The laboratory was deathly silent.
Only the constantly shifting virtual images floated quietly in the air.
Bathed in deep blue light, they seemed to silently display the terror of the future.
The brief silence passed.
Lin An turned his head toward Klein.
Under Klein's somewhat surprised gaze, Lin An slowly spoke.
"I admit I can't survive."
"But that only represents the present."
"It's still the same question."
"If reaching the Fifth Order means a higher difficulty, then the Fifth Order is simply a path to death. We might as well all run away."
"But why is everyone still pursuing greater strength? You, the civilization behind you, Advanced Humans, including every race I've encountered—everyone is pursuing greater power."
"This isn't certain death. It's only more difficult. That's fair."
As he spoke, Lin An drew a deep breath, then simply removed his mask and looked seriously at Klein.
"In essence, the difficulty is still the same."
"When I was weak, I was also terrified the first time I encountered a Meme Doll."
"I was nearly killed by a Second Order Mutant once. That battle was just as unsolvable for me."
"I've died at the hands of Supernatural Events. Perhaps a hundred times, perhaps a thousand."
"When I first saw the Xenomorph Emperor, I also thought I had no chance of defeating him. But I could only force myself through that gate and stake my life on the fight."
"I've died many times."
"But in the end, I still survived."
When his voice fell, Lin An's gaze was resolute, as though even after learning all this, it still hadn't affected his choice.
The difficulty was the same.
When he was weak, his enemies were weak. When he became strong, his enemies grew stronger. In this Doomsday, all he could do was stake his