Ninth class citizen

Chapter 413 Great Terror (The End)
The view is an endless expanse of emerald green. The enormous, phoenix-tail-like, ribbon-like leaves overlap, blocking out the sun.

Tian Li, who is now Nan Rong, is standing on an indescribable, towering tree. Under each leaf hangs a fruit that looks like a paulownia seed.

Countless leaves, endless fruits, densely packed, countless.

The vast majority of the fruit is greenish-blue, but a very small number are orange or yellow, or greenish-yellow with orange and yellow mixed together.

Occasionally, there are a few purplish fruits, as well as shriveled and rotten fruits that are pure black.

At that moment, Tian Li looked down and found herself clinging to a green fruit, unable to break free.

Seeing this, Nan Rong had a rough idea of ​​the origin of the tree.

So the legendary Cosmic Tree really does exist!

Each fruit here is a microcosm!

The place where the Cosmic Tree grows can be called a divine realm.

This place is lush and peaceful, and doesn't seem as terrifying as Tian Li had described.

Just as Nan Rong was thinking this, she suddenly heard a cracking sound coming from under the tree.

It looked like someone was standing under the tree, eating some kind of fruit.

But it didn't seem to be just fruit. Because among those cracking sounds were also faint and chaotic mournful cries.

Those were the most pitiful and desperate cries of countless living beings in their moments of utter helplessness.

The crying and screaming lasted only a few breaths before gradually subsiding, leaving only the simple, mechanical sound of chewing.

It's chilling and incomprehensible yet incredibly impressive.

The layers of leaves and fruit obscured her view, preventing her from seeing what was happening below the tree.

The chewing gradually stopped and replaced by the sound of swallowing.

After that, a golden light suddenly rose from below, breaking through the dense canopy and enveloping a green fruit not far in front of Tian Li, effortlessly tearing it down.

Calm quickly returned to the tree canopy, but soon, a clear "crack" sound came from below again, along with a collective wail that was even louder than before, belonging to countless living beings.

The wailing did not deter the unknown entity beneath the tree from its feeding. Chewing sounds continued, followed by the sound of swallowing.

Nan Rong felt a chill run through her. The stark truth was laid bare before her: all these fruit-shaped microcosms, including the one she herself belonged to, were merely food for some unknown entity!

However, before she could think further, the golden light reappeared within the tree canopy, swirling once more.

This time, it took away a yellow and orange fruit.

Nan Rong's heart pounded in her chest. She waited with Tian Li from that time, waiting for the universe to shatter, and also waiting for the misfortune that would befall her at any moment.

But this time, they were all wrong.

A cheerful laugh came from below, followed by a soft "thump".

It seems that the fruit was thrown into the water.

Before Nan Rong could figure out the reason for this differential treatment, she saw golden light rush into the tree canopy again.

This time, its target was very clear: the universe she inhabited.

Nan Rong was shocked. Her heart tightened suddenly due to excessive fear, and she forgot to think.

But Tianli, whom she possessed, activated her soul power at the critical moment, broke free from the tree canopy, and "saw" the scene below.

A towering, divine being stood there. He was robust and imposing, with golden eyes and thick beard still bearing traces of viscous, green fruit juice.

The god-like figure smiled, his large right palm outstretched, awaiting the cosmic fruit that was about to be obtained.

Compared to his enormous body, those fruits were only the size of dates, and could be easily stuffed into his mouth for a hearty meal.

Nan Rong noticed that right at the feet of the deity, there was a huge transparent jar.

It contained a large amount of transparent, unknown liquid, in which more than a hundred cosmic fruits were soaking.

Some are entirely orange, some are a mix of yellow and orange, some have more orange than green, and a few are orange-purple.

Just then, the divine being suddenly raised his eyes and looked at her, his eyes shining with golden light, and he uttered a powerful syllable.

The meaning of those words was unclear, but as soon as they entered the ear, they shocked the heart and made it impossible to maintain a detached state.

The next second, the mental energy retreated back into the tree canopy, just in time to see the fruit of this universe being wrapped by the previous golden light and directly torn off the branch.

The memory ended there, and Nan Rong's consciousness returned to her body.

Her entire soul trembled uncontrollably from overwhelming fear.

Tian Li reached out at the right moment and pulled her into his arms.

“I knew it.” He sighed. “The truth is ugly and abhorrent.” Nan Rong paused for a long while before speaking in a hoarse voice, “We’re still fine now, aren’t we?”

Her eyes were full of expectation, but Tian Li simply shook his head gently.

"As you can see, the crisis is not over, it's just not time yet."

"You mean..." Nan Rong vaguely understood his meaning.

"That memory from the divine realm just now, though it seemed long, was actually only a little over ten seconds long."

