Chapter 126: Dignity Lies Only Above the Sword's Edge

2:00 AM.

Ling Wu used his phone to call Fang Kai. The other party was clearly waiting, battle-ready, as the call was answered within seconds of the ringtone starting. He stood before the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, gazing at the horizon where heaven and earth met, as if waiting for the dawn to break, and got straight to the point: "Fang Kai, I'll give you time to run for your life. If I catch you, you'll play a game with me."

Heavy breathing came from the other end of the line; Fang Kai was on edge: "What exactly do you want to do?"

No response.

"Hello?!"

After a few seconds of silence, the call was disconnected.

"Beep—"

Ling Wu was absolutely certain he would catch Fang Kai. He wanted to keep Fang Kai in constant fear, unable to find peace... the cat-and-mouse game had just begun.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The villa door was knocked upon.

Ling Wu opened the door.

Sitting on the villa stairs was a young man seen from behind. His long, slender legs were bent, a crisp white shirt clung to his body's contours, and the hem was half-tucked into black straight-leg trousers. His dark hair fluttered slightly in the evening breeze. He held a leaf he had picked up from somewhere, whistling a tune, and rose decisively upon hearing the door open.

Ling Wu stared as the person turned around, revealing a handsome, refined face that flashed a sunny smile, showing white teeth beneath his lips. The light and shadow shattered and fell, and he tossed the leaf in his hand aside.

The youth reached out a palm toward him with a gaze that was pure and unadulterated, saying with high spirits: "Hello, Ling Wu. Nice to meet you, I am Ming Tan."

Ling Wu stared at him, saying nothing.

He wanted to scatter a handful of glutinous rice.

Ming Tan's eyes were bright: "Didn't 001 tell you? I've come to find you."

001...

Ling Wu recalled that cryptic remark from the 001 system—【By the way, that Host who entered the finals with you is very interested in you. I believe you two will meet before long.】

This so-called Host was Ming Tan?

That was it.

Back at the Abandoned Factory, "Ming Tan" had once stated he was a Transmigrator, just like the one who had occupied Ling Wu's body for a year. Since the fake "Ming Tan" was dead, the real Ming Tan should have returned.

The barrage saw a mosaic of pixels on the subtitles.

【Ah?】

【Ahhh?!】

【Ming Tan!】

【He rose from the dead?!】

【Terrifying.】

【This disgusting thing really can't die as long as he has destiny...】

【What are you blabbering about? Is there something we VIPs aren't allowed to see?】

Ling Wu ultimately did not shake his hand. His gaze fell upon the 10-centimeter-long scar on Ming Tan's neck, which looked ferocious and terrifying against his fair skin. This wound was undoubtedly dealt by Ling Wu's own hand; all signs indicated that this person had truly died once.

He said coldly: "Come in."

Ming Tan shrugged: "Uh-huh."

"Ling Wu, aren't you afraid? After all, I am someone you killed with your own hands. Now that I'm standing right in front of you, don't you have any emotional reaction?"

Ling Wu gouged him with a look: "Can you beat me?"

A combat-zero.

Ming Tan asked: "Can I sit?"

Ling Wu crossed his arms: "Suit yourself."

"What did you come here for?"

Ming Tan looked at him, concise and to the point: "I said I wanted to establish equal rights, and 001 guided me to you."

"Oh?" Ling Wu clearly didn't believe him: "Continue."

Ming Tan's pitch-black eyes flickered with a faint light: "Continue? That's a long story..."

"Ling Wu, we are people who have suffered the same fate. I know you were occupied by a Transmigrator. Strictly speaking, this isn't our first meeting. Do you remember that meaningful look I gave you in the Class A classroom when I transferred from Class F?"

"That was the third year I was forcibly occupied by a Transmigrator. The moment I saw you, it was as if I saw a kindred spirit. I erupted with unprecedented willpower, looked at you for a fleeting moment, and cast a look of goodwill toward you. Of course... you definitely didn't notice me."

"You know everything that happened after that."

Ling Wu recalled and said: "I just thought you were weird at the time."

"Why do you want to establish equal rights?"

Ming Tan seemed to have expected this question and said something very chuunibyou: "I want to be a savior."

Ling Wu stared at him without speaking. Ming Tan felt a chill from that gaze and his expression immediately became much more serious, a faint sorrow about him, as if years of experience were weeping...

Ming Tan said: "I don't know if Qi Yu told you, but we were very close playmates when we were kids, but we went our separate ways after middle school." (ps: Chapter 23)

"I was adopted. Adopting children in the Slums is a common occurrence. Most families only need a punching bag that's available on call, and a low-wage, high-output tool person who can trade the cheapest 'cost' for high-value labor."

"But I was different. My adoptive parents were simple and kind, treating me like their own son. There was a brother a few years older than me who took great care of me. He got into a very good university, but the change happened the year I started middle school. My brother died."

He said this with a mocking look in his eyes: "Guess how he died?"

Ming Tan answered his own question: "He caught the eye of a group of noble scions who liked to play with men. He suffered long-term bullying. When my adoptive parents received the call from the Police to identify the body, there was blood everywhere on the ground. There wasn't a single piece of good flesh on my brother's body, and there were scattered intestines..."

"Later, there was a lawsuit. My adoptive parents demanded the Police arrest those noble scions and deal with them according to the law. That was the first time I knew that, in the eyes of the nobles, torturing a commoner to death didn't even require repentance, and even the law couldn't do anything to them."

"After public opinion fermented, they didn't think about admitting their mistakes to settle things; they just wanted to kill to silence the witnesses and cut off the source. Anyway, public opinion could be suppressed with money. In some unknown corner of this world, a few commoners die—who is there to cry for justice for them?"

Ming Tan's tone was heavy: "I wasn't on the same household register as them, so I luckily escaped."

"Besides me, who else remembers them?"

Besides me, who else remembers them?

Ling Wu's eyelashes trembled. That's right, besides him and Jin Shaoyu, who else remembered the genius scientist Ling Tingwan?

Ming Tan's eyes were resolute, his voice suppressed, like a seed about to burst through the soil and grow wildly: "From that moment on, I understood that dignity lies only upon the edge of the sword! When facing oppression and demands, do not beg, and even more so, do not kneel! You must stand tall, you must be the first to take up a weapon, and hack off the hands they hold high to wield their butcher knives and lord over others!"