I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

The screen was filled with dust, making it impossible to see anything, but the microphone was still picking up sound.

Amid the roar of collapsing buildings and the approaching footsteps of steel behemoths, a very faint and brief sound emanated from beneath the ruins.

That was the last half-sentence the young soldier uttered, just a few indistinct syllables, sounding like "Mom," or perhaps "I'm sorry."

The camera shook violently.

Then the screen turned into a display of static.

The anchor in the studio remained silent for a full five seconds.

She lowered her head and turned a page of the manuscript, her fingers lingering on the edge of the paper for a long time, as if she were mentally preparing herself.

Then she tried to maintain her professional demeanor and raised her head again, but her voice was still trembling slightly.

"As of now, the entire territory of England has fallen."

"The last defenders of the third line of defense perished after four days and four nights of continuous resistance."

"The casualty figures are still being tallied, but preliminary estimates put the number at over 800,000."

No one spoke in the entire lobby.

Gu Yan's fingers clenched so tightly at her sides that her knuckles turned white.

He thought of the old oak tree at Windsor House, the sunset over the Thames, and Fu Shiwei standing on Tower Bridge telling him that this was her mother's hometown.

The Thames is now full of corpses, Tower Bridge is broken in two, and a charred military flag is stuck in the lawn of Windsor House.

The news on television continued.

The scene switched to an emergency statement issued by the Supreme Commander of the Nordic Command.

The statement was extremely restrained, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between the commander's clenched teeth.

The Nordic theater has entered a state of maximum alert, and the remaining forces are rapidly converging on the fourth line of defense.

At the same time, the command center officially activated the emergency plan codenamed "Oracle," and all adaptors involved in the god-making project were immediately required to report to the core fortresses of their respective war zones.

Fu Shiwei arrived in Berlin, Germany, several hours ago and will complete the final source crystal fusion at the core rear base of the Nordic theater.

The screen then switched to live footage of the Berlin base.

That was the core defensive fortress of the Nordic theater, with the entire base built hundreds of meters underground in Berlin.

Fu Shiwei, dressed in the dark blue uniform of the Knights, stood in a secret room filled with runes.

A fist-sized source crystal floated in front of her, its interior shimmering with a pale golden light that cast flickering shadows on her face.

Her fingers clenched and unclenched at her sides, clenched and unclenched again.

Then she reached out and grasped the source crystal, disappearing into the suddenly exploding golden pillar of light.

Gu Yan watched her disappearing figure in the pillar of light, and remembered the warmth of her hand when she first held his in the forest.

Her hands were very cold then, like two pieces of ice just pulled from the stream, as cold as his clenched fist now.

News continues.

The scrolling news feed at the bottom of the screen lists the latest developments in other war zones.

Fu Wanqing, commander of the third defense line of the Great Xia main war zone, has led an elite team composed of ancient martial arts experts and rune engineers to the God-Making Base in Wuhan as quickly as possible.

Cecilia Chen, from the North American theater, departed several days ago for the far northern god-making base in Alaska.

Meanwhile, Shen Youyao, from the South American theater, simultaneously initiated source crystal fusion deep within the Mayan ruins.

Gu Yan listened as the names were read out one by one.

Each name felt like a gentle tap on his chest with a finger.

Those he knew were now heading to their respective battlefields, out of his sight.

They didn't know he was still alive, didn't know he was standing in front of a television set deep in the mountains of Japan, watching them disappear into the beam of light.

The camera then switched back to the studio.

The anchor turned to the last page of the script and took a deep breath.

Her professionalism prevented her from losing control in front of the camera, but her voice still trembled slightly when she read the following sentence.

"We now have an breaking news report."

"News just coming back from the front lines."

"Before the fall of all of England, an elite superpowered squad dispatched by the Nordic Theater risked their lives to infiltrate Windsor Manor, which was already surrounded by the Black Tide, in an attempt to move the coffin of Mr. Gu Yan, the Imperial Wall, to a safe area before the defenses completely collapsed."

"After several fierce battles against the disasters along the way, the team successfully broke into Master Gu's cemetery."

"Inside the tomb, they found that the seal on the crystal coffin was intact, the lid was complete, and there were no signs of any external damage."

"However, Mr. Gu Yan's remains inside the coffin have vanished without a trace."

This news was simultaneously pushed out on all channels.

The scrolling text at the bottom of the screen repeated the same sentence with an almost mechanical calmness: The remains of the Imperial Wall have gone missing, the coffin is intact and the seal is not broken, the cause is unknown.

But nobody reads the scrolling text.

Everyone's eyes are on the same scene.

That was inside the tomb.

The crystal coffin rested quietly on the white altar, the white rose petals still on the lid.

The petals the healer scattered before leaving didn't even shift, as if the coffin lid had never been opened.

But the coffin was empty.

The entire lobby fell into a deathly silence.

Gu Yan stood in front of the television, looking at the empty crystal coffin on the screen.

Yuzuru stood beside him, his deep brown pupils shifting from the screen to his face.

Her fingers gently stroked the hilt of the pheasant knife.

Elena leaned against the window, the book between her fingers still half-open.

Her lips curved slightly, and her golden pupils fell on Gu Yan's profile.

The arc was extremely small, carrying a sense of understanding, a hint of mischief, and a very faint trace of curiosity.

The scrolling text on the television screen continued tirelessly.

The news comment section exploded within seconds.

The whole world is asking the same question.

Where exactly are the remains of the Imperial Wall?

The static on the TV screen was still jumping around.

Elena placed the remote control on the windowsill.

She turned around and leaned against the window frame, the night breeze blowing in from outside, ruffling her long silver hair.

Those golden eyes gazed quietly at Gu Yan in the moonlight.

"The other ladies have all been included in the idol-making project."

"But Lin Jinyu and Pei Yuran did not."

Do you know what this means?

"They won't go to any closed bases."

"They will find you in the most primitive way."

"Search every city, scour every street, until I find you, or find your body."

Gu Yan stood there without saying a word.

Of course he knew.

Lin Jinyu has been like this since she was a child; once she's made up her mind, nothing can change it.

Needless to say, Pei Yuran is an iceberg of a simpleton; once she sets her mind on a direction, she'll stick to it no matter what.

They weren't included in the god-making project not because they lacked the strength, but because they simply didn't want to be confined to any base.

They need to look for him outside.

Mr. Gu.

Yuzuru took a step forward.

She stood beside Gu Yan, her deep brown pupils appearing particularly resolute in the flickering light from the television screen.

Her fingers gripped the hilt of the pheasant sword at her waist. The sword remained sheathed despite the alarm, but her fingertips gently caressed the hilt, as if making some kind of promise to herself.

"No matter what happens, I will protect you."

"This is the land of cherry blossoms, the territory of the Chiyomiya family."

"Anyone who wants to take you away must get past me first."