Love, death, and false man

Chapter 72 68. Believer
10/15—10:22
The ghostly green fire escape of the underworld, the cigarette butts between fingers like infrared dots, the lingering smoke a mesmerizing sight.

The high school seniors, obsessed with their studies, are chatting and joking around.

"I don't want to hit anymore. The pleasure of self-comfort, no one will feel sorry for my nervous breakdown, it's too far away, as far away as... Puxi is just a legend, gloomy reading and bittersweet fantasies have nurtured cruel skepticism, can I really experience... sex before I die?"

"For the sake of world peace and women's safety, there is no other way. If we don't fight, desire will overwhelm us and turn us into ugly monsters who defy human ethics and morality. Everyone is being driven into hell by some force, which usually does not come from ourselves, but from others and the environment, and we cannot refuse it. But those who are driven into hell by themselves are different; they see what is at the end of hell."

"Hmm...an inspiration has struck."

Swallowing the dampness of the entire rainy season

In the creases of the pages,
The hatched pupa was deformed.
Until one late night,

The pencil broke into the fingers of countless stillborn babies.

Sticky juice splattered out.
It drowned all desires to take flight.

The high school seniors, obsessed with their studies, smoked, their eyes gloomy, and talked nonsense.

This completely stunned Nie Shan, who was smoking in the fire escape. "Where did I come from? Is this still high school?" The water at Binhai No. 6 Middle School is unusually deep; these seniors are too obsessed.

Fang Yan smoked, already used to it. Because he inherited Xiao Long's legacy, he had become interested in the comics Xiao Long created and had also explored the world of anime and manga. Perhaps this was what they meant by "My Youthful Flight Story is Full of Problems".

"Have so many people already gathered?"

Wang Ying arrived at the fire escape after a long absence. How pathetic, the goblin's lair.

"It's the clan leader..."

A group of senior high school students almost saluted, because Wang Ying had not only been away from the fire escape for a long time, but had also been absent from class for a long time. Her appearance today showed a significant change.

Wang Ying enjoys a certain prestige among the senior high school students and has the demeanor of a leader.

In the era of 2030, where fragmented information is rampant, high school students are becoming prematurely mature. Positions like class monitor, student council, and disciplinary committee member are considered outdated, and being elected to such a position is seen as a humiliation.

Although Fang Yan, the serial killer, was in the fire escape, Nie Shan didn't pay any attention to him; her gaze was completely focused on the high school senior who had just appeared.

Because... this person's real-time thoughts cannot be read, and the intensity of their soul fire exceeds 1024 joules. Is it actively attracting enemies or something? The dangerous feeling doesn't seem like someone who hasn't participated in the war.

Fang Yan was also somewhat surprised. Naturally, he couldn't read her thoughts either. He had already seen some clues when they met at the convenience store last month, and now she had completely evolved. Moreover, Wang Ying's entire aura had changed. Her No. 6 Middle School uniform was open, and she was only wearing a vest inside in the winter. Her hair stood up like steel needles, and her eyes were filled with a bone-chilling coldness.

"Godf***ing patriarch..."

Wang Ying took out a Hongtashan cigarette and started smoking. She glanced at Fang Yan meaningfully, recalling the strange things he had said to her at the convenience store last month.

Right, everything is right.

He has discovered that the person who has complete control over all the high schools in Binhai is Luo Di from No. 10 High School, the group leader of all the groups at the Earth Defense Base, one of the henchmen of the Soul-Sucking Lord, and the head of the screening agency within all the high schools in Binhai. He is also the one who created the urban legend.

Lu Cheng was a group administrator at No. 6 Middle School. Fang Yan told him that someone in his class liked Lu Cheng and asked him to come and collect love letters. Then Lu Cheng died on the rooftop of the auditorium, obviously killed by Fang Yan.

Putting everything together, Fang Yan is either an enemy of the Soul-Sucking Lord, someone from the Holy See, or an accomplice of his own, most likely the latter.

However, due to the fortress agreement and the principle of no contact, we cannot confront him directly. We would be doing something extremely dangerous, which could very well expose him.

A week ago, he was summoned by Lieutenant Greene, who called himself the Salvation Army, and joined the organization. He finally got a preliminary glimpse of the truth of the world and the superficial answers to the mystery.

