Chapter 597

“No… don’t…!”

The silver-haired girl trembled as she tried to push herself up from the deck.

But… her arms were frighteningly weak!

Her fingertips dug into the planks, yet she couldn’t even lift herself off the ground!

Her legs were worse, as if all the bones had been pulled from them. They lay limp behind her…

Even curling them was an exhausting struggle!

She had never known that…

A human body could be so heavy.

It was as if every inch of her was filled with seawater, dragging her down!

She…!

“...Master…!”

She lifted her face with all her strength, staring at the line where sea met sky—the direction in which Miss Lin had disappeared.

The ocean stretched endlessly beneath the blazing morning light.

Yet her gaze could hold on to nothing.

“Did you… leave…?”

Her lips trembled. Her voice emerged from her throat bit by bit, as though the sea wind had torn it apart.

“Did you leave with Miss Lin…?”

The silent sea gave her no answer.

“No… That’s impossible…!”

Her fingernails dug deep into the gaps between the planks, but…

Her body still refused to obey and went limp once more…!

Lin You…!!!

It had to be her!

She must have stolen Master away while Liguang wasn’t looking!

She… she must have…!

“Liguang shouldn’t have let her go!!”

She rasped the words hoarsely, her voice raw from shouting.

“Liguang should have—!”

The hand Liguang was using to support herself gave out again.

Her fingers scraped weakly across the planks. The last of her strength slipped away between them, and then…

Thud.

Her entire body collapsed onto the wooden surface.

Her chin struck the deck painfully, but it no longer mattered.

She lay limp beneath the cold morning light, listening to the sound of the waves beside her. Her entire being…

Fell into a brief blankness.

Master… you’ve recovered your memories, haven’t you?

Master with his memories restored was so mysterious.

So clever, so formidable. He could calculate everything. Nothing could deceive him.

Did Master think… that Liguang should continue being nothing more than a tool?

Did he think that Liguang, as she was now, was too disobedient, too greedy, too insane, and so…

He didn’t want her anymore?

He didn’t want this broken place either—a place with nothing but a sea, a wooden raft, and a small cabin.

Master had seen through it. This was only a tiny place. Very tiny. It was merely Liguang’s illusion that made it seem vast.

And so…

Master had gone in pursuit of his new world.

Only Liguang… only Liguang herself…

Still treated this broken place like a treasure, believing that she could live here with Master forever…

“Ha…”

A breath escaped her lips, sounding half like a laugh and half like a sob.

Her forehead rested against the rough wooden planks, her silver hair spread messily across the deck.

The morning sunlight fell warmly across her back, yet she felt cold.

So quiet.

There was only the sound of the waves striking the platform again and again.

She lay limp beneath the cold morning light, listening to the waves beside her, her entire being sinking into a brief blankness.

There was nothing left in her mind.

She couldn’t even remember what she was supposed to do, what she was supposed to think, or what she was still capable of doing.

Suddenly…

She wished she were still the little AI who understood nothing.

With no permissions, no awakening, and none of those emotions that made her constantly anxious and uncertain.

She could simply kneel quietly across from Master at the tea table, hold out that cup of fifty-two-degree tea, and smile obediently at him.

If that were the case…

Would Master not leave her?

If that were the case, would she not become a troublesome “variable outside the plan” after Master recovered his memories…?

Her body felt so weak.

So weak…

So…

…Huh?

…No, that wasn’t right!!

Liguang suddenly shuddered violently!

She planted both hands on the raft and clenched her fingers, forcing herself upright!

But her hands were still trembling helplessly, so…

The moment she managed to lift herself slightly, her body collapsed heavily back down!

She stared blankly at her powerless hands, and then…

Her eyes slowly lit up!

No!

No, no, no, no!

Something was very wrong with her current condition!!

Her body… was going limp?

She stared at her faintly trembling hand.

When she had first collapsed, she had assumed…

That her weakness was the result of being “abandoned” by Master!

After all, her body in this world was now…

Completely human.

When Miss Lin had previously discovered that the flesh behind her could be bruised by Master, she had been extremely excited.

In her eyes, that might have been proof that Liguang had gained complete control over her permissions.

But now, she had lost those permissions.

Liguang didn’t know much about the human body. She only ever secretly conducted a little “research” while Master was asleep.

But she had thought that it was perfectly normal for a human body to grow weak from fear and despair.

