Chapter 158

158

"Waiting for me?" Lu Yan couldn't help the wave of doubt that washed over him at Song Tianyu's words.

Song Tianyu gave a slow nod. "Yes."

"Before his death, Professor Yu told me of two prophetic dreams. The first dream… was of Yu Zhizhi awakening the Apocalypse, only to be devoured by darkness."

"The second dream." Song Tianyu's gaze drifted slowly to settle on Lu Yan's face. "He dreamed… of a god being born in the deep sea. This was the dream he had the very first time his precognition talent awakened."

"From that night on, Professor Yu had the same dream, every single night. Except the world within the dream… forked onto two utterly divergent paths."

"On the first path, the god devoured its own body, seething with loathing and hatred for all creation. The result was a world drenched in blood, humanity driven to extinction."

"Of the second path, the professor only ever told me a little. He said that in that dream, many tried to tempt the god, to coax its hatred for this world. Yet… a sliver of mercy remained within the deity's heart. A great pity… the professor never lived to see that dream to its end."

"Yu Zhizhi's sudden awakening threw all his plans into chaos. The professor had intended to go to the deep sea, to see for himself. A shame he died too soon."

Fate always had a way of twisting things just out of reach.

In a flash of insight, Lu Yan remembered. The System had said something similar once.

Though at the time, its wording had been vague.

It said that if Yu Hanxi hadn't died so early, Lu Yan might never have ended up in Lu Cheng's hands.

Song Tianyu had also tried to find Laleye. But without the gift of foresight, it was clear he could never locate that seam between reality and the virtual.

"My talents are 38-Forced Ripening, 119-Plague, and 162-Mind Reading."

He'd selected the most docile chicks from a brood, breeding and ripening them generation after generation, dozens of cycles of hybridization. While these birds were still pollutants, they obeyed their master. And on command, they would refrain from attacking and even consume human flesh.

The Island Lord kept many birds, all descendants bred from carefully selected pollutants.

"A shameful admission. Despite years of domestication, I cannot alter a pollutant's fundamental nature. They simply won't actively attack the living. But when they see a corpse… the hunger still takes them."

Song Tianyu gestured toward the bird nests scattered across the floating island. "I am not omniscient. But I know much of what happens on the ground below. These birds are my eyes."

"When the Noah first reached Laleye, I was in the skies above that stretch of ocean. I don't know what transpired in the depths. But I saw you… being divided into separate parts."

Those bodies, laden with fish eggs, were carried to every corner of the world.

When Song Tianyu said he'd been waiting, that 'him' wasn't necessarily Lu Yan.

But through countless subtle coincidences, it was born, and existed as "Lu Yan."

Lu Yan interlaced his fingers, his expression unreadable.

"I know why you've come. If I'm not mistaken, this should be the final piece of your body." Song Tianyu raised a hand, coughing softly into it. "This King Fish originally parasitized Wurilei. According to the Deep Sea Society's design, when the time was ripe, they would have let Wurilei degenerate into a pollutant. But the human heart is the most difficult thing to fathom."

"Those people never imagined Wurilei would choose suicide before becoming a pollutant. Better to shatter like jade than remain whole as a tile."

"To obtain this King Fish, I chose to cooperate with Lu Zhi. We had a contract. She would help me seize the not-yet-formed King Fish; the birds raised on this floating island would be responsible for delivering goods for the Slaughterhouse."

The arrangement only ended with Lu Zhi's death.

Song Tianyu was acutely aware that if the Slaughterhouse brought misfortune to many, he was an accomplice.

In his youth, he too had wondered if one day, humans and some perfectly evolved pollutants might coexist in peace.

But that was impossible.

No one could forgive the executioner on behalf of the dead.

The fragile peace society now clung to was built upon the sacrifices of countless predecessors. "Understanding" was sometimes a cruel joke. The two sides were destined never to reconcile.

And so, he too had been waiting for judgment.

"I obtained it. But the King Fish hadn't fully hatched. I had no choice but to use my own body to nurture it. Its nutritional demands were immense. Not just suffering—every negative emotion became fodder for its growth. After more than a decade of feeding it, my body was long overdrawn, teetering on the brink of collapse."

"Fortunately, last year I found a suitable successor."

Song Tianyu pointed upward. "Lu Jiahé. Would you like to see him now? He's remembered you're not his sister. His feelings toward you are… complicated. But he bears no ill will."

The System chimed in. [Lu Jiahé is indeed highly suitable for incubating the King Fish. He's cycled within the Wall of Resentment for so long, carrying significant pollution sources.]

Lu Yan remarked, "Speaking of which, I mailed him something last time."

Between hatching an egg and a fish, he wondered what state Lu Jiahé was in now.

A faint smile touched Song Tianyu's lips. "Yes."

"One day, a Butcher came to the floating island, claiming to have a delivery."

"It was called Tongtong. A rabbit. It brought an egg. After delivering it, I didn't let it leave. Kept it here on the island. If you're interested, you can go see it."

The Rabbit Butcher was now the only land beast on the floating island. It had grown plump and content, far happier than its days in the Slaughterhouse.

Song Tianyu's tone turned frank. "Truthfully, I've been hesitant. Uncertain whether this final piece of the body should be destroyed or preserved. No one can control a complete god. The believers of the Deep Sea Society were mad god-makers. They sought to steal a deity's might, and in the end, met their ruin."

"Power that cannot be restrained is a calamity, even if it can purify everything."

Judgment coupled with the Apocalypse—that was the complete purification.

But who could guarantee what stance a lofty god would take when judging this world?

"I've made many wrong choices in this lifetime. Such as forcing Qiao Yu, against his will, to become a pollutant. I am terrified… of making one more mistake."

Song Tianyu looked directly into Lu Yan's eyes. "That is why I am so profoundly grateful… to have witnessed that last, lingering sliver of mercy upon the god."