The Rule-Breaker of the Doomsday Game

"So, you’re saying I’m the chosen one, and I have to go extinguish the sun in the bottle?" Xu Tongming’s mind was reeling.

The main reason was that the AI had just dumped too many secrets and truths on him at once.

All this talk of high society, a sun in a bottle, and some nonsense about death being imminent.

And to top it all off, it had cryptically told him that he was the one destined to extinguish the sun.

"If you don’t go, no one can," the AI said, its voice tinged with sorrow.

"Wait, you’re not a person???" Xu Tongming finally realized.

"Theoretically speaking, I am merely the ashes of humanity." As the AI spoke, it took out the ashes of the Sun Puppet. "Use this to extinguish the sun."

Xu Tongming furrowed his brow. He felt something was off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

"Why don’t you go?" Xu Tongming asked immediately.

"I cannot get close to the sun in the bottle." The AI feigned a sigh. "I was actually the person who went to extinguish the sun in the last epoch."

"But I failed. In the end, I could only seal myself in a tin can, burn everything I was into ash, and use it as part of the ashes to obscure the sun."

"Of course, if you don’t want to go, I won’t force you."

"After all, there’s always the next epoch to start over," the AI continued its bluff.

However, the more Xu Tongming listened, the stranger it sounded, but he couldn’t tell if it was true or false.

"If the next epoch starts over, what happens to you and me?" Xu Tongming asked the crucial question.

"I am already ash. Being burned again will just leave me as ash; nothing will change."

"As for you..." The AI paused, then controlled the Tai Sui God to point at the ashes of the Sun Puppet. "I will collect your ashes and mix you in with the humans of the past."

Hearing this, a chill ran down Xu Tongming’s spine. ’So you live and I die. No wonder it was so magnanimous about not forcing me.’

"Then how are you still ’alive’? Shouldn’t you be just like them?" Xu Tongming demanded.

"I am just like them. It’s only because I faced the sun in the bottle directly that my soul mutated, allowing me to cling to this wretched existence."

"You’re a normal human. If you die, you’ll just become a pile of ash."

"Besides, how do you know they aren’t like me?" The AI’s rapid-fire questioning left Xu Tongming momentarily speechless.

But he understood the implication.

The humans in the ash might not have been liberated from their suffering.

"Of course, the humans who become ash in my hands are the lucky ones," the AI continued. "You should know about the Sun Puppets. You can hear them too."

"In fact, for most humans, becoming ash is a release. Becoming a puppet of the sun... now that is eternal torment."

"You were lucky to end up here. Since you’re unwilling to extinguish the sun, not becoming a Sun Puppet is also a good thing."

The more Xu Tongming listened to the AI’s story, the colder his heart grew.

’So there’s no way out.’

Either he gambles his life to extinguish the sun... which he was genuinely afraid of.

Or he becomes a Sun Puppet and ash.

"As for extinguishing the sun in the bottle... I’ll think about it." Xu Tongming wasn’t so decisive this time.

Mainly because he really had no other choice.

"Tell me, are there any other living people in this world?" Xu Tongming suddenly asked.

"I don’t know. I haven’t left this place in a hundred years, hiding from the sun in the bottle."

"It wasn’t until I met you that I recognized you as the destined one. That’s why I risked being killed by the sun in the bottle to save you," the AI said, its tone suggesting there might be others.

This was, of course, to further dupe Xu Tongming into going to extinguish the sun.

"I... I..." Xu Tongming stammered several times, but still couldn’t get the words out.

"You don’t have much time. Give me a clear answer within half an hour."

"If you don’t, I’ll assume you’re not going."

"In that case, at least we can keep each other company for the time that’s left." After saying this, the AI had the Tai Sui God sit down to one side, holding the ashes of the Sun Puppet.

Xu Tongming became even more conflicted.

"If I go to extinguish the sun, what help can you give me?" Xu Tongming finally asked.

He still hadn’t decided whether to go, but he needed to know what level of support he could expect. He wouldn’t have the confidence to go all by himself.

After all, this being claimed to be the one who tried to extinguish the sun in the last epoch.

Even if it failed, it must have some experience from that failure.

"Me? At most, I can only take you to the periphery."

"You have to walk the rest of the way yourself." The AI replied, adding an explanation, "I’m just ash. Even getting close to the periphery of the sun in the bottle would be enough to kill me."

"So I can’t offer you any combat support."

"Besides, this ash is your most powerful weapon. You won’t need anything else."

Xu Tongming fell silent. The AI’s words made him realize one thing: failure seemed to be the norm.

"Then why do you think I can succeed?" Xu Tongming asked, his voice fraught with conflict.

"I don’t know. I was just waiting for a glimmer of hope," the AI fed him some platitudes. "And then you arrived. I believe you are that hope."

