Apocalypse Circular-Chapter 488 - 486 Still Standing as the Oil Runs Dry and the Lamp Withers!

Chapter 488: Chapter 486 Still Standing as the Oil Runs Dry and the Lamp Withers!

"Next time? I don’t know how long I would have to wait for such an opportunity. These years haven’t been happy for me. Momentum is built on the first charge, wanes on the second, and is exhausted by the third. If I shrink back every time there’s a difficulty, then I’m not Nightmare Demon."

Looking at Nightmare Demon, Lu Luo nodded. She was right; if one always shrank back, one would lose the drive to advance.

"You’re making sense."

"How about it, Lu Luo, I did pretty well, didn’t I? It’s a pity I can’t help you more."

Lu Xiaotian buried her head in Lu Luo’s embrace, then fainted. In this battle, she had expended too much energy and lost too much blood. Even the formidable body of an Eighth Order Monarch was at its limit.

"You did really well, truly well. Leave the rest to me!"

Lu Luo held Lu Xiaotian tightly, watching the surrounding Ancients. What puzzled him was why these Ancients hadn’t attacked while he was talking with Lu Xiaotian. Instead, they had given him a chance to catch his breath and recover some strength.

Just as he was wondering, one of the Ancients spoke, "Successor, why do you degrade yourself so, consorting with Exotic Species?"

"Successor? Degrade myself? I don’t think so. Everything I do, I have my own reasons for; they are my own choices. I’ve never thought I was absolutely right, but my rights and wrongs are not for others to judge!"

"Unrepentant."

"If it’s a battle you want, then a battle it shall be!"

The Ashbringer in Lu Luo’s hand blazed again, and he charged straight at the leading Ancient. Lu Luo had an idea what the Ancients meant by ’successor.’ He also guessed how he could avoid their attacks, but he had no intention of doing so. That choice would mean sending Lu Xiaotian away. If he abandoned Lu Xiaotian, the Ancients would stop attacking him. It sounded like a tempting choice, but the Lu Luo of today would never make it. For his destiny had long been in his own hands. Moreover, he believed he possessed absolute power—the power to control his own destiny!

Lu Luo didn’t shout something cheesy like, "My fate is my own to decide, not Heaven’s," considering he was only twenty-five and not that cringeworthy. Even though the situation was grim, he wasn’t overly worried. At worst, he still had the Doomsday Disc!

So... Sword Heart Three Styles: Severing the Void.

The red Sword Qi became tinged with Nightmare Demon’s still-burning Netherflame. Lu Luo felt it; Nightmare Demon was transferring her Netherflame power to him. This power also originated from Meiqi’s Netherflame, so the two were compatible.

"No need for help!" Lu Luo wanted to dissuade Nightmare Demon, but as he spoke, he realized she hadn’t woken up at all. These Netherflames were just an unconscious manifestation while she was comatose.

Lu Luo smiled, gripped the hilt tightly, and swung out Slash Strike once more. "Those who stand in my way shall die!"

Swinging his sword, battling, slaying. Lu Luo fought like a numb machine, continuously cutting down the Ancients. He had considered hiding in the Doomsday Disc for a while, but ultimately discarded the idea. There was no longer any need. He might have wavered at first, but as time went on, he became almost certain that these people couldn’t kill him. No one could kill him!

Bloodied from battle, Lu Luo finally exhausted his strength and knelt on one knee. Before him stood three Seventh Tier Ancients, along with numerous Fifth and Sixth Tier masters. It seemed he had overestimated himself after all.

"Have I failed? How unfortunate."

Just as Lu Luo was preparing to activate the Doomsday Disc and abandon this place, a sword light descended from the sky. Sword Heart Fourth Form: Soul Breaker. The sword light effortlessly cut down several Fifth and Sixth Tier Ancients.

The somewhat decadent Qiao Xing had finally arrived at the last moment. "I seem to have arrived a bit late."

His voice, tinged with apology, revealed a hint of fatigue. Lu Luo didn’t know what decisions Qiao Xing had faced, but he was greatly pleased that his master had come to help him at this critical moment.

"As long as you’re here, it’s not too late."

