Chapter 297 Zero Round (4)
There's no way back now. Having lost the ability to travel through time, we can't go back.
The heavy rain fell, but it passed through Rei Furuya's body and struck his tombstone.
Rei Furuya was already used to it, and just looked down at the messages from the children in the Reincarnation group on his phone.
Well, this is fine too. I'm satisfied.
For once, their world timelines were completely synchronized, so they were finally able to have a proper chat and analyze their respective situations.
Are you resentful? Of course I am, but... our initial wishes have already been fulfilled, haven't they? The world is already much better now. Leaving aside the fact that we can't change the past now, even if we were to try to change it again, things might get worse. Is that the outcome everyone wants to see?
They weren't simply venting their despair; they were even excessively calm as they analyzed everything about the past and the future.
They probably wanted to comfort each other and prevent everyone from becoming too desperate, but it had no effect. In fact, seeing everyone heading towards an irreversible end only made them more desperate.
The system was secretly observing them, paying particular attention to Furuya Rei's situation, watching as Furuya Rei tried to comfort the children.
But even Rei Furuya seemed to be out of options in this situation.
The final result was that everyone appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, they were truly desperate.
Natsuki Subaru said that he sometimes regretted his actions and wondered if there might have been a better solution, but there was no going back now. Besides, the world was already perfect; everyone survived, and no one sacrificed themselves—wasn't that his wish?
Even though almost everyone was living a life worse than death.
Rintaro Okabe said there was nothing he could do. He was already very satisfied with how things had turned out. This was the world he had longed for, and it had always been his goal. A world where everyone lived happily ever after, except for him, was already very good. When he was trying to save everyone, he certainly hadn't included himself in that plan.
Although it might be a little lonely, others can better live in that perfect timeline only if they forget his existence.
Homura Akemi says that in the new world, she lost her ability to travel through time but gained the ability to alter memories. In this world where witches don't exist, she becomes increasingly confused by the monsters that devour her memories and emotions, questioning the existence of this world where Madoka doesn't exist, and even doubting the authenticity of her own memories.
If it weren't for the unwavering support of everyone in the group who could vouch for the reality of her experiences, she might have truly broken down. Even so, she occasionally wondered if this reincarnation group, visible only to her, was also a fabrication of her own memories.
Even so, she couldn't deny the world that Xiaoyuan had created, the world that Xiaoyuan longed for, and that she should respect Xiaoyuan's ideas... So every day, she tried her best to convince herself to live in this world where only Xiaoyuan didn't exist, her rationality hanging by a thread.
Shinpei Amagi said that forgetting is crueler than death; even the existence of the tide has been erased, which he cannot accept—it's too cruel. But no matter what he does, he can't go back and change everything, and no one can understand what he's saying, as if everything everyone experienced before was just a dream.
In the end, he could only try to convince himself that he had originally returned to attend Chao's funeral, and now everything was simply returning to normal. Everyone on the island had survived, even his deceased parents had come back to life... What could he do about being unwilling? What could he do now?
It's too late for them to change anything now.
Is it really going to be that Furuya Rei falls into the system's trap again, taking a huge risk to travel to another world to help them?
How could that be?
That will only lead to another vicious cycle.
But sometimes they can't help but wonder whether an unchangeable, hopeless ending is better, or an endless, vicious cycle is better.
They struggled in this agonizing way for three months, still refusing to accept the system's next invitation.
All of this unfolded as predicted by the system, and their behavior was perfectly logical, but the final result was unexpected.
Such errors have occurred more than once or twice, and to this day they still cannot comprehend the conflict between human emotions and reason.
"Are you really going to give up hope?" the system suddenly asked Furuya Rei.
"Otherwise what?" Furuya Rei said calmly as he typed. "Leaving aside them, the me of this world, belonging to the past, has already been taken by Pandora to start a cycle of reincarnation, and the me who reached the end of the cycle has never come here again. The time loop is so perfect, what else can I do? Am I supposed to place my hopes on you?"
