SB Ch150: All members assembled

Chapter 150: “Wujiu, selfless people are more vulnerable.”

The drop of blood seemed to be embedded in Shen Ti’s forehead when he transformed into his human form.

The other splattered blood turned into his vermilion coral earrings.

All the human features that Shen Ti possessed either stemmed from An Wujiu’s preferences or were derived from An Wujiu himself.

His blood, his heart.

An Wujiu suddenly woke up.

The sky outside was still dark.

Gabriel saw An Wujiu on the surveillance screen. “You’re awake?”

“Yes.” An Wujiu rubbed his Jingming acupoint, feeling cold sweat still damp on his back.

If he had already died at that time, it was Shen Ti who appeared and saved him.

But why did Shen Ti appear, and on what grounds? At that time, he was no different from an evil god, not bound by human notions of good and evil, devoid of humanity. In his eyes, An Wujiu was no different from an ant passing by his feet.

An Wujiu closed his eyes again, trying to recall.

Unexpectedly, the scene appeared again, repeating what had happened before. Only this time, what he saw was not the monster form of Shen Ti but his human appearance.

An Wujiu couldn’t distinguish between what was a dream and what was a real memory. But he remembered that after his father died, the Shen Ti he summoned didn’t have much compassion for him. When he was tortured in Sha Wen and almost died, all Shen Ti could do at that time was silently accompany him.

Just like a distant and unattainable deity, he didn’t belong to him or this world.

If this dream were real, wouldn’t Shen Ti be contradictory?

If all this were false, how could he explain the red mark on his forehead now?

An Wujiu felt confused. In the high sky, his head ached so much that he couldn’t continue thinking.

As long as Shen Ti could recover his memories, everything could be resolved.

Gabriel discussed the next plan with him, but after hearing An Wujiu’s words, he felt it was too risky.

“But that’s Sha Wen.”

“I know.” An Wujiu frowned, his face pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat. “But that is also the source of the disaster. No matter what, even for the sake of those who haven’t been polluted yet, we must do this.”

Gabriel still felt it was too exaggerated. An Wujiu didn’t have to take responsibility for others. “You don’t have to, what if Sha Wen’s people come after you because of this…”

“Just do as he says.”

Zhou Yijue’s voice appeared.

An Wujiu turned around and saw him just waking up, maintaining a bored cheek-supporting posture. “You must have never seen him in the game, eager to save everyone from the altar. His Saint Father heart won’t change just because of a few words.”

Although the words were unpleasant, Gabriel knew that back then, he also saved an unfamiliar sex doll out of compassion.

An Wujiu’s compassion was innate, inseparable from him. Forcibly eradicating his compassion would only trigger a more terrible backlash.

A person with a strong sense of morality, once their belief collapses, will only fall into a deeper abyss.

“Alright, let’s help to the end then.” Gabriel laughed cheerfully, “If it weren’t for you, I might have gone to that uninhabited island by now, only to be pitted against zombies.”

In the face of absolute destruction and disaster, class has no meaning.

“However…” An Wujiu still honestly told him, “I can’t guarantee success this time. Honestly, I have failed twice already. My actions might kill everyone, and it might cause us to repeatedly experience these failures.”

He looked up and said in a low voice, “If I lose this time, I will still try to find the right way. I will do my best to find the best result.”

Gabriel was silent for a moment.

“Wujiu, your greatest strength is your strong sense of responsibility. But that can also be your biggest weakness.”

An Wujiu looked at Gabriel’s back through the glass partition of the driver’s seat.

“Everyone in this world is actually lonely and helpless. Each person lives their own life and finds their own way to survive. So, living or dying is each person’s destiny. So Wujiu, a person who selflessly bears everyone’s destiny is actually very fragile because their goals are too big and too difficult to achieve. Once they face real failure, collapse is inevitable.”

This was the first time Gabriel spoke to him so earnestly.

An Wujiu understood.

If the ability to trace back fell into anyone else’s hands, he wouldn’t be so stubborn about winning.

But it was him, just him. If he already had the ability to rewrite the whole situation but chose to ignore it, that would be the real failure.

“I understand. Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. Besides…”

An Wujiu showed a faint smile, “With you all here, I won’t be easily defeated.”

Responsibility is a weakness, but it also supports him.

Gabriel also smiled. He looked at the eerie yet beautiful night scene. Without excessive light pollution, only the glimmering moonlight, everything in the high sky seemed extraordinarily quiet.

He had spent his whole life making money, trying every possible way to make more and more money. But he hadn’t expected that in the face of a cataclysmic disaster, wealth wouldn’t have much use.

