83: The final tragic song! He uses the sorrow of ten thousand years as a blade to return the right to cry to all living beings!

World of Joy, Central Square.

All was silent.

Xi Xi and Su Ke Ke's battle paused, halted by the immense and profound aura emanating from Gu Yanci.

The entire world waited.

It waited for the Humanity God Lord, who had returned from the most extreme love and loss, to deliver his first strike of vengeance.

Gu Yanci's gaze, like a cold blade of judgment, pierced through layers of space, fixating on Su Ke Ke.

There was no anger, no hatred in his eyes, only a void more silent than death.

He slowly raised his right hand.

The scythe of the eternal elegy, forged from ten thousand years of sorrow and bone-deep heartbreak, materialized from nothingness in his palm.

It was not a weapon made of energy or matter; it was more like the concretization of a 'concept.'

The scythe's blade had no sharp, cold gleam, only a swirling gray halo, like mist.

Looking closely, within that halo were countless lifelike faces.

There were white-haired elders, innocent children, gentle wives... all weeping silently.

Those billions of tear stains collectively formed the scythe's most sorrowful and sharpest edge.

This was no longer a weapon, but a lament for human civilization, a final elegy from birth to extinction!

"You..."

For the first time, Su Ke Ke felt a threat, a tremendous threat originating from the very essence of life.

She tried to reactivate the 'Joy' law, using the purest 'Happiness' to suppress and 'purify' this ominous presence before her.

However, as soon as her law power entered the gray domain around Gu Yanci, it was like a mud ox entering the sea, assimilated and devoured, without stirring the slightest ripple.

Her previously invincible power failed before Gu Yanci.

This was because the most extreme sorrow in this world often stemmed from the loss of the most extreme happiness.

'Sorrow' was inherently the reflection and ultimate destination of 'Joy.'

It encompassed ten thousand years of 'Joy,' the 'love' of family, the 'way' of guardianship, and the 'pain' of loss.

It was a 'Humanity Grand Chapter' that had been sublimated after experiencing a complete cycle from 'nothing' to 'something' and then back from 'something' to 'nothing,' containing all the complex facets of human nature!

Su Ke Ke's pupils suddenly contracted.

She saw the giant hand manipulating the threads of fate and wanted to retreat.

Gu Yanci gave her no more time to react.

He gripped the scythe in his hand.

His movement was without any unnecessary preamble; he simply and calmly swung it gently towards the sky.

The moment the scythe's blade cut through space, the entire world heard a sigh.

It was not the sigh of one person, but a sigh formed from all the joys and sorrows, loves and hates, unfulfilled desires, and life-and-death separations of countless beings in the Multiverse since their birth.

—Humanity: Final Elegy!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no deafening roar tearing through space.

Only a gray trajectory extended from the scythe's edge, like a painter casually drawing a stroke on a canvas.

This strike did not cut through matter, nor energy, nor even the law itself.

It cut through 'restraint,' the singular 'destiny' called 'happiness' that Su Ke Ke had imposed upon this world!

...The gray ripple swept across the entire Land of Joy at a speed exceeding light and causality.

Everyone in the Joint Squad felt an unprecedented shock.

"This... this is..."

Ye Liuli's eyes widened.

She could clearly 'see' that wherever the gray ripple passed, Su Ke Ke's 'Happiness Field' law network was not destroyed.

Instead, like a usurping false king facing the arrival of the true king, it tremblingly, instinctively, relinquished its throne!

That was not a suppression of power; it was an overwhelming crushing of rank!

Su Ke Ke's 'Joy' was merely one of the seven emotions of human nature.

Whereas Gu Yanci's 'Way' at this moment was 'Humanity' itself, encompassing joy, anger, sorrow, delight, love, hate, desire... all the light and darkness of human nature!

It was the undeniable defeat of 'incompleteness' facing 'completeness'!

"The future... has changed..."

Star Gazing Goddess Lingxi clutched her chest, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, her eyes gleaming with unprecedented light.

On her astrolabe, the terrifying scroll representing 'absolute ending' had vanished.

In its place were billions of endlessly flowing rivers of fate, full of unknowns and possibilities!

Gu Yanci's strike not only broke through Su Ke Ke's law but also severed the predetermined future of this world!

He returned the right of 'choice' to every person in this world!

...[Land of Joy, Capital.]

Countless citizens were gathered before a giant public screen, their faces adorned with eternal and perfect smiles, enjoying the "Daily Laughter Broadcast."

The screen was comically and entertainingly reporting the "good news" of an "Anguish Virus" squad in the border region being completely annihilated by the "Smile Guard."

A young mother was clapping vigorously, cheering for the "bravery" of the guard.

Her son was in that annihilated squad, but under the influence of the "Happiness Field," she felt no sadness, only that this was a "great thing" worth celebrating.

Just then, the gray ripple swept silently past.

Everyone in the square paused for an instant.

The young mother's smile froze.

She raised her hand in a daze, touching her cheek.

The smiling muscles, as if welded to her face, relaxed for the first time, uncontrollably.

She felt confused, felt an unfamiliar emotion she had never experienced before.

Then, like a dam breaking, the true memories suppressed for countless years by the "Happiness Field" erupted like a volcano, carrying the most primal and genuine emotions!

She remembered.

She remembered how her fifteen-year-old son had been reported by a neighbor for secretly crying at night.

She remembered his terrified and despairing eyes when he was taken away by the Smile Guard.

She remembered how she, like an idiot, had applauded and cheered for this "great purification" when he was labeled a "virus" and publicly executed!

