Chapter 656: A New Future

Li Yang stared at the "self" that appeared in the mist warily. Although they looked similar, he could sense an unfathomable power surging in the other's body.

"Who are you?" Li Yang asked again, "Why are you here?"

The older version of Li Yang smiled slightly, with a trace of sadness in his eyes: "I am you, and I am not you. I come from a future you can't imagine."

"What do you mean?" Li Yang frowned.

"In countless parallel universes, there are countless possibilities." The older Li Yang said, "I come from one of the possible futures... a future where you chose fusion instead of connection."

Li Yang felt dizzy.

He remembered the "selves" he had seen inside the [Annihilator] before.

Could this one be one of them?

"But haven't those 'I's' who chose fusion been eliminated?" Li Yang asked.

The older Li Yang shook his head:

"Do you think that [Annihilator] can be destroyed so easily? It is just a branch of it. The real [Annihilator], or us, is much more powerful than you think."

Li Yang took a step back cautiously: "What do you want?"

"I came to correct a mistake." The older Li Yang said,

"You chose to connect, but that path will only lead to greater chaos and destruction... We must return to the path of integration."

"Who do you mean by 'we'?" Li Yang asked.

"All Li Yang, all worlds." The older Li Yang replied, "Only through complete integration can we truly control our own destiny and get rid of the manipulation of that existence."

"That existence?" Li Yang felt uneasy, "What do you mean?"

The older Li Yang was silent for a moment, then said: "Above all parallel universes, there is a higher-level entity."

"It created us, manipulates us, and plays our lives as a game."

Li Yang felt a shudder.

He remembered the choice that the mysterious [existence] had given him before, and the words "everything is meaningless".

Is there really something behind everything?

"Even so," Li Yang said firmly, "it is not the right way to force the fusion of all the worlds... Each world has its own characteristics and value, and we cannot deprive them of their right to exist."

"At least, this is what I think now."

The older Li Yang sighed: "As expected... You are still too naive."

"It seems that you will only understand if you see that future with your own eyes."

As he said, he stretched out his hand, and a powerful energy wave swept over.

Li Yang wanted to resist, but he found that he could not move at all.

The team members around him also fell into the same state.

"Don't worry," said the older Li Yang, "I won't hurt you. I just want to take you to see what will happen if you continue to connect this road."

With a dizzy spell, Li Yang felt his consciousness being pulled to another time and space.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a desolate scene in front of him.

The sky was a strange purple-red, the ground was dry and cracked, and the buildings in the distance were in ruins.

Even more disturbing, the whole world seemed to be shrouded in a distorted halo, as if reality itself was collapsing.

"Where... is this?" Li Yang asked in horror.

"This is the main world, the world you are in." The older Li Yang said calmly, "But... someday in the future."

"How could it become like this?" Li Yang looked around in disbelief.

"Because of the connection." The older Li Yang explained, "When more and more worlds are connected together, the structure of reality begins to collapse. Different laws conflict with each other, and time and space begin to distort. In the end, the entire multiverse fell into chaos."

Li Yang saw a group of figures moving in the distance. Their movements were stiff and uncoordinated, as if they were controlled by something.

"Those are..." Li Yang couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yes, those are the survivors." said the older Li Yang, "or rather, things that were once human."

"In the process of reality collapse, many life forms have undergone mutations."

"They lost their self-awareness and became puppets wandering in the void."

Li Yang felt inexplicably nauseous.

He still couldn't believe that this outrageous future was caused by his choice.

"This is impossible..." he muttered to himself, "There must be a way to stop all this..."

"There is no way." The older Li Yang shook his head and said, "As long as the connection between the worlds exists, such a result is inevitable. The only solution is to return to fusion."

Li Yang was silent. He didn't want to admit it, but the scene in front of him did shake his faith.

"What about fusion?" he asked, "If you choose fusion, what will the future be like?"

The older Li Yang smiled bitterly: "To be honest, I don't know. Because in my timeline, we have never been able to complete the final fusion."

"What do you mean?"

"As I said before, there is a higher-level entity above all parallel universes."

The older Li Yang explained, "Whenever we approach the critical point of complete fusion, that entity will intervene and reset everything."

Li Yang frowned: "Why does it do this?"

"Because the game must continue." The older Li Yang said,

"For that existence, our entire multiverse is just a huge game or experiment. It will not allow the game to end like this."

Li Yang felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

He suddenly thought of what he said inside the [Annihilator] when he killed [Annihilator] before...

Infinite parallel universes, everything is meaningless.

If there is really such an omnipotent existence controlling everything, all their current actions are no different from nothingness.

Seemingly seeing Li Yang's thoughts, the older Li Yang said:

"But this does not mean that we should give up, understand?"

"Only through complete fusion, we must unite and fight against that existence together."

"Only through complete fusion can we have the power to compete with it."

Li Yang fell into deep thought.

He had to admit that the older version of himself had some truth.

But at the same time, he couldn't completely agree with the other party's approach.

"What you showed me still can't prove your words and deeds." Li Yang finally said, "To fight against a certain existence, forcibly merging all worlds... is too extreme. There must be other ways."

The older Li Yang sighed: "I hoped you would understand, but it seems you still need more time to think."

He waved his hand, and the surrounding scene began to distort and dissipate.

Li Yang felt that his consciousness was being pulled back to reality.

When he woke up again, he found that he and his team members had returned to the ground of the seventh world.

The older Li Yang stood in front of them with a complicated expression on his face.

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