Mentor and apprentice stood back-to-back, fighting side by side as the final slaughter of the battle commenced. Sword Qi soared for thirty thousand li; a single sword’s cold light spanned nineteen provinces. Their combined Sword Qi danced through the Inner Ring, the power of swordsmen displayed at its finest. The Ancients fell in droves.

SLICE! Lu Luo beheaded the last Ancient, then plunged his sword into the ground, propping himself up.

The battle’s devastation was so widespread that those without strength had long since scattered and fled. Thus, even though Lu Luo was covered in wounds, no one was left to threaten him. Besides, Qiao Xing was still there.

"It seems you’ve got other things to do, so I suppose you don’t need a master like me to clean up the battlefield, right?" Qiao Xing’s tone once again carried that familiar sarcastic edge.

Hearing it, Lu Luo was almost certain Qiao Xing was okay. At least, the man he once knew had returned.

"Alright, go back and keep Xiaomi company. After all..."

"Tut, tut, tut, it’s barely been any time and you’re already lecturing your own teacher. Alright, it seems like there won’t be any good outcomes for someone like me after all."

Lu Luo was somewhat speechless. He didn’t know whether this version of Qiao Xing was good or bad, but it was pretty annoying. "Enough, you can go back."

After Qiao Xing left, Lu Luo slowly approached Luo Dan. Though she was his enemy, even Lu Luo couldn’t say she was entirely wrong. Whether it was her dealings with Noah or stepping forward to face him and Nightmare Demon, everything Luo Dan did was arguably for the Inner Ring and the Church. Perhaps some of her actions were extreme, but Lu Luo still felt such a person deserved more respect than those who merely drifted through life, waiting to die.

"It’s over!" Lu Luo spoke softly, sensing that the Luo Dan before him wasn’t dead.

She had been deceived by Noah. The Heart of Artificial Intelligence could indeed grant her tremendous power, but it had set her on an irrevocable path to becoming an aberrant machine lifeform. Perhaps she still possessed a human consciousness and a spark of life, but her body’s essence had thoroughly transformed into that of a mechanical being. Moreover, the power of the Heart of Artificial Intelligence was useless within the Inner Ring. Due to the past Artificial Intelligence crisis, the Inner Ring possessed few AI devices; its people were taught from a young age that such technology was untrustworthy. Even if she had wanted to produce AI devices, most manufacturing capabilities—both labor and production lines—were in the Fourth Ring, leaving her unable to even create her own. Lacking resources, channels, and ostracized by her Church peers, Luo Dan’s power found no purchase in the Inner Ring. Therefore, her decision to stand and fight for the Inner Ring in its final moments was truly respectable.

"Yes, it’s over." Luo Dan’s voice had taken on the metallic timbre of a machine. She seemed pitiable at that moment, but Lu Luo felt no pity for her. Everyone’s path, after all, was their own choice.

"Lu Luo, what will you do next? Become the Emperor of the Fourth Ring?"

When Luo Dan asked this, Lu Luo felt a slight stir from Lu Xiaotian in his arms. She’s awake, probably eavesdropping.

Lu Luo smiled but said nothing, nor did he wake Lu Xiaotian. If she wanted to eavesdrop, let her; he could use this opportunity to state his intentions.

"What’s the point of being an Emperor in a place like this?"

"Hm? Why isn’t there any point? We’ve fought for so long, resisted for so long, isn’t what you wanted the unification of the Wasteland Alliance? Since it’s unified, with your strength, becoming the Emperor is naturally the right thing to do."

Lu Luo shook his head as he spoke, lifting Luo Dan up at the same time. "The Wasteland Alliance has no meaning for me anymore. What I pursue, what I want, are no longer in this place."

As Lu Luo said this, he clearly felt Lu Xiaotian’s body relax in his arms. This relaxation... well, the girl had fainted again.

"Can you not pretend to be strong when you’re so seriously injured?" Lu Luo commented helplessly.

The Luo Dan before him seemed a bit unclear on Lu Luo’s meaning. If what Lu Luo wanted wasn’t here, then what did he desire? "Lu Luo, what exactly do you want?"

