anovelconsole Chapter 1709: Finale · Crossing the Shore Arc [52] · “The Ease of Destiny.”
Chapter 1709: Finale · Crossing the Shore Arc [52] · “The Ease of Destiny.”
[Su Ming’an played "Collective Consciousness·Intermediate" (Action System) + "Stay Away" (Conceptual Series).][Target: Ark and surrounding people in Antetolia.]
[Concept: Strengthen the recognition of order and seek a sense of security.]
...
Su Ming’an did not choose to stay away from the tragedy; instead, he transformed this crisis into a reliance on the leader.
Danger and panic sometimes can consolidate faith, the key is whether the guidance is correct.
...
[All operations completed by everyone.]
[First round begins calculation.]
...
Inside the Ark, due to the effect of Gray Mist Man 1’s "Tragic Factor" card, a child near Antetolia suddenly turned purple, coughed violently, and fainted. The surrounding crowd instantly stirred.
Pairs of eyes looked in unison, full of fear.
"What happened?!"
"Is it an infectious disease?!"
"Medical! Quickly call medical!"
"Stay away! Don’t touch her!"
Antetolia quickly stepped forward to check and commanded the medical personnel who had rushed over to perform emergency rescue.
In the commotion, some murmured among themselves:
"Did she eat something she shouldn’t have?"
"Medical resources are so tight, how much would be wasted to save just her?"
"Getting sick in this ghost place, what bad luck..."
"It’s all because the upper people brought us out of the World Game, otherwise, we would never get sick..."
However, another voice also spread, as if these thoughts had long been buried in their hearts. This was the effect of Su Ming’an’s "Collective Consciousness" card.
"Stop guessing! Didn’t you see Lord Antetolia dealing with it personally?"
"What’s the point in guessing right now? Follow the rules, listen to the commands!"
"Sigh, this child is pitiful, but who can guarantee they won’t get sick?"
"Just focus on your own work, not adding chaos is helping."
The commotion did not spread, and the medical team took away the girl. Antetolia comforted the remaining children and briefly explained the situation to the surrounding crowd. The crowd gradually calmed down.
...
[Your camp value changes:]
[Faith Value: 41→ 44 (Crisis was handled well, strengthening the collective’s recognition of order)]
[Goodness Value: 24→ 22 (Child’s sudden illness provoked some worry)]
[Danger Value: 71→ 79 (Sudden situation increased instability)]
...
Su Ming’an nodded, the value changes were acceptable. Most importantly, the "Tragic Factor" was greatly weakened and did not have severe consequences. The crowd thought more of distance and resonance rather than anger and injustice.
...Collective unconsciousness.
...Completely invisible group psychological suggestion.
This is truly... terrifying.
On the other side, Mo Yan’s vision was restored. He immediately checked his values:
...
[Mo Yan’s camp value changes:]
[Faith Value: 63→ 62 (No significant impact)]
[Goodness Value: 55→ 54 (No significant impact)]
[Danger Value: 52→ 75 (The focus of the Abyss of Resentment may have attracted the attention of certain beings or intensified the area’s chaos, affecting itself)]
...
The danger value increased, but Mo Yan was more concerned about the situation on his big brother’s side.
...
Gray Mist Man 1 (Yijulai’er) looked at his camp’s values:
[Faith Value: 38→ 37]
[Goodness Value: 5→ 5 (No significant impact)]
[Danger Value: 42→ 53 (Implanted "Tragic Factor" encountered interference, causing causality ripples, increasing the planet’s chaos)]
...
"Failed?" muttered Gray Mist Man 1, "The ’Tragic Factor’ was mostly neutralized. He indeed had a response."
Next round, he must try a more direct attack.
"Can’t let them continue cooperating," said Gray Mist Man 2, "Though it’s hard to directly drive Sique, I can try using cards like ’Narrative Conversion’ to establish connections between him and key events. As long as the logic is established, with Sique’s personality, once he sees something interesting, he will act on his own."
...
[Second round begins.]
...
Su Ming’an immediately looked at his cards.
...
["Multi-line Parallel" (Action Series):]
[Word meaning: Simultaneously advance two or more plot lines, expanding narrative capacity and tension.]
[Card Effect: After playing the card, logically connect several lines forcibly, whether allies or enemies.]
...
["Montage" (Action System):]
[Word meaning: Quickly splice different scenes and images, generate meaning through juxtaposition.]
