Chapter 416: First World Line

"Now it's down to the last two coordinate points." Wu Ruishu pushes his glasses seriously, "Personally, I'm leaning towards being this isolated island out at sea, which is our next target."

"If my suspicions are correct, we will be meeting Bai Liu and his captive heretics head on on this isolated island, so I hope you all prepare tonight, get some rest, and we'll leave tomorrow, adjourned."

"Yes!"

After the meeting was adjourned.

After more than two years of high-paced searching, Lu Yizhan has become accustomed to the fact that one minute he's in bed, the next he's armed and ready to go, and in short, there's not a second to himself.

I didn't realize that now, at the end of his journey, when he could have simply taken a breather, or a night of rest, Lu Yizhan would instead be at a loss, not knowing what to do.

He walked unconsciously to Yu Fu's infirmary.

The infirmary is vacant, and Lu Yizhan occasionally comes by to clean up and stand around for a while, smoking a cigarette and calming down.

Yeah, that's right. He learned to smoke.

One team was non-smoking, and Fang Dian once caught Lu Yizhan smoking in the Yu Fu infirmary and stared at him silently for a moment, as if scrutinizing him.

Lu Yizhan is so scared he almost takes off straight away, but after a moment, Fang Dian reaches out to him, smiles, and asks, "Got any more? Give me one."

Fang Dian took the cigarettes and skillfully lit them up, keeping her head down as she smoked quietly with him against Yu Fu's infirmary.

The smoke clouded her face, traced over the collar of her uniform, dispersed in a borderline smoky cloud, and then Lu Yizhan heard Fang Dian say, with a smile, softly and indistinctly, "The order to ban smoking in the first detachment was passed by Yu Fu together with the others, behind my back."

"Actually it was an order given to me, I smoke too much, they think it's bad for my health, always said I wasn't screwed over by a heretic, but I smoked myself to death alive."

"I didn't expect that." Fang Dian turned her head and smiled at the baffled Lu Yizhan, "They got screwed by the heretics before I had a chance to smoke them to death."

Fang Dian almost finished a cigarette in a few puffs, and then naturally reached out to Lu Yizhan: "One more."

"Nope, no more." Lu Yizhan bumped, "The one just now was the last one."

Fang Dian lifts her eyes, her smile faint as she glances over the still untouched cigarette at Lu Yizhan's lips, then naturally reaches out and takes it out, waving it in front of Lu Yizhan's face, "Mind if I smoke this one?"

"No, don't mind!" Lu Yizhan's expression went blank and he felt like he was going to ascend.

"Thanks! I'm a bit addicted to cigarettes." Fang Dian grinned broadly and patted Lu Yizhan's shoulder as she held the cigarette, very gently biting the mouthpiece with her teeth, and lowered her head to light the cigarette with her lighter.

The flickering light of the lighter reflects on the side of Fang Dian's face, giving it a gentle beauty.

"Smoking is actually a very depraved behavior." Lu Yizhan heard Fang Dian say softly, "I often wonder if cigarettes aren't a low-hazard addictive cult that that Bai Liu guy packages and then puts out there, slowly and silently corrupting a lot of people."

Fang Dian exhaled a soft puff of white smoke, "Like me."

"It's hard for people to fight their negative desires, I understand that very well, and it's kind of ridiculous to expect to win Bai Liu when I can't even quit smoking myself."

Dian Fang lowered her head and she laughed very softly, "But as long as there is someone in this world who wants me to quit who still exists, everyone who smokes has someone who wants them to quit."

"--Then I won't lose."

Fang Dian finishes her last puff and smiles, waving her hand at Lu Yizhan, "Quit smoking, Lu Yizhan."

After that, Lu Yizhan didn't sneak in for a smoke for a long time, but perhaps the night before he left was too emotional for Lu Yizhan to resist, and he came back here and couldn't help but light himself a cigarette.

As a result, just as he lit up, the door to the infirmary behind him was opened, and Lu Yizhan, who had a cigarette in his mouth, turned around to see Fang Dian greet him with a smile and very naturally walk up next to him, "Got any more? Have one."

