Their commission was suspicious.

Oh no! Mei! There's a traitor among us!

"Hey? How does it feel?" Chen Luo brought the wisp of light to his face and tilted his head.

"Stop playing dead, Number 17. Do you think you could have entered this space before completely transforming into pure white consciousness without me? Ignoring me like this is too heartbreaking, isn't it?"

"Don't look at me with such a shocked expression. I just became a Honkai Consciousness myself, I'm one of our own. If you don't believe me... how about I hand over the temporary management of the Honkai Consciousness to you? You can choose anyone else as your temporary Honkai Consciousness."

"I think those heroes from the Paradise of the Past are very suitable, what do you think?"

"...Okay, I'll trust you one last time!" Finally, after a moment of silence, a slightly mechanical voice rang out in this pure white space.

……

As the torrent of time surged forward, Chen Luo stood amidst the river of time. He took only two steps, and 5 years had already passed.

Fifty thousand years have passed. After the world experienced the devastating catastrophe of the Herrscher of the End, the planet slowly shed the finery of human civilization, just as a newborn baby shed all the cloaks of modern civilization and returned to its most primitive state.

Chen Luo watched as the life support pod rose from the ground once more, and everyone broke out of the pod, breathing in the fresh air before getting into their busy work.

The propagation of civilization is hasty and aimless, and Kevin was indeed quite gentle in his treatment of the test-tube baby created with Mei's and his own DNA.

However, as an immortal being, Kevin could not maintain this warmth forever.

Even if Kevin can regard his first, second, and third generations of descendants as his own, when this generational continuity continues indefinitely, Kaslana, the surname Kevin chose for himself in this article, will at most only stir a slight emotion in Kevin's heart if she reappears.

Kevin executes the Stigmata Project, while Su executes the Hengsha Project, using the Second Divine Key to observe countless parallel worlds, while secretly observing Kevin's psychological state.

Because Su also has another plan—the Overseer Plan.

As the executor of Project Fire, Fu Hua, along with her assistants Cang Xuan and Dan Zhu, headed to another continent.

On this continent, they educated the people and spread the culture and technology of pre-civilizations...

However, because the intensity of the Honkai increases with the level of civilization, the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Chi You appeared on the eastern continent.

Therefore, Alicia's most anticipated Fire Seed Project failed.

After Cangxuan and Danzhu created the Book of Cangxuan to accompany Fu Hua, they discovered this enormous crisis. While Fu Hua met and communicated with the pioneers Kevin and Su every now and then, they chose to take action and seal Chi You with their own lives.

However, the fact that the two of them greedily ate the modified version of Tianxiang Doukou foreshadowed their eventual resurgence.

Everything was clear to Chen Luo.

Chen Luo has traversed a long river of history, spanning five thousand years.

The power of time cannot affect Chen Luo, who is wandering in the river of time, but it can affect Fu Hua and others who are in reality.

However, whenever Fu Hua felt lost, she would habitually look up at the star in the sky.

Meanwhile, Chen Luo has been watching Fu Hua throughout the long river of time.

Fu Hua thus developed a habit, which she maintained even after losing all her memories.

Chen Luo began observing the trajectory of civilization from its very beginning, watching the nascent civilization cautiously probe the world and the threat of collapse, much like a sapling searching for water in its surroundings.

Until it eventually grows into a resilient and indomitable civilization.

Chen Luo witnessed the Gray Serpent establishing the World Serpent, Gretchen's return and subsequent journey, the World Serpent's interference in the Mayan civilization's creation and serpent god worship, Xiao Yun's ascent of Mount Taixu, and Su's rescue of Arthur, which led to her being mistaken for the Lady of the Lake...

Chen Luo observed the movements of his old friends, and also watched every historical moment of civilization's vigorous development and the brilliance of every aspiration.

At the same time, occasionally, without affecting the final development, they gently sprinkle raw stones to help prevent their dreams from being submerged by the mundane world.

Or simply take the person into your possession and send them to paradise.

Of course, Chen Luo also witnessed the seven disciples murdering their master.

When Fu Hua's body was torn to pieces, Chen Luo also comforted her wounds.

Then Chen Luo saw himself walking out of a bar door, taking Otto to rescue Karen, and then deceiving history.

They also witnessed Gray Serpent, according to his agreement, using the soul extraction device to take away the souls of Yae Rin and the others...

Chen Luo's steps ultimately stopped at that moment.

When Chen Luo saw his slightly more youthful self descend from the sky, using wind elements to slow his descent, he landed like a prince in a fairy tale in front of Mei, who was sitting on a bench and about to transform into her Lawful Self, and reached out his hand to her...

Chen Luo knew that his mission to protect this civilization had been completed.

Chen Luo also withdrew his gaze from Fu Hua.

Alright, stop feeling sentimental. It's just that I saw you from over four months ago.

In the grand scheme of history, you've only walked a few thousand steps; even at your slowest pace, it would only take an hour.

It's clear that Chen Luo, in his melancholy mood, is being advised by the humanized plugin to cheer up.

Chen Luo, as always, did not have any human-centered plugins.

Instead, they felt that the burden in their hearts had been completely lifted.

The previous civilization had completely vanished in Chen Luo's eyes, and he could no longer travel back to it simply through bars.

Everyone, too, is shaped into their final form by the ravages of time.

That's true; those who live in the past will eventually make way for those who move towards the future.

Watching history revolve into a circle, allowing those who survived into the new civilization to pass away in their dreams without regrets, and granting them the choice of whether or not they wish to come back again.

Let them face genuine self-choices, rather than being forcibly included by Chen Luo.

