American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Chapter 363 Finding Truth Amidst Lies

Bruce's warning, and Loki's almost heartfelt plea.

Even Xiu En began to think at this moment.

On one side was his best friend, whom he trusted unconditionally, who fought alongside him. Shum trusted Bruce completely, and every word Bruce spoke was based on the most level-headed risk assessment and the most rigorous logical deduction.

His plan is a tangible path to safety.

On the other side is a hapless fellow who claims to have died alongside him tens of thousands of times. Shuen also trusts his intuition; Loki's words are full of loopholes and unverifiable stories, but Shuen is willing to believe him.

His plan was a high-stakes gamble, with the unknown on the other side of the table, something even the divine ruler Kang could not predict.

"Ivy".

In the end, Xiu En chose to abandon his thinking and, through the mental connection, called upon his last strategist in an almost pleading tone.

What do you think?

"What? How do I see it? I see it with chlorophyll!"

On his shoulder, Ivy Sunflower's perpetually sullen voice echoed in his mind, filled with undisguised annoyance and worry.

"Hmph, neither of those two is any good!"

"Bruce, from beginning to end, he's only seen you as the sharpest blade in his plan! He cares about whether his plan will succeed, not whether you, the blade, will become dull!"

"And that green-faced liar! Reincarnated tens of thousands of times? He talks a good game! Who knows if he's just putting on a melodramatic show to trick you into becoming a sacrifice? His teary-eyed look is no different from that of an orange cat in the kitchen that pretends to be pitiful because it couldn't steal some dried fish."

"Um, so what's your suggestion?"

As Xiu En listened to Ivy's biased analysis, his head started to ache even more; these were not the kinds of things that would help him make a decision.

"My suggestion?"

The sunflower leaf impatiently slapped Xiu En's cheek.

"My suggestion is to pack them both up, along with that bald blue guy over there and that eccentric old tomb keeper, and throw them all into your Golden Crow Fire. Burn them all, leave the good guys alive, and burn the bad guys to death! Then, we'll go home and eat the cookies Afu just baked for you! They both have ill intentions towards you!"

"It's a perfect solution, but I can't do it," Shum replied helplessly.

"Then trust no one! Xiu En, listen to me! I don't care about the outcome, I don't care if this universe is destroyed! I only care about whether you're in danger!"

"Bruce's plan is too cold. He's put you on the chessboard."

"Loki's plan is insane. He's put you on an altar."

"So, you ask me what to choose? My choice is to overturn this damn chessboard and altar!"

Xiu En could tell that Ivy wasn't joking.

If he really nods, the next second, this seemingly harmless little flower will truly mobilize the power of the entire Ximu Realm and turn everything here into her fertilizer.

"I understand, Ivy. But don't you find it strange?"

"What's strange?"

"Loki. I can sense that his exhaustion isn't fake. That heavy feeling, as if he's carrying the weight of tens of thousands of deaths, can't be faked."

Ivy scoffed. "Hmph, so what? Maybe he's a born actor? Don't forget, he's a master conman!"

"But why did he let me save him? He created a causal loop of his own making, that I saved him, so he had to save me. He could have chosen a simpler path from the beginning."

"Ha, who knows what he's thinking? Maybe he thinks doing this will make people trust him?"

Xiu En shook his head and exhaled.

On one side of the scale is rationality and safety, and on the other side is madness and possibility.

He couldn't make a choice.

Since that's the case—

Then, we can only ask the old man who threw himself into this godforsaken place from the very beginning.

Under everyone's gaze, Xiu En closed his eyes.

His entire mind was immersed in the depths of his consciousness.

"Hey, old man."

He prepared to speak and ask a question to the ancient ancestor behind the system.

【————】

He awaited an answer.

Just as Xiu En was concentrating and preparing to begin this backstage communication...

On the high platform, Loki, whose palms had been sweating with tension, saw Shu En close his eyes as if entering some kind of meditative state. In a corner unnoticed by anyone, the tragic, all-or-nothing expression on his face melted away.

A confident and knowing smile, like a dragonfly skimming the water, flashed across his lips.

