"Just now was the final song of this performance. Normally, it should be time for everyone to leave, but there are a few things I'd like to say before that."
His tone had not changed. He was still the Chang'an everyone knew.
"Whew, looks like he's fine."
Mobius, who could only watch the livestream because she couldn't get through by phone, let out a sigh of relief. She had no mind to ponder why the call would not connect.
That was completely unimportant.
What mattered was confirming that Ye Chang'an had not become an Arbiter.
Controlling Destruction energy to transmit his voice from Germany to Mu Continent—such control was likely something only an Arbiter could achieve.
She had truly been afraid that Ye Chang'an had turned into an Arbiter.
Fortunately, Ye Chang'an seemed perfectly normal. Other than something apparently being wrong with his eyes.
But it did not matter. As long as he had not become Chang'an Melody, it was okay.
—Come to think of it, with such powerful control, he should be able to fight Arbiters, right?
Mobius began considering a plan to train Ye Chang'an into a warrior.
Meanwhile, Ye Chang'an remained completely unaware. After organizing his words, he calmly began to speak.
"Everyone, I like music. I believe music is the most wonderful thing in this world.
"Music helps people relax, music helps people forget their troubles, and music helps people eliminate illness.
"But those are not the reasons I came to love music. They were merely effects I discovered after falling in love with it."
"Perhaps everyone is wondering why music can eliminate illness?"
Ye Chang'an smiled softly and continued, answering his own question.
"Do you remember the advertisement I filmed last year? It was the only advertisement I have ever filmed, and it was also the first time our Mu Continent brought Destruction Sickness to the big screen.
"Over the past year, all of you have gained at least some understanding of Destruction Sickness. Of course, there are also those who know absolutely nothing about it.
"Here, I can tell everyone clearly."
"Destruction Sickness is an illness that occurs when a new element known as Destruction energy infects the human body. Once the infection exceeds a certain level, it can endanger one's life.
"To cure this illness, our Mu Continent developed a brand-new music therapy and distributed it across the world in the form of records—the Chang'an Melody records.
"The original intention behind this was to help everyone escape illness."
"But!"
His expression became solemn and his voice stern as he continued.
"Some people have used Chang'an Melody records in the wrong way, using their healing effects to conduct human experiments involving Destruction energy.
"Since the records were released, tens of thousands of people around the world have been captured by these people and subjected to inhumane experiments.
"Here, I want to apologize to the victims of those experiments."
"I'm sorry that you suffered because of Chang'an Melody."
Ye Chang'an bowed toward the section where the experiment victims sat. Only after receiving their collective forgiveness did he straighten and continue.
"The past cannot be undone, but it is something that should serve as a warning to all of us.
"To prevent similar tragedies from happening again, our Mu Continent has decided to establish laws for Chang'an Melody. We also hope these laws can be applied in every country.
"This will not be easy, so I hope everyone can lend us their support.
"Thank you."
This was the true reason he had demanded a global livestream: to gather support for the law that would soon be established.
That was why he had to explain its necessity and the dangers involved during the worldwide broadcast.
"If restrictions are not placed on how Chang'an Melody is used, similar victims may appear in the future. There may even be monsters born from those experiments.
"They will wield Destruction energy that we are still unable to control, and then..."
His words suddenly caught. Ye Chang'an felt a little dizzy, shook his head, and continued.
"And then they will bring us disasters beyond imagination."
His head was growing increasingly dizzy, and he was having trouble standing steadily.
"This is not alarmism."
Ye Chang'an staggered two steps, pressed one hand to his forehead, steadied himself, and continued.
"Because I..."
"Dong~ dong~ dong~" The bells of Berlin rang, announcing the arrival of midnight on December 25.
Endless dizziness swept through his mind. Ye Chang'an closed his eyes, concealing his blue irises. When he opened them again, a pair of red eyes bearing strange marks was revealed.
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"This is Destruction!"
An eerie tone carried on from his unfinished words, yet that cold, indifferent voice was completely unlike before.
"Boom~" With a deafening explosion, boundless Destruction energy erupted from Ye Chang'an's body. In an instant, it swept through the nearly one million spectators at the venue and the entire capital of Berlin before spreading across all of Germany.
The First Destruction erupted.
PS: Thanks to @{"reader_id":"6948104","reader_name":"Carefree Heart"} for the bowl of dog food donation. Thank you for helping this book break through zero in donations.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: Humans, Welcome the Trial!
Boundless Destruction energy erupted like a tsunami, crashing in every direction.
Before the nearly one million spectators could even think, they were submerged and corroded by Destruction energy. In a single breath, 99% of them turned into Death Warriors.
