Under the cold and obscure ancient stars, Duncan and the dark red core of Navigator 1 looked at each other quietly, and the whole world seemed to be frozen at this moment, and in a trance, Duncan had a feeling: a point of divergence, a point of divergence that determines the direction of the entire world history, was approaching him.

And in this silence, he recalled a piece of information he had heard from the "grave keeper" after entering the tomb of the Unknown King:

Observers arriving at the end of the timeline send back the first and final message - time is over, and the usurper has set the world on fire.

After a long time, he exhaled softly and broke the silence: "You think this is a bad omen?" You want me to take over this world to avoid such a future? ”

However, the response of the Shadow Lord surprised him once again.

"No," the dark red core trembled and uttered a calm voice, "I don't rely on any 'revelations' or 'omens' that lack sufficient data to support them, because in the absence of critical information, it is not rigorous to make a judgment of 'good' or 'bad' based on only some fragmented data, and I don't know if you will actually ignite the world in the end, nor under what circumstances you made the decision to ignite the world—there is not enough data to draw conclusions."

"I want you to take it over, simply because this is the most promising and sustained solution to the asylum within the scope of the information currently known—I trust my calculations more now than the future that I can't understand and can't judge."

In this dark red core's response, Duncan heard a different kind of sanity and precision—that is, after stripping away the earthly title of "Shadow Lord", and after stripping away the identity of "Old God", Navigator One should have as one of the core hosts of the New Hope.

In front of the usurper, in front of the points of divergence of history, this ancient "machine" ...... Using the way of thinking that he learned at the beginning of his birth, he expounds his own views and calculates the future of the world.

Duncan pondered for a long time, and the dark red core seemed to have infinite patience, waiting for his response.

After a long time, Duncan broke the silence softly: "What will happen if I do take over?" ”

The inside of the dark mountain roared and trembled again, and in a series of low sounds, its "main peak" began to shrink downward, and the dark red core descended from the sky—like a star falling from the sky, it quickly magnified in the field of vision of Duncan, Shirley, and others, and came from the top of the mountain to Duncan's eyes with a suffocating sense of oppression.

At such a close distance, Duncan found that the core was even larger than he had imagined—it was almost the size of Plant's Storm Cathedral, with a crystalline texture on the surface of the massive sphere, and in the depths of a crystal clear red spherical shell, countless intricate lines could be seen, and multiple flickering light sources flickered near the center of the sphere, surrounded and flowed with some kind of viscous substance.

"After you take over, all the deficiencies in the shelter will be remedied, and throughout the Infinite Sea, many of the 'pollution' and 'distortions' caused by cognitive shifts and the out-of-control observer effect will be recalibrated by your cognition - there will be no more dangerous nights, no more out-of-control otherworldly visions devouring humanity, the sea will be safe, and a new era of prosperity will begin between the city-states...... This prosperity and tranquility will continue for a predictable and extremely long time...... If that's what you want, then it will come true.

"And you, you will return to one of the ancient kings, to your rightful place...... You will be the fifth god who shelters the earth, in addition to the four gods—and your rule will be more secure than any of us, for you will not drift into madness like other ancient kings, nor will you spiral out of control...... At least according to Pilot-2's calculations, you're in more stable shape than all of us.

"After that, you can continue to do what you want – everything, including going back to the reality dimension and continuing your travels and adventures for as long as you want."

“…… Sounds like it's all good," Duncan said slowly after a few seconds of silence, "isn't there anything bad going on?" To me, or to the world. ”

"To the best of my knowledge, in my knowledge, no," the light flickered in the depths of the dark red core, and the response of the Dark Lord was surprisingly simple and direct, "everything will go in a good direction, and according to my judgment, this should also be in line with your wishes." ”

“…… Under normal circumstances, you should say some less important hidden dangers or flaws at this time, which can enhance the persuasiveness of what you just said. ”

The dark red core was silent for two or three seconds: "...... Again, there are no hidden dangers or defects. ”

Duncan and the core fell silent again, and Shirley on the side looked a little uncontrollable, her gaze turned between the captain and the "Holy Lord", and after a long while, she muttered, "Captain, do you really want to be one of the gods?" It sounds pretty impressive...... But how do I always feel ...... Not so down-to-earth......"

Duncan didn't speak, just stared at the massive core quietly, and after a long while, he slowly spoke: "...... How do you do that? ”

The crimson core was silent for a moment, and the light in its depths grew brighter: "Ignite me." ”

Duncan's expression finally changed slightly: "...... Ignite you?! ”

Why is this "Pilot No. 1" so unexpected every time he speaks?!

