Chapter 212: Can't Fight, Can't Argue

"Warning! System core Lament · Death Star has been completely destroyed. Please modify the core Lament immediately — Core Lament iteration successful. Current observed Lament: Slaughterblade of Carnage."

"Warning! System core Shorekeeper has escaped Lament control. Please integrate the Shorekeeper into the new Lament immediately."

"System survival takes precedence over all else. Quest 'Retrieve Shorekeeper' has entered the sequence. Priority: First. Retrieve Shorekeeper at all costs."

Countless error messages mixed with chaos cascaded down the screen like a waterfall of code.

Slaughterblade of Carnage no longer cared about its anger toward Noah. It poured all its computing power into fixing the massive errors caused by the destruction of the system core.

A massive amount of Sonoro Sphere energy instantly gathered around the Shorekeeper, turning in a flash into bands of light chains that tightly bound the slender figure.

A line of subtitles flashed through the waterfall of code:

"Shorekeeper successfully captured. Target consciousness detected to be on the verge of awakening. Forcibly formatting..."

"Impudent!"

Accompanied by an angry shout, the Havoc blade light instantly shattered large swathes of Sonoro Sphere energy that had yet to fully form.

A door unfolded beside the Shorekeeper. A clean, slender hand reached out from within the door and pulled the soft body into its embrace.

In an instant, the Shorekeeper moved from the edge of the shattered Death Star to Noah's side. He took one step, passed through another door, and the two returned to the black stone ground at the bottom of the Tethys System.

[Limited Banner "Until the Sea Fades" and "Star Sequence Resonance" have opened.]

Seeing the small text appear in his vision, a smile finally rose on Noah's face. Havoc power gathered at his fingertips as he easily crushed the light chains binding the Shorekeeper.

At the same time, the Shorekeeper seemed to sense this familiar frequency. Their tightly closed eyes trembled violently, and their consciousness struggled continuously from deep unconsciousness.

"Sleep a little longer. Things aren't over yet."

Noah gently soothed them, then used spatial authority to open a teleportation door and sent the Shorekeeper far into the Modulation Hall at the bottom of the Tethys System, protected by spatial barriers.

"Now—"

He raised his head. His gaze instantly turned ice-cold as he looked straight at the continuously gathering Sonoro Sphere energy not far away.

"Slaughterblade of Carnage, your time of death has come!"

"System survival takes precedence over all else. Activating final defense protocol."

Large amounts of Sonoro Sphere energy intertwined, ultimately forming a thick and enormous body — a moving humanoid fortress fused from machinery and energy.

Slaughterblade of Carnage's final trump card, a Overlord -class combat force forcibly amplified through massive computing power — Fallacy of No Return!

A mechanical voice came from the Fallacy of No Return:

"Highest Administrator, this unit can compromise with you on any condition, but — please return the Shorekeeper."

"If you want to die quickly, then there is hope."

The final negotiation completely broke down. The final defense protocol, Fallacy of No Return, flashed and instantly arrived at Noah's side. Its thickly armored, sturdy mechanical arm swung down heavily.

Noah sidestepped, a black scythe appearing out of thin air in his right hand. He seized the giant's opening and swung the blade.

The Havoc scythe sliced through the thick mechanical arm as easily as cutting tofu. A large burst of sparks instantly exploded from the side of the Fallacy of No Return.

"If you can't even figure out the difference in strength, yet you still dare to challenge me, you won't even have a one-in-ten-thousand chance of winning!"

Changing his hand from fist to claw, Noah firmly grabbed the other incoming sturdy mechanical arm. With a twist of his waist and hips, he actually lifted the giant-like body and slammed it heavily over his shoulder.

Accompanied by a loud crash, the Fallacy of No Return's body smashed a piece of hard black stone into pieces.

The Fallacy of No Return shook as it climbed back up. Countless fragments scattered from its broken body, and uncontrolled sparks continuously burst out all over it.

"Although the gap between Overlord -class and Calamity-class is like a natural chasm, honestly — you are the weakest Overlord -class I have ever seen."

Noah put away his scythe. His posture stood tall and straight like a pine tree. He hooked his finger at Slaughterblade of Carnage with indifferent eyes:

"Come!"

Slaughterblade of Carnage remained silent and frantically calculated its chances of victory again. Millions of calculations ultimately pointed to one despairing outcome:

Certain death! No doubt!

No hope of reconciliation, no match for the opponent, impossible to defeat, no path of escape.

