Hearing this, J fell silent for a moment before explaining, "D's soul was probably already being devoured after he started committing those atrocities."
"I don't know whether he himself realized it, but one thing is certain, compared to the identity of an ordinary person in the real world, he was far more willing to accept and enjoy the so-called identity of a Creator God."
"So to him, having his soul devoured wasn't a bad thing at all. He simply didn't care."
"I think… his heart probably started rotting long ago too, just like his physical body…"
After calmly saying all this, J gave a bitter smile and shrugged.
"And as for me, it was only after Notch left that I chose to give up on myself and stand by D's side. I guess that's why my death time was only twelve hours."
After hearing J's explanation, Brother Jiang finally understood. Seeing this, J continued, "Before you rescued Notch, the real HIM had already led the living beings and players here to confront us."
"Even though Notch and I hadn't done anything and knew nothing about it, they were firmly convinced that we were D's accomplices."
"I imagine D knew this day would come sooner or later. He probably put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to make them believe we were all in the same boat."
As J spoke, he recalled the scene from back then. Endless sorrow instantly welled up in his eyes, and his voice trembled slightly.
"Even though many of them had personally witnessed D's strength… even though they knew the other two so-called Creator Gods they were about to face possessed power equal to or even greater than D's…"
"Not a single one of them backed down… Every pair of eyes was filled with the resolve to face death head-on… There wasn't even the slightest fear or hesitation…"
"All they wanted was to live properly, yet for the sake of living properly, they were willing to risk their lives…" At this point, J's nose stung painfully, and faint tears seemed to shimmer in his eyes.
"If their lives hadn't truly been stripped of every bit of hope, why would they have gone this far?…"
"You can only imagine how deeply D had poisoned them…"
As he said this, J unconsciously clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh.
Seeing this, Brother Jiang and Notch both patted J on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.
After collecting himself, J let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"But the situation back then was too urgent. I simply didn't have time to think about what D had done to drive them to that point…"
"And Notch's sudden departure completely caught me off guard…"
"Actually, at that time, I still had a chance to choose…"
"Notch's soul started being devoured long ago because he was affected by D, but I wasn't dragged into it. So I think… at that time, I should've been able to try leaving."
"But after learning how many living beings had died at his hands, I still couldn't bring myself to abandon him. Instead, I chose to abandon myself and stand with him, to bear those crimes together with him."
"After I made that choice, a white light suddenly appeared in the sky. It split into three streams and entered me, D, and the real HIM."
"Not long after accepting that power, D and I were sealed into the void by the real HIM…"
"A white light?" Brother Jiang asked in confusion.
Seeing this, Notch took over.
"The moment you saved me, my subconscious made an emergency decision for me."
"That white light was all the power I once possessed as a Creator God. My subconscious split that power into two halves. One half was given to the real HIM, while the other half was given to D and J."
"Both powers originated from me, so they counterbalanced each other. Anyone possessing those powers would be unable to harm the others."
"That was the plan my subconscious carried out at the very last moment… I suppose you could call it a balancing plan."
"It's just that I didn't expect J to give up resisting, so naturally the balance of power tilted toward the real HIM. That's why they ended up being sealed by him…"
After saying this, Notch looked at Brother Jiang.
"As for what happened after that, you should already know."
"It was basically like I had already stepped into the gates of the underworld, and you forcibly dragged me back out… That naturally caused severe mental damage."
At this, Brother Jiang nodded.
"At the time, you were practically unconscious the entire time, but even in that state, you kept repeating D and J's names…"
"I don't know where you got that insane strength from back then. I tried taking you to the hospital, but you absolutely refused, so I had no choice but to hire a private doctor to take care of you at home while I immediately went looking for D and J."
Hearing this, Notch interrupted, "That day was December 27th, right?"
Seeing Notch accurately state the date everything happened, Brother Jiang nodded and sighed.
"I left around noon on the 27th and stayed busy until after three in the morning before coming back…"
"The doctor said he'd given you sleeping pills and that you'd already fallen asleep."
"He told me there was nothing seriously wrong with you physically, but mentally you were having problems, and he warned me that during that period, I absolutely couldn't let you suffer any kind of emotional stimulation…"
"I knew I only had one night… no, half a night, to vent my emotions. Once you woke up the next day, I'd have to pretend nothing happened and tell you D and J were fine…"
"So I went out and bought some alcohol and cigarettes, planning to leave all my emotions behind that night."
"But I never expected… you'd wake up in the middle of the night…"
"At the time, you were still unconscious mentally, but when you saw me like that, you still stumbled over instinctively and asked me what was wrong."
"I realized you didn't seem to remember asking me to look after D and J anymore, so I made up a lie… I told you I'd gotten dumped…"
At this point, Brother Jiang shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I don't know whether you actually believed me back then, but at least from my perspective, you did."
"I thought I could keep hiding it… I don't know if that gaming pod company felt guilty or what, but they stepped in and suppressed the incident. It was never widely reported, so it's actually hard to find any news about it online…"
"But I never planned to hide it from you forever. I thought I'd slowly tell you once your condition became a little more stable."
"Who would've thought… the very next day, while I wasn't paying attention, you actually hacked into D and J's gaming pods…"
"I genuinely have no idea how you managed it. It felt like you were doing all of it purely on instinct."
"I don't know what you went through after discovering they were dead. By the time I found you, you'd already collapsed onto the floor unconscious and convulsing…"
At this point, Brother Jiang paused for a moment. His face still carried lingering fear. After steadying himself, he continued, "I was terrified back then. I thought you were going to leave too… Thankfully, you were still saved in the end…"
"After you woke up, you lost all memories related to D and J… I think maybe that was a good thing for you… Since you couldn't face it, then maybe forgetting everything was better…"
"So after that, I never brought them up to you again…"