Chapter 197 The Chosen One

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In that moment of confrontation, despite his elevated position, Silver Wolf chose to avoid the girl's breathtakingly blue eyes and even felt slightly awkward as he forced the white falcon to leave.

Now, as he gazed into the vast sky, it seemed as though her eyes still shimmered there. Like the brightest stars in the night sky, deep and mysterious, they seemed to hold endless stories and secrets.

What lingered, too, was the moment she turned around, her surprise lifting the corners of her mouth like a ray of moonlight, instantly igniting his heart before quickly fading and cooling, as if witnessing the universe turning its back on her, mirroring his current sentiments.

Back at the Scholar's Pavilion, Aurum Aspire sat alone at the head of the room, solitary and lonely as always. Upon seeing Silver Wolf enter, he paused, "Back so soon? What's the situation?"

"The Azure and White Forest remains as before, guarded but silent," Silver Wolf reported, clearly not his first reconnaissance of the area.

"Sigh, what do you think Willow Wood's gathering of Sky Whisper in the Azure and White Forest signifies? Without eliminating him, he remains a significant threat to humanity." Aurum Aspire's reference to the spacecraft's alert was not an excuse, but the spacecraft's warnings were not detailed; all the details were deduced from their recovered memories, mainly from information held by Silver Wolf.

"Unfortunately, the spacecraft's triggering mechanism is limited, only allowing us two to recollect memories from before our return to the Elemental Magnetic Star. So despite our efforts here, they treat it as a joke." If Aurum Aspire harbored grand ambitions for humanity's renaissance and his responsibilities before visiting the Surface Domain or fully recovering his memories, those have now been crushed by harsh reality.

"Isolated on the Elemental Magnetic Star for too long, we've been complacent about humanity's once splendid civilization, with the spacecraft standing as a testament to history, thinking the future was within easy reach," Aurum Aspire said with a bitter smile, "The Scholar's Pavilion has become the highest authority on Elemental Magnetic Star. Who would have thought there were other threats?"

Ever since learning about Willow Wood's existence, Aurum Aspire's self-reproach hasn't ceased. Although outwardly he appeared ready for battle, internally he was mired in deep self-doubt. Observing the calm Silver Wolf, his gaze was complex, "You seem to have accepted reality quickly. Truly worthy of being 'The Chosen One'!"

Silver Wolf's status as "The Chosen One" was determined before the spacecraft's escape. This spacecraft, loaded with humanity's finest genes and bearing the last hope of humanity, had calculated extensively, including which genes were suitable for survival, decision-making, and rational resource use. In these calculations and simulations, Silver Wolf was identified as a crucial element, tasked with a series of complex and key missions.

Firstly, as the spacecraft captain, his decision-making abilities were crucial for adapting to unknown environments and ensuring smooth space travel.

Secondly, his genes provided superior physiological qualities, such as adaptability to different environments and strong self-healing abilities, enabling survival in unknown star domains and aiding in the proliferation of the species.

Moreover, his highly developed social and cooperative skills allowed him to work effectively with other beings carrying quality genes, establishing a stable ecosystem on new planets.

Other members of the spacecraft were also part of a carefully planned ecosystem, with Aurum Aspire and Jade Thistle as potential leaders.

However, due to an accident during the first reincarnation, the leader and candidates failed to trigger their memory mechanisms. The pre-planned human inheritance system could not be effectively executed. Instead, human instincts took over, allowing for the continuation of the species on the Elemental Magnetic Star, but civilization struggled to revive.

Aurum Aspire was chosen as the Pavilion Master, and with a vague sense of duty and fragments of memory, the desire for the return of human civilization was rekindled. He discovered from the Pavilion Master's secret diary that the spacecraft had superior intelligence, and even a small activation could greatly benefit humanity. However, upon accessing memory chips sealed by previous Pavilion Masters within the spacecraft, he learned of the calculated survival plan for humanity, revealing Silver Wolf as the true leader, with himself as merely a backup.

Hesitant about what to do but unwilling to relinquish power directly, Aurum Aspire deceitfully confined an oblivious Silver Wolf in the spacecraft's detention room.

Just then, Jadelle came down from the Surface Domain looking for Aurum Aspire. Having understood the history between humans and Sky Whisper from the memory chips and suspecting Jadelle might be a reincarnated Sky Whisper, he confined her with Silver Wolf. This was to observe whether Silver Wolf truly possessed the racial affinity described in the memory chips and to investigate Jadelle's true identity. If she was indeed a Sky Whisper, restarting the spacecraft's energy might begin with her.

Were it not for Willow Wood's overt actions triggering the spacecraft's alarm, Aurum Aspire might still be debating whether he or Silver Wolf was the more beneficial leader for humanity's future. Facing the crisis, Aurum Aspire remained optimistic, considering it an opportunity to regain his full memory.

The spacecraft's memory-triggering mechanism required two conditions: a significant crisis, like the current situation, and for energy optimization, it prioritized genetic ranking, with Silver Wolf ahead of Aurum Aspire. The spacecraft, detecting Silver Wolf's survival, insisted that only he could initiate the memory-triggering mechanism, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of pre-reincarnation memories. This mechanism, a complex and precise technology, was intricately linked to Silver Wolf's life signatures.

Aurum Aspire had no choice but to inform Silver Wolf of the entire situation, allowing him to face the spacecraft's warnings and decide whether to accept the responsibility or have his memory genes extracted and re-encoded into Aurum Aspire's neural system. However, the risks of re-encoding genes were high; failure could result in both losing all memories.

Thus, they made the correct choice.

It was a remarkable journey, not a simple switch control, but a miraculous integration of technology and life. As the spacecraft's computing system resonated with Silver Wolf's life signals, unlocking memory clues beyond physical and digital means, ancient fragments resurfaced in the sea of memory, each representing a path humanity once walked, stories experienced.

Through such vicissitudes and sorrow, Aurum Aspire finally grasped the difficulty of humanity's escape and survival, recognizing his insignificance. He not only ridiculed his previous ambitions but also felt a deep pessimism towards humanity's fate—having escaped to the Elemental Magnetic Star for two thousand years, was such distance and time insufficient to evade the hatred and pursuit of Willow Wood and his ilk?

Aurum Aspire no longer aspired to be "The Chosen One," instead feeling sympathy for Silver Wolf. It was a shackle, binding anyone labeled with that name to a predetermined fate. Any slight desire to escape became a betrayal of the entire species.

Since accepting his fate and reclaiming past memories and knowledge, Silver Wolf lost all personal interest and passion. It wasn't that his heart was filled with grand human questions, but the immense ancient memories, like a long, bygone era, washed away personal desires, leaving them pale and insignificant.

The girl he saw today, Silver Wolf recognized her, not having lost his memory, but having become indifferent to all emotions. Remembering her, he knew she was his lover, as dazzling as the starry sky, but that was all. Having seen countless starry skies and vast universes over the eons, his heart was immersed in endless time, rendering individual emotions feeble.

Yet, today, facing her, the girl's blue, emotion-filled eyes stirred something within Silver Wolf. She radiated a unique glow only he could recognize, an extraordinary presence in the boundless universe.

He once cherished such a presence, which even slightly loosened the heavy burden of time and responsibility he bore.

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