"Ah... ah..."

A hoarse, beast-like sob escaped her throat.

Her heart felt as if an invisible hand was fiercely clutching it, making it impossible to breathe from the pain.

It was not one emotion; it was an aggregate of countless emotions: sorrow, regret, anger, longing, endless self-loathing!

These emotions, which should have belonged to her, were now all returned after being stripped away for over a decade!

Plop.

A hot, salty tear slipped from the corner of her eye, landing on her stiff hand.

This was the first tear of her life, and the first cry of freedom in this world after countless years of silence!

This single tear was like a signal.

The entire square, the entire city, the entire world... all souls imprisoned by "happiness" awakened at this moment!

A white-haired old man knelt on the ground, wailing loudly.

He remembered his deceased wife, who died in a car accident and was labeled a "surprise graduation."

A strong worker punched the wall fiercely, letting out a beast-like roar.

He remembered his brother, who lost both legs due to a "lucky accident."

Countless people, in the streets, at home, in every corner of the world, embraced and wept, crying out in sorrow.

It was not a disaster; it was a long-overdue funeral, a grand and poignant liberation for the entire world!

...[A corner of Central Square]

Le Blanc, the Chief Minister of the Land of Joy, watched all this in horror.

"They're crazy! They're all crazy!"

She shrieked, her voice distorted by fear.

"Guard! Where is the guard?! Quick! Inject them with the highest concentration of 'happiness serum'!

Fix their mouths with 'corrective devices' for me!!"

However, there was no response.

The formerly ruthless Smile Guard members had also thrown away their weapons.

They knelt on the ground with the common people, weeping bitterly for the crimes they had committed.

"No... impossible..."

Le Blanc clutched her chest, her face ashen.

A pool of blood on the ground reflected her disheveled appearance.

The elegant and noble smile on her face had also disappeared without her realizing it.

A memory she had deliberately forgotten surfaced in her mind.

She remembered how, to climb to her current position, to gain the qualification to enter politics, she had personally sent her sister, who "didn't smile genuinely enough," to the "re-education center."

"Pfft—"

She suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and her entire being aged.

Her faith, her power, her everything... all turned into an illusion with Gu Yanci's understated strike...

[The other side of Central Square]

Chen Mo, the leader of the Line of Sorrow, and his remaining followers were experiencing this earth-shattering change.

When the gray ripple swept past, they felt no discomfort.

Instead, they felt an unprecedented sense of completeness and harmony, as if a fragmented soul had finally found its most important puzzle piece.

"Leader... this is..."

A young member asked tremblingly.

Chen Mo did not answer; he simply looked up, gazing raptly at the sky, at the eternally lingering gray rift.

That gaze, that movement, that undisguised fervor, was like looking up at the most sacred totem.

His body trembled violently from extreme excitement.

He, as an apostle of the Demon God Ziche, had an understanding of the essence of 'emotion' far beyond ordinary people.

He knew better than anyone what had just happened.

"A miracle... This is a true miracle..."

He muttered to himself, tears of fanaticism streaming from his eyes.

He suddenly turned to all his followers, shouting with all his might:

"Do you feel it?! That's not sorrow! That's not pain!"

"That's 'right'! It's the 'right' to cry and be angry, as a human being!"

"That being, he is not spreading disaster; he is 'returning'! He has returned our souls, stolen by the gods, to us, intact!"

"Su Ke Ke's 'happiness' is a cage! It's shackles! But that being's 'Humanity' is the key! It's liberation!"

"He is not the God of Destruction; he is the Savior!!!"

As his words fell, Chen Mo, this unruly Demon God apostle, for the first time, knelt on one knee towards the sky.

He was not worshipping Gu Yanci; he was worshipping this new era, personally ushered in by Gu Yanci, an era that allowed souls to breathe freely!

...[Sea of Concepts]

Gu Jianghan flipped through the "heavy" setting collection, watching these myriad aspects of life unfolding.

The smile on his lips grew wider.

He saw the death and rebirth of a civilization, saw the fierce struggle of human nature under oppression and liberation.

"What a perfect drama."

He murmured softly, his gaze returning to the square, to the figure holding the scythe, standing silently amidst countless cries of sorrow.

"With one's own sorrow, evoke the sorrow of all beings; then, with the sorrow of all beings, validate one's own Way."

"Gu Yanci, your Humanity has finally 'come alive.'"

...[Above the Square]

Su Ke Ke looked at this completely out-of-control world, at her "happy" subjects weeping bitterly, and for the first time, an emotion called "fear" appeared on her face.

She could not understand, nor could she comprehend.

"Happiness... is the absolutely correct answer."

"Sorrow... is a virus that must be eliminated."

"This is the meaning of my existence, the absolute directive I was given."

Her eyes were filled with confusion.

"Why was my law defeated by such an inferior 'virus'?"

"My directive... is to ensure 'her' absolute happiness."

"Besides that... why... is my memory... a blank?"

Just as she was about to seek answers, Su Ke Ke's divine body in this avatar exploded into a mist of blood, then re-coalesced.

At that moment, Gu Yanci's indifferent voice rang out, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present.

"This is the first act."

He slowly raised the scythe of the eternal elegy in his hand.

The dark blade pointed distantly at the pale-faced Su Ke Ke.

"Named 'Return.'"

He paused.

In his eyes, burning with gray flames, Su Ke Ke's terrified face was reflected.

"Next, is the second act..."

"Named 'Judgment.'"