Chapter 668: Please Grant Me the Position!

The elder led the youth, and the two of them stepped forward simultaneously, ascending to the next step.

The cries of a chaotic era echoed in their ears.

Artillery fire raged and high-rise buildings collapsed. Countless relatives and friends lay in pools of blood, while desolation and despair assailed the two figures, like an surging wave of the era threatening to completely engulf them.

The youth grew up.

From a naive child, he gradually transformed into an independent young man. He grew taller and taller, tall enough for his sturdy physique to carve out a place for himself and those he cared about amidst the chaotic torrent of the era.

The confusion in the young man's eyes diminished, while the scars on his body multiplied. In the end, only an unparalleled resolve remained in his gaze.

"Do you still dare to move forward?" the elder asked.

"Yes," the young man nodded emphatically. "I must become stronger... just like my sister and him."

The elder smiled. On his weather-beaten, wrinkled face, traces of his former youth were still faintly visible. He and the young man simultaneously lifted their feet, ascending to the sixth step.

"What did you say?!"

"When we awakened Lord Hongchen, the hibernation pod was damaged... The X113 agent, which sustains life functions at low temperatures, cannot be circulated through the body in a conventional manner, especially with Lord Hongchen having lost consciousness... Therefore... Lord Hongchen cannot hibernate."

The young man's breathing was ragged. Through the laboratory's observation window, he gazed at the figure lying on the metal table, his eyes filled with struggle and pain.

"How could this be... How could this be..."

"Mr. Yao, our only option now is to send distress signals to other bases... Lord Hongchen's hibernation has failed, and the only outcome is to die of old age in sleep. Therefore, even in the most optimistic scenario, Hongchen Base can only last fifty years. Within these fifty years, we need to transfer the million inhabitants of Hongchen Base to other bases in batches. With the inter-realm train tracks destroyed, this will be an extremely challenging task..."

"Isn't there... isn't there any other way?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yao. Without the hibernation pod, we cannot fight against the ravages of time."

The young man's fists involuntarily clenched. As if something occurred to him, he suddenly turned to face the researcher: "You said just now that the hibernation pod malfunctioned because that agent couldn't circulate through the body using conventional methods?"

"Yes, Mr. Yao."

"Then what if... what if I could use some method to intervene in the body and manually control their circulation?"

The researcher paused, stunned. "That... theoretically, it's possible, but the original access device is also broken. Forcibly connecting it would cause irreversible damage to the body... Moreover, Lord Hongchen is already in deep sleep. Rashly connecting the device, if it fails, might actually accelerate death."

"What is the probability of the connection failing?"

"...Seventy percent."

"I understand," the young man said, taking a deep breath. "Connect the device to me."

The researcher was startled. "What did you say?!"

"Connect the device to me. If I die, continue with the original plan to evacuate the residents of Hongchen Base... If I survive, I have a way to extend my sister's life."

"But, if you connect to the damaged hibernation pod, even if you could barely extend your life, you wouldn't be able to pass through time in sleep..."

"I know," he replied. "As long as I can stay alive... even if it's just barely." The young man walked into the laboratory, stood beside the sleeping figure, and murmured as he looked at her face: "As long as I'm alive... I can fight against the ravages of time for her."

A strand of embroidery thread floated from his fingertip, silently piercing into the body of the sleeping Su Zhiwei.

The Azure God's Path: Human Embroidery.

As the two of them ascended another step, the young man's body suddenly erupted in a mist of blood.

Fist-sized circular wounds perforated his limbs and back, as if extremely thick tubes were connected to his body. His formerly tall and healthy body became haggard and hunched, like a gradually wilting flower.

"Do you still want to go forward?" the elder asked.

"Yes," the young man replied with a grim smile. "It's only a few hundred years... I'll grit my teeth, and it will pass."

The torrent of history swirled around them like a tumultuous vortex. Countless figures gathered among the tiny grains of sand, waving flags and roaring at the sky.

Thick, menacing black tubes extended from the damaged hibernation pod, connecting to the frost-covered figure.

He hung his head, his skin pale and bloodless, like a puppet parasitized by a device. In front of him stood several figures, respectfully bowing their heads and listening to his weak yet unquestionable voice:

"I believe... art can change an era."

"I promised the pioneers... that their children would live stable and happy lives..."

"We cannot eliminate nuclear radiation, nor can we guarantee their eternal health. But we can make the withered earth grow the most brilliant flowers... Isn't that the meaning of art?"

"Using the Azure God's Path, we will paint an ideal world for all living beings... One day, this wasteland will be transformed because of us."

"Let's call ourselves... Fleeting Life Painting."

The many figures assented, respectfully bowing to the haggard figure, then quickly vanished at the edge of the horizon.

The haggard, pale figure, riddled with countless tubes, watched them leave. Then he slowly lowered his head, looking at the sleeping figure enshrouded in embroidery threads before him.

He smiled faintly:

"If that day truly comes, if I can really take that step... this embroidery should finally be complete."

"Will you return then?"

The young man's eyes snapped open. He abruptly stepped forward, ascending to the eighth step alongside the aged figure beside him!

A deafening sound echoed over the Hongchen Realm.

At this moment, the young man's appearance gradually aged under the relentless wash of time, eventually transforming into a weathered elder. He stood beside the elder, like a pair of shadows spanning across time.

The two figures stood on this step, gradually overlapping, as if the trajectory of history was merging with reality. The ancient and the present were witnessed by heaven and earth in this moment.

The next moment, an old yet resolute voice resounded across the sky:

"Yao Qing, leader of the Azure God's Path... requests a bestowal of position from Heaven and Earth!!"