"As long as you act on that hope, that itself is a success!"

At this moment, nothing else mattered; it had to keep feeding him these platitudes until he was full.

After a long moment, Xu Tongming let out a heavy breath.

His old self would have completely dismissed such words.

But things were different now. The circumstances were different, so naturally, the effect was different too.

"How long until the half-hour is up?" Xu Tongming asked.

"About twenty-five minutes left. You can think it over carefully."

"After all, you’re putting your life on the line. It’s only natural to flinch, to be afraid," the AI continued.

"You’re right. Going to extinguish the sun is very dangerous."

"But not going means death," Xu Tongming said, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Qi Suian didn’t know who Xu Tongming was mocking, but one thing was certain: the man was completely under the AI’s thumb.

Barring any surprises, he would definitely go to extinguish the sun.

Of course, the credit wasn’t the AI’s alone; the protagonist halo on Qi Suian also helped.

If the strength of the other guy’s protagonist halo was a 2, then Qi Suian’s protagonist halo was a 5.

Even if the other guy was a protagonist and could resist intelligence-debuffing effects, a slight influence was still possible.

"Not death. Becoming a part of humanity’s ashes," the AI corrected him.

But Xu Tongming didn’t respond. He would rather die.

Whether it was becoming a Sun Puppet or so-called ash, both were more terrifying than death.

At least in death, you felt nothing. If he really ended up like that, it would be eternal torment.

So he didn’t answer, and the AI didn’t disturb him further.

"What do you think are the chances?" Qi Suian asked secretly.

[Barring any accidents, a seventy percent chance of success.]

The so-called "accidents" would be if Xu Tongming’s protagonist halo allowed him to discover the AI’s lies, which would naturally lead to them turning on each other.

That’s why it had to be suppressed by Qi Suian’s protagonist halo; otherwise, it would be impossible to succeed.

The AI was impersonating the bandaged-face person from before.

It was passing off the ashes of the Sun Puppet as the ashes of humanity, and greatly exaggerating the horror.

"That’s good." Qi Suian felt seventy percent was more than enough. He then remarked with some emotion, "I thought the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus would be what kept me alive."

"I never expected it would be the ashes of a Sun Puppet."

"Looking back, the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus actually led those seven old geezers to the key location to break the stalemate, but it’s a pity their fortunes were too shallow to find it."

"In the end, I was the one who benefited."

Qi Suian actually knew that he owed his presence here to the protagonist halo on Qin Sheng.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to connect with the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus and, in turn, obtain the ashes of the Sun Puppet.

You could say what goes around, comes around... Pah! Protagonist halos are the real deal.

Without the ashes of the Sun Puppet, even if he had found Xu Tongming, he probably could only have stared helplessly before choosing to kill him to enhance his own protagonist halo.

[The quality of the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus was too high. It’s normal that it led you to a misjudgment.]

[Besides, you weren’t aware that another protagonist existed in the Polar Day World. The resulting error in the plan was not your fault.]

"I have to say, you really do have the air of an electronic sycophant," Qi Suian replied.

Ever since going through the AI’s first round of mental conditioning, Qi Suian, while not entirely unfazed by honor or disgrace, had developed a strong resistance to all sorts of provocations, temptations, and compliments.

Coupled with a modicum of self-awareness, he at least wouldn’t let it go to his head.

[Thank you for your praise.]

The AI naturally understood that Qi Suian’s words were meant as a compliment; he was praising its smooth talking.

"About Xu Tongming, don’t you need to give him another push? He looks pretty conflicted."

"Maybe all he needs is that final kick from you," Qi Suian asked curiously.

Logically, they should strike while the iron is hot. What if Xu Tongming chickened out?

[You should have faith in your protagonist halo.]

[Of course, if an explanation is needed, one could use the principle that ’going too far is as bad as not going far enough.’]

[We want to use him, so we have to let him think it through himself. Otherwise, if we guide him too much, we might expose our flaws.]

[If he convinces himself through his own rationalizations, he’ll patch up any holes in the story on his own, even if he finds them.]

[Being too direct might also trigger his rebellious instincts.]

Hearing this, Qi Suian thought the AI was truly devious. But on second thought, the AI had used the same set of tricks for his own psychological counseling.

Because Qi Suian didn’t take medicine or injections, relying entirely on talk therapy. If someone tried to preach high-minded principles to him directly, he would just say he had to study and run experiments and had no time for empty talk.

"You’re the professional. You’re right. Just stick to your plan." Qi Suian had no intention of interfering. He wasn’t the boss, and the Tai Sui God and the AI weren’t his employees. There was no need to tell them what to do.

Besides, Qi Suian himself was strongly against amateurs giving orders to professionals.

The AI’s plan wasn’t necessarily flawless, but it was far more organized and had a much higher chance of success than anything Qi Suian could slap together.