Chapter 652 I am you

Yun Zhao had no choice.

Xie Tu and his group might be able to hold on for a while, but those five A-level sentinels have received another large amount of dark matter. If they continue to dawdle, they will only be able to stay here forever.

Yun Zhao took a deep breath, slightly raised his hand, and unleashed a spiritual shockwave as tangible as fluorescent light, piercing straight into Lao Bai's core consciousness.

She tried to force her way through his defenses and break his control over the sentry.

Old Bai's expression remained unchanged. He simply raised his hand slightly, and a mental barrier instantly formed in front of him, flowing with chaotic colors and composed of countless fragments of memories and obsessions.

"boom!"

The silent collision resounded on a spiritual level.

The green light struck the barrier, creating violent ripples, but failed to penetrate it.

Old Bai's figure swayed slightly, but the barrier remained stable.

He said slowly, "It's no use. If you don't do your best, you won't be able to save them at all."

The black light in the eyes of the five sentries surged again, and their attack instantly became frenzied and reckless, a fight of trade-offs and life-or-death struggles.

This put Xie Tu and his companions in grave danger, leaving them with several wounds in an instant!

Yun Zhao's hand froze in mid-air, the condensed fluorescent light trembling slightly.

She was caught in a dilemma.

Either kill Old White, or watch your comrades get hurt and the five Sentinels turn into monsters.

Old Bai didn't give her a chance to think. He switched from defense to offense. The last bit of gentleness in his eyes was completely extinguished. His spiritual torrent, like the Styx River bursting its banks, swept towards Yun Zhao!

Yun Zhao was immediately overwhelmed by a flood of negative emotions and fragmented memories that rushed into his mental world.

It is the despair of Shen Ying's fall, the coldness of a century of solitude, the hatred of one's own powerlessness...

Countless images flashed rapidly through her mind like a revolving lantern.

"Xing Nandie, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it now, my young lady?"

"Do you think guides can get married?"

Without hesitation, Xing Nandie answered her, "No, the base won't agree."

Shen Ying was disappointed, but stubbornly said, "In the old days, free love was advocated. It's only been a few decades, how come we're getting more and more backward?"

There was no follow-up.

The screen changes too quickly.

Inside the contaminated area, the environment became dark and oppressive, and the two guides carrying the data bag got separated from their companions.

Outside, snow was falling thick and fast, and the two huddled together in a safe corner.

Shen Ying's voice was no longer as light and cheerful as before, carrying a slight, almost imperceptible tremor, but it was filled with more reliance and trust.

"Bai Shu, this road ahead will be very difficult for us. Are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid."

"I was quite scared at first, but when I thought about you guys, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore."

Old Bai gazed at her, his voice gentle yet firm: "Me too."

Shen Ying's voice was soft, carrying a sliver of hope, "Will we achieve victory?"

"Definitely."

Throughout the entire process, Yun Zhao couldn't clearly see Shen Ying's face; it was as if she were watching an immersive historical documentary.

The scene is too cluttered.

From the initial playful banter to the increasingly serious team atmosphere, the scenes flashed by quickly, frame by frame.

The end of the story.

She saw Ding Lang grinning amidst the flames of the explosion, plunging the last enemy into the abyss; she saw Han Dadao use his broad, door-like back to shield his teammates from a fatal blow, falling like a mountain.

Seeing Xing Nandie's cold eyes look at Shen Ying at the last moment, conveying a silent farewell and entrustment.

Seeing Lao Bai's gentle profile gradually blur in the storm, transforming into the last barrier protecting Shen Ying...

One by one, my comrades fell down.

In the end, only Shen Ying's regretful voice echoed.

"So... I wasn't the savior after all..."

These words, spoken lightly, are more heartbreaking than any roar.

As Yun Zhao watched, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

The overwhelming collective memory and the near-collapse brought on by the emotional torrent felt like a personal experience, crashing heavily into her heart.

Fragmented moments string together the life of the red-crowned crane team.

Shen Ying, Bai Shu, Xing Nandie, Ding Lang, Han Dadao... and countless others who sacrificed their lives but whose names are unknown.

Old Bai has already endured far too much.

All I want now is to be free.

But the more she thought about it, the less she could bring herself to do it.

Bai Shu's voice rang out, "All those who have glimpsed a corner of the truth have spent their entire lives searching for a guide to light. They regard you as their savior and their only hope."

"We've come this far, we must win, and we can only win."

"Yun Zhao, don't you understand?"

His voice seemed to come from a very far place, making it hard to tell which was reality.

Yun Zhao replied with difficulty, his voice hoarse, "I understand..."

Old Bai is using the most extreme methods to force her to break through her inner constraints. Only if they continue on this path will all the sacrifices not be in vain.

The second wave of attacks arrived.

Yun Zhao wanted to defend himself, but felt as if his hands were weighed down by a thousand pounds, as if some invisible shackle deep in his heart was at work.

In order to achieve victory, must these hands be stained with blood to kill the heroes of the past?

She began to doubt whether she could truly shoulder all of this.

In that brief moment of consciousness, Yun Zhao vaguely sensed that in the chaotic void, a small figure was silently observing her every move.

She suddenly focused her gaze.

Not far away, fragments of shattered space floated like mirrors, and in one of the larger fragments, a little girl of about six years old was clearly reflected.

She was wearing a beautiful princess dress, arms crossed, tilting her head to look at Yun Zhao, her eyes filled with undisguised criticism.

Yun Zhao was suddenly stunned.

The little bluebird looked at its original form, then at its childhood form, its mind blank, not understanding why there were two forms.

The little Yunzhao in the fragment spoke first, his voice still childish, "Have you found Daddy?"

Yun Zhao answered cryptically, "No."

"Then you're really useless."

After saying that, Xiao Yunzhao realized something was wrong and tilted her head to correct him, saying, "It's me, I'm really useless."

Yun Zhao didn't reply, but just stared blankly at the little girl.

She didn't understand how her younger self had run away.

Logically speaking, people from different timelines can never appear at the same time.

Those big eyes were staring back at me.

When I was a child, there was no fear or confusion in my eyes, only an innate sense of looking down and scrutinizing.

“I heard your conversation just now.”

Xiao Yunzhao pouted, pointed at Lao Bai with her little finger, her eyes devoid of even pity, "What do his pain and regret have to do with me? How could such trivial emotions become a stumbling block for you?"

After she finished speaking, she realized something was wrong. "Hmm, it actually became a stumbling block for me."

Looking at his naive and self-centered younger self, Yun Zhao felt a complex sense of acceptance in his eyes.

"You don't understand. When everyone places their hopes on you, you are no longer just yourself."

Yun Zhao's voice was very soft, "I have seen hope slowly extinguished, seen the helplessness of those who tried their best but still failed, and seen how a life that was taken for granted can be easily torn apart."

Back then, Old Bai used a very clever scheme to push her into the world.

She can no longer remain unaffected.

Xiao Yunzhao seemed to understand but not quite. She walked to the edge of the fragment, almost face to face with Yunzhao, and said indifferently, "It's okay. If you feel you can't do it, just give me your body and I'll do it for you."

"Because... I am you."