509. Great Failure

Lu Ban had never imagined what a major failure would look like.

Based on his previous great success, Lu Ban survived by sheer luck when he faced those two Great Being. Although he lost his mind, he did not die; on the contrary, he felt more energetic.

What would happen if there were such a huge failure?

In everyday life, major failures could mean choking to death while drinking water, being electrocuted while taking a shower, or even accidentally causing bronchial problems and sudden death while breathing.

If great success is a good miracle, then great failure is a bad miracle.

Lu Ban felt his whole body boiling. The scorching heat turned his liquid body into gas, the plants withered, and his life force began to completely drain away.

The wormhole in front of us has completely disappeared, severing the connection between this place and the wasteland. Not only that, all the wormholes connecting other alien realms that some unknown being had set up nearby have been destroyed. Centered on that great being, everything within a star system was annihilated in an instant.

Planets, monsters, everything that exists is reduced to the most basic particles and sucked into the black hole.

Lu Ban was no exception.

only.

Death is not a tragic end.

When facing the Old Ones, death can even be considered a mercy.

Lu Ban was already doomed to die if he stayed here, so, under the influence of the Great Failure, Lu Ban is now in a situation even more terrifying than death.

He felt his spirit being kneaded and tormented, like placing the most delicate skin on the roughest sandpaper and rubbing it hard. Even if his will could withstand it, this direct mental whipping still made him instinctively tremble.

His body was almost destroyed, but Lu Ban did not die.

To be precise, his spirit, consciousness, soul—basically, the thing that Lu Ban was called Lu Ban —merged with the remnants of his body.

To Lu Ban's surprise, even in this situation, the Silent Land's system was still functioning normally.

[Item Obtained: Twisted Heart of the Swarm]

"???"

Lu Ban didn't know where he got the [Twisted Heart of the Swarm] from. After thinking about it, he figured it probably mixed with the powder from when he exploded and the Queen of the Swarm was blown up, and thus became one with it.

[Mission Objective: Find Queen Bee 1/1]

[Mission Objective: Survive 0/1]

Incidentally, Lu Ban also saw this explanatory text.

He found it somewhat amusing to see the 0/1 displayed under "Survived".

Soon, Lu Ban sensed the insights of the ancient sages of human civilization into the laws of the universe. In the universe, mass is the cause of gravity. Therefore, Lu Ban, floating in the vacuum of the universe, was drifting towards that huge, ugly, writhing Old Ones.

If he were devoured by this creature, he would gain eternal life but also be completely transformed into a monster, becoming part of this Unnamable Great Being, and losing his right to be human.

"So, the meaning of 'sublimation' literally means that a person will turn into gas?"

Lu Ban could not stop himself from moving toward the Old Ones, just as humans cannot resist gravity.

Its writhing, mud-like appearance, its numerous eyeballs and gaping maw, and its outstretched, waving tentacles drew ever closer, filling the entire space of Lu Ban's consciousness.

Suddenly, Lu Ban heard a strange sound.

From the perspective of the soul, Lu Ban has already lost his hearing. Sound may just be a simple signal to him. Even if he can receive the signal, he cannot distinguish its specific meaning.

But Lu Ban could hear that it was a piece of music.

It's like a piano piece, melodious and lingering, seemingly from ancient times, yet also seemingly right before your eyes.

On a warm autumn afternoon, sunlight streamed into the room through the light curtains. You sat on the soft sofa, idly reading a book about the beauty of youth, and turned to the page where the heroine confessed her love to the hero. At that moment, a melody began to play in your ears.

Lu Ban felt much calmer.

He drifted toward that direction, and soon, a small patch of light entered the radiation range of his soul.

It was like shards of glass, nothing special.

But in this space where even planets have turned to dust, these shards of glass are the greatest anomaly.

Lu Ban touched the shard of glass.

In an instant, his soul was completely purified, as if he were reborn.

[Item Obtained: Fragment of Du Danping's Melody Fragment]

Lu Ban now feels much more at ease with the system's cold and indifferent words.

As he listened to Du Danping's melody, he felt as if he were in another world.

Du Danping had actually been here before.

He looked directly at the Old Ones and even left a melody here.

The seal here is probably not very strong.

Lu Ban thought it was unlikely. Du Danping was at most a powerful Chosen of the Gods, not capable of Old Ones.

Perhaps he came here through the wasteland and left behind a melody to suppress the awakening of the Old Ones.

"Um?"

Lu Ban thought of something.

If his side quest is to find Melody Fragment of Du Danping's melody, then it means he must come here to obtain one of them.

In the face of this Old Ones, Lu Ban's head would definitely explode.

Is this side quest a little too difficult?

He absorbed those Melody Fragment into his soul and felt much better.

However, his soul continued to fall toward the Old Ones without any doubt, and the whispers in his ears became increasingly dense and loud, tormenting his consciousness.

"Degeneration."

"Killing."

"Hungry"

"Indulge, enjoy, celebrate."

"Go to sleep."

Some words entered Lu Ban's mind, causing his soul to swell several times over, filled to the brim with this pollution, and transforming him into the image of that Old Ones.

At this time.

In the distance, the melody emanating from distant, alien stars resonated with the Melody Fragment that Lu Ban had obtained.

Although the two are completely different, one represents the tenderest human emotions, while the other represents the coldest rules of the universe.

The interplay of these two factors calmed Lu Ban's mind.

The next moment, Lu Ban's soul was pulled by something, and in an instant, it was pulled away from the bound deity, transcending the light and entering a state of high-speed movement.

He saw a bizarre and wonderful sight: a bright green light streaked across the sky, crimson stars were huge and quiet, and a sea of mud and a torrent of lava spread out.

He seemed to see a towering palace, towering above countless galaxies, with even the Milky Way being nothing more than a brick in that palace.

Within that palace, an unseen voice played a flute, its melody echoing throughout the universe.

At a higher position

Lu Ban lost consciousness.