At least this time, he could use this money to genuinely help An Wujiu and also help himself.

Gabriel clicked on the control screen, “We’re about to land, wake up, and hold on tight.”

At four in the morning, the sky had already begun to show a faint light. They safely arrived at the foot of the mountain where Sha Wen was located. The vegetation was lush, shadows of the trees swayed, and the stillness was unnerving.

An Wujiu knew that if Russell were really forced to appear, he might manipulate the pollutants. In the face of an attack, gathering together would lead to quicker deaths. So he took out guns from the rear cabin of the aircraft and distributed them to the others.

“Can you use a sniper rifle?” he asked Yang Erci.

She was the most suitable person here to use a sniper rifle.

Yang Erci said, “You can teach me.”

An Wujiu nodded, handed her the sniper rifle, briefly explained the functions of each part, and taught her how to load and use the scope.

“You’ll be more stable lying at a high place.”

Yang Erci nodded, “Got it.”

Weapons for the others were also distributed. An Wujiu checked Zhong Yirou’s time, only a little over twenty minutes left.

“It’s okay,” Zhong Yirou smiled and said, “As long as the pollutants appear, I’ll shoot them. The time will be enough.”

Just as An Wujiu was about to speak, a strong light flashed—it was the headlights of a vehicle.

He turned to follow the light source and saw a truck driving towards them, with a hand extending from the back seat. It was clearly Shen Ti’s hand.

“They’re here!”

The truck stopped. Nan Shan and Wu You got out from the driver’s and passenger seats respectively, followed by Shen Ti. When Shen Ti got out of the truck, he looked for An Wujiu at first glance. Seeing An Wujiu, he frowned with heartache.

An Wujiu walked towards them and unexpectedly saw another person getting out of the truck.

It was the [Yang Erci] they had encountered in the second cycle.

“She…” An Wujiu looked at Shen Ti.

“We met her on the way, she helped us. I’ve already transmitted the memories from the last cycle to her,” Shen Ti smiled and put one hand to his mouth, loudly saying to the other Yang Erci not far away, “This is your sister from another father and mother.”

Obviously, both Yang Erci’s didn’t bother to respond to him.

“Oh, right,” Shen Ti pointed his thumb at the truck, “there’s another one.”

An Wujiu looked over and saw another person getting out of the truck.

He was stunned.

“Lilith?”

Lilith got down. She was wearing the same dark red knit sweater and jeans as in the previous cycle. After getting out of the truck, she stood still for a moment, then walked towards An Wujiu.

She pursed her lips and softly spoke, “I… saw the events from Shen Ti. In the last cycle, I was killed in front of you.”

“Right? Ge.”

Her voice was soft, but An Wujiu heard it.

“Lilith, do you… remember me?” he asked, almost in disbelief.

Lilith nodded and then smiled. She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked at An Wujiu, “I don’t like the name Lilith. My name is Shen Nan. Lilith… was a name given to me by those people to control me.”

An Wujiu’s eyes suddenly felt sore. He turned his face, quickly blinked a few times to hide his nervousness.

“Right, you’re Shen Nan, and I’m Shen An,” he looked at his sister and gave a complex smile, “Sorry, I didn’t protect you well. You’ve suffered a lot out there.”

Lilith also smiled, shook her head, and walked up to hug An Wujiu, “I’m fine. I’ve been waiting for you.”

An Wujiu felt like he was dreaming, but he had never had such a good dream.

Whether they succeeded this time or not, finding his sister and reuniting with her, he was already very satisfied.

Shen Ti explained, “We encountered a masked man on the way. He was severely injured and brought a bunch of pollutants to surround us. Your sister was in the car too.”

Nan Shan also added with a smile, “Yeah, luckily we had Shen Ti. He almost killed the masked man, but that guy was too cunning and escaped under the cover of the pollutants.”

“Otherwise, we could have seen his true face,” Wu You pouted.

An Wujiu let go of Lilith, “Since everyone is here, let’s act together.”

“Finally,” Zhou Yijue, who was leaning against a tree trunk, walked over, “Hurry up, I can’t stand seeing others being all lovey-dovey.”

Wu You rolled his eyes, “You’re just jealous.”

They argued while forming groups, and the newcomers also took up weapons, at least two each. An Wujiu handed Lilith a long knife and a pistol, teaching her how to use them.

Everyone installed Gabriel’s explosives and entered the Sha Wen Tech Park, splitting into groups to set the explosives at designated points.

“If we blow this place up, how are we supposed to escape?” asked Toudou Sakura.

Gabriel laughed, “You think we’re lighting a fuse, sis? What era do you think this is? Of course, it’s remote-controlled.”