The clamor and confrontation from the outside world receded as if by the tide.

Xiu En's consciousness sank into a warm and familiar golden sea of ​​consciousness. Here, he was the sole master. The Golden Crow Divine Fire, which was usually boiling, was now as docile as a domesticated cat, flowing gently around him.

"Ivy, you can hear me, right?"

Xiu En's consciousness spoke to the sunflower beside him, which was also composed of spiritual energy.

"Uh-huh!"

Sunflower Ivy replied irritably, her flower head spinning restlessly, clearly worried about the tense situation outside.

"Okay, quiet down."

"Grandpa, I have something I want to ask you."

He conveyed the current situation in an extremely concise manner, as if it were a battle report.

Bruce's solution is safe but only a temporary measure.

Loki's dangerous but potentially fundamental plan.

That weapon that was designed to mimic the Doomsday Clock was aimed at him.

And Loki's story of tens of thousands of reincarnations and the tale about the debt of gratitude for being born—it sounds like a ghost story, but it also seems very real.

Finally, he raised his own question.

"Whom should I believe?"

A long silence fell over his mind.

Do you still remember?

[In the past, heaven and earth were separated, immortals and mortals followed different paths, and the Great Dao was not accessible. If I had not concealed your existence with heavenly secrets, transforming myself into a mortal vessel to govern the world, you would have long since perished, consumed by the flames of the Golden Crow due to your unparalleled talent and excessive genius.]

Xiu En nodded.

"I remember you said that I was a jinx, no, I mean I was too talented to survive in our Dharma-ending Age, so you took advantage of the situation and threw me into this world that has nothing to do with our place and won't be checked by your authorities."

He tried his best to translate the other person's difficult classical Chinese in words he could understand.

Indeed.

[You are an odd being in this world, existing outside the Three Realms and outside the Five Elements. Your actions are not contrary to the will of Heaven, therefore I can protect you completely.]

However, this time is different.

This matter is no longer just about the safety of one realm.

The old man's voice seemed to carry a sigh.

If you believe in that little green god, and help him succeed, this act will save trillions of timelines and avert countless deaths.

The magnitude of his merit far surpasses your past deeds by billions of times.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Xiu En was somewhat puzzled. He was familiar with the process of doing good deeds and accumulating merit.

[Excellent, indeed, it is also a calamity.]

Such boundless golden light of merit, once bestowed upon you, will be like the sun shining brightly in the darkest night, impossible to conceal or hide from. Even my heavenly secrets and methods will be powerless to reverse its course.

At that time, the Heavenly Court will surely sense it.

"The Heavenly Court?!"

"You mean—you're under the jurisdiction of the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West, and Laozi's Heavenly Court?"

However.

[The Heavenly Rules are supreme, severing all ties between Heaven and Earth, and distinguishing between immortals and mortals. If they discover this, you are merely an exception, one of us who have slipped through a loophole in the Heavenly Rules to survive in this world.]

The old man seemed to be carefully considering his words.

Although I consider your immeasurable merits, I will not subject you to divine punishment to take your life.

However, without further ado, it will use its supreme power to forcibly guide you back to the Heavenly Realm.

From this moment forward, you are forever separated from the mortal world, and will never again have any connection with it.

Forced guidance? Return to the celestial realm?

Isn't this just forced ascension?!

However, before he could recover from this devastating news, an even angrier voice screamed in his mind!

"I object!"

It's Ivy!

The sunflower that had been quietly standing beside him swelled to a deep red with rage! Her mental form, overwhelmed by her emotions, began to flicker violently, and several emerald green vines spread uncontrollably from her feet, turning her entire sea of ​​consciousness upside down!

"Don't even think about it!"

"I don't care about any Heavenly Court! I don't care about any merit! If anyone dares to take Xiu'en away from me, I'll tear their heavens down!"

"Shuen! Did you hear me?!"

She turned to Xiu En.

"I won't allow it! I absolutely won't allow you to choose that damn green liar!"

"At worst, we'll just trust Bruce! He's annoying, but at least his plan won't get you ascended!"

