The atmosphere was silent, and Ruan Qingan's fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
In her leaden eyes, there was a hint of barely perceptible panic. She really hadn't expected the situation at the Bureau to have reached this point—so serious, so tragic.
After a brief pause, Xie Huainan said, "Ruan Ruan, do you still remember when we brought down the former chief god and I became the new chief god?"
"……I remember."
Ruan Qing'an nodded slightly and looked up at him: "That is, when you had just succeeded to the position of chief god, you sealed me away."
In a single sentence, long-buried past events and conflicts were brought to light.
Having chosen to complete the final fragment world and to learn the truth, Ruan Qing'an had no intention of immediately severing ties with the Management Bureau and leaving his missionary status to choose a different plane to stay in after completing the previous worlds.
She was already prepared to accept everything.
Ruan Qing'an looked intently at Xie Huainan with her leaden gray eyes, without flinching or avoiding him; she was never one to run away from things.
—Just like before, daring to love and hate.
Upon realizing this, Xie Huainan lowered his eyes, his expression flickering: "You've always been like this, Ruan Ruan. Your love and emotions have always been passionate and open."
But he was different; he was a twisted abyss in the darkness, and his love was like a leech, clinging to her like a curse.
Ruan Qing'an said in a deep voice, "I didn't hear you say those things."
"...Okay, I'll tell you everything."
"After I became the new chief god, I realized that we had fallen into a trap. The former chief god was unwilling to be killed by us, nor was he willing to have his chief god position taken away by me, so he left a backup plan."
Ruan Qingan was taken aback: "A backup plan?"
Xie Huainan nodded and said, "Yes, after taking office, I had a vague feeling that there was something wrong with the entire Administration Bureau. To be precise, there was something unusual happening at the center that connects all the small worlds."
"That strange energy, after being transmitted to the small world, brought about negligible changes. But because the changes were so subtle and didn't cause any problems, it was simply ignored. Later I learned that the power was negative emotion."
"The former chief god continuously sends negative emotions into the three thousand worlds, and then secretly replaces the power of those small worlds themselves, using the stolen world power to strengthen himself."
As Xie Huainan spoke, he made a virtual tap in the air with his digital hand, and a large amount of dark green data flowed out, which then formed a green virtual screen in mid-air.
On the screen, it was clearly shown that the worlds that the former chief god had initially eroded were now being corrupted. What was most terrifying was that more than half of these worlds had already begun to be corrupted, and some of their world power had even been misappropriated for his own use.
Each world only stole a little bit, but the three thousand worlds connected to the Administration Bureau are far more than tens of thousands. When accumulated, they become the most enormous force.
Upon seeing this, Ruan Qing'an couldn't help but feel angry: "The former chief god actually did such a thing?!"
"When I took over, it was already riddled with flaws."
Xie Huainan paused: "Even back then, although I didn't know what this power was, I had a vague feeling that the Administration and all the worlds would be dragged down to their demise."
"The existence of the Administration is not only to intervene in the direction of the world, but also to maintain world order and prevent it from being disrupted."
"But the former chief god not only misappropriated the world's power, but also, in order to take revenge on us... before his death, he gave the secret virus program a final instruction: to fully infuse the virus, which means to let all the negative emotion viruses invade the world!"
"That's why the Administration Bureau is in this state now; I haven't been able to find the hidden virus for so long."
Ruan Qingan couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Xie Huainan turned his head to look at her, his dark green eyes like green gemstones, gentle and affectionate: "It's very simple, because you are a mission taker and have a contractual relationship with the Administration Bureau."
"It's not just you, Ruan Ruan, but all the systems and all the mission takers. They all have contracts with the Management Bureau, and these contracts are all in the hands of the Supreme God. The previous Supreme God left some loopholes. If I told you this, you would..."
Xie Huainan took a deep breath: "You will die."
Ruan Qing'an's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing this: "So, you were originally a system, but because I created a body for you, you are essentially not bound by the Bureau's contract, and later became a main god, which is why you were able to break free from the gag order left by the previous main god."
"Yes, Ruan Ruan, the reason you know these things now is because I used my authority as the Supreme God to make a deal, allowing your contract to be lifted after the fragment world was completed, thus freeing you from the restrictions."
“You were not allowed to know anything back then, and you couldn’t be given any hints. If I had continued to let you carry out missions, and if something happened to happen to you while you were outside the Bureau, I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”
"I can only temporarily seal you away to isolate you from any forces that might invade that area and prevent anything from happening to you."
Xie Huainan spoke softly, but even in his softest voice, a hint of weariness and heaviness could be heard, or rather, it was hard to imagine how he had managed to hold on until now after learning everything.
You cannot tell anyone, not even the system;
To prevent her from encountering danger, we must be ruthless;
Only by giving it our all can we keep the crumbling administration afloat.
When all the past conflicts and entanglements are torn away and laid bare before us, the truth is revealed to be this...
Silence fell between the two of them once again.
He seemed nervous, even with his head down, he unconsciously looked in Ruan Qing'an's direction. Even though he was much taller than her, he involuntarily bent down a little, looking somewhat pitiful. His hand, hanging by his side, cautiously reached out towards her, but he didn't dare to actually hold it.
Until—"I understand."
Ruan Qing'an suddenly spoke, her hand brushing against Xie Huainan's fingertips, but she simply crossed her arms, looked away, and refused to look at him.
"Tell me about the current situation at the Management Bureau, and ideally, take me there to see it, and explain what I need to do. Also—"
"I'm not doing this for you, I just can't stand by and watch."
Xie Huainan's somewhat uneasy hand paused. He subconsciously turned his head and looked at her beautiful profile. Even though the corners of her mouth were tight, he could clearly feel that her attitude had softened.
After all, such a long-standing estrangement cannot be easily resolved overnight, nor can it be resolved with just a few words.
But... at least she gave us a chance to get closer.
Xie Huainan couldn't help but whisper, "Can you call my name, Ruan Ruan? I... really want to hear your voice, I really, really want to..."
"Let's go check out the situation in the small world."
Ruan Qing'an pursed her lips and walked deeper into the bureau, but after she passed Xie Huainan, her soft call drifted out in the direction of the wind: "Let's go, Anan..."
Xie Huainan froze, unable to resist raising his hand to cover half of his face. The expression on his face, though hidden, was one of uncontrollable excitement, as if he had found a lost treasure. His dark green eyes held an almost distorted love.
I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it—
He loved her almost madly.
But the next moment, Xie Huainan regained his composure. When he lowered his hand, he noticed that the digitized body was starting to fade. He frowned slightly, then relaxed, showing no trace of his earlier madness. He then followed her footsteps.
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