Chapter 34 The Tower of Gray Dome 34 This is called family tradition.
Seeing Nanmen Jue's dazzling gaze, the crow fell into a long silence.
After a long while, Nanmen Jue gave him an indifferent look and said, "You can't do it? Then forget I said anything, you useless thing."
She got up to leave, and Crow cleared its throat. "Young man, don't be impatient. Who says I can't do it?"
The long leg that had been raised came down again, and Nanmen Jue sat back down heavily.
She didn't look at the crow, but the crow knew she was listening.
“I have a way to help you, but I don’t understand why you’re doing this,” the crow said. “At least in this world, you’ve made an exchange with me, and you’re guaranteed not to die. On that basis, whatever you gain is a bonus. So why would you give up what you already have to save someone who has nothing to do with you?”
Nanmen Jue curled the corners of his lips. "It seems you didn't understand a single word I said just now, so I don't need to say anything more."
The crow moved its claws and landed on Nanmenjue's knee.
“For at least a while, I’ll be tied to you, so I need to consider your situation. I’ll ask you again, do you really want to save them?”
Nanmen Jue waved his hand, shoving it away. His face turned cold. "I think you don't have the ability to directly control me yet."
“I don’t want to control you, I just want to correct the mistakes.” The crow flapped its wings and stood firm. “It’s wrong to waste your existing resources. In the cycle of reincarnation, you should learn how to survive as soon as possible.”
Nanmen Jue's breath caught in his throat. "Wrong?"
She turned her head, but she didn't see coldness or cruelty in the crow's eyes. It just looked at her, its eyes even containing pity.
“You’re not such a bad person, Nanmen. No matter how bad you describe yourself, the fact that you made this request of me proves that your heart is still soft.” The crow said softly. “Soft-heartedness, kindness, benevolence, and resilience are qualities unique to humans, and it is precisely because you have these qualities that I say your decision was a mistake.”
The rage that had been raging in Nanmen Jue's eyes subsided, and she quietly looked at the crow, listening to what it had to say.
“In this kind of world, there’s really no difference between not being able to save people and being able to save people. The difference is that you won’t feel guilty if you’re not able to save people.” The crow’s black eyes stared straight into Nanmen Jue’s eyes. “You can save them now, so you did. But what if you encounter someone you can’t save in the future? Can you bear it? If you can bear it, can you handle it?”
Nanmen Jue said, "You even understand psychology?"
“I don’t understand your discipline, but I have observed more than you humans,” said the raven. “If you were just saying this on a whim, I wouldn’t say such a thing, but you are not, Southgate. You will get caught up in it, you will make yourself suffer, and in the end, you may even be doomed.”
Nanmen Jue nodded repeatedly, and the crow seemed quite pleased. "You understood?"
Nanmen Jue's expression hardened. "What the hell am I listening to? All this babbling on and on, are you just incapable?"
The crow stared blankly, "No, you, I..."
"If you can't handle it, then don't bother me while I'm resting." Nanmen Jue lay down on the bed. "Go somewhere cool and stay there. It's so dark in front of me, it's annoying."
"..."
The crow didn't leave, and Nanmen Jue opened his eyes again, but there was a hint of anger in them.
“You’re really annoying,” she said. “The two sentences I hate the most are saying I’m wrong and saying I’m no good, and you’ve said both.”
"I'm sorry?" said the crow.
Nanmen Jue rolled over forcefully, resting his head on his forearm and staring at Him. "Stop rambling on and on, what's your plan?"
She avoided the crow's poignant question.
“I should have known,” the crow sighed. “When you picked me up from the snow, I should have guessed you would make this choice.”
...
"You mean you have a vast, almost infinite space, a mirror world compared to the vast universe?" Nanmen Jue murmured.
Even though she knew the crow was no ordinary person and was prepared, she still didn't expect it to have such a trump card.
The crow didn't think it was anything special; to say it had such a space was like saying it had a peanut for dinner.
