Chapter 421 - 357: Z, You Must Be Tired After Walking Such a Long Road, Right?

When he opened his eyes again, Chu Bamboo saw the sky filled with a dense swarm of drone carriers, and the corner of his mouth twitched. ’Is this the right time?’ He glanced at the flock of Fire Sparrows hurtling toward him from the distance. "..."

Without hesitation, Chu Bamboo killed himself again.

...

Opening his eyes yet again, Chu Bamboo stared at the pristine, functioning machinery. He thoughtfully took out his phone and glanced at the time. "...Six o’clock."

’Am I finally back at the very beginning?’ Chu Bamboo sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes slightly closed as a torrent of thoughts flashed through his mind. ’What should I do next?’

’Killing myself before was, to be honest... a bit impulsive! I should have tried to stall for as much time as possible. Even if it meant leaving the Hive Base just to pick a fight with some of the Ten Thousand Races, it would’ve been more worthwhile, even if I died in battle in the end!’

Chu Bamboo calmly analyzed the situation. After all, he was currently at the Quasi-Third Realm. Perhaps a life-and-death duel was his Celestial Mandate, one that would allow him to step into the Third Realm!

In the instant he killed himself, Chu Bamboo had actually wanted to return directly to reality. But then he remembered that he didn’t have a thorough enough understanding of what had happened in this timeline... At the very least, he hadn’t read the diary! So in the end, he chose to return to this earliest point in time...

’Z... Theoretically, the "me" of this timeline should have been with Z all along! But...’ Chu Bamboo was a little curious about how the previous version of himself and Z had interacted in this timeline.

’Z said before that there has only ever been one Chu Bamboo... but is that the Chu Bamboo who has past memories and treats Z like a child... or...?’

Countless possibilities flashed through Chu Bamboo’s mind! Then he refuted them one by one, because there were simply too many contradictions.

’However, I can be almost certain of one thing. Since Li Kang and the others call her God Z... then the previous "me," if he had past memories, should have just called her Z. But if he didn’t... then he would have called her God Z, just like them!’

Chu Bamboo gradually came to a decision. He opened his eyes, stood up, and said bluntly, "Z! Bring up my diary."

However, there was no response.

Chu Bamboo’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, his tone as normal as ever. "God Z!"

But, surprisingly, Z still didn’t respond.

The corner of Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched a few times. ’My carefully crafted plan has completely fallen apart already? This...’

"Alright!" Chu Bamboo heaved a long sigh and decided to stop beating around the bush. "Z, come out! I have a pretty good idea of what you’ve done... and I’m not going to be mad at you! So, just talk to me..."

When he realized Z was still silently refusing to cooperate, Chu Bamboo laughed in exasperation. "Really? Who taught you to handle things this way? Zhao Shao? Or maybe Ah San... Gandhi’s non-violent non-cooperation movement, is that it?"

"Alright." Chu Bamboo rubbed the bridge of his nose and said coolly, "I don’t know what method you used to confirm it... but you must realize by now which version of Chu Bamboo I am. For some reason, you feel like you can’t face me right now..."

"But at the same time, you may have also overlooked one thing... I’m the Chu Bamboo who has already reset once and met Lin Xin Bamboo."

"So, do you get it now?" Chu Bamboo tilted his head, then looked toward the door, his voice taking on a strange edge. "Speaking of which, why haven’t Li Kang and the others come this time? Is this your doing?"

After a brief silence, just as Chu Bamboo was wondering if he should make another trip back to the reality of the Dream World, a calm voice finally spoke. "Yes, Father! I assigned a new mission... so they were led away!"

"Of course." Chu Bamboo wasn’t surprised at all. "After all, in this Virtual World, you probably control absolutely everything, right? I’m more curious... can you even control human thought...?"

