Oh no! I'm surrounded by female ghosts!

[Grand View +0.2%]

[Flesh hyperplasia +0.2%]

...

Su Ming is absorbing high-risk pollution sources.

These pollution sources are extremely unstable and have long been a major headache for Bureau 749.

We can't kill them, we can't seal them off, we're constantly worried.

Until Su Ming arrived, they could finally be dealt with.

"Your Majesty, the next high-risk sealed item is the old snail, number 327."

Through the sealed chamber, Su Ming could see a giant snail.

Its snail shell rotates endlessly, with layers upon layers of patterns.

Zhou Zhengyang didn't even dare to look directly at him.

Mere eye contact can subtly bewitch the mind and gradually erode and distort one's perception.

Beneath its outer shell lies its true form.

The humanoid body, half covered in sticky mucus, had two deformed, soft heads growing from the top of its neck, making it look extremely gruesome.

It has a rather volatile temperament.

Back then, Bureau 749 lost dozens of elite handlers in its attempt to contain it. In the end, it was only through Yu Mengnian's personal intervention that it was successfully contained.

Even if it is successfully contained, its condition is very unstable.

It takes the constant stabilization of the light orb numbered 43 to barely suppress its restless and aggressive nature.

To this day, the bureau's processors are still unable to decipher its capabilities.

All I know is that its capabilities are related to time.

Those eroded by it will age rapidly, eventually turning into skeletons.

This process is irreversible and cannot be stopped.

That's why it's called the "old snail".

It is one of the most dangerous and unstable sources of contamination at the 749 containment facility.

"Okay, I understand."

Su Ming nodded, took a step forward, and entered the sealing chamber in the next second.

He raised his fist and smashed it down.

The overwhelming force blasted the old snail into a cloud of minced meat.

Breaking its shape is not difficult.

Based on strength, it is at most comparable to the fourth tier.

Its true terror begins when its form is broken.

From within the broken snail shell, countless tiny whispers suddenly surged forth.

Whispers, carrying a desolate, ancient, and frenzied will, echoed wildly within the sealed chamber.

A palpable aura of decay spread rapidly, and even the sealed chamber began to rot visibly.

Su Ming, who was at the center of the storm, was not affected in the slightest.

Instead, he took a deep breath and showed an expression of enjoyment.

It smells of new knowledge.

It's about knowledge about time.

As Su Ming listened, the whispers inside the sealed chamber grew fainter and fainter.

His perception of time is also changing subtly.

From the moment of birth, life is bound to a fixed timeline.

The timeline is also called the lifeline.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death—existence and extinction—are determined at the moment of birth.

It's like the progress bar at the bottom of a video.

The old snail's ability is to forcibly drag the progress bar, jump directly to the end, and terminate the entire life process.

The immortality that people pursue throughout their lives is, in the end, nothing more than freezing the timeline permanently at a certain moment.

This knowledge allowed Su Ming to glimpse immortality.

Eternal life is the least important thing in their knowledge, and it cannot even be called proper knowledge.

Because this is simply their innate, instinctive perception.

Words like "time," "immortality," and "undying" are merely creations of human civilization.

This concept is called: Between Two Points.

The beginning is rebirth, the end is annihilation; the process in between is meaningless to them.

The more we understand their knowledge, the more we perceive their incomprehensibility.

The ultimate immortality that humanity fantasizes about is, in the end, merely their most basic instinctive understanding.

This knowledge is extremely terrifying for beings with lifespans.

But for those who don't even have a concept of lifespan, it's like a chicken rib, utterly worthless.

After Su Ming finished absorbing this knowledge, the whispers inside the sealing chamber disappeared completely.

At the same time, the primal urges rising deep within him were completely different from before.

It was a profound sense of emptiness.

The extreme emptiness made Su Ming desperately want to absorb all the sources of pollution within the containment foundation.

Only by constantly absorbing and replenishing can one barely fill the void in their heart.

He frowned, forcibly suppressing the impulse.

From the day Wen Qi appeared, she personally crafted a framework of humanity for Su Ming, which enabled him to possess a sufficiently firm consciousness and rationality.

Otherwise, even if he is unwilling, he will be pushed by primal impulses into the process of self-completion until his humanity is completely extinguished.

After witnessing the old snail disappear, Zhou Zhengyang breathed a long sigh of relief.

Su Ming has dealt with all the high-risk pollution sources that had accumulated in Bureau 749.

Since its establishment, Bureau 749 has never been so relaxed and secure.

All the processors and researchers who witnessed the entire process through the surveillance cameras cheered with joy, their eyes brimming with fervor and reverence.

Su Ming opened his receiving page and took a look.

Level 2

[Overall: 13.5%]

[Flesh hyperplasia: 1.4%]

[Low-level blind spot: 5.7%]

[Boundary blurring: 0.3%]

Level 1

[Deepest Fear: 100%]

Between two points: 100%

All of my existing knowledge has been improved, and I have also acquired a new subject of knowledge.