"Then can you transfer everyone into your space?" After the initial shock, Nanmen Jue quickly realized what the crow meant by breaking the deadlock, and his eyes lit up. "Can the whole world go in?"
“Yes, but I need a medium, a connection between the energies of the two worlds, to open the entrance.” The crow looked at her, clearly indicating who this medium was.
Nanmen Jue smiled. "Isn't that simple? You're bound to me now anyway, so who else could be the medium if not me? Tell me, what do I need to do?"
"kill."
Nanmen Jue paused in his clenched fists movement. "What did you say?"
“Murder,” the crow repeated. “Anyone you kill and whoever you give permission to enter may go in.”
Nanmen Jue slowly lowered his hand, a sharp light flashing in his narrowed eyes. "You're not the main god's enemy, but rather an accomplice He sent in, aren't you?"
"You don't have to believe me, it won't affect me," the crow said calmly, with a hint of arrogance that suggested it didn't care whether humans trusted it or not.
Nanmen Jue observed Him for a long while before speaking again, "So, as long as I kill all these people before the explosion, they can go to your space and be reborn?"
“It’s not rebirth, it’s just a conversion of energy bodies, but by definition they’re still alive. If they want, they can even come back,” Raven said. “You don’t have to personally kill them one by one. For example, that self-destruct device, as long as you activate it and they die because of it, then it counts as… What’s with that look? My place isn’t a prison, of course they can come out.”
"Excuse me, but your description sounds too much like the underworld, which only souls can enter," Nanmen Jue said slowly, his gaze sweeping over Him with a strange expression. "And it's a crow, isn't that just like the underworld messenger in the stories?"
"..." The crow skipped over the topic, "But they can't come out yet. My energy is too weak. I'll wait until I have enough energy. Besides, the energy fluctuations when the door opens are huge, which will attract the attention of the main god."
Nanmen Jue asked, "Where is this space of yours? Can I go in and take a look?"
"You can't come in. Do you want to kill yourself?"
"But I'm your contractor, so what's yours is mine, isn't it?"
"That's not how it's calculated."
After exchanging a few words, Nanmen Jue's gaze gradually darkened. "Let me summarize: if I find a way to kill everyone, they can enter your space and survive, right?"
The crow nodded. "There's an even simpler way."
"What?"
“Just destroy the current world,” the raven said nonchalantly. “If this world disappears in the current dimension, everyone will die.”
Even the rebellious Nanmen Jue fell silent for a moment.
There seemed to be a lot of flaws in that sentence. She wanted to say something, but a deep excitement surged up, making her pupils tremble.
The crow said, "Of course, a normal person probably wouldn't think of that..."
"What should we do?"
The crow paused.
"The way to destroy the entire world..." Nanmen Jue's voice trembled slightly, "...how?"
The room was brightly lit, but it had an inexplicably eerie atmosphere.
...
"Anchor point?" Nanmen Jue's expression changed, realizing something.
"Do you think these worlds were born to be the end times?" The raven's tone was neither sad nor happy. "It is the main god who has placed anchors in these worlds, transforming them into what the cycle of reincarnation needs. These transformations may take several stages, but the people in the current world will be completely unaware of them."
Nanmen Jue thought of the two gray towers built more than a hundred years apart, and of the people who had waited alone in the nuclear power plant and turned into skeletons. His hands, which were on his knees, slowly clenched into fists.
"The world turning into ruins and life turning into withered bones is just a matter of a single thought from you gods," Nanmen Jue laughed sarcastically.
“Find the anchor point and remove it, and it will cause the entire space to tremble, or even be destroyed.” The crow didn’t respond to her words.
"How do I find it? By walking? That sounds like I'm going on a hiking trip in the apocalypse."
The raven pondered for a moment, "If I'm not mistaken, the anchor point should be at the coordinates where the main god first arrived..."
"Another Gray Tower!"
Nanmen Jue stood up abruptly and quickly pieced the clues together.