[Card Effect: After playing the card, quickly presents the situation of several key scenes and skips the time of these scenes, directly piecing together a final logical result, interrupting any operations before the event ends by others.]
...
["Flashback" (Action System):]
[Word meaning: Insert a plot section.]
[Card Effect: After playing the card, you can interfere with existing pieces and insert a piece of plot.]
...
["Concept: Curiosity" (Conceptual Series)]
...
Su Ming’an looked at the logical relationship of "forcibly connecting several lines" on the first card.
He speculated, the effect should be like this: Mo Yan’s Awakeners are communicating with other Awakeners, initially having nothing to do with the human side. But after Su Ming’an played this card, Multi-line Parallel, the Awakeners on Mo Yan’s side would begin to pay attention to the human side and could make some interference operations through the mirror, a prop they already have.
In this way, several lines that originally had no interaction were connected.
...
[Gray Mist Man 1 used "Unlimited Confrontation" (Retention System).]
[In this round, card play is in real-time confrontation, no longer settled together. Plus, all participants can see each other’s card usage. ]
...
In an instant, Su Ming’an stopped his thoughts, no time to think anymore, playing this card meant the opponent wanted to launch a quick attack! Real-time confrontation is to make people overwhelmed.
...
[Gray Mist Man 2 played "Narrative Conversion."]
[Target: Sique.]
[Link establishing... ]
...
Gray Mist Man 2 decided to establish a consciousness link with Sique. This was his only chance to understand Sique. Due to extreme unfamiliarity with Sique’s character, this forced link was filled with risk.
...
[Su Ming’an played "Multi-line Parallel."]
[Connection lines:]
[Line A (Ark- Expedition Team): Expedition team members are undergoing safety education before departure.]
[Line B (Mirror of Creation-World Tree): Yijulai’er and World Tree noticed an ark approaching.]
[Line C (Black Water Dream-Awakener): Awakeners began to be curious about humans, their eyes turned to this grand migration.]
[Line D (World Game - Sique): Sique has detected this migration and cast an interested gaze.]
[You have played "Multi-line Parallel." Four narrative lines are linked.]
[From now on, the "Awakener" faction can interfere with your faction’s actions.]
...
Mo Yan over there can officially assist me now!
At the same time Su Ming’an was operating, Gray Mist Man 1 reacted instantly.
...
[Gray Mist Man 1 played "Action Description·Intermediate" and "Concept: Fear."]
[Target: One of the spaceship members, Kasadia.]
[Implanted action: Kasadia felt a strong palpitation and illusion, as if hearing whispers full of temptation and destruction from remote star regions.]
...
Soon after, Gray Mist Man 1 played a new card "Consciousness Stream"!
...
["Consciousness Stream" (Retention System):]
[Original meaning of the term: Presenting characters’ continuous internal activities, thoughts and sensory impressions.]
[Card effect: After playing the card, you need to specify a target faction or Chess Piece, temporarily twisting the consciousness focus in the target’s perception.]
...
[Gray Mist Man 1 played "Consciousness Stream"]
[Target: Gray Mist Man 2, who is operating "Narrative Conversion."]
...
This is a deft combination punch.
Gray Mist Man 1’s "Action Description" for Kasadia triggers Kasadia’s mental pressure. Kasadia is the most crucial character in Su Ming’an’s faction; once he dies prematurely, Su Ming’an’s faction is practically doomed.
— The Gray Mist Man aims to instill fear of the future in Kasadia, so he dares not rush towards the World Tree, or even withdraw from external expeditions!
And the second card of Gray Mist Man 1 causes Gray Mist Man 2 to fall into consciousness confusion. This seems like attacking a teammate, but is actually a cover. Because Gray Mist Man 2’s understanding of Sique is insufficient, forceful linking is prone to mistakes; using "Consciousness Stream" to interfere with Gray Mist Man 2 instead lowers the probability of being immediately detected and rejected by Sique.
Of course, this is extremely risky, based on a high degree of tacit understanding and trust between the two.
Gray Mist Man 2’s body shuddered, his thoughts instantly drawn into a vortex of his own perception. He struggled to maintain the "Narrative Conversion" operation, like a chaotic wave of information surging towards Sique.
Seeing this, Mo Yan, although not understanding the complex intentions of Gray Mist Man 1, knew he must protect his big brother!
...
["Unreliable Narrative" (Action Series):]
[Original meaning of the term: The narrator has limited knowledge, bias, or lies, creating a gap between the narration and truth, creating suspense and depth.]
