Chapter 871: Shifting Fates and the Ultimate Confrontation

Professor Bai spoke candidly, while Mr. Su listened in alarm.

Due to their specialized expertise, Mr. Su couldn’t grasp every word Professor Bai said—especially since the professor had a talent for making even the simplest ideas seem incomprehensible.

Thus, in that moment, he couldn’t fathom how Professor Bai had remained so steadfast in executing the plan even after foreseeing inevitable upheaval…

But with roles divided and responsibilities fixed, all he could do was decide whether or not to believe him.

Naturally, he chose to trust him!

After having followed him astray for so long—saving half the world along the way—there was simply no turning back.

……

……

The second stage of Heaven’s Kingdom Plan was set in motion.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone at the base and the Red Moon above, Doll gracefully stepped into the Midnight Tribunal.

In the next moment, Professor Bai took a deep breath and moved to the small energy matrices beside the tribunal. Amid the anxious and worried stares of researchers and Qinggang’s decision-makers, after a long moment of concentration, he pulled the circuit breaker down by hand.

“Zzzzz…”

Suddenly, a gigantic electric serpent began to slither along the expanse of the Midnight Tribunal.

The tribunal, which had once looked like a solid building with heavy walls and even moss, began to change in an instant…

The black walls and solid foundations lost their tangible nature at that very moment.

They flickered like illusions, ready to vanish at any second.

At the same time, the clattering of chains echoed inside the tribunal. One by one, white chains unfurled like a dream, swiftly weaving around this mind palace.

Everyone confronting the Midnight Tribunal—whether Qinggang’s locals or researchers from across the globe—suddenly experienced an uncanny sensation as the tribunal transformed.

If it could be described in one word, it was as if their hearts had suddenly been opened.

Countless memories and events became startlingly clear.

Among them, those imbued with special significance stood out the most.

For instance, childhood scuffles with the unruly neighbor’s kid.

Or the friend who swindled him out of his money when he grew older.

Or even the brother who stole his girlfriend…

These were the people who had inflected deep wounds on his life, leaving scars he believed could never be forgiven. Yet as he watched the tribunal dissolve, even his obsessions and resentments began to melt away—as if he suddenly realized they no longer mattered, and that perhaps even those people could be forgiven.

This newfound capacity for forgiveness and understanding seemed to come so naturally—as if he’d reached an epiphany.

Of course, some individuals just couldn’t come to terms with it.

Take, for example, a man who, as a child, was beaten by the neighbor’s kid, later swindled out of money, and eventually had his girlfriend stolen—now he stood dumbfounded, watching the melting tribunal and wondering how he might be so magnanimous.

“Did your heart feel that sudden change?”

Professor Bai exhaled deeply, gazing at the melting Midnight Tribunal—now reshaping into something new—and whispered to Mr. Su, “The Ultimate and real-world humans aren’t adversaries like opposing pinpoints; their mind palaces are not completely disconnected from us. In fact, our bonds with the Ultimate are countless and omnipresent.”

“It’s as if the very essence of the Midnight Tribunal—which symbolizes judgment, blame, and paranoia—is a projection of our own sense of good and evil.”

“The Ultimate isn’t so much dwelling in an abyss as it is residing deep within our subconscious…”

“At least for now, as the tribunal dissolves, our notions of right and wrong might evolve…”

“……”

“Yes, yes…”

Mr. Su couldn’t help but nod repeatedly, “It’s amazing. I never blamed you for your extravagant spending or for always claiming to share all information with me, while secretly making unilateral decisions and even using me as a shield…”

“……”

Professor Bai suddenly found himself at a loss for words, giving Mr. Su a deep, scrutinizing look.

So that old man harbored such strong opinions after all…

“If the Midnight Tribunal is destroyed, will our concepts of right and wrong also vanish?”

At that moment, Mr. Su realized a terrifying truth.

“No.”

Professor Bai shook his head softly and murmured, “As long as notions of right and wrong reside in our hearts, they will persist. What we’ve done now is merely dismantle one form of judgment to forge another. This dynamic has always existed—the tribunal isn’t eternal. It only changes form while continuing to exist.”

“Of course, since the Ultimate now possesses consciousness, its transformation will affect everyone.”

“In a way, acquiring consciousness makes it an individual entity.”