"If there are only two gray towers in this world, then the other gray tower must be the location of the anchor point, but if..."
If the Supreme God created another apocalypse before the other gray tower, then this conjecture is invalid.
Is that so? Or not?
Whether it is or not, the other Grey Tower must be found.
Nanmen Jue turned and rushed towards the door, crows cawing behind her.
"How do you plan to tell them that you're going to save them, so you have to kill them all? Will they believe you?"
Nanmen Jue paused, "Whether they believe it or not is their business; what they do is my business."
“You will be hated.” The crow’s voice seemed to contain pity. “South Gate, not everyone can bear hatred.”
Nanmen Jue remained silent for two seconds, then resolutely opened the door. A crow spread its wings and landed on her shoulder.
She rushed back to Lin Suwen's office, startling everyone inside.
Besides Lin Suwen and Qin Yehan, there were several other people who looked familiar but didn't recognize them, and whose names I couldn't recall. They were all high-ranking members of the Life Society and the Council.
Judging from their eyes, Nanmen Jue didn't recognize them, but they definitely recognized Nanmen Jue.
"South Gate, why aren't you resting?"
Qin Yehan met her, his gaze quickly sweeping over her. Apart from the previous injuries, there were no new ones, but Nanmen's current state was very strange.
Nanmen Jue pushed him aside and stood in the center of the office.
“Listen to me,” she said, successfully grabbing everyone’s attention.
Nanmen Jue closed her eyes briefly. She knew how shocking her words were, even deserving of immediate execution, but she had to say them.
She had already decided what she was going to do, but she was uneasy if these people didn't know their impending fate.
She knew all too well how unfair it was to offer pity and make arrangements from a position of superiority, but there was no other way now; the consequence of not accepting it was death.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, she said, "I'm going to blow up the world."
...
Nanmen Jue's words did indeed cause a stir. Some people took her seriously and thought she had gone mad, while others thought she had just been exhausted.
Lin Suwen gently advised her to rest, but she stood in the center with a firm gaze and, with a conviction that even she found hard to believe, tried her best to explain the whole matter without violating any rules.
But despite being extremely careful, they still crossed the line.
"He won't find out..."
Before she could finish speaking, Nanmen Jue's expression suddenly froze. Qin Yehan, who was beside her, was the first to notice something was wrong and reached out to support her.
"puff."
A mouthful of blood splattered onto Qin Yehan's face. Qin Yehan stared blankly as he watched Nanmen Jue clutching his chest and kneeling on the ground.
"South Gate!"
Now the others disregarded their doubts and rushed forward. Lin Suwen supported Nanmen Jue's shoulder, "Dr. Zheng!"
Pain, a pain that spread from her heart like a spider web, entangled Nanmen Jue's battered body. She closed her eyes, stopped breathing, and endured the wave of pain, raising her hand to stop someone from prying off her eyelids.
Despite the excruciating pain, she let out a sneer.
"I understand now that this is something that can't be mentioned."
"Nanmen, you're playing with yourself!" Lin Suwen clearly knew what was wrong with Nanmen Jue, her stern reprimand tinged with lingering fear. "Don't say another word!"
Nanmen Jue's slender hand gripped Lin Suwen's tightly. She opened her eyes and looked stubbornly into Lin Suwen's eyes. "You know what I'm saying is true, right? You know this is the only way..."
As she spoke, she spat out another mouthful of blood.
"It seems even cheat codes can't block out this pain." Nanmen Jue almost shrank back, but his eyes remained fixed on Lin Suwen, his voice filled with anguish, "Lin Suwen!"
This shout snapped Lin Suwen out of her daze. She squeezed Nanmen Jue's hand tightly and said to Qin Yehan, "Take her back to rest."
"Don't talk about this anymore, I understand!" Lin Suwen looked firmly at Nanmen Jue. "I'll explain to the others. You go back and rest first, I'll come find you later."
Nanmen Jue's hand, which was trembling as he held hers, shuddered slightly upon hearing this and gently released her.
