Chapter 387 I will be the first to die
The "gods" in the void have finished their work and gone to eat, but their carefully selected "chess pieces" have just stepped onto the chessboard.
The practice has begun.
On the 180th day, Jon finally understood the secret taught to him by the void and learned the most basic magic of calling the Holy Light.
He called it "psionic energy".
It still took him so long to awaken under the "instructions" of the gods. He knew very well that he was by no means gifted. The gods must have taken a fancy to something else in his soul besides his talents.
『You are not that one exception among ten thousand. 』
But, it can also be you. 』
In order to fulfill the mission given to him by the new god Colin, he began to walk on the edge of the city, going deep into the corners behind the glamor.
There is the "lower waterway" of the universal city, a maze composed of abandoned pipes, intricate climbing frames and crumbling metal roofs.
The air here is always filled with the rusty smell of engine oil and the sour smell of chemical waste that cannot be decomposed. In addition, the lack of sunlight and the despair of the stagnant air made the place feel damp and dull.
The sky above our heads is cut into pieces by the steel and iron bones of the upper-class city. Only at midnight, when those ever-extinguishing holographic GG cards undergo a brief system restart, will a few rays of turbid moonlight shine through the gaps in the layers and sprinkle on this forgotten land like a mercy charity.
He never thought there would be such a place.
But he should have thought a long time ago that no matter how high the tower is, it will inevitably cast a high shadow.
When Jon entered here, he was suddenly shocked for the first time. He was actually lucky to be able to use the "free refrigerator". There are many people in the world who have never seen anything like a refrigerator, and they don't even have the opportunity to curse themselves online.
Of course, no bank is willing to provide loans to these people, so naturally they have not installed any prosthetics.
At this time, Jon recalled the oracle that the new god "Colin" sent to him through the void 180 days ago——
"If you want to be saved, you can't just save yourself! 』
With a hint of humble piety, he did not scream out his voice of despair like others, or immediately raise the banner of resistance.
He was like a silent raindrop that moistened things, blending into the small puddle buried deep under the steel labyrinth where the light could not shine.
This is his mission!
In the corner of a shack that was soaked by acid rain and creaked, a five or six-year-old Gray girl was huddled on the cold metal floor, coughing up black phlegm with iron filings due to "rust disease".
Her father was a man who lost his left arm due to a work-related injury. Even the meager compensation could not save him. He could only desperately hold his child, trying in vain to use his own body temperature to retain the last trace of warmth that was passing away from his daughter.
They are the ones the federal government and companies want to eliminate.
After creating unimaginable wealth through the power of the Grays, the huge and useless population has become a burden.
Machines are more efficient and cheaper than them, saving huge maintenance costs and eliminating the risk of rejection when replacing prostheses.
Only by unloading these burdens left by history to the Federation, can they march lightly into the stars and build a more magnificent city in the sky before they return to the Wasteland Era again due to depletion of resources.
Perhaps the Gray civilization will cease to exist.
But a new civilization will be born on the corpse of this giant whale.
Perhaps respecting the fate of these poor people is also a choice. Their pain will not be passed down for long, because they are the last generation.
But Jon chose another path.
He wants to use his soul to spread the weak and hot ripples before the civilization and inheritance of the Grays are completely strangled, so that those materialists who have lost themselves in the void can wake up!
He walked forward quietly, and squatted down gently under his father's alert and desperate gaze.
He had no words, but stretched out his right hand, which was still made of flesh and blood, and covered the girl's hot forehead.
A faint but extremely pure light golden halo slowly seeped out from his palm and penetrated the gray skin.
This light is different from the cold and dazzling neon in the upper-class cities. Its warmth contains the temperature of life, just like coming from the real sun.
A miracle happened.
The girl's violent cough gradually subsided, her rapid breathing became relieved, and her complexion, which had become sickly and yellow due to the high fever, gradually returned to normal.
Her father was stunned and opened his mouth wide, but could not make any sound. Only muddy tears rolled down from his bloodshot eyes.
When Jon took back his hand, the girl had fallen into a deep sleep, breathing steadily.
"Thank you...my benefactor, what do you want? I can give you everything I have!"
The man trembled and knelt on the ground, offering his most humble knees and dignity to the silent rescuer.
However, Jon lifted him up, just shook his head gently, and conveyed the teachings from the new god in a calm and firm voice.
"If there are still people who need help, please tell them and call this name silently in your heart."
He did something different from "Kyle", the envoy of the ancient gods. He did not use this power to hunt the salesman who sold him a loan, or the doctor who installed a prosthetic body on him.
It is true that they are "predators" in this steel jungle wasteland, but from the perspective of gods, they are actually not wrong. They are just abiding by the law of the jungle in this world, and they are just one of the countless living beings.
