Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Chapter 119: "Human Lighthouse, Online Strategy

Unless absolutely necessary, Su Ming’an really didn’t want to use this thing.

But he had to test its effects first.

He saw the puzzled look in Moli’s eyes.

"...What are you doing?" she asked. "What is this? Why are you putting it on your face?"

Su Ming’an didn’t hear any change in favorability... On the contrary, judging by Moli’s attitude, it seemed she didn’t recognize him either.

So, putting it on midway doesn’t count?

...Does he need to wear the mask from the beginning when meeting her?

Su Ming’an let out a slight sigh and rested his finger on his temple.

Before initiating Erasure, he anxiously looked at his panel... and then noticed the pet column.

Su Ming’an sat on the ground, watching Moli laugh happily as she held the Black Jade Flame Tail Cat.

The village’s cats and dogs all looked plain and simple, none as aesthetically pleasing as the Flame Tail Cat, with its tail’s starry flames and fur gleaming like jade, indeed capturing Moli’s attention instantly.

Feeling that the cat was not very useful in combat and easily killed, Su Ming’an had never brought it out before, but it turned out to be effective here.

"It’s so cute." Moli stroked the black cat’s fur, and the cat purred contentedly.

"This is a cat I’ve been raising outside; it’s probably a breed you haven’t seen before," Su Ming’an took the opportunity to guide the conversation.

"Outside... Are there many cute cats like this outside?" Moli’s eyes sparkled.

"Have you always stayed in the village?"

"Yes... I have, from childhood to now. Mayor Dad won’t let me go out... and he doesn’t like me to meet people..." Moli petted the black cat, her tone becoming a bit somber: "He always wraps me up tightly before letting me go out... but I don’t know why, when the neighbor’s Aqing can run around in a dress..."

"Do you long for life outside the village?" Su Ming’an settled beside her, slightly leaning forward, watching her gently: "...I’m a traveler from the outside world, I know many things. If you don’t mind, I can tell you some interesting stories..."

"Cough cough, cough cough cough..."

Among the ruins of the flattened house, a hand coated with a thin red film stretched out, followed by a violent cough echoing through the haze.

A woman with disheveled black hair pushed aside broken wood planks to barely emerge from beneath the rubble, then leaning on a fallen pillar nearby, she freed herself from the gap.

"...Damn, but, luckily..." Mizushima Kawa Sora wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth; she was covered in dust and numerous fine cuts. Having been at the epicenter of the explosion, she was fortunate not to have lost her life.

The moment the white light burst forth, when she saw the sudden rise in red on her body indicating , she heard the system’s prompt:

...Fortunately, due to the rules, werewolves can’t die at night.

Otherwise, that terrifying individual might have truly annihilated them...

Another teammate emerged nearby, raising dust as wood planks creaked—their faces covered in soot and bodies enshrouded in the red shield denoting werewolf protection.

"...That was terrifying." A teammate hugged themselves, still trembling slightly, as if they had not yet recovered, their eyes full of fear: "Mizushima Kawa, now I can understand the expression you had after his suicide that day, those eyes were too terrifying, comparable to a curse... I’m scared I won’t be able to sleep well after this..."

Having narrowly escaped death, the teammates were still in shock.

"...So it was still his Clone that died. Damn, we should have listened to him... we shouldn’t have targeted him..." another teammate said: "To think we would encounter him during the day... Mizushima Kawa, he will definitely point you out in the daytime, everyone else acknowledges him as the Witch, what should we do?"

"..." Mizushima Kawa Sora shook her head: "We need to work harder tomorrow, push out someone with no holy occupation, and we can attack again at night. As long as we aren’t pushed out... we still have a chance."

"...Let’s settle for that for now, but this Su Ming’an..." the teammate gritted their teeth: "What a terrifying person, no wonder you and Edward were so wary of him..."

"Let’s head back first, time for the werewolves’ activity has long passed." Mizushima Kawa Sora took a step and felt a buzzing in her head, her legs staggering from being overly compressed.

...Before they had resolved to attack Number One Player, they were laughing and joking... who would have imagined this outcome.

Indeed, he is not to be underestimated.

Mizushima Kawa Sora remembered the look in that person’s eyes.

If possible, she wouldn’t want to be enemies with this individual.

...His recent behavior was becoming more and more "stable", unlike before when he was like a madman immersed in his own world.

It seemed even the measures to be taken from above were changing.

She took a deep breath of cool air, forcibly calming the waves in her mind and the physical discomfort, then dragging her weary steps while leaning on Black Blade with tiny cracks, she slowly made her way toward her room.

The night was silent before her.

The red glow in her eyes faded away.

"...Later, he said he came from wealth, born into nobility, but as a warrior at the sound of the drum, must not show weakness first..."

"She said she was innocent, but the most innocent became the root of all evil, beginning with her decision to avenge that sick city..."