Qin Yehan picked her up horizontally, and Nanmen Jue rested her head wearily on his shoulder, feeling his arms tighten around her.
The door shut out the intense questions and discussions. Qin Yehan carried her towards the room, and the atmosphere in the elevator was surprisingly somber.
"Only by letting you kill us can we be reborn, is that right?" Qin Yehan asked in a low voice.
Nanmen Jue nodded.
"So, you've always been unwilling to study retroviral therapy...is that the reason?" Qin Yehan hesitated for a moment. "Does this count as dying at your hands?"
Nanmen Jue wanted to laugh, "That probably doesn't count."
"Then we must find that gray tower."
Nanmen Jue squinted at him, feeling a little dizzy. "You just believe that?"
"I will believe you no matter what." Qin Yehan's voice was soft, but exceptionally firm.
"What if I kill you right now?"
Nanmen Jue's tone was so gentle, and a scalpel sharpened to an exceptionally sharp point was pressed against the back of Qin Yehan's neck. She seemed to be buried in his arms, yet she had quietly seized his lifeline.
If she were to cut hard enough, the rebel leader would be decapitated and go to the paradise she spoke of.
She looked up into Qin Yehan's eyes, but saw no fear or wariness in them. He even smiled, his face still showing complete trust.
"If you want to send me there now, then go ahead. I'd like to see what a world without radiation is like."
Nanmen Jue's knife trembled, leaving a streak of blood on the back of Qin Yehan's neck.
These people, whose world has been changed by the God of God, have never experienced what a normal world is like.
She sheathed her knife and nestled herself into his arms.
"Nanmen, how are you?" Qin Yehan suddenly panicked. "You're shaking a little, should we call a doctor?"
"That's great," Nanmen Jue said softly.
Qin Yehan didn't hear her clearly, so he brought his ear close to her lips and asked, "What did you say?"
With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and Nanmen Jue, caught in the sound, mumbled words that rolled in his throat, unheard by anyone.
"I'm glad I didn't see the hatred in your eyes."
After sending Nanmen Jue back to rest, Qin Yehan knelt by the bedside, gazing at her pale face and the hideous wound on her cheek.
"Don't worry," Qin Yehan said gently. "I know you want to save us. Even if their final decision is not to believe you, I will still believe you. If this is the end, it is the ending our world was meant to have, and it has nothing to do with you."
This is not the ending we should have had!
Nanmen Jue remained silent, her eyes brimming with anger. The pain she had just experienced was too unforgettable. She stubbornly closed her eyes, unable to refute or agree.
A warm, dry hand gently touched her head.
"Get some rest. Leave the search for the Gray Tower to me."
Nanmen Jue watched him leave, and a crow landed on her pillow.
"You won't give up, will you? Even if they don't believe you."
Nanmen Jue turned his gaze to the glaring incandescent light on the ceiling. "If things really do get worse, there's nothing I can do."
Her fingers deftly twirled the scalpel, demonstrating what she would do if things didn't go her way.
Monsters that are not afraid of pain or death will become the nightmare of everyone in this world.
[08 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes, and 23 seconds]
Nanmen Jue set a countdown timer on her bracelet that was synchronized with the self-destruct program. A day had passed, and Lin Suwen had not come to find her. Qin Yehan left the tower, and she lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
The crow nestled beside her, dozing off listlessly, its rounded breasts rising and falling, making it look charming and adorable.
Nanmen Jue frowned, tossed and turned, and then suddenly sat up.
The crow slowly woke up. "What's wrong?"
“This is a dead end,” Nanmenjue said. “Unless they can find another Gray Tower before the radiation surge arrives, and I can destroy this world, they are doomed no matter what.”
“Yes,” the crow yawned. “Without me, none of us here, including you, would survive.”
Nanmen Jue could not refute it. Even if the arrival of the crows increased the danger, the radiation tide was not controlled by the main god.