"Or let's leave now! Forget about Kang, forget about the world's destruction! Let's go back to the Dawnwood Realm! We don't care about anything! We'll hide, and nobody will be able to find us!"

【————】

Faced with this unreasonable and possessive rage, the old man behind the system chose to remain silent once again.

Looking at Ivy, who was displaying strong aggression in front of his backers for his sake, Xiu En's heart, which had been in turmoil due to the choice, suddenly calmed down.

He reached out and touched Ivy's flowerpot, which was practically steaming with anger.

"I see."

"I won't agree!"

"Did you hear me, Shuen! I won't allow it!"

Her voice echoed in every corner of her mind, and Xiu En's consciousness watched her from the very center of the storm.

He waited until she had vented some of her emotions before conveying the key point he had just figured out in that split second.

A single scene.

That was the causality weapon in Loki's hand, shaped like a distorted clock.

"Ivy, have you ever thought about this?"

Xiu En's voice carried a soothing quality.

"Is this thing really meant to kill me?"

'

Ivy retorted angrily.

"What else could it be? Bruce said it himself, it's a replica of the Doomsday Clock! A sacrifice! He wants to sacrifice you!"

"Yes, he wanted to offer a sacrifice."

Xiu En nodded.

"But according to the true principle of the Doomsday Clock after Kang's technological modifications, it is erasure. It erases the concept."

"And I am what the old man calls 'immeasurable merit.' Once the plan succeeds, I will become an unshieldable super sun, and I will be immediately discovered by that disciplinary committee called the Heavenly Court, and then arrested. The final enemy Loki mentioned should be this one."

"So?" Ivy's anger subsided slightly, but her tone remained wary.

"So, what if there were something that could temporarily erase the vessel of my merit from the law of cause and effect for a moment, just as the concept of merit was about to take shape?"

Xiu En looked at Ivy and voiced his guess.

"It's like a skilled hacker who, just as the system is calculating the final reward and preparing to take a screenshot to report to the GM, exploits a vulnerability to make the winning character ID disappear briefly."

"The character's ID will return to normal after the GM's screenshot process is complete."

"In this way, the winner still receives the award, but the name of the winner is not on the review report in the background."

"Exploiting a bug?"

Ivy understood Shum's metaphor.

"You could say that. That's very Loki, isn't it? Using a risky lie to deceive someone he can't confront head-on."

"Then why didn't he just say so?"

Ivy was still worried.

"Because many beings will be listening."

Xiu En pointed to the sky above the Sea of ​​Consciousness.

"Do you think that green-skinned fraudster would be stupid enough to just say it out loud, discussing how to exploit bugs in front of the GM? Once he says it, the nature of the act changes from exploiting loopholes in the rules to deceiving with malicious intent. At that point, not only will I be punished, but he himself will be struck by lightning."

"So, he had no choice but to gamble. Gamble that I could guess his intentions. Gamble that I would believe him."

Ivy remained silent.

Xiu En's analysis sounds quite reasonable.

However, being reasonable does not mean being risk-free.

"What if you guessed wrong?"

"What if he really just wants to use you as a sacrifice? That weapon can truly erase existence!"

"Then we just have to accept it."

Xiu En stepped forward and gently embraced the sunflower, whose flower head was almost wilting from anger, with his own consciousness.

"Little Flower, Ivy! From the moment I came into this world, I've been making choices."

"Choose to bask in the sun rather than linger in the shadows."

"Choose to stay in Gotham, rather than ascend to become some kind of god."

"Choose to be human or to be a god."

"Choice—to meet you."

Every choice carries risk. But if you're too afraid of risk to even take a single step, what's the difference between that and being dead?

"Loki tortured himself tens of thousands of times for a good ending. I don't remember, but I can feel it; it must have been very painful."

"Now, he has placed a path that may lead to the end in front of me. Although this path may be riddled with landmines."

"But I want to go up and try."

"Because I don't want to see Bruce die because the plan failed, I don't want to see Clark fall while protecting the world. I especially don't want to see our Dawnwood Realm one day turn into cold stone like the corpses of time. And I can't ignore the countless worlds that Kang has ravaged."

Xiu En smiled like the sun.

