Chapter 401 - 398: The True God

Chapter 401: Chapter 398: The True God

"God, don’t go..."

The voice seemed to come from the dust that filled the sky, yet it also seemed to originate from the massive vortex above.

Mo Ling knew the voice was speaking to him.

"God? Me?" Mo Ling was confused.

The piercing gazes suddenly turned humble. Countless specks of dust gathered around the Block, treating it as the center of their universe.

Seeing that Mo Ling had stopped fleeing, the voice realized he had understood its words and stopped adjusting its pace.

The Block floated silently in the center of the pure region. The vortex slowly descended, stopping just above the Block.

A terrifying pressure washed over him. Mo Ling felt as though he was seeing a millstone of time, spinning with the vortex, endlessly grinding everything to dust.

And yet, the voice that came from the vortex was filled with humility:

"God, please help us."

Between the gray sky and earth, countless specks of dust prostrated themselves before the Block, recounting their suffering.

"God, petrification... has stalled..."

Through the narrative told by the clattering of arthropod limbs, Mo Ling slowly began to understand everything.

...

The Stoneling race once had a genius.

When the Stonelings were still in their insectoid form, that genius created a vortex that could accelerate the petrification of the entire race.

The Stonelings had thought they could all follow this genius and achieve a perfect petrified form, using their finite lives to explore infinite time.

But one day, the genius suddenly stopped the great vortex.

It told the Stoneling race, "Petrification is a mistake. At the end of time, there is only nothingness."

It left the race, even reversing all the petrification on its body, and vanished.

The Stoneling race, unwilling to give up on petrification, could only imitate the genius’s earlier methods to maintain the vortex.

Although the vortex wasn’t as effective as before, it thankfully still functioned, continuing to draw in Petrifying Dust.

However, this didn’t last long. One day, the Stonelings discovered that their petrification had stalled.

The Stonelings thought there was another problem with the vortex and rushed to inspect it, only to find it was still operating normally.

After endless searching, the Stonelings finally reached a terrifying conclusion—they were running out of Petrifying Dust.

It was the key to their petrification. Without the dust, their transformation could never continue.

The vortex still spun, but it could no longer attract any dust.

The Stonelings panicked. They used the vortex’s power to search the entire world, but they found no new dust.

They had considered a vortex malfunction or sabotage by another race, but they never imagined the ultimate obstacle to their petrification would be a simple lack of dust.

Just then, they came up with a solution: shrink the vortex to make the Petrifying Dust denser and the petrification more concentrated.

Unable to adjust the mass, they could only reduce the volume to increase the density.

This method quickly produced results, and the petrification continued.

But this didn’t last long. Soon, the Stonelings discovered the vortex was no longer large enough to contain their bodies.

So, the Stonelings made a decision—to abandon their bodies.

"It is enough to petrify only the mind."

A mind has no volume and wouldn’t take up space in the vortex. Unlike a physical body, it requires no sustenance and has no such constraints.

The Stonelings spent a long time searching for a way to separate their minds from their bodies.

But in the end, they discovered the method was right there with them.

"Petrifying Dust."

The Stonelings could control the Petrifying Dust, and in turn, the Petrifying Dust could house their consciousness. Through tireless effort, they finally transferred their minds completely into the dust.

From that point on, they had become an entirely new race.

They had abandoned their bodies for the sake of petrification.

But out of habit, they would still gather the dust into the shape of stones. This form of existence gave them a sense of peace.

As the vortex continued to shrink, the petrification continued as well.

But the Stonelings knew this couldn’t last. The vortex could not shrink infinitely, nor could the dust be compressed forever.

"We need more dust." The Stonelings knew exactly what the key to their problem was.

So, they came to the Sea of Creation, hoping to create a god to help them find more dust.

"We have no other way. The dust is severely depleted."

"Please help us, God."

"Petrification must continue. We have not yet seen the end of time..."

Amidst the dust-filled sky, Mo Ling seemed to hear the whispers of countless Stonelings.

They spoke of their suffering and expressed their desires.

"Oh, God, I still haven’t seen a dying star, I haven’t seen the multicolored nebulae... I want to see them, I really want to see them..."

"Oh, God, I don’t want to become just another speck of dust in the world, fading into oblivion. I want to reach eternity, I want to see the end of time..."

"God, please help us. We can abandon everything—our bodies, our minds, even our freedom—as long as we can reach the final stage of petrification..."

These pleading voices enveloped the Block, as if it had truly become their god.

Listening to these desperate voices, Mo Ling was speechless.

’They still refuse to give up on petrification. In fact, they’ve become even more obsessed with it.’

Mo Ling’s heart was a tangle of complicated emotions. He had once shared the same goal as these Stonelings, but after witnessing that nothingness, he had given it all up.

He even began to doubt if everything he saw when he had become a Stoneling was real.

Mo Ling didn’t understand why he had suddenly become the god of the Stonelings.

’To become a god, must I experience everything their race has gone through?’

The gazes around him did not disappear. Mo Ling suddenly realized they weren’t simple stares, but countless gazes filled with expectation—that was why they felt so sharp.

Beneath the vortex, amidst the dust-filled sky, the Block became the object of all the Stonelings’ prayers.

The chaotic voices assaulted Mo Ling’s heart.

Mo Ling stood inside the Block, looking at the dust covering the ground, utterly conflicted.

He wasn’t a god, but he could grant the Stonelings’ wish.

But should he really let these Stonelings continue down the wrong path?

’Why do I have to be the one to choose?’

The mirrored surface, now gray and shrouded in dust, no longer shone with a pure light. The vortex spun slowly, awaiting Mo Ling’s response.

Without him noticing, the Stonelings had fallen silent.

Everything was quiet again, but the gazes had grown even more intense.

’If you were a god, what would you do?’

’Would you choose to deny their wish and correct their path, or would you grant their misguided wish and leave them to their fate?’

’Since you’re already completely entangled in this, how can you transcend it?’

’And if you cannot transcend, how can you become a true god?’

Countless questions suddenly erupted in Mo Ling’s mind, leaving him breathless...