Chapter 2041

"Gulong.. gulong.."

In the slowly descending dust cloud, the diffusing spiritual energy seemed to stir the world into a murky mess, dark and oppressive.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

Standing on the mountain of corpses, Zhang Tie looked blankly around.

Under his feet, the gray corpse pile gurgled as red blood flowed; in the withered scene it was so vivid as to be somewhat glaring.

The girl died, she was watching Zhang Tie die, or rather Zhang Tie watched her die with his eyes wide open.

On that youthful face, the dull, lifeless eyes felt like a knife stabbed into his chest, making him unable to breathe.

The survivors here regarded him as a monster; when he appeared, people's cheers of celebration turned into screams.

Unexpectedly for Zhang Tie, he had thought these people would scatter and flee, which would take him some effort. But when he began to act, aside from those so-called superpowers foolishly trying to stop him, the rest of the survivors all ran together to one place.

That was the rear of the base, a place where the old, weak, sick, and disabled waited, where their families stayed.

Perhaps years of apocalypse have made the survivors here more united, or perhaps they know they will die and would rather die together.

In short, everything went smoothly—so smoothly it was like herding a flock of sheep, with everyone gathering in one place for him to kill.

When a hammer smashed a mother's brain, also killing the people behind her, Xiong Hanzi suddenly felt he was not cleaning up, nor fighting.

He was merely slaughtering.

Slaughtering a group of people who were bare-handed and incapable of resistance.

"I... I... what am I doing..."

All around was silent, except for the occasional sound of buildings collapsing.

Zhang Tie blankly held his head, slowly crouching down.

He felt terrible; even though he was accustomed to mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he now felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.

He killed everyone, and when he killed the last superpowered warrior who charged at him desperately, he casually swatted and turned that hatred-filled soldier into fragments.

The power gap was simply too huge; that soldier had only one hand left intact, and with a thud it fell at his feet.

Only then did he notice that among the corpses he had trampled underfoot, there was a little girl protected by others, clinging to life.

How similar.

Almost as soon as that severed hand fell before his face, Zhang Tie's mind instantly flashed back to his former self.

He too had struggled desperately, even knowing it meant death.

He asked himself he was never indecisive—kill when one should kill—and even in the Amoeba world, when he equipped those civilians with self-destruct crystals, he felt little.

Someone has to die; these are merely NPCs.

"Why do I feel so terrible... why...!?"

Trembling all over, Zhang Tie trembled as he clutched his head, faces flashing rapidly before his eyes.

He was not only afraid of being an executioner, but more afraid of why he was so "weak". It shouldn't be; he shouldn't have this problem! He even felt his power weakening.

Is it because they are not really enemies? Is it because this is not really a battle?

Zhang Tie clung tightly to his own arms, strong negative emotions pressing so hard he could barely breathe!

He suddenly realized he was still the pre-apocalypse Zhang Tie! He wasn't as smart as Gao Tian, nor as calm as Lin Dui! He was just an ordinary person, a lucky oaf who gained power! He had gotten this far on pure passion; he dared to fight only because those people had bullied them, and those people deserved to die!

"Lin Dui..."

"Let's stop...! Let's stop! What's the difference between what we're doing and those bad people? What's the difference between us and monsters!?"

"Aren't we supposed to protect everyone and save the world!?"

Clenching his teeth, looking at Lin An who had not yet replied to his message, Xiong Hanzi summoned courage for the first time, trembling as he sent another message to Lin An.

This shouldn't be the case..! Although Lin Dui appears ruthless and cold-blooded to outsiders, he knows Lin Dui is a good person! They should also be good people!

However, before Zhang Tie could even struggle to his feet, he instinctively wanted to fly back to find Lin An.

A message from Lin An suddenly lit up:

"Zhang Tie."

"Why do you think we should be good people?"

"One thing you said is correct: we are no different from those monsters."

Seeing Lin An's message, Zhang Tie stiffened abruptly, his body about to surge upward as if frozen, unable to move at all.

On the other end of the communication, Lin An, as if he had anticipated this, spoke in a tone calm to the extreme:

"You think that even if the humans in this instance world are NPCs, they shouldn't die. They are not our enemies; killing them to gain something is no different from what the Alien Species do."

"Exactly, they are living people; perhaps we are merely NPCs as well."

"But, Zhang Tie, tell me what we should do."

"Give up destroying this place? Switch to another instance? Then will the next instance be the same? Or rather, completely give up the Amoeba worms, give up Chu An, give up Ke Lai En?"

"Are the lives of the humans inside the Amoeba worms less precious than those here? Should our companions just wait to die?"

A low laugh devoid of any emotion, standing on the beach, Lin An picked up someone's eyeball, not knowing whose, and casually tossed it into his Space Ring:

"Even if we step back ten thousand steps, for humanity on Earth to survive in the future, we need some resources to grow stronger. But obtaining those resources requires destroying another civilization."

"You say kill or not kill? They have no grudge against us, and they too are full of hope, bravely fighting the apocalypse. At that point, should we go negotiate with them, asking them to voluntarily hand over resources? Or should we just die?"

"There is no right or wrong, no justice, no good or bad."

"So-called good and evil are merely compromises to maintain civil order and group functioning. In normal circumstances, groups follow altruistic rules, which aid biological reproduction. But we have long ceased to be normal..."

"Everyone is merely trying to survive..."

His gaze seemed able to pierce the horizon; Lin An muttered to the air, speaking both for Zhang Tie to hear and for himself to hear.

He knew why Zhang Tie was confused, why he felt terrible, and thus became weak.

Because for Zhang Tie, or for the whole team members, they have so far been fighting against what they perceive as 'evil'. Those people are enemies, so naturally they bear no psychological burden.

"Hatred, protection, justice, kindness.."

These are the beliefs that sustain them in battle.

Just like when he condenses his faith, those failed examples. Once the original belief collapses and self-doubt arises, it is a devastating blow to the individual.

As Lin An finished speaking, the other end of the communication fell into deathly silence.

After a long while, Zhang Tie took a deep breath and reluctantly asked:

"But, Captain Lin..!"

"If we do anything to survive, we can do anything, we can give up everything—then are we still human!? Living like that.. what meaning is there!?"

"Just as you said there's no right or wrong, then we should just hide in the instance! Anyway, it's all for survival; hiding might let us live longer!?"

"You've always told me that fugitives are wrong, we have some things we must uphold! If we don't care about anything, then in the end, can anyone give up, can anyone sacrifice!?"