Blueprint's form trembled violently:
[Impossible... I clearly erased him completely...]
"What you erased was his existence," Lin Ye said softly. "But his resolve had long since split into three parts. One went to the Memory Corridor, one to the three hundred and seventy million civilizations, and one-to you."
"You thought you devoured him, but he willingly merged with you. He stayed inside you for endless eras. He was waiting."
Blueprint's body began to shake violently.
The threads of rules entwined around it began to snap, one by one.
From every severed thread, a stream of light burst forth-the resolve of the civilizations it had devoured, beginning to awaken under the First Man's guidance.
[No... impossible... this defies logic...]
For the first time, panic crept into Blueprint's voice.
Lin Ye shook his head gently.
"Logic? You were wrong from the very beginning. The essence of existence was never logic."
He raised his hand and pointed behind Blueprint-
There, three hundred and seventy million stars slowly revolved, their light weaving into a scene that spanned the Void: countless civilizations being reborn, countless living beings laughing, countless beings embracing one another.
Blueprint turned and looked at the scene.
For the first time, its form wavered.
[What... is this...]
"This is what they've been waiting for you to see." Lin Ye walked to its side. "You feared disappearing, so you did everything you could to erase them. But did you ever consider-if you didn't erase them, they could exist alongside you?"
Blueprint fell silent.
After a long time, it spoke, its voice sounding for the first time like that of a true "being," rather than a mass of cold order:
[But... it's already too late... I've erased too much... they won't forgive me...]
Lin Ye said