“Oh, right.” Toudou Sakura patted her head and said, “There’s been so much information lately, my brain can’t keep up.”

At another location not far away, An Wujiu and Shen Ti were setting up.

“I didn’t expect you to actually plan for physical demolition,” Shen Ti said, patting his hands after setting the position.

“Russell might be unpredictable, but a system appeared here last time. This place is important. If the masked man has any health points left, he will come here,” An Wujiu said.

Blowing up this place, even if it doesn’t kill Russell, will at least draw him out.

If this lair is important to him, he’ll come in a rage to kill them. If it’s not, he won’t miss the chance to mock them.

Saying this, he stood up and looked at Shen Ti, “Have you remembered anything about the past?”

Shen Ti thought for a moment, “Not yet.”

“Okay.” An Wujiu knew it would be like this.

He and Shen Ti walked side by side back to the safe zone.

“He kidnapped Noah last time. It feels like Noah will be a crucial part of this mass sacrifice,” An Wujiu said.

“To be honest,” Shen Ti shared his intuition with An Wujiu, “I feel like Noah isn’t an ordinary child. She might be a clone or a vessel of my old friend, but I don’t dare to just kill her. What if it helps them?”

This child felt like a smoke screen.

An Wujiu looked at him, “You might be right. If Noah appears this time, our first task is to take her away. As for how to handle it, we’ll decide then.”

As they walked, Shen Ti suddenly grabbed An Wujiu’s wrist.

An Wujiu turned back, gently asking, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Ti’s gaze moved from the top of his head to his injured body.

“Your health points are less than one-third.”

An Wujiu nodded, “So we don’t have many chances to start over.”

Shen Ti raised his hand, lightly brushing An Wujiu’s face.

“You haven’t used that card yet, right?”

An Wujiu nodded, “There wasn’t time.”

“Transfer it to me,” Shen Ti said, “That card also requires health points to redeem. You don’t have enough health points left.”

An Wujiu didn’t want Shen Ti to take such a risk. With his abilities, his health points could remain almost unchanged, just like his sanity points.

But he knew Shen Ti was serious.

An Wujiu thought for a moment, then lowered his head, pulling up his player system and finding the Easter egg card.

As he was about to click transfer, his finger paused. He looked up at Shen Ti, “Don’t use it recklessly.”

Shen Ti raised four fingers and swore, “I promise.”

An Wujiu manually folded his little finger, “Swear with three fingers.”

“Even if you really have to use it, don’t exchange too many health points.”

“Okay, I understand.” Shen Ti smiled, pinching An Wujiu’s face, “Are you so afraid of me dying? I’m not human.”

An Wujiu clicked transfer, selecting Shen Ti.

The card disappeared from his interface, and there was still one Easter egg card left. Last time, a bug prevented him from drawing it. This time, he wanted to try again.

An Wujiu clicked on the card, finding it openable this time.

The card flipped a few times. An Wujiu was ready for a blank card, given that even the altar was starting to consume people. Shen Ti, on the other hand, was childishly chanting, “Draw it! Draw it! Draw it!”

The result surprised An Wujiu; it wasn’t a blank card.

He got a Data Retention Card, allowing him to save all the game data from the altar and create an electronic archive to view on other devices.

Shen Ti was a bit disappointed, having hoped for a crucial card like a resurrection card.

“This is just like an electronic photo album. Who wants to look back at these memories? They’d have nightmares.”

An Wujiu laughed at his comment. Suddenly, he heard the whistle for assembly, so he quickly put away the system and hurried down the mountain with Shen Ti.

Shen Ti, being the best sniper among them, was arranged by An Wujiu to take a pre-prepared gun to a relatively safe yet strategic location for controlling the battlefield.

Except for the two Yang Erci and Shen Ti, who were ambushed elsewhere, everyone else gathered. An Wujiu specifically glanced at Lilith, who had also returned safely. They opened the rear cabin again, and An Wujiu distributed weapons to the newcomers.

Lilith looked around and casually asked, “Shen Ti Ge, why isn’t he joining us?”

“He’s good with a sniper, so he’ll be protecting us from a distance.”

“You might not be very familiar with these guns.” An Wujiu took out a long knife and handed it to Lilith, “If you encounter pollutants, slash them. Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you.”

Lilith nodded.

An Wujiu thought for a moment and handed her a light pistol, “You still need a gun. This one is simple to use. I’ll teach you.”

“Okay.”

After teaching her, An Wujiu loaded the gun for her and said, “Be careful, don’t fire by accident. In danger, just pull the trigger.”

