Seeking Meaning

But if things were truly as Bai Ying had deduced, then she would have to face another question.

Was she syncing with a mecha, or with another "pilot"?

If it was the former, then she should have switched to Xingtian's operating perspective by now.

But she was standing in a boundless white void.

"So... I'm in Xingtian's mental space." As soon as Bai Ying realized this, everything around her changed again!

The next second, Bai Ying was standing inside Xuanse Cangqiong's hangar.

A colossal dome a hundred meters high, black-and-red paintwork, enormous fully automated work platforms rising in a ring, and hundreds of lights of varying brightness...

Every detail here was exactly the same as the real base.

The only difference was that, apart from Bai Ying, there wasn't another soul in sight.

Crash!

The sound of surging waves suddenly reached Bai Ying's ears. She spun around and saw that the hangar doors were open!

At the same time, a powerful sense of unease rose within her.

Still, Bai Ying sprinted through the opening and emerged onto the platform stretching for thousands of meters outside the hangar!

There, Bai Ying saw a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Beneath a blood-red sky, Xingtian, painted entirely black, stood where he had fallen before. The whole ocean had turned green from the monsters' blood!

Countless severed limbs floated on the surface, and the monsters' bodies stretched endlessly, like mountain ranges rising from the seabed!

But at Xingtian's feet lay a glaring red mecha.

Bai Ying recognized it at a glance—Crimson Hurricane!

The mighty third-generation mecha had been reduced to a heap of scrap metal. Even its dazzling Tai'a heat sword had been snapped in half, with the broken blade stuck in Crimson Hurricane's own reactor!

When Bai Ying turned around again, she realized that Zhenhai City in the distance had also been reduced to ruins!

"Why..." Bai Ying couldn't understand why she was seeing this scene.

Was this the world Xingtian imagined in his subconscious?

Yet the instant the thought crossed Bai Ying's mind, she clearly heard an answer!

"The monsters are my enemies. So are you."

The one speaking was none other than Xingtian, the giant standing in the green sea!

"So you killed everyone." Bai Ying had already guessed the answer.

"I did."

Xingtian suddenly strode toward Bai Ying, the bloodstained blades of his Slayer arms radiating a bone-chilling cold!

"I burned through the last drop of my blood on the battlefield. But how did you treat me?"

As soon as Xingtian finished speaking, his gleaming armor began to age rapidly, countless battle scars appearing on it like horrifying brands.

Clang!

One of Xingtian's iron arms suddenly broke off. Like a massive tombstone, it crashed into the green sea, sending up a ten-meter wave!

Then his other arm broke off.

Then his head, legs, and waist.

By the time Xingtian fell before Bai Ying, his body had been reduced to scattered fragments. Only the black reactor in his torso continued to run.

"This is the ending I can foresee." Now Xingtian's voice came from every part of the space. "You are my enemies too."

"We don't..."

Before Bai Ying could finish, everything in the space froze in place!

The next second, a gigantic fist closed around Bai Ying's body!

"You aren't?" Xingtian's body was suddenly whole again.

Faced with Xingtian's question, Bai Ying couldn't even speak—her body felt like a tomato about to burst!

"How have you treated me? Even if I never return to the battlefield, you'll use me until I'm broken in the next training session!" Xingtian's grip tightened. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Bai Ying couldn't make a sound, but her lips were still moving. She didn't know whether Xingtian could read lips, but this was the only way she could express herself.

"I'm sorry. Please kill me."

Bang!

At that instant, all the frozen images shattered along with Bai Ying's body, like a bucket of paint knocked over, its colors blending together.

Everything in the world seemed no more than a lifelike painting. With a casual tear from Xingtian, the whole world would change according to his will.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Ying found herself in a cozy room.

She lay drenched in blood on the white tiles, her disheveled white hair covering her fading red eyes.

I'm going to die, aren't I?

Thinking this, Bai Ying's lips curled into a weak smile. Every cell in her body trembled with pain, and perhaps this was what Xingtian had felt whenever she piloted him.

Outside the window stood lush green trees. Bright sunlight fell across a blue desk, where comic books and game discs Bai Ying had never seen before were laid out.

A young man Bai Ying somehow found utterly familiar leaned against the white wall, quietly watching her lie in a pool of blood.

Though Bai Ying had never seen him before, her instincts told her that the person before her was Xingtian.

"What are you smiling about?" Yu Xiao's eyes were black as black holes capable of swallowing light.

"I... I'm sorry... This... is the punishment... I deserve." Bai Ying panted as she gazed at Xingtian with her red eyes. "But... the others... aren't at fault. They... only wanted... to save you."

"Save me?" Yu Xiao stared at Bai Ying with abyssal eyes. "You aimed a heat sword at my reactor. Is that your idea of saving me?"

"We... didn't know... it was... yours." Tears flowed from Bai Ying's eyes, tracing paths through the blood on her face. "We... thought... it was a parasite... and wanted... to remove it."

A barely perceptible glimmer flashed in Yu Xiao's eyes.

"Why should I believe you, a loner everyone calls a madwoman?" Yu Xiao frowned slightly.

"I... have no one... to testify. You... can look through... my memories." The expression on Bai Ying's face filled Yu Xiao with an indescribable sadness. "Or... kill me."

Bai Ying knew that Xingtian's pursuit of the little rabbit came from his hatred of her. If she satisfied Xingtian's wish during the chase, perhaps he would regain his sanity.

Of course, that also meant Bai Ying's consciousness would be gravely damaged, leaving her lost in this space forever.

Yu Xiao narrowed his eyes.

"Do you have any last words?"

"Tell... everyone... you're Xingtian... a living... Xingtian." Relief filled Bai Ying's red eyes. "Then... everyone... won't treat you... like a machine."

Bai Ying's breathing grew weaker, and the cozy home appeared before her eyes once more.

"Mom..."