Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1246 Was everything we had just been a lie? (Additional content available, remember to refresh)
When faced with Gilman's question, Xia Xiu shook his head.

"No, I am not God."

He looked at the child who had torn down the fourth wall, and the child who questioned God said thus:
"In this world, so-called gods are mostly just beings strong enough to make all living beings kneel in worship; so-called destiny is often just a finger falling from a higher being."

"The fact that you can see me only means that you have already reached beyond the chessboard and touched a higher level of the table."

"So don't rush to put me into the idol—idols will stop people from thinking, and your most valuable asset right now is that you still dare to ask questions."

After listening, Killman's eyes flickered slightly. He neither accepted nor refuted it immediately, but put the sentence into his mind, as if he were dealing with an extremely important political document, weighing the hidden risks and significance word by word.

However, the scribes, scientists, and legion commanders behind him clearly could not do this. The way they looked at Xia Xiu was beyond simple shock.

In the eyes of these Utramar leaders, the golden figure responding to their calls from above the narrative level, the one carrying a black sun, saying he was not a god, did not diminish his status in their hearts—this statement only made them feel that Xia Xiu was a deity who did not like to call himself a god.

Xia Xiu saw their expressions, sighed, and shook his head.

"Never mind, let's talk about this later."

His gaze passed over Killiman and landed on the center of the device's core. He raised his hand and pointed to the tool that was tearing open the fourth wall.

What is this thing called?

Killian answered truthfully:

"It's called—Reality Perforator."

Killian looked at the still-operating Reality Pivot, remained silent for a moment, and then continued:
"This device comes from a vanished prehistoric civilization, which scholars in Utramar translate as—Vatum."

"They existed in an extremely distant ancient era, once ruling many worlds, and were known for their virtual reality, consciousness immersion, and mental world construction technologies. According to the data we have currently restored, they were able to create dream societies that were almost identical to reality, allowing billions of citizens to learn, work, play, and even spend an entire lifetime in them."

As a native of the Five Hundred Worlds, Killiman naturally wouldn't know about outer concepts like the Red Scar, the Untouchables Collective, and the Narrative Interferer.

All he could perceive were the world's anomalies—civilization cycles were being artificially propelled, the course of wars being rewritten by external forces, certain countries suddenly acquiring knowledge that shouldn't belong to them, and certain disasters seeming to be pressed onto critical junctures by an unseen hand.

Therefore, he called those things—Gods.

Killian continued:

"At its peak, the Vatum civilization came to an extremely terrifying conclusion: they believed that the universe we live in is itself a simulation system operated by a higher being."

"According to the archives they left behind, individual choices, the rise and fall of civilizations, the outbreak of wars, technological breakthroughs, and even so-called chance and fate may all be the result of some higher-level rules."

The light within the core of the device flickered gently, and hundreds of millions of death messages flowed along the ring track, like an epitaph of civilization pressed into the machine.

"To prove that he had the freedom to break free from this system, Vatum orchestrated a civilization-wide severance ceremony."

"At the same moment, they caused billions of their people, scattered across various worlds, colonies, and networks of consciousness, to end their lives simultaneously, attempting to use the collective death of the entire civilization to disrupt the system they believed existed above the world."

"As a result, their civilization disappeared."

Killieman raised his hand and placed it on the blue and white lattice of the Reality Aperture Instrument.

"They did not gain freedom, nor did they leave behind a declaration of victory; all they left behind were ruins, a broken virtual dream, a core of consciousness that could no longer be activated, and this Reality Perforator."

"I found it in the nineteenth lost world."

"The city there is well preserved; the roads, residences, archives, and public facilities are still operational, but all the residents have disappeared. Only this device is still emitting intermittent signals from deep underground."

As Killman spoke, an indescribable look appeared in his eyes, a look that contained caution, doubt, and the weight of a rational ruler being forced to confront the absurdity of the world.

"I originally thought that Vatum was just a civilization driven mad by its own technology."

"But later, I saw too many unreasonable things... Some wars developed at a speed that defied basic logistical logic, some civilizations suddenly acquired technologies that were ahead of their time, some disasters always seemed to fall precisely on the most vulnerable points, and some people who had already been recorded in the archives would disappear along with their names and traces of existence."