But the crimson core didn't seem to notice the change in Duncan's expression and tone, and the voice from within it remained as calm as ever: "Ignite me, as you lit the frost, cover and reorganize everything with your flames—in the process, all my authority and earthly influence will be taken over by you, and that may help you dispel all your concerns...... You should know that your own flame can do this. ”

Duncan frowned slightly: "So, you actually 'touched' my flame when I lit the frost, or strictly speaking, when I ignited the frost deep sea, and understood my power at that time, so you formulated this 'takeover' plan?" ”

“…… Yes, when the splintered cluster was burned by you, it sent me the last piece of data, including an analysis of your power, which I compared with Pilot-2's observations to work out the takeover plan - the calculations told me it was possible. ”

"The 'splinter cluster' you mentioned that I burned is the tentacle in the deep sea of frost? Isn't that the wrong replica you created in a runaway state? Duncan reacted quickly, while also recalling another incident that the other party had mentioned at the beginning, "Wait...... You also mentioned earlier that you sent the data fragments containing LH-03 to the real world, and this was done through that tentacle...... Are these things that you consciously control? You're not actually out of control?! ”

He looked at the dark red core in front of him in confusion, and the huge body behind the dark red core, which was like an astonishing mountain range, and suddenly realized that he didn't know much about the current true "state" of the Dark Holy Lord, this "ancient god" trapped in the bottom of the darkness...... Is it really out of control?

And at this moment, he saw that the lights on the surface of the "mountains" that had grown meandering were turning on and off again, and then, at the end of one of the "mountains", some kind of new "twigs" seemed to spread out of the skin of the trunk, growing rapidly in the darkness.

But in the next second, the newborn twig was swallowed up by some invisible force, and it became torn apart, some of which rose into a dark and dull smoke that drifted towards the countless floating islands and the dim starry sky above, and the other part turned into flowing mud and fell back to the main trunk tentacles.

“…… Usurper, this is my 'out of control'. ”

A voice from the dark red core drew Duncan's attention back.

Duncan withdrew his gaze and vaguely understood: "...... Overgrowth? ”

"It's my instinct – and it's the duty that the creator has given me."

Duncan gradually reacted: "Your role is ......"

"Reshape my hometown, recreate the home planet that I devoured," the crimson core said slowly, "but in this cramped sanctuary, my mission was destined to be unfulfilled—and from a certain moment, my instincts began...... Detached from the original design. The individuals who continue to diverge out of my body and continue to devour each other and return, the branches that overgrow and decay, and the 'tentacles' that pierce the real world, are all the result of gradually getting out of control.

"It's just that this 'loss of control' can sometimes be exploited, and the overgrown parts of the body can be ...... when the body has lost the ability to move Sometimes it can be used as a medium of perception or communication, to help me understand the changes taking place in the world, or to deliver a message to the outside world. ”

“…… I see. Duncan nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

A huge body that has lost control and has covered the entire Netherworld but is still overgrowing, a host core that is no longer able to move and trapped in the depths of the huge body, and an ancient AI that can still think clearly but is destined to be unable to complete its original mission - all these are the true appearance of the "Netherworld Holy Lord".

And now, the ancient AI trapped in his massive body has once again extended an invitation to him-

"What is your response, usurper? Are you willing to take it all over and return to the ranks of the ancient kings? ”

Duncan looked up from his contemplation and saw the dark red core move closer to him again—he only had to lift his hand to touch its completely unguarded crystal surface.

“…… Captain, what it says is true. Alice said suddenly.

Duncan glanced at Alice in some surprise, and the doll nodded slowly, his expression a little tangled: "I ...... I don't know how to explain it to you, but I just know that it's true. ”

Duncan didn't say anything, just listened to Alice's words silently, and slowly raised his hand after a moment of contemplation.

He touched the dark red core, a slightly warm touch coming from his fingertips.

It beats like a heart.

“…… Light the fire, usurper," the core shook gently, "and then I will be freed from this long mission. ”

Shirley's eyes widened, and the dog on the side also watched all this motionlessly.

For a moment, they seemed to have seen the dark green flames rise into the sky, the dark red core and the dark mountains in the distance were instantly ignited, and the entire deep sea was engulfed in flames.

It was as if they had seen that all the hidden dangers of the Deep Sea Age had been healed, that the defects of the shelter had been repaired, and that the world of the infinite sea had returned to tranquility for a long time, forever and ever......

A new deity will return to his rightful place, like gears meshing, the puzzle complete.

Suddenly, however, Duncan withdrew his arm.

"That's not right."

History has gone to another branch.

(End of chapter)