"Rather than continuing to struggle with her, we have two more critical matters at hand. First, as I just mentioned... what exactly is her ultimate objective in doing this?" Hongling stared intently at the three of them, her voice low and serious.

"You mean she isn't acting out of love turned to hatred, but there's another hidden agenda?" Yiren inquired.

Hongling nodded. "If it were anyone else acting out of love gone sour, it would be understandable, but with her, it simply doesn't track."

"But didn't she ultimately take down the Commander?" Xueyin commented.

"While that certainly appears to be the case on the surface, the question remains... is he truly dead?"

Xueyin closed her eyes, her brow twitching slightly. After a pause, she finally spoke, "His aura is gone, all sensation is zero, even his very presence has vanished. Theoretically, he couldn't be deader, but... given that it's the Commander, we can't declare anything final yet."

"Yaoyao, repeat what you said last time," Hongling nodded, then turned to Yaoyao.

Yaoyao blinked in surprise but quickly grasped what was meant, replying, "This is a long story, so I'll just give you the outcome... It’s mainly about his clones. I initially thought you were all dead—and for all intents and purposes, you were. But one day, I suddenly saw him. Of course, saying 'him' was really just one of his clones, possessing only a fifth of his actual combat power. This clone, which had been petrified, awakened because of my unintentional touch. I was momentarily thrilled, but the worst part was that he had absolutely no memory, only the instinct to fight. The moment he woke, he launched a fatal attack on me. After seven days and seven nights of mortal combat, although I eventually succeeded in slaying him, I myself was severely wounded. It took me over a thousand years of recuperation to heal, though my cultivation level has since hovered between the Ninth Heaven and the Outer Heavens. By the time I emerged from my recovery sanctuary, the God War had already begun."

"I see." Hongling and Yiren already knew about this, so they offered no commentary, but it was the first time Xueyin had heard the details, and she realized things with a sudden clarity. "No wonder those traitors succeeded even when you were around. For a moment, I thought your power had deteriorated to the point where you couldn't even handle some petty fry from the Ninth Heaven."

Perhaps due to her origins and upbringing, Xueyin was fundamentally upright but also incredibly naive, so much so that her words often carried a sharp, cutting edge, as they did right then. Someone unfamiliar with her might easily mistake her statement for mockery or scorn.

In a certain sense, she belonged to the naturally abrasive type.

Naturally, Yaoyao, being one of those who knew her best, didn't take offense, merely nodding. "Yes. If I hadn't encountered his clone beforehand and suffered that setback in my cultivation realm, I absolutely would not have allowed those riffraff to initiate the God War."

Yiren gazed into the distance, cupping her chin with both hands, muttering softly, "So the people of the Ninth Heaven are all just riffraff? That means we are currently worse than riffraff. How pathetic... might as well just die."

Everyone pretended not to hear Yiren’s complaint, and Hongling picked up the thread. "Despite the myriad coincidences, this incident allows us to deduce that everything has been within his calculations. Eons ago, he laid out everything... this vast chessboard spanning ages. The God War is merely one piece of that game, and the greatest obstacle to its smooth execution is Yaoyao in the Outer Heavens."

"So, he pre-planted his clone in this era. Then he arranged for Yaoyao to touch it, forcing her realm down from the Outer Heavens. This way, Yaoyao couldn't stop the traitors, and the God War could commence as planned, is that it?" Xueyin attempted to calculate the logic.

"Correct. And there's more," Hongling nodded again. "While the successful launch of the God War was necessary for the grand scheme, if he allowed those traitors free rein, his reincarnated self, with his minuscule power, would only be toyed with. Therefore, a powerful figure was needed to restrain them, and that person could only be Yaoyao."

Yiren chimed in, "Exactly. Even downgraded from the Outer Heavens, while Yaoyao might not completely wipe out all those weaklings, applying pressure to them is still effortlessly achievable. Furthermore, given his depth of understanding regarding Yaoyao, he would inevitably have predicted her subsequent actions upon intervening in the God War. Thus, Yaoyao becomes the protective umbrella for his reincarnation. On one hand, she helps him advance step-by-step, driving the God War and indirectly pushing the game forward. On the other hand, she keeps his plan moving along the trajectory he calculated, preventing any outcomes he deems undesirable."

"To achieve both goals simultaneously, Yaoyao’s strength needed to be maintained at a level that was neither too strong nor too weak, coupled with a thorough grasp of her behavioral patterns... This man is truly terrifying!" Xueyin, after hearing the analysis and summing it up, suddenly felt a shiver run through her entire body.

Xueyin knew their Commander was an intensely terrifying figure, not just in terms of raw power, but even more so in his wisdom that seemed to keep everything under his absolute control. No matter how you thought, no matter what you did, just when you believed you had escaped his grasp, you would discover in despair that everything you were doing was still perfectly within his purview... It was a tremendous fortune that such a person was an ally, not an enemy!

