Chapter 878: Mysterious disappearance

Another forty-five years later, the existence of the Cocoon was made public, and at the same time, she was besieged.

Aircraft, artillery arrays, various heavy siege weapons were all brought out, along with powerful Ability Users, many of whom had reached Ninth-Grade, capable of supersonic movement and even easily slaughtering cities, truly terrifying existences.

The Mortals made a foolish decision; if they had continued to strip away the god's thoughts and trample on the doctrines, then the Cocoon would have quickly died and dissipated on the spot.

But, they actually chose to engage in direct combat.

Directly challenging a terrifying existence that their own civilization had accumulated over thousands of years.

One must know that the Cocoon's strength was 'Eighth-Grade'; with a full burst, she was enough to shake mountains and obliterate cities.

Not slaughtering cities, but obliterating them, directly turning cities into flat ground, which is not on the same scale as slaughtering cities at all.

Challenging such a powerful Spirit of the Era was extremely unwise, and could even turn all advantages into nothing.

However...

The Cocoon did not retaliate.

She endured all the attacks, yet showed no reaction whatsoever.

Just as it was said at the very beginning.

'Cocoon', the strongest anomaly on record, calling herself 'Cocoon', possessed an extraordinary friendliness towards humans, unconditionally accommodating even when attacked, abused, or criticized, just like a mother.

The bombing lasted for three days and two nights.

Of course, for this world without sun and moon, their way of telling time was not like this; this was Li Qi's way of calculating.

In short, after three days and two nights, the Cocoon was on the verge of death.

At this moment, Li Qi suddenly stepped out of the shadows.

The world instantly became still, with only the Cocoon and Li Qi still capable of movement.

Li Qi walked to the side of the heavily wounded, dying Cocoon and said, "You're about to die."

"Mm..." The Cocoon only let out a low hum.

There was no blood on her body, and she even appeared to be in perfect condition, without a single external injury.

This was determined by her nature.

From the very beginning of her birth, the believers had never considered the possibility of 'God' being injured, and naturally had not thought about what she would look like when injured or dead, so there was no material for injury in her 'settings'.

But the absence of material does not mean she cannot die.

"Do you regret it? You should have broken free from your shackles, right? Why insist on not attacking Mortals? You could clearly suppress them with violence." Li Qi asked.

"I don't want to do that." The Cocoon replied.

"Don't want to... Yes, don't want to." Li Qi sighed, looking up at the sky.

Demonic Dao.

This is the Demonic Dao.

The most terrifying aspect of demonic thoughts lies in 'want' and 'don't want'.

Many things are not due to foolishness or inability, but simply 'not wanting to do them'.

Similarly, many things are not unknown to be bad, but one just 'wants to do them'.

Knowing it will be difficult after not getting into high school, but just not wanting to study.

Knowing he's a scoundrel, but still wanting to marry him.

Within the Desire Realm, demonic thoughts is especially profound, because here, demonic thoughts can truly manifest into reality, not just influence the mind.

"You are like this, and so am I. So... goodbye, Cocoon."

"There's no need to grieve for me; they will eventually break free from their cocoons, which is a good thing. After all, I am not their mother... I am just a placenta. When the baby is born, that is also the day I wither." The Cocoon said calmly.

Despite her calmness, Li Qi still sensed a hint of bitterness.

She had always regarded herself as a 'mother', but she was not a mother, never was.

Li Qi was noncommittal about this; in fact, he would not grieve over it either. No one understood all of this better than he did.

He merely nodded slightly in acknowledgment, then stepped aside.

He would give these people a choice and respect their choice; this was the Universe's greatest gift.

Unfortunately, many people do not cherish the opportunity to choose; they do not understand how precious it is to 'have a choice'.

Therefore, when a being makes their own choice based on their own mind, no matter what, this is the best outcome, and even death cannot prevent such a choice.

This is enough; this is the best outcome for a living being, to accomplish what they want to do in their chosen way. There is nothing more meaningful in this world than this.

