“I only want to save one person.”

“How could‍‌‌​‌‍​‌‍‌​​​⁠‌⁠⁠‍‍⁠‌‍‌⁠ you have thought it was me? My heavens, am I that kind of person?” Billy’s eyes bulged, nearly popping out. “Baby, how long has it been since you talked with me? The moment you did, it was to interrogate me. I’m deeply hurt!”

An Yu stared at him expressionlessly. “Stop pretending. All the gossip in the Spire slips out of your mouth.”

Billy bristled with anger. “Who said that?!”

“The Commander said it.” An Yu paused. “Also Commander Tang Feng, Commander Xi De, Commander Yan, Zhu Tao, Bo, even Jiang Xiao. They all told me to be careful of you.”

Billy: “……”

“Do you know Codex? He can read people’s minds,” An Yu said earnestly. “Codex said, every time he met you, you were mentally plotting whose gossip to spread next. Your mind was full of unspeakable filth.”

“……” Billy swallowed loudly and forced a laugh. “You can’t say that. I’m just an information relay station. Besides, you walked around the Spire with hickeys all over your neck, clearly declaring sovereignty. I wasn’t spreading gossip about you; I was helping you stake your claim! Haven’t I always been your confidant?”

An Yu hesitated, then spoke. “Well—the claim has been staked. From now on, you are forbidden from spreading anything about me and the Commander. No, from now on, you are not allowed to come to the 199th floor looking for me on your own initiative. And you can’t bring any electronic devices when we meet.”

“Don’t be like that. Saying it like that make us seem distant.” Billy sniffled sadly. “I was your first friend after you came to the Spire. Are you going to abandon me like this?”

An Yu nodded. “I didn’t know anything when I first arrived. You are useless now.”

“……” Billy’s face nearly twisted with anger. He turned and stormed out. “I knew it! Like attracts like! You are just like Qin Zhilu, both little white-eyed wolves with heavy defenses!”

“Wait a minute.” An Yu suddenly stopped him. “Do you also think the Commander has heavy defenses?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Billy turned back, sighed, and muttered, “He wasn’t like that when he was younger, but… that’s true too. Who can remain innocent after going through all that? The fact that Qin Zhilu hasn’t turned into a villain is already the greatest blessing the gods bestowed upon humanity… if gods really exist.”

An Yu was momentarily speechless. Billy walked back to his side, his chatterbox opened, and started telling him about how various religious sects had recently sprung up again. Even Main City residents were frantically discussing all sorts of theological oddities in private. The Poet, who had previously disappeared, also returned to the public eye. Although the cathedral couldn’t operate, he had started an account on social media, occasionally posting cryptic, incomprehensible messages.

An Yu listened absently for a while, then asked, “Is it because of the Molly incident?”

“Mhm. Because Black Tower officially renamed the disaster  to [Mysterious Advent]. But essentially, it was still driven by the Molly incident.” Billy clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Absurd, right? Millions had adored her before. Overnight, everyone seemed to forget the past. They curse her whenever she is mentioned. Even though Black Tower said Molly ultimately chose self-destruction, not a single person will thank her.”

An Yu thought for a moment, then asked softly, “Then, will anyone thank the Commander?”

“Huh?” Billy stumbled over his words. “Of course! Law is the protective wall relied upon by all humanity. How can anyone not thank him?”

An Yu watched him intently. “If he’s no longer a reliable protective wall, will people still thank him?”

“But he is,” Billy laughed dryly. “Did you hear some rumors from Black Tower and Brain? Hah, let me tell you, for so many years, there always seem to be a few people in Black Tower and Brain questioning him. It seems to have become some sort of standardized procedure. He himself doesn’t care.”

“Why wouldn’t he care?” An Yu thought of the hypnosis interrogation and said in a low voice, “He knows everything, but he seems incapable of feeling any emotion, nor does he realize what he is enduring.”

The room suddenly fell silent.

Billy was no longer chattering and his expression was unusually grave. His gaze fell on the medical kit he carried. After a good while, he chuckled softly and whispered, “Law’s heart… no one can see through it, and no one can touch it. After he shot his entire family at sixteen, nothing can break through his defenses anymore… Oh, wait, except for the mission in District 95 back then. But no one knew what exactly happened in District 95. After all, only he walked out. I heard even Black Tower doesn’t have archives of that mission.”

Qin Zhilu rarely mentioned District 95. An Yu also hadn’t seen any related records in the Commander’s memories.

To this day, he only knew Qin Zhilu had used gene infection on the Super-Aberrant in District 95, turning the other party into a monster with infinite genetic entropy similar to himself. Afterward, thermal weapons had cleared the entire city, leaving no trace.

Besides that, there was only the sentence Qin Zhilu whispered in District 53—District 95 accelerated the enactment of the world’s end.

