Cyber ​​Sword Immortal Iron Rain

However, just as if the curses of those artificial gods before their death had come true—

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Chapter 295: Greed (X)

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In that moment of human victory and the gods' defeat—

Vishnu raised his several-meter-high head, no longer just spitting out the contents selected from the Bhagavad Gita and the Puranas as in the past. The chipset and nerve fibers hanging from his neck, as thick as an adult's arm, were left with the oldest speakers at the beginning of creation; the sound was flat and without fluctuations:

"Humans will eventually die from their creations, just as creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin... You are not killing gods, but the offspring of mankind - and your children will kill you, too; tooth for tooth, blood for blood, just as today."

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Now, these backbones of the Wanshou Ganges have been transformed by spiritual energy into metal sculptures, and are half-buried silently in the land of Manila, where only blood and mud remain.

Even if they drank the life-giving water of the Ganges soaked with fragments of the Kabbalah Tree, the yogis still could not face the true divine punishment from the digital space. It was just that the surging power from the "seven chakras" still urged the muscle bundles and blood vessels to break through the unformed body like a living snake and drill out of the body:

Then it is transformed by the spirit, stagnated, and finally calmed. As a result, the statues transformed by each great yogi eventually look like a large ball of kneaded plasticine, but are extremely hard and cast from gold and iron.

As to whether they regretted escaping from the cycle of karma and joining this unknown killing before they died; or whether they were grateful for the courage they had to break free from their fate, rush to the second Varanasi in the clouds, and kill the gods with their own hands - it is unknown.

The dead cannot think or answer questions: in fact, no one cares about the fate of these yogis from the Ganges River. They are just insects and ants that were dragged into this living hell, and they also enjoy the fate that insects and ants deserve.

So they worked together with the Noble Response Department's multi-limbed officers whose bodies were mostly made up of family members and had not been overly modified, as well as the descendants of the Nine-Child Ghost Mother...

No matter how ambitious and expected it was, it ultimately became just a symbol left over from a war.

The huge pit in the center of Manila, which looked like an ant lion's nest, now actually looked like it, and was filled with countless lifeless human corpses - they were solidified into unchanging metal statues to commemorate this meaningless and meaningless battle.

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At the top of the stage, on the edge of the huge pit in Manila, Xiaoyue Shuang was screaming. The shrill screams seemed to have substance, piercing through Manila, which was shrouded in spiritual energy: she was one of the few survivors in Manila who could still scream so loudly.

Perhaps it was precisely because of Xiao Yueshuang's originally perfect proportions of prosthetics that she was able to survive after undergoing spiritual transformation - it was just that the original prosthetics and native organs were all reversed; which allowed Xiao Yueshuang to survive in a deformed and painful way.

The male lead who was originally able to control the boundless flesh-and-blood grinding wheel through the script had been swept away by the storm and completely separated from the script; the face shell made of amorphous metal had become flesh-and-blood cartilage and skin, attached to Xiao Yueshuang's neck and hanging to the side, making her look like a monster baked in a microwave.

Even though she looked so miserable, Xiao Yue Shuang didn't care about the pain brought by the spiritual storm. She was one of the few survivors who could still focus:

"I understand, I understand! They are collecting data! Collecting records of the future and the present, and then using them to infer the past!"

If the manager, who had become a bomb, was present, he would definitely laugh at her: "You realize it too late, little actor..."

But it is never too late to know the truth.

The spiritual energy storm was no longer a weapon to destroy humanity and its creations on a large scale as the Empire of Alchemy had usually used: the chaos of the situation and the occurrence of multiple explosions at the same time caused the spiritual energy storm to carry large amounts of information flows.

Xiao Yueshuang ignored the changes and modifications to her body caused by the spiritual storm, and instead focused all her attention on understanding and analyzing the strange phenomena she saw. In her already frantic heart, she even gave a strange example to draw an analogy for the current situation -

The aura storm is like the vortex of a damaged flush toilet: in the process of rotation, the information in the digital space is splashed everywhere like excrement... and all the people standing in the toilet cannot escape the contamination of this filth.

Although Xiao Yue Shuang's desperate scream was only telling the truth that was no longer new - and she should have guessed the truth hidden behind the gauze curtain long ago: after all, she was different from the other "followers" sent by the sleeping dragon to act on its own will...

They were more like tools that could be consumed at will - and the hibernator that Xiaoyue Shuang served revealed far more information to her than she needed.

So many that it seems as if they are real close friends.

However, the vision of this Australian actor was ultimately blocked by the script in his hands.

In a trance, she understood what her immediate chief altar master said before leaving -

There are orphans from the ancient past in this world... and some of them want to restore the world to its former state:

Not the golden age, not the dark days of the blackout, but a much longer time ago!

"Reconstructionists... and... Futurists..."