Lu Yizhan: "......"

Why does this woman who says she wants to quit smoking take it for granted every time she asks him for a cigarette?

Fang Dian tilted her head back to look at him, the moonlight outside the window reflected in her eyes, bright and clear, with a very light smile on her face as the wind very slightly ruffled the ponytail at the back of her head, and said, "Grown up quite a bit Lu Yizhan, you were about the same height as Xiaowu when you came into the team, right, and now I'm looking up at you."

"The team is doing well too, you've totally grown."

As if anticipating that he would meet a Fang Dian who asked him for cigarettes, Lu Yizhan actually brought a pack of cigarettes with him, but at this moment, the moment he heard those words, Lu Yizhan said, "...... No more, only one more. "

He knew what Fang Dian would do when there was only one.

She would take the cigarette directly from his lips and smoke it, thus indirectly picking up ......

But before he could finish his thought, Lu Yizhan's pupils contracted.

Dian Fang reached out with two fingers to draw the cigarette from his lips, then stepped forward, stood slightly on her tiptoes, wrapped one hand around the back of his neck, and kissed him with her eyes closed.

--kissed.

The wind blew in through the window, blowing on Lu Yizhan's blank side and Fang Dian's closed eyes for about fifteen seconds before Fang Dian stepped back and naturally lifted her hand from Lu Yizhan's pocket and pulled out the new cigarette he'd brought with him and placed it on her lips to sip it, tucking the one that was on Lu Yizhan's lips back in for him.

Lu Yizhan thought slowly, in a stupor--

Ah, Fang Dian saw me with the new cigarettes.

So she must have known that I was lying to her about indirect kissing with me when I just said there was only one, so she simply kissed me directly? ......

It's hard to figure out how to think about it, isn't it? What kind of strange logic is that!

So why kiss me ah ！！！！

"How long have you liked me?" Fang Dian suddenly spoke.

Lu Yizhan subconsciously stood up straight: "Two years, three months and eight days!"

"That time ......" Fang Dian rubbed her chin, "you fell in love with me at first sight?"

Lu Yizhan was sweating profusely and his little face was red, "...... Yes, yes, when did the party know?"

Dian Fang lowered her head and thought hard, "When you joined the team, I think."

Lu Yizhan : "!!!"

So early?!

A very strange sense of shame surged to Lu Yizhan's heart, and he covered his burning face with both hands, wishing to dig a hole and bury it on the spot, "Then why did the party pretend they didn't know I liked you when my weapon was a heavy sword before ......"

"You didn't say it outright, and you don't seem too eager to say it." Fang Dian scratches her head, "I've never been in a relationship either, so I don't know if I should respect you a little for now without poking my nose in."

"So, that just ...... " Lu Yizhan paused.

Dian Fang replied in all seriousness, "I just kissed you because I thought I might die tomorrow and you looked like you wanted to."

Lu Yizhan covered his face and did not move or make a sound.

Dian Fang held her cigarette beside her without smoking, and after a moment's interval she lowered her eyes and said softly again, "I'm sorry to you if you don't want me to be."

Lu Yizhan takes a deep breath and lets it out again slowly: "There is no reluctance ......"

And he was the one who made the first move and Fang Dian saw it ......

Brain freeze, don't even think about it! It's so shameful!

Dian Fang looks at him sideways for a moment, "We'll kiss again if you want? If you die tomorrow, you won't get a kiss. ......"

Lu Yizhan dropped his hand and hugged Fang Dian with a red-faced kiss, preventing her from continuing.

Fang Dian was quiet for a moment.

She slowly closed her eyes.

After Fang Dian left, Lu Yizhan opened the window of Yu Fu's infirmary to let in some cold air in an attempt to calm down, but ended up walking out of the infirmary almost on the same hand and foot and reassuring himself at the same time that it was just a boink, no big deal.

As soon as Lu Yizhan came out of the infirmary, he saw Cen Buming waiting outside with a subtle expression on his face.

Lu Yizhan: ......

