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Chapter 732 - 729: "You are, the best.

Chapter 732: Chapter 729: "You are, the best.

Su Ming’an stared at the "City Lord."

——Who exactly was this?

Was it a deity, or was it Shadow in disguise, or perhaps... the real Yasa Acto? But hadn’t Acto died?

Su Ming’an’s breathing became somewhat hurried, the "City Lord’s" demeanor calm and collected, and his gaze so indifferent that it inspired fear.

Their temperaments were like reflections in a mirror.

Suddenly, Su Ming’an felt a force on his arm, and taking advantage of the "City Lord’s" distraction, Noah pulled Su Ming’an forcefully, darting into the city’s shadows.

...

"Click."

The hatch opened, and the white-haired youth descended the stairs step by step, entering the icy white room.

Upper couplet: Magpies alight on branches bringing joy to the threshold; lower couplet: Spring flowers blossom splendidly, the earth in spring.

He took out the spring couplet with ink dried in the wind and pasted it on the door, smoothing out every tiny wrinkle. He had affixed such couplets dozens of times, changing them annually. Now that he had deeply understood Dragon Country culture, he no longer encountered issues with asymmetrical writing.

In addition, the room’s walls were plastered with a variety of photos and drawings, covering all six walls like wallpaper, so numerous that not a single gap remained.

He stood among these oceanic photos and drawings, pressing the play button on the central console, and a stream of sound cascaded from the speakers.

"I’ve been on adventures to many places, the first of which was a city overgrown with fungi..."

In the early days at Kaius Tower, Su Ming’an would often live stream lectures, using the Missionary Halo to plunder the faith of the deities. Sometimes, Su Ming’an would discuss the Lighthouse theory, or merely recite the news, but most of the time, he talked about his own adventures—like the bizarre magical Ming Hui, or the splendid and gorgeous oceanic city, or the double deity conflict beneath the Black Wall.

Back then, people were attracted by these interesting stories, influenced by the Missionary Halo, willing to stop and listen to the voice of the City Lord, willing to dedicate their strength and lives to follow his voice. But what no one expected was that the most attentive listener was actually the number one enemy in the City of Gods, far away.

Lin Guang saved every recording, thousands of folders stored in the terminal of his underground laboratory.

"...That city too, had a little girl who liked to call me ’Doctor’—her name was Xiao Han. I was awakened in a laboratory, she said, ’Doctor, we are humanity’s last hope...’"

The sound of the recordings emanated from all directions, and Lin Guang had listened to these stories tens of thousands of times over forty years. Since no one talked to him, he kept listening.

While listening to these tales, various emotions flickered across Lin Guang’s face, he felt something similar to seeing grass sprouting from the soil... In human language, this was called "happiness."

However, many other voices made him irritable. Over the years, he always heard all sorts of hallucinations:

"...I’ve decided to follow you, I like those who always have the future in their hearts. I like you, I think you are worthy to be my light."

"...I will clear all obstacles for you. I believe in you... but I also cannot forgive this numb and despaired self. I want to follow you, to start over."

"You are... the best."

"..."

Those repetitive, nightmarish, and irritating voices.

He wished he could reach into his own head with his hands, tear out the voices in his head, or just rip off his own ears.

But ultimately, he just blankly stared at the basement in front of him, curled up in a corner.

More than thirty years ago, he clearly had many forceful methods. For example, when he first met Lewis, he wiped out the not yet established Beacon gathering place with an endless army of City of Gods Mechanics. Or, when all the residents advocated handing over Lewis, he had his massive Exotic Beasts army kill these cowards who only knew to surrender a hero, eradicating the roots of the Freedom Faction. Alternatively, when Lewis visited his City of Gods, incapacitating Lewis completely, eliminating the possibility of the City of Gods’ downfall...

He clearly had innumerable ways to defeat the Freedom Faction.

But he did not act upon them.

Instead, he watched impassively as Doomsday City grew, as armies approached the city, and as Lewis stopped the nuclear explosion, drawing his Blade Edge on him.