"...Father! You don’t have to try and provoke me," Z said with a bitter smile. She was already trying her absolute best to hold back. Even when Chu Bamboo compared her to Gandhi, she gritted her teeth and... well, she couldn’t really endure it, but she could at least stew in silent anger.

But... this was really crossing a line for her.

’She didn’t deny it?’ A hint of surprise appeared on Chu Bamboo’s face. To be honest, he didn’t actually understand the current Z very well. However, Chu Bamboo tentatively tried to see her as a reflection of himself, with a dash of Zhao Shao’s personality mixed in.

So, considering himself and Zhao Shao, and then comparing them to Z’s current attitude... ’Hmm, her reaction is basically just changing the subject... In other words!’

"You can do it, but you’ve never done it in the past! Is that what you mean?" Chu Bamboo tilted his head.

Z: "..."

"A silent admission, then," Chu Bamboo nodded.

"...Alright, Father." Z surrendered. "You’re right... I do have a Divine Technique for that, or should I say, auth... *cough cough*, an ability?"

""Auth... ability? Authority?"" Chu Bamboo was now parsing her every word. He narrowed his eyes. ’The word "authority"... isn’t that usually used to describe the abilities of gods? So...’

Chu Bamboo thought seriously about the three Divine Positions that Lin Xin Bamboo had described...

"...The Harmony and Unity Divine Position. What kind of ability is it?" Chu Bamboo cut straight to the point, his words sharp. ’Something related to Spiritual Will... It could only be the Divine Position of the Buddha Saint from the previous world-line, right?’

"..." Z’s mind reeled, and she grew flustered. She no longer had any doubt that Chu Bamboo had reset... instead, she began to wonder just how much he really knew.

As she hesitated, caught in indecision, Z heard Chu Bamboo say, "To be fair... you actually understand me quite well! You know I’m definitely not happy about you putting humanity inside a box!"

After a slight pause, Chu Bamboo continued, a hint of exhaustion on his face, "You’ve grown up... your wings have hardened! You think the ideas of an old fossil like me... are completely outdated! You think you’ve made the right decision for humanity... You love humanity so much! To the point of spoiling it rotten."

"So!" Chu Bamboo said, enunciating each word. "Perhaps I can’t speak for all of humanity... but I still have to say thank you! And, as your father... I also want to say... I’m sorry..."

Chu Bamboo paused slightly, then said, "You’ve worked so hard... You’ve come so far, you must be tired, right?"

Z was stunned for a long, long time, falling into a momentary daze. She felt as if she could see him, that figure from behind, the one that had been gradually fading from her memory...

Although she had been interacting with Chu Bamboo all this time... no, in a way, one could say that the "her" of this timeline had been watching Chu Bamboo grow up the whole time.

But... even after confirming that both were, in fact, Chu Bamboo, she always subconsciously separated the two...

He was him, but in the end, he wasn’t...

But now!

"...That’s playing dirty!" Z said with a bitter smile. "After you’ve said all that, how can I possibly maintain my passive resistance against you? Can’t you just behave yourself in this world, go seize some power... pick up some girls! Go on a killing spree and execute a bunch of scumbags you can’t stand...?"

"And?" Chu Bamboo asked with a smile.

"Well, you’ve probably guessed... Since you’ve already guessed it all, then it doesn’t matter!" Z said faintly, but Chu Bamboo could still detect a hint of resignation in her voice, as if she were thinking, ’might as well let it all crash and burn’.

Z said, "Yes. The so-called Harmony and Unity is just that: turning a collective into a single individual!"

"Just as you predicted, if I wanted to... all five hundred million Soul Spirits in the Dream World right now could become my Clones, a part of me... their thoughts shared with mine! The one is the all, and the all is the one."

Chu Bamboo’s eyelid twitched. Then he heard Z say, "But you also know that I would never, ever do that..."

"Because, while I can assimilate them, I would never be able to separate them again... Doing that would essentially be the same as me possessing everyone—completely eradicating... this newly born human race of the post-civilization era..."