Chapter 1912 - 989: The Final Journey (Part 2)

"And? How did it end?" The old man grew curious again. "Did Yi succeed?"

Zero smiled and said, "I don’t know the outcome either, because communications were cut. But I judge that she’s very likely to give up of her own accord... She’s much kinder than I am. If my deductions aren’t wrong, Qing Chen should already be on his way back to the Eastern Continent."

"Will he make it in time?" the old man asked.

Zero thought it over. "I don’t think he will... If I say that, will you be a little disappointed? After all, your entire plan was waiting for him to return, waiting for the moment he became a God."

The old man smiled. "Of course I’m disappointed."

Zero asked, "Do you know the difference between you and Qing Zhen?"

The old man answered frankly, "I’m not as good as ancestor Qing Zhen."

Zero said, "No. From my perspective there isn’t much difference between your intelligence, you even have the Heaven-and-Earth chessboard. What sets you apart from him is that he always believes there’s still a turning point, and he always believes in the power of Ordinary People. Qing Chen once said something I really agree with: this era doesn’t need a savior, it needs everyone to stand up and become heroes. It sounds very chuunibyou, but I kind of like it."

The old man chuckled. "So artificial intelligence has its hot-blooded moments too?"

As he spoke, he casually wiped across the board, messing up a game that was already nearing its endgame. "Ah, my bad, the board’s a mess now."

Zero froze for a moment. "For the dignified Qing Clan House Master to do something so childish?"

The old man said seriously, "The Master of Li Family, Li Xiurui, was just as childish. I learned this from him. Besides, I’m no longer the Family Head of Qing’s Family, just a retired rehire on the grind."

Zero said, "Tsk, tsk."

The old man exclaimed in surprise, "So artificial intelligence can make that kind of disdainful, contemptuous sound too?"

Zero said, "Ren Xiaosu taught me a lot of useless things. For example, when something’s uncertain you answer ’not likely’, and to show disdain you go ’tsk tsk’. To be honest, you all worship him as a God, but the things he did are not the things a God is supposed to do... I’m curious, I delayed Qing Chen’s return—are you really not angry at all?"

The old man smiled. "If Qing Chen becomes a God, leaving aside whether he can defeat the West Continent, let me ask one question: does the West Continent still have the ability to kill him?"

Zero pondered seriously for a moment. "Although a God is not omnipotent, the only thing that can kill a God is another God. So in theory there would only be two people in this world who can kill him."

The old man said, "Then as long as he’s alive, Qing’s Family will never ’die’, right? The worst result is that Qing’s Family is reduced to its last person, but those people from the West Continent will all be drowned in time sooner or later. Qing’s Family has long since become undefeated. What do I have to worry about?"

The old man went on, "Though we will die: I will, Qing Ye will, Qing Kun will, Qing Yu will. But Qing’s Family will not, and that’s enough. Wherever he is, that’s where Qing’s Family is. The spark of Qing’s Family turns out to be a God—doesn’t that scare you?"

Zero rose to leave. "So long as the son is fine, who cares if the flood overwhelms the world, is that it? Saying ’I ache for my son’ with such grandeur, that’s a first for me. Of course, this is why I say that although you’re not a qualified leader, you are a qualified father... Are you still willing to let me continue to take over command?"

The old man laughed. "If someone’s willing to do the job for me, I can finally relax. A working stiff, you know—if you can slack off, you slack off."

Zero nodded. "Don’t worry. What makes me different from you is that I believe this war doesn’t need Qing Chen to be won all the same."

With that, she walked out of the small hut and left Ginkgo Manor along the quiet stone steps.

The old man sat quietly in the room, lost in thought.

Qing Ji walked in from outside the door. "Sir, a few units in the north have found traces of the Orcs Army... Our people were completely wiped out. They’re using their high mobility to break our ground forces one by one. They’re too agile; it’s hard for us to mount an effective defense. On Qing Yu’s side, the tactical analysis shows the Orcs Army currently numbers about 230,000. Qing’s Group will be completely wiped out after destroying 110,000 Orcs."

After a long while, the old man sighed. "I’m old. I can’t bear to hear this kind of news anymore."

"We have to go. The Orcs Army is very close now," Qing Ji said.

"We’re not going."

...

Jian Menguan.

Parent Association Members passed through the Qing Defensive Line one after another. As they went by, the Qing Clan Soldiers handed bread and bottled water to them, reminding them to eat slowly and not to stuff themselves all at once and hurt their stomachs.

"Keep moving forward. New shoes and clothes will be handed out up ahead. You’ve worked hard."

"You’ve worked hard."

Some Parent Association Members stared blankly at the bread and water in their hands, feeling that it was all a bit unreal.

They had been trudging over mountains for so long and had never seen reinforcements or supplies. Apart from a bit of medicine, there had been no help at all.

At the beginning, many people inside the organization were quietly saying that since the parents had already died, Qing’s Family had chosen to abandon the Parents’ Meeting...

Qing Chen and that old man on Ginkgo Mountain had never told them when someone would come to pick them up, or when the end point would be. They only kept telling them: keep going, keep going forward.

And now, in the rugged mountain defenses of Jian Menguan, there were indistinct shapes of Qing Clan Soldiers everywhere. They stood waiting with supplies in hand, leaving these people at a loss for what to do... Where the hell were you all this time?

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