ATIGIBTC Chapter 134.1

He Fang sat in this not-so-spacious room, while Zhong Yana had already left. He knew that stepping into this underground place just like that was a very unwise thing to do. But as someone born in a peaceful world, he simply could not keep too much vigilance toward the people around him all the time, let alone when his mindset still hadn’t adjusted.

Zhong Yana clearly knew that his mech was still nearby, yet she could still lock herself in here without the slightest concern. No doubt she had already gauged his state of mind.

She knew perfectly well that he would not casually make a move against ordinary people.

The Summit of the World was underground. If his Xiao Lan wanted to come over, it would have to dig through the ground. But if it unknowingly damaged the main framework of the Summit of the World, it could endanger the lives of so many people.

And by leaving Xiao Lan behind, if Zhong Yana succeeded later, Xiao Lan could also take him back to the main city.

He could understand Zhong Yana’s reasoning.

After communicating with her, He Fang learned that Zhong Yana had actually been searching for and gathering information on his main city from various cities right from the start, ever since long ago, back when Angel City was first established as a member city of the Hope City Alliance.

In Angel City, there had been people from the Summit of the World from the very beginning. Using the same strategy as with He Fang’s city, Zhong Yana had planted many people in different cities. He was only starting to do this now, but Zhong Yana had begun long ago.

The Summit of the World’s plan had been in motion long before. Yet, it was only when his city suddenly descended into this world that the Summit of the World’s strategies were thrown into disorder.

Because of this peculiarity, both He Fang and the main city had been classified as outliers by Zhong Yana. And He Fang himself thought the same.

He Fang wanted to explore the narrow space he was in, but he found it utterly frustrating. His whole body was exhausted. Or perhaps, even now, his thoughts were still in complete disarray.

He still remembered that moment when he opened the curtains and saw a model identical to himself standing there, his heart was absolutely shaken.

Back then, he had never once gone near his neighborhood in the game. There had been no need at all. He had already lived here for so long and would occasionally glance out the window. What could possibly be worth looking at?

But now, He Fang realized just how shallow that thinking had been.

Time travel.

That word flashed with an incomparably bright light in He Fang’s mind.

Not ordinary time travel, but traveling into the game itself.

Traveling into the world of “Ruins Without Restart”.

But then, thinking it over, He Fang overturned that idea.

He felt it was more likely that he had brought the game save file of “Ruins Without Restart” with him when he traveled into another world.

During this time alone, he had thought about it over and over again.

There should have been many abnormalities he could have noticed.

He had simply overlooked them.

He could no longer contact his parents, and his parents had never once tried to contact him.

His landlord had never communicated with him, not even when collecting rent, always oddly slow about it.

And when he went outside, all the people he saw along the roadside looked nothing like those from the real world, accompanied by endless, boundless goodwill.

Those dreamlike scenes, more dazzling than anything in the real world.

The quality of his video productions had hardly changed, yet they suddenly went viral. Countless people left comments, overflowing with praise, endless compliments, without a single negative review or troll, nothing like what a truly popular streamer should expect. Even obviously boring videos would, the moment they were posted, immediately receive countless likes.

It wasn’t that his luck had turned around. Rather, it was that everyone in the city held feelings of affection toward him.

The delicious food he ate in the game tasted exactly the same when eaten in reality.

All of this pointed to one fact: his current world was vastly different from the real world, and…

The deliveryman.

Even within a single district, it was impossible for there to be only one deliveryman. Otherwise, the orders could never be delivered on time. And yet, the same deliveryman kept appearing at his door again and again. That was not normal.

From the moment his world gained the sensory immersion pod, everything had changed. But He Fang had never paid much attention to the real world, so he had never even considered the possibility.

The deliveryman…

Who was he?

He Fang knew that the reason he had never realized the real world and the game world had already overlapped was because he had always possessed the system panel. But if something as outrageous as traveling with the game itself could happen, then having a built-in system was nothing strange at all.

As a modern person with knowledge of “time travel”, He Fang was no stranger to the concept.

Shocked and bewildered, yes, but not unable to understand it.

This world was just like that, full of all kinds of things that could catch a person completely off guard.

So… were all the NPCs he thought he knew actually people? All real people?

He Fang had also wondered why these NPCs, who had already become human, still continued to act in the same NPC patterns. He had considered many possibilities. But he wasn’t them, so he couldn’t understand their thoughts.

All He Fang knew was that among these people, he had never once felt any malice.

Every single person he came into contact with was truly friendly toward him, interacting with him carefully and kindly, fulfilling his wishes.

Goodwill.

Was it because he was the city lord of this city?

The more He Fang thought about it, the more he found himself stuck in circles. Suddenly, he remembered a word—Creator.

He had once overheard it by accident, and some people had even used it as a nickname for him. That was when he thought: Could it be that the reason they admired him was because he had created a place where they could live?

