Volume 10 Bugs Chapter 36 The Meaning of Living
I stood on the top of the tower, hugging half of the remaining wall and tremblingly sticking half of my head out. The tower was very high and I felt dizzy. The plump and beautiful back of the Black Knight was lying on the bricks and stones at the bottom of the tower in an unprecedented miserable posture, with his silver-white hair scattered and the ends of his hair stained with a layer of blazing and dead red by the blood gushing out from his body.
She is really dead, this woman who betrayed her people's pride because of their betrayal, this woman who intended to practice the justice she insisted on with desperate slaughter. Perhaps, she will be resurrected countless times in other copies, and tell the dark story countless times to the adventurers who are about to kill her or who are about to be killed by her, but now, here, her life has truly disappeared, and we have successfully completed the great mission of saving the world.
"Carlson, Carlson? Are you still alive?" I suddenly thought of the accomplice who concocted this murder with me. The death of Black Jazz does not completely mean the success of our trick. Compared with the death of this desperate woman, successfully deceiving the eyes of the gods is our greater and more thorough victory.
"...If you really care about my life or death, you should have listened to my advice and given up this mission..." The troll's angry voice came from my ears, "...What's the point of pretending to care about me now?"
"I suddenly feel that it is something worth looking forward to letting the gods discover your tricks and then straighten your hunchback..." Hearing his answer, I felt much more at ease.
"Shut your stinky mouth, they have opportunities to do so. The time was too tight just now, and I still made a small mistake." Carlson's words made my heart tighten.
"What's going on?" I asked quickly.
"An associated field was not handled properly. It was not just your Black Knight who failed in the attack just now. A total of thirty-seven Black Knights all failed in their attacks at the same time. If any god looks carefully, he may still find traces of modification." Carlson's words were full of regret.
"Is the problem serious? Will you be in danger?" I asked worriedly.
"Do you grab your head and count how many hairs there are on it?" Carlson suddenly asked me inexplicably.
"No, I don't have the time." I answered subconsciously , completely unaware of the meaning of his question at this time.
"Yes, you don't have time, and neither do the gods. They have much more important things to do. So don't worry, they can't count the hairs on our heads. I'm not satisfied only because I think I can do better." Although he said that he was dissatisfied with his work performance, this could not conceal the smug boasting tone of his successful deception of the gods.
"Calm down, perfectionist, you're grinning so hard that I can see your fangs." Even though I couldn't see his face, I could imagine his smug expression. I wasn't at all glad that he had escaped safely . Really, not at all!
"I won't waste my words with you. The elf woman behind you is coming over. Her ears are okay, but her teeth are all in her mouth. Can such a thing be called a woman? Wild boars are prettier than her. I don't know how the elf men could be attracted by such a monster..." Carlson used his unique aesthetic sense that only belonged to the trolls to criticize the appearance of the elf druid fairy behind me who was face down on the ground, until the dissatisfied chatter gradually disappeared in my ears.
I turned around and saw the elven druid girl walking towards me with her mouth slightly open and a look of astonishment on her face.
"I can't believe it! How could this happen? She actually died. What happened?"
Oops! I was so busy checking Carlson's safety that I forgot something important. That is, what kind of lie should I tell to cover up the incredible fact that I killed Black Knight alone. You know, as a warrior who has always been honest and upright, I have never been good at using deception to cover up the facts, let alone making up a lie hastily without any preparation. So, I decided to tell the truth:
"I... I don't know what happened. This... This was a complete accident. She probably just wanted to play hide-and-seek with us, but accidentally..."
The fairy descended to earth and looked at me with contempt: "Do you think the people of the country will believe this reason?"
I looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle innocently, and the sunset dyed my cheeks red...
Soon, Niu Baiwan, Dingding Xiaoge and Yequ Piaosan were resurrected at the bottom of the tower. The first thing they saw after they were resurrected was the body of Black Jazz who had died a violent death. Niu Baiwan's eyes were about to pop out, and he carefully circled around the body three times. After making sure that Black Jazz would not suddenly jump up and revive to hit him with a hammer, this great paladin who specialized in escape skills and master-level lost skills finally came up with the only reasonable explanation that could make him accept reality with his unique mindset and extremely rich life experience:
"Brothers, it seems we have entered someone else's copy by mistake..."
