Final Civilization

Chapter 34: A Great Goal

Han Ming frowned. "You mean, if someone is killed, a new person will take their place as a Wallfacer or Wallbreaker?"

"There's no definitive evidence, but that's the mainstream view within the Salvationist faction," Tao Jie said.

A torrent of thoughts surged in Han Ming's mind. If a Wallfacer dies and a new one takes their place, then it's highly likely he had inherited the position from a deceased Wallfacer, becoming a new player in this game!

"Then... do you know who these Wallfacers or Wallbreakers are?" Han Ming asked tentatively.

Hearing this, Tao Jie shook her head. "Very few people know. Forget about Wallfacers and Wallbreakers, the United Nations actually established an organization dedicated to protecting and supporting Wallfacers many years ago. Major countries also have similar action departments or organizations. Even these official organizations are extremely mysterious to the outside world. We've only heard that perhaps one or two Wallfacers might already be operating secretly under official protection. The others are buried deep beneath the surface. They might be a national president, a world-class billionaire, a top-tier scientist, a scion of a powerful family, or perhaps an ordinary person hidden among the common folk. In short, very few know their true identities."

"Because they need to hide their identities to ensure they aren't discovered by Wallbreakers?" Han Ming said.

As she spoke, she turned to look at Han Ming. "Even if you knew, how could you determine if they are real, or fake?"

"There are fakes too?" Han Ming frowned.

"Of course there are," Tao Jie said. "This is a game of strategy. Anything could be fake. Just like the Wallfacers supposedly under UN protection I mentioned earlier. But how can the UN be sure they are protecting a Wallfacer, and not someone disguised as a..."

"Wallbreaker!"Han Ming drew in a sharp, cold breath. He stopped walking, frozen in place, his mind already a tempestuous sea.

He couldn't help but recall those three sentences at this moment.

「First, from now on, every word you say can be a lie.」

「Second, your mission is to save human civilization. Your actions require no explanation to the outside world.」

「Third, beware of Wallbreakers.」

This wasn't some civilized game of strategy; it was practically a hellish arena of carnage!

Seeing Han Ming stop, Tao Jie looked somewhat surprised. "You seem very shocked by what I said. Don't you have any doubts?"

Han Ming walked on his own toward the riverbank, then turned back to Tao Jie. "I'm just very curious. With immortality and infinite wealth, why would Wallbreakers want to stop Wallfacers? They are also human. Is there some rule forcing them to oppose the Wallfacers?"

Tao Jie said calmly, "You're thinking of *Three-Body*, aren't you? Indeed, the ETO stood on a position opposing humanity. They were essentially representatives of the Trisolaran civilization on Earth, so they had a clear motivational stance for sabotaging the Wallfacers' plans."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Actually, I'm not very clear about this point either," Tao Jie sighed. "All I know is that beneath the dark surface of this world, the conflict over the survival of the world in the face of apocalypse has been going on for many years. And currently, it seems the Wallfacers hold the advantage."

"Why do you say that?"

Tao Jie looked at Han Ming and said plainly, "Weren't you just saying that the world has been getting better?"

Han Ming fell silent for a moment, then said, "I don't quite understand the logic."

"Didn't I just say that I joined that Science Fiction Literary Society? Their theme revolves around how to save the world. Their real purpose is to use this method to collect useful suggestions and ideas from within and provide them to the Wallfacers."

Han Ming was astonished.

"You mean, even the Wallfacers don't know what the apocalypse actually is or how to deal with it?!"

"Correct. If the nature of the apocalypse was clear, you would have long since seen the world's military and scientific research landscapes undergo earth-shattering changes, developing vigorously in a specific direction. But that hasn't happened. Because whether it's Wallfacers, Wallbreakers, or the entire world, everyone is searching for the answer," Tao Jie said.

Han Ming frowned. "So, before the answer is found, both Wallfacers and Wallbreakers will hide their identities, only engaging in a game of strategy over the world order from the shadows!"

He looked at Tao Jie. "So, that Science Fiction Literary Society of yours is assisting a specific Wallfacer?"

"Assisting..."

