Chapter 26

"Heavens..." Mizuki Tsujimura was momentarily at a loss for words. "He, he... really is incredible."

With such determination and perseverance, and such faith in humanity, An Xinyi deserved their admiration.

"I want to be his friend." Suehiro Tecchou, who had been staring blankly at the screen without a word since the viewing began, suddenly spoke up. He pointed at the screen. "Where can I find him?"

Saigiku Jono rolled up a stack of papers and smacked him in the face. Ignoring Suehiro Tecchou's bewildered look, he sneered, "Keep dreaming."

Teruko Okura clasped her hands together. "If he were in our world, I'd definitely try to recruit him. He'd make a great teammate!"

"Haha, good idea." Fukuchi Ochi laughed in agreement.

"...I'm sorry, sir. I really am not mature enough yet." After a long silence, DD took the initiative to apologize.

In fact, DD already had enough emotional templates, but by human standards, she was still only a child.

An Xinyi smiled. His smile was like a spring breeze, like summer waters, letting others feel the gentleness and strength within him. In truth, if he went out without disguising or concealing himself, his presence alone would have been enough to move people.

It was an open-mindedness and resilience forged through all the despair in the world. DD was certain that no one else like him existed.

Suddenly, she regained some confidence in fighting the apocalypse. Yes, An Xinyi's existence was already a miracle in itself. If even An Xinyi couldn't do it... how could that possibly be?

"DD." Even his voice was so gentle. An Xinyi was truly a very forgiving person; after all, he had been through far too much. "I understand. This is difficult."

Yes, he knew better than anyone just how difficult, even hopeless, fighting the apocalypse could be.

"But you'll grow with me and face it with me, won't you, DD?"

"You're my comrade-in-arms, my fellow traveler, my accomplice."

DD sighed. "I have to say, sir, no one could refuse you when you say something like that."

An Xinyi truly possessed an extraordinary charisma that could move others, though he rarely used it.

"Of course, sir. I will always remain loyal to you and give everything for humanity's survival."

That was also the mission she had been created for.

"...I really don't know how to describe it." Yuji Itadori scratched his head. "He's so admirable that I don't even know how to praise him."

"They put everything on the line to save humanity long ago," Megumi Fushiguro couldn't help saying. "Incredible."

Masamichi Yaga was even more effusive in his praise. "With such superhuman willpower and drive, if they can't succeed, then something must be wrong with that world." Even Jujutsu Sorcerers, for whom a death without regrets did not exist, couldn't match their resilience.

"Tch." Satoru Gojo, however, didn't look pleased. "So this is the charm of the king of seduction." He could charm absolutely anyone he wanted! Did anyone still remember that this guy called himself a villain?

"Tch." Osamu Dazai made the same dismissive sound. "The ultimate player."

"But Mr. An Xinyi really is charming," Kenji couldn't help saying. "Even the cows back in the countryside would listen to him."

What kind of description was that? Everyone looked awkward for a moment.

"Well." Mori Ougai smiled. "Indeed, there's no one else like him in this world."

Everyone fell silent, agreeing inwardly. Yes, an existence like An Xinyi, so contradictory yet harmonious, so crazed yet resilient, could never exist again.

"Of course. I've always believed you could do it." An Xinyi trusted DD absolutely. Through countless loops, DD alone had been his unquestioned comrade-in-arms.

"You still need to grow, DD." An Xinyi was very confident; after all, he knew exactly how far DD could develop. "Even I didn't understand everything at the beginning."

An Xinyi sighed softly. "Even now, I sometimes get frustrated by how little I know."

Technology sometimes developed very quickly, but at other times, it simply couldn't.

Even though An Xinyi had gathered more than enough knowledge from endless loops, there were many details he could no longer remember clearly, and putting things into practice was fraught with difficulties.

But An Xinyi would never abandon this path. If supernatural power belonged to individuals, technology belonged to the collective. If he wanted to save all humanity and bring everyone to the far shore of eternal life, technology was the best means.

