[Three hundred and seventy million lingering wills, or this fragment. You can take only one.]
Lin Ye's pupils contracted slightly.
[You can take this fragment. It will make you the true Lord of Embers and give all the civilizations whose lingering wills you carry a chance to return. But the price is-these three hundred and seventy million must stay.] [Because the fragment itself is the crystallization of their lingering wills. Once you take it, they will dissipate completely. Not even their lingering wills will remain.] [Or-]
The Blueprint Projection's light dimmed slightly.
[You can choose to take them. Abandon the fragment. Then leave this place with these three hundred and seventy million lingering wills. Never set foot on the First Era Battlefield again.] [In exchange, I can guarantee that the Archivist Network will not initiate Ultimate Erasure against the New Era Network during your lifetime.]
Lin Ye fell silent.
Behind him, three hundred and seventy million streams of light froze at once.
They watched that purple-and-gold figure from behind, waiting for the answer that would decide their fate.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Lin Ye spoke.
Instead of answering the Blueprint Projection's question, he asked another:
"Why are you giving me this choice?"
The Blueprint Projection's form faltered slightly.
[Because-]
"Because you can't do it." Lin Ye interrupted it, a faint smile curling his lips. "You've suppressed three hundred and seventy million civilizations for endless eras, yet you've never been able to make them disappear completely. Their lingering wills are too strong. So strong that even the Blueprint's ultimate rules can't erase them entirely."
"You thought they would slowly dissipate with time. But they didn't. They supported one another, entrusted themselves to one another, remembered