Tao Jie gave a light laugh. "You're thinking too simply. Wallfacers are key figures in the continuation of human civilization. The forces surrounding this game of order are countless, from the largest world governments down to the smallest civilian organizations. They are hidden within the politics, militaries, financial conglomerates, groups, and scientific institutions of various countries. Only a very few people can truly meet a Wallfacer. The Wallfacer then uses these few people as agents, executors, and disguisers to contact or control these organizations. These people are called the Wallfacer's 'Apostles'!"

"As for our Science Fiction Literary Society, it can only be considered a civilian organization at the very outermost edge of the game. Strictly speaking, it's just a group of Wallfacer believers who have aspirations for the world and are willing to fight for it."

"Believers," Han Ming said. "Mythologizing a leader isn't a good phenomenon."

"This isn't mythologizing."

Tao Jie said with a serious expression, "If the world is facing an impending apocalypse, any human-chosen Wallfacer would be controversial. That's just how this world is—multipolar groups, class contradictions, ideological struggles. Only a Wallfacer who appears like this, not chosen by any political entity, free from group controversy, whose every penny of infinite wealth spent in the world theoretically mobilizes the wealth of the entire world, free from conflicts of interest, a Wallfacer who possesses immortality and infinite wealth satisfying all human private desires..."

"Therefore, a Wallfacer has only one goal: to save the world. To strive for such a person, being called a faith by us, what's wrong with that?"

Han Ming secretly clicked his tongue and let out a long sigh.

"Alright, then... you mean, Chen Yufeng was killed by the forces of a Wallbreaker? Since you're just a peripheral civilian organization, how could you suffer such severe targeting?"

"I don't know."

Tao Jie's expression darkened. "At the very beginning, I just joined that literary society out of interest. After coming into contact with the Wallfacer's world plan, I became very interested in it. Because of this, I got to know an organization called the 'Sacred Realm of Science' through Chen Yufeng. Later, I found out that literary society wasn't really a Wallfacer organization; it was more like an entry point for recruiting volunteers. After coming into contact with the people from the Sacred Realm of Science, I learned these truths and gradually developed the willingness to devote myself to this civilization game."

"Volunteers?" Han Ming said. "The organization you joined wasn't established by a Wallfacer?"

"Of course not. It's just that the Sacred Realm of Science is a genuine group that can make contact with a Wallfacer's 'Apostles,' not one of those shady organizations that wave the Wallfacer banner to swindle people."

Han Ming frowned. "The Wallfacers are hidden so deeply. Are you sure your actions and contributions can actually help? Or rather, since you also haven't confirmed the Wallfacers' methods, how do you know the Sacred Realm of Science is following a Wallfacer and not a Wallbreaker?"

"We can't judge. We can only be sure that the things we invest in are actions beneficial to the world. Moreover, regardless of the Wallbreakers, the primary goal of the Wallfacers and humanity at present is to investigate the truth of the world's apocalypse. As long as we walk on this path, we won't deviate."

Han Ming let out another long sigh. "So, to you, this sounds more like a... vision?"

"Yes."

As she spoke, she looked at Han Ming and smiled slightly. "Han Ming, have you ever thought that we are young, and being able to join the grand endeavor of saving the world and continuing human civilization within our limited lifetimes is an incredibly romantic thing?"

"Even if... it's just playing a tiny, insignificant role that no one will care about or remember..."

Hearing this, Han Ming's expression froze for a moment. He wanted to say something, but seeing the look in Tao Jie's eyes, he stopped.

The grand endeavor of continuing human civilization...

Han Ming felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation, as if high in the sky, what he saw was the mirror-like reflection of a proton's multidimensional unfolding enveloping the world, that apocalyptic shadow looming over Earth.

But Tao Jie's words made him suddenly understand, shocking him to his core.

He looked at the bustling Bund under the morning light, as if already glimpsing that beneath the collapsing sky, countless people across the world, with passionate hearts ablaze, had already thrown themselves headlong into the cause of salvation, shedding blood and offering their lives.

Quietly active beneath the tide of the bustling, coming-and-going world...

Struggling!