Chapter 359: Failure

Yan Ming stood on the three‑meter‑high judgment seat, his deep blue pupils looking down at him, waiting for his defense.

Or rather, waiting for his despair.

Su Ming lifted his head.

"You ask me whether a selfish, ugly species like humanity still has any value in surviving?"

His voice was flat, so flat that no emotional fluctuation could be heard.

"I'll tell you."

"Yes."

Yan Ming's brows twitched slightly.

"Reason?"

Su Ming did not answer immediately.

He lowered his head, stared at the wrist scarred by the binding straps, and was silent for about three seconds.

Then he spoke.

"Humanity is indeed rotten to the core."

"Selfish, greedy, cowardly, hypocritical."

"I know how disgusting they are even better than you do."

The Balance continued to tip.

The left pan sank, the right pan rose, and the Giant Saw Blade dropped another half‑inch.

Yan Ming's mouth formed a faint curve.

"So you admit it?"

"Admit that humanity does not deserve to live?"

Su Ming lifted his head, his very dark eyes staring straight at Yan Ming.

"I admit humanity is rotten to the core."

"But I do not admit that they are unworthy of living."

Yan Ming's smile froze.

"Contradiction."

His voice grew cold, "You are being clever."

"No."

Su Ming's tone was decisive.

"I am stating facts."

"Humanity is indeed rotten, this mire is full of maggots."

"But nevertheless—"

He paused.

"Yet, in this utterly rotten mire, someone is willing to set themselves ablaze for a stranger."

Yan Ming's pupils contracted by half a millimeter.

Su Ming continued.

"Do you know Lei Yu?"

"He's an ordinary Captain of the Federal Weird Investigation Bureau, with no special abilities, just a regular guy who can fire a gun."

"He met me in the Blood Moon game."

"At that time I had just been reborn, my mind filled with how to survive, how to avoid those monsters, how to find food and water."

"I used him as a tool, as a guide, as a shield."

"He knows."

Su Ming's voice was very soft, almost inaudible.

"He knows I'm using him."

"But he still protected me."

"When the Rain Night Butcher tried to kill me, he rushed forward."

"He had no abilities, no weirdness, just a busted gun and flesh."

"He knew he would die."

"But he still charged."

Su Ming lifted his head, and for the first time a certain emotion flickered in his very dark eyes.

Not fear.

Not anger.

It was respect.

"Before he died he told me to keep living."

"To let me guard this world for him."

"He said that although the world is rotten, there are still things worth protecting."

"He said he had no regrets."

Su Ming's voice grew deep.

"I joined the Investigation Bureau not out of selfishness."

"I am to guard the world he deemed worth it for that fool."

His words fell.

The Balance began to shake violently.

The left pan and right pan trembled simultaneously, emitting a harsh metallic screech.

The Giant Saw Blade hovered in midair, unable to descend even an inch.

Yan Ming's complexion changed.

He stared intently at Su Ming, and a weighty seriousness appeared for the first time in his deep blue pupils.

"Impossible—"

"The Absolute Court reflects the truth; you cannot—"

"You are clearly a selfish person, you are clearly covered in blood, you are clearly—"

"I am a selfish person."

Su Ming interrupted him.

"My hands are also drenched in blood."

"But I owe Lei Yu a life."

"I will repay it."

The Balance's tremor grew ever more violent.

The left and right pans began to unbalance, and the scale arm emitted a strained clacking sound.

Yan Ming's hand gripping the Gavel trembled.

"That's wrong—"

"This is wrong—"

"Someone like you shouldn't have such thoughts—"

"You should live only for yourself—"

"You should—"

Boom.

The Balance exploded.

The brass scale arm snapped in half, and the left and right pans fell together, crashing onto the black marble floor and shattering into countless fragments.

The Giant Saw Blade vanished.

The binding strap loosened.

Su Ming stood up.

He flexed his wrist slightly and looked up at the three‑meter‑high judgment seat.

Yan Ming still stood there, and disbelief appeared for the first time in his deep blue pupils.

"You—"

"You won the case in the Absolute Court—"

"You shouldn't be able to win in the Absolute Court—"

Su Ming gave no reply.

He simply raised his right hand and pressed it against the faintly pulsating bump on his wrist.

Time Marrow Worm.

"Your court truly is powerful."

"But it has a fatal flaw."

Su Ming's voice was calm.

"Your Rules are based on the judgment of 'guilt and non‑guilt'."

"But you cannot determine a person's true inner motive."

"You think I joined the Investigation Bureau out of selfishness."

"But I'm not."

"I joined to repay a debt."

"To preserve a world that a fool deems worthwhile."

"That is not a crime."

"That is righteousness."

The words fell silent.

Su Ming crushed the energy stored in the Time Marrow Worm.

Time fell into extreme slowness.

The entire dark space of the Absolute Court began to fracture, with countless cracks spreading simultaneously from the ceiling, walls, and floor.

Su Ming moved.

His figure turned into a black afterimage, instantly leaping the distance between the defendant's seat and the judgment seat.

Yan Ming's pupils widened to the limit.

He tried to raise the Gavel.

But it was too late.

Su Ming's right hand seized an electric blade from the void.

It was not the Federation-standard Suppressor Electric Blade.

It was forcibly condensed from the Time Marrow Worm's energy, a blade formed purely of temporal force.

The blade swung out.

Time resumed.

Yan Ming flung his entire right arm, which held the Gavel, straight up, and blood spurted out.

He let out a wail, and his whole body fell from the bench, crashing onto the black marble floor.

The Absolute Court thunderously collapsed.

The dark void exploded like shattered glass, scattering countless points of light.

The two of them returned to reality.

Honghai City High Court, Courtroom 23.

On the ground still lay the judges and chief prosecutors that Yan Ming had suppressed, the national emblem still hung on the wall, and overturned chairs were scattered in the gallery.

Yan Ming lay on the ground, clutching his severed arm, blood continuously gushing from between his fingers.

His complexion was ghastly pale, and his eerie blue pupils were filled with disbelief.

"Impossible—"

Su Ming walked up to him, looking down at him from a height.

"Your courtroom is indeed powerful."

"But you forgot one thing."

"Humanity may be rotten through and through, yet there happen to be a few idiots willing to die for others."

"Your courtroom cannot judge such idiots."

Yan Ming's pupils contracted violently.

Su Ming continued:

"You want to use your courtroom to judge humanity."

"But you forgot, humanity's survival to this day is not due to any lofty virtue."

"It is because there are always a few idiots willing to ignite themselves in the darkest moments."

"Lei Yu is."

"I am now as well."