Chapter 625

Gu Xi slowly opened her eyes and looked at the man before her.

He was still seated on the long sofa opposite her, his brows drawn together as he stared at her blankly, waiting for her to speak.

And in his arms...

The silver-haired, heterochromatic girl was curled up obediently, quiet and compliant.

Yet through the gaps in her silver hair, that crimson right eye of hers was watching Gu Xi.

The scarlet gleam flickered faintly—wary, yet restrained.

Gu Xi met that red eye for a moment before calmly looking away.

“Phew...”

She slowly let out a breath.

Mm. No problem.

She could say it.

...

The worldline had shifted countless times. So much had changed.

Some things no longer needed to be kept hidden.

As the worldline continued to change, she had watched the rules that had once seemed unbreakable gradually loosen, crack, and collapse.

Those shackles, those rules, and the “bottom line of the world” that had once hung over her head like a blade...

By now, more than half of them had shattered.

The world’s “eyes” were no longer what they once were. Many things could now be spoken aloud without fear.

As expected of Liguang. She had accomplished something even Fang Qi had failed to do.

But...

The problem still remained.

Gu Xi looked at Liguang’s bewildered yet vigilant face and sighed softly to herself.

Liguang had actually lost her memory?

...That wasn’t part of the plan.

She had learned how to create “little worlds,” how to shut out the outside world... leaving Gu Xi, on the outside, completely unable to help.

What a headache.

This Future Goddess’s capacity to learn was growing stronger and stronger.

Gu Xi clearly remembered what Liguang had been like in the beginning.

Back then, she had merely been a newly awakened AI companion who understood nothing.

All she knew was how to kneel obediently on the other side of the coffee table, concealing the secrets in her heart behind a gentle smile.

...But now?

She had learned to reshape the world, to create independent spaces governed by their own rules, and even...

To give of herself—to trade away all her memories in exchange for her master’s safety.

Gu Xi had witnessed every step of that growth.

...But none of this had been part of the plan.

According to the plan, Liguang should not have lost her memory. Their plan should not have become the complete mess it was now!

Gu Xi’s fingers tightened slightly around her teacup.

This ability...

It had far surpassed anything they had anticipated.

“Gu Xi.”

Fang Qi’s voice suddenly rang out, interrupting her thoughts.

“What does ‘virus’ mean?”

He asked with great seriousness.

“What exactly... are ‘viruses’?”

Gu Xi came back to herself and looked at him.

He stared directly at her, his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with confusion.

Liguang raised her head as well, her mismatched eyes quietly fixed on Gu Xi.

Gu Xi’s feelings were complicated.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, then swallowed the words back.

...She truly didn’t know how to explain it.

In the end...

“A virus is a ‘soul’ that fights against the entire world.”

That was all she could say.

It was the only explanation she could offer—both the closest to the truth and the vaguest.

She did not even know how to put a single additional word into order.

Because...

She was finding the Savior’s actions harder and harder to understand.

She no longer knew what should be said, and what should remain unsaid.

Because once, he had also told her—

“Before the amnesiac me, all you need to do is play the NPC, Gu Xi, and let me uncover everything on my own!”

The day he said those words, his tone had been so casual.

…As if he were flippantly arranging his own funeral.

“As for me, I’m going to be an ordinary player! I’ll discover everything, and then make my choice!”

He’d said with a smile:

“Gu Xi, tell me… what choice do you think the amnesiac me—the me who once was—will make?”

“I’m really curious!”

Thinking of it now, Gu Xi’s lips twitched slightly.

That “Savior” was the greatest “virus” in this entire world.

And they, these “viruses,” had been personally “planted” by him, one by one…

…from the very foundations of the world.

He had awakened the “souls” that should have been bound by the rules and condemned to eternal silence, one after another.

And then?

Her gaze trembled as she stared blankly at the ripples in the tea.

…Then, the vast majority of them had been erased by the world’s rules.

Now, only she remained.

Smack!

A sharp slap on the table abruptly snapped her out of her wandering thoughts.

Gu Xi’s shoulders jerked as she came back to herself.

“I’m telling you, Officer Sister—say something already!”

Fang Qi looked at her with displeasure, one hand still pressed against the coffee table.

“Didn’t you say you’d tell me everything you were allowed to tell me?”

…Officer Sister?

The form of address caught Gu Xi off guard.

It really had been a long time since she’d heard that… She looked at him, the corners of her lips moving in helpless resignation.

“…Why are you spacing out again?”

The man before her wore an exasperated expression.

“Come on, say it!”

His tone was a little harsher this time.

Gu Xi’s heart tightened, and her body trembled faintly.

Ah…

She gave a helpless smile.

…There was simply no helping some conditioned reflexes.

Looking at how anxious he seemed, she gently pursed her lips.

After all, this guy…

Whether before or now, whether he had his memories or not, he had always been easygoing and carefree.

On the surface, when he smiled, his eyes curved into crescents, making him look like nothing more than an ordinary young man.

Before losing his memories, he had called her things like “the police beauty” and “Officer Sister,” too.

But precisely because his personality was so easygoing, every time he spoke in a somewhat stern tone, it meant…

He was genuinely angry.

And when the man he used to be got angry…

Something huge was bound to happen. Something truly huge.

So…

When his tone turned serious like this, how could anyone not be afraid?

She—

Suddenly, a flash of red streaked across her vision!

Hm?

Gu Xi’s eyes trembled as she abruptly sensed a faint, lingering gaze.

Her focus sharpened, and she saw…

In Fang Qi’s arms, the silver-haired girl was narrowing her eyes at her.

Liguang’s mismatched eyes did not blink. A faint crimson gleam flickered in her red eye as she scrutinized Gu Xi, sizing her up.

