Please, My Lord, Go to Your Death

Tell me, what is the purpose of life?

Don't say things that could be misunderstood.

In the boundless Void, ruins stretched endlessly, with bursts of intense light occasionally erupting from them.

Inside a starship the size of the moon, two people are talking.

"Your Excellency Dylan, every gift of Fate comes with a price tag attached..."

Dylan lay lazily in his cockpit, listening to the Survivor in front of him say things he didn't want to hear.

After a while, Dylan raised his hand, stopping the other person from speaking:

"So, what exactly did you come here for?"

The man in front of me was named Hawthorne, but he was just a Silver Badge member of the region, and they rarely even crossed paths.

"Sir Dylan, our Survival World has not met the selection criteria and will be shut down at the end of the next District War," Hawthorne said politely.

"That's hopeless, just waiting to die. Give them some re-education, and let them enjoy themselves."

Dylan closed his eyes after saying that.

Their world originally had over two hundred Gold Badge, of whom one hundred and fifty entered Large Dungeons, but less than twenty survived.

Without Rainbow Badges, less than 100 Gold Badges were obtained, and even Silver Badges only triggered the first world buff.

This Survival World simply doesn't meet the selection criteria for survival.

"We still have a chance to save ourselves," Hawthorne refused to give up.

"I said, it's hopeless," Dylan repeated with his eyes closed.

"There's hope. If someone with Silver Badge kills Gold Badge and completes the Career Advancement Dungeon before the District War ends, they can be promoted to Gold Badge. If there are enough of these, it might be possible to save the world," Hawthorne continued respectfully.

"Your plan to save the world is too crude and unreasonable."

"Let's not even talk about how Silver Badge can clear Large Dungeon, or how many Silver Badge can defeat Gold Badge, or even whether Silver Badge can clear the Career Advancement Dungeon at this point. There's simply not enough time."

Dylan opened his eyes, coldly criticizing the naive idea, as if he were not shutting down his own Survival Game.

"The next large- Large Dungeon is in about twenty days. After that, there will be only about ten days left until the fourth District War. Can you clear the Career Advancement Dungeon in just over ten days?"

"If you can do it, then others can too?"

"What are the odds that others can do it? And what makes them think they can do it?"

How many points does Silver Badge represent? How many points does Gold Badge represent? Is it a loss or a gain to accumulate a bunch of Silver Badges to get one Gold Badge?

Hawthorne was not surprised by the flaws Dylan pointed out, because he already knew them.

But when a whole is struggling and on the verge of death, it won't think about these things too much.

"Give up and wait to die, and the mortality rate is 100%. Fight with all your might, and the mortality rate is over 99.999%."

Dylan sighed, "It's up to you. Theoretically, losing one Gold Badge will give you five Gold Badge spots. You can give it a try. I have no intention or ability to help you."

Hawthorne laughed, "No, no, no, you are perfectly capable of helping us. You are the most corrupt Gold Badge member in the world; you don't even qualify for Large Dungeon!"

"You're the first one! Kill you, and we can shout in the World Channel: 'Rainbow Badges Gold Badges, are they born with a special destiny?!'"

Dylan wasn't angry at all, because Hawthorne was absolutely right.

Hawthorne bowed humbly and began to recount. "Ever since you were kicked to death like a stray dog in your first Continued Battle, you haven't participated in a single Continued Battle since you came back, and you haven't even explored much outside the region."

"The Gold Badge's strength allows you to easily handle survival challenges posed by ordinary people, just like a top-tier soldier returning home to show off, slap faces, and steal women with ease."

Dylan nodded in agreement. "That was really awesome."

"But if life is always so enjoyable, what's the difference between that and firearms?" Hawthorne suddenly retorted.

Dylan laughed.

"If only I were a firearm, I might have a chance of survival."

The atmosphere between the two turned cold, and they remained silent for a long, long time.

A world is on the verge of destruction, and the so-called glimmer of self-salvation has passed through many hands before finally landing on you.

To grasp this ray of light will cost you your life; even if you succeed by chance, it will only postpone the end of the World Destruction.

The idea of saving the world seems to be a false premise.

You have no idea if that was the dawn, because that light was so filthy, having been soaked in blood for so long, that when it was pulled out it was accompanied by the wails of countless people.

The probability of success is extremely slim; it's no longer a matter of simply throwing human lives into the chasm.

[Integration calculation method unknown]

No one knows exactly what level of achievement is needed to meet the target before the deadline.

Killing Gold Badge with Silver Badge is already an extremely difficult task; the gap between the two is simply too vast.

Pulling out the Rainbow Badge, Gold Badge, and Silver Badges in the Survival Game, you'll find that about one in a thousand Gold Badge a colored badge, while it's possible to get one gold badge out of nearly ten thousand Silver Badges.

The difficulty of achieving the subsequent conditions is increasing, with each step proving more challenging than the last.

It's as difficult as climbing to heaven!

Dylan thought about it for a long time.

Should we sacrifice our decaying lives as fuel for this dying world, in pursuit of that faint hope?

After all, it's just a worthless life.

But I still feel a little reluctant to part with it.

"The Survival System didn't immediately eliminate us, so there must be a chance for us to struggle," Hawthorne said finally, his eyes gleaming with malice.

"You can declare me dead on the World Channel, and I will never speak again. Just consider me dead." Dylan wasn't that noble after all.

He's a coward, and a coward should act like one.

"Please, sir, accept your fate."

Hawthorne offered no further words of persuasion.

Fleets appeared one after another outside Dylan's Sanctuary.

They blotted out the sky, their naval guns gleamed with a dark, accumulating light, and they carried the resolve to die.

There were still more than forty Silver Badge in the area. They had been preparing for a very long time, but they still had no confidence in winning against a Gold Badge who had already fallen into a rut from most of the Survival Games.

But if you don't fight just because you can't win, what's the difference between that and defeat?

Dylan squinted as he was struck by the beautiful, starlight-like beam of light.

He did not resist.

The wave of Silver Badge overtaking Gold Badge has begun.

The kind suppress the tide, the violent slaughter the region, the righteous face death with equanimity, and the lone traveler disappears without a trace.

Some internal conflicts within the Survival World seem to have intensified further after the introduction of the selection mechanism and new Titles.

Worlds that don't meet the standards explode, while worlds that do meet the standards begin to stir.

If I can't beat outsiders, surely I can beat you?