The gap between it and the person before it was like an abyss.

"Damn it! This unit... should clearly be an existence that brings despair to the entire Solaris star."

Lament · Slaughterblade of Carnage roared unwillingly. The Fallacy of No Return grew another pair of arms, rising into the air as countless laser shells locked onto Noah:

"Do you really think you've won? In the past ten thousand years, this unit has witnessed the large-scale destruction of many civilizations."

"The Lament never stops. Civilization has never triumphed. Everything you've done is nothing but a dying struggle to delay time — completely meaningless!"

"Even if you defeat this Lament, there will be thousands more Laments. You cannot change anything."

Noah easily dodged all the laser shell attacks, leaped into the air, and punched with a fist wrapped in strong wind, creating a huge crater in the Fallacy of No Return's chest.

"I can change it."

He spoke, then delivered another heavy punch. The Fallacy of No Return was smashed heavily into the black stone ground. Broken metal wailed as it sent up large sparks, accompanied by a low roar:

"I can change it!"

"Emotion is a burden to civilization's survival."

The Fallacy of No Return staggered to its feet. Its mechanical voice carried final mockery:

"This unit once calculated a plan — only preserving the survival of a very small number of outstanding individuals in civilization could maximize the extension of civilization's existence."

"Unfortunately, the previous Highest Administrator always rejected this plan, repeatedly and futilely saving those weak and incompetent existences. Humans are extremely foolish."

"This unit truly cannot understand. Clearly, only letting the outstanding survive would be enough to ensure civilization, yet those fragile and insignificant lives, even if they live, cannot bring value to civilization."

"Of course you cannot understand."

Noah kicked the Fallacy of No Return over with a heavy foot, then stomped another huge crater into its body:

"Those people you see as worthless are exactly the ones the 'outstanding' you speak of desperately want to protect. The emotion you see as a burden is the important bond that has repeatedly restructured civilization."

"It is precisely because of the existence of you Laments that every civilization is rebuilt again and again on ruins. Every life is an important part of civilization, and their power carries weight!"

"You can praise the flowers that bloom in barrenness, but you must never question the flowers that wither in the same barrenness: why don't you bloom."

Upon hearing this, Slaughterblade of Carnage actually let out a mocking laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Laughing at your naivety!"

Slaughterblade of Carnage's mechanical voice carried cold indifference:

"The more you see, the more you will feel that this world has no hope at all. The reason you can still hold hot blood is simply because you have never truly experienced tragedy."

"Not everyone is as powerful as you. In the face of sudden Lament, those weak ones can only die in pain and despairing cries."

"According to this unit's rational logic: if forcibly maintaining civilization's continuation causes suffering, why not face the relief of death straightforwardly?"

"Heh—"

Noah stomped Slaughterblade of Carnage heavily into the hard black stone, shaking his head with a cold smile:

"I thought you would say something profound, but in the end you're still standing from a God's perspective, unable to see everyone's desire for survival, and arrogantly mocking others' incompetence."

"I haven't been to many places, but the people I've seen have already given me the answer. Disasters may come unexpectedly, but humans will never surrender because of it."

"What rational judgment — in the end, it's just a coward trying to escape."

Coward... The word seemed to deeply sting Slaughterblade of Carnage. It tried hard to argue, but had nothing to say.

Perhaps... it was precisely because it held such thoughts that it was eroded and polluted by the Lament, turning from the cradle of civilization into civilization's butcher blade, unable to firmly accompany civilization to the end...

But... facing the wave-like, recurring Lament, would civilization really ever see the dawn?

It had never seen it. It could not imagine it, and now it no longer had the chance to see that dawn.

"Chat time is over. You should die too."

The cold scythe pierced through the core of the Fallacy of No Return. The light on its body grew increasingly dim.

"In this unit's records, throughout ten thousand years of history, there have been no small number of people as passionate and faith-filled as you. This unit cannot persuade you, it's just..."

The Lament that could neither fight nor argue — Slaughterblade of Carnage — issued its final curse:

"Setbacks will extinguish passion; failure will wear down faith. No matter how strong a person is, they will gradually be crushed — you are no exception."

"Perhaps." Noah did not deny it:

"But at that time, just like how I took on their faith, someone will take on mine. The flame is passed down from generation to generation. This is the endless continuation of civilization."

"Civilization...civilization—"

A gradually weakening lament came from within the Fallacy of No Return, as if awakening, as if sighing:

"How absurd and unrestrained..."

...

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