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Xiao Yueshuang's memory suddenly returned to the sky above Melbourne, above the theatre flying in the sky: at that moment, the male and female actors were about to set out from Melbourne's Yarra River port area and head north to Manila by water according to the orders of their direct boss; and the theatre, carrying the bosses of the big opera troupes, was also about to set off to start another round of tour around Australia, New Zealand and the Auckland Islands.

So, this is the moment of farewell:

Once the theater starts moving, the tour will never stop, whether it is sunrise or sunset, day or night - when we meet again, I am afraid that a whole spring, summer, autumn and winter will have passed.

At that time, "Ting Zixian", the direct chief master who talked about everything with Xiao Yueshuang, had already put on the red and gold costume with carbon fiber embroidery and nickel-based alloy inlays, and was sitting in front of the dressing room: the other 23 chief masters had selected her as the leader of this tour - that is, the "big star" of this tour.

From the perspective of the opera troupe, this is a sign that she will stand out from the twenty-four masters and become the next "chief" - after all, in the entire opera troupe, no one can compete with this leading actress in terms of skills or strength.

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Chapter 296: Greed (XI)

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As her confidant who was promoted by herself, Xiao Yueshuang's status in the opera troupe naturally rose as well - given time, she would surely be able to lead a big opera on her own and become one of the main performers.

However, Xiao Yueshuang was unable to catch up with this tour - instead she had to travel across the ocean to Luzon: this was a secret order from the direct leader of the altar.

At that moment, Xiao Yueshuang was accompanying "Ting Zixian" and browsing the repertoire prepared for the tour with her: Unlike Xiao Yueshuang and other "characters", this direct leader of the altar never installed several "face shells" that could be switched at any time, nor did he use the more classical fate sets that were soaked in oil paint in order to embed faces and change facial structures...

In fact, "Ting Zixian" has no "face" at all: where the facial features and face should be, there is only an antique bronze mirror that is a little worn and mottled, but still kept as smooth as possible, and is embellished by the curly bangs hanging from the forehead. When someone faces Ting Zixian head-on, they can only see their own face that is slightly distorted by the curvature of the bronze mirror.

Tingzixian removed her facial organs and replaced them with a "mirror", a ritual whose origins could not be discovered but was extremely ancient. Of course, in the mouths of her dead enemies, this was just a fabricated means to gild her pale resume...

But now, in the big opera troupe, this has become a symbol. A symbol of abandoning one's original identity and living only on the stage and in the play from now on: instead, the original life has become a performance covered with a hypocritical skin.

Face: It is not just a decoration or an anchor of identity and individuality; it is a summary of past life and a foreshadowing of future destiny. At least the "actors" of these big opera troupes are always accustomed to using the design of their faces to influence their future direction.

For the members of the troupe who firmly believe in numerology, fate palace, and the five sense organs...

Ting Zixian and the "Northern School of Australian Opera" she represents are the most radical and revolutionary faction within the opera troupe: they completely blur the distinction between life and the stage - or even reverse the two.

This gave them supreme freedom.

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Xiao Yueshuang stood quietly behind her direct chief, watching her flip through the familiar repertoires such as "Three Plays of Demons from Beyond the Realm", "Seventeen Taoist Priests' Expedition to the West", and "The Revenge of the Sydney Orphan" - the review before the tour should have been a silent and solemn meditation; but the vibrating vocal organ embedded in Tingzixian's throat still casually broke the tranquility of the entire makeup palace:

"Xiao Yue Shuang, have you remembered everything?"

Xiao Yueshuang was behind her, and could only see Ting Zixian's slightly turned profile. The direct chief of the altar had a beautifully curved back of the head and skull: but when this smooth curve extended to the front of the head, it was cut off by the bronze mirror like a sharp blade, and stopped abruptly in the cold. This was the same feeling she gave to outsiders - even the same.

Even as he was instructing Xiao Yueshuang, Ting Zixian never stopped flipping through the repertoire: before each tour, the big opera troupe would type out the scripts and bind them into books. Many people living in Southeast Asia may never have seen so much paper in their lives:

"Listen carefully - these people who have dreamed for hundreds of years are divided. If we use the crudest method of classification: we have the 'futurists' on one side and the 'reconstructionists' on the other side."

Ting Zixian did not explain in detail the meaning of each of the two parties - but just from the literal meaning, Xiao Yueshuang could guess the general idea.

"They sound like boring, vulgar people."

Perhaps because she has already vented endless fantasies and expectations on the stage, Xiao Yueshuang doesn't care about these obsessions that sound mediocre enough...even the naming reflects a rough and vulgar taste.

But then, Xiao Yueshuang, who was immersed in contempt, was suddenly startled -

"Master, which sect are you from?"

Xiao Yueshuang almost wanted to ask this question - but she did not express the doubt in her heart aloud: once she said this, it would mean that she would implicitly classify the leader of the altar as one of the mediocre people.

