Those densely packed little holes around the outskirts were spring eyes he had once opened up. They weren't worth exploring.
Only this abyss seemed incredibly suspicious.
"My sea of consciousness was probably drained dry by you."
He muttered, making the Path of the End take the blame.
Just as he prepared to fly down and investigate, 001 issued a warning.
"Host, please do not enter the Path of the End. Once you enter, the simulation cannot be ended normally."
"Just what I want!"
Ignoring everything, Ye Chang'an plunged headfirst into the abyss.
His stamina seemed to be draining rapidly, but it was soon replenished.
He had the support of several million people.
001 was utterly helpless and warned him again. "Host, immediately stop this suicidal behavior. If you don't turn back now, you won't be able to end the simulation."
Before, it had been that he could not end it normally. Now, he could not end it at all.
Ye Chang'an really was courting death now.
"I haven't wanted to end the simulation since five years ago."
From the moment he accepted Eden, he had never considered returning to Tai Xu Mountain.
Compared to eight years on Tai Xu Mountain and more than a decade in this world, it went without saying which side he felt more attached to.
"Host, you will die. Even if you reclaim your body, you will have less than a week left to live."
"Hehe, 001, thank you for telling me such good news. Now I know my choice won't fail."
Ye Chang'an smiled as he thanked it, because the possibility 001 had presented was the best guidance he could have received.
He had not been sure whether this would work, but now he was.
001 could not persuade him, and he had already lost his chance to turn back.
"Ahh..." With a helpless sigh, 001 fell silent. Ye Chang'an finally reached the bottom of the abyss as well.
"001, can you tell me where this is?" he shamelessly asked.
"...The Cocoon of the End." The reluctant answer did not surprise Ye Chang'an.
He had already suspected it when he heard the term Path of the End. Now, he had received confirmation.
"How do I reclaim my body? Tell me that too, while you're at it." His skin was truly thick.
"Leave this place, and you will see many Lines of the End. Find the one that belongs to you."
Ye Chang'an did as instructed. He picked a direction and walked for some distance. After passing through some kind of barrier, the darkness around him abruptly gave way to light.
He found himself in a pure white space. The walls and floor were all white, and the only different colors were black lines plunging into the ground one after another.
From afar, they looked like lines. Up close, they looked like roads.
Because they were exactly the same as the Path of the End Ye Chang'an had taken down here.
"The Lines of the End and the Path of the End are the same thing?"
"...The Lines of the End are pathways extended by the Cocoon of the End when it embraces reality. Their endpoints are the Arbiter Cores inside Arbiters."
001 explained, but did not explicitly say what the Path of the End was.
Ye Chang'an did not care. He simply assumed they were the same thing and did not dwell on it, beginning his search for the Line of the End that belonged to him.
From 001's explanation, he inferred that the Cocoon of the End controlled Arbiters and occupied their bodies through this method, like remotely controlling puppets.
If he found the line controlling him, he could either pull out the connection on the Cocoon of the End's side or go to the Arbiter Core and pull out the connection there.
Relatively speaking, the latter had a higher chance of success.
The former meant facing the End directly, while the latter only required dealing with a projection of the Cocoon of the End.
And after removing the connection from the Arbiter Core, he could regain control of his body.
That was the best choice.
But...
"There are way too many Lines of the End. Which one is mine?"
He could not tell. Every Line of the End looked exactly the same.
As he was fretting, singing reached his ears. It was Eden's voice.
It came from one particularly thick Line of the End.
"Hehe..." Ye Chang'an laughed and walked straight toward that Line of the End.
"001, thank you for letting me experience such a wonderful life."
PS: Don't ask where the falling Elysia went. She crashed into the interior of the Cocoon of the End.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: First Herrscher, You're Surrounded. Surrender.
"Answer me, Elysia!"
Touched by the song, Mobius could not help shouting. Only after shouting did she frown and cover her mouth.
She was a little unhappy. Somehow, saying it aloud made her feel uncomfortable.
She thought about it, then realized why she felt uncomfortable... Ye Chang'an actually liked other girls too.
Even she could feel the emotions contained in that song. How could she possibly feel good about it?
Come to think of it, Eden can hear this song too, right?
Thinking of that, Mobius could not help turning to look at Eden beside her. She vaguely felt that Eden's hair color could use a swap with her own.
Green suited her quite well. At least then she would not need to wear a hat.
Amid those strange thoughts, she suddenly saw Eden crying and panicked a little.
