dtnovels Chapter 756 - 666: The Observers of Compassionate Civilization (8)
Chapter 756 - 666: The Observers of Compassionate Civilization (8)
The glimmering light on the sea’s surface vanished, the cold seawater ceased its movement, and in this standstill of time, Bai Youyou felt an unprecedented emptiness. The entire seabed was left with only her; all things ceased to function, and absolute silence began to clamour.
How long would she keep sinking?
Would she always sink to the bottom of the sea?
Would she be forever trapped in this space?
She had never existed.
Her memories were false.
Her life was a meticulously woven lie by others.
So, what could serve as a vessel to prove that she, known as Bai Youyou, was real?
EVA’s personality slowly overwrote Bai Youyou’s consciousness. In the end, she pondered over this longstanding troubled question.
If her existence is a false proposition, then even if her personality were overwritten, if everything about her were replaced by the new her, what difference would it make?
It would be just the same as before.
No...
Bai Youyou suddenly thought of something.
She recalled her experiences with the girls, every day and night spent together, whether it was arguing or playing along in doing silly things. To her life, that period was not long, yet it was incredibly real; she could feel her joy and sorrow springing from within.
This can prove she had been there.
Bai Youyou suddenly felt a sense of unwillingness.
This unwillingness drove her to swim upward; EVA’s traces spread to every corner of her consciousness, enveloping her self, just like the seawater around her, surging toward her from all directions, with an undercurrent of turbulent agitation!
The seed within her heart started to throb, cracking open a tiny fissure, revealing some emotions she had hidden in her heart for long.
It was precisely because of this sense of unreality that she always kept a certain distance from the girls, like two parallel lines. She would often stand at one end of the line, watching as the girls gleefully walked away, only for them to stop and wait when she belatedly chased after them.
She did not know whether she had always craved this kind of emotion or resisted it...
She knew very well, even if no one said it, even if someone as dull as Angelina could feel the presence of this distance.
She had never truly belonged to this world, longing for something to anchor her existence, yet always acted cautiously.
For this reason, she had declined Chichu Chun’s invitations numerous times, causing the latter even now to still act a little shy around her.
For this reason, she often wrapped herself with the exterior of a Law Enforcement Officer, because she couldn’t think of any other way to get along with Xu Xiaoyou; lacking the courage to try, she thus always came across as tough.
For this reason, she often used an alternate account to interact with Tang Xin as a ’music friend,’ probing into her interests and hobbies, staying up late to watch the books and operas Tang Xin might like, thus finding common topics for them.
As for Angelina.
Bai Youyou did not want to see her for the time being.
There must be a way out of here.
She just hadn’t found it yet.
Bai Youyou reached for the faint light, opened her mouth wanting to shout, the cold seawater continuously flooded her throat, while the surrounding darkness seemed to murmur, making the silence ever noisier.
She began to search desperately, dissecting everything the world once had into scenes for retrieval, with tens of millions of scenes flashing before her eyes every second.
Bai Youyou’s gaze hopped through the rapidly flashing images, unwilling to miss a single detail.
Red currents exploded, warning boxes of severe overload densely occupied her space, with immense computing power instantly bleaching her black hair into a grayish white, and the error message tone grew sharper, overpowering the silence’s clamour!
She wanted to get out of here,
did not want to vanish just like this.
She needed to find a way out of here!
In a state of extreme overdrive, EVA’s personality accelerated in overwriting, gluttonously eroding along the circuitry, occupying every space in her matrix consciousness!
Suddenly,
Bai Youyou returned to the very first tram.
The roaring sound passing through the city flickered by, the tram smoothly riding on the track, she heard the buzzing of electric currents mixed with a few passenger sighs.
Outside the large floor-to-ceiling tram window was the city skyline, while inside the compartment were the lethargic faces of passengers. She stood on the right, and a turn of her head would allow her to see the blonde girl standing in the light. Despite her evidently slender figure, none of the surrounding passengers dared to approach her.
She witnessed the girl easily pilfering someone’s wallet.
It was Bai Youyou’s first time being curious about someone else, with a seed named ’Outsider’ quietly planted in her heart.
She was curious about what kind of person with a numbed sense of empathy wouldn’t display a hint of moral compunction when doing such things.
She was curious as to why the soul hidden beneath such a proud facade was so fragile.
This curiosity drove her to desperately want to unveil the other’s disguise, urging her to follow after the person when the tram stopped, and thus the wheels of destiny began to spin.
A torrent of information incessantly poured into Bai Youyou’s mind, with thick pages of history books being flipped, people’s gaze often falls upon the epic narratives of grandeur, neglecting the humble dust that signifies the entire lifetime of the ordinary.
Bai Youyou observed, she recorded these forgotten stories, searching everything in the world, longing to discover a way to leave during this extended stretch of time.
Her phantom in different times and spaces overlapped and shattered. She wandered, hesitated throughout history, overlooking rise and fall of dynasties, untold stories buried by the sands of time.
Couldn’t find...
Where exactly?
In a search of millions, the girl’s senses dulled, then numbed, plunging her into a deeper, icier abyss, her selves entwined, peeling away into countless echoes, intentionally blurred, appearing as ghosts stemming from the dust of history.
They observed with a merciful look.
Countless memories inevitably entwined, ensnaring her consciousness in a mire of chaos.
She couldn’t do it.
Her time was still too fleeting; history’s scale, too vast, and with countless events unfolding over tens of thousands of years, it was impossible for her to find a way out in such a short span.
The glimmering light on the sea surface was obscured, slipping away from Bai Youyou’s fingertips, as if that silhouette drew ever nearer to her.
She had never hoped anyone could save her now. As an observer, she could see reality’s cruelty clearer than anyone.
Yet, she still harboured a faint hope.
If she still had a chance, she would definitely respond better to those around her.
She would agree to Chichu Chun’s requests, even if it meant staying up late for arcade games or other wilful demands.
She would show Xu Xiaoyou her truer self.
She would confess her identity as ’music friend’ to Tang Xin, occasionally leaning on her to share her heart’s worries.
As for Angelina, given another chance, she’d ensure not to get drunk under her company again.
Bai Youyou slowly closed her eyes, her vision in the blurred slit being occupied by a silhouette of silver.
"Hey, how long do you plan on daydreaming?"
A cold, hoarse voice echoed.
"Angel...?" Bai Youyou slowly widened her eyes, "Angelina?"
The silver-haired girl swam downward, her cold facial contours becoming clear in Bai Youyou’s eyes, the long silver hair in the deep, dark sea was so dazzling.
In the icy abyss, Angelina grabbed her hand with a high-spirited smile.
"Let me guess, were you just thinking something bad about me?"
"Don’t look so gloomy," Angelina tutted, "Alright, at times like this, I’m the only one who can save you, I understand your feeling of despair."
"Why did you appear here?" Bai Youyou murmured in a lost voice.
The seed within her completely shattered at this moment, bursting with countless emotions.
"Instead of asking me why first."
Angelina firmly grasped Bai Youyou’s hand, swimming upwards.
The surrounding scene began to change, the pitch-black ocean instantly deconstructing, massive rays of light pouring through the sea surface, illuminating the girls’ upward-moving silhouettes, the raging undercurrent receding, the darkness surrounding Bai Youyou snapping root by root!
"It should be me asking you first, was everything you thought of just now true?"
"What?"
"To let them see the real you."
Bai Youyou paused, the tears in her reddened eyes flickering light, finally nodding heavily.
"Yes, for sure."