Chapter 18: Zhang Wei's Education

Because of well-known reasons, this supermarket was deserted; there were only a few customers in the vast store, which should be considered the greatest stroke of luck in a misfortune.

Yet, in the end, someone had a hamster crawl onto them, and then, like a maggot attached to a bone, that layer of Blood Flame—which could not be extinguished no matter what—burned them, quickly turning them into a pile of charred remains.

That layer of red Blood Flame, which looked like fire but was not, seemed to burn everything; its temperature was extremely high, and even the reinforced concrete building was burned until it twisted and deformed, unable to escape the disaster.

The fire would eventually be extinguished, yet this was merely a tiny microcosm of all the disasters.

At this moment, a reporter suddenly squeezed into the crowd watching the fire, followed by someone carrying a camera; they looked left and right, then locked their target onto Zhang Wei.

"Excuse me, citizen, regarding this fire, some say it was done by patriotic hot-blooded youths, while others say it was caused by mutated animals. What is your take on this?"

Zhang Wei took one look and was delighted; wasn't this the same person who interviewed him last time? A god of wealth!

However, the female reporter did not recognize him; after all, she came into contact with too many people in her daily work, and it was hard to leave an impression on someone she had only briefly encountered.

After hearing the reporter's question, Zhang Wei turned back and asked the little girl: "Guagua, what is your take?"

Bai Guagua was clearly very familiar with his routine; she pretended to ponder for a moment and replied: "This fire must have its secrets."

The female reporter was intrigued and pressed: "Little sister, what secrets do you think there are?"

Bai Guagua did not answer, but looked up and said: "Zhang Wei, what is your take?"

Absorbed Li Meijuan's Resentment, +56

The female reporter was confused on the spot; what was going on with you two? One moment you ask for his take, the next he asks for yours—are you two playing a matching game?

However, she still habitually held the microphone toward Zhang Wei, starting to feel that the person in front of her looked somewhat familiar.

Zhang Wei pondered for a moment: "Guagua is wise. In my view, there must be a conspiracy behind this."

Conspiracy your sister!

Absorbed Li Meijuan's Resentment, +99

The female reporter finally reacted; so you two are putting on an act, right? Playing the "Director Yuanfang, what do you think?" routine to mess with me, right?

Before she could speak, Zhang Wei continued: "Why did this fire choose Lotte specifically? There must be a conspiracy in this. And how could an ordinary fire spread so fast that even reinforced concrete couldn't escape? It shows there must be secrets here."

Seeing him speak so seriously, the naive female reporter believed him again and subconsciously asked: "Then how do you view the truth hidden beneath this fire?"

Zhang Wei: "I view it while standing."

Female reporter:...

She finally remembered who the person in front of her was, and for a second, she almost couldn't resist smashing the microphone into that face.

It's you again! Why the hell is it you again!! Can you talk properly? Huh?

Out of the millions of people in the crowd, why did I have to run into you?

Absorbed Li Meijuan's Resentment, +99

Afterward, the female reporter left in anger: Still want money? No way! There is more than just you as a bystander this time.

The earlier cooperation did not make the two feel any better; Zhang Wei and Bai Guagua stood where they were in silence for a long time, having no mood to care about the loss of this potential income.

"It's all my fault; if I hadn't been greedy, this mess wouldn't have happened, right?"

Bai Guagua finally spoke; her heart was heavy, and at the thought that more than ten people had lost their lives because of her, her lead-weighted legs could barely move.

Zhang Wei thought for a moment and said earnestly: "Judging from the sequence of events, this rabbit could clearly understand human speech, which means it was no longer an ordinary rabbit."

"Yet it still stayed obediently in the cage without running out, which means there was some unavoidable reason."

"However, it is dead now, which means the outburst just now required the price of its life... although we can't figure out how its brain works, since humans and beasts are different, we can infer that it hadn't truly become a monster yet, perhaps just one step away."

"Even if you hadn't provoked it today, it would have eventually awakened like a human and become a rabbit demon; referring to examples that have already occurred, do you think the harm it would have caused would be any less than today's?"

Bai Guagua didn't make a sound, keeping her head down and wondering what she was thinking, completely unlike her usual lively self.

Zhang Wei patted her head and said, pretending to be nonchalant: "Humans eating meat is a basic necessity; without animal meat, humans might not have developed to this day and would have become an extinct species back in the primitive era, so there's nothing to blame yourself for, you didn't do anything wrong..."

"As for the resentment and counterattacks of those animals, that's also normal; no one wants to turn into a pile of poop, right?"

Bai Guagua couldn't help but smile, then said shamefully: "Then can I still eat meat in the future?"

Sigh, why haven't you forgotten about eating meat even now?

Zhang Wei said: "Of course you can; not only should you eat it, but you should eat more, eat voraciously—perhaps these guys taste even better after becoming monsters?"

"But, they..." Bai Guagua organized her words and said earnestly: "They can understand human speech now and have thoughts; shouldn't it be wrong to eat such creatures? I always feel a bit guilty."

Zhang Wei felt a bit bad hearing this; how could she start being a saint at such a young age?

So he sternly refuted: "So what if they understand speech and have thoughts? Did they ever give us a chance to communicate? Who doesn't fight to the death the moment they meet? This is the competition between species, the hatred between species; you cannot talk about benevolence and righteousness here!"

At this moment, Zhang Wei perhaps did not expect that his words would become a prophecy; the world of the future was indeed an era where ten thousand species would compete for supremacy.

But he understood, and the awakened beasts understood, that even if they were willing to communicate with humans, humans, who were accustomed to their status as overlords, would not be willing; the final result would still be that they were lab rats in human hands, subject to life and death at will.

Humans, as a species, hold the mentality of being masters and slaves even toward their own kind; how could they ever sit on equal footing with their former food and playthings?

Perhaps like the Native Americans or Black people, after being slaves for hundreds of years, they finally earned a sliver of status?

If they had absolutely no power to resist, they would be forced to do so, but awakened animals were different after all...

Therefore, in this era where all things are awakening, only by casting aside right and wrong, and taking a stand for one's own camp, is the best choice.

In the past, resources were limited, and one could survive by being full.

Now, it is a race to awaken, and the strong survive.

This is Zhang Wei's understanding of the current world.

As the parties involved, the female shopkeeper, Zhang Wei, and Bai Guagua were naturally called to the police station for tea; it was already 6 PM when they finished their statements, and just as the two were preparing to leave, a person wearing a Zhongshan suit walked in, and the police officer taking the statements left immediately, leaving only three people in the room, and the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.