Collapse Iron Live Broadcast Connects All Worlds, Scares Away Wuzhan at the Beginning

"When people allow their minds to indulge in dreams of free, painless comfort and enjoyment, they draw ever closer to death. No matter how blissful they believe they are, death is an inevitable outcome."

"Furthermore, this necrosis will spread and diffuse. The mutation of a single piece of the puzzle will eventually cause the entire building to shake, shatter...collapse."

Walter continued, "In the end, the beautiful dreams people build for freedom will in turn become cages that imprison themselves." He paused, "I believe Miss Huang Quan has gained a lot from this trip. Would you like to share it with me?"

Huang Quan nodded: "Of course... provided I still remember it."

"As she spoke, her hand lightly rested on the hilt of her sword—and then quickly dropped it, disappearing in an instant."

Walter looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Huang Quan said calmly, "Don't worry, it's just a habit. Because of some things in the past, I have become very easy to... forget. Only when this sword is unsheathed will those hazy scenes gradually become clear."

-

Attack on Titan.

"What on earth do you mean by these words, Miss Huang Quan?"

"I don't understand at all. Why don't we ask Zeke when the time comes? I heard he's been collecting intelligence from the Sky Canopy according to the military's instructions..."

Outside the Marleyan military camp, Falco and Gabi were walking home after a day of Eldian Warrior Candidate training. Falco looked up at the dazzling spectacle in the sky, his envy evident in words.

"If I could live in a place like this with my brother, even for just a month... I'd be willing to sweep the street outside the hospital for the rest of my life."

The people passing by Walter and Huang Quan in the sky were of all kinds and dressed in fancy clothes. Even the drunk on the street was vomiting rainbows. I guess he must have drunk a lot of Suleda just now?

Falk couldn't help swallowing.

"Don't look at it, Falk, here..." Gabi patted his shoulder, calling the boy's gaze back, and then handed a military water bottle into his arms, "My mother said that no drink is better than tea and water. No matter how attractive the drinks in heaven are, they can't compare to the boiled water at home - although there is always a smell of rust." At this point, Gabi couldn't help but stick out her tongue in disgust.

"Living in Pinocchio, we won't be called 'Devil's Descendant' every day, and we won't be stoned. Even if we die in peace, it's still a good ending, right?"

"Oh, can you go? And even if I could go, I wouldn't want to go. It's just right that you go, I'll have one less competitor."

Gabi looked longingly: "As long as I succeed in inheriting the Titan, my whole family can become honorary Marleyans, and good days will come naturally. Compared to the illusory Pinocchio... this path is more practical, right?"

The two were chatting when someone suddenly patted them on the back of the head. They turned around at the same time and saw Miss Peake appearing in front of them with two ice cream cones.

"Sister Piqué!" The boy and girl exclaimed in surprise.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh...we were just talking about Falco." Gabi greedily licked the chocolate off her cone. "He said he wanted to go to Pinocchio. He said there's no discrimination there, and no one would call us 'devils'...how is that possible?"

"Oh?" Pique's eyes darkened, and he bent down to touch Falk's head. "Although dreams are beautiful, the reality is cruel... Falk, discrimination exists no matter where you go."

“But I didn’t see any discrimination at Pinocchio?”

"That's just what you haven't seen." Pieck shook his head slightly. "Many people in life tend to pursue a sense of superiority. They establish their superiority by discriminating against a certain group. In Marley, that group is the Eldians. They call us 'devils'... In Pinocchio, that group is the poor people you can't even see."

“But are there really poor people in beautiful dreams?”

"Of course there is. Okay, Falk, keep talking or the ice cream will melt." Piqué handed the half-melted cone to the boy. "Stop dreaming about that world, okay? Don't be blinded by the glamorous side... Falk."

-

"Walter asked Huang Quan about what she had seen and heard during those four moments. From Huang Quan's perspective, Walter realized that this beautiful dream wasn't as perfect as he had imagined."

"At dawn, there lies the blood, sweat, and toil behind the beautiful dreams of pleasure and debauchery. Workers toil day after day, yet only find a moment's respite in the crowded bed of reality."

"During the time of gilding, the Pipisi people there pursued wealth by any means necessary. Some were willing to live for it, while others were willing to die for it. Their greatest wish was to lock up their earned alfalfa coins in the bank vault."

"And the same is true of the remaining two moments. Behind this dream city lies the scars left behind by the peeling of the glamorous facade. A torrent of neon rushes along the main streets, while the dark, winding alleys conceal countless tears of blood and hesitation."

"Someone once told me: Pinocchio wasn't like this a long time ago, and it shouldn't be like this." Huang Quan looked up at the luxurious theater suspended in the air in the distance. "I have walked through the reality and dreams of the star of the grand event, watching the night rise and fall. Time stands still for people, and the wealth and poverty of the spirit... remain forever at their own scales."

