142. The Great Rebel of the Fin de Siècle

He actually didn’t catch her!

No, he did catch a tiny bit, but his divine power was utterly incapable of holding onto her.

Startled, Shi Jing glanced around.

This world belongs to humanity, naturally filled with many living people. In this situation, with his power infinitely enhanced, he glimpsed every corner of this world in an instant.

Yet, Chen Sheng still could not find Yu Youxin.

It was as if this world had never known anyone like Yu Youxin!

“In this world, gods are the mightiest, and there is only one god, so it cannot be another god acting. Then…” Chen Sheng’s gaze calmed, and he spoke aloud a thought that had been brewing in his mind: “This world, including the mysterious realm that births gods, is all an illusion, nonexistent.”

Boom!

Without warning, thunder exploded. Under the night sky, countless silver serpents writhed wildly, interlaced by streaks of red light that fell like the creation of the heavens and earth.

“Is this a clear sign?” Chen Sheng pondered, then his form instantly blurred.

Earlier, when his gaze swept across the world, he noticed a peculiar place. Now uncertain of what to do, he decided to investigate that strange spot first.

If nothing was found, he would search for the little girl from other angles.

At the edge of the heavens, Chen Sheng appeared again. Scanning the surroundings, he sensed an oddness, though he couldn’t quite describe the strangeness.

Using divine power to break through, he still found nothing.

This caused Chen Sheng to reflect deeply.

“Before Yu Youxin left, from what she said, it seemed she didn’t know at first—more accurately, some of her original memories had been masked, then suddenly restored in an instant…”

“She came to this world to play…”

“And once I possessed the power of a god and began creating a perfect world, she could no longer continue playing…”

“So who exactly is she…”

Suddenly, Chen Sheng had an idea.

He looked toward that part of the sky and said, mimicking a phrase a certain young girl had said more than once, “Old Chen, you’re back…”

The next moment, a pitch-black fissure ripped open in that sky, and beyond the gap lay countless stars shimmering.

Listening carefully, Chen Sheng caught faint voices, as if people were speaking—but what they said was incomprehensible.

Chen Sheng tried to enter the mysterious rift, but the moment he approached, he was repelled. Even drawing on his divine power, he could not pass through.

As Chen Sheng frowned, a few familiar figures appeared, fleetingly, then fell into the mysterious gap.

“Chen Youyou?”

“Cao Dahu?”

“That beheaded money-hungry ghost?” Chen Sheng still didn’t know the name of the beheaded girl.

He saw them, and naturally, they saw him.

At this moment, Chen Youyou, once intimate with Chen Sheng as a sister, had eyes filled with indifference. She looked at Chen Sheng as if he were some bizarre creature.

Her expression remained like that until she stepped into the mysterious rift.

Cao Dahu’s expression was similar—eyes cold and indifferent—but this formerly bald superior seemed hesitant, wanting to speak but ultimately silent.

Notably, Cao Dahu, who had been male in the past, now appeared as a woman.

This was not cross-dressing but her true form’s gender.

Chen Sheng, now a god, could clearly perceive this.

As for the beheaded girl, she stared wide-eyed at Chen Sheng, also as if seeing some strange creature, but just before entering the mysterious rift, she suddenly smiled.

Watching them leave, Chen Sheng frowned slightly.

Because from beginning to end, seeing through “His” eyes was exactly the same as what his mortal eyes perceived.

At that moment, several more figures appeared.

Chen Sheng recognized them well: the fruit shop owner’s wife, the small supermarket owner, the chubby stray dog sunning itself downstairs next door, his hospital colleagues…

All people he knew.

These figures quickly entered the mysterious gap. They, too, saw Chen Sheng, their gazes indifferent but with a hint of excitement, like visitors watching animals in a zoo.

***

Then more figures arrived, flying in one after another, faster and faster, gathering in clusters.

Among them were his parents, former classmates, celebrities he knew, officials he was aware of, and “NPCs” he had met in the mysterious realm, such as the trainee police officers from the Shang Sanjiang city police station and the food city lord Lu Jinsheng…

Even those “NPCs” who had died at Chen Sheng’s hands: the once-wealthy second generation at the start, Yan Shidong and his uncle, Xu Guanyan, and others.

These people seemed as if their roles had ended, now merely spectators in a zoo, all staring at Chen Sheng silently.

“Are all the people within my realm of knowledge here?”

“So, after entering that mysterious rift, where do they go? Or rather, where have they returned?”

Chen Sheng’s brow furrowed deeply, but suddenly his eyes lifted, unexpectedly turning toward the mysterious realm.

The place called “Mo” could not hide from Chen Sheng’s gaze, and he immediately saw a familiar petite figure.

She lay sprawled on a pile of blade coins, a television set before her.

Her pale gray face was engrossed in watching TV.

“Why hasn’t she left?”

“Could it be she was forgotten by that mysterious rift?”

A trace of surprise flashed in Chen Sheng’s eyes. By all logic, anyone he knew, even if dead, should have already entered that mysterious rift. How could one remain?

With this thought, Chen Sheng reached out.

Though strange forces surged into this world, causing little harm, many people were even excited because the heavy debts that had burdened them before had vanished.

Therefore, Chen Sheng had not weakened; with his unlimited power, he easily pulled the little ghost girl out of the “realm of death.”

