Chapter 172

Chapter 172: Chapter 170: "The Chosen Sacrifice"Su Ming’an?" The man seemed to have some interest as well, "That’s truly intriguing, go on."

"He is..." The bald man’s words rolled around in his mouth before his own tone took on an air of disbelief, "He really is... just an ordinary student from Dragon Country."

"Are you certain?" The man on the other end laughed lightly, in a tone that was neither cold nor mocking, "It doesn’t seem like you’re ridiculing him." His slender fingers flicked lightly, and the ash fell slowly like stardust.

"It’s really the case. His father was a police officer who died in the line of duty when he was ten, trying to save someone. His mother is a somewhat famous pianist, but her background is also very ordinary, and it seems she hasn’t been selected for the world game either... He doesn’t have many relatives, but all come from ordinary backgrounds, none with high status in politics or business..."

"But all the psychological experts’ analysis, the psychological profiling from his live streaming videos, they all tell me," the man interrupted him directly, "your conclusion is wrong."

"Minister Dion, I..."

"An ordinary student, yet he obtained the status of a ’Ruler’, so favored by the organizers?" The man smiled lightly, his strong fingers tapping against the back of the chair, the "tap tap" echoes resounding within the silent conference room.

"What?"

The bald man lifted his head, clueless about what this ’Ruler’ status meant.

"I have repeatedly extended invitations to him on behalf of the United Group, yet he remains uninterested," the man said, not answering his question but slowly inhaling from the cigarette in his hand:

"...Everyone, including himself, is telling me that he is not ordinary. You shouldn’t be the exception."

The bald man bowed his head, staying silent, cursing this arrogant Italian in his heart.

"What’s the situation with the forum lately?" the man asked again.

"The strategy threads are very popular. Although there are now restrictions on earning points for players who don’t enter the game, your prophetic posts are still generating enough daily income to maintain the basic operations of the United Group... After all, those who joined carry over their original ideas from Zhai Xing. We just have to promise some empty post-return checks and those meager points, and they’re content."

"Not bad."

The man smiled, "You’ve done well."

"It’s just, Minister, there are some things I still don’t quite understand," the bald man said. "We obviously don’t need to build an organization like this, and at present, the expenditure of the United Group far outweighs the income..."

Like him, many others harbored such doubts.

From seven billion to choose one billion, everything disrupted and reshuffled, many former colleagues unreachable, yet someone managed to quickly pull together a large organization that spans across all servers in the Main God Space, promising points and doing things that most people see as meaningless, like some sort of peacekeeping force, free strategy posts to benefit lower-end players... it seemed like a loss.

But against all odds, this was exactly what the man before him had done, and his foresight into the future... far exceeded his comprehension.

"Rob, you must understand that the world is never short of clever people," Dion looked at him, one hand limply resting on the armrest of his chair, slouching unevenly, yet speaking very seriously:

"There are things that some people can think of that you can’t comprehend. Things that some people think are worthwhile that you don’t see the value in... That’s the difference between you and clever people."

On hearing the man’s words, dripping with sarcasm, the bald man’s face turned red, a mix of shame and frustration, yet he looked as though he dared not speak out.

"By the way," Dion suddenly lifted his head, "Edward’s materials, has he looked at them?"

"His Highness has seen them," the bald man replied. "Before the start of every world, he reads all the information you provide—however, this time, Miss Mizushima didn’t seem to take a look."

"She thinks her wings are hardened enough to take off on her own, breaking away from the old martial arts group," Dion chuckled, his blue eyes as profound as the distant sky. "Well, if she’s confident she can succeed, let her go— you may leave now."

The ash fell softly like snow, and he breathed out a white puff of smoke that enveloped the bald man’s face, concealing his flush of embarrassment.

The bald man remained silent, clutching the folder in his hand, and turned to leave the room.

After the door closed, Dion lowered his head, pulling out a stack of paper documents from his desk.

The black letters stood out starkly against the white paper.

He flipped through the pages.

The descriptions on the paper were all somewhat unclear, with phrases like "The prophets of legend are not to be trusted" and "Not confined to a small area" which were extremely vague. They weren’t as precise as the usual strategy posts, and they were even inferior to the summaries of previous worlds found on the forums.

But, when he turned to the last page, there was a date written on the paper:

After Dion reviewed the content he had written, ensuring there were no significant errors, he picked up a pen, took out a new stack of white paper, and began to write new words—

Behind him, there was a stack of papers of no small height.