If he put himself in their shoes, if someone had created a world where he could survive, he too would feel grateful toward that person. He just hadn’t expected that he had personally created a world of his own where people could live. Did that mean… he actually didn’t need to pay rent?

The thought made He Fang chuckle, but it was quickly followed by more questions. Where did the NPCs come from?

His city kept expanding, but expansion couldn’t possibly wait for NPCs to reproduce on their own. In the game “Ruins Without Restar”, those numbers had always increased out of thin air—massive growth happening in an instant. So these people must have all poured into the city in a single moment. Which meant… before they poured in, where had they been?

The wild NPCs he had always believed in, could they actually represent people from the real world? Their attributes were drastically different… could it be because their physical structures were fundamentally unlike? After all, the strength of a human body could never compare to that of a manufactured robot.

If that was the case, then in the wars he had taken part in, those people who had died on the battlefield, were they actually real, living beings?

If his people were truly this unusual, it was only natural for Zhong Yana to want to drive them away.

Countless questions and confusions tangled together in his mind, making it impossible for He Fang to answer them one by one through his own understanding and guesses. In the end, he would still have to ask the people in the main city. But the moment he thought about how these weren’t actually NPCs but real people, He Fang felt a sense of fear.

And then… he met Sai Gu.

Sai Gu’s sudden appearance was like a rescue for the bewildered He Fang. His lazy, laid-back demeanor, no different from usual, made He Fang feel at ease.

He Fang had always known his social anxiety was irrational. He wanted to overcome it, but never could.

Yet after meeting Sai Gu, He Fang realized that he must have already overcome it long ago.

In “Ruins Without Restart”, he could speak and interact with anyone without the slightest condition. He only needed to maintain the same state and mindset as before, and that was enough.

As for Sai Gu, it was as if he were deliberately hinting at something. He Fang could feel that Sai Gu had already sensed his thoughts—that Sai Gu was silently, without words, comforting him.

But He Fang felt that perhaps he didn’t need such careful comfort anymore. He was already doing well. He could hold normal conversations with anyone.

If the opportunity came, he should try interacting with his NPCs using his real body. Maybe… it might turn out to be an even better experience.

And this time…

This time.

He Fang lowered his gaze.

Zhong Yana would definitely begin her Nightmare Beast Forest Separation Plan.

But He Fang no longer wanted to take part.

In the past, he had believed that he was the player, and so all NPCs should act according to his will. That without him, NPCs could not operate.

But in reality, that wasn’t the case. Even without his orders, these people should still have the ability to function on their own.

Just like the wild NPCs.

When he thought about it carefully, the wild NPCs had so many thoughts and worked so hard. That alone was enough to show they were hiding nothing. Yet he had attributed it all to “algorithms”. But what algorithms? They were just ordinary people with ordinary thoughts.

So his NPCs—no, his residents—would surely find a way to overcome this crisis. His outstanding residents would certainly have better solutions than relying on him to complete this “Orange Mission”.

He Fang no longer wanted to do anything. He wanted to see what everyone in his city would do.

Since his NPCs had already become human, he sincerely hoped that these humans could be filled with a soul.

No more pretending—come alive completely, become real human beings.

What he wanted to see was a world where everyone was happy, not NPCs forcing themselves for his sake.

So this time…

This time…

He would hand over all authority to his residents. He believed that these residents, who were themselves born from a miracle, could also create miracles through their own abilities.

After this, he would make sure to communicate with them properly.

He definitely would.

For the residents who had always thought of him and looked toward him!

He Fang opened his terminal. It was clear it could no longer receive a signal.

Although he was locked in here, breaking out would not be difficult with the capabilities of his armor.

But right now, He Fang just wanted to lie flat.

As a city lord who had always worked hard, He Fang wanted to return all rights to the NPCs who should have had those rights in the first place.

Following Zhong Yana’s method, He Fang knocked around here and there, and sure enough, a bed appeared.

It was clear that after a bit of knocking, this place could provide for all daily needs. Nothing to worry about.

Only, as a model, He Fang actually didn’t need these things much.

Being here alone would give him even more time to think about how to face matters concerning his NPCs.

He Fang didn’t plan to log off or go idle.

After all, right now he had absolutely no idea how to use his own body to experience a game that had already become reality. If he could avoid it for a while, he would. He could treat this period of avoidance as time to accept reality.

What would his NPCs do?

Even though he had decided to hand over authority, He Fang still couldn’t help worrying.

The city he had created, the NPCs he had created, the fruits of his hard work, how could He Fang possibly not worry?

He was worried to death, honestly.

Just thinking about Zhong Yana’s crazed eyes and ruthless smile made He Fang’s whole body tremble, leaving him unbearably anxious and uneasy.

Lying on the bed, He Fang faintly sensed something.

He could feel the ground trembling.

And it wasn’t a single tremor. It was growing stronger and stronger.

A flicker of panic flashed through He Fang’s eyes.

He knew.

The Summit of the World’s plan had begun.

Even though he had wanted to lie flat, when faced with something like this, He Fang found he couldn’t remain calm at all.

