Translator: CinderTL
His consciousness sank deeper and deeper, finally plunging into endless darkness.
Hey, kiddo, wake up! Time to get up and save the world!
A voice suddenly echoed through the darkness, jolting Feng Qi's hazy consciousness from its daze.
He recognized the voice instantly, as if he had heard it countless times in the distant past.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
As his vision gradually cleared, he saw a metal container nearby, and within it, a brain still pulsing with life.
Memories flooded back in an instant, like a tidal wave.
Veins bulged on his forehead as he clenched his jaw.
The negative emotions surging from the Sacrifice Line's feedback erupted within him.
Information swirled through his mind.
The complex feelings he harbored for the Lord of the Mist resurfaced amidst the churning memories.
After a moment, he took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.
At the end of the Sacrifice Line, he had chosen to wage war against the Spirit Energy Clan by projecting his spiritual body.
He controlled his spiritual body through a neural link with his brain, aiming to reclaim the Lord of the Mist's blood core and the stolen Miracle Bracelet.
In this battle, he had clearly underestimated the combat prowess of the Spirit Energy Clan.
Ultimately, he met a regrettable end above the Old Day Research Institute base, failing to retrieve what he sought.
In truth, he had long considered a plan during his time in the Sacrifice Line:
To deliver the Miracle Bracelet to the Scarlet Research Institute ahead of time.
This way, he could obtain a ready-made Miracle Bracelet 1,500 years later, allowing him to launch the Faith Connection Project. The Sacrifice Line could then harness immense power through faith, gaining abilities such as blood source, Purple Soul, and malevolence.
Whether faith connections could transmit power across space and time remained to be tested.
But first, he needed to secure the Miracle Bracelet.
However, this plan carried two hidden risks:
1. He was stationed at the Tiger Soul Research Institute, constantly at the Lord of the Mist's side. If the Lord of the Mist inquired about the Miracle Bracelet's whereabouts, he would have no plausible explanation.
2. The Blue-skinned Assassins possessed the ability to track the Miracle Bracelet, and their assassination intensity would likely increase steadily over time.
The Scarlet Research Institute's location was clearly marked in every Sacrifice Line.
The core principle of every Sacrifice Line was to ensure the safety of the Scarlet Research Institute, then use that as a foundation to expand intelligence gathering.
Handing the Miracle Bracelet over to the Scarlet Research Institute would undoubtedly plunge them into danger.
While the Secret Base could withstand investigations from various factions, it would be ineffective against the Blue-skinned Assassin's tracking abilities.
This would compromise the Scarlet Research Institute's safety, potentially leading to its premature destruction and rendering all the intelligence Feng Qi had gathered in the Sacrifice Line utterly useless.
For these reasons, he abandoned the idea of giving the Miracle Bracelet to the Scarlet Research Institute early.
As for how his counterpart in the main timeline should acquire the Miracle Bracelet, Feng Qi already had a plan.
The combat power within the Heijue Domain Field wasn't insurmountable.
He could enhance his strength in the Future Dream Realm and then seize the Miracle Bracelet from the Heijue Domain in the Real World.
While his strength in the Sacrifice Line was limited, he had complete confidence in his main timeline self's capabilities.
He planned to initiate the Miracle Bracelet acquisition plan as soon as he returned to the main timeline.
For now, he needed to focus on maximizing his strength.
Memories surged, and the intense mental pain lingered for a long time before finally subsiding. When he opened his eyes again, they were bloodshot.
"Narrator, long time no see," Feng Qi said hoarsely after a long pause.
I've always been here, Qi Zai!
Perhaps only a few hours had passed in real time.
But the experience of reliving those memories had felt so immersive that he felt as though he hadn't communicated with the Narrator for over a decade.
The longing for the Narrator from the Sacrifice Line welled up in his heart.
Hearing the Narrator's familiar voice again felt like a dream.
At this moment, the memories in his mind were still overlapping.
Besides the memories from the Sacrifice Line, he hadn't yet recalled what exactly had happened after he traveled 1,500 years into the future.