"Retroviral agents," she murmured to herself. "If I were really in Nanmen Jue's shoes, would I have another way out?"
"Yes, you can."
Nanmen Jue was lost in thought. "What?"
“There’s a prop that can inherit a character’s abilities and memories, and it’s not very expensive,” Crow said. “I can simulate it.”
Nanmen Jue's heart pounded, and she grabbed the crow's wing.
"Really!"
"Really, let go, let go before you speak!"
Nanmen Jue released the crow that was kicking, knelt on the bed, and stared intently at Him. "How many points do you want?"
"Ten thousand. This prop is pretty useless; not many people use it, so it's not expensive," the crow said.
"Ten thousand..."
After killing the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Nanmen Jue opened the system panel for the first time.
She lost Zhang Chuxi in that battle. At that time, she thought Zhang Chuxi had betrayed her in order to survive, and that the points she had gained were also scarred, making her unwilling to even look at them. Therefore, she did not know how many points she had now.
After these days of fighting, coupled with the death of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a number has emerged.
28700.
Twenty-eight thousand seven! How many did she kill?
But at this moment, she felt only relief and joy.
“I’ll buy it,” Nanmen Jue said without hesitation.
The crow paused for a moment. "Nanmen, I need to remind you that even with the experience and memories of a persona, it doesn't guarantee you'll achieve the results you want. Do you understand?"
“I know that becoming a mathematician doesn’t necessarily mean you can prove Goldbach’s Conjecture, right? Because the prop we got isn’t named ‘100% Proof of Goldbach’s Conjecture.’” A smile that wasn’t mocking or gloomy appeared on Nanmen Jue’s face, making her look somewhat older.
"Even so, you still insist on wasting points?"
"I don't like your choice of words. If I hear them again, I'll pluck all your hair off."
The crow shrank back slightly, then stuck out its neck and said, "Those who don't listen to the elders will suffer the consequences! Do as you please, you won't die even if you lose ten thousand points, but there's one question I still have to ask."
"You know you can't save everyone in every world, right?"
Nanmen Jue suddenly froze, and the image of the pretty girl's tearful face reappeared before his eyes, along with his own voice.
"We are just reincarnators, not gods who have descended to this world. If we're being serious, we're the ones being played."
Being clear-headed is a kind of understanding that won't be called "stupid" by crows; it's the understanding of a normal, self-aware person.
but……
The faces of Zhao Huai Ren after his death, the faces of Wu Qing after his death, the faces of He Hua after he turned into a monster, and many other faces, whether they had been dealt with or not, flashed before my eyes.
They are all living, breathing people!
Like her, they were all manipulated by the supreme god, struggling to survive like ants!
Their lives are equal, their joys and sorrows are equal. She is not a noble reincarnator who has entered a lower-dimensional world; she is just an ordinary being like them.
The older sister couldn't stand her extremes and violence. There were four people in the family, three of whom were doctors, and they all took it as their duty to snatch people away from death. Nanmen Jue's mentality before didn't seem like she wanted to save lives; it seemed more like she was performing a physical ritual to help the dead.
Nanmen Jue once scoffed at this kind of teaching, as if she didn't care about others or herself. This was the source of her sister's deepest disappointment, but not directed at Nanmen Jue. Instead, she felt that she hadn't done well enough, which was why Nanmen Jue had turned out the way she did.
At the height of the argument, the older sister put her hand to her forehead and calmly said, "You're just unhappy with me. If Mom and Dad were still alive, you wouldn't be like this."
Nanmen Jue stood there stunned, her heart pierced. The two sisters had an unspoken understanding: never mention their deceased parents in this situation, as it would cause Nanmen Jue guilt and Nanmen Yu pain. But Nanmen Yu had brought it up, and Nanmen Jue had no power to retaliate.
She silently took the college entrance exam and filled in medicine as her first choice without discussing it. However, this angered Nanmen Yu, and the conflict between the two intensified. They hadn't spoken to each other for a long time since they entered the reincarnation space one after the other.
