Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 644 - 641: "Humans Won’t Be Grateful to You.

Chapter 644: Chapter 641: "Humans Won’t Be Grateful to You.

Su Ming’an leaned against a lamp post, hearing the ubiquitous screams between cities; a massacre was occurring.

He glanced at his own Level Four-Rank Six, then steadied himself against the wall as he walked back.

Blood dripped down his right arm, which cradled the Glory of the Hunt; the barrel was stained bright red.

Along the way, he saw many Beacon members, doing the same thing as him—intercepting exotic beasts, protecting the street blocks behind them.

But this was merely a drop in the bucket.

There were still thousands of exotic beasts, and nearly eighty thousand residents evacuating; even with numerous mercenaries, only a portion of the people could be saved.

In many places, he saw human corpses being chewed on. Many died together, perhaps fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, lovers, their hands still tightly clasped as they tried to escape.

Collapsed cables and rubble made the road uneven. His right arm injury was from the battle, with many similar minor wounds. These weren’t from claw marks of the beasts but mainly from the residual shock of spatial ripples.

"Thud." A survivor lay trapped under the ruins nearby.

As their eyes met, the survivor recognized him.

"Acto..." the survivor said weakly, extending a dusty hand, "It’s all your fault."

The survivor’s voice was faint, barely mustering any strength. Blood spread from his abdomen, and his outstretched fingers were fractured.

He stared intently at Su Ming’an, as if not seeing a human hero but an enemy who had brought ruin to his family.

"I too had a lover, relatives; why should I sacrifice for your grand undertaking?" the survivor said softly, "Before you started the war, before you declared war on the Deity camp...did you think of us?"

Su Ming’an walked forward, blood dripping onto the ground with each step.

"Why did you choose Zone Eleven?" the survivor asked, "Why...couldn’t you find us after you had assembled your troops? Why...do we have to become cannon fodder for your fires of war?"

His voice grew weaker. It sounded less like an accusation born of hatred and more like a soliloquy of despair.

He despaired—despaired at why humanity had to suffer this fate, despaired that he couldn’t protect his family, no more than an inconsequential corpse in a large-scale war. His family was shattered, without causing so much as a ripple.

He didn’t hate Acto; he was just looking for a pretext to vent, to mourn the tragedy of his destiny and ending.

"Yasa Acto. I am not at all grateful to you... Even if humanity wins, they won’t be grateful to you.

You caused the death of my daughter, my mother, my wife; they were eaten alive right before my eyes...

And me...even if I go to Hell, I will never forgive you; all of this is your fault..."

The survivor exhaled his last breath and closed his eyes.

Su Ming’an swept past the ruins, not casting a single glance at the corpse.

Even though the first battle of the Dawn War was tragic, it had been won. Even with the heavy casualties, it offered people breathing room and the possibility of counterattack in the future.

As for whether these people hated him...

—Acto had worked tirelessly for the world since the first year after the Catastrophe up to the one hundred and second year, without ever being appreciated.

What did saving these people have to do with him?

...

"Rumble-rumble—"

The truck entered the Core Area, and under Noah’s lead, an electronic barrier was raised.

As Su Ming’an walked back, Tretiya rushed over, wanting to embrace him.

"Teacher, you’ve finally come back..."

Her face was covered with tears, overwhelmed with joy at the return.

Su Ming’an stepped aside, avoiding her embrace.

He looked around; the High Tower buildings in Zone Eleven stood tall and sturdy, their ice-white walls untainted by a single drop of blood. All the core members, elite personnel, and top-end technicians had managed timely evacuation, with no losses.

Staggering into the hall, his unhealed wound on the right arm dropped blood on the floor, as if the beast’s claws had an effect that hampered healing.

"Oh my, how did you get so injured?" Fayse exclaimed in surprise. Everyone had seen Su Ming’an intercepting the aerial horde of exotic beasts and thought he was invincible.

Su Ming’an lifted his arm, feeling heavy, his steps unsteady.

"Su Ming’an!" Luna grabbed his shoulders, "It’s over, the evacuation is complete. We won’t be under attack for now. Noah’s area defense system has been activated; you can rest now."

Her gaze shifted downward, noticing his right arm stained with blood. The white sleeve had turned a ghastly red from bleeding.

"I..." Su Ming’an began.

"Su Ming’an." Lu walked over too. He glanced at Su Ming’an’s lacerated arm and extended his hand.

A golden radiance flickered between Lu’s fingers. Moments later, a thin layer of gold light coated Su Ming’an’s shoulder, temporarily stemming the flow of blood.

Lu’s occupation was akin to that of a metalworker, capable of solidifying weapons and liquefying metal. He also had a special ability to assist in healing, although not as proficient as a dedicated healer, he could contain some of the injuries.

"Su Ming’an, with me, Luna, and Noah here, we are in a buffering period; there shouldn’t be any major incidents. Go get some sleep," Lu released his hand.