So ultimately, as if walking toward a destined fate—the fall of the City of Gods was to be expected; his escape like a stray dog was only logical.

Over the years, after casting off the weight of the City of Gods, he went from being the most powerful Agent to a hidden traveler. He traveled to many places in the world, like a backpacker of the most ordinary kind. He met wanderers on the wasteland, lived in remote and uninhabited small towns, walked past the vast graveyards of martyrs from the Dawn War era, and saw many scenes of residents getting along.

The frail mother trembling as she saved the last bite of food for her child, the blood-stained soldier carrying the last supplies desperately back to camp, the elderly couple holding hands as they walked towards the end of their lives...

He still detested humanity.

But he seemed... to understand some of what Lewis had previously shown, the thing called "emotion."

"Click."

He opened a box,

A green, crystal-like mantis sprang out. Its forearms were not yet fully developed, resembling an irregularly shaped Green Gemstone.

He brought it close to his lips.

That was a dangerous move.

Even though the mantis was not fully grown, its forearms were very Sharp, cutting through his lips, with a tearing pain from the gums, blood with a fishy taste mixed in his mouth. He did not move away until the agitated creature settled down.

...Pain was a curious sensation. As he savored the blood in his mouth, he thought about how many people had vomited blood because of his shooting, including Lewis.

At that moment, they may have felt the same. He experienced the pain Lewis had gone through.

Chewing on the taste of blood, a strangely calming emotion surged in his empty heart.

He twirled his pistol at his waist, then suddenly aimed it at his abdomen and fired with a "bang". His face turned pale with pain in an instant, cold sweat slid down his forehead, soaking his collar.

The bullet pierced his stomach, blood seeping out.

"So this is how it hurts..." he murmured.

He stood still for a moment, muttering to himself, "What about the arm that was pierced? The palm? The thigh? The strangled neck? Being slammed against the wall?"

The harm he had caused Lewis was far more than just a stomach wound. If he could experience similar pain, would he... be able to understand some of his friend’s feelings and thoughts?

He spun the gun barrel, aiming at other parts of his body.

In the empty room, only the sound of him shooting himself repeatedly remained.

...

"I overheard a legend from a subordinate chatting, about the deity who governs flame—Hephaestus. He was so ugly that his mother, Hera, threw him down from Mount Olympus, causing him to become crippled."

"When he grew up, Hephaestus crafted an exceedingly beautiful chair—the Throne of Hephaestus. He placed it where Hera was sure to pass by. Vain Hera took the bait, sitting down on it. Then, she was completely locked in place by the chair’s mechanisms. Hephaestus exacted his revenge," said Noah, leading Su Ming’an through the alleys.

"Are you implying that you are that fire god?" Su Ming’an asked.

Noah indeed gave off the impression of "flame," whether it was his flame-like golden hair or his fiery, passionate, and warm temperament; all were highly reminiscent of the image of fire.

"I’m just saying that this is a good opportunity," Noah replied. "I know the best way to weaken a deity—is to kill the person the god is embodied in. In doing so, each of us becomes like ’The Throne of Hephaestus.’ I’ll go into details about this plan later with you."

Su Ming’an pondered.

Noah led him to the outskirts of the city and uncovered an underground passageway entrance resembling a manhole cover. Going underground, scattered electrical wires and solidified cement accumulated at their feet. Some abrupt white iron doors served as defense for the underground passages.

Noah performed a retinal scan and opened these white iron doors, revealing a vast and expansive underground plaza. Suspended more than fifteen meters above, there even was a virtual projection, displaying blue skies and white clouds, making this Underground City seem no different from the cities above ground.

Over the years, the "New Beacon" army, resisting the brutal rule of Doomsday City, had expanded more and more rapidly, as fire spreads from a single spark. Like leaves falling onto soil, even decayed, they would sprout new tender shoots.

Su Ming’an looked at the marketplace, the flow of people, and the underground structures before him.

