# 2013
Chapter 1997 - Deliver Oneself
Hearing Lin Qiye's doubts, Merlin thought for a moment and shook his head:
"This... I'm not sure either. While I know more than others, I'm certainly not omniscient. At the very least, my understanding of the Cthulhu Faction's Three Pillars is quite limited. Perhaps They have some special method?"
"Omniscient... right, there's also the all-knowing, all-seeing【Key to the Gate】!" The light in Lin Qiye's eyes grew brighter and brighter. "As beings of this universe, perhaps we can't find a solution for Azathoth... but【Chaos】and【Key to the Gate】—They come from beyond the universe, creatures born from Azathoth's making. Perhaps They know more information?
Perhaps... They even have methods for rapid dimensional ascension!"
Merlin looked at Lin Qiye, who seemed to have grasped a lifeline, and seemed to want to dissuade him, but ultimately did not speak...
Merlin could imagine Lin Qiye's pressure... He carried the fate of humanity's survival on his shoulders. No matter how desperate the situation, he could never be the first to lose fighting spirit. He had to squeeze out every last possibility to fight a slim path of survival for humanity.
Lin Qiye had found hope, the gloom in his eyes immediately dispersing as he earnestly considered how to extract this information from Them...
No, the priority should be returning to Great Xia as soon as possible!
This place was实在太远 from Earth. If they flew back the same way, it would take at least several days... By then,【Key to the Gate】would likely have completely annihilated humanity.
"If you're going back to face【Key to the Gate】, I can accompany you." Merlin suddenly spoke up. "Though I can't defeat【Key to the Gate】, I am still a Supreme rank powerhouse, and with a few more time enchantments, perhaps I can be of some help."
Lin Qiye's eyes lit up, "That would be best... Sir Merlin, do you have a fast way back to Earth?"
Merlin froze, hesitated for a moment, then reached up to touch the sparse hair beneath his cowl...
"How fast do you want to go?"
"As fast as possible, of course!"
"...Sigh." Merlin wore an expression of "just as I expected," letting out a long breath. "Alright, leave it to me."
He slowly raised his staff. In the boundless void, powerful magical elements surged forth. Tens of thousands of runes were etched into the虚空 beneath them, and an extremely complex, massive formation was gradually taking shape...
Lin Qiye also possessed the【Merlin's Forbidden Spell Codex】and knew nearly all forbidden spell runes, but this super magic array before him was more complex than any forbidden spell he knew—completely beyond anything he had ever seen!
"Sir Merlin... what magic is this?" Lin Qiye stood at the center of the magic array, asking in confusion.
"Space-type Super Forbidden Spell,《Dimensional Folding》."
"...《Dimensional Folding》?" Lin Qiye searched through the【Forbidden Spell Codex】but still couldn't find this name, asking blankly, "It's not in there..."
Merlin gripped his staff that glowed like a star, standing between rapidly folding spaces, his deep blue magical robe fluttering without wind!
He pressed down on his flying cap with one hand, looked at Lin Qiye, and smiled faintly,
"President... there's still so much you have yet to learn."
SWOOSH——!!
As the impossibly complex magic array blazed as bright as a star, countless dimensions folded into a single point. The next moment, both of their figures vanished from where they stood!!
...
Great Xia.
"How are the people's emotions?"
In the Night Watch headquarters conference room, Fate Monk sat in the main seat and asked in a grave voice.
"...Not good." A Night Watch high-ranking official shook his head. "Most people are very curious about the outcome of the battle in the north. At least in their eyes, we achieved an overwhelming victory. Many are asking when they can return to normal life... They think that since we won, we shouldn't keep them in the shelters any longer.
The key is, we can't explain to them that this war isn't over yet... There's still a【Key to the Gate】that we have no way to deal with."
"The online sentiment is the same." The head of Public Relations sighed. "The civilians have been in the shelters for quite some time now. Even with sufficient supplies and internet entertainment, they've developed消极情绪. If this drags on any longer, it may cause some scale of unrest..."
"Can't Night Watch intervene?"
"Right now we're relying on Night Watch to stabilize public morale, but even if Night Watch's halo in the eyes of the people grows any larger, it's merely a spiritual reliance. Their patience will eventually wear thin."
The conference room fell into dead silence.
"It won't come to that." Fate Monk spoke calmly. "The situation is already very clear. Either【Key to the Gate】exterminates humanity, or we hold back【Key to the Gate】... Whether humanity survives or not will be decided in the next two days."
"That said, since we know【Key to the Gate】is going to strike at Great Xia, shouldn't we do something? At least prepare some forces at the front lines..."
"It's useless.【Key to the Gate】can foresee the future. Before Them, all strategies and preparations are meaningless. Rather than dispersing forces to various borders, we should gather them together and wait for Them to make the first move."
"Gather all combat forces together? Then what about other places? If【Key to the Gate】starts slaughtering civilians, it will still take us time to rush over."
Fate Monk raised his head and calmly glanced at him,
"War always comes with sacrifice... isn't that right?"
The man opened his mouth but ultimately fell silent... Indeed, if we scattered all forces to various borders like before, even if we could hold back【Key to the Gate】for a few seconds, it would be meaningless. Combined, Great Xia's top forces weren't even a match for【Key to the Gate】. If we scattered further, it would be no different from seeking death.
It's just that this situation of extreme passivity made a sense of helplessness rise in everyone's hearts...
Just then, a figure burst into the office.
"Trouble! Big trouble!!"
Everyone's gaze snapped, turning sharply to look. "Did【Key to the Gate】attack?"
"Uh... not quite." The person's expression was somewhat odd. "It's【Key to the Gate】... They came to us voluntarily, saying They want Great Xia to mobilize all top forces to trap Them."
Everyone stood frozen.
【Key to the Gate】came to them voluntarily... and asked them to trap Themselves??
What kind of operation was this??
Fate Monk seemed to think of something, a sharp light flashing in his eyes as he immediately rose from his seat. "Where are They now?"
"At the border of Sunken Dragon Pass. They said They'll wait for you there."
"Let's go!"
Fate Monk immediately summoned all Great XiaHuman Apex and above combatants and rushed toward the border at full speed!
In the crowd, just as Wang Mian was about to follow the others, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest!
He abruptly stopped, reaching to tear open his collar. A white chess piece was slowly emerging from his flesh and blood...
"This is..." Wang Mian's eyes narrowed slightly.