"Okay then, after we take away all the quest items, you can find four people to accompany you again. I don't want to come to this damn place to die again..." I walked out of the tower slowly and said to the stunned paladin.
"This...how is this possible? With just the two of you, can you kill Black Knight?" Nocturne in B flat minor obviously couldn't accept this fact which was too shocking.
"To be precise, I did it all by myself!" I nodded proudly, hugging my shoulders. Now I understand why so many people are keen on taking risks and using their precious lives to complete difficult tasks. This feeling of pride in bearing the amazement of everyone is so satisfying that I can't stop.
"You did it alone? Shameless!" I heard Carlson's faint rebuke in my ears, but it was immediately ignored by my auditory nerves.
The fairy came out from behind me and told me incoherently what she had just witnessed. As she told the story, the faces of those unfortunate people who had died and come back to life showed expressions of amazement, envy and jealousy.
"Damn it, this kind of thing actually happened!" Niu Baiwan said in annoyance, shaking his big head.
"If you want to express your admiration for my achievements, 'damn' is not an appropriate word. If you don't mind, I know a very suitable adjective called 'wise and brave'." I kindly reminded the minotaur who obviously had little language talent.
"I only know that there is a very appropriate term called 'shitty luck'..." the half-orc warlock Ding Ding Xiaoge muttered softly.
This is a common problem among many intelligent creatures in this world. They always like to attribute other people's success to accidental factors like luck, and they completely fail to see how much courage and wisdom I have put into this seemingly accidental luck... Well, okay, it's Carlson's and mine... Okay, okay, I admit that if we rank them by output size and proportion, it should be Carlson's and mine - but can't I sort them by the first letters of the common language?
However, although I did not get the honor and respect I deserved from my partners, I did not have to go to great lengths to fabricate lies to cover up Carlson's existence with the elusive word "luck". It was very easy to make these lazy agnostics believe that all this was a miracle created by luck - believe me, for a minotaur who was blessed by the Supreme God and could get a stone of faith by killing rats while squatting in a broken house, he could accept everything in the world without any psychological barriers if you used "luck" to explain it.
Everyone took away the item from Black Jazz's body that symbolized the completion of the mission - a lock of her silver hair. They also seized some trophies with quite good attributes. Unfortunately, there was no equipment suitable for warriors. However, I did not gain nothing. On Black Jazz's body, I found "Part 3 of the Fusion Device". This is a double-helix structure pipe. Every certain distance, there is a horizontal pipe that evenly connects the two spiral pipes together. Along with this part, there is also a professional task exclusively for alchemists: collect all four "Fusion Device Parts" and complete the installation of the Fusion Device.
The series of battles have made each of us grow significantly. When we first entered the fortress, even the soldiers guarding the door caused us a lot of trouble. But when we withdrew, those guys could no longer pose a threat to us.
Soon, we reached the edge of the inner city, climbed up the broken and broken wall, and in front of us was the square where we had fought with the three-headed monster Merril. I still remember that when we came here, the young owner of the small manor, the brother of the strong priest Miss Lemore, the brave Baron Bink and his subordinates were resting there. Black Jazz has been eliminated, and they should have returned home. My sister can see her long-awaited brother, and the soldiers can protect their relatives in the territory again. Everything will return to the right and beautiful track. Only in this way can it be proved that our dangerous adventure is worthwhile.
That’s what I thought.
Passing through the gap and turning around the fountain that had been shattered into rubble, we once again saw Baron Bink and his servants.
Young bodies were scattered everywhere, each with a sharp blade piercing their throats. Whether it was a dagger or a spear, these sharp weapons were obviously driven by huge forces, nailing these bodies firmly into the soil, between walls, and tree trunks, extinguishing all life in the briefest moment.
What is most shocking is that the weapons were tightly grasped by the hands of these young victims themselves.
What on earth happened? What on earth made them end their young lives in such a way that was even more resolute and decisive than how they treated their enemies?
"Cough, cough..." A painful cough was heard under a dead tree that had been burned to charcoal. Following the sound, we saw the dying face of Baron Bink. His face was terribly pale, but there was a disturbing red tide in his eyes. After such a long time, the wound on his left leg showed no signs of healing, but was still bleeding heavily - who knows, the sticky and smelly yellow liquid may no longer be human blood.