[Card effect: After playing the card, certain Chess Piece operations will be concealed, making it impossible for others to spy and interfere.]
...
[Mo Yan played "Unreliable Narrative."]
[Target: Su Ming’an.]
...
Now, it’s Su Ming’an’s turn to face Gray Mist Man 1’s attack, with "Montage," "Flashback," and "Concept: Curiosity" in his hand.
"Montage" can skip events, but skipping key scenes may not work well on Kasadia’s continuous state of palpitations and illusions.
Su Ming’an thought for a moment, then played a card.
...
[Su Ming’an played "Flashback" + "Concept: Curiosity."]
[Target: Kasadia]
...
Su Ming’an set up "Flashback" content: When Kasadia briefly lost his mind due to illusionary palpitations, he inserted a flashback of childhood memories, an experience where Kasadia overcame immense fear. Coupled with "Concept: Curiosity," this could transform the illusionary palpitations in Kasadia’s subconscious into curiosity and a desire to explore the unknown planet.
...It’s really terrifying.
While making these moves, Su Ming’an trembled slightly, not out of fear, but as if seeing a vast, pale plain.
He couldn’t imagine how long the world had been dominated by these invisible forces.
So, manipulating destiny is this "easy."
Moreover, it’s something he has no choice but to do—he had to manipulate Kasadia’s consciousness, implant memories, confuse causality, alter consciousness, just to lead history in the "right" direction.
Meanwhile, on the High Dimensional level.
Sique, affected by "Narrative Conversion," "Multi-line Parallel," and "Consciousness Stream," lazily lifted her eyelids.
She sensed some noise and perceived a tragic story of low-dimensional civilization fleeing (Multi-line Parallel Line A), the call of a planet (Multi-line Parallel Line B), some eyes in the shadows (Multi-line Parallel Line C), and a consciousness trying to summon her (Narrative Conversion).
Ordinarily, she would be displeased by such rude exploration. But at the moment, perhaps in a good mood, she felt slightly amused.
She glanced briefly at the central character of all these operations—Kasadia.
Just like that, she retracted her gaze without any other actions.
...
[The second round of operations is complete.]
...
[Su Ming’an’s Faction:]
[After experiencing brief palpitations and illusions, Kasadia quickly stabilized his mind due to "Flashback" memory anchoring and the "Curiosity" concept, partly attributing discomfort and panic to the tension and anticipation of arriving at the unknown planet, choosing not to flee.]
[Faith Value: 44→72 (Multi-line Parallel, reinforced the Ark’s recognition of exploration)]
[Goodness Value: 22→21]
[Danger Value: 79→61]
...
[Mo Yan’s Faction:]
[Due to the effect of "Unreliable Narrative," Chess Piece actions are hidden, and values remain mostly unchanged.]
...
[Gray Mist Man 1’s Faction:]
[Faith Value: 37→22 (Continuous external interference triggered the Mirror of Creation’s chaos, shaking local faith)]
[Danger Value: 45→58]
[Goodness Value: 5→22 (Caused a causal reaction by healing teammates)]
...
[Gray Mist Man 2’s Faction:]
["Narrative Conversion" operation was severely disturbed by "Consciousness Stream," accidentally causing Sique to produce a hint of potential attention.]
[Faith Value: 13→44]
[Danger Value: 52→97! (She has noticed you)]
[Goodness Value: 34→33]
...
[The third round is about to begin.]
...
Gray Mist Man 2’s face turned pale.
He knew he made the wrong decision, he shouldn’t have tried to contact Sique... He played the wrong card, the second-ranked Sique found him, and felt displeased.
The danger value skyrocketed, and it was as if he was suddenly standing on the edge of a cliff.
...
[Detected that someone’s value is approaching the critical line, this round onward, "Execution Time" will begin.]
[From now on, cards are played in real-time confrontation, and all participants can see each other’s card usage.]
[Participants can communicate with each other, no longer concealing from one another.]
...
In an instant, four figures saw each other.
"...Big brother!" Mo Yan nervously looked at Su Ming’an.
"Well done." Su Ming’an nodded. Mo Yan’s operations were indeed excellent, impeccable.
Mo Yan scratched his head a little shyly, looking completely unafraid, with his eyes shining brightly.
"Opposite side." Suddenly, Gray Mist Man 2 spoke.
"Hmm?" Su Ming’an looked up. He found that he could now understand what this group was saying, likely due to the "Execution Time."