She turned back to Walter and said, "So I think the collapse of the [Beautiful Dream] is inevitable."

“Maybe there’s a way to change this,” Walter said.

“‘Perhaps.’ But if this is the world people want—if this is why life chooses to sleep—should we change it?”

Chapter 391 Pinocchio (Seventy)

Konosuba: God's blessing on this wonderful world.

"Hmm...it seems this Pinocchio isn't as idyllic as it appears." Darkness crossed her arms, her armor making a crisp clanging sound. "To think there were even Pipisi who committed suicide? It seems life in a dream is also very stressful."

"Hey, hey, hey, can this kind of intense work every day really be called a sweet dream? I think it's just a nightmare within a nightmare, right?"

Kazuma thought back to when he and Aqua first arrived in the other world. He thought they were about to embark on a wonderful adventure, but ended up starting with nothing and having to rely on part-time jobs for his equipment... Not to mention defeating monsters, just finishing a day's work life made him exhausted, and he even had to sleep in the stable with Aqua.

As expected, this beautiful world is only an illusion... Kazuma felt a little more balanced in his heart, and gave up his admiration for Pinocchio - even if he was allowed to go, he would probably just work somewhere else.

“But why did Miss Yomi say that death is inevitable when one indulges in dreams of comfort and pleasure?” Aqua asked, looking at Kazuma in confusion. “Isn’t that beautiful?”

"I don't quite understand... but maybe it has something to do with human nature? If a person drinks, they will be very happy, but drinking every day will also make them numb, right? Maybe they will pursue better and more wine? In short, people's happiness in this dream is not fixed. It will gradually expand with repeated satisfaction, and eventually—'bang'! The whole Pinot Cone will explode, right?" Kazuma made an open hand gesture.

“Well, even though it seems like you didn’t understand what Miss Yomi meant, Kazuma, it does seem to make sense. It’s rare that you can come up with such profound words…”

-

"…Ms. Huang Quan, may I share a story with you?"

Walter recalled, "There was a man in my hometown. When the world faced an incurable wound, he made a decision. He wove together the dreams of everyone in the world, connecting their dreams to each other, and then carried them on his own body. In doing so, he created a giant, a "Spiritual Adam."

"From then on, the giant stood between heaven and earth, becoming the pillar of the world's existence. But in exchange, those who found it difficult to move forward, those who could not move forward... they would lose their future forever."

"They sleep in a dream free of disaster and pain, living out their peaceful lives in the utopia created by men. And the [Spiritual Adam], because of these people's unwillingness to wake up... becomes indestructible."

Huang Quan said calmly, "But you're standing here, which means... that man has failed."

Walter nodded. "Because people always have to move towards the future. Even if human weakness makes them stop, when they truly cannot move forward...humanity will definitely try to save itself."

"And that man... he was never a loser. Like everyone else in that world, he held the possibilities of humanity within his heart. He was the mythical Sun Chaser, soaring toward the heavens and ultimately achieving victory through his fall."

-

Honkai Impact 3rd.

"I see. Did I lose in the end?"

In the World Serpent's base, Kevin looked up at the sky. He stared at Walter's face quietly, thinking carefully and repeatedly about what he had just said.

It seemed as if something had penetrated into his heart. The temperature was not scorching, but it had a heart-pounding, lasting warmth, like a ray of sunlight that had spanned fifty thousand years, shining on a hard and cold place somewhere deep in his heart.

Although he had imagined the failure of the Stigmata Plan in his mind, he had never been sure of it - until Walter in the sky said it himself, he breathed a sigh of relief.

His shoulders sank slightly, as if invisible shackles had been removed, and his always straight back also relaxed a little.

What surprised him was that after he learned the "answer", his brain went blank for dozens of seconds.

"..."

Successors will provide better answers. This means the road ahead is no longer one of lonely and enduring perseverance, but rather someone will take up the mantle of "savior" and lead the world to a better future.

"My Lord, you..."

Raven's eyes widened in surprise as she saw a subtle curve at the corner of Kevin's mouth. It wasn't a sneer, nor was it a sneer, but a genuine smile. It was so unfamiliar, like a new sprout breaking through the frozen soil, that it put her in a momentary trance.

Kevin slowly stood up.

"My Lord, where are you going?" Raven asked behind him.

"I've got the answer I wanted, so..." Kevin's voice was unusually soft, like melting snowflakes, falling gently to the ground.

“…I want to meet them.”

-

Huang Quan praised, "It fits Wumingke's pioneering spirit very well."

"Thank you, Mr. Walter. I know what you want to confirm. The universe contains countless similar yet different worlds. Within these worlds, there are countless similar yet different people."

“I, too, have journeyed, encountering familiar faces in different worlds, watching their fates unfold along familiar paths. So, I will tell you… although it’s not exactly the same, the story you describe… overlaps with my own past. And in that bottomless dream…”

Huang Quan said word by word, "...I ended that man's life, alone."

