Chapter 255

"... That's really quite an outrageous amount of power."

Upon hearing the last sentence, even Su, with his composed personality, couldn't help but widen his eyes. "Now I understand what you meant by taking on this responsibility and needing to be indifferent to fame and fortune."

As long as it is within the scope of one's duties, even the gods will obey one's arrangements. If such exaggerated power were to fall into the hands of an ordinary person, it would probably swell to the heavens in less than a week.

Only a very few people can resist the temptation of power and focus on doing their job well.

"No matter how much you talk, it's all just empty talk. When you actually take action, the difficulties may be more than you imagine."

Ai Yue patted him on the shoulder, "But I believe you can handle it properly, so if you really encounter difficulties that you can't overcome, don't hesitate to come to me directly."

"Don't worry, I certainly won't put on a show when necessary."

Su's expression turned serious again. "I will not let you down."

Ai Yue smiled and nodded, then suddenly said, "I know this is a bit unfair to you. After all, this organization, like the previous Moth to Fire, cannot be made public. So compared to others, you may soon become unknown."

Do you trust your own judgment?

Su simply smiled faintly at this, "If you truly trust your own judgment, then you should understand that I genuinely don't care about these things."

"To quietly watch over the development of civilization in obscurity, I think this is a job that really suits me."

As Su spoke, she reached into her pocket and grasped the badge.

"To be honest, I'm already looking forward to the future."

"In that case, I'll leave the rest to you, Director."

Ai Yue said with a smile, "I'm really looking forward to seeing how you can use these containment objects to help human civilization."

Chapter Nineteen: Moth to Fire - Moving Company Dedicated to Serving You (Nine Thousand)

"You mean you have a way to save us?"

The hunched old man with white hair and beard looked at the smiling young man in front of him and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

"Yes, I can guarantee it,"

The young man, also with white hair but exuding youthful vigor, said with certainty, "However, words alone are obviously not enough to convince people. But in any case, I hope that you, the City Lord, can give the citizens a warning and reassurance in advance."

He looked out the window at the gloomy sky. "After all, there's going to be a very noticeable change soon."

The old man, known as the City Lord, also looked out the window, his thoughts drifting back to a few days earlier.

He still remembers the shock he felt when he saw the intelligence report his subordinates sent him that read, "A stranger has appeared in the city."

Because in this world, the city they live in is the last human settlement—there is no other environment where people can survive.

The City Lord firmly believed in this matter, because it was a fact that had been confirmed only after generations of explorers paid the price of countless lives.

This means that there are fewer than 10,000 people left in the city in the whole world, and in a settlement of this size, a stranger would naturally be extremely conspicuous.

But if the other party is not from outside the city, then they can only be from an even more distant place.

Among the history and knowledge preserved in the City Lord's Mansion, it was mentioned that beyond this world, there is a much wider world, and compared to the outside world, this place is nothing more than crumbs like biscuit crumbs.

Most importantly, since this stranger was able to come here from outside the world, he would naturally be able to find a way to leave as well.

This news was a ray of hope in the face of despair for this settlement, whose survival was uncertain.

The only thing that bothered the City Lord was that he didn't know what kind of person this stranger was, or whether he was good or evil.

If the person is a good person, then even if they are not capable of resolving the city's crisis, at least they won't cause any harm. But if the person is a bad person, then the problem becomes serious.

It was precisely because of these concerns that the City Lord did not contact the other party immediately upon discovering them. Instead, he sent people to observe them and even deliberately created some incidents to test their character.

This behavior was abruptly stopped after the white-haired youth displayed his immense power—when someone possesses the power to overturn an entire city in an instant, his willingness to peacefully coexist with others speaks volumes.

Excessive probing can actually make things worse.

That's how the City Lord met with this young man who called himself "Kevin" today.

The other party immediately and directly stated the dire situation that the city, and even the world, is currently facing.

"This world is on the verge of destruction,"

Kevin stated bluntly, "If this continues, you will be buried in the Sea of Quantum in no more than a month."

"However, I have a way to save you."

And so time returns to the present.

What do you need me to do?

After calming down, the City Lord regained his usual composed demeanor. He looked at Kevin and said earnestly, "I will do my best to cooperate with you."

Seemingly surprised by the old man's decisiveness, Kevin paused for a moment before replying, "I need you to gather the residents together and take temporary shelter in a stable place, because there might be some 'bumps' ahead."

"I see."

The City Lord didn't hesitate and immediately stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll make the arrangements right away. In the meantime, please rest here for a while."

As the City Lord closed the door, Kevin was left alone in the huge office.

"That's really... straightforward."

Kevin gazed in the direction of the gate, as if talking to himself, and said, "You can't tell at all that he's an old man over fifty."

