisely."

Chen Mo looked at it. "Then are you happy?"

The lines stopped again.

"Happiness is a low-dimensional emotion. We do not need it."

"But you once needed it," Chen Mo took a step forward. "You also evolved from a lower dimension. You were also once human."

The will of the ghost realm was silent. For a long time.

"Yes," the voice finally said. "We were once human. A long, long time ago. But we chose to evolve, chose to discard those things."

It paused. "You remind us of the past."

The lines began to contract, and the human figure began to shrink. From the size of an ordinary person, it turned into a child. About five or six years old, wearing tattered clothes, with something indescribable in its eyes.

Chen Mo looked at that face. It was himself. Himself as a child.

"You..." Chen Mo was stunned.

The child smiled. "I am you. And I am everyone." He took a step forward. "I am the will of the ghost realm. But I am also your fear, your loneliness, your despair."

He raised his hand and pointed at Chen Mo's chest. "I know that void in your heart. I have known it since you were little."

Chen Mo did not speak.

The child continued. "The feeling of being abandoned is very cold, isn't it? Staying in the Orphanage all alone, no one comes to see you, no one wants you. You thought you were unimportant, thought no one in this world would care about you."

Chen Mo's hand gripped the cleaver.

"But you were wrong," the child said. "Someone cares about you. Teacher Li cares about you. That woman—your mother—she cares about you. She didn't not want you; she had no choice."

He took a step forward. "You have kept those memories all along. You have carried that photo with you."

Chen Mo did not speak. His eyes were burning.

The child looked at him. "Do you know why you were able to ascend independently? Why you were able to retain your self? Because you have those things—fear, loneliness, sadness, love. The things we discarded."

He reached out his hand. "Join us. Bring those things and join us. Perhaps you can remind us what it feels like to be alive."

Chen Mo looked at that hand. It was exactly the same as his hand when he was a child. He remembered the winter when he was five, standing at the gate of the Orphanage, carrying his duffel bag, looking around blankly. No one came to pick him up, no one came to see him. He stood there alone for a long time. Then Teacher Li came out, crouched in front of him, and said: "Don't be afraid, from now on, this will be your home."

Chen Mo reached out his hand. He grasped that small hand.

The child smiled. In those eyes, golden light flickered. Then his body began to fade, changing from a child to a teenager, from a teenager to a young man, from a young man to an old man. Finally, it turned into a ball of light, floating in front of Chen Mo.

【Acquired: Recognition of the will of the ghost realm】 【S-rank ascension conditions all met】 【Can ascend to S-rank Sequence Overlord】 【Ascend?】

Chen Mo looked at those words. He clicked "Yes."

In an instant, all those rule lines surged into his body. All the rules, all the sequences, all the memories. Those of the Observers, those of the Chosen Ones, those of the people who died here. Everything flooded in. His body began to glow, and those golden lines emerged from under his skin, getting brighter and brighter. The entire Void Realm was illuminated.

Iron Bear shouted from a distance: "Chen Mo!"

Chen Mo did not answer. He just stood there, enduring those memories. He did not know how long had passed. Perhaps it was a few minutes, perhaps a few hours. The light finally dissipated. He stood where he was, looking down at his own hands—those golden lines were still there, but they were finer and denser than before. They were no longer just lines, but had turned into something more delicate, like skin, like blood, like breath.

【Ascension Complete】 【Current Sequence: Sequence Overlord (S-rank)】 【Core Ability: Sequence Creation】 【Can create new sequence rules】

Chen Mo raised his head. That Void Realm was still there, those Chosen Ones were still there, Iron Bear, Eagle Eye, Shadow, the Knight, the Ranger, the Hunter, and those whose names he could not recall. They were all looking at him.

"Is it over?" Iron Bear asked.

Chen Mo shook his head. He turned around and looked deeper into the Void Realm. There was still a point of light there, very small, very dim, but it was still there. That was the core of the will of the ghost realm.

"Wait for me," he said. Then he walked toward that point of light.