The dark circles under Su Ming’an’s eyes were too pronounced; he hadn’t slept all night in order to document Yasa Acto’s Three Domains technology.

Thousands had gathered in this area, some sitting outside the door, some crying, some staring out the windows, some sleeping on the ground.

Seeing Su Ming’an injured like this, many doctors approached.

"Come on, go to sleep," Luna tugged at him.

Su Ming’an was hoisted up by Lu and Luna, one on each side.

He felt somewhat helpless. Did he appear to these people as a madman who would not rest until the very last moment?

...It seemed he did.

"Time to sleep, time to sleep. Come on, be good, we’ll take you to bed," Lu said, holding him as they walked inside, afraid he might run off again. Fayse and Luna followed closely, like escorting a prisoner.

They carried him into his room and finally let go of him.

"Good night, rest well," Luna soothed.

With a "click," the door closed.

Su Ming’an sat on the bed and removed his white coat stained with blood.

He turned his head—looking out from here, through the transparent glass reflecting under the blood-red sun, he could see the city on the verge of shattering, with carmine smeared across the surface of buildings, dyeing every inch of daylight blood-red.

Among the dense shadows, exposed wires and steel beams had collapsed, with factory wastewater and blood flowing everywhere. The entire city resembled a dying candle in the wind. He could barely make out some broken limbs hidden in the shadows and the massive beasts creeping through like dark, oppressive clouds.

His look was cold.

Lin Guang proved to be troublesome, not just cruel, but also unpredictably erratic in his actions. He had no way to foresee what Lin Guang would do next.

It was like—playing chess with a madman.

Although today’s events had not resulted in a significant loss, one could even say they had won, the outcome was unforeseen. No one expected Lin Guang to send tens of thousands of exotic beasts to attack the city.

Of course, he still had one last resort—death regression.

But if he used regression, he couldn’t explain how he knew in advance that the Deity faction would send exotic beasts, nor could he identify the precise locations where the beasts would attack. If he moved everyone to the Core Area in advance, completely abandoning the outer city... it would be like playing the prophet.

—He couldn’t save them.

In such an unpredictable situation, if he took precautions in advance, it would be like trampling the Organizers’ intelligence underfoot.

Lin Guang’s move was ruthless, completely harmful to others without benefitting himself. By giving up on the human frontline, he allowed those behemoths to break through, piercing into the center, further reducing the human domain of survival.

Su Ming’an collapsed on the bed, engulfed by endless fatigue.

He half-opened his eyes to see the barrage of comments flying past.

[Lin Guang is so cute, oh my, he’d raze a city for Lewis.]

[What a thrill to watch, power clash, Lin Guang suddenly launched a thunderous total attack, aiming for a one-hit kill, but Su Ming’an stopped it.]

[White fur, hehe.]

[I really like Lin Guang, feel so bad for him, he must have some psychological shadow to act like this, someone please save him.]

...

Watching the streaming comments, Su Ming’an suddenly said, "Like Lin Guang?"

After speaking, he closed his mouth.

The barrage was shocked, thinking they had misheard. How could the Number One Player possibly respond to them?

[Did Su Ming’an just talk?]

[Is he talking to himself? How could he possibly reply to us, huh?]

[He sounded really angry, like he thinks we shouldn’t like Lin Guang...]

...

Su Ming’an turned off the live broadcast.

He reached out and with a flick of his hand, the Amber Knife followed the edge of his palm, blade slightly cutting into the skin—

Blood flowed out and the pain cleared his mind a bit, shaking off the strange emotions in his heart.

In the City of Measurement, he often felt inexplicable sadness and anger towards the corruption of the city—these should be the residual effects of Yasa Acto’s body.

Just now, when people mentioned Lin Guang, anger suddenly surged in his heart as well, it seemed that Acto really disliked Lin Guang.

In fact, he himself also had an extreme aversion to Lin Guang, and hated the audience who only valued looks without moral integrity even more.

...So as long as someone is attractive and has white hair, even slaughtering a hundred thousand people and abandoning human defenses can be forgiven?

He gripped the hilt of the knife, its surface reflecting his bloodshot eyes. Suddenly, there was a slight noise at the door.

"Who’s there!"

He opened the door, knife pointed outward only to rest against the forehead of a white-haired young man.

Lv Shu stood at the door holding a bowl of tea, staring blankly at him.

Su Ming’an sheathed his knife: "What do you want?"

He thought someone was eavesdropping, but it was just Lv Shu.

Lv Shu was silent for a while before lifting the cup higher.

"I’ve brought you tea," Lv Shu said. "As you described, the leaves are green, the tea is colorless."

Su Ming’an glanced at the tea; it was no longer the tea he knew, the smell even unpleasant, like disinfectant. He wondered how Lv Shu managed to brew disinfectant out of tea leaves, a real talent indeed.

For safety, he would not drink anything Lv Shu brought him at this stage.

"I’m resting, I won’t drink," Su Ming’an said. "Don’t push yourself too hard, you’ll get better."

