Chapter 13 Comics
After reaching a consensus, communication can continue.
"I killed six pirates near the Wall of Sighs," the God-Favoured One said calmly, but he explained the process thoughtfully: "Five died of suffocation, and one was stabbed in the chest from behind by his companions."
The other person sighed softly, as if frustrated at not being able to fully understand the whole situation.
"That group of pirates came in search of the 'Dragon's Nest Treasure,' but their ship was destroyed by a swarm of dragons. After being rescued by the Natalin people, they secretly left and sold intelligence about the Asaqi Valley and the Natalin people to the mercenary association at the port, leading to the Saman family and the navy stationed at the port massacring the Natalin people."
"...Is this a prophecy?" the black-haired young man asked calmly.
"No, this is reality. I have experienced all of this myself." The voice of the God-favored One was very soft and frighteningly calm.
The great story begins here. Overnight, the young man lost his homeland and relatives. He was caught in a mystery and shouldered a huge blood feud, embarking on the bumpy road to becoming a legend.
The orphans of the Natalin people began to flee. Every time they thought they could end their wandering and take a break, various coincidences took away everything they had briefly possessed again and again.
The audience who watch this story will only sigh at the cruelty and fickleness of fate, but they don’t know that there is another driving force behind the so-called "cruel and fickle fate".
"The Asaqi Valley has been isolated from the world for over three hundred years, yet rumors of the 'Dragon's Nest Treasure' have only recently surfaced." Legend's voice grew softer, almost whispering, "Professor, where did this rumor originate?"
"…related to Cassius II?"
If we really want to talk about the enemies of the Natalin people, the most likely one at the moment is the ruler in power.
"No, our king doesn't care about these things at all," Azuka sneered. "In his eyes, the late king, who shared the same surname and clan as him, was just a short-lived unlucky wretch, not worth his energy to avenge a bunch of stray dogs. He would rather invest his money in gambling, theater, and hosting various extravagant banquets."
He was forced to swallow his grief, shame, and anger until he was able to face the once unattainable rulers - but the dissolute and absurd king did not care about this "gift" consisting of the lives of an entire tribe. Those who killed "Azuka" were just a group of lackeys who tried to curry favor with the superiors but failed.
"What?" Cassius II, who was laughing heartily as he directed several scantily clad clowns to pose coquettishly, said nonchalantly, "Oh, Lord Samand seemed to have mentioned this before, but I don't remember it clearly. You should ask him."
The wind howled, a mournful cry. Nova was in a state of shock and confusion, blinded by the sudden surge of wind rising from beneath him. He instinctively tried to step back, but someone grabbed him from behind. He then realized they were in the narrow eye of the wind. The stone, stained with dragon blood, was completely swept up and crushed into powder by the swirling current at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye. If he had accidentally fallen into it, his flesh and blood would have been no better than the stone.
Then he met a pair of eyes that were pregnant with natural disasters. The golden edges of the irises split into fine lines towards the deep blue, like lightning, like wave crests, like cracks in the universe.
"I'm sorry to scare you, but it's safer this way - let me be frank, professor, I saw all of this with my own eyes." The voice of the God-favored One was soft and clear, condensing into the other person's ears.
"This world is a 'comic book,' and I am the protagonist. In the near future, countless disasters and coincidences will naturally befall me, because only in this way will the plot become sufficiently dramatic and interesting."
The black-haired young man's pupils shrank suddenly.
The word "comic book" was used in a language he was extremely familiar with, yet one that would never appear on the continent of Ambrose. The absurdity and sheer volume of information caused the professor's mind to pause for a moment.
"As for you, Professor." The madman who called himself the male protagonist smiled slowly: "You come from the world that is responsible for watching my life, right?"
“…”
"Don't be nervous." The hand clasped at the back of his neck exerted some force, almost pulling him into a hug. Azuka lowered her head, her gorgeous golden hair softly scattered on the black-haired young man's bare neck, the cool coral and turquoise gently touching his skin, like a fine and soft net.
He looked at the fine hairs on the man's earlobes, trembling slightly under the influence of the air currents, and spoke in a gentle, soothing voice, despite the horrifying content: "I won't vent my anger on you, nor will I be angry at you for concealing the truth... I did consider that if you were just a special puppet controlled by fate, I would directly extract your soul and study it - but you yourself made me give up this idea."