"...In that Floating City, she told me she wanted to create another Nuoliya, at that moment I knew... this was her will, perhaps, limited in ability, I could no longer save such a city shattered by the cycle of history."

"...Shen Xue said that this was her ’Eternal’, but I found her love to be incredibly selfish," Su Ming’an said. "She judged others with her shallow perspective, forgetting that she herself was not qualified to continue on this path..."

"...Look, Moli, humans are such creatures where the interests of a few are always sacrificed under righteous claims and seen as worthy by the majority," he said. "The peace you see is nothing but an illusion perfected on the sacrificial altar. True fairness has never been about fairness at all..."

Moli sat on the ground, Su Ming’an was speaking beside her.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement, her hand stroking the fur of the black cat in her arms, as if enchanted, repeating a mechanical motion.

As soon as she expressed a desire to hear stories from the outside, the person next to her began to speak as if given permission.

Then, it was as if a door to a new world had opened for her.

At first, he seemed to be recounting stories from his school days, such as random instances of school bullying and the distribution of power among student councils... All of these were new to her and interspersed with some of his insights into life.

Then, he began to recount his adventures: cities filled with monsters, a white world with strange uncles, and peculiar students... She had never felt her understanding to be as enriched as now. These stories were far more interesting than her monotonous, dry town life, better than the fairy tales her mayor father told her before sleep.

She felt the person beside her was like the sea, and she was a sail gliding upon it, able to speak of too many things she had never imagined, like a box of surprises constantly offering her new and novel stories and thoughts. His words were like a thread pulling her, then guiding her to expand her thinking into uncharted territories.

He always easily guided her thinking, giving examples she had never heard before, and spoke up until now.

...If this person could be a teacher in the town, he would certainly be much better than the Mediterranean teacher next door who could only talk about problems, Moli thought, her eyes twinkling like stars.

Watching the door close and the favorability bar of Moli, Su Ming’an continued:

"Later... I saw in her eyes that her so-called ’Eternal’ was nothing more than a longing for eternity because she couldn’t accept reality," Su Ming’an said. "She let absurdity run rampant and turned it into her so-called truth. She thought it was meaningful, but whether it’s meaningful is not just about the criticism or acknowledgment of the leader. People cement themselves in a form for so long that they forget the importance of independent thought..."

"...She doesn’t love you," Moli interjected.

Having been raised in the house by the mayor since she was little, she hadn’t gone out much, let alone interact with boys her age. Always watching the outside world through the window, she always thought she was different from those children because she couldn’t comprehend the stories and the so-called "emotions" they contained.

What friendship was, what love was, she didn’t understand and couldn’t feel... until this person began to tell his stories. For her closed-off world, suddenly there was a window letting in light.

...This feeling was so beautiful.

Moli pursed her lips, her mood uplifted, proud that she could keep the conversation going.

"Yes," Su Ming’an said softly. "She has always loved only the image in her memory, the self she became after emerging from unrequited love."

"Even though there was a chance to adventure together, why would she choose this way?" Moli said, her eyes wide with incomprehension, her necklace gleaming with golden light. "Even if she knew she couldn’t keep up, she shouldn’t do this..."

"A ’Light Pursuer’ is a group that can move forward endlessly for their own light," Su Ming’an said, gazing at her with slow speech. "I admire such people and will always love their stride. I don’t care why they shout my name; I still admire their efforts... however, they must have a clear understanding of themselves. Shen Xue... perhaps thought too little and too highly of herself. She believes she can stand beside me, yet she doesn’t understand that to maintain a relatively equal love, it’s not just about compromising with others..." As he spoke, he slowly focused his gaze on her, like he was condensing a bundle of clear light:

"—How could such a person become a Light Pursuer, much less... a Lighthouse?"

"...That’s amazing," Moli looked at him, her emotions surging like an early rice field caressed by the evening breeze, each one full and vibrant.

She looked at Su Ming’an as if he were a life mentor, her expression mixed with eager admiration:

"That’s amazing... You’re right, you are the Lighthouse, the hope..." She sighed, her voice mixed with a flowing respect, bowed her head, and her gold and silver jewelry chimed: "Oh... I don’t even know what else to say."

The bullet screens that were prepared to see Su Ming’an groveling and acting like a lapdog in order to woo the girl had gradually become dumbfounded:

"I never thought that the outside world could be so fascinating," Moli’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the traveler who once made her feel a decrease in favorability, for the first time feeling something akin to meeting a spiritual mentor.

"No, actually, these things can be equally fascinating wherever you go," Su Ming’an looked at the favorability interface.

He felt it was time.

He smiled faintly, and then, with a slightly emphasized tone, he said, "Because the core of it all is ’people’, and people are everywhere you see. There is the outside world, and they have always been around you too, such as—hasn’t there been similar scenes in your own town?"

Moli’s gaze paused for a moment.

Her smile froze.