Upon hearing this, Dream Jia couldn't help but doubt her own self-worth. As someone who had dedicated her entire life dutifully serving the Celestial Spirit Realm and took pride in it, was she truly upholding peace, or was she actively covering up for the Celestial Spirit Realm in a positive light, so that she could clandestinely engage in unsavory activities? Thinking this, Dream Jia couldn't help but bitterly smile to herself. She felt like a clown now, a pitiful clown serving as a shield for others!
Elsie, after Dream Jia raised her question, shook her head regretfully and replied, "It's too late! Everything is too late! The Earth world in timeline N38 started its decline over twenty thousand years ago. And now, that Earth world is beyond saving! In fact, it has reached the final critical point before destruction."
Upon hearing Elsie's words, Haoyun couldn't help but tighten his heart and asked anxiously, "How... how could this be? It's impossible! There must be a way! There must be a turning point!"
Seeing Haoyun full of anxiety, Elsie spoke again with a solemn tone, "Actually, humans should have noticed this long ago. Especially in the past century on that Earth world, whether it's disasters caused by humans or so-called natural disasters, the frequent occurrences of such calamities are extremely abnormal. Most of these disasters are related to the gradual depletion of energy in the Earth world. As the Earth's energy continues to deplete, the world becomes increasingly unstable."
"And this instability manifests on Earth through various disasters, extreme weather events, and subtly exacerbates negative impacts on human civilization, leading to more severe anti-human behaviors by human civilizations themselves. For example, the disasters happening in the Earth world right now. I can responsibly tell you that these disasters will have significant repercussions. Because these disasters are the final fuse leading the Earth world towards complete collapse. Once this fuse is lit, everything will be inevitable, and the final judgment on human civilization will soon arrive, unstoppable."
Elsie raised three fingers and continued, "Three months. According to your Earth world's time, there are at most three months left before that Earth world will be destroyed due to complete energy depletion. And what we need to do now is to replace it with a new Earth world before its destruction. Only then can we ensure that timeline N38 stabilizes again, and prevent further losses to the Celestial Spirit Realm."
After speaking, Elsie looked at the circle of screens floating in the center of the hall. It was clear to everyone that with the increasing intensity of the Xibo's attacks, the outer defense lines of the major human cities on Earth NX had already shown varying degrees of collapse.
"My son! Sacrifice the small for the greater good. This is the last contribution our Earth world can make to maintain peace in the Celestial Spirit Realm!" Watching the battle on the screen, Eve advised again.
Haoyun couldn't help but sigh deeply, then said coldly, "First, I'm not your son. Second, that's my Earth world, not ours. Lastly, the vast majority of beings living there are innocent. So I absolutely cannot watch them all suffer undeserved punishment!"
Seeing Haoyun firmly refuse to acknowledge his identity and oppose the task assigned to him, Adam and Eve's expressions turned regretful. Tears even shimmered faintly in Eve's eyes. Adam quickly hugged Eve again, comforting the saddened Eve due to Haoyun's stubbornness, and sighed helplessly, "My son! I understand that you hold hostility towards us because you've seen things you shouldn't have. But I want to say, things aren't as you imagine. You've misunderstood us! Moreover, we have no choice but to act this way!"
Although Haoyun didn't understand why Adam and Eve not only refused to acknowledge the fact that they had deprived him of his parents' lives, but also insisted on calling themselves his parents, he was already very stressed due to the crisis facing his Earth world. Therefore, he didn't want to pay attention to Adam and Eve's explanations anymore, and instead focused on how to save his Earth world.
Seeing Adam and Eve, who seemed embarrassed because Haoyun deliberately ignored them, Dream Jia curiously asked, "Oh? Since you have been saying that we misunderstood you, why don't you explain how exactly we misunderstood you?"
Dream Jia wasn't really interested in Elsie and Adam's defense. The reason she wanted everyone to continue this topic was simply to buy time. Because from the current situation, the three of them couldn't leave here, couldn't deal with these Purifiers, and couldn't resolve the crisis facing Haoyun's homeland. Therefore, they really needed more time to interact with these Purifiers as much as possible, so that they could gather valuable information and find a solution.
Upon hearing Dream Jia's question, Adam and Eve unexpectedly cast a grateful look at her. This surprised Dream Jia because from Adam and Eve's reaction, it seemed they genuinely appreciated the opportunity Dream Jia gave them to clarify. This led to a strange idea forming in Dream Jia's mind. Could it be that these two weren't pretending in their attitude towards Haoyun?
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Thank you, Dream Jia! Ah, you truly are our future daughter-in-law! Haoyun is so fortunate to have found such an outstanding priestess to marry. It's a great blessing!" Eve thanked Dream Jia while admiring her with approving eyes.
Dream Jia obviously didn't expect them to say these things in front of so many people. She blushed unexpectedly and didn't know how to respond politely. So, Dream Jia could only mutter awkwardly, "Ahem, there's no use talking about this here! Hurry up and honestly explain your issues!"
