Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 72

After listening to Qin Yinguang’s account, Yue Tingxi’s suspicions largely fell into place.

Unable to resist, she asked, “So, the ‘Intruder Lin Chaoyao’ is actually the original Lin Chaoyao, and the 7364 System is the captured version of you? But the Qin Yinguang I know in this life seems unaware of all this. Is this concealment by the World Consciousness?”

“Yes. After Lin Chaoyao and I were captured, the World Consciousness paused time and backed up all of my data,” Qin Yinguang explained as simply as possible. “If the captured Qin Yinguang’s original soul could return, it would merge with Qin Yinguang’s body to oppose the intruder. If not, the previous backup would be used, and the ‘Qin Yinguang’ and ‘7364 System’ would be completely separated, having no connection.”

“It seems the original Qin Yinguang’s soul has been corrupted,” Qin Suoliu interjected.

“That’s right. The portion taken by an unknown force was too weak, even if it originated from the World Consciousness; it could only temporarily obey others,” Qin Yinguang sighed. “She gave her system the code name ‘7364,’ keeping the ‘Qin’ sound and deconstructing the strokes of ‘Yinguang,’ constantly reminding herself of her original identity, quietly waiting for the chance to return home.”

She explained that the 7364 System and Lin Chaoyao had initially attempted to secretly resist the intrusions.

“The so-called ‘intrusion’ is about anchoring a ‘worldpoint’ in a small world marked by that force. The usual ways to complete the mission are twofold: one is to follow the ‘script’ provided by the force to achieve a designated ending, and the other is to cause massive casualties or disasters to break through the target small world’s protective barrier.”

Qin Yinguang continued, “The first method offers much flexibility. For example, if the script requires the mission taker to become a leader of a certain force, they could negotiate with the residents of the invaded world to anchor the worldpoint with minimal cost.”

“But this anchor isn’t just to facilitate energy collection for the force; it provides the small world a kind of ‘immunity.’ Once a small world is registered as having a ‘worldpoint,’ it won’t be targeted again. The residents can even use the anchor to locate the mission force and build power to counterattack.”

“In the early missions, the 7364 System and Lin Chaoyao cooperated this way, recording the coordinates of those small worlds in their files to accumulate strength for the final ‘counterattack.’”

“You received the force’s ‘reward items’ after completing missions, right?” Yue Tingxi frowned. “Suoliu and I both suspected these weren’t mere rewards, but a form of surveillance.”

Qin Yinguang nodded. “By the time the 7364 System and Lin Chaoyao realized this, it was too late. Because such interference seriously affected energy collection, the main brain summoned the mission records of this duo, analyzed them, and separated them for nearly a hundred years of imprisonment, interrogation, and ‘brainwashing.’”

“But even after release, the original Lin Chaoyao still refused to submit. He and the 7364 System… remained committed to my original ideals—persuading the residents of each marked small world and gathering strength to completely eradicate the Book-Crossing Bureau.”

Hearing this, Yue Tingxi and Qin Suoliu finally learned the full name of the unknown force.

“Refusing to submit… sounds just like him,” Qin Suoliu murmured. “How did he become like he is now?”

“The main brain couldn’t bear to lose his luck and power, still wanting to keep him as a mission taker, so the final judgment soon followed,” Qin Yinguang said calmly. “The 7364 System, closest to him, was forced to execute three commands: memory erasure, soul shattering, and ideology implantation.”

“…The original memories are gone, the soul shattered? Then what’s left of him?!” Even Yue Tingxi couldn’t help blurting out.

“Nothing. By the standards of our world, once the last two commands were executed, the original Lin Chaoyao was already dead,” Qin Yinguang’s voice sank. “The current Intruder Lin Chaoyao shares nothing with the original rebel, except the name and body.”

“He couldn’t have been completely unaware,” Qin Suoliu said. “In his final moments, what did he say to the 7364 System?”

Qin Yinguang remained silent.

She lowered her head, and after a long moment, raised her hand.

A gray moth perched on her fingertip. As its wings fluttered, scattering silver-gray specks, a gentle, unwilling, helpless yet calm young male voice sounded:

[Qin Yinguang, you must return to your original world and save everyone…]

The voice was fragmented, cut off abruptly.

The little cabin fell into silence.

“No wonder last year, when I asked the Salvation Scales about body possession, she said Lin Chaoyao ‘counted as neither’,” Yue Tingxi said.

She could still clearly recall what Xie Zhi had said:

—“He’s quite a special case. Even so, his soul has already been irreversibly corrupted. When he’s eliminated, don’t hesitate; consider it granting the master peace.”