"And I don't believe that I, the sun that you and Afu have raised so well, can be so easily wiped out by a broken bell."

"You idiot!"

Ivy finally couldn't hold back and slapped his face hard with a leaf, but her voice was trembling with tears.

"A hopeless idiot!"

She cursed, but the previously raging vines slowly retracted. She simply rubbed her flower heads tightly against Xiu En's chest.

"Then promise me one thing."

"you say."

"If that Heavenly Court really finds you, they'll take you away—"

"You can't run away alone! You have to take me with you!"

Her voice hardened again.

"If you dare to ascend to immortality alone, I'll climb up the internet cable and dismantle everything!"

Xiu En smiled. He smiled heartily.

"it is good."

I promise you.

outside world.

Time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, as if only a second had elapsed.

Xiu En opened his eyes again.

In that instant, all the confusion, entanglement, and bewilderment in his eyes vanished, leaving only a radiance like the rising sun.

He simply reached out and gently touched his shoulder, where the sunflower, now quiet, was nervously rubbing its flower head against his neck.

It was as if it was silently telling her, "Don't worry, I've got you covered."

Then, he raised his head and met those three distinct gazes that could determine the fate of countless universes.

He first looked at the God of Stories who was not the God of Stories.

"I choose to believe you."

Those six simple words brought a surge of ecstatic joy to Loki's eyes, which always gleamed with cunning and calculation!

That was the kind of happiness that made a traveler who had trekked through endless darkness for hundreds of millions of years finally see the first ray of dawn on the horizon—a happiness that almost made his soul burn!

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something like "thank you" or "I promise," but in the end, all his words turned into a solemn nod.

The moment those words were spoken, Bruce's figure trembled in front of the portal.

The armor's built-in vital signs monitoring system issued an alarm for an abnormal heart rate, but he quickly forced it off.

His voice was filled with weariness and disappointment.

"Shuen, do you know what you're doing?"

Shuen turned his head and met Bruce's gaze.

"I know."

"Bruce, from the first time I met you in Gotham, I've always believed in you. I've never doubted a single word you've said or a single plan you've made."

"But this time, please trust me too."

"Trust you? Trust you to participate in a suicidal gamble orchestrated by a conman? Trust you to put yourself under the gun of that damned Doomsday Clock?"

"This isn't gambling, Bruce. It's just a multiple-choice question."

"A choice between dying in the right way and living in the wrong way."

"And I don't want to see the people around us, in those doomed scripts, heading towards tragic endings time and time again. I don't want to see Superman fall again, Diana die in battle, and even you exhaust your last bit of strength in solitude."

"So, this time, Bruce."

"Just let me be willful this once."

Bruce, too, fell silent at this moment because of this choice question that only concerned emotions.

All his plans and backup plans are based on rationality and the optimal solution.

But he never considered what he would do when the family member he trusted most and had the least control over chose what he saw as the most irrational path.

"That was fantastic! Oh, it was absolutely fantastic!"

Lucifer, standing to the side, was clearly excited.

"Shut up!"

Shuen and Bruce almost simultaneously roared back at the devil who seemed to thrive on chaos.

"Okay, okay, you can continue. You'll thank me later."

Lucifer immediately raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, but with a smug smile on his face, he quietly retreated to the side.

It was Bruce who finally broke the deadlock.

His visor opened, revealing a face etched with weariness and helplessness, but even more so with a sense of utter despair.

"I can't stop someone who's decided to head off a cliff. But at least I can put a safety rope on him before he falls."

He raised his hand, and a silver, anchor-like device, no bigger than a fingernail, sprang from his arm armor and hovered in front of Xiu En.

"This is the anchor of causality."

"This is the latest achievement created by me and others using intercepted data on the laws of time, combined with the properties of N metal. I anticipated that someone would ignore my advice and research the Doomsday Clock, but I never expected it to be used on you."

"It can't make you immune to the erasure of concepts, but it can forcibly record your existence coordinates at the moment your existence is erased. As long as these coordinates don't disappear, I have a 73.4% probability of pulling your existence out through the life laws of the Ximu Realm."

"Take it."

"This is my final bottom line."