Lose Self

"Alpha..." Bai Xiaowen murmured the name, then looked around. "Are you alone?"

Mist Person Alpha replied, "I am the representative. We are all here."

As that Thought Wave arrived, cloaked Mist Persons materialized one after another around Bai Xiaowen.

Xia Feng was slightly tense, gripping the hilt of his blade. Remembering what Bai Xiaowen had said—that these "Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators" had combat strength close to zero in their true forms—he relaxed a little.

Bai Xiaowen swept his gaze around before nodding to Alpha. "You once sent someone to snipe me?"

Alpha did not deny it at all. "Yes."

"Why target me?" Bai Xiaowen already had some guesses about this question. He was asking now only to confirm them.

Alpha said, "To stop you from reaching this place."

What nonsense... Bai Xiaowen was momentarily speechless. Still, judging from the Thought Wave, Alpha's attitude was quite sincere, without any malicious mockery.

"What does my arrival mean to you?" Bai Xiaowen could only press further. "Why have you targeted me so much more fiercely than anyone else?"

Alpha said, "First, your arrival means 'Lose Self' to us. Second, you are the most special one. You pose a far greater threat than the others... and the facts have proven it."

"Lose Self? Can you explain that in detail?" Bai Xiaowen sensed that he was approaching the truth.

Alpha asked, "Do you know of the Creator?"

"I do. The Creation God. It entered slumber after creating the world." Bai Xiaowen had heard this history back in the Ancient Antahe Kingdom.

Alpha said, "The Creator did not enter slumber. It divided itself. Its flesh became the vast starfields and countless Living Beings of the Land of Origin, while its Mental Thoughts divided into us. What you possess is one of its eyes, and also the key to its awakening."

"You were formed from the Creator's Spiritual Will?" Bai Xiaowen was startled. This was a genuine secret, one he had never known.

But on second thought, it made sense. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators like Alpha could command the Native Monsters of the Land of Origin. After all, the spirit could command the flesh. Yet they had no authority to control Living Beings not from the Land of Origin, such as outsiders like them.

As for the Eye of Evolution being the Creator's eye, Bai Xiaowen had already made that guess, so he was not too surprised.

Alpha said, "Yes."

"Why did the Creator split apart?" Bai Xiaowen pressed.

Alpha said, "We cannot answer that either. After all, we are not the Creator's complete consciousness, merely manifestations of scattered thoughts. We are responsible only for maintaining the operation of the Spirit Realm left behind by the Creator."

Just as Bai Xiaowen had guessed, the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators were actually agents of the Spirit Realm Rules, much like GMs in a large game. They possessed certain authority to manipulate the game, but could not bypass the established Spirit Realm Rules.

Alpha continued, "Your arrival may bring about the Creator's awakening. And when the Creator awakens, it will inevitably absorb and merge all of us, causing us to Lose Self."

"So that's how it is." Bai Xiaowen finally understood why the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators had always wanted to stop him. These tools had developed independent consciousness. "You did not have Self-Awareness from the beginning, did you?"

Alpha made a nodding motion. "At first, we had no Self-Awareness. We were merely tools maintaining the operation of the various planes of the Spirit Realm. But as the Plane Worlds operated, we witnessed too many partings and reunions, joys and sorrows, loves and hates, and gradually developed Self-Awareness. Moreover, after every Great Unification of the Spirit Realm, the Light of Comprehension produced would gather here. We would gain further insights from it, strengthening the existence of our Self-Awareness and protecting us from the Creator's assimilative influence."

Bai Xiaowen recalled that tiny point of light he had seen during the Great Unification. So that was the Light of Comprehension formed afterward.

"Are you still going to stop me now?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

Alpha said, "Yes."

"Your true forms have no combat power, and the Native Monsters of the Land of Origin are not here either... Well, aside from this Crow. But it is in a parasitic state, so its combat strength is about five. Therefore, you probably have no force capable of stopping me."

Demon Fire Crow Luo Xie Er had been keeping its head tucked in and pretending to be a sickly chicken. At those words, its green eyes immediately rolled white.

Even if I weren't in a parasitic state, would my true body here have the power to stop you? Christos, you freak whose combat strength has skyrocketed!

Alpha "looked" at Demon Fire Crow Luo Xie Er once, while the Thought Wave it transmitted remained calm. "No. I merely wish to tell you something."

"The Creator's awakening means Lose Self to us. To you, it likewise means Lose Self."

"So go back. Letting the Creator sleep forever would be the wiser choice for you."

With those words, a doorway lit up within the Space-Time Grid beside Alpha. It was a Plane Gate leading to the Spirit Realm.

"As part of the bargain, after you leave the Land of Origin, we will provide you with corresponding support within the scope permitted by the rules, ensuring that your future explorations of the Spirit Realm proceed without hindrance."

Xia Feng stared at Bai Xiaowen in astonishment. The information Alpha had brought was simply too shocking.

Xia Feng had been so stunned that he was nearly numb, but the new revelation that Bai Xiaowen would Lose Self successfully snapped him back to his senses. "Then... why would the Creator's awakening make Bai Xiaowen Lose Self?"

Alpha "said" calmly, "As I said before, the Creator's flesh has become the Land of Origin. Its revival therefore naturally requires a physical vessel. Bai Xiaowen, who possesses the eye, is naturally the best vessel."

"How could this happen... What should we do?" Xia Feng had completely lost his bearings.

In Xia Feng's view, the Creator should have the power to "revive Bai Xiaohua." In other words, the Land of Origin Invitation had not lied; Explorers could fulfill their wishes.

But if that wish required Bai Xiaowen's sacrifice as the price... what did that mean? Did the God of Truth faction actually support the Creator's revival, concealing the truth from him and Bai Xiaowen for that very purpose? While the God of Shadows, the God of Curses, and the others were instead the faction trying to prevent the Creator's revival?

"I'm going in."

Bai Xiaowen spoke calmly.

Xia Feng: !!!

Alpha let out a sigh. "Perhaps this is fate. The Creator's awakening cannot be reversed." His figure gradually faded away.

The figures of the other Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators also gradually disappeared.

Xia Feng could not help speaking up. "You... you're just letting us pass? You won't try to fight for it anymore?"

An ethereal Thought Wave arrived. "Our combat power here is close to five. We have no ability to block the way. Since he has already prepared to sacrifice himself, all we can do is wait for fate to return."

Xia Feng followed behind Bai Xiaowen, the conflict in his heart plainly written across his face.

"Hey, have you really decided to enter the Central Hub? I think Alpha was telling the truth..."

"It was the truth." Bai Xiaowen answered without turning around. "But I have reasons I must go in. Didn't I leave contingencies behind as well? You should understand."

The light drew closer and closer. The two stepped forward together, leaving that twisted space-time and vanishing into the radiance at the entrance to the Central Hub.