Chapter 34: The End of an Outsider

Mountains and Forests

"Ah... here we go again." The girl showed a slightly bored expression as she watched her opponent fall before her.

She had a petite figure and an extremely delicate face. Even though her expression was far from cute, it appeared innocent and playful simply because it was on her face.

The girl lightly tapped her pink chin with her finger and said, "Why is everyone so obsessed with such meaningless things?"

Her gaze moved past the two bloody corpses and landed on a child standing behind them. As expected, she found the same expression she had seen countless times: despair, anger, shock, sorrow, ferocity, and hatred.

"I'm tired of it. I can't even pretend to be moved anymore..." she thought.

She asked aloud, "Hey, let me ask you, do you think there is love between you and your parents?"

"Bastard!!! I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you demon!!!" The child, awakening from his sorrow, roared and rushed at the girl.

However, before he could get close to her, he suddenly fell to the ground in pain, his limbs uncontrollably convulsing. Mud stained his face, mixing with blood and tears, anger and hatred.

The girl watched his struggle without a trace of pity. She was a devil in angel's clothing, evil wrapped in innocence. She was love, she was hate, she was one with hope, she was one filled with despair. She was a seeker of the way, she was one who had abandoned the way...

She was Sickness of the Eight Sufferings.

"What's wrong? Not answering? Children are so disobedient. Alright, alright, let me tell you then." The girl's innocent face lit up with a playful smile, but her words were exceedingly cruel. "No, kid! Everything your parents did for you was just about hurting others, just like how they attacked us. There is no love between you, only selfishness and baseness built on the sacrifices and deaths of others. If you delve into the meaning behind your relationship, all you'll find is tangled hatred, unvented anger, and bottomless greed and despair."

"Enough, Sickness!" A voice interrupted.

The speaker was a young man standing not far from the girl, but he seemed unable to move. He could only cast pleading eyes towards the girl. "Let him go, he's just a child!"

However, the girl seemed not to hear him. She slightly lowered her head, watching the child in the mud convulsing and losing strength in his limbs. Her voice became somewhat distant and ethereal. "Life cannot nurture love. In the world of life, there is only chaos and disorder, constructed by countless differential treatments. However, only in two moments... only in two moments can life be called love, a love as radiant as the sun—when it is born and when it vanishes."

After speaking, the girl fell silent, ignoring the young man's continued pleas.

She watched the life slowly fade away, unmoved. In the very end, she heard the child's delirious murmur, "God... God..."

"Kid, God doesn't love people," the girl suddenly said.

The profound look on her face quickly disappeared. She turned to the young man, who had closed his eyes and was weeping. Putting her hands on her hips, she snorted angrily and said in a slightly spoiled tone, "Hey! What's there to cry about? Do you call this being a part of the Master?"

The young man opened his eyes and found he could finally move. Silently, he wiped away his tears, found a long stone, and began to dig a pit.

Seeing this, the girl was displeased. "Boring! Crying over a few ants. You're nothing like the Master!"

"No, you're wrong," the young man suddenly said. "If he truly didn't care, I wouldn't exist. Besides, the Master without his past memories is probably no longer the one you knew..."

As he spoke, the young man suddenly lifted his head and looked towards a distant part of the sky, his face showing shock. "Unforeseen Calamity?!"

...

In a certain city.

"Big sister, big sister, how can I become as strong as you?" A rabbit-like evolver—no, he should be called a Chosen One now—hopped excitedly, asking the Rabbit Lady.

He had grey and white fur, a pair of white rabbit ears, and three multi-colored tails. His lively demeanor was full of energy, like a main character or at least a member of the protagonist group in a manga.

"Ah, I almost forgot, thank you for saving me, big sister." The boy bowed and then pointed to his rabbit ears, smiling brightly. "I'm Bai Er, and we're of the same kind, big sister!"

The Rabbit Lady glanced at him and casually replied, "Become stronger?"

"Yes, yes!" Bai Er's eyes sparkled, and he gestured excitedly. "I want to be as powerful as you, big sister! You swatted down ten Chosen Ones like they were flies! My god! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. You're incredibly strong! I've never seen a Chosen One as powerful as you, big sister. Please, teach me, how can I become as strong as you?"

The Rabbit Lady replied indifferently, "Why do you want to become stronger?"

"Uh..." Bai Er thought for a moment and then smiled. "To survive, I guess. This world is too dangerous. If I were as strong as you, big sister, I could surely survive!"

"To survive, huh? Then I suggest you find a place to hide. That would be simpler," the Rabbit Lady said.

"Huh?!" Bai Er was confused. "Is that... really it?"

"Yeah," the Rabbit Lady replied nonchalantly. However, her attitude was so casual that Bai Er couldn't help but doubt her. "Big sister, you're not messing with me, are you? We're of the same kind..."

The Rabbit Lady was about to respond when she suddenly turned her head to look in another direction, slightly furrowing her brows.

That was the direction she had come from.

Beside her, Bai Er also looked over and couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock. "Wow! What a big fireball!"

"Is that a meteorite? But it's completely different from the ones I've seen before! Even from this distance, it looks terrifying. If someone gets hit by that thing, they'll definitely be..."

Bai Er's voice abruptly stopped. The last few words stuck in his throat. Memories flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, then turned to nothingness. Eternal darkness surged from all sides, engulfing him.

In the very end, he heard a slightly puzzled voice, "Did you mistake me for a good person?"

The Dense Rainforest

In the humid tropical rainforest, a robust, blond, blue-eyed middle-aged man was frantically running for his life. The man looked extremely disheveled. Not only were his clothes tattered and dirty, but his body was also covered in wounds. Judging by how he kept looking over his shoulder and ignoring the bushes and vines around him, it seemed as if he was being chased by some terrifying beast.

