Chapter 1452: Red King's Death

The Grey King’s words thundered in Chen Ling’s ears. He seemed to finally understand what the Era Archive was.

If this world were a game, and it was heading towards a losing outcome, the only way to salvage everything would be to “load a save file.” This means returning everything to a “save point” and restarting from there. The USB drive in Chen Ling’s hand was the key to that “save point.” As long as the save file he held overwrote history, the entire world would reload. Everything that had occurred within the Era Archive would rewrite existing history, leading everything to a new outcome.

Chen Ling suddenly recalled that his first entry into the Era Archive coincided with the moment the Red Star was first observed streaking across Earth’s sky. That was the beginning of everything, and the only “save point.”

In fact, upon careful thought, the best way to save the world would be to go back in time before the Red Star’s arrival and prevent it from approaching Earth. However, the Era Archive couldn’t achieve this. Lord Ruoshui’s power also originated from the Red Star, so no matter how much he altered things, he couldn’t rewind the archive’s timeline to before the Red Star’s descent. Therefore, the Red Star’s arrival on Earth was an unchangeable event. The only things that could be rewritten were everything that occurred after its descent: the alliance of the Nine Lords, the formation of the Domains, the war against annihilation, and even... the Hibernation Plan?

“If this world has been restarted more than once, it means the Twilight Society has succeeded multiple times,” Chen Ling said, frowning at the Grey King. “So, the last person to restart the world... was my master?”

The Grey King nodded slightly. “Yes.”

Chen Ling had mostly pieced it together. This world had been restarted multiple times, and the Red King was the last to do so. He used his past Era Archive to overwrite the world’s history, giving humanity another chance to begin anew. As for the Nine Lords of this era, they must have had some degree of contact with the Red King. Perhaps their attitude towards Chen Ling was also influenced by the Red King.

“How many times has the world been restarted so far?”

“Five times.”

“So the save file in my hand is the key to starting the world for the sixth time,” Chen Ling murmured to himself. “But the Twilight Society has already restarted the world five times. Have we still not found a way to break this cycle?”

“I don’t know,” the Grey King said, shaking her head. “Perhaps you can only ask your master about that question. But the Red Star’s arrival is an unchangeable inevitability. Based on that, trying to rewrite the world’s ending... it’s simply too difficult.”

Chen Ling remembered the Silent Angel mentioning Y012, or the Red Star, back in the Ashes of Civilization. Y012 could directly penetrate “civilization” itself, and to date, no world that had directly encountered a Y-series meteorite seemed to have survived. Chen Ling didn’t know how strong those so-called worlds were, but the fact that none survived was proof enough of the Red Star’s terrifying destructive power. In fact, their own world hadn’t survived the impact of Y012 either. Ultimately, they were merely leveraging the Red Star’s power, loading save files repeatedly, and struggling for survival amidst successive destructions.

Wait... had the Silent Angel been calling himself “Sixth Generation” since then? Did he also know about the world restarts? What exactly did “Fifth Generation” and “Sixth Generation” refer to? What happened to the Red King after he ascended the Red Star? Was success possible in this world, or had they already failed, leaving them to hope for the next iteration?

Countless questions surged through Chen Ling’s mind. He was about to ask something more when the Grey King suddenly stopped. She gestured in the void, and the empty space parted like jelly. Hidden within this seemingly barren nothingness was a mysterious region, invisible to the naked eye.

“This is...”

“The Ancient Harlot’s Trove,” the Grey King replied calmly. “Stay close to me.”

The Grey King stepped into the ancient trove. Chen Ling didn’t hesitate, immediately following her. As Liu Qingyan, the last to enter, stepped inside, the jelly-like portal slowly closed, as if nothing had ever happened.

This was Chen Ling’s first visit to the Ancient Harlot’s Trove. He had always been curious about this mysterious divine trove, but once inside, he couldn’t discern his surroundings. He only felt a flash of moonlight across the air, and then the three of them seemed to traverse through the void, instantly crossing a vast area.

Finally, Chen Ling’s figure settled onto the surface of a calm lake.

“I know you still have many questions, but I cannot answer them,” the Grey King said, raising a hand and pointing to a coffin in the center of the lake. “You... go find him yourself.”

Seeing the red coffin in the center of the lake, Chen Ling’s heart suddenly lurched! He immediately stepped forward. As he drew closer, a familiar figure lay quietly in the center of the coffin. A large, clean red opera robe neatly draped inside, and the young face, pale with closed eyes, appeared as if in slumber.

Chen Ling’s pupils constricted slightly. He stiffly extended a hand, touching the Red King’s body... It was bone-chillingly cold. He was dead. There was no warmth, no breath, no life force at all. It was as if his very soul had dissipated, leaving behind only an intact shell.

“He... he’s dead?” Chen Ling turned to the Grey King in disbelief. “How can this be?!”

“I don’t know.” The Grey King shook her head bitterly, her eyes filled with confusion and doubt. “The very second he stepped onto the Red Star, his body appeared here,” she explained. “I don’t know how he appeared, nor do I know his exact cause of death, but I’ve checked repeatedly. He is indeed dead, his soul completely dispersed. Furthermore, all the artifacts of civilization on him shattered into dust, and even his clothes vanished, as if something had directly annihilated ‘civilization’ itself.”

Chen Ling looked back at the corpse again, his mind momentarily short-circuiting. One second he stepped onto the Red Star, the next, he was dead? What kind of sinister place was the Red Star? Could it instantly obliterate a Ninth-Rank demigod, and in such a bizarre manner?

“However, it seems he foresaw his own death,” the Grey King continued after a brief pause. “Before ascending the Red Star, he had already arranged everything. He instructed me before he left... that once I found his body, I was to find you and bring you here.”

“He knew he would die? Then why did he still ascend the Red Star?”

According to the Grey King, the Red King likely knew what would happen if he stepped onto the Red Star, even knowing that his body would return to Earth after his death there. Chen Ling speculated that perhaps during the previous four world restarts, others had also attempted to ascend the Red Star. But if he clearly knew he would die, why would he still go?