Ember Era

Harmonic Leaptone froze.

She suddenly understood—Lin Ye was not wasting time. He was giving every civilization a chance to speak. Three hundred and seventy million civilizations, each with its own name, history, and pride. They needed to be heard, respected, and remembered.

This was true "consensus"—not everyone agreeing on the same answer, but everyone being allowed to speak their own answer.

The argument continued until the fourteenth day.

All three hundred and seventy million civilizations expressed their opinions. Some were impassioned, some gentle; some spoke at great length, while some said only a single word. The Resonance Network recorded every statement. It was the longest meeting record since the birth of the universe.

On the morning of the fifteenth day, the arguments began to quiet down.

Not because they had run out of strength, but because—they discovered that every name made sense.

"Radiant Era" was not wrong. The moment of return truly was radiant.

"Eternal Era" was not wrong either. Every civilization longed for eternity.

"Return Era" was even less wrong. Return was their greatest common ground.

Yet none of the names was enough. Radiance would fade, eternity did not exist, and return was only a beginning, not an end.

On the sixteenth day, the representative of the oldest civilization spoke. It was the oldest among the 6,217 civilizations Lin Ye had saved from the Taotie Court. Its existence had faded to the point of being nearly unrecognizable, yet its words brought all three hundred and seventy million civilizations to silence.

"This old one remembers... in the endless eras ago... on the First Epoch Battlefield... the word we shouted at the very end..."

Every civilization listened.

"King."

Dead silence.

"Not Ember. It was 'King.' After the burning, nothing remained. But we knew that King was not the end. King was