How had he ended up in the Scarlet Research Institute's secret base?
What changes had occurred in the world after the Lord of the Mist's death?
Without the activation of the "flesh cauldron," had humanity's fate been significantly altered?
Before delving into these questions, he pressed the switch on the metal container and stored the sealed vessel in his storage space.
The Sacrifice Line's brain had fulfilled its mission. It was time for it to rest.
Having completed his task, Feng Qi scanned his surroundings.
The layout of the Scarlet Secret Base's second floor had changed significantly, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the alterations.
He then spoke, addressing the Narrator:
"Narrator, tell me what's happening outside."
The situation in the outside world is quite complex, perhaps even worse than the previous future environment.
Feng Qi was taken aback by this statement.
In this timeline, the Lord of the Mist hadn't snapped his fingers. Even in the worst-case scenario, how could things be worse than the complete extinction of humanity?
The Narrator provided an explanation:
After you entered the future world, you discovered that Star City Shelter had already fallen completely. Without the Lord of the Mist's snap, Little Cripple and his clansmen launched a coordinated attack from within and without, seizing control of the shelter. You had to fight your way out after your arrival and then spend considerable effort searching before finally locating the Scarlet Secret Base.
The full details are complicated, but the bottom line is that humanity is still extinct. After the Lord of the Mist's death, strange creatures far stronger than the living dead emerged in this region 1,500 years later.
"What kind of strange creatures?"
The specifics aren't entirely clear, but my guess is that in the normal timeline, the Lord of the Mist, during his growth to power around the year 1500, suppressed the rise of many Domain Forces. In this Sacrifice Line, however, with the Lord of the Mist dead, many forces that shouldn't have emerged after 1500 have appeared.
Hearing this, Feng Qi felt a pang of shame.
But upon reflection, the Narrator's assessment seemed perfectly reasonable.
In the normal timeline, the Lord of the Mist would undoubtedly have crushed any emerging forces that threatened his development or showed potential.
In this Sacrifice Line, with the Lord of the Mist's death, many forces that he would have destroyed were allowed to flourish, snowballing into rapid growth.
Most of these forces would still have been wiped out by the natural course of history, but a few might have survived to the present day.
Without the Lord of the Mist's systematic harvesting of flesh and blood from the Weak Domain Races, today's world might have descended into a chaotic free-for-all among demons.
Having understood the reason, he spoke again:
"Since the flesh cauldron no longer harvests, are there any living people inside the Scarlet Research Institute?"
The outside world is far more hostile. The Scarlet Research Institute sealed the doors of its Secret Base to the outside world 300 years ago, and the external exploration teams have long been disbanded. Apart from you, no one else can enter this place.
This decision created a hidden danger. Without external replenishment, the Scarlet Secret Base's resources couldn't achieve true self-sufficiency. After all, they had to reserve enough resources to ensure you could still access the data when you appeared. Ultimately, the remaining personnel of the Scarlet Base chose to enter self-imposed cryosleep.
Whether they're still alive or not, I advise against awakening them. Waking up would mean facing starvation and cruelty. It's better for them to die in their sleep. If you're hoping to extract information from them, it's completely unnecessary. The Scarlet Research Institute severed contact with the outside world long ago, so any intelligence they could provide would be extremely limited. Everything you need can be found in the database.
After hearing the Narrator's explanation, Feng Qi nodded thoughtfully.
"So, did Little Black completely disappear due to the altered history?"
I regret to inform you that he did not. Before you entered the Secret Base, you had a brief confrontation with Little Black, ultimately luring him to a powerful domain creature, allowing you to escape.
"Persistent as ever!"
Every alteration to a Sacrifice Line influences the course of history.
Yet, no matter how the timeline shifts, Little Black's birth seems inevitable.
This realization filled Feng Qi with frustration.
He could devise strategies to overcome every other opponent in the Sacrifice Lines.
But Little Black remained utterly impenetrable.
In comparison, the Blue-skinned Assassin, who also specialized in targeted pursuit, seemed like a mere novice.
(End of the Chapter)
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