Nanmen Jue thought of the clothes that had been neatly packed in the dormitory and the cookies on the table. She thought that maybe her sister had figured something out and wanted to reconcile with her.
The two sisters are both stubborn to the extreme; they would never bow down to each other unless they figured something out.
Nanmen Jue didn't know what Nanmen Yu was trying to say, just like the deceased Zhao Huai Ren, she couldn't hear their words.
Nanmen Jue let out a soft sigh of relief. Her trembling and wavering emotions gradually calmed down. A fire had begun to burn in her heart, a flame that had never been extinguished. This intense heat, however, left her feeling trapped and powerless under the grind of reality. In reality, her strength was too small. Even if she screamed with all her might, too few people would hear her voice. Some couldn't hear her, and those who could hear her didn't want to listen. They would only see her as a rebellious, crazy child. Nanmen Jue was angry and powerless, but in contrast, the strength she accumulated was also increasing day by day.
She didn't want to admit defeat.
Even if she can't save every world, every person, at least, at least...
The crow nuzzled its fluffy head under her chin, not out of affection, but to get a better look at her expression.
"Why are you so insistent?" the crow asked. "You're not the kind of person who doesn't kill; you don't mind people dying."
"That's different."
"What's different?"
"Can I be hypocritical? Why are you asking so many questions?"
The crow didn't speak, but just tilted its head to look at her, its eyes devoid of sorrow or joy, resentment or hatred, or even curiosity. It seemed to be detached from worldly affairs, as if it simply wanted to know Nanmen Jue's answer.
Nanmen Jue met His gaze, then suddenly covered his eyes with his forearm and sneered.
"It feels strange to communicate with something that isn't human... but it's also strangely reassuring."
It is a relief to know that He is not affected by one’s words and actions.
"There are no excuses. If I could save them but stood by and did nothing, my parents and sister would all be in the same boat and kick me out of the house. That's called family tradition."
Nanmen Jue closed his eyes, then opened them again, this time without hesitation.
"Deduct it."
As 10,000 points were deducted, a strange feeling surged through Nanmen Jue's body. Her mind was filled with many memories and knowledge that did not belong to her, as if someone had lifted the top of her head and stuffed all these things into her brain.
But perhaps due to pain shielding, she didn't feel any pain, only a slight nausea.
The whole process was quick. Nanmen Jue looked down at his hands and suddenly felt that he was back in the real world and could directly apply to become an academician.
"This is the character design that the Supreme God gave me," Nanmen Jue said. "Awesome."
“These memories aren’t etched into your mind, so you can’t take them out of this world,” the crow said.
Nanmen Jue paused, "I really shouldn't have praised your conscience."
But she didn't seem to regret or worry at all; in fact, she even smiled slightly.
Just because something isn't ingrained in her mind doesn't mean she can't learn it.
Just like getting an encyclopedia, can't you just eat it and consider it free?
Nanmen Jue clenched his fist tightly. "Don't worry about whether it's meaningful or not, don't worry about what others think, just don't do anything you'll regret."
Her voice was low and firm; she was telling herself this.
She was momentarily stunned. In addition to knowledge, memories were also being instilled in her, and she saw Zhao Huai-ren from her memories.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lin Suwen saw that she was sitting safely on the bed and breathed a sigh of relief.
“South Gate, we cannot predict the power of the explosion. Today, I will organize the surviving people to evacuate from the Gray Tower.” Lin Suwen’s gaze was gentle, as if she was afraid that a sharp point would hurt Nanmen Jue. “As for what you said… if the other Gray Tower does indeed have that anchor point, we will all agree with your approach.”
"You all evacuate first, I'm staying here."
Lin Suwen was taken aback. "Why?"
Nanmen Jue stood up, a bright smile on his face, full of spirit and radiant pride.
"Haven't you always wanted me to tackle retrograde? Now I'm going to take on it—and see what kind of genius this is that even the teacher couldn't solve."
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