At the very top, an off-white sheet was exposed, with very clear script and a title that had been deliberately enlarged—

Although Ming Hui did not differentiate between day and night, the sky always turned particularly darker at night.

The army was already very close to the location of the regular army. As night fell, everyone approached a dilapidated village, setting up tents and fire pits on the outskirts for rest and recuperation.

After Dan Shuang arranged everything, she stepped out of the military camp.

Her mind was restless tonight.

Walking on the uneven mud road, she was flanked by tightly shut brick and tile houses. From time to time, there was the rustling sound of animals scurrying, unknown nocturnal creatures on the move.

In the dead of night, all was silent, and utilizing her excellent vision, she crossed over several uneven mounds on the ground, making her way to a grassy hill to the west.

Sitting there, she could see the full view of the village, the dim celestial light, the lonely smoke from the chimneys. Observing the various states of human life, she could glean a thing or two.

She had come here at nighttime, just about to sit down, when she noticed a pitch-black figure next to her.

Silent and still, as if it had always been there.

Startled at first, she quickly calmed down, and with a halo of light in her hands, shone it forward.

The boy sitting with knees hugged, turned his head to look at her.

The dim halo flowed in his eyes, like a gradually stagnating stream of clear, transparent light.

"Why are you here? Where is the guardian squad?" Dan Shuang was startled.

She realized that this Sage Master really did wander around at night instead of sleeping. If she hadn’t also liked sitting in high places, she would never have known that he was not in his own tent anymore.

"It’s too cold, I can’t sleep," said Su Ming’an.

Dan Shuang extended her hand, intending to hold his hand and transfer energy, but he avoided it.

"A drop in the bucket," he said. "It’s better to talk to me and distract me a little."

Dan Shuang bowed her head.

She didn’t know what to say for a moment, after all, it was two people who couldn’t sleep encountering each other by chance.

She might have something to say, but at this moment, she was unable to speak.

Suddenly, Su Ming’an spoke first.

"I want to know," he turned his head, "how does the Revolutionary Army see me?"

"You are great," Dan Shuang said, "but the leader of the pseudo-army has been deceiving you, making you work on research for the sake of the pseudo-army."

"I am merely a scholar with some achievements."

"Far from it," she said, "You are not just researching a thing—you are leading a revolution."

She set down the Black Blade and sat with him on the grass, looking down at the piles of bonfires burning below.

"I have long realized the hardships of living—people’s innate talents almost determine everything, status is inherited by bloodline, and talents are highly affected by lineage. A person’s path in life is almost decided at birth, and methods to learn other cultivation techniques and improve bloodlines have not been developed yet. This has become the most severe and sharp contradiction, people hate it, yet are helpless," she said, her eyes incredibly solemn:

"And now, someone has proposed a system of abilities to improve innate talents, which is equivalent to completely overturning the most fundamental order of the world, capable of changing everyone’s predetermined destiny..."

She looked at him, her eyes earnest:

"That’s why we are so unwilling to see you die at the hands of the pseudo-army.

If we are the Revolutionary Army, a revolution between camps—then you are leading a revolution for the entire world."

Su Ming’an exhaled.

The breath was cool.

He felt as if something had touched his eyelashes. Paying attention to his surroundings, he saw small dots of white like stardust.

—It turns out it also snows here.

"Isn’t there any other way?" he asked, "In what situation does the destiny of the entire world rest on one person’s shoulders? If that person fails, then wouldn’t that mean there’s no meaning for everyone."

"There are other methods," Dan Shuang said softly, "For example, to completely eliminate the source causing the crisis..."

As she spoke, she suddenly noticed something and quickly stood up.

The Black Blade flashed in her hand, casting a sharp light. With a movement of her figure, she disappeared from the spot, and the sound of beast roars came from afar.

On their journey, they often encountered some demon beasts that attacked them blindly. They were extremely ferocious and fearless of death. Even if batch after batch was killed, new ones would continuously emerge, attacking suicidally.

Now, another batch had come.

Su Ming’an watched in that direction as Dan Shuang’s Black Blade suddenly burst into brightness. With just a crescent arc, she cleared a large area below.

Blood splattered radially around the cleared space, like exploding fireworks, and the girl leaped up, her trailing hair swaying in a leisurely curve.