"Without Pandora, it would be difficult for you to freely travel through time and space in this world," the system said. "But we can let you go back through other passages, you can take a detour to other worlds to gather power first, now is not the time to give up."
Rei Furuya sneered, "Oh? So you guys are this useless? You rely on Pandora to travel through time, then what good are you?"
"What we mean is, it's difficult, not impossible," the system said slowly. "But doing so wouldn't benefit us at all; it's not an equivalent exchange."
However, by cooperating with us, you can travel to other worlds and obtain the energy to travel back. During this time, you can also help others in the group, making their worlds more perfect. Ultimately, you help other worlds, travel back to your original timeline to reunite with your family and friends, and we also gain energy—it's a very reasonable trade.
After listening, Furuya Rei remained unmoved, simply saying, "Well said, but unfortunately, your trust in me is almost zero. I don't do business with people who have no integrity."
If they weren't desperate, who would actually believe the promises made by a heartless boss?
We don't understand. Have we failed to fulfill any of our promises? Why accuse us of deceiving you? Isn't this the world you wanted?
You wanted to save those you cherish, and you wanted to protect the stability of your country and the world. Haven't you accomplished both?
“Don’t play dumb,” Furuya Rei said. “Your actions have been malicious from the beginning. We’ve only gotten this far because of our hard work. Otherwise, you would have devoured us long ago.”
These guys, when observing humans, didn't learn much else, but they became very skilled at making empty promises and using psychological manipulation.
"I really don't understand you humans," the system said. "Wanting a perfect ending without paying a price, isn't that a bit too greedy? This is already the best outcome we calculated, and we even gave you the option to continue. Aren't you satisfied? Even if we have ulterior motives, you've still gained some benefits. Why are you angry?"
“It’s normal not to understand,” Furuya Rei said. “That’s why your civilization is on the verge of extinction, isn’t it?”
The system fell silent.
But sometimes silence is also a form of response.
Because they often expose a lot of information when talking to humans, and because their communication method is similar to what humans call brainwaves, they have learned their lesson and have tried to talk to humans as little as possible since they were first exposed to them.
Generally speaking, as long as the opening and closing remarks of a predetermined cycle are carefully designed, there won't be any problems.
But Furuya Rei forced them to communicate with him time and time again.
After a while, the system said again: "Are you really not planning to continue trying? This isn't like you guys."
"Oh? So, according to your calculations, what should our reaction be?" Furuya Rei asked.
"Neither of you are the type to give up like this. No matter what difficulties you encounter, as long as it's not over, you can still get up and keep going," the system said. "You should accept our invitation to go to other worlds and work together to try to make each world a better place. And they shouldn't give up so easily; their obsession hasn't faded, and they might even resort to unscrupulous means in the end."
Humans are always greedy; there is no best, only better.
"Is this the future world line you've seen developing?" Furuya Rei said, then suddenly smiled.
The system asked him what he was laughing about.
Rei Furuya's lips curled up slightly again. Instead of answering them, he sighed and changed the subject: "But we are all very tired. Humans get tired sometimes, and as you said, this ending is already quite good."
"Do you really think this ending is good?" the system asked. "But they're all very sad."
"Them? You mean the audience?" Furuya Rei looked up.
No, while the audience is also saddened, it is your family and friends who find it even harder to accept your death. You fought so hard to keep them alive, but you sacrificed yourself; this is something they cannot accept.
The system projected Furuya Rei's funeral in another world directly in front of him, showing him so many people attending his funeral and grieving for him, and showing him the four men dressed in women's clothing laughing and crying in front of his grave.
The sun was shining brightly, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, but everything felt so heavy and sad, filled with unbearable regret.
No one could say that this was a perfect ending.
"..." Furuya Rei remained silent for a long time before saying, "It's alright. They are not alone. In that new world, they can support each other, and time will heal the rest."
The system was at its wit's end: "Even if you're not afraid of death, and even want to self-destruct to force us to abandon you, aren't you afraid that after you die, we'll make contracts with others and go to your world, bringing them further disaster and suffering?"