Take Yaoyao, for instance. A powerhouse of the Outer Heavens, the undisputed strongest in the infinite worlds for several epochs, yet she remained utterly controlled by their Commander who had passed away several epochs prior. After being forcibly stripped of her realm, she was still compelled to devote herself to protecting him—truly... pitiful.

Xueyin couldn't help but think of herself, suddenly feeling the urge to weep.

Although Yaoyao was exploited mercilessly, she herself harbored no resentment. After all, this wasn't the first time such things had occurred. Whenever the Time Travelers Legion clashed with formidable enemies in the past, which of them hadn't been calculated to the hilt by the Commander? Moreover, it was precisely through such machinations that they managed to defeat countless terrifying foes time and again. Otherwise, they might not have survived this long. Therefore... Yaoyao was long accustomed to this sort of treatment.

Crucially, just because they were manipulated didn't mean the Commander viewed them as mere tools. On the contrary, it was precisely because the Commander valued his comrades so highly that he schemed meticulously to create a perfect path where everyone could survive and triumph.

However, seeing Xueyin’s expression of past trauma, they couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. Hongling and Yiren beside her naturally understood Xueyin’s current state of mind.

As previously noted, Xueyin’s initial relationship with the Time Travelers Legion was anything but amicable. In fact, at least from Xueyin's solitary perspective, this righteous and naive girl harbored intense hostility toward the four members of the Legion: one black-bellied, one expressionless, one heartless, and one pretentious and cunning.

In her view, the black-bellied Commander was the root of all chaos, stirring up trouble everywhere, and frequently propositioning decent women—such a villain deserved death a thousand times over. The expressionless Qiqi was merely the villain’s lackey and enforcer, a merciless, emotionless killing machine. The heartless Hongling was naturally the infuriating mastermind, the architect of all insidious plots. And finally, Yiren, who appeared pure and lovely but harbored malice within, pretentious and deceitful, was the most repulsive presence, beyond any words of description.

Consequently, based on these initial impressions, the justice-obsessed Xueyin naturally sought by every means possible to confront this evil quartet, whose very existence, even if they lived in idleness, felt like a desecration of the world's fresh air.

For a considerable period, she indeed caused the four of them significant distress.

But her tragic days officially began the moment that self-proclaimed villain turned his attention upon her. For example, during meals, her food would suddenly transform into caterpillars; while walking down the street, her clothes would vanish without a trace; whenever she found a cherished item, it would be snatched away the next instant; even while resting or sleeping, she would be plagued by sexually harassing dreams that made her want to vomit blood and scream in frustration... In short, not a single day passed where she didn't feel she was living in hell.

These days persisted for a significant duration, and even her temperament nearly buckled. It wasn't until she was finally forced to sign a contract of servitude and forcibly inducted into the Time Travelers Legion that the ordeal concluded.

However, while the hardship ended, the agonizing memories of those years never faded; instead, they became an indelible psychological scar that made her want to cry every time she recalled them.

Moreover, she wasn't the only one in the Time Travelers Legion who endured a similar fate. Almost everyone had been baptized by the Commander’s "harassment." Relatively speaking, Yaoyao received the best treatment.

This wasn't due to any special favor for Yaoyao, but simply because, being a proud daughter of heaven accustomed to unchecked dominance, her sudden ambush and near-enslavement by a mob left her desperate. The Commander, arriving like a hero to rescue her at that critical juncture, naturally became the most perfect Prince Charming in her eyes, fueling a crush bordering on infatuation.

After joining the Time Travelers Legion, she followed the Commander’s every word without question, almost never offering dissent. Even if the Commander declared they would destroy the world that day, she would wholeheartedly agree with sparkling eyes and raised hands... And even the black-bellied Commander hesitated to torment such an 'obedient' little sister too severely.

"Never mind that for now; let's return to the main topic." After a brief period of internal reflection, Hongling continued, "Since everything at present is within his calculations, we have reason to believe that even his current death is likely part of the plan."

"What is the probability of that being true?" Yiren asked.

"...Probably over seventy percent," Hongling replied after a moment of thought. "Of course, I cannot deduce the precise nature of the plan. And concerning that woman, no matter how I speculate, I cannot find any logical reason for her to kill the Commander out of love-turned-hatred. A greater possibility is that she harbors her own scheme, one that might even extend beyond the Commander's design. Therefore... the most urgent task is to discover the reason behind her actions."

"That makes sense." Following Hongling's analysis, the other three felt the situation was indeed suspicious. They then asked, "What, then, is the second matter?"

"The Hosts, naturally!" Hongling answered without hesitation.