"Speaking of which," he suddenly changed the subject, "I remember when we signed the soul contract together, I discovered that your soul couldn't be bound by the Oakensele River, so the contract wouldn't work on you at all. What are your thoughts on this?"
"...I promise that I knew nothing about this before." Nova frowned slowly.
The God-Favored One nodded noncommittally. He loosened his grip and took a step back, the oppressive feeling he had brought to the other person instantly dissipating considerably.
The black-haired young man stood there in silence for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What about me? What is my role in that comic book you 'saw with your own eyes'?"
"You killed Cassius II and Queen Esmeralda, seized the throne, and decided to launch a war of annihilation to slaughter all believers." The male protagonist maintained his calm expression: "In short, you are my nemesis."
In other words, he is the villain, or the final villain who takes over by killing the old villain.
Nova: “…”
"...Are you kidding?" he asked expressionlessly. "I'm a university professor now. My salary isn't high, but it's stable. I'm also a minor noble. All of humanity's basic needs are met. Why would I suddenly have so much free time as to destroy the world?"
Nova knew he was sick. In his original world, he had undergone a thorough examination after adulthood: Asperger's syndrome was enough to make him different from ordinary people - but he was definitely not a pleasure criminal or a high-functioning antisocial lunatic.
"Perhaps this is just a 'plot'?" Another person spoke in a chillingly gentle tone, even to their 'enemy'. "Perhaps we are all just fictional characters created to please the gods, no different from the heroes or clowns portrayed by those lying bards."
Nova stared at him - this guy was obviously saying some absurd and extremely desperate things, but he still kept that almost frozen smile, which made him look extremely crazy.
"No, I don't think so." The black-haired young man answered firmly: "If the essence of this world is a comic book, then this world would not exist."
"I've read tens of thousands of books and documents covering various fields around the world, and I can recount their general outlines. I'm absolutely certain that your world possesses a rigorous and complete cultural, economic, and political system that has evolved over a long period of time. What kind of being could create such a complete and mature world through a single book? Could it be just your gods?"
He scoffed sarcastically and quickly retorted, "With all due respect, based solely on those 'colorful' historical records and the fact that no gods have been active for more than a thousand years, the only conclusion I can draw is that 'gods don't exist, they're just a group of powerful people.'"
He shouldn't have said such things to a religious leader, but he looked different from the locals who liked to talk about gods all the time, and Nova was willing to trust his intuition.
The God of Whispering once made a disrespectful king rape his favorite daughter to play a trick on him; the God of Lust, jealous of a human woman's beauty, seduced her into having sex with a wild beast in public. Various sects promoted this as a teaching that "one must not disrespect the gods," but the professor was deeply disgusted by these despicable means.
Jealousy, greed, lust... If all the bad qualities of human beings are not stripped away from the "gods", how can they be called "gods"?
"...Please continue." The eyes of the God-favored One were deep and difficult to read.
"As for my world..." The professor unconsciously slowed down his speech slightly. Others could hardly distinguish this subtle difference, but the God-favored One quickly noticed it - it was obvious that the other party had feelings for his homeland.
"It's the simplest logic," Nova said expressionlessly. "If this comic is from my country, you should all speak Chinese. If it's from overseas, it should be in a language I've heard of."
——Instead of asking him to learn a completely unfamiliar foreign language from scratch.
"...Are there gods in your homeland?"
"Various religions, large and small, are inevitable, but my home country is the largest in the world, with atheism being the majority. We generally don't seek to prove whether there is a god, but rather require the gods to prove themselves—but at least in the past hundred years of credible historical records, no matter what happened, no god has ever truly appeared."
Those fraudulent cults that pretend to be gods do not count.
"To sum up, it seems more like someone used your experiences as a prototype and drew a comic book about them," the professor concluded contentedly, as if hurling a final report at someone. He lacked empathy, yet seemed completely at ease. "I don't know how you came across that book, or how you reversed time and space, but it sounds a lot like the rebirth novels that were popular over there. Just be certain of this: regardless of whether your experiences were manipulated or not, as long as you can still think and act independently, you are still free and can rely on yourself to change the status quo."
"—We call this human initiative."
The author has something to say:
A professor who is completely confused about political philosophy.
From Baidu Encyclopedia: Asperger syndrome (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction and restricted and unusual interests and behavioral patterns. Children with ASD generally have normal intelligence, but exhibit a lack of understanding of social relationships and difficulties with verbal communication, yet possess an unusual interest in certain areas. The exact cause of the disease is currently unknown, but genetic factors may be involved.
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