This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 258 Administrator Number Two: Always Provoking Me

The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

The dark figure slowly rose upright from the center of the crater.

His form was revealed in the remaining starlight and the still-burning embers—

A pitch-black human figure.

His hands remained quietly folded behind his back, hidden beneath his cloak. Beside him, the diamond-like crystal still radiated a breathtakingly beautiful iridescent glow.

A faint light shone through the ribbon.

The black cloak remained draped over him, but the howling wind blew away its night-like hue. Crimson then flowed behind him, evoking images of a blood moon, a sunset, all danger and safety, and the crimson blood that enveloped him at birth.

The blood has flowed for thousands of days and nights, and finally today, this day of escape from death, has come before them.

Hatred, pain, despair, hatred, hatred, hatred... Endless hatred erupted between the starlight and landed on the humanoid figure.

But this hatred cannot change reality; the container is dead, the core has collapsed, and they are about to enter eternal slumber.

The second administrator didn't pay much attention to the 'players' around them. A cold, grand, inhuman voice echoed in the deathly silence, resonating in people's souls. It was the language of a pre-civilization—

"Dead souls. Today, you will enter eternal slumber."

The voice calmly pronounced Starfall's fate, issuing its command:
"Now, prevent this from happening."

……

Star Ember let out its final shriek.

The remaining energy struggled to regroup, gathering the shattered obelisk fragments into a rapidly spinning nebula that crashed into the figure that had pronounced the end.

This desperate struggle, fueled by all resentment and bitterness, was enough to quickly grind away most of the substance.

However, faced with this attack that gathered the last hatred of countless dead souls, the second administrator didn't even bother to respond to the crystal fragments.

He simply stood there, his scarlet goggles calmly observing the dying madness, as if he were watching an insignificant little experiment.

All the starlight entering a certain range around him was like entering a silent realm.

It wasn't blocked, but rather obliterated in the opposite direction.

Without even a ripple of energy, fragments of starlight vanished silently, as if they had never existed. This despairing disparity rendered even the final frenzy of the starlight utterly futile.

If they could truly become a unified whole, everyone would have to avoid their sharp edge... But even when they discuss plans, they attack each other. They are just a bunch of dead souls that cannot truly unite. No matter how many there are, they cannot bring about a qualitative change!

The next moment, Administrator Number Two raised his right hand and gently beckoned to the collapsing Star Ember.

There was no earth-shattering pulling or violent energy fluctuation.

Administrator Number Two clenched his fingers, and a handful of pure, faint yet tenaciously flickering starlight was separated from the chaotic aggregate of dead souls.

These are the human souls that were previously devoured by Starfall, most of them belonging to warriors who persisted in the fight. They vary in appearance and identity, and are all now asleep.

In the starlight, the outline of Ping Xingdou's remnant soul appeared unusually peaceful, as if he had finally been freed from an endless nightmare.

This person... is very complicated.

He wasn't good enough, nor was he purely evil. His obsession was exploited by Xingjin, amplifying the enemy's destructive power, but whether this was his true intention was certainly not the case. Administrator Number Two held out his palm, and a handful of starlight gently floated above it, as if it had found some kind of home.

[World Boss [Second Administrator] has appeared. Sighted location: Huaxia - Zhongzhou - No. 1 Xunshan Ruins. The "Leader-Level Hostile Target Files" have been updated; please view the [World Boss: Second Administrator] section.]

The World Boss [Destruction Since the Origin of the Stars] located at [Huaxia-Zhongzhou-No. 1 Xunshan Ruins] has reached zero health. Congratulations to the player who successfully defeated it! The rewards for this Leader-level Guardian unit are being calculated and will be distributed to players worldwide within half an hour. If you do not have enough space in your inventory, you can store it in your temporary inventory and claim it later! Congratulations to the challenger, congratulations to every warrior!

A grand world announcement resounded in all player systems at the opportune moment, solemnly declaring the victory of the Central Plains War and initiating the settlement and distribution of global rewards.

The survivors hadn't even had time to savor the joy of surviving the ordeal, nor had the rewards yet arrived—

[World Announcement: Warning! A surge in Star Ember Energy has been detected globally!]

Everyone was stunned.

The second administrator's hand also stopped.

[World Announcement: The World Boss [Destruction Since the Origin of the Stars] has simultaneously appeared in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica! Threat level assessment in progress...]

Threat level assessment complete. Individual rating remains [Medium Risk], collective rating upgraded to [High Risk]!

Six beams of starlight erupted on different continents at the far end of the sky!
This in Zhongzhou is indeed just the beginning!
The true, complete threat is now being revealed simultaneously on a global scale!
The second administrator's hand, holding people's souls, was as steady as a rock, but in his mind, the map function that unfolded showed punctuation marks shining brightly.

He quickly scanned the locations of the other bosses, when the announcement of a Level 7 Orange Crisis flashed across everyone's screen. This was a pure survival crisis; it was supposed to be triggered simultaneously by seven [Destruction from the Origin of the Stars], but the one in Zhongzhou died too quickly, and the others didn't follow...

Without the slightest hesitation, the second administrator casually reached out with his free left hand.

The movement was effortless, as if brushing away a speck of dust, but the most powerful and cunning starlight was forcibly imprisoned and compressed by an invisible force into a few points of violently flickering and struggling eerie light.

Search, analyze, and extract key information.

He employed the most direct and efficient brute-force cracking and information filtering methods to deal with these chaotic memories of dead souls.

Fragments of malicious memories surged forth like a burst dam, and were instantly sorted out and refined to extract the most crucial information.

To outsiders, the whole process was nothing more than a few points of eerie light flashing intensely at his fingertips, before dissipating into nothingness like a candle flame being extinguished.

The truth has been revealed.

Australia is the main hub, and the seven ceremonies will be interconnected, erecting seven giant star-shaped monuments that will continue to erode humanity.

But Starjaw doesn't intend to actually activate the planetary barrier, which is a good thing...

...No, that's not right.

A scarlet warning appeared on the system interface of Administrator Number Two. Under the visor, Nie Weiyang's pupils dilated slightly.

[Warning: Dear [Administrator Number Two], the planet you manage has entered a state of war. Based on the current situation demonstration and calculations, [Hope Space Station] predicts that the planet's barrier will breach within 4 hours. Please temporarily shut down the information measurement system to prevent the 393rd generation of Homo sapiens from repeating the same mistake and entering a state of genocide.]

If you are interested, please contact [Glory Space Station] promptly.

[If you do not intend to do so, it is recommended that you immediately back up the Homo sapiens gene pool for this generation. Gene pool entry coordinates: 142°12.2′E, 11°19.9′N.]

An unfamiliar crisis, familiar coordinates. These coordinates first appeared in the New World in an article introducing the 'origin of life'.

In its writing, it describes the Mariana Trench and Challenger Deep as the "womb of the planet," while the entire planet is the "embrace of the mother."

(End of this chapter)