Chapter 80 World D: Ethan's side story, I want...
I want to live.
Ethan was breathing heavily, blood from the wound on his forehead flowing into his eyes, turning his vision crimson, and he felt pain of varying degrees all over his body.
His eyes were somewhat vacant, his hand tightly gripping the blood-dripping kitchen knife, watching the man in front of him, who had been like an unshakeable mountain, fall backward, his body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
Ethan could only hear a ringing in his ears, and the metallic taste lingered in his mouth. He swallowed the metallic sweetness that reached his throat, but his stomach was in excruciating pain. He didn't know which organs were damaged, but his ribs were probably broken.
Ethan's fractured hand could no longer hold on and he let go, the cleaver falling to the ground. His hand was still trembling from the pain, and his adrenaline quickly disappeared after calming down. He collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted.
He practically crawled to the man's side, placed his hand on his chest, and only felt relieved after confirming that the last faint beat had disappeared. As soon as he relaxed, the pain became clear, and Ethan was in so much pain that he couldn't even groan.
But he smiled.
A big, bright smile, perfectly befitting a child his age; his sparkling eyes crinkled with laughter.
Even in this cramped and simple house, where everything was smashed to pieces and his or the man's blood was everywhere, the young boy killed his abusive father in retaliation. Even though his body had been beaten so badly that he didn't know if it could ever fully recover, and whether the family still had any money, none of that mattered anymore.
This is something to be happy about; he has gotten rid of his biological father who had been abusing him, and this is something to celebrate.
He felt happy and joyful, so he laughed. That's a good thing, isn't it?
However, it was a bit troublesome to deal with. Ethan couldn't bear to let it rot at home, nor could he bear to let small animals eat it, so he chopped it into a suitable size and threw it down the drain.
Go forth, free spirit.
Ethan looked encouragingly at the toilet and pressed the flush button.
...
It's blocked.
Useless stuff.
For a child to survive in Starfall City is even more difficult than having a heartless and irresponsible biological father, because there are adults in the family who have concerns about whether or not the child will be cared for.
Naturally, Ethan's home was no longer his home. After being taken over, he was immediately kicked out and left to fend for himself on the streets.
He struggled for a long time to survive, eating anything to avoid starvation and doing any kind of work to stay alive. He witnessed the wickedness of people and knew the worst aspects of human nature.
Because he knew them so well, Ethan didn't actually enjoy interacting with people as much anymore. He could guess what others were thinking without even having to think; he understood the Starfall People too well.
He sometimes hates himself for being born in this city, a city where violence and chaos are the norm, where life is cheap, a terrible city.
It was terrible. During his growing years, during the ten years he struggled to survive, he wanted to blow up the city more than once, and for everyone to die together.
They would chat and laugh, often appearing as partners, but in reality, they would repeatedly send assassins to kill each other so they could take all the spoils.
Marriages in this city can be divided into two types: one is based on interests, where couples come together for the sake of interests. This is a typical example of a couple on opposing sides. It's only natural for them to want to seize the family property and assassinate their partner; everyone has done it.
Or perhaps it's two already seriously ill people coming together, two madmen's unrestrained emotions usually manifesting in endangering the lives of others. Sometimes Ethan suspects that Starfall City is just a giant mental asylum, filled with mental patients, and even he himself is quite ill.
Every time Ethan loses a fight and gets robbed, he lies there for a long time, his complex feelings for the city intertwined once again.
He really wanted to make this city disappear, but strangely, Ethan felt a certain attachment to it. At least when he longed to live in another city, he ultimately didn't step out, even though he had the ability to.
...I really want to climb up.
They want more power, to have a say, and to change this city.
Ethan channeled his complex feelings for the city into a desire to climb the social ladder. Having lived there for so long and struggled to survive as an orphan, he knew all too well the city's flaws. He believed he could make a difference.
But the question is how to climb up?
In other cities, Ethan might choose to set up a trap for someone he has his eye on, and by sheer coincidence, he could help that person, thus naturally being drawn into their power and climbing the ranks little by little through that person.
But that won't work here.
They take it all for granted, either becoming overly wary of others' kindness, suspecting ill intentions, or accepting it as a matter of course, thinking it's normal for others to save them, expecting no reward, or even complaining that they didn't do enough and stabbing them in the back.
If he were to pull that stunt here, not only would people realize he deliberately set up this predicament, but even if he actually saved the other person, they might not even thank him, let alone invite him into their faction. The chances of climbing the ranks through this path are very low.