Walter sighed regretfully.

Huang Quan shook his head: "I am not the person you know, and my hometown is not as lucky as your world."

""…I regret.""

"It's okay, if it can ease your doubts, I don't mind."

"But I still want to know, Miss Huang Quan, what kind of power is driving you to travel alone until now, beneath that guise of 'hunting'?" Walter said.

"…Mr. Walter, before answering this question, I'd like to continue the topic we were discussing earlier," Huang Quan said. "I really like your analogy. While birds are naturally gifted with the ability to fly, in the distant past, their ancestors could only gaze up at the sky from the ground."

“They saw the distant light from the sky piercing through the clouds and illuminating the earth. So time and time again, generation after generation, the birds spread their wings and flew high, trying to touch the zenith, because there was the sun.”

"Then, if the last bird finally takes to the sky, only to find that the end of the light is not the sun, but a pitch-black sun (a black hole that devours everything)..." Huang Quan looked up at the star-studded night sky of Pinoconte."

“Then why do we walk towards the light?”

Chapter 392 Pinocchio (Seventy-one)

One Piece.

"Did you hear that? Hahahaha—black hole…black hole! My abilities will definitely reach…hiccup…this level in the future!"

Blackbeard's wild laughter startled the seagulls on the side of the ship and made the deck groan under his excited stamping of his feet. He was drunkenly drinking with his men, holding his glass high. Huang Quan's words made him even drunker, and he guzzled two more bottles in one breath.

"Ahem... A black hole capable of swallowing stars must be some kind of Star God, right?" Poison Q covered his mouth and coughed heavily, coughing up a pool of dark red blood on his palm. "In other words, the upper limit of Teach's ability... is to become a Star God!"

"Haha, that's a very bold guess..."

Blackbeard burped, the salty sea breeze sobering him up a bit. He was well aware that the black hole he'd created using the Dark-Dark Fruit's power was fundamentally different from the one that devoured the sky and the sun. However, if he could use the "gimmick" of the Black Hole Star God to attract more members and strengthen Blackbeard's gang... that would be a good idea.

However, it's completely unrealistic to say he didn't have the ambition to become a "Star God." The first step to his current power, status, and strength was his daring to dream.

Don't even dare to think about it... then the opportunity will naturally not favor you. After all, even a bug has the opportunity to become a [Breeding] Star God, so why can't he? Is he worse than a bug?

"Hey, Kuzan." Blackbeard looked at the tall, thin man drinking alone from a bottle of wine not far away from the deck. "Do you think I have a chance... to become a Star God?"

“…maybe.”

Kuzan said this without even turning his head. He looked out at the sea in the distance, wondering what he was thinking.

"Tsk! This bastard is really boring." Gizas glared at him in dissatisfaction, then looked at Blackbeard, "But, to become a Star God, don't you have to embark on a destiny first? But is there a [Black Hole] destiny in this world?"

-

"Daydream Hotel, Yellow Spring Room."

"The phone rang again, but this time it was a strange man's voice that answered."

"Long time no see! Did you have fun at Pinocone—[Yellow Spring]?"

"(This voice... isn't the same Constance from before. Is it her companion?)"

"Black Swan was in a good mood. She didn't hang up the phone, but chose to continue listening."

"I don't know what you are, or what you're up to... but my bullet will find you soon. Before that, you'd better find a coffin shop in Pinocchio and ask the owner to save a good quality coffin for you, you fake one."

"(An imposter? I see. She reported my whereabouts to someone else who was tracking Yomi.)"

"Black Swan asked calmly, "Who are you?"

"The other person: "Huh? Did I call the wrong number? Holy crap, who are you?"

“I am the Rememberer of the Flowing Light Memory Court.”

The other person's tone was very excited: "Wow! Good, I like this kind of tough guy. Are you the bodyguard of that fake guy? Or someone else? Forget it, it doesn't matter. I'll save a bullet for you too, so clean your head and wait."

"I don't know what you're talking about—but you know Huang Quan, the Sea Ranger, right? I have something to ask you."

"Haha, you want me to write your will? Sure, go ahead."

Black Swan said calmly, "It's not a will—I just want to ask you, how did she 'become' a Sea Ranger? She's not a Fate Walker of the Patrol, you are, right? Tell me, what is Huang Quan's origin?"

The other party immediately burst into a hearty laugh: "...Hahahahaha, great! I didn't expect it to be a friendly force. He was so precious. Looks like I really hit the jackpot!"

"I'm going to Pinocchio soon, Rememberer. Go buy a bottle of [Asdena White Oak], warm it up, and I'll toast you. What was that woman's past? No one knows, but if you just want a simple answer, then yes, you'd better find a chair to cushion the bottom. That woman named Huang Quan—"

""—A commander who 'shouldn't exist.'"

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