In an environment like this, the decisions of those in power were bound to affect countless innocent lives.

And Zhong Yana’s madness was, in truth, no different from that of any other ruler driven to the extreme by the oppression of the Nightmare Beast Forest. She simply could not bear any consequences of failure.

He Fang lay on the bed, feeling the world shaking violently, his worry reaching its peak. What on earth was happening outside?

Suddenly, a massive tremor threw He Fang straight off the bed. Sitting on the floor, he was completely dumbfounded. This seemed even more complicated than he had imagined.

Was he about to be buried alive here? This was an earthquake!

He Fang steadied himself in a corner and took the figurine of the Divine Lord from his chest.

Humans might have their own consciousness, but surely a figurine wouldn’t have one, right?

Holding the figurine, a screen appeared on it: “Please enter command.”

Without hesitation, He Fang typed in the command: “Protect everyone.”

Protect everyone.

Let humans create their own miracles.

——

What was this?

Everyone was in a panic.

Was it an earthquake?

All those in the upper levels of the mobile cities felt uneasy. Because of their mobility, if an earthquake struck, there was a high chance they would lose control and suddenly be dragged into the Nightmare Beast Forest. When that happened, they would surely be parasitized.

Now, all the cities had anchored themselves in place, clinging tightly to the ground.

The cities began to communicate with each other, only to realize that this wasn’t an earthquake in just one area. It was an earthquake across the entire world!

What did this mean?

Could it be that the Nightmare Beast seeds, sensing a threat, had decided to rise together?

The land that had always been firm beneath them now seemed full of danger. Even though they desperately tried to cling to the ground to steady their cities, they were horrified to find that the earth itself had begun to crack open.

It wasn’t just one spot splitting apart—countless places began to fracture. Small cracks spread little by little, until they eventually formed gullies, turning into vast sunken lands. The deep, massive chasms in the earth were enough to fill anyone with dread.

Even the mobile cities couldn’t escape, nor could those that had just settled down and had yet to fully stabilize.

If it weren’t for the fact that the enormous mobile cities wouldn’t collapse immediately from just a few temporary fissures, countless people would likely already be dead.

No one knew how long the earthquake would last. Everyone prayed for it to stop at once, but there was no sign of it easing. Instead, it grew stronger and stronger, each tremor more violent than the last.

Zhong Yana’s brows furrowed deeply. At that moment, the communication link from the locator was filled with countless panicked and helpless voices.

“Destiny City requesting assistance, Destiny City requesting assistance! Five massive ground fissures have appeared beneath Destiny City. We cannot continue moving. Requesting support!”

“The outskirts of All-Creation City have sunk into an earth crevice. Requesting assistance.”

“All cities, please quickly compile and upload your information for data analysis. Requesting all cities to upload valid information to respond to the great earthquake.”

“Fortune City requests to temporarily form an alliance with Horizon City to stabilize the city. Requesting alliance, so we can weather the great earthquake together!”

…

Countless, countless messages pleading for help and rescue poured in. Yet Zhong Yana’s face remained as still as water, her eyes filled with both determination and madness. She was like a warrior, utterly unafraid of the danger descending upon them.

This was her decision. The best decision for this world. Running away would never lead them to success. Countless times, countless annihilations had already taught them that the Nightmare Beast Forest and life could never coexist. They could not eradicate the Nightmare Beast Forest!

No matter how much more time they bought, the end result would surely still be failure. Rather than struggling to survive in endless hesitation and pain, it was better to unleash the final burst of strength—to gamble everything on a future!

She had seen far too many of life’s sorrows and hardships among the countless mobile cities. Humanity was gradually becoming something other than what humans were meant to be. They had given so much, yet could not win back nature’s love for them. They were the rejected, the abandoned, the lives that would ultimately face extinction.

And how could humanity accept that!

They strove desperately to survive, to develop. How could they be willing to submit to such an inevitable fate of destruction?

Zhong Yana’s lips pressed into a straight line, her face set with unprecedented resolve. Her tall figure stood like a towering mountain, becoming the strongest shield for everyone. Her unwavering determination and utter lack of retreat became the source of courage for all when faced with the worsening situation.

Either die, or live. There was only one choice!

Standing at the command platform, Zhong Yana looked at all her geniuses hard at work. Every face was etched with anxiety and worry, yet their movements remained firm and resolute.

“City Lord, the ground is cracking too quickly—20% faster than predicted!”

“City Lord, the ground separation is encountering resistance. The hard soil layer has developed fissures. There’s a chance we may not be able to separate it completely.”

“City Lord, an unidentified substance has emerged from underground—unable to analyze precisely.”

“City Lord, the separation area is shifting. It might cut into stable land!”

“City Lord…”

“City Lord…!”

Zhong Yana’s expression was stern, yet she issued every command without the slightest hesitation. There was not a trace of retreat in her expression, only the absolute resolve to fight to the very end!

---