Rei Furuya scoffed, his purple eyes revealing undisguised mockery: "I was indeed a little worried before, but now I'm certain you can't do it. You're just heartless middlemen. Even if you could, you wouldn't waste so many resources on something that wouldn't yield a corresponding return, since if you dared to do it, you would completely lose me."
He said calmly, "But you are still going to great lengths to coerce and entice me, placing your hopes on me. This shows that I am important enough to you, doesn't it?"
The system went silent again.
Zero playthrough completely resets everything, cutting off Furuya Rei's escape route, but it also reduces his concerns, while the system becomes somewhat constrained by the rules.
The systems don't get angry; they're just thinking about how to get Furuya Zero to continue working for them willingly and diligently in the best possible condition.
Although time doesn't affect them much, we can't let Riku's decline continue indefinitely.
Even the most powerful person will eventually break down and become truly unusable in this situation.
Previous contractors, even in a state of flux, could only last for about five hundred years before collapsing and becoming unusable. Even brainwashing and memory erasure would render them broken and unusable.
After switching to the new model, they found many excellent resources, among which Furuya Zero possessed the richest and most powerful emotions, yet also the most stable mental state. This was their most successful and stable project to date, yielding unimaginable amounts of emotional energy, which they continue to harvest from various worlds, making it impossible for them to abandon it.
A few days later, the system said again: "We are not some vicious being. You know we don't have those kinds of emotions. We simply need your cooperation to obtain survival energy; we won't do anything malicious to you. On the contrary, we came here, chose you, so that you can travel back in time to make up for regrets and save important people. This is out of kindness."
Rei Furuya completely ignored their ridiculous "goodwill," and continued to probe while remotely touching Hello, who had "escaped" to visit him at the cemetery: "If I really agree to your request, how many worlds would I need to travel through to collect the energy to travel back?"
The original plan was to send him to explore other reincarnation groups' worlds, at least ten at a time. However, after careful consideration, the system replied: "The specifics depend on how much energy you can obtain from different worlds. But with your abilities, helping those children in the group should be enough."
"It's such a vague definition, it must be a lie. If I really go, who knows when I'll be able to retire," Furuya Rei thought to himself.
"But hasn't their world already come to an end? If I go there now, do you think I can restart their world?" Furuya Rei asked.
"If we can obtain enough energy, we can indeed restart the world, forcing them to choose a different timeline at a crucial juncture," the system replied.
"My world can also be restarted?" Furuya Rei frowned slightly.
"Your world is a little special," the system said.
"What's so special about me?" Furuya Rei raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything different about me compared to everyone else in the group?"
What makes this world special is that it merges multiple official derivative works with the original storyline, creating a single plot that reaches its conclusion and has a massive impact. This world is a unique miracle even among countless universes, chaotic yet orderly, making it difficult for even a system to intervene.
Even within their own dimensions, among all the worlds collected, "Detective Conan" is a unique and special case.
Seeing that they didn't answer, Furuya Rei continued, "According to what you said before, in your world, all trees are ordinary trees that you can climb up and down at will and prune branches, right? Then why can't this be the case in my world?"
"It's not that it's impossible, it's just very difficult, and not worthwhile for us." The system emphasized again, explaining, "You're right. In our view, time and space have little meaning. Everything is a predetermined fact, and even your struggles and resistance are part of fate."
"But you don't actually have much ability to change your fate, do you?" Furuya Rei tapped his phone screen lightly and said directly, "Everyone in the reincarnation group has their own time travel ability, which exists in their own world. I used to think that my time travel ability should belong entirely to you, but now I've confirmed that the ability actually comes from Pandora. So, there's actually very little you can actually do, right?"
He chuckled and said sarcastically, "I thought you guys were so great, but all you did was act as a middleman? You even boasted that you were both God and the devil when you signed the contract with me. It's hilarious."
"We need energy," the system said calmly. "As long as we have enough energy, we can do anything."
“Oh, so it’s still the unscrupulous middlemen making the difference,” Furuya Rei said. “That makes sense. You’re all about to destroy yourselves; how much energy do you have left when you can’t even take care of yourselves?”
