Chapter 893: No．16：What Is a More Free Choice?

No．16：What is a freer choice?

It is precisely because humans cannot understand them that they are called monsters.

They forever transcend human common sense.

Monsters are not bound by anything.

——Chen.

Freedom is the core criterion of monster controllers.

The determination to shatter conventions and smash established frameworks is the fundamental reason they truly resonate with monsters, and it also makes them become monsters.

However, not all monster controllers will walk that path.

Rather, those monster controllers who can walk that path are few, because before awakening, all monster controllers are merely ordinary humans.

And humans are born unfree.

Just as in the final of the Electric Light Machine King story, a member of the protagonist group who walked out of the mountains from the past still gets tangled by employment, a person born must face all kinds of constraints, from friends, relatives, profession, to society as a whole—even your worldview can be seen as a constraint imposed by civilization.

Freedom is fleeting, while unfreedom is closer to eternity.

Even if you become a monster controller, it does not mean you can truly sever everything from the past, nor discard your past worldview entirely.

INSTANCEDOMINATION, instance control, the power bestowed upon you is actually a right of control.

So-called control right is also the right to choose.

Since you cannot truly break free from those unfreedoms, you can choose which "unfreedoms" to possess.

Not all unfreedoms are burdens, nor are all constraints shackles that must be broken; your steps to survive today are determined by your worldview, and your life from childhood may often be accompanied by the concern of relatives and friends.

Undeniably, some feel the same as water and fire toward this, wishing to sever ties with everything present.

But Ma Zhongpeng is not such an extreme hater of the present.

Even though he joined the "Monster Eugenics Thought," and even though his pursuit of freedom purity has surpassed the three predecessors, he remains a teenager grown in a sound legal society.

He does not wish to kill, nor does he like killing, nor does he like wanton destruction.

It can be said that the monster eugenicists here, whose extremism far exceeds Aomo's expectations, are not only due to some "strongly directional sense of dissonance," but also because Ma Zhongpeng joined the organization, bringing the vitality and amiability a teenager should possess, thereby changing those around him.

Likewise a teenager, yet he forms a stark contrast with Chen, who seems indifferent to everything.

Not only has he slightly changed his companions, but he also got Chen to tentatively acknowledge his social reform proposal that may take longer.

"Without doubt, he has to some extent inherited the position of someone originally, making you all more like a whole than before..."

Gazing at the Bourbainde strengthened somewhat by devouring human emotions, still at a disadvantage in the duel with that stage's Gakura, the demon muttered comments as if talking to himself, and this attitude only makes the red-haired youth at his feet more dissatisfied.

"What nonsense are you spouting! Let go of me, old man, or… uh ah!!"

The four claws forming the foot, with the toe at the heel extended, have a certain degree of mobility.

For example, when stepping on an object, it pierces in like a nail to stand more firmly.

For Gui She, which becomes a murderous vanguard as soon as it "awakens," Aomo's friendliness is limited.

Moreover, he is really noisy.

"Although I don't expect you to understand, at least be quieter."

When the words fell, his fingertip first dropped a small fireball, then constructed a complete soundproof array.

The falling fireball will cover the blood hole he previously poked with his toe, kindly staunching the bleeding.

And the complete soundproof array can cover that pig-slaughter-like howl, preserving his basic image before his teammates.

This is the thoughtful aspect of the demon.

This is also the result when one has the courage to act against horrifying postures but lacks the strength to contend with non-human beings.

Compared to him, his teammates are clearly more discerning, understanding that now is absolutely not the time to attack a "lifesaver," even when they speak grandly.

"Lindon… sir, right?"

Compared to looking at Gui She, then at the demon, with one hand supporting the other arm, as if thinking something, the badger, Ten Jia, is daring to speak up, but not to plead for the "quiet" companion, rather he asks:

"What did you mean by those words you said earlier? … I mean,", fearing unclear expression, he quickly corrected and continued, "I want to ask, why did Peng and Chen start fighting?"

No wonder he is the most normal good guy in the team; this worried bespectacled brother did not directly regard the demon who brought them out of the battlefield as an enemy, nor did he, like the hot-tempered companion, treat the demon's earlier words as some kind of spell that could twist people's minds.

He normally wants to know the cause, even if that normality bores Aomo.

Only a spirited horse girl can shine, only a distinctive human is worth observing, and an insufficiently strange monster controller…

"Ten Jia sir, do you have a feeling?" He answered off-topic, although his words still carried the usual honorifics, but that deep, hoarse demon voice still gives a wordless oppression, "Looking at that youth, that youth who once united all of you, who can actively lead your actions, who can make you recall something."