Indeed, once the sources of pollution are visualized, the difficulty of improving knowledge and acquiring new knowledge is greatly reduced.

If the world's upper limit is raised to level 6, the amount of knowledge carried by the materialized pollution sources will be even greater.

He put the panel away, yawned, and casually patted Zhou Zhengyang on the shoulder.

"Old Zhou."

"Now that the high-risk pollution sources have been dealt with, I'll go find Chen Zhiwei first."

Zhou Zhengyang was taken aback and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Dr. Chen actually arrived while you were dealing with the source of pollution."

"She said that once you've finished dealing with this, you can just go see her directly."

Under Zhou Zhengyang's guidance, Su Ming soon met Chen Zhiwei.

Chen Zhiwei looks different than before.

She tidied herself up and put on light makeup.

Yu Mengnian is also here.

Judging from the color of the tea on the table, the two of them had been chatting for a long time before I arrived.

Before Su Ming could speak.

Chen Zhiwei strode forward, twirled around in place, and with a rare touch of playfulness, asked with a smile, "Su Ming, do I look good today?"

Even her voice became much gentler.

This was the first time Su Ming had seen Chen Zhiwei like this.

The intellectual and profound aura she once possessed vanished, replaced by a youthful and radiant glow.

Only then did Su Ming suddenly remember.

The Chen Zhiwei in front of us is only 23 years old.

She was just too composed in the past, which made people subconsciously ignore her real age.

An ordinary 23-year-old girl is just starting out in society.

Chen Zhiwei has long been a pillar of the Dragon Kingdom, and half of the top technologies in Bureau 749 are her creations.

She is so outstanding that everyone subconsciously overlooks her age.

Looking at the bright and beautiful Chen Zhiwei in front of him, Su Ming suddenly understood.

She must have heard what she had said to Zhou Zhengyang earlier.

Yu Mengnian, who had been sitting quietly to the side, slowly got up, gently took Chen Zhiwei's hand, and then placed it in Su Ming's palm.

Her expression remained calm and composed, but a faint trace of sadness flickered in her eyes.

Yu Mengnian, whose emotions were born incomplete, is slowly recovering in this doomsday scenario.

Although it was only just awakening, it had already developed a subtle capacity for empathy.

In the conversation we just had here, Chen Zhiwei confessed everything.

This doomsday line is Chen Zhiwei's last doomsday line.

She will not exist in any of the subsequent apocalyptic storylines.

From then on, only Yu Mengnian remained in the Doomsday storyline.

So she needs an ending.

It needs a final curtain call without any regrets.

Whether for her own sake or for the world's sake, she needs someone to accompany her on this final journey.

Just like in the 2012 doomsday scenario, she stood on the shore and shouted loudly.

"Let us face the sunlight and bid a grand finale to this world."

This time, however, it wasn't the human world that fell, but herself.

Yu Mengnian took half a step forward, her clear, cold voice carrying a hint of sorrow: "Su Ming, try to make her like you."

"Just having a child is too cruel for her."

She gently brushed her fingertips across Su Ming's cheek, a subtle ripple appearing in her usually calm eyes: "See her off for me."

Su Ming clearly saw a mist rise in Yu Mengnian's eyes, which then quickly evaporated.

He moved his lips slightly and asked softly, "Mengnian, do you regret it?"

"I regret having true feelings."

Yu Mengnian shook her head, her tone firm: "No regrets."

"Su Ming, I really like who I am now."

"It's true to be alive to feel sad and grieve."

After she finished speaking, she said no more, gently pushed Su Ming, and turned to leave.

There was something she didn't tell Su Ming.

Those were Chen Zhiwei's tearful confessions.

Chen Zhiwei said at the time, "From now on, I will be gone."

"But you must remember this."

"In every subsequent doomsday scenario, you will have to push him towards another girl time and time again, fulfilling their wishes."

"Because that was their doomsday line, their final chapter."

"Niannian, one day, there will be a doomsday line that belongs to you. Only then can you walk towards Su Ming without regard for anything else."

Inside the room, Su Ming looked at Chen Zhiwei with mixed feelings, then grinned and asked with youthful energy, "Beautiful lady, wanna go out?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with a punch from Chen Zhiwei.

She puffed out her cheeks and glared angrily at Su Ming: "Is this how you pursue girls?"

"Go to hell with you, you old bastard!"

As she spoke, she raised her small fist and delivered a series of punches to Su Ming.

Although the blows barely scratched Su Ming, he still cooperated by raising his hands and begging for mercy: "I surrender, I surrender."

Zhou Zhengyang wisely closed the door and left.

After walking a few steps, he noticed Yu Mengnian standing not far away, silently watching the commotion in the room.

Just as I was about to step forward, a figure flashed before my eyes, and Yu Mengnian had already disappeared.

Looking back at Su Ming, who was being beaten inside the house, Zhou Zhengyang shook his head and couldn't help but sigh, "In the end, the Great King is just a seventeen-year-old boy."

"Too young."