Chapter 675: Choosing to Save

Chapter 675: Choosing to Save

Olivia's ambition and intelligence always exceeded my imagination.

Just as I was worrying, the portal blazed with light, and Olivia's figure slowly emerged. Her face was a bit pale, but her eyes were brighter than ever before.

In Olivia's hand, she held an energy chip covered with countless flowing runes.

"Olivia, are you okay?" I immediately stepped forward and pulled her into my arms.

"I'm fine, Matthew," Olivia nuzzled gently against me, the excitement in her eyes impossible to hide. "I did it. I cracked the core algorithm of the logic maze, and I copied part of the core data about Atlantis from its main control optical brain! This stuff will be incredibly helpful for activating Pandora's Box and fighting against higher-dimensional beings!"

"First trial, logic maze. Passed," the mechanical voice sounded again. "Now, beginning the second trial: Ethical Dilemma."

As soon as the words fell, the scenery around us changed again, becoming a smoke-filled doomsday battlefield.

Countless civilians in tattered clothes were crying and fleeing through a hail of bullets.

Behind them, a group of soldiers in strange uniforms were coldly massacring them with energy weapons.

"What does this mean?" Finn looked at the tragedy before him and roared angrily.

"Ethical dilemma," Olivia said softly. "This second trial no longer tests strength and wisdom, but our humanity and choices."

That cold voice sounded again: "You have two choices before you: whether to save these innocent civilians. Doing so will be judged as interfering in the internal affairs of a lower civilization, violating the laws of cosmic balance, and you will face pursuit by the guardians of law. If you stand by and watch, you will pass smoothly, but your souls will forever bear the burden of this indifference and sin. You have ten minutes to make your choice."

Save them or stand by—this was a soul-searching question that could make anyone struggle.

I looked at those lives wailing in the gunfire, my fists clenching involuntarily.

I understood this was likely just an illusion, a virtual scenario created by the Eternal Eye.

But even so, that despair and pain felt horrifyingly real.

Finn and Gulama's eyes were bloodshot, and Torin and Shadow Whisper also looked grave.

Time passed second by second.

"If we can't even protect the lives before our eyes, what right do we have to talk about protecting the world! I choose to save them!" I took a deep breath, extremely resolute. "Even if we have to face pursuit by these so-called guardians of law and pay with our lives, I won't hesitate! Because I, Matthew, am first and foremost a person of flesh and blood, and only then a guardian!"

As my words fell, Finn and the others also let out roars of agreement.

"Save them!"

"Guardians should protect the weak!"

"Very well, you have made your choice," in the cold voice, there seemed to be a hint of barely noticeable approval. "Then, the trial begins."

The next moment, the scene before us changed again, and we found ourselves in a vast and dangerous interstellar space.

Countless asteroid belts, cosmic rays, and hostile creatures cruising through the void.

Ahead of us, a small civilian spacecraft was flashing a distress signal, surrounded by several interstellar pirate warships, the ship full of terrified and helpless civilian figures.

"Is this a real interstellar rescue?" I looked at the scene before me, my heart trembling.

"The logic maze tests wisdom, the ethical dilemma tests conscience," Olivia analyzed rapidly beside me. "This third trial should test our strength and true ability to protect. Only by completing this rescue and defeating the pirates can we qualify to activate Pandora's Box."

I nodded.

Since we'd made our choice, there was nothing to hesitate about.

"Revelation, prepare for battle! Target: interstellar pirates, and the innocent lives we must protect!"

The final battle was finally over. The Lord of Cracks was severely wounded, and the Evil Eye was destroyed by us too.

But that didn't mean things were finished.

That huge fissure in the deep sea was still hanging there.

The only silver lining was that it had finally stopped expanding, and the fissure energy pouring out had slowed down.

The dark clouds over the whole world had temporarily dispersed, and all that crazy weather, geological disasters, and spatial distortions had calmed down too.

This world could finally catch its breath.

Mist Island, because it had both the Cradle Heart and Heart of the Tide—two planetary essences—and was also the main battlefield against The Lord of Cracks, naturally became the temporary headquarters of the newly established Earth Guardian Alliance.

The guardians who had come from all over the world didn't leave.

Everyone knew this was only a temporary victory, and the real threat hadn't been resolved at all.

They chose to stay, joining the survivors of our Island Alliance to prepare for any crisis that might come.

In the following days, the entire Mist Island immediately shifted into post-war reconstruction and power integration work.

Olivia and I, as the leaders of the alliance, were so busy we barely had time to sleep.

On one hand, we had to comfort and treat the warriors injured in the final battle, count how many had died and how many were wounded, reassign defense duties, and repair homes destroyed by the war.

Every time I saw those faces suffering from losing family and comrades, my heart felt terrible.

This victory was won too bitterly and at too high a cost.

On the other hand, we were also seizing every moment to study the materials we'd obtained from the Association's Odin's Eye base and the Pandora's Box incident.

They were full of fragmentary information about dimensional laws, karmic weapons, and higher-dimensional beings.

For us, this was an unopened treasure trove.

If we could fully understand it all, we might find the key to completely eliminating the fissure threat, or even dealing with other future invasions.

Olivia completely immersed herself in that ancient technology and dimensional theory.

Her Psionics and analytical abilities had become extremely strong due to Stellar Soul Reforging and Chaos Star Power, and they really came in handy at times like this.

She would often stay alone in the Revelation's converted central laboratory for days and nights, constantly calculating over those energy crystals and rune-covered metal plates.

Besides all this, I also had to constantly monitor the Deep Sea Fissures.

That crippled Lord of Cracks—no one knew when or how it would come back to kill us.

Using my soul connection with the Heart of the Tide, plus the Stellar Trident's sensitivity to ocean and stellar power, I set up an energy warning line of Star Sea Divine Authority around the fissure's perimeter.

As long as there was any abnormal energy fluctuation inside the fissure, I would know immediately.

Mist Island spent about half a month in this atmosphere of both relief and worry.

But this kind of peaceful day was destined not to last long.