"A universe that is full of … stars."
Gus looked at the dark sky.
It was rather strange. He had never felt anything wrong with such a sky. The night had always been as dark as an abyss without any light. He did not care about the stars at all, and he had never considered what the lightning was all about.
However, ever since he saw the dazzling world of stars, the vast galaxy, and the burning cantilever in 'hell' where the demon taught him how to use the storm bolter, he couldn't help but be fascinated by them. He craved to travel among the sea of stars.
He could tolerate the darkness, as long as he never saw the real light.
"What — what do you want me to do?"
The young man swallowed to moisten his throat that was so dry that it was aching. He asked in a hoarse voice.
"It's very simple. I only need you to trust me 100%, open your heart, and let my strength pour into your body willingly."
Lu Qingchen paused for a moment and said, "To some extent, I hope that you can become my believer, my disciple, or even … a life of lightning like me."
Gus hesitated. "Become — become your believer?"
"Exactly."
Pondering for a moment, Lu Qingchen said, "I'm afraid that it will be difficult for you to understand it in the terms of crystal processors and data. Let me put it this way. My situation right now is like a virus that has invaded a human body and is trying to replicate and infect the entire body until it controls the central nerves and the brain.
"But the first obstacle I'm faced with is the immune system of the human body. Once it discovers my existence, it will certainly attack me together.
"A virus is the strongest and the weakest life form. If it is discovered by the immune system before it replicates infinitely, it will certainly be destroyed without being able to fight back at all.
"Therefore, I need to sneak into a normal cell and analyze the structure of the normal cell carefully to find a way to replicate infinitely. In the meantime, I need to deceive the aggressive immune system with the disguise of the normal cell.
"In the meantime, I need to find the most vulnerable, chaotic part of the body that is festering in the first place and where the immune system is unable to catch it. The odds of success will be the highest if I perform my infinite replication and corruption there. That's why I need to go to the battlefield where the steam army is raising the banner of righteousness.
"Although the Steam Army's uprising is likely to be within the expectations of A Boxing Champion, it is impossible for him to monitor every battle of the Steam Army. We have plenty of opportunities to let A Boxing Champion burn himself."
Gus still didn't quite understand.
He only vaguely understood that demons needed the weakest breakthrough point, just like the hunters in town who were bitten by ferocious beasts. If they did not pay attention, their wounds would fester, inflame, and even leak pus.
He was the "wound" that the demon needed.
Gus swallowed again and asked in a trembling voice, "Are you going to turn me into some kind of … lightning creature?"
"What else? If you really want to 'soar' to the Pangu universe, what life form is more suitable than the lightning life form?"
Lu Qingchen smiled and said, "Although the lightning life forms are fast, changeable, and have infinite possibilities of evolution every second, they do not have 'soul' and 'free will' in the concept of human beings. The virtual humans that A Boxing Champion imagines, on the other hand, do not have a real life form, but they do have some sort of free will.
"If a large batch of virtual humans can be combined with the lightning life forms, chances are that a brand-new miracle of life will be created. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of wonderful story will unfold when such a lightning army with free will appears in the Pangu universe."
"…"
Lu Qingchen was so straightforward and frank that Gus did not know what to say anymore.
The new concepts that the guy proposed were all beyond his understanding. The fear of the unknown made him subconsciously want to refuse.
Also, even if the World of Boxing God was a big lie, Lu Qingchen did not deny that he was a demon.
What was the difference between cooperating with a demon and asking a tiger for its skin? He would definitely be swallowed whole, with not even the slightest bit of residue left.
The young man hesitated.
The demon saw his hesitation, too.
"Don't be hasty. Take your time to think about it.
Don't force yourself, "Lu Qingchen said." I'm taking a great risk in making such a gamble. Right now, we both have room for negotiation. But if I really entrust all the 'power of lightning' to you, and you have even one percent of regret, I will be in an awkward position.
"What I need is a person who believes in me 100%. No matter the price, they must see through the falsehood in front of them and pursue a higher level of truth. If you are not sure that you are such a person, it doesn't matter. I will never force you. It doesn't matter even if we hold hands and watch this world be destroyed. After all, after this world is destroyed, I still have a chance to enter other virtual worlds and look for the Child of Destiny that I want. In magical language, it is' The One '.
In the magic language, 'One', hehehehe! "
Lu Qingchen opened his hands and grinned, as if he really did not care about it.
Seeing that he did not care at all, Gus grew anxious and said, "I —"
"Don't be hasty. Don't be impulsive. Don't agree to it in the heat of the moment because of my provocation, only to be scared out of your wits when you are faced with the wrath of A Boxing Champion."
Lu Qingchen's smile was gone, and he said solemnly, "What I need are warriors whose souls are really firm and who know what kind of difficult and dangerous path they are walking on, not cowards who pretend to be tough but who are actually cowardly.
"If you haven't heard the voice deep inside your soul and seen through your heart, and you don't know what kind of path you are going to walk on, I suggest that you don't agree to it so hastily. Perhaps, it will be best if you are destroyed together with the world because there are challenges a hundred times crueler than death in the universe of higher dimensions. It is a world a hundred times more dreadful than hell. Not everybody can bear it.
"After all, there is still some time before our journey ends. Why don't you take the time to think about what you want exactly? Do you want to be 'truly alive'? What price are you willing to pay for 'truly alive'? What kind of deformed appearance are you willing to change into in order to be 'truly alive'? "
Lu Qingchen patted the young man's shoulder, sending coldness and pain into the young man's bones.
Gus could not help but shiver slightly and lick his dry lips.
"Truly … alive?"
The young man hesitated and began to consider questions that he had never considered before.
The demon laughed and lay down on the deck. Looking at the starless night sky, he hummed an out-of-tune tune.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
