(T/N: any captain here? what the name of these two?)
Yi Xin and Yun Xu walked over to Elysia and the others.
"Sister Vita, who are they?"
Yi Xin asked curiously, blinking her eyes as she sized up Elysia and Griseo.
"Hmm, they are guests~"
Vita replied with a gentle smile.
Elysia's face immediately broke into a happy smile when she saw the two little children:
"That's right, that's right, hello everyone~"
Yun Xu looked at them and asked:
"Guests? So, they are Sister Vita's friends?"
After receiving Vita's tacit glance, she greeted them warmly:
"Welcome to Forlorn!"
Griseo also responded politely:
"Hmm, hello."
She was quite kind to children... Afterwards, Vita found an excuse to send Yi Xin and Yun Xu to play elsewhere, diverting the two Little Vitas.
The smile on her face faded slightly, and her expression became unusually serious as she looked at Elysia and Griseo:
"So, are you really going to do that?"
She paused, then continued:
"If my future self does acquire that power, then perhaps these current changes won't need to exist."
Vita glanced at Griseo again and continued:
"What's more, you've already brought her out, so please don't create any more complications, alright?"
After all, Vita was also a smart person, even though Elysia hadn't revealed too many details to her.
But she had still deduced a general idea from those scattered words—this seemed to be a prank played by her future self on her present self.
Elysia smiled and explained:
"Actually, this can be considered a transaction, and also a way to solve some troubles for Earth in advance."
Even Su agreed with this point, as transcending the End was far more important than the current matters.
She added:
"Moreover, we will all be leaving afterwards. If Griseo chooses to stay here, we might have to ask you to take care of her then."
Upon hearing this, Vita pondered slightly. A transaction wasn't entirely out of the question.
As a clone of Sa, she had always been planning how to break free from Sa's control. The plan had been ongoing for a long time, but now it was suddenly disrupted, as if someone had deliberately played a prank.
However, now... a simpler shortcut lay before her.
Even if she was reluctant to believe in something like a free lunch, after all, she had almost no chips to put on the scale. Was it just for a vague, ethereal promise?
"So, do you think it's possible?"
Seeing her thinking, Elysia continued to ask.
Griseo spoke up from the side. She didn't have much affection for Vita, and her tone was quite direct:
"According to what Sister Elysia and Uncle Kevin told me, the right to choose now doesn't lie with you."
Vita listened, then spread her hands somewhat speechlessly, as if she was giving up:
"Alright, alright, no matter what you want to do, Little Vita can only... accept it with a clear conscience~"
She shrugged, looking indifferent, and then asked:
"Oh, by the way, do you want to look around Forlorn? And visit my family?"
Why did her attitude suddenly change?
Because... Kevin had already left. What would happen next seemed quite obvious... Elysia looked at Vita and said:
"Vita, you really seem to not care about anything, do you?"
Vita replied:
"Little Vita is also helpless, and now I'm very worried, what if Little Vita is doomed because of this?"
As she spoke, a look of fear appeared on her face, but Griseo saw through her act immediately.
So Griseo asked directly:
"Do you always like to put on an appearance that completely contradicts your inner self?"
Vita replied with a smile:
"Oh my, how can you say that? This is just a habit of interpersonal communication I've developed over so many years."
Elysia chimed in:
"But occasionally, you still need to seek your true self. Wearing a mask for too long isn't good~"
Vita pondered for a moment, then whispered:
"My true self...? It's still a bit distant."
She paused, her tone becoming a little more serious:
"Even if I am her clone, I stopped being influenced by her obsession with recreating civilization and replacing the abyss a long time ago. My life should have its own meaning; I've thought this for a very long time."
Vita was serious for once, and Griseo could tell that she wasn't lying this time.
Along the way, they saw the sights of Forlorn City. The streets were clean, and people's faces held peaceful expressions; it was quite tranquil.
Griseo looked at everything and said softly:
"Perhaps the Ark Project, in some sense, has been realized here."