What is done out of one's own will is valuable.

When Li Qi returned to the shadows, the world moved again.

The Cocoon was killed, and this world moved towards a new future.

The evil god who forbade technological development was finally destroyed.

Li Qi also completely disappeared from history; he no longer interfered with anything, but maintained a state of 'integrating with natural', arriving at a snow-capped mountain in this world, closing his eyes and beginning to meditate.

It's almost time; for this last bit of time, let's meditate and rest.

Time flew by, and another one hundred and twelve years passed.

During this period, the entire world flourished.

First, they managed the environment and rectified factory technology, removing the billowing black smoke that had previously covered the sky.

Then, they vigorously developed observation technology, no longer limited to naked-eye observation, but released all previously sealed technologies by 'Cocoon', such as telescopes, and handed them over to the entire population for research and development.

They promoted education, popularized knowledge, eliminated the existence of theology, clarified the principles of 'Spirits' and 'Abilities', and cultivated 'healthy and upright Ability Users'.

These 'healthy and upright Ability Users' were not the madmen who previously relied on psychological trauma to increase their mental power, but rather those who, through their own strong will, long-term training, and tempering of the mind, actively mastered this power that relied on willpower.

That's right, the growth of mental power, besides explosive emotions and stress reactions almost like psychological trauma, can actually be trained through willpower itself.

As long as one's subjective will is firm enough, one can naturally utilize the power from the mind, and this way, it won't produce so many mentally ill people.

Thus, everything became better.

The world became more civilized, various countries signed various agreements to maintain moral bottom lines, and various terrifying 'anomalies' gradually became urban legends, while benevolent or neutral 'Spirits' began to appear in large numbers.

Spirits of cities, Spirits of schools, Spirits of parks, and even Spirits of certain long-serving ships and guns.

Most of them inherited people's beautiful thoughts about them, possessing pure and dreamlike personalities.

Yes, just like the Cocoon, these Spirits were generally quite simple, without the complex inner workings of humans. Although they had their own thoughts, just like two-dimensional characters, tsundere is tsundere, cute is cute, proud is proud; they wouldn't be too complex, with clear and flat personalities, very easy to understand.

After all, they were originally phenomena condensed from some kind of collective consciousness.

The most typical examples were ships and trains; in the tradition of this world, transportation tools, due to their gentle and silent nature, were generally considered female.

Therefore, on large transoceanic ships, there would be a distinct Ship Girl, either youthful and beautiful or experienced and mature. They also became the best companions for captains and crew, and there were even cases of falling in love and marrying ships.

Similarly, every school, every city, and even many streets and parks would give birth to corresponding Spirits.

The entire world rapidly transformed, becoming a world where humans and Spirits coexisted.

In such a world, peace became the main theme, and people's most basic longing for peace was also embedded in various Spirits. Even if Spirits condensed from negative emotions, similar to 'murderous anomalies', occasionally appeared, they would be dealt with quickly.

Moreover, such situations became increasingly rare.

In a world with an overall peaceful, friendly, and positive atmosphere, the birth of negative emotions would naturally be much less.

And there was also a rather terrifying power here.

That is 'public opinion can melt metal'.

When a person is hated by everyone in the world, that person will truly die.

Under this pressure, the world also became increasingly peaceful.

As this situation gradually spread and intensified, the much-touted technological progress also began to appear. In the eightieth year after the Cocoon's death, the second world-wide 'Spirit' emerged.

Or it could be called the God of Technology, the God of Development, a deity like a father urging the world to advance rapidly.

A world where science and technology, mental power, and the interaction between humans and Spirits developed intertwined, thus rapidly moved forward.

But Li Qi did not get involved in the specifics.

Moreover, there was also a very interesting little interlude during this period.

That is, sixty years after the Cocoon's death, the top-secret files concerning the mysterious anomaly 'Li Qi' were declassified after their secrecy period expired, and his existence became known to all.