The little ghost, engrossed in TV, suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath her. Before she could realize she was high above the ground, she sensed her fate gripped by someone.

Tilting her small head slightly, she saw a face both familiar and filled with love and hate.

Startled, the little ghost then smiled, realizing her situation.

Because she was no longer human, she did not scream in fear but greeted Chen Sheng cheerfully: “Master, what a coincidence, you’re floating here too?”

Chen Sheng: “…”

Thinking it over, he replied, “Yeah.”

Because he really was floating.

Hearing this, the little ghost nodded and said, “Master, when did you die? That was so sudden. But it’s okay, being a ghost the first time is a bit nerve-wracking, but you’ll get used to it…”

“I’m not dead yet,” Chen Sheng interrupted her comfort.

“Then why are you floating?”

“I’ve taken the final step,” Chen Sheng explained, feeling he must clarify to prevent further misunderstanding.

“Oh… Then listen up in advance. Becoming a god apparently means you’ll die faster… Master, why don’t you let me down? I can go find out how many years you have left to live?”

Chen Sheng glanced at her. Her face was serious, no hint of joking. In fact, she wasn’t joking at all, which made him silent.

Had the six “His” before him truly fallen due to involvement? Or, after becoming gods, were they soon taken away by the “people” beyond that mysterious rift?

Unfortunately, there could only be one god in this world, never two simultaneously.

This left Chen Sheng with no suitable conversation partner.

Chen Sheng remained silent, and so did the little ghost, curious as she scanned the surroundings until she spotted the mysterious rift.

After watching it a while, she suddenly looked at Chen Sheng: “Master, will you jump?”

“Jump?”

She pointed toward the mysterious rift and added, “If you jump, I’ll jump too.”

Chen Sheng: “…”

Why did that line sound not only awful but strangely familiar?

After a pause, Chen Sheng looked at her and asked directly, “Why do we have to jump together?”

“If we don’t jump, how will we get in?”

Chen Sheng asked, “Do you know anything about this mysterious rift?”

“No, it’s my first time seeing it too, but I feel like we should jump in…” The little ghost scratched her head, equally puzzled.

It was as if this impulse was ingrained in their very genes.

***

Chen Sheng mused, then suddenly dispersed all his divine power, picked up the little ghost, and leapt toward the mysterious rift.

This time, the rift did not repel him.

Chen Sheng passed through instantly.

Boundless darkness engulfed him, and within it, voices guided him. At first, he could not understand, but gradually, comprehension dawned.

Then, he struggled fiercely.

Suddenly, Chen Sheng felt a gentle current flowing past him, as if afraid to harm him.

He tried to open his eyes but found he could not sense them, as though he had no eyes.

He tried to open his mouth, but could not sense that either.

He tried to move, and this time he felt sensation. As he moved, the guiding voice appeared again, soothing him to remain calm.

Chen Sheng gradually regained composure, feeling his limbs, then mouth, ears, eyes…

Unfortunately, he still could not speak or open his eyes.

Time passed—he no longer had a sense of it, whether long or short.

Suddenly, he felt able to open his eyes and did so abruptly.

A blinding light seared his eyes, causing pain, but it soon softened, and the damage healed instantly as the gentle current flowed by.

Only then did Chen Sheng realize where he was.

He was inside a sealed, transparent tube like a petri dish, surrounded by countless instruments connected to it.

He moved his eyes and looked around, feeling a strange curiosity.

He recognized some of it but could not name these things.

“Is this inside that mysterious rift?”

Chen Sheng pondered, then tried to summon the divine power he had dispersed earlier, but now felt nothing.

“You don’t need to try. That was never your true power. It was only pseudo-divine power, so it’s natural you can’t sense it,” a voice said.

Chen Sheng immediately recognized it as the voice that had been guiding and comforting him.

He turned toward the voice, eager to see who spoke.

Before him stood a man whose face was covered with tentacle-like appendages, clad in white armor-like attire.

Chen Sheng fell silent.

What on earth was this?

An octopus wrapped around a man?

“My true name is Cthulhu. You may address me as the Honored and Omniscient Lord. Yet, given your past identity, you would never submit, so you would never utter that. Just call me by my true name,” the strange man introduced himself.

“My past identity?”

Chen Sheng was stunned and instinctively asked, “What was my past identity?”

If a mirror had been before him, one could see his utterly bewildered expression.

“You were once a human from Earth. To put it simply, you are a being from the top-tier third link in the cosmic civilization chain. Of course, that sounds rather ordinary. What makes you special is your other identity—the great rebel at the end of Earth’s civilization history!”

Chen Sheng gave a look that clearly said, “Are you defaming me?” A law-abiding good youth like him, a great rebel? Why not call him the end-of-century magician?

Though he remained silent, Cthulhu sensed his thoughts and said, “Besides that, you have one more identity.”

“What identity?” Chen Sheng asked, curious and beginning to suspect that something fake might have become real, though he wasn’t certain.

“The last human.”

“You mean, everyone else is dead except me?” Chen Sheng’s eyes widened slightly. The news was so shocking he found it hard to believe, yet subconsciously accepted it.

“No, actually, you’re dead too. But after many experiments and the breakdown of funding, they finally managed to revive you.”

Chen Sheng was silent a moment, about to ask how the others died but changed his words: “Has humanity on Earth been wiped out?”