Facing those lunatics climbing upward, Kexi decisively cut the nearest umbilical cord.

The lunatics jumped from the severed cord onto the one where Kexi and the others were, continuing their desperate climb toward the top.

Soon, all the surrounding umbilical cords were cut. Everyone had jumped onto the same cord. The lunatics were still frantically climbing upward, completely unconcerned about whether they would fall to their deaths after the cord was severed.

"It's time to end all this."

The old man gripped the longsword and looked at his companions around him.

He had to cut this last cord supporting them, but if possible, he wanted to seek the opinions of his companions first.

"It really is time to end it."

The middle-aged police officer lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"Cough, cough... I actually feel like dying this way isn't so bad."

Kexi took the cigarette from the middle-aged officer's mouth and took a puff himself.

"I don't really want to die yet, but it seems there's no other choice."

The woman with glasses looked down at the dense forest of sharp umbilical cords surrounding the giant infants below and the lunatics now less than ten meters away from them, sighing.

"Wuuu yi."

Little Yi looked at them with confusion, seemingly unable to understand what they were saying.

"Well then, goodbye. It was an honor to have made it this far with all of you."

The old man cut the final umbilical cord with one swing of his sword. Everyone on the cord began to plummet downward.

The lunatics didn't struggle much. They calmly accepted this outcome. It was like a collective suicide—at least this way, they wouldn't die alone.

Kexi watched calmly as the shadowy world above gradually receded. He heard the sound of death approaching.

'Huh? That sound...'

Just as he wondered what that sound was, a bandage wrapped around his body, slowing his descent.

Kexi hurriedly turned his head toward the source of the bandage. He found that the other end was connected to a flat creature somewhat similar to Little Yi. This creature extended bandages, binding all his falling companions and slowing their descent.

Seeing her falling companions caught by Little Yi, Phoebe couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Although she had the resolve to sacrifice everything, she still hoped her companions could survive.

After the umbilical cords below were severed, the cords within the shadowy area also began to disappear. Finally, only the thickest red umbilical cord remained—it was the main connecting body.

Phoebe reached her hand toward that cord, but she froze halfway through the motion.

This feeling was all too familiar to her. Lin Ye had once again taken control of her body, only this time without her consent.

"...Your job is to make the two worlds merge?"

Phoebe tried to regain control of her body, but she couldn't budge Lin Ye's will at all.

"Don't rush. That Little Yi who was transformed into a Creation of the Real World hasn't landed yet. If you cut the connection now, losing the influence of the Real World, all those people will fall to their deaths. Before they land, we still have a little time to talk."

Lin Ye stopped dividing his attention to study the Spiritual Energy Core Modification Technology. He walked to the side of the umbilical cord. This cord now connected two worlds.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Phoebe didn't give up struggling. She didn't think Lin Ye just wanted to chat. Lin Ye had been helping her solve various problems, but she didn't know what his ultimate goal was.

"Question: How did we get up here?"

Lin Ye said in a somewhat cheerful tone.

"Didn't you help me get up? Is this related to your goal?"

Phoebe had no idea what Lin Ye was talking about.

"Idiot. Details decide everything. Think carefully about the question I asked! I have absolutely no connection to this Real World. Why couldn't that lunatic, who was closer to the Real World, come up, but we could? What did I do at that time?"

Lin Ye disliked communicating with fools.

"...You let me take control of the body... I can enter the Real World?"

Phoebe, who had started thinking, suddenly recalled what happened earlier.

"Then why can you enter the Real World?"

Lin Ye continued asking.

"...Because I've been exposed to abnormal incidents for a long time?"

Phoebe asked somewhat uncertainly.

"Time doesn't represent depth. Those lunatics who can harness the power of the Real World understand it better than you do."

Lin Ye rejected Phoebe's last attempt at evasion, forcing her to face reality.

"...Am I... an anomalous creature of the Real World?"

After uttering these words, Phoebe suddenly recalled a memory that had been sealed away. It was a story about a young girl who wanted to commit suicide but couldn't abandon reality, and an anomalous creature that wanted to become human. What was that young girl's name again?

It seemed to be the same as hers. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

That's why she frequently encountered abnormal incidents. That's why it could survive in various abnormal events...

That's why it could enter the Real World, because it was born here.

"Now, you can make a choice.

Do you want to stop the Real World from merging with the reality world, or do you want to stand by and allow a world more suitable for your survival to be born?"

Lin Ye returned control of the body to Phoebe. He wouldn't stop Phoebe from making her choice. His job was only to protect Phoebe's body, not to save this world.

When he entered this body, he had discovered that Phoebe's body and spirit didn't match.

But there were no signs of struggle for control in Phoebe's consciousness world, so Lin Ye decided to give it a chance.

A chance to make a choice.

The previous Phoebe couldn't sever the umbilical cord, but the current Phoebe could, because it was Phoebe, and also an anomalous creature composed of information and flesh.

"...So what exactly is your goal? Does it not matter what I do?"

Phoebe stared at Lin Ye through the informational perspective, unable to understand this man's actions.

"I've said it before. I will protect your body until the job is done. That is my goal."

All other actions were just Lin Ye's little hobbies.

"I will sever the connection and stop the two worlds from merging. Because I promised her that I would live well in the reality world in her place."

Phoebe said calmly.

"But if the connection is severed, even I can't say for sure what will happen to you. Maybe you'll be reclaimed by the Real World, maybe you'll be crushed by the reality world. Is that still okay?"

If Lin Ye had to make the choice, he would definitely choose to let the two worlds merge, creating an environment that could allow him to survive, even if it meant sacrificing many people.

"It's okay. When I took over this body, I had already made my choice."

Phoebe showed a somewhat relieved smile and casually severed the last umbilical cord.

And so, she began to fall. The Real World gradually receded, and she became a part of the reality world.

"...I never thought I'd die this way. This is really..."

Phoebe felt as if she had returned to that night standing on the rooftop of the teaching building. The sound of the wind that night was just like now, equally noisy.

Only this time, no one could catch her.