A blinding beam of light shot out from the moon, engulfing the doomsday beacon, while several shells flew towards Ye Shaoheng from a distance behind him.

The two attacks collided, and in an instant, the Doomsday Beacon, representing the highest authority in the apocalypse, was engulfed in flames.

"I'm sorry, Phaethon, following me will never end well." Shi Yin looked at the firelight around her and sighed softly.

I love the name my owner gave me, Phaethon, which means "burning" in Greek.

As the son of the sun god Phaethon, he would be overjoyed if he could burn alongside his master and become the world's second sun.

"Will an artificial system know what happiness is?" Shi Yin laughed.

[Phaethon can always sense its master's emotions, but as a qualified system, it cannot act on feelings or impulses. Like artificial intelligence, it must calculate the most accurate and rational choices to provide to its master.]

However, at the very last moment, Phaethon decided to break the rules, because that way his master couldn't do anything about it.

Phaethon's voice was light and cheerful, and Shi Yin couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, I can't do anything with you now." Shi Yin turned around and went back to her seat. It was getting hotter and hotter around her. Shi Yin gently closed her eyes.

Suddenly, Shi Yin opened her eyes and looked ahead in surprise.

She sensed the doomsday beacon elevator rising and stopping at her floor. Someone was coming up and getting closer, but the person was moving very slowly, as if dragging one leg.

The door was pushed open, and Shi Yin stood up, her eyes widening suddenly.

Those were people she had questioned, suspected, trusted, hesitated over, regretted, and felt guilty towards. Shi Yin once thought that if this chiseled face were placed in a church, people would probably worship it. It could indeed be called the masterpiece of Nuwa or God.

Now, in the firelight, the intense heat caressing his face, he smiles gently, with an almost holy quality.

"Nanzhu?" Shi Yin made no attempt to hide her surprise: "You're still alive?"

"Miss." Nan Zhu's movements were slow. He had wounds on his body, but no blood flowed out. Instead, some crystal fragments fell down.

This was a manifestation of the zombie's energy concentration crystallization reaching its extreme; it was fortunate that Nan Zhu was still able to walk step by step in front of her.

“Miss, I brought it.” Nan Zhu knelt down on one knee in front of Shi Yin, carefully holding a small fragment in his palm and stretching it out to Shi Yin.

"A fragment of the world?" Shi Yin asked in surprise, "Didn't you try to absorb it?"

The fragments of the world are difficult to control. Once they escape the control of [Time Sound], they will fly around like headless flies. The only way to avoid this is to directly absorb them into the body, like absorbing crystal cores.

However, the fragments of the world are really easy to absorb. Basically, once they enter the body, they will take over and the person who tried to absorb them will be assimilated by the world and become its nourishment.

But now, Nan Zhu actually brought it up to Shi Yin.

This in itself is a miracle, because the power of the world fragment itself is violent and inexhaustible. The new world has sacrificed countless people and resources to pry off even this tiny fragment, barely managing to isolate it in a sealed, thick space and absolutely prohibiting any life from entering.

In other words, Tokine had seen the World Tree and established a connection with it, which enabled them to coexist peacefully.

“Yes, Miss, you never offer useless advice. You sensed something was wrong with us, yet you brought up the fragments in front of me and Guan Nianshan. So you must be…” Nan Zhu paused, then changed her words: “No, it’s that I think you want it.”

"Even I find it difficult to directly contend with the power of this world. You should have died on your way here." Shi Yin sighed as she looked at the fragments in Nan Zhu's palm.

“Yes, but Nan Zhu wants to come back to see you alive.” Nan Zhu remained kneeling.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that he didn't want to stand up, but that he was completely unable to move. He could only remain motionless in this half-kneeling position, like a knight.

"Humans always surprise me. No matter how many times they repeat themselves or how many cycles they go through, they always manage to create new variables." Shi Yin gently picked up the fragment of the world and sighed softly, "Sometimes, I call it a miracle."

"You've worked hard." Shi Yin gently stroked Nan Zhu's hair.

Nan Zhu's hair is always so smooth and shiny that it's hard to imagine how she takes care of it. I used to feel offended to touch it, but now it feels perfectly natural.

"Miss, you will succeed, won't you?" Nan Zhu knelt on one knee and looked up at Shi Yin.

"Yes, with your help, we're at least 70% sure," Shi Yin said with a smile.

"Miss, may I kiss the back of your hand?" It seemed to be the first time she had made such an impolite request, or perhaps the flames were too hot, because Nan Zhu's cheeks were flushed: "In this state, I should only be able to offer you a kiss on the hand. I am very sorry for being so presumptuous."

“Of course.” Shi Yin smiled and raised her hand. “You are qualified to do so.”

Shi Yin's hands were slender and long, and even in the scorching flames, they remained cool to the touch, yet surprisingly soft. Nan Zhu held Shi Yin's hands almost reverently and gently kissed her ring finger.

"To die alongside a defeated monarch simply out of admiration for strength is too irrational."

Nanzhu heard a sigh coming from above.

"Yes, I think so too." Nan Zhu closed his eyes. He could feel all the strength in his body dissipating as he clung to life, and he began to lose consciousness rapidly.

The earth is collapsing, and the doomsday beacon, symbolizing the pinnacle of power and strength, is melting and collapsing, like ice cream melting, or like it being swallowed by the earth.

In the dim light, Nan Zhu saw the fragment of the world in Shi Yin's hand growing brighter and brighter. He and Shi Yin fell into the ground as the doomsday beacon collapsed, but a crack opened up.

It wasn't a pitch-black, red chaos. Before completely losing consciousness, Nanzhu saw not only a white, misty world, but also a faint pink light.

When was the last time we saw the core of this world?

Shi Yin couldn't remember, but it was probably because she had destroyed too many worlds that the World Tree had no choice but to come to her and negotiate terms.

Now, the fragments of this world have opened this passage. Shi Yin didn't expect it to go so smoothly. Originally, she should have burned herself to ashes just to open a path, but now it was done effortlessly.

Suddenly, a force rushed towards her, and Shi Yin turned around, only to be met with a pair of large, light blue eyes.

"Sister! I found you!" Freya hugged Shi Yin's waist, laughing triumphantly: "Now it's my turn."

"What do you mean?" Shi Yin asked, puzzled. "Go back quickly, it will be terrible if others discover this crack."

"No, sister, have you forgotten that I am a part of you?" Freya hugged Shion's eyes, glaring at her, very indignant: "Without me, your emotions and power are incomplete, how can you accomplish anything?"

Shi Yin: "..."

"Freya, do you know what you want to do?" Shi Yin sighed, "You are a part of me, and you want to return to my true self. What about you?"

“Of course I know, this sounds wonderful.” Freya smiled even more brightly: “To become a part of my sister, to become one with her, like our inseparable other half.”

"That sounds really romantic."