Did the world end today?

Chapter 232 Coercion
Zhang Liming sat opposite Lin Xu, while Yu Changwen, to the side, held a homemade grenade launcher in his hand and was covered in explosives.

A sinister smile hung on his face, as if at some point he would detonate a bomb for pure "fun," turning everyone in this ordinary room to ashes.

But Lin Xu knew he wouldn't do that.

His madness was a product of extremism, but in reality, he was not stupid.

Lin Xu had already taken off his helmet.

Although he still had the ability to resist, in reality, resistance was completely unnecessary.

Because Ayana is already dead.

This timeline will inevitably be restarted, and all conflicts between the two sides will become meaningless.

The remaining time had become pure wasted time, and for the two of them, sitting down and having a proper talk was the best option.

"How much time do you have?"

Zhang Liming asked the question.

Lin Xu glanced at the time displayed on the smart eyepiece and replied:
"If nothing unexpected happens, it should take 24 minutes."

"But I just passed through a higher-dimensional passage, so I'm not sure if that will affect my time travel."

"It could be shorter, or it could be longer."

"But actually none of that matters—it's meaningless anyway."

"Yes."

Zhang Liming nodded.

"There's no point anymore."

"Before I met you, I actually thought about using some method to imprison you."

"For example, locking you up on some island that no one can find, or putting you in a hibernation pod and launching you into outer space."

"In short, we will use every conceivable method to eliminate your interference until the very last moment, until we have verified the results of a plan, and then restart this world through your death."

"But the moment I saw you, I understood."

"Such imprisonment is useless to you."

"You always find ways to cause your own death. Who knows, after locking you up a few times, you might suddenly gain the ability to make your heart stop beating on its own."

"That would actually make things more complicated for us."

"So, it's better to just keep the status quo as it is."

Upon hearing his words, a hint of helplessness flashed in Lin Xu's eyes.

Good heavens, the Zhang Liming in this world is indeed completely different from the Zhang Liming in the Destiny Stone world I'm in.

He became even more ruthless and unscrupulous.

Perhaps this is the effect of the higher-dimensional channel on him—or perhaps this effect is simply due to the apocalypse?

Lin Xu couldn't delve into the answer to this question because his time was limited.

Why expose yourself to me?

He asked:
“You should be a core member of the bug corrector. Once exposed, I will definitely start with you after the next restart.”

"What's the difference between this and surrendering?"

"Do not."

Zhang Liming shook his head.

Then, he spoke:
"Lin Xu, you don't understand us."

"Don't you understand? For you, the choices are almost infinite. You can enter this world countless times and acquire information countless times, while we know almost nothing about you until the timeline advances to a certain fixed point."

"Therefore, it was impossible for us to hide our identities from you in the first place."

"All efforts to conceal your identity are nothing more than wasting useless resources and slowing down your time."

"But that's meaningless."

"We can slow you down once or twice, but what if it's ten or twenty times?"

"You will eventually find me, and we will eventually meet."

Zhang Liming's words left Lin Xu deeply confused.

So... he really surrendered?
I will eventually find him, and I will eventually uproot this so-called error-correcting organization.

If that's the case, then what's the point of everything they've done?
"What exactly do you want to do?"

Lin Xu asked in a deep voice.

He sensed that there was a deeper meaning hidden in Zhang Liming's words.

However, he couldn't quite understand it for the time being.

Zhang Liming let out a soft breath.

Then, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and slowly said:
"He who does not show himself is enlightened; he who does not assert himself is distinguished; he who does not boast of his achievements is meritorious; he who does not pride himself on his accomplishments is enduring."

"Because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him."

At this moment, he was dressed in a simple Zhongshan suit, and his every move exuded a certain air of otherworldly elegance.

However, Lin Xu was extremely uncomfortable with this deliberate way of communicating that kept people in suspense.

Zhang Liming in the main world is not like this.

Although Zhang Liming also liked to quote classical texts, he would explain them after each use.

Instead of being as mysterious as Zhang Liming in front of me now.

Lin Xu looked directly at Zhang Liming and said:
"I hope our conversation can be kept simple."

"The way you're communicating right now is a complete waste of my time."

Zhang Liming turned to Lin Xu and said with a smile:
"Since you've already said it's a waste of your time, what does it have to do with me?"

"."

Lin Xu was speechless.

Indeed, what does this have to do with him?
Looking at Lin Xu's expression, Zhang Liming couldn't help but shake his head.

He said regretfully:

"Actually, you didn't do anything wrong."

"However, we are natural enemies and can never sincerely cooperate because of common interests."

"Could you tell me something I don't know?"

Lin Xu looked at the tactical PDA screen in his hand. According to the time displayed on it, he had 21 minutes left.

But all communications were interrupted, and there was no signal at all.

Noticing his movement, Zhang Liming finally sat down again.

Then, he solemnly stated:
"I can tell you're in a hurry."

"So now, I'm going to tell you all about my plan."

"I want to put an end to our conflict completely."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xu frowned.

He couldn't figure out what Zhang Liming was up to.

To reveal all of one's plans?
From the moment Lin Xu met him, he felt that he exuded an "evil aura".

Or to put it more bluntly, it carries a sense of "going astray in cultivation" or "becoming possessed."

Now, after he said he would "reveal the whole plan," Lin Xu's doubts deepened.

But he couldn't let go of this only opportunity.

With 19 minutes remaining, Lin Xu quietly looked at Zhang Liming, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke:
"can."

"You said."

Zhang Liming raised his hand and extended three fingers.

"We first define three preconditions."