"Isn’t this the tea you wanted?" Lv Shu asked anxiously.

"Goodnight." Su Ming’an closed the door.

Lv Shu stood outside the door, motionless for a long time.

Until the tea went cold.

He walked down the corridor holding the cup, descending the emergency exit of the small door, all the way to the underground, where he kicked open a door.

In the dark room without any lights was a female player, bound hand and foot.

He grabbed the female player’s collar, staring intently:

"Still not right!"

The female player, terrified, sobbed: "Great God Lv Shu, please, I really don’t know what the tea you used to make was like. I can only imitate its shape. Ask someone else, please, I’m also a Dragon Country player, have mercy..."

"You don’t know?"

"I really don’t know, Great God Lv Shu, I beg you..."

The words of the female player stopped abruptly.

Her head rolled onto the ground, leaving only a severed throat.

Lv Shu withdrew his bloody hand, letting go of the female player whose neck he had forcefully broken.

"Crash!" He smashed the porcelain bowl, his face grim.

...

[City of Gods]

Lin Guang opened his eyes.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, barely managing to crawl out of the hibernation pod, his body entwined with countless tubes that clung to him like chains.

Driving ten thousand exotic beasts to assault the city had been too great a burden for him.

"Violet—Violet!" he looked up, squinting at the dazzling ceiling lights, his head swimming with dizziness.

"I’m here, my lord!"

A shapely woman dressed in a leather skirt entered the room and stood respectfully beside the hibernation pod. She was a player, who, using her charm value and wisdom, had temporarily gained Lin Guang’s trust and became his assistant.

"How is the battle going?" Lin Guang asked, gasping for air, lacking the strength to crawl to the control panel to observe for himself.

"The exotic beasts breached Zone Eleven, but they couldn’t penetrate the core area, so..." Violet said cautiously, "it failed."

"Why couldn’t they break through?" Lin Guang said angrily.

"Because Yasa Acto stood in front of the army of exotic beasts and delayed them for twenty minutes," Violet said.

Lin Guang spat out another mouthful of blood.

Violet hurriedly reached for her handkerchief to help him wipe it away but was pushed aside by him.

"Don’t talk to me about Lewis in the future! I don’t want to hear his name!!" Lin Guang breathed heavily.

"Yes," Violet acquiesced smoothly, immediately changing the subject: "My lord, today I found a nice flute score in the ruins of the catastrophe. Would you like it?"

Lin Guang was silent for a moment before he struggled to stand, leaning against the wall, and took the score.

After skimming through it, he imagined how to play it.

The piece Violet had brought out was a score for "Ode to Joy," which ought to sound lovely in Lin Guang’s imagination.

"This feeling... if I played it for Lewis..." Lin Guang murmured to himself.

The next moment, he realized he had mentioned Lewis again and, out of anger, stretched out a hand and several innocent guard robots "snapped" in two.

"If you don’t like Lewis, just kill him," Violet said helplessly, watching the scene.

"I don’t like him," Lin Guang gasped, "but I also don’t want to kill him."

He paused for a moment, then added, "But is it only by killing him that I won’t feel so sad?"

"My lord, do you know what ’emotions’ are?" Violet pondered for a moment before advising, "It’s not necessarily just romantic love between a man and a woman, but rather, a connection like that with family, an admiration like that with friends, a kind of ’love’ for an independent individual life. This person is different to you, able to stir your heart, able to make you think he is a good person. Have you ever felt such feelings when interacting with others? If so, that’s called ’appreciation’ and ’love’."

"Love," Lin Guang said with a vacant look in his eyes, repeating the word.

He remembered the hate-filled eyes with which everyone looked at him. When he was in the company of lifeless machines, his heart was forever as cold as still water.

He seemed to have forgotten many things and lost many things. He was so powerful now, able to dominate a world, yet felt like he had grasped nothing, left nothing behind.

—Suddenly, he remembered the nights when he played the flute as he walked with Lewis, a genuine relaxation, as if all the troublesome things, like "deities" and "the future of humankind," had blown away with the wind. Under the moonlight, there were only shadows, those extended shadows enough to calm his heart.

—Then he recalled Lewis’s gaze upon him.

Beyond Lewis, there were other times too... when he touched the green sprouts growing from the ruins, when he saw the first ray of sunlight in the morning, when he heard the cry of a newborn life, when he received a new flute score, he felt a similar emotion.

"Right," Violet instructed, "can you summarize ’love’ in one word now? Is it beauty, happiness, warmth, softness, or... something else?"

In this moment, Lin Guang suddenly experienced the "emotion" that Violet was describing.

"Violet, what is love?" Lin Guang asked.

Violet coaxed gently, "It’s like facing your parents, friends, people like Lewis, facing the thriving world—[Every moment you live in this world, what you feel, is love.]"

Lin Guang’s eyes widened slightly.

In that moment, it was as if light had fallen into his pupils.

He said softly:

"So... Love turns out to be despair."