You Have a New Job (Continued)
However, the dense concentration of equipment did not cause any chaos, and the roads leading to the central area were easy to distinguish.
It didn't take Anqi long to reach the central open space that resembled some kind of altar.
There, Apponia knelt on the ground, her hands in a prayer-like gesture.
She had her eyes closed and her head slightly bowed.
Yet that flawless face, that full and proud figure, and that milk-white skin—so lifelike, as if it were not a corpse that had been kneeling there for 50,000 years, but a living person.
The scene, both beautiful and deeply sorrowful, left Anqi speechless.
"Apponia is dead..."
Nothing could better prove this fact than the breathtakingly beautiful yet lifeless scene before us.
"But Apponia is still alive, in the Land of the Past, and in my heart."
Anqi sighed deeply.
After a long period of mixed feelings, Anqi put aside her distracting thoughts and walked up to Apponia.
"Alright, let's get down to business. Next up is the developer conference!"
Anqi rubbed her hands together expectantly.
"Smack!"
Then, reason made her slap herself.
"No, no, it's time to accept Apponia's kindness!"
Anqi patted her face and calmed down.
That was enough of the antics. Anqi took out her core, bent down slightly, and placed it on the hearts of the Apponia people.
The red gemstone melted away and instantly entered the soulless body.
"This is... Apponia's perspective?"
Anqi's vision blurred for a moment, and she vaguely saw a blurry silhouette on her own body and on the body of Apponia in front of her.
It was incredibly strange, yet I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Anqi shook her head, looking at Apponia in front of her, or rather, her own clone, knowing that this special ability could probably only be fully displayed on her at present.
"Call--"
After 50,000 years, Apponia, who had been asleep for so long, slowly opened her soft and beautiful sapphire-like eyes.
"The threads of fate..."
"You saw it?"
"As Apponia said, cause and effect, fate are intertwined with us. We have directly intervened in many tragedies and have held real power in the three anti- Honkai organizations in different forms. The fate and future of the entire civilization are tied to us."
"This..."
Anqi frowned slightly, finally fully understanding what Apponia meant by "heavy".
Throughout history, no civilization has ever held such power over the entire world as Anqi. Otto before the birth of Anti-Entropy came close, but his ambitions lay elsewhere; he was more focused on his own obsessions and a desire to "retreat into his own little world and be oblivious to the changing seasons." As for today, after all the changes, the situation is vastly different.
Anqi, one of a kind.
Holding such power, deciding the course of an entire civilization entirely by one person, how could such a fate not be heavy?
"... The maintenance of the Land of the Past and the research into these abilities will depend on you from now on."
"I understand, everything is to make fate work as we wish."
From your current perspective, do you think we can succeed?
"I can't see it. The thread leads to nothingness, which could be the infinite distance or the not-too-distant future... It's broken."
The two Anqi looked at each other.
A moment later, they all laughed.
On this path, you either transcend everything or you're like a moth drawn to a flame; there's no possibility of compromise.
Isn't this a fact that we already knew?
"You've had a tough time. You'll be staying here for a long time to come. As part of the Land of the Past, you can't leave."
"Yes, it's alright. We are all one. Wherever you are, I will be. Physical stillness does not affect the freedom of thought."
Apponia Anqi smiled gently, just like the real Apponia.
"One last question: based on what you see of destiny, how far are we from the Chimera Project?"
"...soon."
Apponia Anqi smiled.
Anqi nodded, and the next second, her pure white body turned into specks of light and disappeared from this space where reality and illusion intersected.