Such an offense must not appear in front of Ting Zixian——

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It seemed that the bronze mirror reflected Xiao Yueshuang's inner self, allowing Ting Zixian to glimpse her thoughts...

The direct leader of the altar suddenly threw away the play in his hand and stood up - Ting Zixian turned around and pulled Xiao Yueshuang in front of her, making her stare straight at the clear bronze mirror. That day, Xiao Yueshuang had not yet chosen any face that satisfied her, so she only showed the hollow and empty nature of her face.

So two empty faces faced each other.

But just like in the past, Ting Zixian was still able to look past Xiao Yueshuang's empty face and reach her heart——

Ting Zixian held Xiao Yueshuang's shoulder with one hand, and with the other hand gently brushed the bronze mirror's frame, which was very hard and had sharp edges due to damage:

"Which side am I on? I am on this side..."

"Did you see it?"

Ting Zixian tapped the mirror with the tip of her decorated nails, causing the reflected face of Xiao Yueshuang to fluctuate again and again:

"I am a mirror. When they look at me, they only see themselves."

"And there is no reconciliation between them: there is no solution; there is no room for concession or compromise."

"So - Xiaoyue Shuang: I only hope you can do one thing. I only trust you, and you alone - in the chaos of the future, protect the troupe: even if the world is about to end, the tour cannot end."

"This is the most important role you have been given."

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Did Xiaoyue Shuang fulfill her duty? She should have done so—at the cost of her own sacrifice.

Now she suddenly realized: before Xiao Yue Shuang left Melbourne - although the direct leader did not say it out loud - it was already tacitly accepted that she would leave forever in this fierce battle in Manila... die, or become different from the past. And there is not much difference between the two.

Xiao Yueshuang had long seen the extraordinaryness of the direct altar master - not only because of her outstanding ability, but also because of her aura that was completely different from others:

But... Xiao Yueshuang deliberately ignored the cruelty in the heart of her direct subordinate.

The head of the altar has never had any secrets in her heart. Everything she thinks of will be told to Xiao Yue Shuang without reservation.

That is why... when Xiao Yueshuang learned that her direct leader, who had been sleeping for hundreds of years and survived until now, was called a "Dream Guest" - this is the name for hibernators in Australia and New Zealand - she was not that surprised: In fact... in the land of the Grand Opera Troupe, no one cared what a "Dream Guest" was.

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The people of Australia and New Zealand care about nothing except watching the never-ending tours of the great opera troupes day and night... and in a way, this is the only thing they are interested in doing.

This is the difference between the big opera troupe and the "Siberian Dance Company" - they don't force the audience to watch the performance: they just slightly increase the secretion of endorphins and dopamine to add to the fun during the performance.

After traveling between Manila, Mumbai and New Delhi and making such comparisons, Xiao Yueshuang finally understood what a paradise the area controlled by the big opera troupe was.

Xiao Yueshuang was curious about what Ting Zixian had experienced in that hundreds of years of dream - but now, she was afraid that she would never be able to get a satisfactory answer.

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She felt sad and lost because she finally realized that all this was irreversible:

Xiao Yue Shuang suddenly understood that she could never go back to Sydney, nor could she ever take the ladder up to the theatre that she was so familiar with.

The cold, sharp air in the clouds, repeating again and again, without ending; the applause and cheers of the audience, the bouquets of flowers falling from the sky, and the bowl of clear tea prepared for her in front of the dressing table.

A huge curtain covering the entire sky, from sunset to dawn; day and night - people from all over the continent wait every day just to catch a glimpse of their faces.

She shouldn't have left there: Xiaoyue Shuang had been left behind on tour.

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Chapter 297: Greed (XII)

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Just as the spiritual storm raged across the land, bringing everything to an end:

Unlike the frenzy and bustle of Manila, another place close to it is very quiet. If you bypass the bay area of ​​Manila by the sea, walk into the iron gate embedded in the stone wall from the shallow beach outside the city; walk through the narrow and deep trail in the dark, and walk down the stairs with a huge height difference and easy to fall...

You can then step into Luzon's most famous dead city as a "human" rather than a "king": this is one of the many ways to enter the dead city.

Snow Ghost—occasionally, she would still call herself back to her old name "Ceve Rodriguez"—walked briskly into Guixu before the spiritual storm began to stir.

Although "Guixu" is below Manila - or rather, the Manila rebuilt in the New World is built on the abandoned dead city - its interior is much more magnificent than the heyday of the city outside.

When someone looks up in the dead city, they will find that they cannot see the top at all: countless flat solids and curved solids are scattered in the sky inside Guixu - blocking everything above the dead city.

Among these cubes of different sizes: the huge ones, when stacked together, are comparable in size to cities built by humans, and if taken alone they are taller than skyscrapers; the tiny ones are scattered like dust, and when gathered together they are like a layer of mosaic-like mist, adding a distorted and incomprehensible filter to what is seen.