"So I began to suspect that Vatum might not be completely insane, and that they might have actually touched something beyond the world."

He looked at Xia Xiu.

“I don’t know who those beings are, nor where they come from. I can only confirm that the five hundred worlds are being watched and even driven by some high-level will.”

"So I repaired the Reality Pivot and entered all the death records that Utramar could confirm into it, using those names, files and battle damage reports to keep repeating a sentence to the outside world."

Killieman's voice grew deeper.

“My name is Gilman, and I speak to the gods on behalf of Utramar.”

After he finished speaking, a silence fell over the underground facility.

The scribes, scientists, and legion commanders all looked at Xia Xiu with barely suppressed awe in their eyes, while Gilman's gaze remained clear.

He did not regard Xia Xiu as a god he could immediately kneel and worship.

He seemed to be confirming an answer.

"Now, you've responded."

Gilman looked at Xia Xiu and finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

"If part of Vatum's conclusion is true, if we do indeed live in some kind of sandbox structure, if our wars, laws, victories, and sacrifices can all be reviewed and modified by a higher being..."

"So, is everything I experienced still real?"

“My strength, my growth, my adoptive father Reto Atreides, my adoptive mother Thalyssa Otien, the people of Utramar, those whose names I have recorded in the war…”

"Was everything we had just been a lie?"

Xia Xiu fell silent for once. He looked at Thirteen in front of him and suddenly felt that this child was different from all perfect embryos.

Lupercal is like the first military standard, Fenrir is like a wolf in the cold night, Lionel guards his own order and solitude, and Perturaber will dismantle the world into structures and engineering...

All children have their own unique personalities, but Killieman is different; he is the most unique one.

He faced a superior being that finally responded to him, and he questioned whether his people, the law, responsibility, death, and civilization truly had any weight.

Xia Xiu looked at the billions of names flowing through the Reality Perforator, and after a moment, he slowly spoke.

What if I said yes?

“If I told you that the world you live in is indeed a small garden within a larger structure; if I told you that the wars, reforms, coups, victories and defeats you have experienced can be recorded, reviewed, and even interfered with by higher beings.”

“Killiman, what would you do if I told you this was all a game?”

Killian didn't break down or get angry. He just glanced down at the death records that were still flowing in the loop, then looked up and stared straight at Xia Xiu.

“Then I will acknowledge this fact.” “I will write it into Utramar’s highest archives, tell the science officer to continue studying the rules of this sandbox, tell the scribe to revise the World Observation Law, and tell the legion commanders to reassess all risks of external interference.”

"Then, I will continue to govern and protect Utramar, and continue to protect my people."

Even if the origin of a world is absurd, it cannot lessen the suffering within it; even if a person's fate is written down, it cannot lessen the fear they endure before death.

"Watum discovered that the world might be a simulation, so they chose to disconnect the entire civilization and use death to resist the absurdity they saw."

"I understand their despair, but I will not follow their path."

He raised his hand and pointed to the real-world perforator.

“These names tell me that enough has been done, and civilization should not use even more deaths to prove its existence—if the gods really exist, I will talk to them, question them, and rebel against them if necessary.”

Killieman paused, and a sharper look finally appeared in his eyes.

“Absurdity is not a reason for me to abandon my responsibilities. I will accept the absurdity of the world, and I will also accept the responsibilities I should fulfill.”

"Even if this responsibility seems like a joke to you, even if the boulder I push to the top of the mountain is destined to roll back down, I will continue to push it up."

Xia Xiu looked at him and finally nodded.

"Then I'll tell you the truth."

Xia Xiu raised his hand, and the platinum light and shadow of the [Narrative Book] flashed across his palm. Then, the red scar, the five hundred worlds, the 777 worlds, the Wo Wutu aggregate, the Dharma Emperor of the Gate Empire, the Spirit Race genealogy network, and the chessboards of civilizations that were interfering with each other inside the miniature garden all swept past the Reality Transparent Instrument at an extremely fast speed.

"The world you inhabit is located inside a giant bubble called the Red Scar."