Suddenly, the path ahead opened up to a river. The river wasn't wide, only about six or seven meters, and the current wasn't strong. However, the man hesitated for a moment. But soon, he gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and plunged into the water with a splash.

The man didn't stop for a moment. He swam frantically towards the opposite bank, as if there was a great danger in the river. Lady Luck was on his side. He successfully reached the other side, took a quick look back, and then resumed his desperate flight.

After more than an hour of running for his life, during which he encountered several dangers, the man finally ran out of strength and found a seemingly safe corner to hide in. "I... I can't run... anymore. If I die... I die!" He gasped for breath, and it took a while for his frantic heartbeat to calm down a bit.

Next, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a waterproof bag. He opened it and took out a slightly chipped voice recorder. The man took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then turned on the recorder, saying, "By the human calendar, it should be September 2026 now. I don't know the exact date, I can't remember... damn it! Who knows what day it is! I don't give a damn! Hey! Listen up! Whoever finds this recorder, you damn well better listen! No, please! Please listen to what I have to say!"

The man squatted on the ground, hung his head in despair, and pulled his hair fiercely, crying out, "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I'm... I'm very confused right now! I don't know when I'll die, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe the next moment... so, whoever finds this recorder..."

At this point, the man fell silent. After a long pause, he spoke in a low, pleading tone, "If possible, please give it to my wife. Please!"

There was about ten seconds of silence.

Then the man continued, "Alright, let me tell you about myself. My name is Ben. I'm the deputy leader of the special unit of the 1st Division of the great Green Civilization Empire Army..."

Suddenly, the man stood up and shouted, "No! My name is Lauren Ford Watson! I was born in California, USA. I'm a car mechanic and I have a happy family! My wife's name is Roland! Roland Humphrey! She's a beautiful, sometimes fiery but lovely woman! And I have two sons..."

"No! That's not it!" The man suddenly changed his tune. "I'm Ben! My wife's name is Leilai! She... she's still waiting for me on Green Star!"

"Oh my god! What am I saying?! I'm Lauren Ford, born and raised in the USA! I'm human!"

"No, I'm not human. I come from the great Green Civilization!"

"I'm going crazy! I think I have a severe delusional disorder! I... I actually think I'm an alien!" "This isn't a delusion! I am Ben! Twenty years ago, I was ordered to come here to investigate, and after that... I don't remember..."

"What am I even saying? This body looks human no matter how I look at it, how could I be an alien?"

"No, I really am an alien! As for this body, I don't know why it looks like this. I should have purple-red skin, covered in scales..."

"I think I'm losing my mind..."

"I am Ben, Leilai is still waiting for me to go back!"

"No, I don't know any Leilai, my wife is Roland Humphrey, and we have two sons..."

"I am Ben!"

"No! I am Lauren Ford!"

The man kept rambling incoherently and nonsensically.

Suddenly, he raised his hand holding the recorder high, a look of painful struggle on his face. But in the end, he restrained the impulse to smash it to pieces. Despite his confusion, the recorder contained his intermittent messages to his wife over this period, making it extremely precious, even more so than his life.

The man carefully turned off the recorder, held his head in pain, and couldn't help but roar in a low voice, "Who the hell am I?! Ben or Lauren Ford? Why! Why do I have two sets of memories?!"

Suddenly, a voice came from ahead, "You are Ben."

The man looked up blankly and saw a stag dressed in a neat and well-fitted suit standing not far away, as dignified as a human being.

Because of his work, the man had met many people. Some were extremely wealthy, some held great power, some had noble ancestry with a long family history, and some were deeply cultured with personal depth. But at this moment, he felt that this stag standing in front of him exuded a grace that surpassed anyone he had ever met.

It was an aura that was difficult to describe with words.

The stag in the suit smiled slightly at him, his tone gentle and unhurried. "You are Ben, from the distant Green Civilization."

"No..." The man shook his head hesitantly. "I'm... I'm human..."

"No, you can't be human," the stag gently shook his head, denying his words, but in a way that didn't feel rude at all. He spoke with a slight smile, exuding elegance and politeness, "Because humans don't exist. Humans don't exist at all."

The stag's light remark was like a thunderclap, exploding in the man's mind! Shock and realization dawned upon him.

The man's face displayed a mix of astonishment and clarity, and he suddenly burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face. He laughed and cried, then cried and laughed.

Conflicting expressions crossed his face, making him look like a madman, indistinguishable whether he was joyful or sorrowful. After a moment, he gradually calmed down.

"Yes, I am Ben," he said.

Then, he looked up at the stag and asked, "So, who are you? Knowing the name of the great Green Civilization, you must not be an ordinary evolver."

"My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I am Mengying," the stag in the suit bowed slightly with one hand on his chest and smiled. "Father bestowed upon me the name 'Suffering from Separation'."

The latter part of his sentence was in Chinese, which Ben, without a translation device, didn't understand. He gazed at Mengying for a moment and then asked, "So, why are you looking for me? I suppose you're not here to kill me?"

"Correct, I don't intend to kill you," Mengying smiled. "I'm searching for Father, and in the meantime, I need some family. There aren't many surviving outsiders on this planet now, so you're a very rare species. Be my family, Ben."

"Rare species?!" Ben was taken aback and then laughed in anger. "How dare you! Facing the great..."

His words stopped abruptly, and a look of confusion appeared on his face. Scratching his head, he said, "Mengying, what are you talking about? Be family? You're my only family, aren't you? You're acting so strange today..."

As he spoke, he suddenly noticed the object in his hand. He opened his palm and looked at it in confusion, "A recorder?" He shook his head and casually tossed it aside, then asked, "Where are we going next?"

"East," Mengying pointed in a direction after a brief thought. "I feel that Father is over there. But before that, let's find a family member who can fly."