The system has fallen silent again.
Although their world's abilities became so useful only after they were improved by them, they also paid a price, but it wasn't an equivalent exchange compared to the energy they gained.
But they felt that Furuya Rei was trying to extract information, so they simply shut up.
If all else fails, we can wait another year at most. If Furuya Rei still hasn't collapsed and is unwilling to cooperate, then we'll have to try the last resort: forcibly taking people to other worlds and altering their memories.
Another half month passed.
Just when Rei Furuya was getting bored and started trying to learn magic from the other world, the system popped up again.
Are you really going to give up? Or are you hoping that the people from the 73rd timeline will come to your rescue? We can tell you definitively that their efforts are misguided, and they won't succeed even ten years from now. You've probably already seen the result of their efforts: that phone from the future is still in your hands.
Rei Furuya temporarily put aside the magical rules of this other world that filled his mind, and quickly ran through a few questions in his head, but didn't say them out loud. He just tilted his head and said "hmm" to indicate that he was listening and asked the audience to continue the performance.
[Because you're in the Zero Cycle of the past, but they can only try to change the future or participate in other worlds. If you agree to cooperate with us to travel to other worlds, you might have a chance to contact them.]
“Then forget it.” Rei Furuya yawned. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make it easier for you to influence that world? It’s better to leave it as it is. Anyway, I can’t think of a way to get rid of you.”
What about those kids in the group? They must be on the verge of a breakdown, right? Are you really just going to leave them like this?
Rei Furuya opened his eyes, his tone stern: "Stop looking down on them. This is a choice they made seriously."
Even if they won't let you pass, what about your own thoughts? Are you sacrificing other worlds for the safety of this world? Are you choosing to abandon your friends in the group chat for your friends in real life?
Rei Furuya sneered: "You guys really like moral blackmail and provocation, but it doesn't work on me. Have you forgotten that I still have the identity of Bourbon?"
The system couldn't really determine whether what he said was true or false. According to their calculations, it wouldn't be surprising if Furuya Rei did something; this person was just too complicated.
Even his brainwaves are incredibly complex.
"We don't believe you've truly given up." The system finally uttered this harsh statement: "Stop struggling. No matter what you do, the final outcome won't change; fate has already been decided."
*
"The future outcome of this world line is already predetermined."
Hiroki Sawada stood in front of all the members of the Sakura Team and gave a speech, while Noah's Ark wrote and drew on the whiteboard behind him.
"We need to change, to make a choice that is completely different from the past and the future, or even to start a new path from scratch, hoping to be a little bigger than following the old path that everyone else has taken in the future."
Noah's Ark maneuvered the robot's body to move aside, revealing the words on the whiteboard.
[Four-dimensional]
[Upgrade]
Möbius strip
Hiroki Sawada pointed his pen at the word "four-dimensional" and said, "We had previously suspected that the system existed in four-dimensional space. From the perspective of two-dimensional beings, three-dimensional beings possess almost godlike power. Similarly, from the perspective of three-dimensional beings, four-dimensional beings also possess almost godlike power."
His pen tip moved to the side to the word "dimensional ascension": "Everyone knows about the dimensional reduction attack in science fiction, right? Since there is dimensional reduction, there must be dimensional ascension."
"Whether it's technology or magic, everything that exists in the world is bound and influenced by certain rules. No matter how power is manifested, it's just a matter of different methods; ultimately, they all lead to the same destination."
As he spoke, he forcefully pointed the pen to the last four words, saying, "The Möbius strip, the only thing that can attempt to represent four dimensions in three dimensions. As long as a Möbius strip can create a real world, even an ant can stand in four dimensions to observe and influence everything in the past and future."
The boy turned around, meeting everyone's burning gazes, and said firmly, "Our next goal is to create a small universe Möbius strip channel connecting three-dimensional and four-dimensional space, and then bring Zero back from the river of time."
Their request wasn't much; they just wanted to bring someone home.
Of course, it would be best to completely destroy the system.
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