I Am Extraordinary Alone
Chapter 186 - 184: The God Among Men

Chapter 186: Chapter 184: The God Among Men

This was a long-haul flight, the helicopter carried them for over three hours to a seaside cliff.

Wei Tianyang pulled out his phone to check the map and found that they were in the far southwestern corner of Azaha, looking out, the ocean filled the left half of the view, while the right half was a series of rolling hills.

At the edge of the sea cliff, there stood the white remains of a castle. Even though its outer walls had collapsed and the entire inner castle left only ruins, at the deepest part, a small, solitary fortress still held its ground.

A dirt road extended from the inner castle outward, with very simply constructed wooden huts on both sides. From a higher vantage point, one could see many people going about, seemingly residing there.

At the end of the road, there was a helipad with armed patrol soldiers all over it. Indeed, looking north along the road, one would find clusters of factories hidden at the foot of the mountain, and even more military bases atop the high mountains.

This was the true "capital" of Azaha, where their god sprawled.

The helicopter descended slowly, and the soldiers swarmed up, rifles cocked, rocket launchers aimed this way, and truck-mounted machine guns turned their barrels. All eyes were on Wei Tianyang.

He jumped off the aircraft and heard someone shouting loudly, "He’s not wearing a blindfold! He knows where we are!"

Shana was behind Wei Tianyang, one hand resting on his left shoulder, her huge fingers gripping his shoulder.

"Come with me," she said sternly.

The soldiers parted to form a path, and they began to climb towards the direction of the cliffs.

As Wei Tianyang walked, he looked to both sides of the dirt road and saw women in cloth skirts crouched by the grass, washing bandages with basins full of bloody water. He also saw men sitting in front of houses, hand-copying sacred texts with fountain pens, others rolling cigarettes next to a large pile of tobacco, boxing them up, and stuffing them into backpacks beside them.

Entering the inner walls of the castle, the shattered palace loomed close, more soldiers gathered, following him, forming a troop of dozens behind him, blocking any retreat.

The doorway of the palace was pitch black, looking as though only candlelight was present. Shana stood by the door, no longer moving forward, kneeling on one knee, head bowed, with her son standing beside her, embracing her arm.

Wei Tianyang stood in front of the door, looking back at the soldiers. They showed angry faces and muttered in low voices, "Get in! Get in!"

He then turned to the dark hall, stepping over a half-meter-high stone threshold and immersing himself into the darkness beyond.

Only a few steps in, the dim candlelight began to dispel the darkness before his eyes, and the interior of the hall gradually sharpened into focus.

The size of the hall was roughly equivalent to an outdoor tennis court. The floor extended forward for more than twenty meters, leading to twenty-four steps. At the top of the steps was a wall, with an oil painting hanging on it.

A beam of light shone through the broken dome above, landing precisely on the painting, illuminating that small area brightly, which in the dimness, seemed all the more meaningful.

In the shadowy haze on his sides seemed a few dozen armed soldiers waiting in formation.

He didn’t use his night vision, and only when his normal sight adapted to the darkness, did he realize that the soldiers on the sides were not alive but were casts of dark golden sculptures.

By then, a person in a white robe with long golden hair down to his waist appeared in front of the painting, muttering to himself with his back to Wei Tianyang.

Wei Tianyang drew closer, positioning himself within the shadows, while the robed figure stood in the light.

"Are you Rada Gan?" Wei Tianyang asked.

"...And thus, the Lord said, ’I want four knights to create a new world. They must die, but they will also be glorified.’..."

The man, still not turning around and gazing at the mural, spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Wei Tianyang asked, discerning he was a man.

The man turned his head, his handsome face and those golden eyes leaving a deep impression on Wei Tianyang, who looked about twenty-something, not much older than himself.

He placed a finger on his lips, then continued, "They said to the Lord, ’We are blessed by you and granted eternity. Yet we did not seek eternity. Whether alive or dead, we belong to you, not to this world... How can we seek to live as long as our Lord?’"

Wei Tianyang watched him silently, confirming the man before him was Rada Gan. The golden eyes were not deceiving; he was stirring his own superpower.

Wei Tianyang’s own eyes also reddened, as they locked gazes.

Rada Gan continued, "The Lord thought they were good, and said to one, ’You, become my White Knight, bestowed with the power to wield piercing iron, to kill my enemies.’..."

As Rada Gan spoke, he descended the steps.

It was then that Wei Tianyang noticed, he was barefoot.

When Rada Gan reached the tenth step, he halted, lingering at the edge of the light, at the borderline between light and darkness.

"Can you become my Knight?" Rada Gan asked Wei Tianyang, his voice gentle.

"You have an entire country, why do you need a Knight?" Wei Tianyang responded solemnly.

"No, this country doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to its own people," Rada Gan said with a smile.

"They don’t think so," Wei Tianyang said.

"I don’t care. My only concern is how to help them win this war," Rada Gan replied.

"So, you really came from heaven?" Wei Tianyang asked with a smile.

"Where I come from isn’t important... What matters is what I must become, what I must achieve," Rada Gan said.

"They see you as a deity, yet you let them down last night," Wei Tianyang said.

"Why do you say that?" Rada Gan asked.

"Feinan was bombed at dawn, the civilians ran onto the streets, to be slaughtered. I heard them calling your name, yet you did not appear. You let them down," Wei Tianyang said coldly.

"No... no... I haven’t let them down," Rada Gan shook his head.

He turned back, continuing to gaze at the oil painting.

"Peace won’t come on its own. One can only approach it," he murmured.

He turned to Wei Tianyang and said, "I provide them with the strength to resist, but to win peace, they must rely on themselves."

"The first time my feet touched this land’s fine sand, the first time my nostrils breathed this country’s air, the first time my eyes saw the people on the streets... I saw what this country was lacking," Rada Gan said.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

Wei Tianyang replied, "Money?"

Rada Gan laughed, "No, not money."

He suddenly raised his fist toward the dome’s hole, shouting, "It’s courage!!"

This roar echoed through the great hall, as if the golden statues around were moved by it.

Wei Tianyang remained silent.

"I showed miracles to the people from different regions of this country," Rada Gan said again. "I promised them, go fight, take back your dignity and freedom. Would you let others conquer your land? Would you let others slaughter your brothers and sons? Would you let others defile your wives and daughters!!!"

"Go fight!!!" Rada Gan shouted loudly.

"They were angry, then despondent, and then they mocked themselves," Rada Gan said, his voice growing faint.

"In the end, they picked up stones and threw them at me," he laughed.

"Hahaha... hahahaha!!!" Rada Gan covered his forehead, laughing uproariously.

"But..." he raised his head, looking at the beam of light.

"There were fathers who had lost sons, wives who had lost husbands, and children who had lost parents. They chose to fight," Rada Gan said.

"They used hoes and shovels and defeated assault rifles and tanks in one night," he looked at Wei Tianyang, "the cost was heavy... 100 went out, 6 came back."

"That was sending them to death," Wei Tianyang said.

"The meaning of life and death, I think you and I understand differently," Rada Gan said, tears streaming from his eyes, "That night, they felt ’alive’ more than anyone else in this country."

Rada Gan wiped the tears on his cheeks and continued, "The Lord blessed them, and thus there were four Knights under his command. They shared the king’s power but also sowed the seeds of their destined demise."

"That day, I showed them a miracle again... their hoes turned into guns, their tractors into tanks," Rada Gan said solemnly.

He looked at Wei Tianyang and continued, "I do not help those who kneel and beg; I only help the true warriors."

Finally, Wei Tianyang understood why Rada Gan could become Azaha’s god.