Chapter 127: Chi Wan’s Decision
Chi Wan didn’t know how she made it back.
She only remembered being so furious that her hands wouldn’t stop shaking and her tears wouldn’t stop flowing.
Because of the news about his daughter, Tang Lian had stood up and punched the guard. He was brutally beaten by the group and then forced to kowtow two hundred times.
Even after his forehead was completely mangled, he still had to finish all the work.
When they finally brought the old man back, the car jolted along the road, and the old man’s coughing never ceased.
He kept murmuring:
“Why… why… Nan Nan clearly said her classmate from the Interstellar Academy… was… was in Elysium…”
“Cough, cough… She… she said they were close… that they could help her…”
“Just… why is this happening…”
Chi Wan’s vision was blurred with tears as she silently took out her treatment device to help heal him.
At this moment, even that blue light seemed useless.
The old man didn’t even make it back to the black building before he drew his final breath.
Chi Wan followed Tang Lian and Tang Jie as they buried the old man in the black soil behind the building.
The black mist felt as if it were strangling the throat. After a long silence, Chi Wan finally spoke:
“I’ve decided to go up.”
As she spoke, she looked at Tang Lian’s back:
“I originally came here to improve myself. Now I’m forced to work every day and have no time to train, so I must go up.”
She paused, then voiced her thoughts in a roundabout way:
“If… and I mean if…”
“If I find an opportunity to kill that man, Nova, would you stand up and join me?”
Tang Lian said nothing.
Chi Wan didn’t wait for an answer; she was already used to his silence. She turned and walked toward the contaminated zone.
On this final night before her departure, she wanted to improve her strength as much as possible.
[Host, have you made up your mind? When you get up there, will you look for a chance to leave, or will you fight?]
“If I fight, the risk of dying will be very high, won’t it?”
She wasn’t so noble as to completely disregard her own life for others.
“But leaving seems like it won’t be easy either.”
A stranger in a strange land, trying to obtain clearance for an interstellar ship under a strictly enforced imperial system…
It was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
[Yes.]
The System’s voice sounded muffled. After a while, it spoke again:
[Although I respect all your choices, I still want you to live.]
Chi Wan slowed her pace and finally asked what was on her mind:
“Tongzi, you’ve been lying to me, haven’t you?”
[What?]
“Are you about to be erased?”
[N-no! Of course not!]
Though the System rushed to deny it, Chi Wan already had the answer in her heart.
Back when it said it had spent all its points to get her that teleportation opportunity, she had a premonition it wouldn’t be able to achieve “regular” status.
When it returned from its so-called “performance review,” its mood had been off.
And since then, it had lost all ambition, only telling her to stay alive every day.
She wasn’t stupid; she had sensed it long ago.
She just didn’t want to say it, so she pretended not to know.
But now, Chi Wan couldn’t help but ask:
“Tongzi, if I die before I’m strong enough to face Ji Ke, would you think I’m a useless host?”
She asked lightly, even with a hint of playfulness. The System’s voice replied immediately:
[How could I!]
[You will always be the best, absolute best host in my heart!]
The night wind howled. The ghosts in the air here were nearly three or four times more numerous than in the ALP Star System. They swarmed together, shrieking at Chi Wan, only to be held back by her faint, silver-white barrier.
Chi Wan fired a burst of silver energy. The ghosts were pushed aside, making the path ahead clearer.
Endless darkness and rotting ruins—a despair that one couldn’t see the end of.
Suddenly, Chi Wan felt a wave of sadness.
She squatted on the ground, hugging her arms, and wept silently.
This time, she wasn’t crying for herself, nor for the System, but for this star system.
She felt this star system was sick—very, very sick.
But she wasn’t entirely not crying for herself, either.
She was sad about her own insignificance, her solitude, and the unbearable helplessness she felt.
The System was heartbroken and quickly offered comfort:
[Oh, come on, don’t cry. Do whatever you want to do. Host, if you’re not afraid of death, then I’m not either!]
[Living doesn’t always have to be about revenge. Since we’re here, let’s just do what we want to do right now.]
[I’m not afraid of death; I’m afraid of living a meaningless, cowardly life!]
[It’s because of your warm heart that I like you so much!]
Chi Wan stopped crying, but not because of the System’s words.
It was because she sensed many approaching footsteps.
She looked up. A dense crowd of human-form pollution entities had surrounded her.
They looked down at her in total silence.
The ghosts in the area scattered significantly because of their arrival.
The next morning, before dawn, Chi Wan set out.
When Tang Lian stepped out of his room, he only found a note on the table.
“I’ve gone to Elysium. If I don’t return, then I’ve successfully left.”
Beside it was a significant amount of food.
His hand holding the note trembled slightly. He looked toward Elysium through the window and finally spoke:
“I wish you peace.”
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