"After all, he is someone who can manage a post-apocalyptic shelter in an orderly manner. In such a difficult and desperate environment, the city can still maintain basic order. He must be a very capable person."

Although there seemed to be no one else in the room, a voice was responding to Kevin's words. "Besides, fifty is also an age for striving, not to mention that the theoretical lifespan of humans in this world can reach one hundred and fifty years. Being in your fifties here is a proper youth."

As the voice echoed, the Moth to Fire badge on Kevin's chest kept flashing, clearly indicating that the other party was communicating with him through this badge.

"However, given the extremely harsh living conditions today, I'm afraid no one can reach this theoretical age—especially this City Lord. He may look healthy, but his body is severely overtaxed. If he doesn't receive timely treatment, he might die before the end of this world."

Kevin could naturally see this as well, after all, he looked so old at just over a third of the theoretical upper limit of his age, which was enough to show how bad his health was.

"It's alright, as long as we can bring them to the real world, then this problem can be solved, right?"

Kevin didn't seem to care, after all, healing physical damage wasn't a big deal for modern Earth civilization. "In short, thanks to your guidance, things went even more smoothly than I expected, Ai Yue."

If Kevin were acting in his usual manner, he would have first infiltrated the city, investigated everything, and then contacted the management. However, after following Ai Yue's advice, he chose this more high-profile approach to proactively attract the management's attention.

After he demonstrated his abilities, the other party sent an invitation almost immediately.

"After all, this world is already on the verge of collapse. Apart from this city, the rules in other places have completely collapsed. Even if you are just a straw, they will hold on to you tightly."

Ai Yue said with a smile, "What's more, you've proven that you're actually a powerful asset, so of course they'll be eager to cling to you."

"What kind of big shot am I? I'm just a pioneer exploring the way."

Kevin said with a hint of helplessness, "If you hadn't been unwilling to step in, you should have handled this matter yourself, right?"

As the first attempt to retrieve the World Bubble from the Sea of Quantum, theoretically, it would have been safer for Ai Yue to handle the task personally. However, he delegated all the tasks to others, only placing a "camera" on Kevin to observe, which is why Kevin had to be cautious.

After all, they had no experience exploring the Sea of Quantum. Before arriving here, they had to undergo emergency training before they could be put to work. If anything went wrong, thousands of lives could be lost in their hands.

"This is clearly a chance for you to make your mark. Besides, the 'Sea Urchin Plan' is a long-term project, and more people will join in the future. I can't always be the one to demonstrate, can I?"

Ai Yue casually remarked, "You're the first batch of coaches, so keep up the good work."

"But we don't have much experience after all..."

"That's why I chose such a tiny World Bubble,"

Ai Yue interrupted Kevin directly, "With only a few thousand people, even if something goes wrong during the transfer, you can just take them out. The only problem is that you won't get the World Bubble; there won't be any loss."

The Sea Urchin Plan, officially known as the "Sea of Quantum Sinking World Bubble Salvage Project," aims to salvage World Bubble that are on the verge of being completely destroyed by the Sea of Quantum, in order to save the survivors and their civilizations.

The World Bubble Kevin in, designated "HDL-001," is the one with the shortest remaining time and the lowest salvage cost among all the World Bubble that humans can currently observe. It is perfect for newcomers to practice on.

In Ai Yue's plan, this project can not only save the lives of many innocent people, but also serve as a stage for the re-employment of Fused Warrior, allowing those warriors who seem out of place in peacetime to once again shine with their light and heat.

Just as Rin had told him before, Sakura's behavior after the war was not an isolated case. Many Fused Warrior were mentally unstable because their self-perception was distorted during peacetime.

After all, given the current state of human civilization, they seem to have lost their value, but simply becoming ordinary is not something everyone can do.

In this context, it becomes essential to assign them new responsibilities and missions.

Of course, these are all things for later. The most important thing right now is to properly handle the first World Bubble that the Sea Urchin Plan has encountered.

"You're right, after all, it's just saving the world, and it's not the first time we've done something like this."

Kevin quickly composed himself and shook his head. "It's probably because this is my first time encountering an unfamiliar civilization, so I'm feeling a bit anxious and uncertain."

This sentiment is understandable, after all, Kevin is now facing the only survivors of a civilization that fell into the Sea of Quantum. In a sense, their weight is equal to that of Earth's civilization.

The life or death of such a civilization depended on his performance, and this was the first time Kevin had ever experienced such immense pressure.

After all, he wasn't the one primarily responsible when facing the Honkai. Both Ai Yue, who was in charge of the fallout, and the United Earth Government, which coordinated civilizations, faced greater pressure than he did.

Perhaps only Kevin, the one who carried out the Stigmata Project in the original timeline, could handle this situation with such ease.