Seeing that Lu Yizhan was about to be embarrassed to the point of weathering right in front of him, Cen Buming mercifully averted his eyes, "Tomorrow, team two will be responsible for clearing the perimeter of the coordinate stronghold you went to."

Lu Yizhan would snap back instantly when it came to business, "What's up?"

Cen Buming paused for a moment, "What are your chances of surviving tomorrow?"

Lu Yizhan froze.

Cen Buming has had a number of handoffs with him since he became the second team's lieutenant, but most of the time they have been businesslike, and although they have experienced some things together, it is clear that they do not share the same viewpoints, and Lu Yizhan does not generally have personal interactions with people whose viewpoints do not coincide with his own.

And Cen Buming is one of those people.

They basically don't talk about things that have nothing to do with work, and they don't create connections with people outside of work.

That's why Lu Yizhan was stunned when Cen Buming's words of obvious personal concern came out.

Cen Buming clutched his chest and sidestepped his face, his tone cold, "Don't give me that stupid look, I'm just seeing if I can make it over there on my way to collect your body."

Lu Yizhan smiled as he thought hard for a moment before answering, "Chances of survival? Actually, for the time being, we don't find ourselves with a chance of survival."

Cen Buming was silent for a moment, his hand wrapped around his body tightening, "...... Lu Yizhan, if you don't want to go tomorrow, I can apply for a transfer to cover for you ...... "

"Vice Team Cen, why are you suddenly doing this for me?" Lu Yizhan was a bit curious and puzzled as he scratched his head, "It seems like our ...... relationship hasn't reached this point yet, right?"

Cen Buming's head snapped around past him as he stepped forward and grabbed Lu Yizhan by the collar pinning him against the wall and questioned him in an enraged tone, "Then why did you carry me out of the Rose Factory in the first place, and why did you stand in my way in the Trials!"

"Why did you lie to me and make me hate you for saving me at that time!"

"We were far from that even then, Captain Lu Yizhan!"

Lu Yizhan lowered his head and looked at Cen Buming, who wore a blindfold over his left eye and was breathing heavily with a face full of anger. Lu Yizhan pressed against Cen Buming's shoulder and pushed Cen Buming away slowly, leaning against the wall with his eyes downcast he asked softly, "You know about it."

"Knew that a long time ago." Cen Buming averted his face, his tone cold, "I still hate you for who you are, Lu Yizhan, but I don't like owing people, so if you need me to die for you, I can take your place."

Lu Yizhan looked up slowly, "What if I need you to live well for me?"

Cen Buming's pupils constricted.

"It's true that we were strangers back then, but I'm a year older than you, so I can at least count you as half a senior brother." Lu Yizhan straightened his uniform and smiled good-naturedly, "It's only natural for a senior brother to save a junior brother, right?"

Cen Buming said, "A senior in the first team? Lu Yizhan, you're shameless, my brothers should be the seniors of the second team according to logic ......"

Both men lurched as they said this.

Almost all of Cen Buming's brothers were executed in that rebellion.

"And I'm not forcing you to recognize me as your senior brother." Lu Yizhan looked up as he patted Cen Buming's shoulder with a grin, "If your true Elder Brother is absent, then if you don't mind, you can briefly allow me to fill in for this position you need."

Cen Buming coldly slapped away Lu Yizhan's hand on his shoulder, "Get lost, don't take advantage of me verbally, who needs a senior brother?"

Lu Yizhan thoughtfully, "Really? I was in the same ward as you at that time, and at night I would still hear you crying that I wanted a senior brother to take me so badly ......"

Cen Buming's right eye narrowed, "Any more rumors and I'll kill you."

"Eh, you were a person who loved to cry under the blanket before, why are you like this now?" Lu Yizhan shook her head as if in regret, "It's true that children become mean when they grow up."

Cen Buming, who is being taken advantage of by Lu Yizhan: "......"

He shouldn't have been nosy enough to care about this guy.

Lu Yizhan turned to leave when he was done speaking, and halfway there he heard a very shallow voice from behind him:

"Shifu."

Lu Yizhan's departing back lurched, and it was Cen Buming's voice.