“Thus, its traits become its authority.”

“It can influence people’s moral judgments, and on another level, it is shaped by everyone in reality…”

“Now that the fanatical Sword-Bearer has vanished, the world had long awaited a new Ultimate.”

“This one will be unlike any before it. She isn’t the result of an extreme surge of mental power gaining consciousness; she is a real-world individual who climbed the ranks step by step to wield influence over everyone, seizing the authority of the Ultimate. In essence, from the moment Doll became the new Ultimate, the world was transformed forever.”

“Of course, and for that very reason…”

His voice dropped as he swept his gaze into the distance:

“Perhaps not everyone—human or otherwise—wants this new Ultimate to emerge…”

……

……

Across the globe, countless high-level mental entities suddenly sensed something amiss.

Some could directly see blue electrical flashes emerging from Qinggang, while others only felt subtle tremors in their minds—as if, like fish in the sea, whenever a cataclysm rocked a corner of their ocean, every fish instinctively sensed it, triggering a mixture of emotions.

Be it fear, anger, jealousy, or greed…

“We’ll wait for the right moment,”

In a remote lab atop a western hillside, inside an empty meeting room, there were only two people.

One, clad in a black church robe, sat at the head of the room; the other, wearing a white coat, sat at the foot.

In this high-stakes meeting room—capable of influencing the course of the world—the two sat silently opposite each other.

When a peculiar tremor emerged, they both looked up and met each other’s gaze.

“The appearance of the Sword-Bearer’s physical form in reality will inevitably spark a contest for control. Once the people of this world have a clear target, they lower their guard on other matters. Although the emergence of the Sword-Bearer’s mind palace in Qinggang caught us off guard, in our current state it has become the key to our breakthrough.”

“Destroy it!”

“No matter how absurd the experiments in Qinggang’s modest High-wall City or how laughable their ambitions to forge an Ultimate for stability, we must not stand by any longer. Seize this chance and destroy it.”

“Only then can everything return to proper order…”

“……”

“……”

Blue electrical currents enveloped the Midnight Tribunal—or rather, what remained of it had morphed into a blurry, pure stream of mental energy. Belonging to the highest echelon, it maintained a mysterious connection with every human mind. Now stripped of its specific qualities, within it, Doll’s mental traits were influencing everything.

This surge of mental turbulence gradually stabilized and began to exhibit a new characteristic.

Meanwhile, at the Qinggang Mental Power Research Base, everyone pursed their lips tightly.

A heart seemed to hang in mid-air as they waited, tense and anxious.

Professor Bai, equally anxious, didn’t look toward the mind palace but instead scanned the surroundings.

When the prolonged alarm suddenly echoed throughout the base, everyone was stunned.

In panic, they turned to look elsewhere, unsure of what had happened.

Professor Bai bit his lip, a hint of inevitability flickering across his face.

“It’s finally here.”

……

……

The alarm originated from an unexpected, dark mass surging toward Qinggang’s population.

Now, the area around Qinggang was secure.

Because Qinggang’s Luminous Knights had already harnessed Doll’s power—or rather, the goddess’s skirt had extended across the land. As that skirt spread, all zones shielded by Doll’s mental power, including Pollution Sources, Mental Monsters, and bizarre creatures, had been driven out or cleansed. Some even ended up in the hands of the friendly Tyrant Squad.

It could be said that wherever the Knights trod, stability and cleanliness followed.

The closer one got to Qinggang, the more stable the environment became.

But while the situation was stable, the hearts of the people were not necessarily so.

After Qinggang’s Heaven’s Kingdom Plan cleared vast areas of pollution, enormous pressure built up. Countless survivors, though spared from the threat of contamination, remained in a state of frantic anxiety. Their settlements and High-wall City had suffered, administrative structures had collapsed, and many had become drifters.

These people believed Qinggang had saved them, that it was the safest haven, and thus they rushed over without hesitation.

Yet the area rescued was so vast that Qinggang, with all its resources, couldn’t manage the situation both effectively and stably.

Now, Qinggang had reached the limits of its capacity for radiation control.

Only a delicate balance remained, sustaining the current calm.

This mounting pressure was precisely why Doll had to quickly settle into the mind palace and become the new Ultimate.

