Chapter 126: It Is Resistance, It Is Oppression
Chi Wan went out to hunt pollution entities for thirteen consecutive days.
On the first day, she had lost herself in the rhythm of the slaughter, unfamiliar with the routes and fueled by adrenaline, not returning to the black building until late at night.
To her surprise, Tang Lian was actually waiting outside.
The moment he saw her return, he said nothing and simply turned to walk back inside in silence.
Chi Wan surmised that he must have sensed her mental power or energy. Since he didnât ask, she didnât offer an explanation.
On the second day, before leaving, she left enough food on the table for the three of them.
This was now the fourteenth day of Chi Wanâs operations.
She pushed herself relentlessly, operating on barely five or six hours of sleep.
The pollution entities in the heavily contaminated zones had grown familiar with her. Some from other districts even came out of curiosity to witness this small, mysterious powerhouse, wrapped so tightly in a black cloak that not a sliver of skin was visible.
Chi Wan walked forward as if no one else existed, moving under the watchful gazes of a horde of human-form pollution entities.
Initially, some human pollution entities, driven by the craving for fresh human flesh, tried to kill her, but she struck them down instantly. By the fourth day, no human pollution entity dared to attack her. Some even began to spontaneously defend her when “outsider” human pollution entities attempted to strike.
Even those entities that had initially wanted to kill her had come to see her, and as a result, they stopped demanding human flesh from Tang Lian.
She was like a miracle to them, allowing these pollution entities who had long ago fallen into the mire to see a reflection of their former selves when they still fought to live.
Once she grew accustomed to the area, Chi Wanâs movements became bolder.
Whenever she encountered a cluster of high-level pollution entities, she would haul out her heavy cannon and blast the entire area.
Black earth and putrid flesh flew through the air.
During her clean, efficient slaughters, the slurred, indistinct cheers of a human pollution entity would occasionally ring out from behind:
“Dammit… kill… kill the bastards…”
When she turned her head, she could only see human pollution entities standing thereâlimbs a grayish-green, pupils pitch black like zombies, neither human nor ghost. She couldn’t tell which one was speaking.
Between her and them, there seemed to be an insurmountable barrier.
Chi Wan withdrew her gaze, not daring to look for too long.
It was oppressive, suffocating.
And… heartbreaking.
As dusk approached, Chi Wan felt a violent surge of energy within her body, as if a bottleneck had suddenly snapped open.
[Breakthrough achieved: Over-SSS Rank, First Tier!]
Hearing the Systemâs voice, joy bloomed in Chi Wanâs heart. She stowed her weapons and prepared to head back.
Being in a good mood, she even nodded in greeting to the familiar human pollution entities she saw along the way.
However, as she neared the black building, Chi Wan saw from a distance that Tang Lian and the others had been forced to their knees below the structure. Standing beside them were several tall men wearing golden light-armor combat suits.
Her heart skipped a beat as she guessed the reason. She immediately grabbed a handful of black soil from the ground and smeared it all over her face, hair, neck, and hands.
The black soil reeked of rot and decay, an absolutely foul stench.
Pulling her hood lower and donning her mask again, Chi Wan walked over.
The man in the golden combat suit spotted her from afar and shouted harshly:
“Tang Lian, you took in an outsider without reporting it. Your rations for the next month are forfeited!”
As he spoke, he delivered a sharp kick to Tang Lian.
Tang Lian did not resist and was sent flying, crashing to the ground.
Another man in golden armor stepped forward and roughly yanked off Chi Wanâs mask without a word. Reeling back from the stench, the men looked at her faceâso blackened and filthy that her gender was indistinguishableâand instantly lost all interest.
“Starting tomorrow, he, and he, both have to go to work!”
“If I don’t see four people tomorrow, don’t expect to stay alive.”
Leaving those words behind, they departed.
Chi Wan followed the silent Tang Lian into the building. His steps were a bit unsteady, and the old man followed at the rear, tottering along.
The air was deathly still.
Staring at the manâs battered shoe heels, Chi Wan suddenly spoke:
“Why don’t you resist?”
She had seen his power; he was at least an SS-rank.
Tang Lianâs footsteps paused for a moment, then he continued forward as if he hadnât heard her.
Though he didnât speak, Chi Wan knew the answer: he felt resistance was impossible.
She quickened her pace, overtaking him until she stood directly in front of him.
“One personâs strength is certainly not enough, but what if itâs a group? What if itâs everyone?”
If all the “lower-class people” united in resistance, could they not fight for a glimmer of hope?
Inside the dim room, there were no lights or electricity. Tang Lianâs gaze was dead as he looked at Chi Wan without a ripple of emotion.
Then, he simply bypassed her and kept walking.
Chi Wan pursed her lips and said no more.
Only the old man slowly shuffled over:
“Silly girl, I told you from the start that this is no place for humans. But the planet hasnât seen a spaceship in over ten years. Occasionally, an outsider stumbles in, but they usually return to their cabin and leave as soon as they step off the ship.”
“If you want to leave this star system… you can only go to the Elysium.”
