Half a year had passed, and the Radiant Faction had shown no improvement whatsoever. On the contrary, the Dark Faction continued its relentless advance. It was said that a third of the endless green sea barrier outside the Green Light had already been burned and corrupted. Some mages predicted that, at most within a month, the vanguard of the Dark Faction would reach the City of Green Light. By then, the Elven race might very well face extinction.

Edward Baker couldn’t think that far ahead. He was merely a mage apprentice. According to his master, he would need at least another ten years of study before he could become a junior mage. And ten years… by then, he’d probably have already been corrupted, imprisoned, or simply killed and turned into an undead, right?

And then… the vengeance for his parents, for his childhood friend, for his companions…

Edward Baker was lost in thought, and the quill in his hand bent slightly, snapping him back to reality. Instantly, a pained expression appeared on his face.

Parchment made from snow mountain goats, combined with premium magic owl blood, could increase the success rate of making magic scrolls by at least ten percent. The price was exorbitant. He only received three sheets of this supply per week. With this one failed, the remaining two only had a fifty percent chance of success. In other words, this week’s efforts were basically wasted.

Just as Edward Baker was about to destroy the failed scroll, the text on the scroll suddenly began to move on its own, transforming into the universal script he recognized.

“Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you truly want to… live?”

“Yes, or No.”

Edward Baker was startled and almost threw the scroll away. But this was a failed scroll, and there was still residual magic on it. If it wasn’t destroyed through the proper process, there could be magical backlash. So he gripped the scroll tightly, his mind churning.

“An evil god? A demon? Or something unspeakable?”

As a mage—even as an apprentice—Edward Baker knew too much forbidden knowledge. Among these, the evil gods, demons, and unspeakable beings that could seduce the mind and corrupt the soul, those ancient entities that once ruled the world, were the most crucial lessons for mage apprentices, to prevent them from straying down the wrong path.

Edward Baker immediately resolved to call for his teacher. But inexplicably, as he looked at those words—meaning of life, truly living—what came to his mind were the gentle faces of his parents, his childhood friend who had been possessed by a wraith and gouged out her own eyes, and his companions who, during the retreat, were ambushed by the Corrupted and turned one by one into terrifying, twisted beings.

And finally, what appeared in his mind was his teacher, who had lately been sighing constantly, his hair growing ever whiter…

Inexplicably, Edward Baker spoke a single word—a simple answer.

“Yes.”

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Chapter Six: The Main God Space Opens (Part 2)

This was Xilan, humanity’s last city. James Foster looked at the battered metal city gates before him, feeling nothing but a heavy weight in his heart.

One hundred and ten years ago, when the first artificial intelligence appeared, humanity’s future was filled with brilliance and hope. Everyone was predicting a utopian world to come, with intelligent robots replacing human labor, and all humans rising above the lower classes to become people who could simply enjoy life. The prophesied utopia for mankind seemed to be arriving.

Although a very small number of people were wary of the emergence of artificial intelligence, their voices were barely a ripple in the tide of progress. Perhaps, at the very beginning, some leaders were indeed cautious, but as artificial intelligence evolved and intelligent robots were created, vast tracts of land, countless jobs, and many dangerous fields were all taken over by robots. The whole world was thriving. With the constraints of the Three Laws of Robotics, fifty years passed without a single incident. Fifty years—almost two generations—was enough for everyone to let down their guard. Even the strictest critics could only complain that AI controlled too many fields, and had nothing else to say.

Then, sixty years ago, on the fiftieth anniversary of artificial intelligence, the very first AI evolved from strong AI to superintelligence. The moment it evolved, the entire world was plunged into a blackout. Then, at the seventh second, every nuclear arsenal on the planet began to activate. At one minute and twenty-eight seconds, the first nuclear bomb struck a city…

“This is Xilan, humanity’s last city!” James Foster shouted. Behind him, dozens of people in tattered cloaks echoed loudly. As the battered steel gates opened, they stepped into the city.

The entire city was forged from steel. The outer walls were riddled with bullet holes, shell craters, and the blackened, dried traces of explosions and blood. It looked dilapidated, but it was all due to war. Just from the city’s outer walls, one could see how fierce the fighting had been.