"First, you are a butterfly. You can enter other worlds through some means we don't know, obtain information from those worlds, and then bring that information back to nourish your own world in order to save it. Is that right?"

"Yes."

Lin Xu nodded.

Zhang Liming hooked a finger and continued:

"Secondly, the world you've entered, the world we live in, is destined to be destroyed without any external interference. There is a person or some element that will guide the development of this world, leading it down a special path to lift you up. Is that right?"

Lin Xu looked directly into Zhang Liming's eyes and asked:
"Where did you get this information from?" Zhang Liming shook his head.

"You don't have to worry about this."

"Now, the third prerequisite is being considered."

"Third, if you want to complete the lift, you must travel to a stable time period and repeatedly explore within that time to find the fastest way to obtain information. That 'guide' will even prepare a contingency plan for you, so that you can use this plan to obtain information the moment you arrive, right?"

"Yes."

Lin Xu looked at Zhang Liming with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

It's important to know that, in this timeline, Jiang Xingye, as a "flower pollen," was only exposed five months ago. She hadn't even revealed her special identity as a "flower pollen" to the authorities yet, and the Butterfly Plan was still in its infancy.

Now, Zhang Liming has already foreseen this outcome.

If he didn't have other reliable sources of information.
That person can truly be described as "so intelligent as to be almost supernatural".

"So, this is where the conflict between you and us arises."

"We don't want to be a world that exists solely for lifting people up."

"We want to forge our own path; we want to try to overcome the apocalypse on our own."

"Thus, the error corrector was born."

"Furthermore, as you may have guessed, we have created some kind of interference device that prevents you from arriving at a fixed point in time, but instead makes you arrive randomly at some point in the river of time."

"In this way, your task cannot be completed—because such randomness brings great difficulties to your information gathering work."

"But if the efficiency of information acquisition falls below a certain threshold, you, this butterfly, lose your meaning. Right?"

"Correct."

Lin Xu nodded again.

Even now, he still doesn't understand what Zhang Liming is trying to say.

He seemed to be merely analyzing his own plans.

Just as he said, he laid out the whole plan.

What is it for?
Lin Xu looked at Zhang Liming with a puzzled expression, but after receiving an affirmative answer, Zhang Liming smiled.

"That proves that our plan was correct."

"Judging from your behavior, you seem to believe that the world you've entered is a linear one, and you think you can follow the timeline to catch up with us and stop the source of this interference, right?"

"wrong."

Lin Xu shook his head.

"This is the world of 'Destiny Stone II'."

He briefly explained the concept of the "Destiny Stone World" to Zhang Liming, who nodded thoughtfully after listening.

Then, he spoke:
"Then you will go further than I thought, and you are much smarter than I thought."

"You've figured out the key to the problem: all worlds did not develop in parallel."

"It was split off."

"The axiom of choice fails."

Lin Xu asked in a deep voice:

"do you mean this?"

Zhang Liming was stunned for a moment.

Then, he clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration:
"That's right!"

“Beautiful, it’s a mathematical concept that’s beautiful to the extreme.”

“We originally defined this disturbance as ‘marginal mapping disorder,’ but the phrase ‘choice axiom failure’ clearly better summarizes the current situation.”

"Alright, since you've already thought of this, I don't need to explain any further."

"Now you know what the core issue is, right?"

"The core issue is that such interference does not develop over time."

"Even if you traveled back to the day before I was born, the interference would still exist."

"Because for a world where the axiom of choice fails, superposition states exist eternally."

"Therefore, as long as there is interference in one world, the interference will spread to every world in different timelines."

Do you agree with this?

Lin Xu nodded slowly.

"Agree."

This is the reality he is experiencing.

No matter which point in time he travels to, and no matter what he does, interference will always exist.

But why is this?
Zhang Liming's expression turned serious.

He no longer appeared calm and collected, but spoke solemnly, seriously, and even sternly:
"So, we can draw our final conclusion."

"You can never eliminate this interference."

"Because the world that caused this interference, and you in that world, are no longer here."

"There's only one thing you can do to eliminate this interference."

"To help us reproduce that jamming technique."

"And optimize it."

"According to my deduction, that 'interference' should have destroyed that world at the same time, and you in that world died in that catastrophe."

Lin Xu suddenly stood up.

Tianmen Project.

That's right.

I did indeed die in that disaster.

And the purpose of that disaster
It was indeed for interference!

Zhang Liming has never seen the future, but his predictions about it are absolutely accurate.

He has even made a complete plan based on his own speculation about the future.

And his purpose.
Are you threatening me?

Lin Xu's eyes were filled with a chilling coldness.

Zhang Liming stood up, spread his hands, and answered frankly:
"Yes."

"I am threatening you."

"Because we have already gained the upper hand."

"To us, you are an omniscient person."

"You were not supposed to be defeated."

"But unfortunately, you made a mistake."

“You refer to your ‘guide’ or, as you just mentioned, ‘pollen’.”

"You brought pollen into this world ahead of time, exposing your purpose."

"This is your Achilles' heel."

"The correctors of that world foresaw our fate, and they were unwilling to accept it."

"So, by destroying one world, they created an opportunity for countless worlds that exist eternally and are ever-overlapping."

"You have no choice but to cooperate with us, Lin Xu."

"However, I must make one point."

Zhang Liming paused at this point.

"I am not at odds with you, nor with the world you live in."

"Just like you, I want to save every world, I want to save every person."

"However, there is a sequence to things."

"We must be the first to survive the apocalypse!"

"Because what we represent is the true golden age of humanity!"

(End of this chapter)