At that moment, about thirty kilometers south of Qinggang, a dense crowd had gathered—mostly survivors from the Chaos Zone or from destroyed settlements in Qinggang’s southern regions. Though they instinctively wanted to approach Qinggang, authorities had dispatched a military force to order them to keep their distance until safe relocation could be arranged.

The situation had been manageable, and a fresh shipment of supplies had already arrived.

With food, water, and an army ensuring that the Knights wouldn’t approach, these people were willing to wait—they never intended to enter Qinggang directly but to establish their own settlements around it.

In that nightmarish environment, merely surviving without starvation was an achievement.

There were many such people—so many that the dark, churning mass appeared to number not ten or twenty thousand, but far more.

Combined with survivors streaming in from every direction, the numbers grew beyond count.

At that moment, a lone survivor sat on a slope in the wasteland, gazing up at the glowing red moon.

Qinggang had brought in plenty of tents, yet not everyone could have shelter—as, amid such huge numbers, only a few could secure a place.

Though ample food had been delivered, it was impossible for everyone to be fed. Even the able-bodied managed only half a piece of bread.

Hungry and desperate, he could only wait—for the nightmare to end and for Qinggang to finally offer him refuge.

Then, at that very moment, he heard the faint clinking of chains—crisp and ethereal, resonating as though inside his very mind.

On a mental level, it was as if he was slipping into a mild hallucination.

He saw a dark figure within the red moon, subtly casting endless chains over the crowd.

Clang! Clang!

The chains began to fall into people’s hearts.

The hunger, cold, and uncertainty within them surged at an unnatural rate. He recalled a dream—a vision of a girl in a white dress, flawless in every way.

Qinggang had survived such nightmares and even emerged as a savior because of that girl.

Even though he might now be safe, he would never forget the moment under the red moon when a massive, red-eyed spider darted through the crowd, devouring his younger siblings and his aged mother in a flash.

So, if he could control that beautiful girl, wouldn’t everything change?

Of course, she belonged to Qinggang—he could only dream of such a possibility.

But what if he could control her? What if he could unite with those around him?

Suddenly, his eyes turned red…

The instant his eyes reddened, the clanging of chains grew louder and clearer. He whipped his head around and saw the crowd had gone completely mad—everyone was looking up toward Qinggang. Refusing to sit idly by, they all rose; their breathing grew rapid, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

“Ho ho ho…”

The sudden chaos and frenzy erupted in the blink of an eye.

Even Qinggang’s 300-strong armed team didn’t have time to react or intervene.

In that once-quiet wasteland, those who had been thankful to have survived the apocalypse lost their composure and went mad. Roaring and shouting, their slow progress turned into a tidal wave of madness…

The 300-strong force was instantly overwhelmed by the mob, vanishing without a trace.

“It shouldn’t be her who decides our fate. It shouldn’t be Qinggang that determines our destiny…”

“We must decide our own fate; we must decide Qinggang’s fate…”

“No more tents, no more bread…”

“We choose what we eat and where we live…”

“……”

Frenzied ambition surged in their hearts, each person driven by a wild desire as they charged toward Qinggang.

They cared nothing for the possibility of success or whether their actions were right—even after being saved by Qinggang.

And no one noticed that amid the frenzy, even the red moon’s light had become warped. Black chains extended from each person, with one end of an iron lock attached to someone seemingly touching the red moon’s level. Below, the frenzied mob grew ever more wild, while a figure cloaked in black strolled casually, moving slowly.

The eyes beneath the dark hood grew increasingly radiant.

……

……

Similar transformations occurred in many other places.

Not only in the south but in every direction from Qinggang—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest—countless people, left homeless by apocalyptic destruction and bereft of safety, roamed. Qinggang, forced to embark on this journey to save the world, couldn’t possibly shelter everyone, nor could it establish a lasting order or home. Even when such settlements were built, it was all in vain.

Such chaotic conditions spawned these drastic changes.

……

……

“Our families are gone, our villages destroyed, and even our next meal is uncertain…”

“Yet over in Qinggang, they seem to have everything…”

“Food, clear water, gold, and women…”

“Then why should only they enjoy it? Why must we be deprived?”

“Go, seize everything—take it all…”

“……”

“Clang,” “clang,” “clang…”

In northern Qinggang, masses of drifters had similarly gathered.

Each person felt an odd sensation, as if at some moment their heart was abruptly gripped by a cold, massive hand.

