The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

This is still the abyss, but it must be the abyss from many years ago.

He just fought a fierce battle with his "Temple Mech," causing a lot of damage; the area isn't as smooth as it is now.

Moreover, since the other party is changing the scene, they must need to convey some information to him, and there is no more direct way to convey information than now.

“You should have already met ‘Zero’. She is not my genetic daughter, but I created her, so in a way, she is indeed my daughter,” “Gu Ran” said.

Gu Ran had already guessed this, so it wasn't surprising.

He nodded and said, "Then what about that 'Lord Sovereign'? His reputation has been known throughout the Abyss for a long time."

Gu Ran sighed: "He... can be considered both my daughter and my enemy. It's a long story. It actually stemmed from a plan, a plan I had been planning for a long time, but in the end... as you can see, the result was only 'Zero,' and it was even a half-finished product."

At this moment, the third "Gu Ran" appeared, standing outside the central temple.

Gu Ran showed no surprise. He knew that it was just a constructed character in the scene, the "destined person" from more than seven hundred years ago who had come to the outside of the central temple.

The other party wanted to show him the specific events that happened back then.

Gu Ran gazed wistfully at her past self.

"The so-called 'Lord Overlord' is actually just a part of the 'Abyss Consciousness.' When I learned this, I had a crazy idea."

He looked at Gu Ran.

"You should already know about the apocalyptic catastrophe, right?"

After seeing Gu Ran nod, he continued, "Okay, then I don't need to say anything about this part. When I first learned about the cataclysmic disaster, I always felt that there was a chilling dark hand behind it, but... that was just my feeling."

"I didn't get any evidence, but I was very interested in it until I finally discovered the Abyss Consciousness."

"Then I conceived a chilling plan: I would take control of the Abyss's consciousness and place it into the vessel I had prepared for it!"

323. The Secrets of "Initial Will," "Abyssal Will," and "Zero" (4.2k)

"You should already know that the so-called 'destined person' is actually just a special title we use because we cannot speak our own names under the rules of the world."

"The world's rules are hostile towards us to an unparalleled degree. I originally thought that we would only be targeted after the world's rules became aware of our strength, but in fact..."

"The world's rules have long been hostile to us in every aspect. For example, most of the people around us will turn against us and want to kill us. Many of the backup plans we originally had will be corrupted and turned into tools to kill us."

The person opposite him, "Gu Ran," who looked exactly like him, said calmly.

Gu Ran nodded silently; he had already noticed this.

He initially thought it was all fate, all just coincidence, but things happened too much, too frequently.

It's hard for him not to suspect something.

What caught his attention most was the unusual life form he encountered...

They all have one thing in common... that is, they all seem to have a special longing for him.

Do you want to devour him, or... replace him?

And now he has found confirmation in front of this "phantom" that looks exactly like him.

The desire of those special life forms for him should also be a manifestation of the world's rules showing hostility towards him.

He already knew about the relatives and friends who had turned against him, which was one of the reasons why he wanted to distance himself from Cheng Caimeng after arriving in Canglong City.

Originally, Xue Xiling was someone he wanted to keep at a distance, but she had health problems, and Xue Yingsong pleaded that only by getting engaged to her could they have a chance of survival, so he had no choice but to agree to their engagement.

And the final outcome... undoubtedly proved that his initial idea of ​​distancing himself from them was correct.

Gu Ran continued, "Besides these, as we grow stronger, we will also encounter increasingly powerful special enemies. They are various special life forms... I suspect they are a manifestation of the world's rules... a kind of will!"

Is the world's rules being governed by will?

Gu Ran frowned: "The Way of Heaven?"

"Haha, it does seem to be the same thing, but to put it more simply, it should be an intelligent program, AI." Gu Ran said with a touch of emotion, "The rules of the world were originally a very rigid program, but we are like the materials being trained... making the rules of the world more and more willful and more and more intelligent."

"I don't know the principle behind this, but after reviewing the data of many special life forms, I suddenly had a bold conjecture: the rules of the world are actually contradictory to us."

Gu Ran was somewhat puzzled: "Contradictory?"

“That’s right.” Gu Ran nodded. “On one hand, the world’s rules can’t tolerate us and want to destroy us; on the other hand… it seems they want to devour us.”

"I suspect that the constant stimulation from too many 'destined people' has caused the world's rules to generate a faint will. This faint will instinct is constantly manifested through special life forms, with the aim of devouring us 'destined people' in order to perfect their own will."

"As this bold conjecture arose, a plan suddenly came to mind... that is, to use special life forms to counter the rules of the world!"

As Gu Ran spoke, he could almost feel the eyes of the phantom opposite him shining with intense excitement.

"So you came to the Abyss and sought out 'Lord Overlord,' a special life form in the Abyss?" A look of realization flashed in Gu Ran's eyes.

Gu Ran nodded: "At that time, the will of the abyss was only in its nascent stage. However, because the abyss is a world about the same size as the human world, even though its level of intelligence is not high, its power is extremely strong, making it the most likely target to realize my plan."

It turned out to be the case.

At that moment, Gu Ran understood many things.

The "Lord Sovereign" has indeed existed in the Abyss for a long time; He must be the newly emerging "Will of the Abyss".

If things had followed their original trajectory, the "Master" would have become more intelligent as it lived longer, just like the "Deep Sea" and the "Great Swarm Consciousness".

However, this process of "growth" was interrupted by the "destined one" who had conceived the bold idea more than 700 years ago—the person opposite him.

