Li Shijian: "The truth? The truth is you left, you broke your promise, you abandoned me, you didn't destroy the Synthesizer, you became its master, you..."
He gave a cold laugh and said wearily, "Alright, Song Xiaozhu, it's all about the winner taking all. I lost. Do with me as you please."
Song Xiaozhu: "As long as you..."
As soon as she opened her mouth, Li Shijian a rage. "Stop your hypocrisy, have you forgotten..."
So what if it's all Li Shihai's conspiracy? You now possess the Synthesizer. If you're still the same Song Xiaozhu you were before, then destroy it, destroy this damned alien creature!
Song Xiaozhu gripped the mechanical sword tightly.
Li Shijian sneered, "What, you can't bear to part with it? Everyone who gets it can't bear to let go. Look at how crazy Li Shihai has become. Ah, you don't know, do you? Let me tell you, it, your precious Synthesizer, comes from that asteroid. Its crash destroyed the whole world. It caused a cataclysmic event, and Li Shihai actually wants to use it to save humanity..."
"Can it be saved? It's insatiable, it demands endlessly... Why do you think Li Shihai synthesized so many 'people'? It needs Slaughter Value; it grows by accumulating Slaughter Value. It's a man-eating monster!"
"No," Song Xiaozhu said softly, "There's another option."
Li Shijian's dark eyes flickered, and he scoffed, " Leadership Value?"
Song Xiaozhu: "Yes, the ' Leadership Value ' from the beneficiary of the synthetic compound can, in turn, feed her... It's a good cycle."
Li Shijian silent.
He knew about Leadership Value.
Since he could get Skynet to publish Song Xiaozhu's Leadership Value, he must have known about it.
What good will it do to know?
It's all too late, it's all over.
Li Shijian stared intently at Song Xiaozhu: "Destroy it."
Song Xiaozhu: "No."
Li Shijian burst into laughter, and the screen behind him lit up again, showing the scene inside the 99 Fortress — Li Shijian had hypnotized the people inside the Fortress through the Skynet and was then feeding them with the nutrient tanks that Li Shihai had synthesized years ago.
Song Xiaozhu wasn't surprised to see this.
There are people in the Fortress, many people.
Li Shihai continuously synthesized "humans" in the Hatching Nest precisely for the sake of the residents in these 99 Fortress.
He needs a successor, a next holder, to feed the people in these 99 Fortress through the Synthesizer.
Shen Qi wasn't lying; Li Shihai had indeed increased the population of the Huaxia Continent from a mere 100,000 to tens of millions over the past century.
However, these millions of people are like overgrown babies crying for milk, and have yet to form a self-sustaining society.
Without Synthesizer, there are no resources.
Fortress will eventually dry up.
Li Shihai knew that killing was wrong, but he had no choice.
The "transaction" model has reached its limit; it has reached its zenith and can no longer allow society to function properly.
"Slaughter" corresponds to the monarch.
Perhaps the world needs a monarch, even a "tyrant" with blood on his hands.
Li Shijian: "Destroy the Synthesizer, or I'll make sure they never wake up again."
He used the lives of millions of people to threaten Song Xiaozhu.
Song Xiaozhu raised her hand, pointing the mechanical sword at Li Shijian's throat.
Li Shijian said with a self-deprecating laugh, "That's true. You can wake them up just the same way if you kill me, the 'hypnotist'."
Song Xiaozhu: " Li Shijian, release the 'hypnosis,' I don't want to..."
Li Shijian's pale face flushed an eerie red. "Kill me, or destroy it."
"Why?" Song Xiaozhu looked at him. "I'm not a 'tyrant.' She's already erased her Slaughter Value. She doesn't only have two options; it's just that no one told her about the third. I've already shown her, and she's learned it. She can achieve symbiosis with humans. Why must she..."
Li Shijian suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the mechanical sword, and plunged it into his own chest.
With a bang.
That was the sound of the Awakening Stone shattering.
Song Xiaozhu's hand gripping the mechanical sword trembled violently, blood spilling from Li Shijian's chest. Even in death, his eyes remained open, desperately wide open, silently uttering, "Destroy it, or it will destroy all of humanity."
Song Xiaozhu staggered backward, her body trembling slightly.
Qiu Shuyu supported her and whispered, " Xiaozhu... he can't go back."
After a long pause, Song Xiaozhu slowly said, " Sister Shuyu, I want to go home."
-
Li Shijian is dead.
He didn't want to live either.
it's all over.
In fact, it was already over the moment he saw the " Leadership Value ".
There cannot be a third option.
--She couldn't possibly leave without killing a single person.
--As long as she collects the Rough Stone Fragment, her hands are destined to be covered in blood.
Li Shijian smiled and said to his long-deceased "brother," "It's fine."
As long as she doesn't have any thoughts.
As long as she doesn't get emotionally involved.
Then there will be people who will follow in their footsteps to protect the "leader".
That wasn't just Song Xiaozhu.
Those were everyone behind her.
Including him.
-
Song Xiaozhu slept for a day and a night. When she woke up, she was back in the village. She saw wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, smelled the aroma of food, heard the lively sounds from the shops, felt a warm glow, and breathed in the clean, purified air.
Xiao He: "Is he talking about me?"
Song Xiaozhu: "Mm."
Xiao He didn't understand. "Would I destroy humanity?"
Song Xiaozhu countered with, "Can you?"
Xiao He: "No!"
Song Xiaozhu: "Why?"
Xiao He: "You're human, I like you, how could I hurt you?"
Song Xiaozhu smiled and said, "Mm."
Xiao He suddenly asked her again, "Do you believe me?"
Song Xiaozhu stood up, looked at the bustling street, leaned against the window, and said with her chin in her hand, "I believe it!"