"Waaa... waaa..." Naye opened her eyes in a daze. As warm sunlight streamed in through the window, her vision gradually cleared. She saw a clean, well-lit room, but not yet fully conscious, she couldn't process her surroundings, merely instinctively sitting up in bed and rubbing her slightly aching head.

"You're finally awake," a voice suddenly sounded.

Turning toward the source of the sound, Naye found a red-haired, unfamiliar young woman sitting by her bedside, looking as if she had been there for a long time, watching her without blinking.

"Who are you?" Naye asked, tilting her head in confusion.

The red-haired girl said, "My name is Hongling. Think carefully; I have already transferred most of the necessary information into your mind."

"Ah!" Prompted by Hongling, Naye suddenly realized a large amount of information she hadn't known before flooded her consciousness. Naturally, she also remembered everything that had happened just before. With a sharp gasp, her face changed, and she tried to leap out of bed.

"Wait." However, before she could move, Hongling reached out and gently held her down.

"We can't wait! Fate... Hayate..." Ignoring Hongling’s restraint, Naye struggled painfully.

"That's why I said wait. They aren't dead."

"Eh?!" Naye froze instantly.

Hongling sighed, then drew a line through the empty air. A magical mirror materialized, and through it, Naye clearly saw Fate, Hayate, Alisa, and the others lying unharmed in a room similar to hers. Their calm breathing indicated they were merely asleep.

"What is this... what happened?" Naye felt both shocked and overjoyed. She asked, though relieved her companions were alive, the question was how they could possibly be alive.

Although Naye knew that some people in this world could survive even if their physical forms were shattered—even individuals weaker than they were—Naye understood clearly that her companions did not fall into that category. Their cultivation method was predominantly magic-based, not body-centric. While injuries like broken limbs could be mended with magic, complete pulverization of the body meant certain death. Furthermore, Zui'an’s attacks didn't just erase the physical form; they decomposed the very nature of their existence... Under such circumstances, it was impossible for the pulverized Fate and the others to survive.

"It's quite simple," Hongling said, noticing her confusion. "The stage for your battle was a private dimension he had already prepared. He likely anticipated this exact development, so upon his awakening, he preserved a portion of life force within that dimension, creating something from nothing. In other words... although your comrades died in battle within that dimension, when the dimension is unlocked and the life force expands, that act of creation from nothing will regenerate them in the real world."

"It was Brother... So Brother protected us?" Naye's eyes suddenly lit up with relief, but just as quickly, they dimmed. She cautiously inquired of Hongling, "How is... Brother?"

The last image in her memory was Lin Luo's body being pulverized. Although Lin Luo possessed the power of creation from nothing, capable of resurrecting even the dead Fate and the others, logically he shouldn't have died either. However, concern clouded her judgment; she simply couldn't apply such reasoning to assess Lin Luo's survival.

What made Naye most uneasy was that Hongling shook her head. "I don't know. With my current strength, I cannot deduce much. While the probability of him being alive exceeds seventy percent, truthfully, it’s still close to a coin toss. No one can guarantee whether he is alive or dead."

Naye's heart trembled, and she clenched her fists, saying in a shaky voice, "But... our Contract Chain..."

Although Lin Luo never explicitly explained how their Contract Chain had broken, Naye wasn't mindlessly simple and could roughly deduce the reason. But in the present, her Contract Chain with Lin Luo still existed. Did this not signify that Lin Luo had not died?

Hongling still shook her head. "The existence of the Contract Chain doesn't prove he's alive, because the Contract Chain is merely proof of your bond; it has nothing to do with who lives or dies. Unless you actively sever the chain, it will remain."

It was like a married couple: as long as they hadn't divorced, they remained husband and wife, even if separated by death. Conversely, if they had divorced, they weren't spouses even if they lived under the same roof.

"Is that so?" Naye lowered her head, falling silent for a moment, then suddenly recalled something and hurriedly said, "But... I remember that if the Contract Chain exists and one party dies, the other suffers a severe backlash. But I don't seem to be experiencing that now..."

Seeing her desperately trying to find concrete evidence of Lin Luo still being alive, Hongling, while understanding her feelings, still had to deliver a blow. "Under normal circumstances, that is true. But before this, he had already succeeded in awakening and, in the process, awakened the dormant Qiqi. Erasing this side effect would not be difficult for him. Ultimately, the Book of Contracts is his creation... The theory that the creator cannot control what he has made does not apply to him."

"Well, don't be too disheartened," Hongling said, suddenly standing up and smiling. "He still has over a fifty percent chance of being alive, doesn't he? Just believe in him optimistically, just as he believed in you. If you truly cannot feel at ease, then work hard to make yourself stronger."

"Make myself... stronger?" Naye looked up abruptly.

"Yes!" Hongling nodded emphatically, pointing at her. "Discover the true power of the World Heart. That is, at this stage, the most crucial task for you... and for the other Hosts!"