He actually wanted to use the "Will of the Abyss" to counter the world's rules!

“I call that faint will generated by the rules of the world ‘primordial will’. Those special life forms are merely extensions of the ‘primordial will’, or a choice of a manifestation.”

Gu Ran suddenly remembered the special being he had seen in the endless starry sky. Was it also a special life form? Or... did it have some other connection with the "Primordial Will"?

“Since the ‘Primordial Will’ manifests itself through various special life forms, there must be a special reason for it. Although I am unaware of this, as long as it continues in this way, it can be used by me!”

The "phantom" opposite him continued, "'Abyssal Will' was the special life form that I thought was most likely to be chosen by 'Primordial Will' at the time. Therefore, I made arrangements in advance and spent a lot of effort to suppress 'Abyssal Will' when it had not yet grown up."

"Because I couldn't be sure how long it would take for the 'Primordial Will' to influence the 'Will of the Abyss,' or even replace it, I came up with a way to speed up the process."

There's actually such a method?

Gu Ran raised an eyebrow slightly.

The other party chuckled softly, "It's actually quite simple. The greater our influence on this world, the more the 'Primordial Will' can lock onto us. That's why I accelerated the transformation of the 'Abyss Will,' which made it easier for the 'Primordial Will' to descend."

“I created a body perfectly suited to the ‘Will of the Abyss.’ Although I have created countless humanoid bodies before, this is my most perfect work! To distinguish it from my previous works, I named it ‘Zero’!”

Even though it was just a virtual image, Gu Ran could still see a proud and fervent expression on the other person's face.

So that's where "Zero" comes from!

So this was their plan!

In an instant, Gu Ran connected all the information he already knew.

Gu Ran: "But...your plan failed?"

Since the other party has only left behind such a virtual image, and "Zero" has been suppressed by the personality of "Master", it means that the original plan must have gone wrong and was not completed as intended.

The other party gave a wry smile: "It can indeed be considered a failure. My plan was to attach the 'Will of the Abyss' to the body of 'Zero,' and then let the 'Primordial Will' choose the 'Will of the Abyss' as its manifested special life form. In this way, by 'imprisoning' the 'Will of the Abyss,' I was essentially imprisoning the 'Primordial Will' of the world's rules."

"The world rules that were originally formless and intangible have a concrete body, so I also have a specific target. Even if the 'Primordial Will' descends upon 'Zero's' body and causes 'Zero' to immediately rebel against me, I will not be afraid at all. This was originally one of my planned strategies."

“I think that compared to the intangible rules that were impossible to target before, the ‘primordial will’ with a concrete body is actually easier to deal with.”

It has to be said that this plan does seem to be feasible. As long as the opponent's strength can surpass the "first will" after it enters the body of "Zero", then this should be considered as defeating the rules of the world.

But since the other side failed...

"But you failed because the 'Primordial Will' that descended upon you was stronger than you?" Gu Ran asked.

To Gu Ran's surprise, the other party shook his head.

"No, although the 'Primordial Will' was indeed very powerful after its descent, far surpassing other human powerhouses, it was still easy for me to suppress it with some effort. In fact, I did suppress it at that time."

"but......

"Although the plan succeeded, it was actually a failure from the very beginning."

"I have indeed successfully suppressed that wisp of 'primordial will' of the world's rules, and I have also perfectly fused that wisp of 'primordial will' with 'Zero's' body. As long as I completely destroy 'Zero's' body, that wisp of 'primordial will' will also be completely destroyed."

"There was one thing that surprised me. Perhaps it was because of the integration of the 'Will of the Abyss' and the 'Will of the Beginning,' or perhaps it was because I used the 'Ark Core' as the core of intelligence to give her infinite possibilities. The 'Zero' intelligence at that time made rapid progress and evolved to have emotional feedback intelligence comparable to that of humans in a short period of time."

“‘Zero’ seemed to have truly gained ‘humanity’ and became my real ‘daughter’. Can you imagine how surprised I was at that time?”

Gu Ran nodded. He had already witnessed how well-behaved and adorable "Zero" was, and he could indeed imagine the complex feelings of the other party as an "old father".

"Zero" was originally the target that the other side wanted to completely destroy!

From the very beginning, the purpose of the other side in creating "Zero" was to destroy "Zero"!

If "Zero" was originally just a "robot" with low intelligence, then of course it could be completely destroyed without any hesitation and with "ruthlessness".

But after "Zero" has completely evolved into the cute and obedient "daughter" she is now, especially after spending some time with her, will she really become completely heartless and indifferent, and still be as "ruthless" as before?

However, considering that the other party spent nearly ten years planning this matter, and that this was the only chance to completely resolve the world's rules' hostility towards the "destined one," could he really give it up?

"Did you soften your heart at the time? Or... was there another reason?"

Gu Ran looked at the other person.

After a moment of silence, the other party slowly spoke: "There is a reason for being soft-hearted, but there are more other reasons. If it is only 'Zero' that has unilaterally increased its intelligence and become like a human, I will continue to study it if I have enough time, until I find a way that satisfies both sides."

"If there isn't enough time, I... will take her away before I disappear. Even if I'm soft-hearted and let her stay in this world, it will only allow her to survive for a while. Because without my help, she won't be able to suppress the other 'soul' in her body—the fusion of 'Abyssal Will' and 'Primordial Will'. That fused will will gradually take over the control of this body until it slowly devours 'Zero's' self-awareness."