Then, they all went mad—shouting, screaming, forming waves of frenzy.

Everyone felt justified, convinced that their demands were right as they roared and charged toward Qinggang.

Yet, no one noticed that from the mental realm a pale hand was reaching into every heart, clutching them tightly. In that moment, hearts turned ashen and reason began to fade.

Groups of people—now with pale, white hearts—ran wildly across the wasteland.

……

……

A countless number of individuals surged in from the west, their eyes crawling with bugs.

“Why is it that while our families are in ruins, Qinggang is celebrated as the savior of the world…?”

“Why must we suffer hunger outside the city while those inside Qinggang live in comfort…?”

“This isn’t fair…”

“We should be allowed to live in the city; those in Qinggang should also experience hardship…”

“……”

Tormented by jealousy, they failed to notice the cold, haughty figure of a woman draped in black court attire and crowned with a thorny tiara, striding gracefully beneath the red moon. Multicolored bugs fell from beneath her skirt, writhing grotesquely on the ground as they struggled upward, burrowing into every living being in their path.

Everyone infected by these parasites was driven by intense envy—they envied Qinggang, envied its people.

They even envied why the red moon burned with such fierce brilliance.

……

……

In the eastern ocean, gigantic waves began crashing upon the shore.

Rustling sounds drifted over.

Though nothing appeared visible to the naked eye, it felt as if countless wriggling worms had crawled from the sea onto the land. Each no larger than a fingertip, they piled up into walls hundreds of meters tall, like an invisible tide rolling toward Qinggang. Neither Qinggang’s high walls nor Doll’s mental field could stop them.

Anything that could block their path was bitten, drilled through, and eroded into holes.

They burrowed into Qinggang, into the hearts of its residents.

Thus, many in Qinggang saw their will, morality, and principles marred with holes.

Enormous worms churned inside human hearts, their massive jaws opening and closing.

They developed an insatiable greed, devouring every beautiful thing—willing to obliterate even in mutual destruction.

The red moon shone silently in the sky.

Worms crawled in human hearts.

Figures bound by chains, those with pale hands, and the woman crowned with a thorny tiara appeared from every direction.

More and more people fell under their influence, and a growing avalanche of chaos began to roll.

Qinggang was increasingly engulfed by an unprecedented madness—a scene of overwhelming turmoil.

Like a black reef in a sea of scarlet, Qinggang appeared minuscule amid the towering waves.

……

……

“How is this possible?”

At the Mental Power Research Base, Mr. Su—having received a report from the observers—trembled, his chubby face quivering as he exclaimed, “How have so many people appeared? Why are they storming our sentries and armed defenses? Are they mad? No, weren’t we told that in Doll’s mental field all mental pollution would be repelled? Then why is there still contamination?”

“Within Doll’s mental field, all contamination is repelled or cleansed.”

Professor Bai replied coldly, “But there is one exception.”

“The Ultimate!”

“The Ultimate’s power surpasses Doll’s; it can infiltrate our cleared domain in Qinggang and corrupt those under Doll’s protection, triggering this frenzied onslaught.”

“……”

“The Ultimate…”

Mr. Su’s face paled slightly, “Has the Ultimate really arrived?”

Professor Bai whispered, “If my guess is correct, there isn’t just one Ultimate.”

“?”

Mr. Su’s face, his features visibly jostling in fear, widened as he asked, “If not one, then how many?”

“Why are you so calm?”

“Old Bai, are you so terrified that you’re trying to pretend to be calm?”

“……”

“Phew, it doesn’t matter how many arrive…”

Professor Bai turned to Mr. Su and mused, “Whether we show fear or not is beside the point…”

“Be it the Ultimate or any high-level bizarre entity, their powers are beyond comprehension. Faced with their influence and corruption, we have almost no defense—they are, by nature, dangerous, even unstoppable…”

“After all, they exist on a mental plane; they can hurt us from the very source.”

“But when our hearts are resolute and our determination is so strong that we would hold up the heavens if needed, not even the Ultimate can change our stance toward the world—be it as individuals or as a collective.”

“So, regardless of how many Ultimates come or how much fear we harbor…”

“……”

After a moment of silence, he clenched his teeth, tightened his fist, and shouted into the distance, “We fight back!”