Chapter 141: Selfishness (Revision)

"Do we really have to do this?"

Qi Junyi watched the door of the isolation chamber slam shut, completely cutting off the inside from the outside, before he spoke.

"Once the bow is drawn there's no turning back; now that we're at this point, do you have a better method?"

The Pope's smile had completely vanished; his ice‑blue eyes lightly swept over Qi Junyi, their color dim and unreadable, and an invisible pressure pressed down on Qi Junyi.

Qi Junyi remained silent, merely shifting his gaze and, through the glass, watching the two people inside the isolation chamber.

Ye Lin was frantically pushing Lin Hao back into the life‑support pod; fortunately the pod's quality was decent, and when Lin Hao forced it open earlier only a small amount of nutrient solution leaked.

She could replenish it later without issue, but that didn't stop Ye Lin from worrying to death.

The two were like wounded cubs, completely unaware of the world's dangers, yet forcibly dragged into this nightmare.

He let out a heavy sigh, a sense of guilt welling up inside him, but he knew even more that they had to do it.

"But what about 'Fate'? The person in charge is Min Xingyao, but she's already…"

"Isn't Min Tianyou still around?"

The Pope responded coldly.

"Unfortunately, his Aberrant Arts awakened too late."

If Min Tianyou's Aberrant Arts had awakened sooner, could that kid have done what she did?

Qi Junyi swallowed the question that had reached his lips; he knew that after he agreed to the deal, he had lost any right to object.

He became an accomplice, solely for his own selfish gain.

The Pope didn't care about Qi Junyi's reaction; he simply removed the silver mask and handed it back to Chi Jinan.

Chi Jinan had been silently waiting nearby; after taking it, he began to fidget with the silver‑edged mask in his hand.

He only needed to wait; since the Third Tribulation had already been linked, what followed was just a matter of time.

"Let's call it a day."

The Pope said coldly, adding that he hadn't engaged much with the two; perhaps because the Pope was conducting a covert visit, there was not a single person in the corridor to greet him besides Chi Jinan and Qi Junyi.

He turned and left, walking alone down the empty corridor, slipping silently into a hidden passage.

Qi Junyi watched the figure disappear, and after a long while finally let his shoulders, which had been stiff for too long, slump.

Only in front of that person…

He couldn't muster any thought of resistance.

——————————————————

Yang Yixie watched the countdown reappear, exited the game, and tossed his phone, screen off, aside.

He rubbed his slightly dry eyes, was about to get up and stretch his limbs, and then, after starting a livestream early to fill time, the phone on the desk beside the computer suddenly rang, breaking the room's silence.

He glanced at the screen; the incoming call showed it was his brother.

"Hello?"

Yang Yixie answered, his tone casual but his speech rapid, spitting words out like a machine gun.

"What were you busy with just now? Only getting back to me now? Did you see the message I sent you? Did you video‑call Mom for a report?"

On the other end, Yang Yichen clearly hadn't expected his brother to launch into a barrage of questions; the emotions he had just built up were instantly scattered, he choked briefly, and hurried to explain.

"I called, I called—just ended the video call and called you; I was about to tell you this… Xiao Xie, thanks to you Mom stayed steady."

Mom's health is really poor; she can't endure strong stimuli.

If it hadn't been for Yang Yixie's pre‑emptive excuse—'Brother's working overtime, call Mom when you have time'—to smooth things over, he truly feared Mom would worry and something bad might happen.

"Hmm."

Yang Yixie responded, essentially accepting his thanks, but his brows twitched slightly.

He knows his brother too well; Yang Yichen is usually steady‑tempered, sometimes teasing him, so why is he so courteous today, his tone carrying a fatigue like a survivor after a calamity?

Something's off.

Yang Yixie's heart sank, and his voice instantly hardened, bearing an unprecedented severity.

"Yang Yichen, tell me honestly—were you drawn into that homicide case in Shoudu's western suburbs?"

Silence fell on the other end.

Yang Yichen leaned against the wall of the temporary shelter, closed his eyes, and felt a faint ache in the white bandage wrapped around his left arm—a wound from an Aberrant Species' claw, only crudely treated so far.

The Aberrant Species' corpse had been officially quarantined; based on current observations, the very existence of the Aberrant Species continuously emits Mutation, which is the root cause of a disaster in another world.

How could he explain to his beloved younger brother that he was not only on the scene but had voluntarily answered the call and rushed to the front line?

Modern weapons—guns and shells—when approaching the area tainted by Mutation energy, seemed interfered with by some invisible rule, failing one by one and turning into mere fire‑sticks.

And that uncontrolled Aberrant Species possessed astonishing strength and terrifying speed; ordinary people had virtually no power to resist it.

He had luckily awakened an Aberrant Arts that manipulates surrounding metal objects, but this was his first time truly confronting such a ferocious monster.

The battle was fraught with peril, with death brushing past him many times; ultimately, he managed to lure it away from the crowd and, with arriving support forces, complete the seal—pure luck.

His silence, to Yang Yixie who knows him well, was an unmistakably clear answer.

Yang Yixie's complexion turned extremely sour in an instant; his fingers gripping the phone tightened involuntarily, his knuckles whitening.

"Went mute? Or were you used as a gun? Sold again and still happily counting money for others?"

Yang Yichen, on the other end, felt somewhat embarrassed by his brother's scolding, especially when a corner of his eye caught Uncle Liu, who had also taken part in the operation and was isolated alongside them, wearing a teasing grin that made his own face feel impossible to keep up.

He hurriedly cut off Yang Yixie's words, his voice tinged with helplessness and embarrassment.

"Xiao Xie, not everyone is like you; when trouble arises they look for ways to push others out to take the blame."

Those words instantly evoked shared childhood memories between them.

A flash of nostalgia crossed Yang Yichen's eyes; he wished he could now sit with his brother and recount his 'great achievements' of the past.

Looking back, those stories are both infuriating and amusing; his own brother has been a 'scapegoat' master since childhood.

Yang Yixie didn't take the bait; he dislikes revisiting the dark history of his youth, so he shifted the conversation, his tone half‑joking, half‑probing, voice a little lowered.

Suddenly so sentimental, starting to recall those stormy years of the past? What, Great Hero Yang, what big thing are you up to? Have you been asked to be a secret witness? Or are you answering the call, heading off to some remote backwater to go undercover?