Looking down at the golden sphere in his hand, which radiated the faint glow of civilization and was formed from the first wisp of wish power gathered by all the wishers, Chen Luo knew that the end of the previous civilization would also be a new beginning for him.

Yes, inner demons.

That's right, it's the inner demon.

The pre-civilization was Chen Luo's inner demon.

In a more fantastical way, it's called a demon in one's heart; in a more scientific way, it's called a mental illness.

Chen Luo believed that he had never mistreated the adventurers in the park from beginning to end, but one's thoughts cannot be calculated entirely according to reality.

Reality is often more absurd than fiction.

Can you imagine a real-world business war involving pouring boiling water on your opponent's money tree?

While bringing the entire civilization into the paradise he created certainly saved their lives, and Chen Luo could say he had a clear conscience, he still felt worried about them despite taking on this responsibility.

Now that each of them has become an excellent wish fulfiller, Chen Luo can finally relax.

This might explain why Chen Luo saw a shadow on Gretchen's painting.

Greta's paintings, as always, possess the magic of reflecting reality.

And the user-friendly plugins that have never spoken out about this...

[Hey, hey, hey, it's not like I can't see it. The one who tied the knot must untie it. If you were trying to solve your inner demons just for the sake of solving them, how could you have so many insights like you have now? Right?]

Trying to solve one's inner demons by simply trying to solve them is like using a formula to solve a problem.

Now is the time for Chen Luo's spiritual awakening.

"Alright, you pass this time."

Alright, it's time to go back to the bar. You've been wandering around outside for over two hours; if you don't go back soon, they'll start to worry.

"Okay." Chen Luo nodded, then used the teleportation anchor to return to the bar.

The past, intertwined with the present, will probably never return to Chen Luo.

Since the wishes of the past have all been fulfilled in the present, what needs to be done now is to create the future.

"jingle!"

Although the bar door was not open, the sound was inevitably accompanied by the entry and exit of every customer.

"Wow, Lolo, you're finally back! Did something happen? Why were you gone for so long?" Alicia asked with concern after seeing Chen Luo return.

"I am fine."

“That’s good. Speaking of which, when I saw Dr. Mebius come to the bar and sit down next to Memory Mebius, rubbing Memory Mebius’s head, I knew you were going to see Mebius. So, from your perspective, civilization should have ended by now, right?” Alicia asked.

"Mm." Chen Luo nodded.

Alicia was an intelligent girl, and naturally she could glean something from Mebius's few words.

Moreover, Alicia might have gone directly to ask her in person.

"I can tell the end of the previous civilization has given you a huge sigh of relief. Alright, alright, it's all over now." Alicia gently stroked Chen Luo's forehead.

"Well, speaking of which, how much cake did you eat?" Chen Luo asked somewhat awkwardly.

Alicia's action made Chen Luo feel as if Alicia was coaxing a child.

Today I'm an adult!

Or perhaps they've already reached adulthood!

"Sigh, do you still want to eat? I knew it! That's why I saved some for you while Yuyuko was eating so much." Alicia whispered in Chen Luo's ear.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll send it to your group email later," Alicia said with a smile.

"I was originally going to ask if there was enough cake? If not, I can make more. But since it's cake that Ellie left, I'll finish it," Chen Luo said, sitting on one of the stools at the bar.

"Cake? Do you still want some cake?" Huang Quan asked, tilting his head as he passed by.

"This one……"

"Hey, Lolo, do you still want some cake?"

"It's a pity, Lolo, you should have come back sooner."

Chen Luo and Alicia were talking very quietly, and no one else heard them, but Huang Quan did not make any special effort to quiet down.

However, unlike the regretful voices of these girls, Chen Luo's group email inbox was constantly receiving text messages.

There was also a small cake attached to the text message.

All sorts of things, strange and unusual, scattered and disorganized...

Upon seeing the cakes, Chen Luo turned to look at the bar's kitchen.

After hesitating for a moment, Chen Luo checked the kitchen's access history, and then his screen was flooded with messages.

Wow, everyone baked a cake, right?

Did you two agree on this beforehand?

Does no one ever make a bad cake?

Chen Luo noticed that some people who were confident in their skills did not use the bar's auxiliary cooking function.

Yes, but guess who's in the bar?

After a moment of surprise, Chen Luo turned to look at Yuyuko, who was still eating.

You've really had a tough time, Yuyuko.

The bar's kitchen is also a special area. If a group of people enter, they will be in one kitchen, but if everyone wants to cook their own food, countless people can enter different kitchens.

Seeing the smug expressions on everyone's faces in the bar, Chen Luo chuckled.

Even Xiao Shi baked a surprisingly shaped cake, but according to the interview records, it seems that Fu Hua personally corrected Xiao Shi's technique.

Perhaps these people had already made arrangements before Chen Luo returned.

But in any case, this proves that at least in the bar, there are many people who care about Chen Luo.

[They genuinely care, but their true intentions are uncertain.]

"..."

"Haha, I wasn't here when I offered you cake, now you have none, huh?"

"???" Chen Luo looked at Merlin in surprise.

Merlin, has anyone ever told you that you are really brave?

"Hmm, why are you looking at me like that? Do you expect me to save you a piece? Hmm... You know what, I actually do have a piece. I was originally planning to feed it to Fufu. You can have it if you want."

"No need, there's absolutely no need," Chen Luo quickly shook his head.

"Fine, then forget it. Speaking of which, after successfully defeating the Lion King with Artoria, that beast Fou isn't behaving like it did when we first met. Maybe if I bring it a little cake, I can win it over... I mean, I can make it behave."

"...You really are heartless."