Soon, the two arrived at the very center of the Administration Bureau, where all the connections between the Administration Bureau and the world were located. This was also the most important place in the entire Administration Bureau.

Ruan Qingan had been here before and could see the Administration Bureau surrounded by countless small worlds like a galaxy, looking magnificent and stunning. But now... everything had changed.

The Administration Bureau is like a dying star, and the surrounding smaller worlds are like dim planets, having lost their luster.

"Has it gotten that serious?"

Ruan Qing'an murmured softly, and just then, a small ball of light, with a soft glow, bounced over from behind her, smacked the ground with a 'plop', and then sprang high into the air, landing directly in Ruan Qing'an's arms.

Then it said, "Ancestor, it's me, it's me!"

Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing'an stopped throwing the ball of light and asked, "037? Your contract with the Bureau?"

[It was when we were doing a mission together, Ancestor, that you broke free from the restrictions of the Management Bureau's contract, and I broke free along with you. I also heard what you were saying to the Supreme God just now.]

Ruan Qing'an paused: "Then why didn't I see you?"

[...Ancestors, I've been jumping around right next to you, but I'm too short, and you were all too focused to see me.]

Before Ruan Qingan could speak, 037 said in a pitiful voice, "You walked this way without even looking at me! You didn't look at me! Ancestor, didn't you see me? You two long legs were stomping along, and I was jumping around behind you, but you just ignored me!"

037：【(;′??Д??`)】

Ruan Qing'an coughed awkwardly in a low voice, then quickly hugged the little ball of light in his arms and rubbed it soothingly: "Sorry."

037: Trying to get angry, but failing to get angry.

The entire ball of light nestled in Ruan Qing'an's arms, nuzzling against him. It was clearly a ball of light, yet it had visibly turned pink, as if it were completely overjoyed.

Xie Huainan, standing to the side: ...

He paused for a moment, then silently extended two fingers, pinched 037, and tossed it lightly. The ball of light landed with a bouncy 'duang' 'duang'.

Xie Huainan said seriously, "Alright, 037, let's get down to business."

037: 【╭n╮】

But the whole ball of light lay limp and sprawled on the ground, rolling around, looking particularly pitiful and aggrieved.

Ruan Qingan picked up 037 and glanced at Xie Huainan: "Alright, alright, it's the only system that knows about this. There might be things we don't know about the system."

037 seemed to remember something and straightened up.

[Ancestor, didn't you just ask about the situation in these smaller worlds? I do know some things, but even you, the Supreme God, are probably unaware of this, because you've been busy with the chaos in the Management Bureau and are therefore unaware of what's happening on the system's side.]

037 paused, then continued: "Because more than half of the systems accompany the mission takers on missions outside, entering and exiting various small worlds. And since the great explosion of negative emotions, not only have the small worlds been affected, but the mission takers have too."

[Many systems have reported that mission takers have begun to wreak havoc on the world, and some smaller worlds have already been destroyed because of them...]

Upon hearing this, Xie Huainan couldn't help but frown.

At this moment, Ruan Qingan looked at him and said, "Can you bring up the images of each small world? The Administration Bureau should have that authority."

Xie Huainan nodded slightly: "Yes, the Administration Bureau governs the Three Thousand Worlds, and all worlds are linked to the Administration Bureau, so it can see the worlds' images, but—"

"Once the small world has been invaded by the power of negative emotions, there is no way to see it again."

After explaining, Xie Huainan nodded.

Soon, countless images appeared on the giant screen in the center of the Administration Bureau, displaying the three thousand worlds one by one before their eyes, and each one was like a lament.

The world is heading towards death, lamenting but powerless to do anything about it.

In the ancient world, war raged everywhere, and unified dynasties split into large and small countries, which then fought and attacked each other. As far as the eye could see, there were corpses everywhere, people suffered, people even exchanged their own children to eat, and the world became a living hell.

In the modern world—modern warfare has fully commenced, with nuclear bombs exploding one after another, threatening to level the entire world, causing satellites to crash, space stations to collapse, and technological civilization to be destroyed in an instant.

In the world of cultivation—a land of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the number of demonic cultivators has increased dramatically, and the entire cultivation world has been reduced to a pitiful altar, with hundreds of millions turning into dried-up human bodies amidst painful cries.

As for what 037 said about the mission taker destroying the world, Ruan Qing'an also saw it—it was that mission taker who treated the entire Western fantasy world as his own, acting recklessly and killing countless people.

Only now did Ruan Qing'an finally understand what happens when negative emotions invade in large numbers...

That means increased conflict, verbal disputes escalating into physical fights, countless murders, growing chaos, and wars between nations, leaving everyone with only darkness in their hearts, turning them into bloodthirsty beasts—

The collapse of order, the fall of civilization.

Ruan Qing'an closed his eyes in unbearable pain, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "The former chief god was truly insane. Maintaining the world was his duty; how could he exchange these worlds for power!"

"...Only with sufficient power can one break free from the Bureau's constraints and become a true 'God'."

Xie Huainan paused: "'The Main God' is not a god, but the highest leader of the Administration Bureau. It is just a position. In fact, it is subject to the jurisdiction of the Administration Bureau, which is why it harbored evil intentions."

The supreme deity is indeed high above, but this also means that it needs to be responsible for these three thousand worlds and safeguard order and civilization.

Xie Huainan didn't consider himself a good person, much less a hero, but he just felt that this was the place he and Ruan Ruan had fought for together, the place where they first met, and the place where they lived.

He doesn't understand what love is.

But it was just instinctive for him to love and protect everything related to her.

Therefore, Xie Huainan will never do the same thing as the former main god—it was born for itself, while he was born for her, to love what she loves, to think what she thinks, and to protect what she protects.

Ruan Qingan paused for a moment, then said seriously, "Now that I know what you need me to do, don't exclude me anymore. I need to know what I can do."

Xie Huainan said in a deep voice: "Find the source of the virus."

"Ruan Ruan, if you want to continue doing missions, you will enter a world where there are also mission participants. You will not only have to complete the missions, but also awaken the power I left there."

"At the same time, you also need to find that mission taker and find out what caused the mutation. After all, mission takers have a contractual protection against the virus from the Administration Bureau. If even mission takers can be hacked, it proves that they must have been in close contact with the virus carrier."

"That vessel might be an object, or it might be a person. The previous chief god did it too well and there was no way to hide it."

Ruan Qingan nodded: "I understand."

But Xie Huainan changed the subject and couldn't help but say, "Ruan Ruan, I'd much rather you stayed. This mission is too—"

"Back when I was making waves in the Administration Bureau, you were just a system, so... don't worry about me."

As Ruan Qing'an spoke, he turned and walked towards the Bureau's teleportation point, patting the ball of light in his arms: "Get ready to go, little system, this time we're going to save the world."

[Go go go, you're the best, ancestor!]

Just as she was about to step into the teleportation machine, Ruan Qingan suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at the man standing at the end from a great distance. His tall, digitized figure began to flicker, as if he was about to lose energy.

As he was about to disappear, Ruan Qing'an whispered, "Be careful, don't get yourself into trouble, Anan..."

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