However, the entire world could not find this mysterious anomaly who could directly converse with the Cocoon; he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Many conspiracy theories arose about Li Qi's existence, and consequently, a 'Spirit' identical to Li Qi was even born.

Of course, only the appearance was identical; as for the core, it was all imagined and speculated by people.

But no matter what, technology continued to develop, and it was a fact that the world became brighter and more peaceful. People, filled with beautiful aspirations for the Universe, finally, in the one hundred and twelfth year after the Cocoon's death, launched the first manned spacecraft into the sky.

Li Qi did not intervene; he knew that his subjective observation would also affect the spacecraft's status.

He restrained his urge to watch the live broadcast and instead entered a state of secluded cultivation, sealing off all his perceptions and thoughts, and began reciting texts in his mind, preventing his subjective will from influencing the Desire Realm.

It wasn't until three years later that Li Qi finally opened his eyes and looked at this world, wondering what they had become.

To Li Qi's surprise, they smoothly explored the Universe and even launched satellites into outer space!

It was a scene of prosperity, seemingly completely unaffected by the Demon of Death.

Even when the astronauts flew into the sky and then returned, they were completely fine.

They were completely unaware of the Demon of Death's existence, and in their collective consciousness, even a friendly Spirit of the Stars was born, embodying people's beautiful hopes for the starry sky.

So, Li Qi continued to seal himself off, waiting to observe.

This time, he waited for a full thirty years, a period that should be sufficient for a major technological explosion in this world.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that... this world had already been destroyed.

"Huh?" Li Qi was stunned.

A deathly silence filled the surroundings.

It had been raining heavily for two full days in this area, and then it started to rain with sleet—in the pitch-black night and the sharp wind, Li Qi stood in the center of the city.

This desolate world was quiet, with extreme stillness all around.

The world was mostly destroyed, and not many living people remained.

What the hell! Is thirty years enough to destroy the world? And it doesn't seem like there was external interference; was this self-destruction?

He quickly got up and walked into the streets and alleys, wanting to see how this world was destroyed.

There were no signs of war, so it certainly wasn't a civil war.

Nor was it a natural disaster; the surrounding cities were intact, only the people were gone.

Li Qi truly hadn't observed them, so he didn't know.

Stepping outside, Li Qi performed a quick calculation with his fingers, wanting to deduce what was going on.

But... the deduction failed.

Something was obstructing Li Qi from tracing Karma.

"Sure enough, is it still related to the Demon of Death?" Li Qi immediately realized this and then began to sense.

No matter how a civilization is extinguished, there should still be some survivors.

Indeed, he sensed some people who were still alive.

However, not many; there were only a few thousand in the entire world, scattered in various places, not forming large clusters, basically existing as individuals or families.

Li Qi immediately picked one at random and instantly appeared before them.

This was a middle-aged man, accompanied by an illusory 'Spirit', a beautiful young girl, leaning on the only man left in this apocalyptic world.

She was truly very illusory because only one person still believed in this Spirit's existence, so her power had weakened to the extreme.

"You—" The man looked at Li Qi in surprise.

He was wearing heavy work clothes, seemingly at work.

In this apocalypse, he was busy with who-knew-what, but he was certainly busy and covered in dust.

Li Qi also looked at the man, saying nothing.

"There are other people in this world?" The man walked towards Li Qi in surprise, seemingly without hostility.

But the young girl-like Spirit stared intently at Li Qi.

"What happened? Why are only you left in this world?" Li Qi walked over and asked.

This question also made the man smile bitterly: "Ten years ago, I had the same question as you, but now I've given up."

"I don't know, there's no why, everyone just disappeared when I woke up."

"The whole world, only I am left, and... Su Ya." He looked at the young girl Spirit beside him.

Li Qi then looked behind the man at the huge, abandoned cruise ship beached on the land.

Suddenly disappeared?

But... Li Qi didn't sense Divine Ability or magic.

Was it a ghost?