When humanity’s needs for survival were met, they began to crave freedom and equality. Various resistance forces sprouted up like bamboo shoots after rain, gathering here.

Humans are a species naturally inclined to rebel; no sooner are they ruled than they tirelessly seek to revolt.

On their way, Noah shared with him his experiences of recent years.

"In these six years, I’ve lost my last relative," Noah said. "Most of my family died in the chaotic battles after the Century Catastrophe; I only had a niece left. She was of a younger generation, already an eighty-year-old old lady. Her favorite pastime was to look for games from before the Catastrophe. She loved gaming, even though she was nearly blind.

In the end, she didn’t die in the chaotic wars, nor did she die from the cruel famine and cold. Instead, she died during one of the City Lord’s purges. Her collection of game cartridges was deemed ’cultural leftovers from the last century,’ and she was labeled ’a person with a rebellious heart for playing violent games,’ thus she was imprisoned."

Noah said this with a bleak smile:

"It’s irrational, strange, isn’t it? A person was branded with a crime for such a reason, negating most of her life that she had struggled to hang on to. As a relative of the Great Commander, she should have lived comfortably, yet she met such an end—just because she collected some game cartridges.

I knelt at the City Lord’s feet, begging him not to kill her. But it was no use; I still remember the cold light in the City Lord’s eyes, looking at me as if I were an ant crawling on the ground... At that moment, I suddenly realized that I, who had fought on behalf of Doomsday City for most of my life, was in fact nothing more than a hair’s breadth.

Grandfather, I always thought that City Lord was you, so I endured his brutality, coldness, and cruel acts—when the heroes were being brainwashed, I thought it might be the City Lord’s strategy, so I just watched indifferently as they cried out their innocence. When people were taken away for trumped-up reasons, I believed the City Lord just needed to vent his bad mood, so I still did not interfere. It wasn’t until disaster fell on me that no one helped me, and I began to regret... I should not have been an ’onlooker’."

Whether he was a City Lord or not, a mistake is a mistake. I should have firmly opposed him the moment he took his first wrong step instead of indulging him.

When he became an obstacle, he needed to be stopped, and I should have realized he wasn’t you..."

Noah didn’t continue.

Su Ming’an guessed what Noah did afterward; Noah’s heart had turned cold. That’s why he no longer served Doomsday City wholeheartedly but instead reached out and made connections with such underground cities, aiming to overthrow the regime of Doomsday City.

Every word from Noah was laden with immense pain. For Su Ming’an, Kaius Tower was just a constantly cycling simulation world. But for the people within, they truly lived through long years within their programmed memories.

The pain, despair, sadness, and confusion they experienced were all real.

And these times were beyond Su Ming’an’s comprehension.

"And today..." Su Ming’an began.

"Today, you came back, Grandpa." Noah looked at him.

Noah’s gaze was fervent, like fire.

"Every time I see you, my heart skips a beat, and I can’t help but be drawn towards you. So today, when I passed by the teahouse and saw you, I forgot all my tasks for the day. I created chaos on the spot, risking danger to pull you away," Noah said.

Su Ming’an: "...Why?"

Noah considered the question seriously.

"Maybe it’s because you’re a man with a future," Noah said:

"You’re different from us who are trapped in the past. We are destined never to see the spring of the future, only to keep sinking into the most dangerous, the most miserable, the most desperate of times, but you can walk toward the future without any concern."

"So we will try our best to push you into the spring."

"..."

Su Ming’an’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He didn’t tell Noah that his fondness was merely a product of the system’s forced enhancement.

...

Noah took him to the deepest part of the Underground City, to a building resembling a church.

A slender girl stood there.

She stood beneath a stained-glass window, the virtual light from above the hall casting down and illuminating her face. She placed her hands over her chest in a mourning gesture. It was as if some ethereal thing lingered around her, gently caressing her lovely features.

Hearing a noise, she turned around, her clear green eyes looking at him, like a tranquil lake in a forest.

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