(Dream Jia, although temporarily at a loss for words due to Eve's sudden attack, knew exactly how to verbally assault the author outside the screen at this moment.
"What the hell are you doing?! What time is it? Do you still have the leisure to write such cliché plots?! You idiot! Who the hell is her daughter-in-law? You are the daughter-in-law! Your whole family is her daughter-in-law!" Dream Jia aggressively fired away at the author, channeling all her current embarrassment into angry bullets, pouring it all onto the author.
The author knew that adding such a plot at such a tense moment was inappropriate, but being unable to express his grievances, he dared not intervene at this time. Thus, he could only pretend nothing was happening amidst Dream Jia's furious curses and reluctantly resumed writing. Hao Yun and Dao Lao smirked on the side, finding it amusing. From the current situation, only the irritable Dream Jia could manage to handle that annoying author. Hmph! Your mouth is always so cheap! If you continue to show off, I'll let Dream Jia tear your damn mouth apart!)
"What are you— What's going on here? Is there anyone else here? Who are you talking to?" Suddenly, Elsie tilted her head, looking at Hao Yun and the others with a puzzled expression.
Upon hearing Elsie's sudden question, Hao Yun and the others couldn't help but feel a knot in their hearts. Although they didn't understand why they could communicate with the author of this book, they had always believed that only they could do so. Therefore, upon sensing that Elsie also felt the presence of the author, the three of them subconsciously felt something was amiss. Although they didn't know why they had this uneasy feeling, they seemed to understand that Elsie must not know anything about the author.
"Oh, nothing. I was just consoling Hao Yun through the private chat channel in the system. I'm very interested in Adam and Eve's situation, so I wanted to hear why they kept saying they were Hao Yun's parents," Dream Jia quickly fabricated a reason in response.
"Oh, I see. Anyway, resolve your issues as soon as possible! Don't delay our main business!" Elsie replied softly. Elsie also felt that the question she suddenly raised seemed strange, so she no longer cared about Dream Jia's response, instead waving her hand towards Adam and Eve, signaling them to take the opportunity to explain everything they wanted to say.
"Uh, cough cough! So, if you have anything else to say, just say it quickly!" Actually, Hao Yun didn't want to hear Eve and Adam argue further. But in order to quickly change the topic just discussed, and to continue delaying time to find a breakthrough, he could only urge them with a tough scalp.
Seeing Hao Yun allowing further explanation, Eve's face immediately showed a hint of joy and hurriedly explained, "Son! Because we started laying out the Earth in the Earth world of timeline N38 more than 20,000 years ago to prepare for the upcoming purification mission. So your dad and I have actually been stationed on Earth for a long time. However, to minimize the adverse effects of our interference on the Earth world, we waited until the Earth world entered a complete period of decline, and even if our actions would have adverse effects on the Earth world, the timing could be ignored, before officially starting all the preliminary actions related to purification."
Upon hearing this, Hao Yun seemed to think of something, so he took the opportunity while Eve was speaking and asked, "So, the loud noise you made in my kitchen was because you were preparing for the purification mission?"
Adam nodded in agreement, very satisfied with Hao Yun's insight, "Exactly. Because the last node connected to timeline N38 is right in our kitchen. Simply put, we need to mark all the nodes in the Earth world connected to timeline N38, and untie these nodes when the Earth world reaches its last critical point before destruction. The purpose of this is to let the Earth world detach from timeline N38 as soon as it begins to collapse, and at the same time connect the purified Earth NX to timeline N38, supporting it again before this timeline collapses."
"That's my kitchen, not yours," Hao Yun reminded Adam to watch his words.
Seeing Hao Yun's anger intensify a bit more, Eve quickly took over the conversation, "Our work has been going very smoothly. Also, the reason we sent you to another city to study and hoped you would stay there all along was to avoid you accidentally stumbling upon our actions. However, despite all our calculations, we never expected you to become a priest and suddenly appear at home with us. Otherwise, those embarrassments would never have happened."
"But aren't you both priests? So why didn't you know that your son became a priest?" Dao Lao asked puzzledly.
"I'll say it again, I'm not their son!" Hao Yun gritted his teeth and warned Dao Lao not to speak nonsense.
This old stubborn Dao Lao! He was clearly just enjoying the show, deliberately stirring up trouble with this son thing! What the hell? At what point do you still have the leisure to mess with your own family's feelings? I'm really pissed off! Hao Yun couldn't help but curse wildly in the system channel.
Eve then replied, "Didn't we already say? We belong to different systems of the Pantheon, so we all need to maintain a sufficient distance from each other. Unless it's something related to our work intersection, we won't actively inquire about what happens in the surface system. Like this time, if we hadn't accidentally seen you three during the mission, our system wouldn't have automatically identified your identities and gained permission to access your personal information."
Then, Eve looked at Hao Yun with great concern and said, "Son, you actually don't know. The reason why our Sacred Expansion Department is an underworld system is also because apart from our headquarters, most of the branch offices are established in the dark chain plane."