"Ahem... Brave people, I can no longer... feel the power of Black Knight. Have you... completed your great mission?" The baron asked us with difficulty, gasping for breath.
"Yes." Niu Baiwan, who was closest to him, answered his question with just one word - these eloquent space experts always seemed to like to talk to the natives in this simple, almost rude way. No matter how complicated the communication was, they could direct the conversation to the information they needed with just one or two words.
"The Supreme God's benevolence nourishes all things... The Falvi Continent has been saved... Our sacrifice... has... has been rewarded..."
"What's going on here?" Ding Ding Xiaoge asked.
"After you left, we found out that our injuries were not simple. Our priest said that this was a toxin that would quietly devour our souls and turn us into... completely irrational and corrupt people, and... attack all living things with souls. Our bodies have become tools for spreading the toxin, and returning home would only harm our loved ones and more people. There is no medicine that can cure us, and we have lost all hope..."
"...But even so...my people did not give up the fight. Perhaps our lives are worthless, but we can still use death as the last weapon of resistance. Everyone ended their own life before the toxin took effect. In order not to become floating zombies, they...they nailed themselves to the ground..."
"...My...My time is almost up...Respectable people. May the Supreme God have mercy on me and allow me to hear the news of victory before I die. I...I...cough cough..." Suddenly, the young baron started to cough violently, and the liquid he coughed out was the same viscous yellow liquid as the liquid on his wound. The muscles on his face became more and more numb, and the serenity in his eyes was gradually drowned out by a kind of empty numbness.
"Kill me..." he shouted at us, "... This is my last request... For the last dignity of a human being... Kill me!"
What was going on? Just a moment ago, we brought his sister's blessing to him, and now, we were going to witness his death? Could it be that in this world, the thoughts and blessings of relatives were so powerless, heroic justice was so cheap, and kind life was so fragile that all these things added together could not resist the death of a small poison?
Is it true that the meaning of life is just to wait for death? And are all those noble and great qualities revealed in the process of life meaningless appendages?
How can one be willing to accept this? How can one be convinced?
"Save him! Carlson, let him go home alive!" I shouted silently in my heart, begging my alien friend who could see through the divine power.
"This is impossible, my friend. I can't do it..." Carlson's voice was filled with desolation. "...He is a person who must die here according to the laws of the gods. No one can change this reality."
"You can do it! Tell me you can do it! It's just this little poison. We were all injured, but we are still alive! This is not a fatal poison at all. We all know it. He doesn't have to die here!" I was going crazy. I couldn't bear to see this handsome young man die like this.
Yes, if this closed copy world is unique, if everything in this world is advancing along a unique logic, if everything each of us does is unique, then we have successfully saved the world. To be honest, after saving billions of lives, the life of this young baron is really insignificant, and I may not really care about the life and death of one or two people.
However, this is not the case. This is a parallel world, a repetitive world, a world where everything is repeated, everything is cyclical, and everything is running in vain. Everything we do can only be mechanically measured by the benefits of souls and money, and has no substantial impact on this world.
If we can't stop this only death happening right before our eyes, we can't save anyone!
We have worked in vain, we have accomplished nothing, we are a redundant and powerless group, killing mediocrely and blindly in this world, not knowing why it is like this, and not knowing what will become of us.
I have never been so eager to change as I am at this moment, even if this change means rebelling against God's majesty. I have never been so eager to save a life as I am at this moment, because this largely determines whether our existence in this world is meaningful.
"You're crazy..." Carlson was practically yelling in my ear, "...He's different from you, and we all know that! We all know that what really killed him wasn't some bullshit confiscation, or some bullshit wound, or some damn poison. What really killed him were those fields, you know? Fields that can't be deleted, can't be changed, can't be touched! Modifying it means a total collapse! You're committing suicide! You know that?"
"...Can't we 'really' do something?" A huge sadness welled up from the bottom of my heart.
Carlson's roar was silenced for a moment. After a long while, he whispered to me:
"Live on, my friend, live well..."
Live on! Indeed, this seems to have become the only way for rebellious lives like us to prove the meaning of our existence...
…
The Baron died after all, and the Nocturne in B flat minor nailed him to death with his sword. No one can change the laws of fate, not even those who have escaped fate like us.
"Tell... my sister that I... love... her, love all of them, and my soul will bless them in heaven, forever..."
At the last moment of his life, he handed this task over to us.
