Talulah, I'm still a child.

"Alright, I'll go take a walk around the village first. You guys tidy up the house yourselves. Oh, do you have bedding?"

"Don't worry, Grandma, we've got it with us."

Although Mei Xue and Talulah didn't even have a suitcase with them, the old woman still believed them. With a smile, she planned to leave to go to the village to chat with acquaintances and mention that two young people with great temperament had come to her house, just to show off a little.

There's nothing new to say in this small village on the edge of Ursus. The elderly can't understand the news on TV; they can't keep up with the times. They're old, but they're still happy to see their children grow up.

Talulah looked at Meixue with a rare pleading look in her eyes. As the closest siblings, lovers who loved each other the most, and fiancés who were about to become partners, there should not have been such eye contact between them.

Mei Xue closed her eyes, her tail swaying gently behind her. After a moment, Mei Xue got the answer Talulah wanted.

"Three years, without pain. She had a sweet dream when she passed away, and she was smiling."

Upon hearing this, Talulah closed her eyes, lost in thought. A hint of hesitation flashed across her face before she finally opened them and let out a long sigh.

"That's...that's great."

Talulah watched the old man walk forward. She looked at Mei Xue, but the little fox seemed to be used to it all, her eyes showing no emotion.

Such straightforward emotions and glances were too obvious to Mei Xue. The little fox looked at her lover, her azure eyes shifting slightly, and finally understood Talulah's thoughts.

“A long time ago, I took in a group of people and allowed a part of Qingqiu to appear in the material world, which is this world.”

“They regard Qingqiu as a sacred mountain and me as a deity, but they don’t think of me as too high and mighty. My sister said… I shouldn’t have too much contact with them.”

Mei Xue still remembers Su Xue'er's expression at that time. Having lost her memory once, Mei Xue didn't understand much about those words. For the little fox who had lost her past, humans were novel, a race that was at least similar to her in appearance.

However, not long after that, Su Xue'er left. That event destroyed most of Qingqiu's land, but fortunately it did not affect the material world, otherwise Terra would have turned into cosmic dust thousands of years ago.

“I was weak for a long time. When I rose again, I re-established contact with them… Over three thousand years, I saw off three thousand nine hundred and seventy-six people. I watched each of them being born, growing up, getting married, and having children. I watched them die.”

"Besides teaching them the principles of being a good person, the only thing I can do in the end is to give them a dream so that they can leave without pain."

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death—I selfishly spared them from illness."

Mei Xue always had something to say about the past, and it was only when talking about the past that he would show a maturity that did not match his appearance. Talulah knew that she did not know much about Mei Xue's past, and she had no interest in knowing more about Mei Xue's past.

The little fox initially belonged to the Doctor, then to Su Xue'er, and now to her. Even though Su Xue'er is no longer here, Mei Xue will always keep a place for her in her heart. Talulah and the Doctor both know very well that no one can shake that. At least from now on, no matter how many years Mei Xue lives, she will always clearly remember the days and nights she spent with her sister Su Xue'er.

This made Talulah somewhat jealous. She knew very well that she could never accompany Mei Xue to the end, because this little fox did not have the concept of an end. But now she had made up her mind that she would stay by the little fox's side until the very end.

Leading Mei Xue through the empty house, Talulah and Mei Xue found it even cleaner than they had imagined. There was a large bed in the room, and the newly fallen dust was not obvious, showing that the old lady often cleaned the place even after her daughter left.

"It's so nostalgic. Alina and I used to sleep here, on this very bed. She used to complain about how I slept."

"...I feel like you two sleep in pretty much the same positions, mmm!"

As Talulah and Alina's bedmate, the little fox was the most qualified to say this, but as soon as Mei Xue opened her mouth, Talulah couldn't help but pinch Mei Xue's waist. It didn't hurt, but this spot on the side of her waist was Mei Xue's sensitive spot, and the little fox almost collapsed to the ground.

"I'll correct it in the future, okay?"

Talulah could never bring herself to say that Meixue should sleep alone, because she knew that the little fox could simply grab her blanket and lie down anywhere else, but she couldn't sleep without Meixue!

"Yes, yes, yes~ I will try my best to correct it."

Mei Xue tiptoed and kissed Talulah on the cheek, then looked her over carefully.

Traces of Talulah and Alina's life can still be seen in this room. Mei Xue made many changes, but also preserved a lot. In the fate of the new world, Talulah never came to this village, but the layout here is still the same as in the old world.

A sense of warmth immediately struck Mei Xue, who realized it came from Alina. From the tattered books on the bedside table to the rough clothes rack, the clean and tidy bed, and the warmth, Mei Xue subconsciously looked at Talulah, who in turn looked at the little fox. The two seemed to have reached a consensus on some things, so Talulah reached out and cupped Mei Xue's face in her hands.