"Eden, you..."
She opened her mouth to offer comfort, but had no idea what to say.
Good heavens, she had never been in love. How was she supposed to know how to comfort a woman who had discovered her husband was cheating on her?
Think, think, Mobius. Put that genius brain of yours to work.
After racking her brains, an idea flashed through her mind. She continued, "Have you figured out how to answer him?"
"Hm? Answer what?" Eden wiped away her tears and looked at Mobius in confusion, not understanding.
She had not actually thought Ye Chang'an was cheating. She was merely crying for the flowerlike girl in the song.
Her sensitivity to music allowed her to sense more from the song, which was why she reacted that way.
As for the affection for Elysia that Ye Chang'an had poured into the song... that was not really a problem. She liked Elysia too.
Mobius did not understand that, so she comforted her by switching concepts. "That line just now. Didn't Chang'an ask you to answer him?"
"Uh, Mobius, Chang'an was asking Elysia to answer him."
"No, he meant you." Mobius shook her head and continued, "Haven't you noticed? The lyrics were in English, but the final line was in the common language of Mu Continent.
In Mu's common language, Elysia carries the meaning of paradise, of an earthly haven.
And in biblical doctrine, Eden also refers to the paradise God created for humanity.
So Chang'an was asking you to answer him just now."
Smart people were clever indeed. That switch in concepts actually seemed flawless.
Of course, Eden was not foolish. She knew Mobius was only trying to comfort her. With a bitter smile, she said, "Let's say that's true. But how am I supposed to answer him?"
"Right now, I don't even know what happened to him, where he is, whether he's safe..."
Once she started, she could not stop. Eden truly was worried about Chang'an.
After all, this was the first time she and Ye Chang'an had been separated since getting married, and something this serious had happened.
Her heart was about to break.
"Um... answer..." Mobius was troubled, because she did not know how to contact Ye Chang'an either.
But since this was Ye Chang'an, she felt there was one method worth trying.
"Eden, sing. He'll definitely be able to hear you."
A message conveyed through song should naturally be answered with song.
Eden liked that romantic approach, so she began to sing.
But she received no response.
Mu Continent had entered December 26. Eleven hours had passed since Ye Chang'an became an Arbiter, and after that one song, no sound had come through again.
Eden was anxious. Eden was afraid.
Because she did not even know the situation of Arbiter Chang'an.
All online information had been blocked, and the war zone was limited to the Arbiter civil war within Germany.
The battle between several thousand Pseudo-Arbiters and the First Herrscher was still ongoing.
Eden was frantic, but fortunately Mobius comforted her and told her to livestream her singing.
She followed the suggestion. Watching Eden sing earnestly on-screen, Old K made a decision.
"Have the frontline troops set up internet access and screens. Watch this livestream, and turn the volume all the way the hell up."
It was an absurd decision, but it was carried out nonetheless.
Old K did not know whether it would work, but he could only give it a hopeful try.
The Arbiter civil war shown through satellite footage was simply too terrifying. He could not imagine how humanity could possibly defeat such monsters.
If the Pseudo-Arbiters had not defected, they likely would not even have lived to see today's sun.
That Arbiter could create millions of weapons with a single thought.
And not just firearms. A shell fired by some disobedient, rogue soldier had been copied and put to use by the Arbiter on the spot.
Tens of thousands of shells blanketed the battlefield in wave after wave as if they cost nothing, and they still failed to kill those Pseudo-Arbiters.
If those shells were unleashed upon humanity, the entire planet would be turned over.
This simply isn't an enemy humanity can defeat.
The terror was beyond comprehension. Every United Nations bigwig in the command room had been stunned into silence.
So Old K could only place his hopes on Eden's livestream and send her singing somewhere the Arbiter could hear it.
And it was precisely because of this that Ye Chang'an heard Eden's voice within the Cocoon of the End.
The Lines of the End were bridges connecting the cocoon and the Arbiters. Naturally, they transmitted everything the Arbiters saw and heard.
Ye Chang'an arrived beside the thickest Line of the End.
"When the stars grow dim
When the wine cup runs dry
My king
Why do you still remain in this desolate kingdom?"
Eden's distinctive voice entered his ears. Ye Chang'an smiled and, without hesitation, plunged inside.
"You chose correctly, but what awaits you may be an ending full of regrets."
001 sighed. Ye Chang'an only smiled, saying nothing as he leaped into the air and joined the song.
"To await the triumphant hymn
To seek out the truth."
Before you continue