Unfortunately, although I also founded an organization and was called a “King,” I was never truly its leader.
The ability to lead an organization and the ability to establish one are fundamentally different concepts.
I can’t fully simulate Nie Bei’s mindset, nor do I know exactly what decisions he would make.
If it were me… if I knew for certain that an organization or a city was on the brink of collapse, what would I do?
I can only say that I’m truly not suited to be a leader, because there’s a high probability I’d abandon this city.
In the end, I can only remain a “shadow”—I operate in the darkness, and the brighter the sun shines, the deeper my presence becomes.
“But if I really want to stay…” Gu Yu raised his head to look at me. “Zhi Chun-jie… how can I stay?”
“You…” I frowned at him, knowing this was another urgent problem to solve.
I had no idea about the situation in his “interview room.” If it was like “Bamboo Shoots After Rain,” where too few people meant failure… then Gu Yu would ultimately be unable to escape.
It takes me about five or six hours to travel from one end of the city to the other. If Gu Yu truly came from another city, then each cycle, he would spend at least a full day just migrating.
“After all, I was born in ‘Jade City’…” Gu Yu slowly lowered his head. “Every time I die, I return there… When I open my eyes, I see those smiling ‘family members’… They’ve all gone mad… They smile, grab me, and whisper to me about how wonderful ‘home’ is… But all I want is to escape.”
Just listening to Gu Yu’s description sent chills down my spine.
Wait… I suddenly thought of something…
Among the five cities here, two have already completely fallen, and two more are in the process of falling.
But why is our “Dao City” so… strange?
It’s not just that it hasn’t “fallen”—there isn’t even the slightest sign of collapse.
Everyone here is still active, and many can’t even retain their “Echoes,” returning with lost memories yet brimming with enthusiasm.
Every cycle in “Dao City” sees people starting anew, making the situation here completely different from the other four cities.
What could be causing this?
I considered the commonalities between “Vortex City” and “Jade City” and quickly reached a conclusion… They were too “united.”
Once a city is unified, it acts under the leader’s orders. Whether the leader’s decisions are right or wrong, no one can ever “succeed,” because the “Land of the End” offers no path to the outside.
Thus, a “united” city is left with only two possible outcomes—either the leader is overthrown, or the leader leads everyone down the path set by “Tianlong.”
If that’s the case… could the reason “Dao City” remains healthy be precisely because it’s so *dis*united?
There are many powerful figures here—whether it’s Chu Tianqiu’s faction, Saturday’s faction, or that formidable “participant” from years ago… Countless organizations, large and small, carve out their own territories, avoiding conflict with each other at best, let alone merging into a single dominant force.
Because those with power will always have power—even if they lose their memories, they won’t willingly submit to others.
Thus, this city can never be unified.
Which means… the “strong” are the lifeline keeping this city “healthy.”
But why are there so many strong individuals in this city?
In the other four cities, is there only one strong person per city?
Wait a minute…
I actually forgot about myself.
There’s another crucial reason why people here distrust each other…
And that’s the “Extremists”!
As long as “Extremists” who can hide their identities exist, true “unity” becomes nearly impossible!
Now, “Extremists” have infiltrated every major faction… Is this just a coincidence, or is it an inevitable outcome?
A cold, clear voice suddenly echoed in my mind:
“Yan Zhichun, I present you with a problem to solve. First, I need a way to fill the people here with despair and significantly increase the likelihood of ‘Echoes’—the stronger the person, the more despair they must feel. Second, I need to prevent anyone from collecting 3,600 ‘Dao.’ If someone attempts to achieve this, you must stop them at all costs. Third, I need powerful, trustworthy ‘Echoers’ who can serve me.”
My heart raced… Wait, I need to sort out the current situation…
I think I’ve stumbled upon something incredible…
Bai Yang, the Extremists, a fractured city, powerful yet despairing Echoers, protecting this place…
“Protecting this place.”
So that’s it… He had already planned to protect this place!
All these circumstances point to one possibility…
“This was also part of his plan…” I muttered to myself. “My God…”
“Huh…?” Jiang Ruoxue looked at me. “Zhichun, what’s wrong?”
“The lifeline of this city’s health isn’t the ‘strong’… It’s ‘Bai Yang’…” I said. “This is absurd…”
Goosebumps erupted all over my body, and my hair stood on end.
What kind of thinking is this? How could he come up with such a method?
“Ruoxue… He’s using ‘division’ to ensure ‘unity’…!” I said excitedly.
“Ah…?” Both Jiang Ruoxue and Gu Yu stared at me in confusion.
“The more fractured the surface appears, the healthier the city’s core remains… What kind of reverse logic is this?” I swallowed hard. “His thinking is so many steps ahead of ours!”
“I… I don’t quite understand,” Jiang Ruoxue admitted.
I grabbed her, my excitement barely contained. “God… Ruoxue, listen to me… Even though mentioning ‘Bai Yang’ might still upset you, everything we’re doing now seems to be part of his plan.”
I briefly explained the situation to her, and her eyes slowly widened in realization.
“What…?” Gu Yu also froze. “‘Unity’ leads to destruction…?”
“Yes…” I nodded. “Over 90% of the ‘participants’ here want to ‘escape,’ so any normal organization or ‘leader’ must promise them that to gain power. But once that happens, the organization is doomed… Bai Yang foresaw this long ago, so he single-handedly fractured this place… And everything we ‘Extremists’ have done was already accounted for in his plans…”
After speaking, I slowly lowered my head again. “I thought I was clever… I believed I’d found the best way to merge ‘three problems’ into ‘one problem,’ but Bai Yang had already considered this step… As expected, for him, this truly was just ‘one problem.’ Only by introducing ‘Extremists’ here could this ‘one problem’ be solved—no other method would work.”
“W-Wait a second…” Gu Yu still looked dazed. “The ‘Bai Yang’ you’re talking about… Is he a ‘Zodiac’?”
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