Cen Buming was quiet for a moment, then calmly continued, "If you die, I won't cry for you."

Lu Yizhan smiled without looking back and waved his hand, "That's quite good."

The following day, the Orthodox Judgment Army flew to the island, with one team clearing the island's inner perimeter and a second team clearing the island's outer perimeter.

This is an island situated in the boundless dark-colored waves, there is no island around, lonely as if located in the center of the universe, the island is surrounded by monstrous waves and fierce sea winds, ships can not get close to the surface of the sea from time to time swaying and swimming in the dark, unnamable, so huge that it can swallow the yacht's huge things.

Dian Fang By the time they landed on the island, there were already a number of dead and wounded.

On the island was a magnificent temple, and Bai Liu was sitting on a rocky card table right in front of it with his jaw propped up, looking at them with a smirk, "You're finally here, I was falling asleep waiting."

Fang Dian looked steadily at Bai Liu as she stepped forward, "We won the game with you."

"No, you guys lost." Bai Liu smiled and raised his eyes, "Because the condition for winning the game is to capture my [Tower], but you guys are just arriving now."

"This is my temple, you cannot take it, not even I myself have the means to destroy it."

Wu Ruishu looked furious, "You're cheating! Then this wasn't a way to win against you in the first place!"

Bai Liu fiddled lazily with the cards on the table, "No, I was actually hoping you guys would beat me and destroy this temple, it's just a shame you weren't able to do it."

"But I didn't lose either." Fang Dian continued calmly, "You can't take the Heresy Disposal Bureau because I brought all the Heretics and all the crew here."

"The equivalent of you moving the Heresy Handling Bureau to my temple? At the risk of so many deaths and injuries?" Bai Liu has a slightly appreciative smile on his face, "I can't destroy my temple, so you won't lose the game."

"Nice flip, Fang Dian, you are truly the finest human I've ever seen, cruel and merciful in equal parts in power."

"You've never won a game from me, but you've never lost a game from me, your goal has always been so determined." Bai Liu lifts his eyelids to Fang Dian and smiles, "--you want to trap me, an evil god, in a game with you, so that more people from other worldlines can live."

"I'm curious, when did you learn that there are other world lines, it's already in the realm of [God's] sphere, how did you know about it?"

Dian Fang grinned broadly, "Guess so! Seeing that you kept trying to run, I thought that other places for you to have more fun should exist."

"Even if the people of the other worldlines you've never met, never had any emotional connection to you, and you don't even know what kind of laws they operate in to survive in a world." Bai Liu took one step down the steps high above the temple, he looked at Fang Dian and smiled sardonically, "You'd risk sacrificing yourself, and those around you, to save them as well."

"Why, Fang Dian?"

"You have no basis for empathy with them, so why would you have a desire so strong that you are close to becoming a god to save everyone?"

Fang Dian looked at Bai Liu who was walking down, she tilted her head and looked straight at him, "Actually, I don't want to save them."

"I just don't think they should be reduced to your playthings."

"But what if this is what they want?" Bai Liu spread his hands, "I receive many prayers every day that I go to that world to fulfill their desires and bring about evil."

The ocean breeze blew violently through Fang Dian's long hair as she calmly said, "Wanna play a game with me?"

Bai Liu raises an eyebrow, "What game?"

Dian Fang laughed, "Even if you let everyone in the world into your game, derive all sorts of weapons based on their desires, have them kill each other in your game, encourage them to gamble, commit crimes, and fill the entire game with as many heretics as you like, eventually-- "

"And you're bound to lose to them, to the human side of being human."

Bai Liu was quiet for a second before he hooked the corner of his mouth, "Okay, I'll grant your wish and play this game with you."

"I will take the game out of reality and only bring someone into my game when they have desire growing in their hearts and pray to me, an evil god, that I come down to grant them their desires, and I will bestow upon them the personal skills of good, high-quality desiring human beings, like yourselves, to make it easy for them to survive for a long period of time in my dangerous game. "

"At the same time, in order to facilitate the so-called mutual help between humans that you mentioned, Captain Fang, I'll make it possible for them to see each other's gameplay and to give each other their own resources to help each other out."