Vita nodded in agreement:
"Yes, yes, and this is all thanks to my little agents; they put in no small amount of effort."
Just then, the earth seemed to tremble suddenly, and a slight tremor came from beneath their feet.
Immediately after, from the direction of the city center, wisps of grey-black matter rose into the sky. In an instant, the originally bright sky suddenly darkened, as if covered by a thick layer of dust.
Elysia looked in that direction, muttering to herself: Had the battle already begun?
Or... had it already ended?
The giant black vortex in the sky was like a silent eye.
It firmly held the gaze of everyone in the city, including the seven Little Vitas, who all looked up, their small faces filled with bewilderment.
Before people could recover from this sudden anomaly, before they could even utter exclamations of surprise, another dazzling light tore through the sky, like a giant blade swung down by a god.
It forcibly split the darkened sky in two... Within that grotesque crack, an eerie color slowly spread, carrying an indescribable sense of oppression, as if some colossal entity was awakening from the abyss.
Sa's existence was like a plant twisting and growing in the darkness, its roots madly spreading in unknown corners, while its branches and leaves reached out into the void in a strange posture.
But for Kevin at this moment, dealing with the parts of Sa exposed outside the Sea of Quanta was as simple as breathing.
The anomaly in the sky just now was merely a trace of his cleanup, easier than a farmer bending down to cut leeks, without any hesitation.
However, Sa had been entrenched in the Sea of Quanta for countless years, its roots deeply embedded like vines, and it had been continuously expanding.
To completely end it, one must either uproot it entirely or completely erase its consciousness.
And Kevin chose the former; he possessed that ability.
Thus, Kevin directly broke through the wall and his figure disappeared into the depths of the Sea of Quanta.
There were no earth-shattering roars, no dazzling clashes of light and shadow; everything happened in a silent dimension.
He simply peeled Sa's roots from the Sea of Quanta's network, cleanly and decisively.
After the matter concluded, Kevin glanced in a certain direction, where an extremely familiar sensation emanated.
Indeed, it was another version of himself—a Kevin a few years younger than him.
The commotion just now had naturally startled the other party.
The two Kevins, spanning countless units of distance, gazed at each other from afar.
There were no words, no gestures, not even the slightest fluctuation in their eyes.
Still silent.
The incident was resolved; the rest was none of his concern.
Kevin sighed slightly with emotion.
Their thoughts were completely different; after all, he had already "retired."
Subsequently, Kevin felt a certain invisible summons, coming from the end of that summoner.
It seemed it was time to leave... "It's over."
Vita stood in place, as if sensing something, and softly murmured a sentence, her tone not revealing much emotion.
"Hmm, it truly is over~"
Elysia glanced at the bullet comments in the live stream. Seeing Kevin's name appear, she knew he had returned.
This was a bit of a pity, as he hadn't even left time to say hello to Griseo.
Vita sighed:
"Ah, it seems Little Vita has to go clean up the mess."
Elysia looked at her:
"But I heard your future self say that after accepting the authority, everyone here, including your sisters, will forget you."
Vita paused, her tone firm:
"To abandon what I've always pursued for these things is completely not worth it."
"Alright, alright."
Elysia shrugged,
"But I always think that family is the most beautiful thing in the world, not some means that can be exploited~ Family is the best!"
Vita frowned:
"Alright, stop talking. If I don't do this, I'll be doomed immediately."
With that, she turned and left in a hurry, her back looking somewhat rushed.
Elysia then took Griseo to find Yun Xu and the other Little Vitas.
The death of Sa's main body would naturally affect these Little Vitas, who were its branches.
The subsequent events were much calmer.
Vita successfully obtained the legacy left by Sa. Although not much was left, it was enough for her to break free from past restraints and gain true freedom.
Griseo ultimately chose to stay in Forlorn and continue observing the development of the people there. Perhaps this was also a continuation of her role as an executor of the Ark Project.
But Elysia still decided to take Griseo back at least once.
She thought that Hua's memories should have recovered somewhat, and she would definitely be very happy to see Griseo.