"But in our universe, a full billion years have passed."

As he spoke, his voice became extremely dry.

"One second in the Divine Realm is 65,360,000 years," Tian Li said with a bitter laugh.
"The Academy of Cosmic Heritage has been established for 300 million years."

"In other words, nearly five seconds have passed since our cosmic fruit was harvested in the divine realm."

Nan Rong looked up in shock and met his gaze, seeing a deep sense of helplessness in his eyes.

"Based on the time it took that deity to eat, from picking the fruit to eating it... that time is already the limit. So perhaps in the next moment, everything will be completely destroyed, and all our previous efforts will be in vain."

Nan Rong was unwilling to die such a humiliating death: "On the bright side, maybe we'll be spared and end up in that jar?"

"This is what I hoped for, and it is also the original intention of me in creating the Cosmic Heritage Academy. The only regret is that I found you much later than I expected."

“There are no fruits in that jar that are more than half green,” Nan Rong said hesitantly.

“Yes.” Tianli hugged her tighter. “So we have no choice but to take a gamble. If we have another ten thousand years, it’s not without hope.”

"But no matter what, you need not be afraid, because I will always be by your side until the very last moment."

He lowered his head and gently kissed Nan Rong's hairline.

The latter nestled in his arms, listening for the first time with genuine emotion to the steady, powerful beating of his heart.

Beyond the universe lies a great terror.

Knowing that there is no way to resist, panic and fear are inevitable.

But the person in front of me was able to slowly emerge from that terror and despair on his own.

Then, he guarded this secret alone and worked hard for three hundred million years to create the current situation and obtain that faint glimmer of hope.

And then there were those lost billions of years. Although Tian Li didn't mention it at all, Nan Rong could imagine that the once-proud son of heaven had countless relatives, friends, fellow disciples, and juniors. But after returning from the Divine Realm, he was left all alone.

Nan Rong also experienced the pain of losing all her comrades. But they still had their families and their last wishes, which were enough to support her as she moved forward.

But Tian Li is different. Possessing the Heavenly Purple Qi, his lifespan can be infinitely long, something he would have experienced sooner or later anyway, but not in this way.

A billion years is too long. Whether it's a sect or an acquaintance, all traces of its existence have vanished into the river of time.

The indescribable sorrow and loneliness were enough to pierce Nan Rong's heart with just a slight imagining.

"Tianli." She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering. "I've thought it through. The future is uncertain, there's no need to make things difficult for myself."

Tian Li's eyes darkened slightly. He didn't say a word, but simply picked her up and carried her away from the platform in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, within the divine realm.

The divine being stood beneath the Cosmic Tree, holding the fruit between two fingers, watching with great interest as it slowly transformed from entirely green into a mottled mess, before suddenly grinning.

“Interesting.” He said in that powerful divine language, “Then let’s wait a little longer. Perhaps at the next divine feast, we can enjoy another Purple Jade Fruit!”

As he spoke, he gently licked his lips, as if savoring some rare delicacy.

Then, with a casual toss, he threw the fruit into the glass jar at his feet.

With a "thump," the fruit broke through the viscous, transparent liquid and slowly sank down, landing on top of the earlier fruits.

End of article.

Dear First-Class Citizens:

This book is now complete. Many people say the male and female leads lack chemistry, and that's true; at least until the end, they hadn't developed any romantic feelings for each other. They were only together for the sake of the survival of this universe. Under pressure, they would seize the day, but had no time or inclination to consider anything else. The ending is somewhat dark, but because of the time difference, they will have a long survival period after entering the water world, making all their efforts worthwhile. Many smaller planes within the water world will face annihilation, and the two will continue to be busy. In the billions of years to come, they may develop feelings for each other, or they may never.

The new book is already in the works and should be released in July or August. Here's a first draft of the synopsis:
Goodnight, Your Excellency.

Tang Xian, a student from a poor family, was born with bad luck in his birth chart and lacked money in his five elements. He worked odd jobs and lost money no matter what he did, successfully making it onto the list of the most unpopular graduates, and was almost destined to live on welfare.

But from one day onward, every morning when she woke up, she would inexplicably find a small piece of gold clutched in her palm.

Tang Xian tried many things, including asking her wealthy roommates and installing surveillance cameras, but she couldn't find the source of the gold. Until one night, she stayed up until 1 a.m. and discovered that a time portal had appeared out of nowhere in the house.

Inside the door lies a cyberpunk world where "virtual nobles" whose consciousness is uploaded to mechanical bodies are in sharp opposition to "flesh-and-blood commoners" who retain their physical forms. Might makes right, and society is in utter chaos.

"Your Excellency the Governor," someone whispered in her ear, "The Virtual Tribunal is ready. Are you prepared?"