Chapter 185: The Hidden Truth
Under the crushing weight of the apocalypse, not a single Federation civilian was spared. By now, the number of survivors left within the Federation could be counted on one hand.
Would the dawn of victory ever come?
The pilots who had given their lives were now but insignificant drops in the vast current of annihilation. The Federation—once so proud—could no longer stir even the faintest ripple. Despite all their preparations, everything had been too late. They had already thrown out their greatest weapon, yet all it seemed to do was hasten their destruction.
“…Is there still any way?”
Inside one of the Federation’s underground shelters, a man stared at the red blotches spreading across his skin. His voice was hollow, confused, hopeless. He wasn’t really asking anyone. It sounded like he was asking the air—or himself.
No one in the shelter answered. Dozens of survivors huddled together in silence.
A way? What way could there be? Even their strongest weapon couldn’t kill that thing. What else was left—except to wait for death?
No. Perhaps… waiting wasn’t the only option.
Someone’s eyes hardened with grim resolve. Then—bang!—before anyone could stop him, he took his own life.
It happened fast. He didn’t even cry out. His face, even in death, still carried that same desperate despair.
But then, everyone noticed something strange— his body didn’t dissolve into flesh and blood to drift into the sky like the others.
“…Is it because… he’s already dead, so he’s not… fresh anymore?”
Someone murmured, voice trembling.
The air grew heavier, suffocating.
“Fresh?! What the hell do you think we are?!”
Someone broke down screaming.
“Slaughtered lambs. What else?”
“What’s the difference between us and those dead animals out there? We’re just meat.”
“Maybe… maybe we shouldn’t have bombed Cloud City. Maybe she could’ve done something.”
“You’re insane. No matter how strong she is, she’s just one transcendent! What could she do—save the world? If she could, why hasn’t she moved? Everyone’s already dead!”
“Why did this kind of monster even appear? It’s on a completely different level than us! Does that make sense? Transcendents have only been around for a few decades!”
Sense or not, It had appeared. And that was all that mattered.
“In the history of the Federation, we’ve never faced an enemy this powerful or a disaster this unstoppable… No wonder we’re helpless now.”
Someone sighed, as if resigning themselves to fate.
“Then… before that? Was there nothing before?”
A sudden voice broke the stillness.
“What are you talking about?”
“Before what?”
“The Federation is the Federation. What ‘before’ are you talking about?”
Everyone looked confused. There had never been a before the Federation—had there?
The man who asked realized how absurd his question sounded and sat down awkwardly.
*
Meanwhile, in Cloud City, Xu Zhi was facing the same question.
The moment the black sun overflowed, her handheld console began to vibrate faintly—
as if calling to her.
She pulled it out. On the cracked screen appeared a single line of text:
[It’s about to begin.]
“What?” Xu Zhi frowned.
But the Narrator didn’t answer. Instead, another line appeared:
[Have you ever thought about this question?]
[Why is the Federation the Federation?]
“…Huh?”
What kind of riddle was that?
“The Federation is just the Federation. What kind of question is that?”
Of all the cryptic things the Narrator had ever said, this was the strangest.
[You know what history is, don’t you?]
“Obviously!” Xu Zhi snapped. “I’m not illiterate. I’ve read plenty!”
[Then do you know the history before the Federation was founded?]
[What came before the Federation?]
“…What?”
Xu Zhi blinked. What was it talking about?
Before the Federation? Wasn’t the Federation just… always there? Had it ever been “founded”?
[Or perhaps… do you know what lies beyond the Federation?]
Huh? That sounded even stranger.
“What do you mean ‘beyond the Federation’?”
[You know that outside the residential zones is Cloud City. Outside Cloud City is the Federation. So—by extension—what lies beyond that?]
The console’s battery began to drain rapidly.
“…Beyond the Federation?”
Suddenly, Xu Zhi’s entire body tensed. Her brow furrowed, and a piercing hum rang through her skull— like an alarm screaming do not cross this line.
Pain surged. She bent over, sweating in seconds.
An ordinary person’s brain would’ve already shut down, but Xu Zhi’s mind was spinning furiously. Deep inside her, the dormant [Fragment] she carried flickered faintly— as though that single question had stirred it awake.
From childhood, every citizen of the Federation had been taught all kinds of knowledge.
But all of that knowledge existed within the Federation. They knew everything about their world— and yet, none of them had ever been curious about what lay outside it.
Because, in their “common sense,” there was no such thing as outside the Federation.
And now—the Narrator had said it out loud.
It shattered her reality. It defied a rule.
Xu Zhi felt as though a giant axe had split her skull in two. The sealed space of her mind cracked open. A cold wind poured in—bringing unbearable pain and… a clarity she’d never known before.
She’d always believed the world began with the Federation. That it was the only truth, the only history. It had seemed obvious.
But now, for the first time—she asked why.
So much of what she knew—science, history, technology—didn’t fit within the Federation’s tiny, isolated frame. Yet she had never noticed. It was as if something had hijacked her thoughts, forcing her to rationalize the gaps without question.
Now, that veil was lifting.
Cold sweat soaked her back.
What kind of existence could have kept the entire Federation trapped for centuries— like lambs in a pen, living docilely inside this cage, never once wondering what lay beyond? Even when contradictions appeared in their books, they just… ignored them.
Never dared to dig deeper.
Was it It? No. She felt certain—it wasn’t.
If It had that kind of control, it wouldn’t be so desperate now.
Then she understood.
Xu Zhi hesitated for a long moment, then cautiously asked:
“…So, It knew all along? It’s been planning this for ages—preparing to challenge something? And now… It wants to break that confinement?”
Her console, its power flickering, its screen full of cracks,
slowly displayed the answer—
[Yes.]
[But It is not the challenger.]