"You're not allowed to think about marrying Alina when you're with me!"

"Guh... I just feel that Alina is very suitable to be a mother."

The little fox's face was kneaded and shaped in various ways, but he swore that he really wasn't thinking about marrying Alina at all. He just felt that Alina was surprisingly suitable to be a mother, a feeling he had before during the Reunion Movement.

"It seems like that's really the case..."

After thinking it over, Talulah realized that Alina was indeed very suitable to be a mother, mainly because of her great personality—gentle yet dignified. She thought that in the future, she might have Alina take care of her children.

"Alright, alright, sister, I still need to go to Colombia. What do you want to eat? I'll bring it back for you."

"Anything is fine, just don't bring me back any weird women."

"No, the person I'm supposed to meet this time was originally a man."

Mei Xue waved to Talulah and disappeared from the spot. The little fox had her own reasons for accompanying Talulah here. In the future, Talulah would have to face many more such partings. This was just the beginning.

Although this was not Mei Xue's original intention, there was no other way. If you live a long time and cannot accept and bless the passing of others, you will likely gradually feel pain in this loss and eventually become numb. Mei Xue did not want Talulah to become like that.

So he brought Talulah here not to help her resolve any inner conflicts, but to prevent any irreconcilable contradictions from arising in her heart in the future.

"You did this... for me."

Lying down on that stiff, large bed, a long-lost sense of tranquility washed over her. It was quiet, unlike the sense of security she felt when she was holding Mei Xue. Alone here, Talulah's mind went completely blank. Of course, she knew why her lover was doing all this.

During her time with Alina in that village, Talulah remembered the old woman's scolding filled with concern and worry, and the old man's helpless yet determined smile. In the beginning, Talulah only chose to fight back to refute the black snake's spell and to avoid falling into its spell.

But after meeting more people, her mindset changed. After meeting Mei Xue, she realized that Mei Xue's experience was not unusual in this absurd world. In order to survive, people will always give up everything that makes them human.

She hoped that nothing like Mei Xue's story would ever happen again; that was the beginning of her truly deciding on her own path.

"I must have used up all my luck in this life by meeting him."

Now, no one in Ursus will freeze or starve to death in the snow, and no one will be arbitrarily bullied or ravaged. Talulah felt that was enough. Although the arrival of the new world did not grant her any status or power, she had gained the most precious and worthy existence.

However, Talulah was very curious as to why Meixue went to Colombia alone without her. The little fox probably didn't intentionally want to avoid it, but rather felt that it was best not to let Talulah know about it, or rather, that Talulah didn't need to know.

Talulah wasn't worried about who Meixue was going to see; her little fox would always be hers.

And speaking of her family...

"This family will soon have another member."

Talulah gently stroked her belly, her hand resting on it. Although she wasn't fully prepared, she was overjoyed that her daughter was about to be born.

"Su Mengyun is a good name, but let's register her as Nia Atrias instead."

Atrias is Talulah's surname, and now she is the only one left. Considering the number of daughters Mei Xue might have in the future, it would be very confusing if they all had the surname Su. If they follow the mother's surname, this problem can be avoided.

Mei Xue probably wouldn't care about these things. Talulah knew very well that, according to the little fox, the baby would take another three months to fully develop before Talulah's belly would start to grow bigger.

Well, there are still three months before that, and then we'll have to wait five or six months. It seems like we should indulge ourselves during these safe months.

New World 47. The Joy of Reuniting with Old Friends

The massive underground cavern in Trimont, Colombia, remains a mystery to Colombians, who to this day fail to grasp the immense opportunity they missed—an opportunity that could have allowed them to surpass Iberia, or even Agor.

"It's still here after all. I was right when I felt it back then."

A soft light illuminated the entire Great Void, or rather, the preservation facilities inside the Great Void. Thousands upon thousands of stone coffins were placed in front of Mei Xue, and a smooth sphere floated in the center.

Sensing the sudden appearance of another person within its perception range, the sphere began to rotate, and the entire facility's lights instantly turned a warning red. A weathered voice rang out, tinged with surprise.

"...Incredible."

"I never imagined that after such a long time, I would see you again, LD003, no, Mei... you actually appeared here!?"

The language was unknown, unlike any known language in Terra, but anyone could hear the joy and surprise in it. Moreover, Mei Xue could understand what the other person was saying, otherwise he wouldn't have come here.

"Long time no see, Trevor Friston, old man, hehehe, and I'm called Mei Xue now."

Responding in the same language, Mei Xue approached the ball of light, opened his arms, and enveloped it along with his tail. His tone was filled with nostalgia, even though he knew that the person in front of him was not the stubborn, obstinate, and somewhat temperamental old man.