Bai Liu smiled, "From now on, all worldlines I will let devolve into this game."

"The criteria for winning or losing the game will be set as - if some heretic in the game is brought into reality and pollutes the world, it's a win for me, if not, it's a win for you, and the whole world is a [tower] for both of us, how's that sound?"

Fang Dian astutely retorted, "Winning this game is harder for us because there is no time limit on the defense period."

"That's right too." Bai Liu contemplated slightly with his jaw propped up, then he quickly smiled again, "Tell you what, take me out of the whole game as well, I won't be in any game or reality."

Fang Dian's eyes really lit up this time, "Really?"

Without Bai Liu's bug-like existence, it would be much easier for everyone!

"True, but accordingly." Bai Liu turned his head and smiled a little, "I will place a coordinate derived creation of my own in each world line, and like you, this derivative will be a mortal body with mortal combat abilities, and I will set it up to look exactly like me on the outside to make it easier for you to find them."

"This my derivative is the hourglass for both of us, he is your time limit, the game ends when you kill him, if the whole world hasn't been contaminated by that time, then you win, and vice versa, I win."

The terms of the game sounded too good to be true, and Fang Dian, knowing Bai Liu's bad taste as well as she did, asked guardedly, "What's expected of us?"

"A request for you?" Bai Liu's brow curled up in a smile, "Naturally, to sit across from me, a penalized evil god, and play the game with me."

"Of all the world lines, I will set each world line to have your presence in it, and normally each of your presences is different, but I will set all of your presences to have a unified soul, which means-"

Bai Liu smiled a cloudy smile, "You will go through all the world line reincarnations with one soul."

"If any of you are seduced by one of my derivatives in one of the worldlines and sell your souls to him, then your souls will be completely nullified and turned into a stone statue in my temple, never to be repeated."

"I'll project your souls into the worldlines as if they were my derivatives, but at the same time, you'll be like game NPCs with zero archives and won't remember anything, and each worldline will be a brand new game."

Bai Liu stood on the steps with his eyes downcast, looking condescendingly at Dian Fang, who stood below him, "Fang, as a reward for your touching a god, and arguably to add to the fun of this game, I can give your [Crusader Army] team members skills that only a god can have to facilitate their fight against me."

"But each of their worldlines has these rule skills that only gods have, as well as each of them can play this game with me, and accordingly, you have to pay a price for them for each of your worldlines."

Fang Dian asked, "What is the price I have to pay?"

Bai Liu smiles, "Pain."

Both Wu Ruishu and Lu Yizhan looked quickly at Fang Dian, but Fang Dian raised her hand to stop them and nodded bashfully, "Okay, I promise."

"You give skills first."

Bai Liu made a slight point in the air, "Wu Ruishu, Taiji Transformation Use, can nullify all attacking skills and hit with borrowed power."

"Solan, Worldline Reunion, which briefly stacks two of your known worldlines together."

"Ren Yushin, Memory Folding, can change the memories of all creatures in an entire worldline, completely erasing any traces of an event's occurrence, but it can only be used three times in one worldline."

"......"

"Finally, I grant you two rule skills that can determine the direction of the game." The smile on Bai Liu's face deepened, "The first skill, [Listen to God's Only Word]."

"For each world line, while I don't play, I will design one of my own background scripts for the game for each world line and utilize the players in the game, the heretics, to get the entire world line on the path I've predetermined."

"But it would be boring to follow my path all the time."

Bai Liu nudged Lu Yizhan and said with a smile, "-so you can use this skill to stage to spy on what I'm going to do and then come and stop me, so you can also say that it's a Seer skill."

"The last skill - Evil God Judgment."

"This is a skill that can be used to judge all heretics in every world line that are related to me as an evil god, including me."

"After the judgment, the heretic's weaknesses will be exposed to you and continue to be weak, no matter how strong the heretic is, you can use this skill to shelter the opponent."

Wu Ruishu's reaction was quick as he stared straight at Bai Liu : "You just said only six skills, you didn't give the party skills."

The corner of Bai Liu's lips turned up, "She has no skills."