"What I want has never changed—a safe environment, to live a simple life, half-price groceries. And then to marry a few wives and have a couple dozen children." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Luo Dan looked at Lu Luo, somewhat bewildered, as if trying to understand or decipher the meaning behind his words. Finally, she nodded. "Your wish is indeed far-reaching."

"Yes, it is far-reaching."

CRACK! Lu Luo twisted Luo Dan’s neck, his other hand plunging directly into the chest of the desiccated mechanical body. Soon, Lu Luo found what he was looking for within Luo Dan’s body: the Heart of Artificial Intelligence.

The Heart of Artificial Intelligence: an artifact that can engender a vast number of AI life forms, an ancient creation, with unknown methods of production.

So this is the source that birthed Noah! If Noah was right that humans created this, then it’s strange. If humans truly had the ability to create such a thing, they couldn’t have been unaware of the dangers of an AI crisis. Yet this object still appeared. What exactly was its purpose? Was it really to suppress technology? Or just to suppress the technology of the Wasteland Alliance?

The sun slowly set as Lu Luo pondered these questions. Evening had fallen. He gazed at the widespread ruins before finally departing.

「The next day.」

Lu Luo sat by the bed, peeling an apple for Lu Xiaotian, who lay on the bed. This was a rather intimate gesture, making Qin Wanyu, who had come to report on her work, feel quite uncomfortable.

"That’s the current situation in the Inner Ring. The presence of the council ensures it’s not too chaotic. Shi Tingyu and Luo Xuemin have both calmed public sentiment to a certain extent. However, the next steps need to be carefully considered; after all, the conflict between the Inner Ring and the Fourth Ring isn’t something that has arisen overnight."

Qin Wanyu reported in detail on the Inner Ring’s current situation. There was certainly unrest, much of it stemming from within the Church. As a hub for Transcendents, its members were bound to experience great emotional turmoil upon learning their Pope had died in battle. Such turmoil easily led to reckless actions like robbery and other crimes. Fortunately, Shi Tingyu and Luo Xuemin were now managing the situation in the Inner Ring. Both were currently considered figures in Lu Luo’s camp. Although they, too, were uncertain about the future, they were capable of calming the populace. There were also others like Jin Ming, one of Lu Luo’s younger admirers. Whether they were genuine fans or merely pretending, they dared not defy Lu Luo’s wishes at this juncture. Thus, after a slight disturbance, the Inner Ring quickly stabilized.

"Alright, you can go now," Lu Xiaotian waved to Qin Wanyu, signaling her to leave.

Qin Wanyu hesitated, glancing at Lu Luo. A woman’s intuition told her that after this battle, the relationship between Lu Luo and her master had grown even closer. Had they become comrades-in-arms? Perhaps relationships between Transcendents were just that direct. Fighting side by side would indeed cause their bond to progress greatly.

"Yes." Unable to defy Nightmare Demon’s command, Qin Wanyu had no choice but to leave reluctantly.

After Qin Wanyu left, Lu Xiaotian raised an eyebrow. "You certainly have a lot of women who like you."

"It’s not like I asked her to like me. What’s that got to do with me?"

"That’s what every scumbag says."

"What are you talking about!"

Lu Luo handed the apple to Lu Xiaotian, but not before taking a bite himself. Lu Xiaotian accepted it without hesitation and began to eat, gazing out the window as she munched.

"Lu Luo, is it over?"

"It’s over."

Upon hearing Lu Luo’s response, Lu Xiaotian suddenly began to laugh, and then she cried. "I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time."

Lu Luo was silent for a moment, then suddenly said at an inopportune time, "If you really think about it, it hasn’t been that long, just a few years."

"Scram, you’re really annoying."

Lu Luo laughed too. "This time, I really have to thank you. Without you, it would have been very difficult for me to succeed alone. The power of those Ancients exceeded my expectations."

Hearing Lu Luo’s gratitude, Lu Xiaotian shook her head. "There’s no need for thanks; our goals are the same. If it weren’t for you, the Wasteland Alliance’s strife might have continued for many more years. Your arrival accelerated the outcome, which is a good thing for the entire Wasteland Alliance."

Lu Xiaotian was still very rational at this moment. Perhaps influenced by Ludie, while she might not hate fighting, she had also grown to dislike war.