Chapter 2042: with translation of chapter title

It was rare; when Xiong Hanzi first faced Lin An, he voiced the thoughts he had considered, growling his question.

He could die for Lin An; he believes Gao Tian and the others would also be willing! But their willingness is because they know Lin An would never abandon them! They live and die together, regarding each other as comrades more important than their own lives!

He has always firmly believed that he is on the side of justice, and they will surely walk toward the light under Lin Dui's leadership!!

But now...

Lin An's coldness actually made him feel a little afraid; he even felt that Lin An had become a different person! Lin Dui before, clearly was not like this!

As if gazing across the sea, Zhang Tie stared fixedly at the other side of the world, waiting for Lin An's answer!

No one knew how long had passed—perhaps a minute, perhaps longer—before Lin An's message gradually lit up.

「Yes, if it comes to the final moment, someone must sacrifice. Then anyone can, including AnXia. 」

Like a bolt from the blue.

Zhang Tie trembled all over, as if unable to believe, looking toward the other side of the world.

Just before he could think in shock that Lin An must have been replaced, the next second the communication lit up again.

「Zhang Tie, you must think I've changed, right? 」

「No, I haven't; you just got two things wrong. 」

On the other end of the communication, Lin An's gaze remained calm as he slowly flew toward the sky.

「First, to survive we will stop at nothing, we can abandon anything—not just because we want to survive, but because only by surviving can we end all this! 」

「Surviving is not what we must do! Ending it is! 」

「If the Apocalypse doesn't end, we will possess nothing! Even if we cling tightly, everything will be lost tenfold, a hundredfold! 」

「Endless cycles, endless suffering. If we give up surviving for a moment's persistence, for self-indulgent kindness, that is the greatest evil! 」

「Every wavering moment, every thought of yours now, is a betrayal of yourself, the ultimate betrayal of those who have already died! 」

「Sacrifice has already begun! Death has already begun! To stop is the greatest injustice, the greatest evil!! 」

Charging toward the sky, Lin An coldly berated Zhang Tie without disguise, as a huge amount of cataclysmic force suddenly surrounded him, surging wildly.

In an instant, the entire copy world seemed to be disturbed at this moment, heaven and earth changing color!

No longer suppressing his power, Lin An's voice instantly echoed throughout the whole world!

「Second! 」

「Zhang Tie! What gives you the right to pity others? What makes you think that if you give up, they won't die? Do you really think we have any leeway? 」

「See this world clearly! Look at the system on you! Mercy is something only those in power deserve! In the face of the Apocalypse, we are nothing but ants! 」

Mercy and kindness cannot save mankind.

Gao Tian loomed in the sky above; a white light flashed in Lin An's hand, and a white scale appeared on his palm.

Gazing at the blood-stained scale, Lin An slowly closed his eyes; the violent cataclysmic force gathered around him suddenly burst outward, dyeing the entire sky black!

Even back when he crushed the white scale heart in the Alien Species world, Lin An realized they were fundamentally not on the side of justice.

The Alien Species did nothing wrong, the fugitives did nothing wrong, and those on the Star Battlefield even less! Everyone just wants to survive, and Lin An, he wants it even more, needs it even more!

He has no qualification to be soft-hearted, nor to pity others; the only thing he can do is survive to the end, go to the end, and then end all this!

「Boom!!! 」

Above low Earth orbit, Lin An pointed with one hand, triggering a vast amount of regulatory power to its limit.

In an instant, the cataclysmic force he mobilized struck the planet's surface violently like a death beam.

Under the disaster rule, stronger than that on the Star Battlefield, the surface of this copy planet suddenly caved in and collapsed, accompanied by a blinding red light to the extreme; with just one blow, it was pierced through the core by the cataclysmic force!

「Hum! 」

The omniscient domain opened, and Lin An coldly calculated all the data for detonating the planet.

There's no need to let Zhang Tie keep killing; he also doesn't intend to conserve his strength any longer.

Perhaps Xiong Hanzi doesn't even know that the reason he brought him along this time was to let Zhang Tie experience all this.

As captain, Lin An knows his personality too well. Compared to the other team members, Zhang Tie is the one who worries him most. Without this time, there would be no next time! Even Lin An himself has once been confused, repeatedly questioning why he fights.

For Zhang Tie, this step is even harder to get past!

Lin An admits he is still too protective of his own, too soft-hearted. He cannot make his team members gather faith like believers on Earth.

Thus Lin An, after much consideration, still decided to let Zhang Tie experience all this in advance! Otherwise, when he later faces war with other civilizations, a moment's hesitation and doubt will only kill this guy!

(It's not that we can do anything to survive, being greedy for life and fearing death! It's that we live to end all this! 'Living' takes more courage to face than dying!)

「Boom boom! Boom! Boom!! 」

As the cataclysmic force poured in, the planet seemed to groan in pain.

Continents shattered, countless lava erupted from the core in an extremely short time; in just a dozen seconds, the continental plates that Lin An first detonated turned into a sea of fire, a huge, purgatory-like scene began to appear on the new planet's surface.

Caving in, collapsing—compared to a real-world planet, this copy planet is obviously much more fragile.

At the same time, feeling that Lin An had begun detonating the disaster, completely destroying this planet, Zhang Tie snapped back to his senses and had no choice but to fly toward space.

Soon, looking at the extreme distance, Lin An appeared like a god of annihilation, his whole body suffused with black-red light.

For a moment, Zhang Tie didn't know how to describe his feelings at that moment, nor what to say.

Guilt, self-blame, confusion.

He knows Lin An will simply choose to waste power to blow up the planet, all because of him!

「Captain Lin... 」

Zhang Tie hesitated for a long time, firelight flickering in his pupils. He was awakened by Lin An's words, but there was still something he couldn't understand, couldn't figure out.

「Captain Lin.. 」

「What if our path is wrong... What if we survive, even if we give everything to go to the end, only to find we were still wrong, having sacrificed so many people in vain..!? 」

「If there were also someone like you, who would sacrifice, who would die? Even.. perhaps that person would be the right one? 」

Turning his head, separated by thousands of kilometers below, Lin An silently looked at the at-a-loss Zhang Tie.

"No ifs."

"The moment you set foot on this path, you cannot waver any longer. Even if it's wrong, you must see it through to the end!"

These words were also spoken to himself.

Recalling the words that No. 77 had told him, Lin An's eyes were filled with determination.

If it's wrong, then let it be wrong to the end! At least he can prove with his own life to future generations that this path is wrong! Before that, nothing can shake him!

Turning his head to look down at the gradually collapsing and cracking star core, the scene was somewhat cruelly splendid.

Just as Lin An was focusing his mind, preparing to completely detonate this planet...

A mental transmission suddenly appeared out of nowhere in his mind.

"Stop."

"Stop!"

"Please stop immediately!"