The old man lowered his head, his brow furrowing into deep ridges:
“Those of us not born to noble families can never go up. But you are an outsider, and Nova loves beautiful women. This is the only way you can get up there…”
As he spoke, he seemed to think of something. His clouded eyes grew hazy as he muttered slurredly:
“No, thatâs not right. If you go up based on your beauty, youâll likely be taken into his harem. How would he ever let you leave…”
But then he seemed to recall something else; tears filled his aged eyes as his voice grew agitated:
“But what if? What if he doesn’t take an interest in your looks and actually lets you leave…”
Chi Wan didnât know why he was so worked up. She wanted to step forward to comfort him, but the old man began to cough violently. The sound was like a rusted saw tearing through wood, a noise that made oneâs heart tremble.
Her brow furrowed tightly; at this moment, comfort seemed entirely redundant.
The next day, Chi Wan followed Tang Lian and the others to work.
This was her first time going to the place they called “work”.
The car drove for several kilometers. All along the way were people as thin as skeletons, everyone trudging on foot in the same direction as the car.
Clearly, they were all headed to work.
In the sky above the black clouds, one could vaguely see the massive sky-cityâElysiumâsprawling like a mountain range.
Through the black mist, it radiated a golden light, more brilliant and dazzling than the sun itself.
It made one’s heart ache with longing.
The long ladder, resembling a stairway to heaven, looked incredibly steep from a distance. Surrounding it were countless large, vertical floating platforms constantly transporting resources.
If she hadnât seen it with her own eyes, Chi Wan would have found it hard to believe this was man-made. It was a testament to the former prosperity of this star system.
The car came to a stop.
Ahead, a vast, dense crowd had been divided into numerous teams gathered around assembly-line machinery.
Small surveillance robots flew through the air, scanned the “lower-class people’s” progress without pause.
Chi Wan, Tang Lian, and the others were assigned to the most grueling and exhausting assembly group.
Today, they and a dozen other “lower-class people” needed to assemble ten iron crates’ worth of metal instruments.
The instruments were heavy and the edges were sharp; a moment’s lapse in concentration could lead to a cut. Chi Wan was careful throughout, avoiding the metal edges as she worked.
Her time spent swinging blades, wielding swords, and hauling cannons had granted her a fair amount of strength, so the work went relatively smoothly.
The old man, however, was a different story.
Before long, he was collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. He had even been nicked on the arm by a metal shard, and blood seeped from his skin-and-bone limb.
“What are you doing? Seeking death!”
The voice of a man in a golden combat suit, wielding a club, boomed out.
The old man struggled to climb up, his arms trembling violently, but his efforts were in vain.
“Old, dying piece of trash!”
The club was raised high and brought down, landing on the old man’s back with a sickening thudâthe sound of striking bone.
With just that one strike, the old man fell unconscious from the pain.
Chi Wanâs movements froze as her eyes, hidden beneath her hood, stared in shock at the scene.
Everyone around them merely glanced over briefly before continuing their work without pause.
Tang Lian rushed over and knelt on the ground: “I beg of you, please don’t hit him. I can do double the work; I’ll do his portion as well!”
His tone was subservient and humble.
Two more men in golden combat suits walked over.
One of them recognized him and pulled his lips into a malicious grin, his voice sharp and mocking:
“Oh, if it isn’t Tang Lian!”
“Fancy meeting you again today!”
He was clearly an officer of some rank; the epaulets on his golden suit were distinct from the others.
The man pointed his long blade directly at Tang Lian and shouted:
“Come on, everyone stop what you’re doing and look over here!”
Behind him, another golden-armored guard chimed in:
“It’s teaching time. Let us remember this sinner and his crimes!”
The officer sheathed his blade, adjusted his belt, and began to pace around Tang Lian, his voice rising in volume:
“It’s been a while since we judged you, Tang Lian. Your father caused trouble today; kowtow a hundred times to us on his behalf, and we’ll call it even!”
Tang Lian said nothing. He simply leaned forward, his head striking the ground with a heavy thud.
After a few strikes, blood became visible.
The officer continued:
“Take a good look, everyone. This is the fate of the sinner who led the rebellion six years ago!”
“Not only were his wife and mother killed because of it, but he dragged all of you lower-class people down into this suffering along with him!”
“Tsk, tsk. Speaking of which, you lot are quite pitiful. If it weren’t for that massive rebellion six years ago, the Emperor wouldn’t be so harsh on you… if you want to blame someone, blame Tang Lian. He overestimated himself, still thinking he was that Supreme Admiral of the Interstellar Legion. In front of our Emperor, a Supreme Admiral like you is just supreme dog shit!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
Their piercing laughter mingled with the rhythmic thud-thud of Tang Lianâs kowtowing, leaving Chi Wan deeply shaken.
She thought back to the look he gave her when she asked why he didnât resist, and suddenly everything made sense.
So he had led a rebellion once.
He had simply failed, and the price of that failure had been catastrophic.
Agonizingly catastrophic.
The officer looked down at the puddle of blood on the ground and the incessantly kowtowing Tang Lian, his voice slowing down:
“By the way, Tang Lian, you begged us half a year ago to let your daughter go to Elysium, didn’t you?”
Tang Lianâs movements finally stopped.
Chi Wan saw his hands buried in the mud and his bloody, mangled fingernails.
“You didn’t actually think your daughter successfully escaped with that so-called classmate of hers, did you?”
He leaned down and whispered into Tang Lian’s ear with a low laugh:
“She died the second day she went up. Do you know how she died? Tskâshe was so fair and white!”
“Hahahahaha!”
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