As the roar of the beasts gradually faded, he saw the girl return, her body carrying a strong scent of blood.

He knew the crisis for the entire world was approaching—this was also why Holy Initiation was so anxious to send him to the sacrificial altar.

Along the way, he had heard several members of the Revolutionary Army discussing this matter.

Because of Dragon Blood, because of the bloodline of the evil dragon, the demon beasts of this world would inexplicably rampage.

Outside some of the cities, many unprotected villages were completely annihilated.

Even within the cities, in order to maintain the defensive shields, batches of powerful ability users would infuse their lives into crystal stones to protect others.

The people inside that glass building did just that.

...And like Dan Shuang, going out of the city and mindlessly killing these demon beasts was only a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

Simply killing, unless it is an instant eradication, does not solve the problem. Even if the demon beasts die, the malice in their bloodlines will spread, infecting more demon beasts.

The flow was incessant.

Unless he could find a way to improve the Innate Bloodlines, to purify all evil intent.

Unless he was directly offered up on the altar as a sacrifice, using evil to counter evil, letting the Evil Dragon bloodline punish the Evil Dragon bloodline.

Beyond that, there was no other method.

"The pseudo-army occupies the best territories, the most valuable Resource Points, holding the most advanced bloodline awakening techniques," Dan Shuang slowly approached, trying to reassure him, seemingly wanting to put his mind at ease, "Despite possessing such great power, the leader of the pseudo-army, Holy Initiation, only thinks about expanding his rule and doesn’t bother with the rampaging Demon Beasts... He has no vision for the future, only thinking of using you in exchange for a moment of stability..."

Su Ming’an looked at her, silent.

"But it doesn’t matter anymore." Dan Shuang’s voice was light, "We all understand that you are the . After we defeat the pseudo-army and take over all the resources, we will ensure your research results spread to every corner of the Continent..."

As she spoke, she blinked, "Do you know why I chose to become the Second Commander? Despite awakening such powerful abilities, I didn’t join the pseudo-army for indulgence—Do you know why that is?"

"Why?" Even though he was not interested, Su Ming’an courteously asked.

"In fact, for us, if the Innate Awakening is not successful, it doesn’t mean we are weak for the rest of our lives," Dan Shuang said softly, "---Another method is to forcefully approach unstable areas, to absorb the ’world malice’, nourishing oneself with it..."

Su Ming’an listened quietly, possibly because Dan Shuang had reached the crux of the matter, the usually noisy barrage of comments was also somewhat silent at this moment.

"But this method is very risky. We don’t want anyone to risk their lives to enhance the possibility of awakening. Such people are either desperate bandits or hopeless madmen," she rubbed her hands, dispelling the chill of the cold night:

"Though, I believe, in such a world—we are mostly such bandits and madmen."

"But I still don’t hope to see anyone lose their life in pursuit of power, dying without any value," she turned her head, looking at Su Ming’an:

"Natural awakening, though the chances are extremely slim, does not carry the risk of death.

Absorbing malice, though the onslaught is much stronger, has a considerably high mortality rate.

When I was young, our village could no longer survive, so after keeping aside a group of children, all the other adults left wills behind and sought out malice to absorb..."

"..." Su Ming’an bowed his head.

He seemed to anticipate what was coming.

"...then they all died," said Dan Shuang, "including my parents."

The piercing cold wind of the polar night whipped around, and Su Ming’an huddled into his cotton coat, which provided no warmth.

"But funnily enough, after all the adults died, I inexplicably awakened to my ability," continued Dan Shuang:

"But it was all too late.

I took the children and joined the Revolutionary Army, just to question those in the pseudo-army—By what right, by what right do they occupy the safest places, keep their own patches of land, enjoy a life of luxury, yet ignore the countless people who starve or are killed outside?

"I want to make them understand," she gritted her teeth, fists clenched tight:

"Even if we don’t have the right to choose who awakens and who dies—it doesn’t mean everyone deserves to be sacrificed."

"Life has been very hard for you," Su Ming’an said.

"Yes," she said, "We don’t have the right to choose our own destinies—The vast majority of people, in the silent acquiescence of the majority, are suddenly ."

"And this doesn’t require consent from the person being sacrificed."

"Even because they are wrapped up in a so-called ’noble’ idea... they think they are chosen heroes, willing to be sacrificed."