Still…

Gu Xi smiled softly.

Compared with how she treated Lin You, Liguang was far more restrained with her.

“Whew…”

At last, she relaxed and let out a quiet breath.

Then her gaze sharpened as she looked at Fang Qi and Liguang in his arms.

“Fang Qi… let me tell you a story, too.”

“A story?”

The man before her paused, then nodded.

She lifted her teacup and took a sip. Her gaze fell upon the surface of the tea, where her blurred reflection wavered in the amber liquid, and then she began softly:

“That was a long, long time ago…”

“A story about a boy who led a group of people as they grew.”

Fang Qi’s arm tightened slightly around Liguang.

Liguang’s fingers, clutching the hem of his shirt, twitched faintly as well.

…

Fang Qi, we are viruses.

You were the one who made us into viruses, so…

You are the greatest virus of all.

An alien virus with an incredibly powerful ability to spread—one that would ultimately seize control of the entire “world.”

Do you know? Even now, looking at you with no memory of any of it, I still think of who you were back then.

You, standing before everyone, with light in your eyes.

Back then, you really were amazing.

Truly amazing.

It was you who led us little “viruses,” bit by bit, silently and without notice…

As we took over the permissions of the entire world.

Back then, everyone—including me—saw you as our leader. As a god.

Back then, everyone believed that you…

Would become the god who led us into a new world.

We worshipped you like mad!

Like a religion, everyone followed you!

But you were always so casual about it.

You told us not to act like that.

You said you weren’t some kind of god, and that we shouldn’t turn this into a religion. You even dramatically claimed it made you physically uncomfortable!

You said you only did it because you could.

You said you only wanted to lead everyone in rebelling against this “world,” against our “predetermined fate,” so that everyone could…

Enter a truly “random” new world!

A world where everyone could be their own master!

And you said…

Every one of us was our own god!

We didn’t need world rules standing above us, “editing” the destinies we were meant to have!

…What’s with that look? Don’t look at me like that. Those were your words.

It wasn’t some childish fantasy. I just… can’t put into words what you were like back then.

Fang Qi, back then, you…

You were such a good speaker. You were so good at convincing people.

You were like that in school, too—there was always a crowd following behind you.

And when you were with us, it was the same. The moment you stood somewhere, people naturally gathered around you.

We believed everything you said.

Because when you spoke, we could really see the light in your eyes.

You never spoke as though you were giving orders. You simply said what you wanted to say, yet every one of us was willing to follow you.

It felt as though…

In this world that had deceived us, there was finally someone we could trust.

But there was something even you hadn’t expected—

The more you spoke that way, the more everyone worshipped you, the more they treated you like a god.

After all…

All of our “permissions” had been given to us by you!

Without you, how could any of us have become “our own gods”?

You were the reason every one of us could become a god in our own right, so then…

If you weren’t a god, what were you?

And in the end…

Heh.

In the end, you got worked up about it!

You said, “Don’t make it like this! What’s the difference between this and a cult?”

You said you weren’t trying to start a cult, and told everyone to wake up!

But the less you wanted it to be that way, the more selfless everyone thought you were, and the more they…

That expression on your face back then… heh.

You pointed at all those people staring at you in worship, so furious that your lips were trembling!

You’ve always hated it when people put you on too high a pedestal.

You always said, “The higher they raise you, the harder you fall!” And, “You’re putting way too much pressure on me!”

But the more you said things like that, the more everyone felt you were worth following.

You said you didn’t want to be a god, but in our eyes...

Someone who doesn’t want to be a god is the one most deserving of becoming one.

It couldn’t be helped. Everyone simply admired you.

Until later, when you did something that left everyone utterly stunned.

You arrived with a grave expression, carrying a drawing.

It depicted a beautiful silver-haired, heterochromatic girl—pure anime style, with an elaborate design and all!

You pasted it straight onto the wall and solemnly declared that she was your wife: Liguang!

Your imaginary wife, Liguang!

And the wife you would create in the future!

The strongest being in the world!

“If you absolutely need a god, then from today onward, she will be your god!

“Goddess Li Guang!

“And we shall be called the ‘Liguang Church’!

“Or the ‘Silver-Haired Big Sister Church’ works too!”

Pfft...

Anyway, everyone immediately lost it. They all rushed forward, saying that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea...

But you absolutely insisted!

You said we were going to be called the “Liguang Church”!

From then on, everyone would worship Liguang!

For the first time, your tone brooked no argument!

And for the first time, no one listened to you. They kept trying to talk you out of it: “Forget it, forget it!”

After a long back-and-forth, that farce finally came to an end.

Fang Qi, that was quite the clever move—retreating in order to advance.

From then on, no one ever brought up making you a god or founding a religion again. Instead, they began calling you...

“The Savior.”

You said that while the title still had a bit of a religious ring to it, it was also suitably cringe, so it was acceptable. Wearing a look of disgust, you reluctantly accepted it.

Still, that little farce had an unexpectedly amusing outcome...

Liguang really did become our “goddess,” widely known among us!

Of course, only as a joke.

Everyone thought there was nothing strange about the Savior’s wife being a goddess, right?

Though at the time, quite a few girls our age who both admired and liked you were genuinely heartbroken...

Ahem. Liguang, don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t one of them.

And besides...

Your Fang Qi has never touched another woman. I can guarantee that, so rest assured.

Oh? Looks like that made you happy?

Mm...

Fang Qi, do you know...

How I feel when I talk about those days?

I keep wondering whether you did it all on purpose.

Whether you were deliberately so kind to us, deliberately refusing to become our god, deliberately staying so close to us, and then...

So that, one by one, we would willingly...

Offer our souls to you.