"Then you'd better adapt quickly, because there will be many more similar things in the future."

Ai Yue said with a smile, "Oh, Cosmo asked me to tell you that the 'container' is ready and can be loaded onto the truck at any time."

The salvage plan is divided into three phases: "Loading", "transportation", and finally "unloading". Loading is the first phase, which can be roughly understood as Kevin using his power to wrap the World Bubble and then stabilize it on the Cosmo, so that it can move by using the Cosmo's properties.

In this process, Kevin's role was to temporarily transform his power into the "underlying rules" that constructed this World Bubble, in order to ensure that this precarious World Bubble would not collapse and disintegrate prematurely due to their actions.

However, Kevin still had many unanswered questions about this underlying rule—after all, the temporary training only briefly told him the precautions for operating in the Sea of Quantum, and this part was simply glossed over with statements such as "you can just use your own power to envelop the world when the time comes."

"Simply put, you can understand the 'underlying rules' of the World Bubble as the basic framework that keeps the building sturdy,"

Since he had nothing better to do, Ai Yue simply began to explain, "The impact of the Sea of Quantum on the World Bubble is like the impact of an earthquake or hurricane on a building. In this process of wear and tear, the underlying rules will gradually collapse."

"And once the underlying rules collapse, the World Bubble they protect will also collapse, right?"

Kevin then realized, "The more central part of a building is, the better protected it is by the rules, so it is often the last part to collapse, just like this city."

What is the scene outside this city like? I'm afraid almost no one among the local residents today could answer that, but Kevin, as an outsider, sees it all clearly.

Outside this city, which is firmly protected by city walls, everything is completely gray and white. The earth, the sky, the trees... they still retain their basic appearance, but have lost their original colors.

The reason why the gloomy sky can still be seen from inside the city is only due to the one-sided filter created by the rules. The city has not been exposed to the brilliance of stars for a long time, so much so that everyone's eyesight has deteriorated considerably.

More importantly, even this grayish-white area is only slightly larger than the city; further out, there is nothing at all.

"Yes, this city is located at the core of the World Bubble's underlying rules, but those rules are already crumbling."

Ai Yue agreed, saying, "When you first entered the city, didn't you hear that some people have gone missing in the last few days? That's because the instability of the rules caused cracks to appear inside the World Bubble, and those who unfortunately touched them were swept into the Sea of Quantum."

Kevin couldn't help but sigh as he recalled the disappearances where he was almost blamed.

Fortunately, once he entered, he immediately unleashed his power, stabilizing the final rules. Otherwise, who knows how many more people would have perished in those few days.

Thinking of this, Kevin closed his eyes and began to sense the power he had left in this world.

Although it might be a futile effort, he still increased the energy output in an attempt to reinforce the rules of this World Bubble.

After an unknown amount of time, the City Lord finally returned to his office. "Mr. Kevin, everyone has gathered and we are ready. What about you?"

"I understand, please wait a moment."

Kevin opened his eyes, then stood up. "Lord City Lord, before we proceed, I must confirm with you one last time: are you truly willing to believe me?"

"Now that things have come to this, even if there's only an abyss behind you, could the outcome be any worse than it is now?"

The old man gave a helpless smile. "I don't actually know how long a month is, as you mentioned before, but we have our own ways of confirming the lifespan of this world, so I think there's no need to say more, right?"

"That's true."

Kevin nodded. "So, does the rest of the population know the truth?"

Although the city had long since fallen into despair and numbness, Kevin discovered from his observations over the past few days that the residents still held a glimmer of hope for the future, which was clearly a means for the City Lord to maintain order.

Even the old man in front of him probably couldn't believe that hope would actually appear before him one day.

Thinking of this, Kevin couldn't help but smile subtly. The City Lord was using a very traditional method. Through a series of actions, he made the residents believe that there had been extremely accurate prophecies in history. In these prophecies, when the world was truly facing destruction, messengers of God would descend to help them overcome the calamity and be reborn.

In a sense, Kevin was indeed a messenger of God—if the City Lord hadn't admitted it was a lie, even Ai Yue would have believed that someone comparable to Aponia had been born in this world.

"Not yet. I think this news is too exciting, and informing everyone too early might cause confusion."

The City Lord stated bluntly, "Anyway, if we can survive this calamity, we'll have plenty of time to process the truth; if we can't, then the truth will naturally be meaningless."

"That's true."

Kevin paused slightly, having received new information from Ai Yue, and then stopped chatting. "Then please go and look after everyone. There may be some unusual phenomena later, but once things calm down, a brand new future will unfold."

After the City Lord left again, Kevin also disappeared from the room.

His figure transformed into a warm source of light, hovering above the city, allowing the long-lost light to shine upon it once more.