Everyone was now armed and fully alert. Gabriel ceremoniously turned his back to Sha Wen Tech Park, that beautiful yet sinful place.

“I’ve had enough of this damned place while working here.” Gabriel selected all the explosive points and clicked detonate, then dramatically spread his arms.

Behind him, the sounds of explosions echoed continuously. The multinational corporation that once controlled half the world met its grandest demise in the cataclysm. Skyscrapers symbolizing capital and corporate power collapsed, glass and concrete fell into the flames, turning to ruins. The dust and black smoke lingered, like Sha Wen’s shadow over the world.

Unlike Gabriel, An Wujiu watched the explosion directly. He knew that for the past ten years, he had been trapped in a small room within these ruins, stripped of his human will day after day, becoming a puppet.

“That system should be completely done for,” Zhou Yijue said, his face illuminated by the firelight with a cold sneer. “The core server of the entire altar is also here.”

Hopefully, that’s the case.

They waited quietly for a moment.

Zhong Yirou pulled up her sleeve to check the time. There were four minutes left, and the countdown hadn’t stopped.

“It seems… it’s not over yet.” She looked at the others.

This was very bad news, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“Everyone needs to stay vigilant,” Zhou Yijue said with a smirk. “There might be something terrifying showing up any momen…”

Before he could finish, a muffled scream rang out, and he quickly turned around.

Zhou Yijue saw Nan Shan clutching his bleeding abdomen, collapsing to the ground, and behind him stood Lilith, holding a long knife.

What was going on?

Was he seeing things?

An Wujiu also saw it, witnessing Nan Shan fall to the ground, fatally stabbed. “Lilith, what are you doing?”

Blood dripped from the knife tip to the ground. Lilith’s eyes were colder than ice. Without even looking at An Wujiu, she slashed at Wu You, who was kneeling beside Nan Shan, then used the gun An Wujiu had loaded to shoot Gabriel in the shoulder and Zhong Yirou in the abdomen. She then swiftly and accurately aimed at An Wujiu’s heart.

“Are you f*cking crazy?”

Zhou Yijue pointed his gun at Lilith, thinking there was still room for threats and negotiation. His finger rested on the trigger, hesitant to act rashly, given that Lilith was the sister An Wujiu had found and accepted after searching for so long.

But he never expected that Lilith would mercilessly fire a shot.

A bullet hit An Wujiu in the chest.

His organs were pierced. An Wujiu spat out blood, shock, and panic, rapidly filling his blank mind.

It was his fault. It was his reckless, unconditional trust that led everyone to believe in Lilith.

He had personally handed over the knife and gun and loaded them himself.

Why was this happening?

Was being mocked by fate his destiny?

With blood on her face, Lilith coldly and cruelly raised her gun again, murmuring, “For my brother… I must kill you…”

An Wujiu couldn’t understand.

I am your brother.

Just before she could fire the next shot, three bullets hit her wrist, shoulder, and waist. It was the sniper from a distance.

Lilith fell to the ground.

Shen Ti saw everything through the sniper scope; his sanity points were drastically decreasing. In an instant, an uncontrollable power surged within him.

He aimed at Lilith’s head.

But suddenly, the view through his scope was filled with countless pollutants surrounding them.

Their encirclement wasn’t surprising. Zhong Yirou had anticipated this moment and was only grateful they had arrived.

Cold sweat dripped from her, her health points dropping rapidly, but she forced herself to face the pollutants, letting madness and chaos consume her in her final moments.

God, if there really is a god.

Turn me into a monster.

I will protect them.

Zhong Yirou closed her eyes. The next second, she felt excruciating pain. Her human memories and will were being torn apart.

She felt someone holding her hand.

An Wujiu was calling her name.

I will protect you all.

When she opened her eyes again, Zhong Yirou had become one of the pollutants.

All An Wujiu held was her mutated tentacle.

“Yirou…” He was nearly in despair.

But at that moment, he heard a voice from deep within.

[Wujiu, I can hear you.]

An Wujiu couldn’t believe it. Shen Ti clearly wasn’t here.

He looked at his own hand.

Had he awakened Zhong Yirou, even as a pollutant?

Shen Ti snapped out of the madness-induced chaos, regained some sanity, and thought of those still struggling. He quickly got into combat mode, shooting down enemies one by one to protect their space.

But he was too far away. He couldn’t reach An Wujiu and couldn’t shield him from harm.

Each bullet he used was one less.

He wanted to go back and save him.

Now, now he had to get to him.

Suddenly, his vision went white. A brief moment of blank consciousness took over his mind. When he regained awareness.

Shen Ti found himself surrounded by pollutants, right next to An Wujiu.

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