An Xinyi also understood that he was somewhat obsessive. It was just an obsession that was difficult to cast aside, and... a habit.

"Don't worry, sir. I won't disappoint you." Although DD occasionally complained about her master, there was no question that she regarded An Xinyi as her father, her master, her god. No other being in this world could admire and trust An Xinyi as much as she did.

So, whatever An Xinyi wished for, DD would help him achieve it.

And she would never disappoint An Xinyi.

"Just let it happen naturally, DD." An Xinyi cherished DD and accepted her as he would his own child. "Growth takes time and experience. You don't need to push yourself too hard."

"Even Zero didn't know how to do everything at the start."

That memory ran too deep, because it wasn't the story of some An Xinyi in some loop. It was the beginning of all the loops, a story belonging only to the very first An Xinyi.

"You know this too, DD." An Xinyi smiled nostalgically. "There is no No. 1 among the An Xinyis. All the numbering starts with No. 2."

"Yes, sir. That puzzled me as well."

"Because No. 1 is also Zero. He's simply commemorating those earliest days."

An Xinyi shook his head a little helplessly, but his smile shone. "Honestly, even across all these loops, that name remains one of a kind."

"After all, only the very first Aji ever turned Big Brother Yi into Big Brother One, or Yiyi into One-One."

An Xinyi found it funny even now. Given his mixed Chinese and Japanese heritage, there was nothing wrong with treating his name as either "Anxin" Yi or "An" Xinyi. But back then, the young Osamu Dazai was still used to the Japanese way of saying it while also learning to speak Chinese from An Xinyi. The funniest part was that he was losing his front teeth at the time, which made him lisp and turn Big Brother Yi into Big Brother One. Later, he grew even less polite and simply called him One-One.

Because Yiyi sounded rather strange in Chinese, An Xinyi had simply accepted the pronunciation One-One at the time.

So the absence of No. 1 was probably the one thing Zero wanted to preserve as a memento.

At that thought, An Xinyi felt a little forlorn again. In truth, the first An Xinyi had not left Osamu Dazai to fend for himself. He had even taken him away from Aomori and traveled to many, many places with him, helping him grow up healthier and happier.

He really had fulfilled his promise to save Osamu Dazai.

But... in the later loops, An Xinyi never did that again. Because he had discovered that even the original "No Longer Human" was far better than following him through all the despair in the world, giving everything, and fighting to the very end only to suffer utter defeat.

Precisely because it was so cold at his side, he didn't want anyone there. Even when someone accompanied him, it was only behind a disguise that concealed far too much.

His side was hell. He understood that better than anyone.

Disaster, disaster.

An Xinyi sighed. Disaster had accompanied humanity from the moment it came into existence, yet humanity had never defeated disaster.

Just like the culprits behind the world's destruction that he had cataloged... supernatural entities like "God" or the "Statue" were not the only culprits.

S002, "Earth." Yes, humanity's home, the ground beneath humanity's feet, could also be the very thing that destroyed it.

For "Earth," it might take no more than a sneeze or a turn in its sleep to doom humanity beyond all hope of salvation.

Humanity has never conquered Earth. We are merely parasites on its surface.

That memory ran far too deep. After all, it was the beginning, the very first An Xinyi's refusal to accept what had happened.

Back then, he had no clones, no DD, no advanced scientific expertise, and he was taking care of an Osamu Dazai who was only twelve.

But at the same time, he witnessed humanity's courage and sacrifice in the face of disaster, and the unity and effort of countless people coming together as one.

It was the brilliance of light struggling fiercely in the darkness, and the resilience and defiance of those who pressed forward against despair.

Humanity like this should not be destroyed.

Back then, An Xinyi had been so unwilling to accept it, so desperate to change that unjust ending.

He succeeded.

Even if it marked the beginning of the hell named "An Xinyi."

But he had never regretted it, and never would.