Satellite base station, mind control—Fang Yan is right.

The fake man... or rather, the model human being. The fake man sets the standards for the model human being, while the human being is actually a fake man pretending to be a fake man.

The consequence is that all moral bottom lines and human ethics are like the beef on an instant noodle package—existing only on paper. Their actual operation in society has completely collapsed, leaving only castrated cowards and efficiency-obsessed sex workers in the world.

Therefore, people feel angry, but cannot find the root cause of their anger.

The puppet became the target, a substitution made in vain.

"Why did the clan leader rebel? Only you can lead us to the Cold Wonderland!"

A senior high school student made a mournful face.

"The Cold Wonderland... is not the only end. I have found another way to fight against this cruel world. I call it... the Valkyrie Project to Rule the Future."

Wang Ying took a deep breath of Hongtashan cigarettes.

"What!?"

The group of sexually repressed senior high school students were all incredulous. Could there be any other way besides fighting to the ends of the earth? The shock was no less than that of the moon landing.

Wang Ying must kill Luo Di, or at least find out the truth.

His ex-girlfriend had become a part-time student prostitute working in a bar. The so-called normal world had besieged her. Desire was a thorn that kept growing on her back. Plastic surgery, luxury goods, travel photos, high-end consumption venues... With every heartbeat, these thorns were driven deeper.

And I... am just a coward stuck in the Earth defense base. "Now... I lack nothing. I have the ultra-high-definition resources of all adult films in history. Even if I don't need Roddy, I can give them to everyone."

Wang Ying said this.

"father!"

A group of sexually repressed senior high school students stared at Wang Ying as if she were a god.

"But...fighting to the ends of the earth is a mistake."

We don't need porn; I'll organize a social event for you.

Wang Ying took a deep drag of his cigarette and said calmly.

"A...a social event? Even more mysterious than Puxi, does it really exist?"

"What a joke! Social gatherings... are forbidden, students... are not allowed to have feelings! Are you going against the whole world?!"

"My faith has crumbled! Brother Ying, didn't you say that confrontation only leads to more confrontation, and that confrontation is useless? I'm so tired!"

A group of sexually repressed senior high school students were like martyrs climbing a sacred mountain, but the sacred mountain... collapsed.

"Even if you keep playing, no girl will fall for you. You must start dating immediately."

Wang Ying remained expressionless.

"Without modeling and without an economy, social gatherings are nothing but clown acts, a dead end. You mean... we're going to throw our lives away?"

A senior high school student felt a lump in his throat.

"Yes."

"Since we're going to die anyway... might as well die in battle, right?"

"Yes."

"But... if we're going to die anyway, whether we die in battle or fight to the ends of the earth, it's all meaningless, right?"

The senior high school student held his head in his hands, utterly desperate.

"Yes."

"Ugh?"

His voice trembled.

"It's all meaningless. No matter what hopes and dreams you have, no matter what kind of life you live, it's all meaningless when you become a clown."

We've been dragged into this game, where everyone is supposed to be happy and realize their potential, but that's just a lie, a roundabout and malicious expectation.

In all the effort, upon waking, one is reduced to skinless muscles, a bent spine, a convict forever unable to break free of shackles, no matter how hard one tries, one only fills someone else's granary.

An overly harsh fate, a symbol of utter darkness.

In the end, hope will betray us, dreams will betray us, and even death will deceive us.

Forever and ever, we will be forced to peel the rough skin off the earth, stepping on heavy iron shovels with our bloodied bare feet.

And I... reject that expectation.

If death is the inevitable end, does life truly have no meaning? Or is our birth itself meaningless? Did the clown's deceased companions also think this way?
Were those goblins who sacrificed their lives also meaningless...?

wrong!

The meaning of those fallen soldiers is for us to give it! Those brave dead, those pitiful dead! We can think this way because we are still alive!

We will die, entrusting meaning to the next living being; this is... the only way to fight against this world.

Wang Ying said this.

Nie Shan's throat bobbed, exuding an aura of dominance—he was courting death!

The Salvation Army's first rule: You cannot talk about the Salvation Army.

Secondly, you still cannot talk about the Salvation Army.

Thirdly, false people must be eliminated indiscriminately.

(End of this chapter)