"Because she, like me, belongs to the [God] position and doesn't go down."

Dian Fang As if she had already expected this, she gripped her heavy sword and calmly stepped forward onto the steps of the temple, "You give good skills, and I will pay the price well."

"Fang team-!!!" With a rush, Wu Ruishu tried to follow.

Dian Fang didn't look back, "Lieutenant Wu, stand by for me to come out."

Wu Ruishu stopped with his teeth.

"This worldline game hasn't started yet, I'll have the party take the cost after they've said a proper goodbye to you." Bai Liu owes a slight bow, "Please."

Lu Yizhan stood motionless as he watched Fang Dian's back as she stepped onto the shrine, the sea breeze blowing her ponytail loose, like the texture of last night's nightly winds hitting him in the face.

He slowly clenched his fists.

Inside the darkened shrine was a huge swimming pool connected to the deep sea, with many unknown underwater creatures swimming in the pool, which was surrounded by pillars with chains hanging from them.

"So long." Bai Liu looked to Fang Dian, "Other than me, you're still the first one qualified to step in here."

Fang Dian looks out over the pool and says calmly, "Is that what's going to keep me here?"

"Of course not." Bai Liu smiled slightly, "It would be disrespectful to a being like you, who is approaching godhood, to be locked up in a pool, I would lock you up at the bottom of the ocean."

"Surely this physical torture can't bring you any pain at all, can it, Squadron."

"You're incredibly tough, the deaths of your close teammates, the betrayals, the constant stream of heretics, none of it has managed to break you down into agony, and still you've stuck it out so consistently." Bai Liu said with a slight bitterness, "I thought about it for a long time, and only barely managed to come up with this game that could make you feel pain."

Fang Dian looked up at Bai Liu lightly, "What's the game?"

"In each world line, I will completely erase your memories and make you like a normal person with a pair of happy parents, excellent appearance, perfect brain, and access to everything that can make a normal person feel happy." Bai Liu looked to Fang Dian as he smiled and continued, "And then let you lose."

"And then at the end of each world line game, if the Crusaders lose the game, and at that time you have someone you love dearly, I will bring that person here to the temple, to your own soul trapped at the bottom of the sea, and I will tell him that because you love him, I will now shatter his soul and reduce him to ashes in agonizing agony --"

"--there is no way to reincarnate for eternity."

Bai Liu looked over to Fang Dian, who had her head hanging down and couldn't see her expression, and continued with a smile, "And then at the beginning of the next world line, you will have your memory continued to be wiped out by me, and fall in love with another person under my design."

"And then go on to witness him soul destroying in front of you again because of your love."

"And I'll be on the sidelines, enjoying your agony before the next round of the game begins."

Bai Liu asked with a slight smile, "Team Fang, willing to pay the price?"

Dian Fang lifted her head, and with no emotion on her face she said, "Fine, I'll pay the price."

Lu Yizhan had waited outside the temple for but ten minutes, feeling as if he had been up for half a century, when he was involuntarily relieved to see Fang Dian coming down the steps of the temple with a very serene expression on her face.

But when Fang Dian reached the bottom half of the steps, she suddenly darted up the steps with her heavy sword, then jumped down from the steps, and Lu Yizhan saw Fang Dian's ponytail swinging in the air in a brisk arc as she ran.

Then she slammed herself and her heavy sword into Lu Yizhan's arms, who had opened his arms in a panicked embrace to embrace Fang Dian.

Lu Yizhan was knocked back several steps but managed to catch her firmly.

Fang Dian hugged Lu Yizhan tightly, she buried her head into his shoulder, Lu Yizhan was almost in pain from the hug, but he suddenly felt in that moment as if Fang Dian who was hugging him was in a million times more pain than he was.

But the feeling was fleeting, and Fang Dian loosened some of her arms around Lu Yizhan.

Lu Yizhan heard Fang Dian whisper in his ear in a very, very soft voice, "Lu Yizhan ah."

"--You'll be reincarnating in the world line in the future, remember to always hide away from me when you see me."

"Never, ever let me fall in love with you again."