"Like a silhouette."

He said that, finally lifting his foot from Gui She, but then a swipe of his finger turned countless dark red characters into bindings, tying it to the ground.

After that, he turned his gaze back to Ten Jia.

"A youth's silhouette."

In the black flowing flames, a white dot follows closely the demeanor of the brown-haired youth as he steps.

"That red hair, blazing hot like a ball of fire."

He paced before Ten Jia's eyes, his words making the badger doubtful, yet he could not help but watch his companion's demeanor gradually relax, as if sinking into some dream.

For a moment, the brown-haired girl could not help but reconsider the words her companion had shouted in anger.

Is the demon truly master of some illusionary spell that bewitches hearts?

Laughable, five thousand years ago and five thousand years later, they never cared about what religion said, believing only that all abnormality stems from monsters.

Of course, the badger is still different from everyone else.

She has no past memories.

She does not know how her past was, and once lacked a goal, so she regarded monsters as everything.

Now she, too, has merely received guidance from companions, been enlightened by new members, feels that her past however is irrelevant, and each present moment can forge her brand-new past.

It does not mean her memories have truly recovered.

But she had indeed truly accepted this era, cultivated an interest in it, and therefore, when the figure that completely matched this era's definition of a 'demon' turned its gaze toward her at this moment.

Her heart tightened.

She instinctively became alert, wanting to guard against the illusion the other would display upon her—when she thought that.

The demon's gaze shifted away.

""... What do you mean by that!!""?

From this obvious differential treatment, the badger naturally concluded it was some kind of slight, and thus felt annoyed.

""You are special, Miss Badger.""

""Although it's unnecessary, since you asked so loudly, the polite demon will still respond to you.""

""?""

""Like Gui She and Mr. Shijia, they had their memories altered by 'some kind of highly directional anomaly,' but this anomaly does not include you.""

""Mem…ory……」 Suddenly his left eye twitched, showing a bit of 0. o Shijia, he held his forehead."

""Is this the reason why Chen and Peng started fighting?""

Being able to ask this question proves he hasn't remembered yet.

It somewhat made Aomo doubt the purity of the other's obsession.

But even so, Aomo earnestly took on the role of a question‑answerer in the special effects shed:

""Not entirely.""

He turned his head and looked far off at the Burubainde that Gakura had flung halfway into the air.

""This probably isn't important for Little Brother Chen, but for you and Little Brother Peng, it could very well be that if remembered, the original group activity would no longer be able to continue.""

""And this would also mean that previous efforts have gone to waste—rather, it's already enough to be infuriating.""

The appearance of the King of Beasts dealt a heavy blow to the prior efforts of monster eugenics.

And the news he brought was even more momentous.

""The so‑called behind‑the‑scenes machinations, the reasons why Anqi and a man who had already become a monster disappeared, and such—Chen actually doesn't care about these at all.""

No matter how the world or the universe may be, he will fight for the freedom of all monsters, even if this obsession has become his bond, turning into his 'lack of freedom'.

""Little Brother Chen, who originally didn't much favor this current path, will, before the team falls into internal conflict, return to the original route and destroy present society.""

Boom——!

The howling rainbow light spewed from the gaping maw, sweeping away the Burubainde that attacked with tentacle beams, and following its flying arc it triggered a chain of explosions that nearly grazed the eye.

It brought a tumult of earth‑shaking, mountain‑moving turbulence.

""But Little Brother Peng doesn't want that; you all understand he merely wants to break free from familial bonds, not from being human.""

Nearly grazing the eye, which means it didn't actually hit the eye; that originally clean energy beam was ultimately halted by another's interference.

The interference came not only from the yet‑unconquered Ma Zhongpeng, but also from the demon who raised its claws amid the widened eyes of the three monster controllers.

""INSTANCEDOMINATION!""

""INSTANCEDOMINATION.""

Only a one‑second difference in the order of pronunciation.

This time, the words spoken from the demon's mouth were truly a spell capable of bewitching the heart.

In the black‑flame white pupil displayed between the pincer‑like claws, flashing red light densely appeared, revealing the identity of the sixth monster controller present.

Aomo Lindun showed the silent yet resolute monster controller a brand‑new path from that clash of wills.

It was neither Ma Zhongpeng's gradual reform nor Chen's violent demolition—beyond the world, there is still another world.

Beyond the universe, there indeed exists a universe that needs monsters.

And…

Exactly now.