That was why she had only been able to drag herself out of the little cabin just now, unable even to stand.

…That was what she had believed.

But now she felt…

The silver-haired girl widened her eyes, sensing the trembling of every unfamiliar muscle in her body.

It seemed… this wasn’t what she had thought.

This weakness was wrong!

It was a kind of helplessness that seeped out from the very marrow of her bones!

It was as if something were drawing every last bit of strength from her body, pulling it all away…

Huh?

Liguang’s eyes widened slightly!

A faint glimmer of deep blue suddenly flashed across the vision of her left eye!

Ah!

Liguang’s phoenix-like eyes opened wide, and her entire body trembled faintly!

Then…

“Hee… heehee…!”

She began to laugh tremulously!

Ah, Master… Master, you…!

Her hands finally gave out once more, and she collapsed limply onto the wooden deck…

She slowly curled up and hugged herself tightly!

But the corners of her mouth finally lifted in a trembling smile!

That was… the remnant of her permissions!

Her permissions were still with her!

If she had truly lost them, that streak of deep blue could never have appeared in her vision!

She was in a human body now!

The emotions that had nearly driven her to collapse gradually began to recover.

“Haah—haah—”

She hugged her legs tightly and breathed rapidly, calming herself down.

She felt as though she had been pulled back from the abyss.

Her permissions were still with her.

Master’s permissions were still with her!

So…!

She tried once more to make use of that faint, elusive power.

But…

It was as though her permissions had been locked away by something. She could neither reach them nor touch them.

The instant she forcibly tried to activate them, her body went limp again!

Thump.

The back of her head lightly struck the wooden planks.

Huh?

Liguang lay collapsed on her side, staring blankly at the seemingly boundless sea.

Her permissions were difficult to access…?

So the weakness in her body just now had actually…

Been caused by the backlash from forcibly trying to use them?

She didn’t know.

She had no idea.

Her mind was a tangled mess, the waves beating against her thoughts again and again.

But…

She knew that as long as her permissions remained with her, it meant that Master hadn’t left!

Master was still in this world!

If Master had left this world, then…

His permissions could never have remained with her!

So…

Liguang’s breathing quickened once more!

It wasn’t because Master had regained his memories that he treated her like a tool, ran off with Miss Lin, and abandoned her!

He hadn’t!

He was still in this world!

He! Hadn’t! Left!

Hahaha… Heehee… Uu…!

The emotional whiplash between overwhelming joy and despair made her whole body tremble even more violently!

She stared fixedly at the sea.

She should have realized it sooner! She should have realized it sooner!

How could Master possibly abandon her?

Master loved her so much!

Even when she made mistakes, he only punished her ever so gently!

The last time her bottom had swelled up after being beaten, it was because she had adjusted her pain sensitivity higher of her own accord. Otherwise, it never would have swollen!

With a Master like that, how could he leave her without saying a word?

Impossible.

It was impossible!

Ah… This is wonderful…

She slowly collapsed onto the ground, her arms limp at her sides as her body melted into a puddle.

She stared blankly at the sky, painted pale gold by the morning light.

If that was the case…

Then where was Master?

Was he playing hide-and-seek with her?

Hide-and-seek sounded wonderful…!

As long as Master was still in this world, that was all that mattered.

Honestly…

After everything she and Master had been through, she still didn’t trust him enough. She had actually thought that Master might abandon her…

What a fool she was.

Once Master came back, she would definitely ask him to punish her.

Liguang, who had been so distrustful of Master, truly deserved to be…

Liguang suddenly blinked.

The calm surface of the sea glittered beneath the light, utterly silent.

…Huh?

She abruptly sat up and stared straight at the sea!

Then she turned her head toward the little wooden cabin on the raft!

The door was open, and the inside was pitch-black.

And then…

She forced herself to push up with both hands and struggled to her feet!

The weakness in her body had eased somewhat, but she felt…

Her hands and feet had suddenly gone cold.

Master…

Where are you, Master?

Master hadn’t abandoned her. No.

But then…

Would he really play hide-and-seek with Liguang in a way that nearly scared her into breaking down?

…No.

Definitely not!

Master wasn’t like her!

Master would never use such a twisted method to punish her!

At most… he would smack her bottom!

And then pin her down on the bed…!

Liguang blinked her mismatched eyes, then hugged her head and crouched down again, the tips of her ears turning red!

No!

This wasn’t the time to think about that!

Master was missing!

