Pleading for Heaven and Earth to Bestow a Position!
The elder held the teenager's hand, and the two simultaneously stepped out, stepping onto the next step.
Dong——!!
The cries and shouts of troubled times echoed in their ears.
Artillery fire filled the sky, high-rise buildings collapsed, and countless former relatives and friends fell in pools of blood. The killing intent and despair impacted these two figures, as if the surging tide of the era was going to completely swallow them...
The teenager grew up.
He transformed step by step from that tender child into a young man capable of standing on his own. He grew taller and taller, tall enough to rely on that tall and sturdy physique to carve out a place for himself and the people he cared about in the torrent of troubled times.
The confusion in the young man's eyes grew less and less, while the scars on his body grew more and more. In the end, only unparalleled firmness remained in his eyes.
"Do you still dare to go forward?" the elder asked.
The elder smiled. On his weather-beaten and wrinkled face, the youthful aura of the past could still be vaguely seen. He and the young man simultaneously raised their feet and stepped onto the sixth step.
Dong——!!
...
"What did you say??!"
"When we awakened the Lord of the Red Dust, the Hibernation Pod was damaged... The X-113 Potion that maintains life functions under low temperatures cannot undergo internal and external circulation through conventional methods, especially under the circumstance that the Lord of the Red Dust has lost self-consciousness... So...
The Lord of the Red Dust cannot hibernate."
The young man's breathing was extremely heavy. Through the observation window of the laboratory, he looked at the figure lying on the metal table, his eyes full of struggle and pain.
"How could this happen... How could this happen..."
"Mr. Yao, our only option now is to send distress signals to other bases... With the Lord of the Red Dust's hibernation failed, there is only one final outcome, which is to die of old age in her sleep. So in the most optimistic scenario, the Red Dust Base can only last for fifty years.
Within these fifty years, we need to transfer the million population of the Red Dust Base to other bases in batches. Now that the realm train tracks are destroyed, this will be an extremely challenging task..."
"Is there really... is there really no other way?"
"I'm very sorry, having lost the Hibernation Pod, we cannot contend against time, Mr. Yao."
The young man's fists unconsciously clenched tight. As if thinking of something, he suddenly turned to look at the scientific researcher:
"You just said the malfunction of the Hibernation Pod is because that potion or whatever cannot undergo internal and external circulation through conventional means?"
"Yes, Mr. Yao."
"Then what if... what if I can use some means to intervene in the human body and manually control their circulation?"
The scientific researcher was startled for a moment. "This... is theoretically possible, but the original connection device is also broken. Forcible connection will cause irreversible damage to the body... Moreover, the Lord of the Red Dust has already fallen into a deep sleep. Rashly connecting the device, if it fails, I'm afraid it will instead accelerate death."
"What is the probability of connection failure?"
"...Seventy percent."
"...I see." The young man took a deep breath. "Connect the device to my body."
The scientific researcher was startled. "What did you say??"
"Connect the device to my body. If I die, then continue to evacuate the residents of the Red Dust Base according to the original plan... If I survive, I have a way to extend big sister's lifespan."
"But, but you connecting to the damaged Hibernation Pod, even if you can barely extend your lifespan, you won't be able to pass the time through deep sleep..."
"I know. As long as I can survive, it's fine... Even if I'm Barely Clinging to Life." The young man walked into the laboratory, came to the side of that sleeping figure, and looked at her cheek, muttering to himself:
"As long as I'm alive... I can contend against time for her."
An Embroidery Thread floated out from his fingertip, silently drilling into the sleeping Su Zhiwei's body.
Path of the Arts —— [Human Body Embroidery].
...
Dong——!!
When the two once again stepped up a step, the young man's body suddenly burst into a bloody mist.
Fist-sized circular wounds pierced through his limbs and back, like some extremely thick tubes connecting into his body. His originally tall and healthy body was like a gradually withering flower, becoming haggard and hunched.
"Are you still going to go forward?" the elder asked.
"...Yes." The young man smiled miserably. "It's just a few hundred years... Gritting my teeth, it'll pass."
...
The torrent of history spun rapidly beside the two of them, like a turbulent whirlpool. Countless figures gathered in the small speck of sand, waving flags and roaring angrily at the sky.
Hideous and thick black tubes extended from the damaged Hibernation Pod, connecting to that figure covered in frost.
His head hung low, and his skin was as pale as if devoid of any blood, like a puppet parasitized by the device. At this moment, several figures were standing in front of him, respectfully lowering their heads, listening to that weak yet unquestionable voice:
"I believe... art can change the era."
"I promised those Pioneers... their children would live stable and happy lives..."
"We cannot eliminate the Nuclear Radiation, and we cannot guarantee they will be healthy forever, but we can let the most brilliant flowers grow on the withered earth... Isn't the meaning of art's existence exactly this?"
"Use the Path of the Arts to paint a utopia for all living beings... One day, this ruins will change because of us."
"Let's be called... the Floating Life Painting."
The numerous figures responded, bowed respectfully to that haggard figure, and then hurriedly disappeared at the end of his vision.
That haggard and pale figure inserted with densely packed tubes watched them go away, and then slowly lowered his head, looking at the sleeping figure shrouded in Embroidery Threads in front of him.
He smiled slightly:
"If that day really comes, if I really can take that step... this picture should also be able to be finished embroidering."
"By then, will you come back?"
...
The young man's pupils instantly opened. He abruptly took a step forward, and together with the aged figure beside him, stepped onto the eighth step!
Dong——!!
A deafening sound echoed in the sky above the Red Dust Domain.
At this moment, the young man's appearance gradually aged in the washing of time, eventually turning into a weather-beaten elder... He stood together with the elder beside him, like a pair of shadows spanning across time and space.
The two figures stood on this step, gradually overlapping together, like the trajectory of history gradually overlapping with reality. Past and present were witnessed by heaven and earth at this moment.
The next moment, an aged and firm voice echoed above the firmament:
"Azure Spirit Dao Chief Yao Qing... pleads for heaven and earth to bestow a position!!"