The thought flashed through her mind, but it struck her like a thunderbolt, making her fully understand.
The shrunken eyeball in Fang He's hand suddenly fluttered violently, slowly and laboriously floating into the air.
From behind it, the shadow of another eyeball gradually split out. The phantom was enormous and dazzling, its halo dyeing the entire sky crimson.
It beats like a heart, with countless optic nerves extending from it, the other end disappearing into the endless sky.
An invisible curtain of light rose between Xiao Cheng and Fang He, and light and darkness spread across the two separated sides.
Xiao Cheng watched helplessly as Fang He's side was rapidly engulfed by dense darkness. He seemed not to understand what was happening, and a rare look of desolation appeared on his face.
"Ah... it really was a final burst of energy before death."
He gripped the system's main brain, which was now almost empty, and slumped against the rock, staring intently at the ground before him.
It seems... they are mourning her body.
Xiao Cheng realized that from Fang He's perspective, he could not see the phantom of the system's main brain, nor the light screen; he could only see himself suddenly collapsing without any warning.
She had never seen Fang He so grief-stricken; in the darkness, only the spot where he stood had a faint glow.
But this glimmer of light was quickly and completely swallowed up, and Fang He was trapped in an impenetrable darkness, as if he had become one with it.
Gradually, it became lifeless.
“…The mainframe?” He stared at his outstretched palm, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly. “Besides me…besides me, is there anyone else alive?”
After a long while, her eyes trembled slightly, and she uttered an extremely faint voice: "...No."
"Ah..." Fang He chuckled softly, pressing his forehead against his. "Not even a bug?"
"……No."
"But I'm still alive?"
"You will die soon too," the system's mainframe told him with unusual honesty, even describing the specific scenario to him in a cold and almost cruel manner.
"First, you have no food, and second, you have no water, but don't worry, the air will dissipate before you die of thirst and hunger. If you're lucky enough to survive by holding your breath, congratulations, you should be able to witness my explosion."
"An explosion?" Fang He seemed intrigued and continued to explore the topic further. "Was it an explosion like fireworks?"
"It's like an explosion of 100,000 atomic bombs." The system's mainframe ruthlessly shattered his fantasy. "Then it will affect other worlds near me, and then like this... it will create countless fragmented worlds."
It concluded with a particularly philosophical statement: "That's fate."
"What a load of bull, fate."
Fang He sneered, flicked his eyeball hard with his finger, sending it flying high into the air, and then caught it with a snap.
He dusted himself off and stood up, and the faint, extinguished glow of the firefly seemed to rise from the ashes and begin to flicker again.
"Is there still hope?" He turned his head to look at Xiao Cheng's location as if sensing something.
Xiao Cheng knew he couldn't see her, but her heart still skipped a beat.
Above his head, the enormous phantom eyeball began to rotate slightly, drooping down a little, looking down at Xiao Cheng like a god, devoid of joy or sorrow.
In the area shrouded in crimson light, another figure slowly emerged, looking exactly like Xiao Cheng. He smiled somewhat helplessly and walked slowly toward her.
"So... it was you."
Xiao Cheng looked at the face opposite her, which was exactly the same as her own, and belatedly chuckled.
She did not respond, but simply stood a step away from Xiao Cheng.
On either side of the light curtain, darkness and light are separated.
Sunken eyeballs, a huge phantom, and "her" in front of Xiao Cheng.
Three distinct voices rang out simultaneously: "You want to save the world, you want to reverse the outcome, you will pay the price. You—"
Are you willing?
Xiao Cheng and Fang He spoke almost simultaneously in a confident tone.
"I do."
"I do."
The shriveled eyeballs floated in the air, their surfaces cracked with crisscrossing, dense fissures. A dazzling halo burst forth from the cracks, enveloping Fang He and flowing into his limbs and bones, like a gift, or like an invisible shackle.
"I will use my last bit of energy to send you to a parallel timeline with an anchor point. From this day forward, your life will be bound to the fragmented world."
"Whether I'm tied up or not isn't important, the key is... I want to resurrect someone." Fang He's gaze lightly fell on Xiao Cheng, revealing a half-smile.
“Don’t rush to refuse. Consider it a deal. Listen to my conditions first.” He spoke before the eyeball could speak. “First, she is the last person to survive besides me. Second… her life is bound to mine, to you in this timeline, not to the fragmented world.”
"Are you sure?! Do you know what this means?!" Eyeball exclaimed incredulously.
"Ah, of course I know." Fang He nodded half-heartedly, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "But what I'm more curious about is... no, it's clearly me who can't bear to see you disappear like this."
As soon as the words were spoken, the other side of the light screen suddenly went dark, and nothing could be seen at all; everything vanished without a trace.
Xiao Cheng was stunned for a moment, not quite able to process what kind of deal Fang He had made with that system.
Then, the "she" in front of him spoke softly.
"This is really interesting. You just randomly stumbled into this timeline. You didn't die at all. You are... the only one who successfully escaped the fragmented world."
Xiao Cheng listened silently to her questioning.
"So why don't you choose to leave? Savior? You're clearly not such a... righteous person."
“Yes, I’m selfish, I’m cold, I have no empathy for anyone, and I don’t have any extra feelings.” Xiao Cheng didn’t refute her words, but instead continued to criticize herself.
She felt a little guilty after hearing that.
"No, actually there isn't..."
"So it's just out of curiosity." Xiao Cheng interrupted "her" words in a completely flat tone. "I'm curious too..."
She paused slightly, frowned, and thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with a suitable way to say it. So she simply sighed in despair: "Actually, I'm also reluctant to part with you, my dear system mastermind."
"she":"……"
eyeball:"……"
Thank you, but there's really no need for that.
"So, getting back to the point, are you sure you want to do this? His deal with that...that two-eyed guy is definitely off! Are you sure you still want to do this? Don't blame me for not warning you, this is your last chance to leave here voluntarily!"
Xiao Cheng stared silently for a long time, blinked, and suddenly smiled brightly.
"So I've already said it, no matter how many times you ask, you'll get the same answer."
"I do."
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