The remaining 1% did not escape either, and likewise underwent transformation while submerged in Destruction energy.
They consisted of all the experiment victims and a small number of people who frequently listened to Chang'an Melody. Their higher compatibility with Destruction energy caused them to become beings a level above Death Warriors—Pseudo-Arbiters.
And Ye Chang'an, standing at the center of the stage, was—the First Herrscher.
"Chang'an, Chang'an, Chang'an!"
The Pseudo-Arbiters, who retained a degree of self-awareness, shouted Chang'an's name in unison as they left their seats and rushed toward the stage.
Pseudo-Arbiters throughout Berlin were also hurrying in this direction.
Even the suspended stage could not stop them. They only needed to use the power they had just acquired to reach it easily.
Some leaped into the air, some walked through the sky, and others condensed stairways of ice.
They swarmed onto the stage, and even after it was packed with people, they still did not stop.
Because Maris jumped down from the plane, dropped to one knee, and slapped a hand against the stage. A vast sheet of ice immediately extended outward from the edge of the stage.
As Ye Chang'an's manager who had always remained by his side, her compatibility with Destruction energy was far too high. She had also become the strongest Pseudo-Arbiter.
"Chang'an, Chang'an, Chang'an!"
Thousands of Pseudo-Arbiters climbed onto the stage and the ice, standing neatly before Ye Chang'an and shouting in unison. Like Maris, they dropped to one knee and offered their salute.
Ye Chang'an watched it all unfold with an indifferent expression, then turned his gaze toward the camera.
Before the cameras broadcasting globally, he raised his right hand in an inviting gesture.
"Humans, welcome your trial."
His voice was not loud, yet it spread across the entire world.
Everyone heard those words.
Or rather, Ye Chang'an's voice had been lingering by their ears since the middle of the concert.
It was only that his voice had been gentle then, while now it was filled with mercilessness.
He was not Ye Chang'an.
He was an Arbiter.
The livestream signal cut off, and the internet exploded into chaos.
"My god, what is going on? What did I just see?"
"Oh my god, wasn't that a live broadcast? Why did it look like special effects?"
"What exactly happened to Chang'an? What did he mean by human experiments? And how did they create all those miraculous things at the end?"
The public, who did not understand the situation, heatedly discussed it, while those who did understand were completely frozen.
"How... did this happen..." Mobius slumped into her chair, staring blankly at the image that remained when the signal was cut off.
Arbiter Chang'an.
He faced the camera with an expression utterly unlike before, while thousands of Pseudo-Arbiters stood behind him in formation like an army.
She felt that humanity was probably finished.
They had no chance against the Arbiter Ye Chang'an had become.
Even without the Arbiter, those Pseudo-Arbiters alone would be enough to level the surface of the earth.
"Didn't you tell me the First Destruction would be the easiest one? Wake up and take a look at this!"
"You call this easy?"
Mobius covered her face and sighed miserably when her phone notified her of an incoming call.
It was Eden.
"Mobius, did you watch the livestream? Do you know what happened to Chang'an? What exactly happened to him?"
The moment she answered, she heard Eden's anxious questions. Mobius had no mood to speak.
"He was chosen to become an Arbiter."
Her weak, simple explanation was not enough to dismiss Eden.
"What is an Arbiter? What does it mean that he was chosen? You know something, so tell me quickly..."
Eden did not know anything about the Cocoon of the End. Ye Chang'an had never told her.
For some reason, Mobius suddenly felt a little pleased and regained her spirits.
"An Arbiter is something he once told me about..."
She began revealing a little information to calm Eden, without clearly saying whether Ye Chang'an could return to normal.
Because that was a hopeless answer.
Arbiters were shadows of the Cocoon of the End. The current Ye Chang'an was equivalent to an incarnation of the Cocoon of the End, and it was basically impossible for him to recover.
But Mobius did not believe it.
She did not believe that Ye Chang'an, who could reveal this information, would have no precautions against the Cocoon of the End.
—Maybe he deliberately allowed himself to be chosen.
—He must have a way to regain consciousness.
Mobius convinced herself of this and did everything she could to calm Eden down.
After all, Eden was Ye Chang'an's wife. It would be bad if something happened to her.
Who knew? Maybe the shock would make her not want to come back.
~
~
"This... sigh..." Old K looked at the frozen livestream image, his shock and daze turning into a sigh.
He had not expected things to turn out like this either.
Fortunately, as someone in a high position who had weathered many storms, he quickly calmed down and picked up the phone.
"Notify the Ministry of Defense. They may begin the operation."
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