"I am merely the self-personality that Trevor Friston created after uploading his consciousness, the existence known as the Preserver."

Despite saying that, the Preservator was still delighted to see Mei Xue again. He possessed Trevor Friston's entire personality and all his memories before the uploaded consciousness, so he naturally remembered the little fox.

Mei Xue often appeared at mealtimes when the little fox was at the Third Research Institute. Well, the little fox's main purpose in going to the Third Research Institute at that time was to freeload.

Back then, everyone at the Third Research Institute was quite timid. Although Mei Xue didn't show any offensive power, even Su Xue'er could dismantle the pre-civilization's megastructure like building blocks and play basketball with artificial satellites. The little fox could even use the sun as a light bulb.

The key point is that no matter how well-behaved Mei Xue was at that time, it couldn't change the fact that he had a sister named Su Xue'er who was obsessed with her younger brother. Su Xue'er had actually demolished a huge structure back then.

"Don't say that, Mr. Trevor Friston. Look, I even brought you a cup of coffee, the kind without sugar."

As she spoke, Mei Xue took out a cup of coffee and shook it in front of her. The little fox clearly remembered that Friston liked to drink coffee without sugar. Of course, this body didn't have any food available.

"Coffee... um, a product of Terra. Speaking of which, we... no, I should have met you sooner, and Doctor, how is she?"

Although Friston's memories were also concealed by Mei Xue, because his database was extremely large and had a more complete personality system than PRTs, he only needed to check once to find the loopholes in the database, and then the data that was originally hidden would also appear.

"Doctor, you're doing well now, and we've found Priss. Haven't you been observing Terra's landmass during this time?"

"No, after more than 13,000 years, the energy supply of the Custodian System and its supporting facilities can no longer last long. I need to enter standby mode to conserve energy so as not to let hundreds of thousands of comrades die here before the plan begins."

Mei Xue glanced at the hundreds of thousands of compatriots, the doctor's compatriots, and the compatriots of Precy, and then sighed helplessly.

"It takes too long, for humans."

"Yes, what seems like a fleeting moment to you is an incredibly long time for us. Although our bodies remain the same as before, our consciousness and soul have been worn down."

"In your initial expectations, how long was the plan?"

"Twenty thousand years, as originally planned, these hundreds of thousands of compatriots would reappear after twenty thousand years, rebuild our civilization, and then embark on their journey home."

Twenty thousand years is not the maximum operational lifespan of the preservation system and its supporting facilities, but rather the theoretical lifespan expected in the earliest plan, with a limit of twenty-five thousand years.

However, plans can't keep up with changes. At a time when various plans for the survival of civilizations were emerging one after another, the Preserver Plan was naturally also a focus. However, before the plan could be fully implemented and the facilities were not fully completed, the first wave of impact came, forcing hundreds of thousands of compatriots to enter the facilities.

"Indeed, 20,000 years is enough for observers to look away, but... this plan is incomplete."

Mei Xue looked around and came to this conclusion: after 13,000 years, the entire management facility had reached its end. If Mei Xue and the Doctor hadn't been here once before, it might have collapsed on its own.

"Yes, that's why I rarely observe the land anymore, so naturally I don't know about the changes. However... Nine-Tails, is this your true form?"

"That's it."

The little fox said this, even though he was ten tails at first, he still felt that the nine-tailed version of himself was the real him, because... the remaining tail could never come back.

"This is truly incredible. You are the most peculiar existence we have ever seen. You have a fixed form in the material world, but in other dimensions you are as shapeless as air. However, since Nine-Tails is your full-fledged form, then... why are you lower than the altitude recorded in my database?"

Upon hearing this, Mei Xue's initially cheerful expression instantly darkened. The little fox stared at Friston, conveying a sense of "You're deliberately bringing up a sore spot; even foxes can bite."

Height, height—she always picks topics he doesn't like to talk about. Mei Xue should have known better than to bring him coffee in the first place.

"Alright, alright, don't be angry, hahaha, it was just a harmless joke. But how did you manage to revert to Nine-Tails form?"

“My sister started plotting this from the moment I became the Seven-Tails, but I did what happened afterward myself.”

With an apple dangling from her mouth, Mei Xue relied on her incredibly far-reaching vision of the future. The little fox had long ago laid out various schemes and set traps for Dr. Shadow and Number Ten to fall into. Looking back now, even Mei Xue herself couldn't help but frown. Was he really that smart back then? Then why is he acting like a complete idiot now?

"I see. So... it seems you've regained all your memories. Did you come here to witness my final moments?"

The Preservator System has reached its limit. Even with Mei Xue's previous power supply, it cannot continue. This is not only due to the energy problem, but also because the Preservator cannot continue.