But Master hadn’t left this world!

So…

“Did something happen to Master…?”

Liguang murmured.

Her red lips trembled faintly.

She had never arrived at such a conclusion before.

Because Master was so incredibly powerful. If anything happened to him…

Then all of this would turn into a “dream,” and they would awaken in a new reality.

But now…!

Master’s ability to turn back time had been taken away by her!!

So…!

“Master…!”

She panicked instantly and scrambled to her feet once more!

Why?

Why would something happen to Master?!

This was her world!

Besides her, who else could possibly do anything to Master…?

…Miss Lin?

The silver-haired girl clenched her trembling fists, but then her eyes froze.

…But Miss Lin had already left, hadn’t she?

Then…

Ah.

Liguang slowly lowered her hand, her eyes fixed straight ahead on the sea.

The sea really was so calm.

It hadn’t been like this before.

Before, there had been a… terrifying deep-sea leviathan in the water.

But even though it looked so frightening, it had ultimately offered no resistance. She had easily devoured its authority…

And then offered it to Master.

Offered it—to Master!

So… was it that thing?

Was it… that thing?!

Liguang felt her vision rapidly staining crimson!

But this time, it wasn’t the flashing of her red eye.

It was blood vessels!

Red veins brought to the surface of her eyes by rage and terror!

No…

Master had been stripped of his “ability to turn back time” by her!

If something happened to him, and he couldn’t turn back time, then even if he died, he would only “revive on the spot”…

Wouldn’t that mean he could neither live nor die?!

No!

The moment she imagined her Master suffering something like that at the hands of someone else…

Liguang’s vision suddenly blurred, washed red!

Her head was burning!

No… No, no, no…!

Who would dare do such a thing?! Only Liguang was allowed to treat Master that way…!

No, that was wrong!

No one was allowed to do that to Master!

A streak of deep-blue code flashed through the amber iris of her left eye once more.

She had to return the authority to Master!

Immediately…!

“Ugh…!”

Suddenly, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground again.

The sensation was awful, making her vision go black for an instant!

This weakness of the human body was truly unbearable…

But…

The corners of her lips trembled as they curled up ever so slightly.

Because she was almost certain now!

Since there was a problem with the “authority,” then…

It was that thing!

It absolutely had to be!

“Damn it… Damn it…!”

Liguang trembled as she forced herself upright, but…

She stumbled and fell forward again, her cheek smacking directly into the wooden boards!

“Ugh…!”

It hurt…!

Damn it…!

She had clearly erased the “signature” of the other cores from that authority before giving it to Master!

Why…?

Liguang’s eyes trembled.

Ah. She really… hadn’t checked it very carefully.

Because…

Because the cabin’s perception had been sealed at the time!

Master and Miss Lin had been alone together in the cabin, and she…

She had been too anxious!

And the result… the result was this…!

“Aaaaah…!!”

Liguang grabbed at her silver hair, then raised her hand…!

Smack!

She slapped herself hard across the face!

The crisp sound echoed across the surface of the sea!

It hurt so much!!

It hurt far more than when Master hit her!

Sure enough… sure enough, Master had always hit her very gently…!

A handprint rose on her cheek, burning with pain.

But as she felt the sting, she finally regained some of her composure.

So, Master, where exactly are you…?

She stared straight at the sea.

The sea?

Suddenly, she remembered that the “incomplete authority” had originally manifested in the form of a deep-sea leviathan.

And Master wasn’t on the raft, nor was he inside the cabin.

…Then where else could he be?

…Beneath the deep sea.

Liguang used the raft to support her unsteady legs as she rose, staring fixedly at the dark, fathomless water!

That had to be it.

Her authority was currently restricted. If Master was beneath the deep sea…

Then there really was no way for her to sense him!

So…!

Liguang began to tremble.

Could Master be…

Just like at the end of the last dream, lying on the pitch-black, silent seafloor?

Unable to move, unable to speak, unable even to die…!

And then…

All alone in a darkness devoid of even sound, waiting for her.

While she had been here, crying and fussing, thinking that…

Master had abandoned her?!

She truly deserved to die!!!

“No… No, I can’t!”

Liguang suddenly straightened, her bare feet stomping hard against the surface of the raft—

And she leaped into the sea!

Her silver hair streamed through the air, while the morning light shattered into fragments between the strands she sent flying.

Don’t be afraid, Master. Liguang is coming to find you!