Because people don't have that kind of conscience.
This is the downside of your city being too different from other cities; a bunch of good strategies can't be implemented, so you have to find another way out.
After much hesitation and deliberation, Ethan set himself a goal—to get close to the embodiment of the Starfall City's will and gain its interest or favor, where he would have a greater chance of climbing the ranks than others.
The premise is that he can attract the other party's attention and encounter the Starfall Will. The Starfall Will rarely goes out, and no one knows what he looks like except for a few people at the top of the city. Those high-ranking officials are the ones who can directly contact the incarnation of the will.
However, Ethan is not the kind of person who gives up easily. Once he has a goal, he will do everything in his power to achieve it.
He collected the meager information from the city's will, analyzed and deciphered it with his brilliant mind, and guessed the information he wanted.
For example, one could first obtain information about the incarnations of wills from the wills of other cities, some common sense that ordinary people are unaware of.
For example, by collecting information on the incarnation of the Sunfire City's will, Ethan discovered that Sunfire had always been male. Only after the change of guardian did the wicked Ethan frequently appear beside her guardian in female form to tease him.
Then, some other information was collected. For example, Novigrad City and City Will should be the most popular cities in the country, with countless collaborations with other cities. City Will is also close to her.
Novigrad is known for its knowledge; intelligent and kind, she is a friend to many, very rational, and one of the earliest cities in the country. She has the closest relationship with Kagerou.
Victoria City is very approachable, even a bit startled and easily embarrassed, but Ethan discovered that her early combat prowess was incredibly fierce, completely unlike her current shy demeanor.
Yangyan City, seemingly a warm and welcoming city, does indeed have a warm and orderly atmosphere. However, the embodiment of the city's will is not as simple as it appears. It has a rather wicked personality, and for some reason, many city wills are quite afraid of it. Well, it is also quite afraid of the Starfall City Will.
Yangyan seems to have a grudge against Xingyun. They have some business dealings with other cities, and even the xenophobic Xingyun City has reached cooperation agreements with several other cities. However, they have no contact with Yangyan City, which is the closest city to them.
Upon hearing that it was Yangyan City, others turned away with sneers, not wanting to stay even a second longer, let alone discuss cooperation.
In short, Ethan spent a lot of effort to obtain the information, which he thoroughly studied time and time again. He also dug out information about the Guardians of Li Ren and compared it with theirs, trying to extract how they got along with Xingyun and what personality he preferred.
It doesn't matter, he can pretend. He can even pretend to be innocent and naive, or he can play a villain naturally without acting.
Ethan was fully prepared, but he never expected that despite his numerous attempts to stake out the area where the meteor might appear, he would not see a single movement or even a single hair of the meteor.
The attempt to stage an accident was a complete failure.
After two months of consecutive failures, even the usually optimistic Ethan was somewhat discouraged. Was this path also going to fail?
This is the easiest and fastest shortcut for him to climb up the ladder. No matter how he climbs up the ladder by other means, he feels that it would take at least ten years to reach a high position. By then, will he really be able to live to the day when he can properly implement the law?
It feels like he was assassinated by his political enemies before that, and in terms of action, he was certainly not as good as the Guardian of Freedom. Apart from those at the highest level, the Guardian was the person closest to the city's will, and his power was limited to the city's will.
Oh, of course, this is on the premise that the city's will and the guardian get along well and the city's will is willing to let them pass. Otherwise, it would be impossible to so easily hand over such a large amount of power to the guardian. What if they end up with a guardian they don't like?
Just when he was in despair, someone stepped across the water, intending to step over him and ignore him.
Ethan was incredulous, but to his surprise, he actually squatted down.
Looking at the man who was exactly the same as the intelligence information he had gathered, Ethan, who had just raised his head from the puddle on the ground, gave a somewhat chilling smile in this situation.
We've finally met, Lord Starfall.
Are you ready? He will soon complete the city's transformation plan, and he will make the world a better place, at least this city will.
By becoming a guardian, he had already succeeded halfway.
“You are… ‘Starfall’, aren’t you?” he asked with a smile, his radiant smile softening the eerie atmosphere. “The embodiment of this city’s will?”
"Your purpose," the arrogant man before him said, looking at him with the same eyes he used for everyone else, as if he were a vermin.
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Author's Note: I'm so tired, I don't really know what I'm writing anymore. I'll check again tomorrow after I wake up. Because of the rankings, I don't want to get criticized. When I was writing the second half, I felt like my eyes were barely open.
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