“No one knows what the world’s end is, but everyone is fighting for peace and freedom. Although mysterious phenomena are intensifying, we’re no longer as lost and helpless as we were over twenty years ago. In these twenty-plus years, we gradually gained the Dome, genetic research, we established the Spire, and have always been protected by powerful Protectors. Not just Qin Zhilu, but also that newly joined mysterious Protector, codenamed Corner. It’s said that when humanity shut down the Dome to investigate Molly’s backup body, it was he who exhausted his power to freeze the Main City’s space-time for over twenty minutes, safeguarding the entire city…”

The news anchor delivered the speech with emotion. An Yu exited the page and pulled down to refresh.

He had originally just been waiting for his bakery’s ad post to show up, but unexpectedly, the platform automatically pushed the content the Poet had published two minutes ago to his homepage.

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A knock suddenly came at the door.

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He paused, then added in a small voice, “Commander, people have already written several romance stories about us—even Ling Qiu couldn’t make up so many bizarre plots.”

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Qin Zhilu’s steps halted. He turned back. “Hm?”

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Qin Zhilu watched him, silent.

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An Yu lowered his gaze again. “Sorry, Commander. I can’t quite understand. Ling Qiu had said love is willingly sacrificing a part of oneself, or even one’s entirety, for another person. This is the part I understand the least. I’ve never thought about it, and it seems absolutely impossible for me to sacrifice myself for anyone.”

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Qin Zhilu took out a small piece of dried bread from his pocket, casually placed it on An Yu’s bedside table, and then left the room.

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He paused, then added softly, “A tiny little bit.”

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Sunlight streamed through the window screens, casting beams of light through the dust motes in the air. Those beams illuminated the Poet’s peaceful and warm face. His eyes were as gentle and tranquil as he remembered. But for some reason, the natural sense of closeness he used to exude had vanished.

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An Yu felt somewhat uncomfortable being stared at by those eyes. He said, “I resolved the Molly incident.”

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The Poet raised an eyebrow, smiling. “Hm?”

“Where’s your previous painting?” An Yu finally turned his head to look at the canvas on the wall. “After the chaotic red light, did no new golden cog appear?”

The Poet spread his hands. “Sorry, I’ve already abandoned that painting. It holds no meaning.”

“Why no meaning?”

“Because I calculated carefully. The small cogs spread along the outer edge of the red light. Even if they completely close, they can’t permanently stop the red light, unless the red light destroys itself—like Molly. But Molly’s nature was born from human domestication, while the red light is not.” The Poet spoke as if chanting. He finished with a smile. “Any other questions?”

An Yu took a deep breath.

“I don’t quite understand your riddles,” he said truthfully. “I just wanted to ask—one line in the prophecy poem was: He dreamt of being toyed with by the lowly, an absurd humiliation. I was played for a fool by a time thief, and because of that, I grasped the method of space-time stagnation. But in this mission, not only did I not awaken any new abilities, but even my space-time stagnation ability didn’t progress. I exhausted my limits and can only freeze the Main City for just over twenty minutes. There’s another line in the poem—He forgot His own immensity and reenacted His death. What does this line mean? Will I still gain new abilities?”

Eye looked at him with some amazement. “What ability did you hope to have?”

“A stronger space-time stagnation power. Even—” An Yu’s voice paused, then lowered. “Reversal.”

“Entropy reduction,” the Poet immediately spoke. “You should know, time is entropy increase. Entropy increase is an irreversible process. Brief stagnation is already a miracle. No one can push entropy reduction.”

An Yu was silent for a moment. “My apologies for disturbing you.”

He turned to go downstairs. Just as he descended two steps, he heard the Poet laugh behind him. “How miraculous. What exactly happened, to make a selfish and indifferent fellow like you suddenly develop the sentiment to save the world from disaster?”

An Yu’s steps halted at these words. He turned his head slightly.

“I have no interest in saving the world.”

He whispered, “I only want to save one person.”

Author’s Note:

[Snowflake Fragment] AI Qin Zhilu (3/3) Silent Changes

After humanity’s disaster ended, 21 proactively came looking for me.

This was its first proactive visit.

It didn’t say anything and just wolfed down all the bread in my home.

Then it stuffed one ear into my arms, grabbed my tentacle, and curled up in a corner to sleep soundly.

I sat beside it and watched it all night.

Actually, 21 knows everything.

It’s no longer a blank slate. Endless emotions grow and intertwine silently deep within it.

It’s just that all of it is silently hidden behind those golden eyes.

After 21 woke up, it sat beside me as usual, basking in the sun and spacing out.

Just when I thought it was about to fall asleep again, it suddenly said.

“‘For humanity’ is too abstract. I’ve never understood why I am so attached to survival.”

It gently rubbed its ear against me and said in a low voice, “But I was indeed very glad the Commander didn’t make me self-destruct.”

“Being able to continue sitting next to you, spacing out and nibbling on bread… that must be the meaning of survival.”