"It is a wound left by a supreme being, which evolved into countless miniature worlds in the long ether, and gave birth to a collection of Wowutu that wanted to grow stronger by devouring traces of civilization."

"The gods you perceive are partly the collective of the Worthless, partly the Dharma Emperor of the Men Empire, partly the Second Otto Eldar, and partly me."

"I came here to stop the Wowutu Collective from breaking through the blockade, to gain control of the Red Scar, and to retrieve the perfect embryos scattered here."

As he said this, his gaze fell on Killiman.

“And you, Killiman, are the thirteenth perfect embryo I’m looking for… In a way, I am your father.”

Gilman slowly processed the information Xia Xiu had brought.

Red scars, five hundred worlds, the Wo Wutu aggregate, the Dharma Emperor of the Gate Empire, the Spirit Clan genealogy network, and the so-called perfect embryo and blood father—all these things were pressed into his cognition at once, making him feel for the first time that the hole drilled by the Reality Piercer was deeper than he had expected.

Especially the word "father".

In Gilman's heart, his father has always been Reto Atreides, the one who picked up the fallen star's son and taught him law, governance, responsibility, and restraint; as for Xia Xiu, he could feel that deeper blood connection, but it was difficult for him to immediately place that relationship in Reto's position.

It was a very complex feeling.

He found his origins, but also realized more clearly that the person who truly shaped him into who he is today is now buried in the history and graves of Uttarmar.

After a long silence, Killiman finally spoke.

"If... I mean if."

As he spoke, his voice noticeably slowed down, as if each word was undergoing his own judgment.

“You come from a higher level, with access to rules we cannot, and the ability to interfere with so-called narratives, so… could you bring Reto Atreides, my adoptive father, back to Utramar?”

Xia Xiu looked at Gilman and could sense the sadness in the child's heart.

“Killiman, my child, do you really want me to do this?”

Killian closed his eyes. If Xia Xiu could really bring his adoptive father back, he would certainly want to see him.

I want to ask myself again if I did the right thing, I want him to see Utramar today, I want to hear him say... "My child, I am proud of you."

A moment later, Killiman opened his eyes, his face filled with sorrow, but his gaze regained its resolve.

"Do not."

When that one word was uttered, the millions of names flowing through the real-world perforator seemed to pause for a moment.

Killian continued:

“I don’t believe in gods, nor do I like so-called deities. But if there really is a god in the world whose sanctity I am willing to acknowledge, I hope that god is named—Death.”

"Only death is immortal."

"He will give everyone the right to end their life story equally and mercifully; to make life life, to give rebellion purpose, and to give every ordinary or great story an ending."

He looked at Xia Xiu, his voice low, yet carrying an almost calm gentleness.

“Reto Atredis has finished his story. He brought me to Utramar, entrusted me with his wisdom, faith and responsibility, and then died on the day he was supposed to die.”

"I miss him, and I love him."

"Therefore, I cannot, because of my own sorrow, pull his fate out of history and make him a compensation I demand from God when I cannot bear the pain."

"I will accept the end that death brought him; I will continue to bear the responsibilities that he gave me."

He finally raised his head and looked at Xia Xiu's golden projection.

"The only thing I want to ask of you now has nothing to do with Leto, nor with my personal fate."

Killieman's voice was low, but very clear.

“If the Five Hundred Worlds is truly a miniature garden, and if everything we have is merely a civilization that evolved from within a red bubble, then I hope you can make the people of Utramar real.”

As he said this, his gaze passed over the real aperture and looked at the scribes, scientists, and military commanders.

These people stood behind him, their eyes filled with shock and fear, yet they still did not leave their posts.

“I don’t need you to take Utramar’s fleet, starport, technology, administrative system, and all five hundred worlds out of here. Those things can remain here as traces of what this little garden once was.”

"I only wish that my people can have real life."

“If they are merely illusions created by the rules, then I beg you, my father, to show mercy and compassion and bring them out of this illusion.”

After Kiliman finished speaking, he knelt down on one knee before Xia Xiu, and on behalf of Utramar, he pleaded with his father:

“My father, please give them truth, and I am willing to give everything for it.”