“The Salvation Scales are the World Consciousness’s most trusted creation. She knows everything the World Consciousness knows,” Qin Yinguang nodded and continued. “The reason she repeatedly concealed the truth is twofold: one, your abilities were insufficient at the time, so knowing in advance wouldn’t help; two, knowing would make you interfere and change things, which would deviate from the original plan.”

She paused. “Many past cycles failed because of early disclosure. Now, the World Consciousness’s power is almost gone. If time were restarted again, this small world would likely collapse. So, it and Xie Zhi only guide you to uncover the truth once the timing is right.”

“But if I’m not mistaken, this truth you’re telling us now… was supposed to be revealed only after Intruder Lin Chaoyao’s death, right?” Qin Suoliu asked. “Did our investigation disrupt the plan?”

“If anything, it was the World Consciousness itself that disrupted it,” Qin Yinguang smiled helplessly. “Back then, if it had ruthlessly eliminated Bashé’s child, Bashé wouldn’t have broken the seal on the cycle memories using millennia of accumulated resentment.”

“Does the World Consciousness think it’s better if we don’t remember?” Yue Tingxi couldn’t help asking.

“Too many past memories would confuse your cognition. Compared to the World Consciousness and its creations, your souls are too weak to handle it,” Qin Yinguang apologized. “But if you knew nothing, you’d lack clear goals and motivation, which would waste time and delay matters.”

She glanced at the gray moth on her fingertip. “Therefore, the World Consciousness only preserved all your memories from the 80th cycle. In this life, no one but you can recall the memories of the past eighty cycles.”

“What about you?” Qin Suoliu stared into his younger sister’s eyes. “Now that you know so much beyond ordinary cognition, can you still continue being ‘Qin Yinguang’?”

“Don’t worry. My original self left a clean soul backup. Once the counterattack plan succeeds, the Qin Yinguang beside you will still be the one unaware of the truth,” Qin Yinguang said calmly, though her slightly averted eyes revealed reluctance. “I’ve shared all the intelligence I can. Sister, Tingxi, do you have other questions?”

“Why eighty-one cycles?” Yue Tingxi asked the question that had long troubled her. “Could it really be because of ‘Nine-Nine Returns to Origin’?”

“Originally, the World Consciousness didn’t intend to restart time repeatedly; it hoped to eliminate intruders once, then gather strength to counter the Book-Crossing Bureau,” Qin Yinguang said, looking at her. “However, it underestimated the power of the reward items, whose usage and effects you’ve likely seen. As long as even one item remains, the intruder’s luck could turn the tide.”

“Since the items are a form of hidden surveillance, if the 7364 System switched to our world before surveillance ended, everything happening here would attract the main brain’s attention. No one can guarantee new mission takers wouldn’t be sent. So, in these eighty cycles, the 7364 System never interfered with resistance in this world, continuing to fully assist Intruder Lin Chaoyao’s missions.”

Qin Yinguang lowered her gaze to the tea in her cup. “I considered using frequent time resets to remove the items, but their quantity is enormous. Each cycle attempting to consume as many as possible would generate massive resentment. I intended to collect this resentment for the counterattack, but if my power was insufficient to control it, disasters would occur in this world.”

“When the cycle count reached a certain point, I even began to send some resentment into high-risk realms of past times,” she held the tea cup tightly, her hands trembling slightly. “It was me… I personally caused the deaths of our father and the aunts familiar with mother…”

A warm hand suddenly covered her wrist. Before Qin Yinguang could react, Qin Suoliu rose and held her in her arms.

The girl trembled even more, opening her mouth to continue, but the words stuck in her throat. Tears uncontrollably filled her eyes.

“The Qin family treated me so well, yet I… I could do nothing! I could only watch… watch you and them die again and again!” she sobbed. “By the forty-first cycle, I had given up trying to save the world on my own… I knew the only chance, with the greatest probability of success, was to wait for the eighty-first cycle, to trigger the ‘Last Ray of Hope’ left by Sishi Shen, the Moon-Shrouding Godlord—when this small world detached from the Creator’s protection and became independent, only Sishi Shen’s power could fully erase the Book-Crossing Bureau’s surveillance and the intruder’s retained advantage memories, completely… completely purging them!”

She had even planned that, once the plan succeeded and this world would no longer be invaded by the Book-Crossing Bureau, she would ask her sister and Tingxi…

A hand gently touched her head, stroking her hair.

Qin Yinguang looked up in surprise. Her blurred gaze met Yue Tingxi’s face.

“You’ve done your best,” Yue Tingxi softly reassured, stroking her hair repeatedly. “Please give us your final guidance. We will kill the intruder, destroy the Book-Crossing Bureau, and return true peace to this world!”

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