At this moment, Changli looked at the Rover with a gaze that, aside from adoration, also welled up with a sense of heartache for him.
Because she knew very well the weight contained within the words Rover had just spoken.
She knew even better just how rugged that thorny path he had walked all these years… truly was.
"Then have you ever known that the person who wishes to change the game is often the first to become a discarded pawn?"
Changli spoke these words with a slightly trembling tone, seeming as if she wanted to go up and hug that man, even if the person before her had already become the light in her heart.
Yet, she still wanted to dearly pamper that man.
"Hehe. Then, I'll just be a pawn that runs away."
Rover finished speaking with a smile, his figure having already arrived at the edge of the cliff.
Just as Changli followed him out of curiosity, Rover suddenly pulled the beauty into his arms and then abruptly leaped downwards.
"Ah~~~ Ah~ Ah~."
Two figures jumping down from the peak of the mountain both let out shouts of catharsis.
Of course, Changli was actually startled in her heart at the very beginning. The moment they jumped, her first reaction was worry for the Rover's safety, followed by what seemed to be a bit of fear.
But she quickly came to her senses; after all, both she and the Rover could fly.
Therefore, at this moment, how could she not understand his intentions? While echoing Rover's loud vents of emotion, she couldn't help but hug tightly onto this man who had jumped off the mountain with her.
This feeling of having such a warm and secure reliance was something even her former master had never been able to bring her.
The Phoenix is not without passion… once moved by love, the will holds no regrets.
It had to be said that in this moment, Changli had truly fallen for this man she was embracing.
However, remembering her own fate, her lifespan, and his lofty ideals…
A pressure so massive it was unimaginable instantly weighed down upon her small, delicate body.
"Just let me… properly enjoy this moment before my eyes… just this moment."
After advising herself inwardly like this, the arms she used to hold him became even tighter.
Rover naturally noticed the little thoughts of the woman in his arms, though he didn't point them out.
Leaving aside the fact that if worse came to worst, there was still the Spring of Life at Jinhsi's place to use, just his current life force alone… was already enough to greatly alleviate Changli's condition.
In the following few days, Rover lived a very comfortable life in Jinzhou.
During this period, he also truly brought the three women—Yangyang, Chixia, and Changli—into the halls of faith.
As for what faith they believed in, naturally, it was the Phoebe Cult. He also firmly believed that Phoebe would sooner or later become the bishop and guide him, a lost child, to believe in the religion together.
.....
It wasn't until the third day, after receiving a transmission from Abby… that he said his goodbyes to Jinhsi and Changli, flying directly towards the direction of Norfall Barrens.
"Jinhsi, notify General Jiyan. If the Rover needs anything, Have him help with all his might."
Changli naturally knew the purpose of the Rover's trip, and precisely because of this, she wanted to help him in every possible way she could.
"Okay, I will go speak with General Jiyan now."
Jinhsi nodded. Having already undergone a second resonance, she had originally wanted to go with Rover.
Because in her view, if the opportunity was right, wiping out all the Tacet Discords in one fell swoop would be a once-and-for-all decision.
However, her idea met with opposition from both Rover and Changli. The reason was simple… firstly, the number of Tacet Discords in the entire Jinzhou region was an unimaginable figure.
Never mind how strong the enemy was; even if they just stood there for you to kill, who knew what year or month you would finish killing them?
And there was another most important point: the way Tacet Discords were formed. One must know that many Tacet Discords were originally formed from deceased humans.
That meant as long as humans still existed, even if you killed this batch, there would still be the next batch… and the batch after that…
This is also why there is the saying: as long as civilization endures, the Lament will not extinguish.
Rover finally arrived at the Norfall Barrens as night approached and rendezvoused with Abby.
"Rover, you're finally here. Let me hand over the life force I've collected over these past few days to you first."
"Before you absorb this life force, I haven't become stronger at all."
As Abby spoke, he turned directly into a golden light and merged straight into Rover's Tacet Mark.
And right at the moment Abby entered… a violent and massive amount of life energy actually forcefully burst Rover apart.
Yes, you read that correctly. Just as he was wondering how big a surprise Abby would bring him…
Rover never imagined, in any way, that this surprise would be so big that his body couldn't withstand it.
With a "Bang," he exploded directly into ashes in the sky.
His soul was currently floating in the air, looking at the scene before him with confusion.
Immediately after, Abby's soul also floated beside him.
"Abby, exactly how many Tacet Discords did you beat up these past few days?"
While Rover felt his current state with some novelty, he was also curious about exactly what kind of workload Abby had completed.
"Ah~. This… I'm not clear on the specifics, but it should be roughly over a million, I guess."
Abby knew he had made a mistake and explained with a guilty conscience.
Hearing this, the Rover nodded in astonishment, thinking to himself that it wasn't strange at all then.
Even if the targets over three days only added up to one million, and Abby went to Heartsteel up on this one million, each target could be Heartsteeled three times.
Then, if each time the life intensity increases by one percent, the conversion would be thirty thousand percent life intensity.
A forceful increase of three hundred times suddenly flooded into his body… it would be weird if he didn't explode.
"By the way, what do we count as right now? Dead people? Ghosts? Or Tacet Discords?"
Abby's follow-up question left the Rover unable to answer for a moment.
Logically speaking, he and Abby had been blown up until not even ash remained, so they should be dead.
But why did he feel no pain from start to finish, and aside from losing his physical body, there seemed to be no difference from before?
However, everything happening before his eyes soon allowed him to clearly feel the power of the mythic Heartsteel once again.
It also let him know… just by elevating a single level of life hierarchy, what a terrifying degree he had already reached.
.....
( Translator-kun: I repeat, this is not MC collecting waifu right here, right there... It's just how Wuwa Rover really is. Also, MC dying out of nowhere makes me laugh so hard. ₍₍(˶˃𐃷˂˶)⁾⁾ )