He did not even try to teach the president of the company who banished him to the depths of this steel ruin - the "iron hand" who was in charge of one of the "towers" and belonged to him.
Whether it is Iron Hand, Kyle who killed Iron Hand, or the savior who killed Kyle, they are just different people in the same ecological niche.
They need to be judged.
But it should not be done by him, but by the people behind him.
This will be a war between one trend of thought and another. What he wants to do is not to be the savior of the Grays, but to make every Gray their own savior.
Only in this way can he truly change the fate of all Grays, instead of leading them into the next cycle full of hypocrisy and lies in the name of holiness.
This is the mystery he realized from behind the void outside time, together with spiritual energy...
The "gods" behind the void have just started enjoying their dinner, and their carefully selected chess pieces have already completed the transformation of their souls.
For a steel city floating in the eternal gray fog, these short five years are just a meaningless rotation of numbers on the neon GG sign.
However, under the bright skyscrapers of the Federation, in the shadows that never see the light of day, something is changing quietly.
While Jon was replaying the sporadic teachings from the void in his mind, he was learning how to harness the miraculous power that he understood as "spiritual energy", while using this power to help those marginalized people who, like him, had been eliminated by this materialistic federation.
His good deeds and miracles that could not be explained by the rules of the material world attracted him the first true followers.
They are not careerists, or even very capable. They are just the most complete losers living in this federation of the jungle and the strong.
Among them are laid-off workers, bankrupts with huge debts, homeless orphans, and people tortured by illness and waiting to die.
The wheels of time ran over them, leaving only a pool of dust that was blurred with flesh and blood, but Jon saved them and gave them the help he could. Even in the eyes of "sane" people, using magic to solve problems is absurd, even evil.
It's just that the Federation has been at peace for too long, and has forgotten the catastrophe caused by the ancient gods a century ago.
They are still mechanically commemorating the past, purging the believers of the ancient gods, and warning future generations to be wary of the pollution of the void. However, this huge screen has long been riddled with holes, and more of the filtered out are innocent people purged in the name of the void.
This is a very useful tool.
When someone tries to ask a specific question, saying that he is a believer in the evil spirit of the void will cause him to disappear, taking the question he raised with him.
However, this also raises hidden dangers.
When false pollution is regarded as pollution and is stuck on the filter, real pollution will be quietly mixed into the water source.
It is precisely because of the expansion of the purge and the perfunctory executioner that Jon can receive the "real thing" from behind the void.
At that time, he was not even an extraordinary person.
But this is no longer important.
The ancient god is dead.
Today's void belongs to the era of "Colin"!
The Federation, which was born under the curse of the ancient god "Merk", has not evolved immunity to this new god.
Especially, his life span has come to an end. With or without Colin, he will be like a dying old man.
All Colin can influence is where the people living on this planet will go after the Federation ends like the Wastelanders Alliance.
With the unremitting efforts of the God Envoy Jon, the whisper from behind the void finally stepped onto the stage of Gray history once again.
They regard Jon as the messenger of the void.
In their oral teachings, they believe that all the pain they endure is precisely the price paid by their ancestors for abandoning their spiritual beliefs.
Now, this silent messenger walking in the shadows makes them feel like they have finally found their way home in the boundless void.
They still long for equality.
But perhaps, material is not the only way to achieve this goal.
Especially after experiencing countless lies and betrayals, they witnessed the miracle from the true God "Colin" with their own eyes!
Jon never asked for anything in return.
When those who were helped knelt down in gratitude, he would always repeat the same action, lifting them up one by one, and sowing the teachings Colin spread to him into their dry hearts.
"My strength comes from each of us, so we must be kind to each other, especially those who entrust us with their hope."
When someone asked in confusion why the new gods did not require their absolute obedience to the will of the gods like the ancient "Merk", Jon would look at them with his increasingly profound eyes and tell the truth he had discovered from the dust of history.
"The ancient god "Merk" fell precisely because he and his messenger Kyle, after mastering extraordinary power, forgot where their power came from, and betrayed and enslaved their fellow mortals who truly gave them power."< br/>
"We cannot make the same mistakes as Him."
When facing history, he made a different choice for Kyle and the Gray Man who killed Kyle. He faced frankly and admitted the mistakes of the pioneers.
That brand new doctrine was like a thunder, splitting apart the old understanding of "gods" and "void" in the hearts of the gray people.
It is simple and unsophisticated, but it contains a power that directly points to people's hearts.
In this way, in the sixth year after the death of the ancient god, Jon's reputation spread quietly like a vine. It expanded under the shadow of the Federation, embracing all corrupted flesh and soil, and grew silently and steadily.
The Grays began to organize secret gatherings.
It was not under the leadership of the prophet, but formed an organization spontaneously.
The location is sometimes at the intersection of steam pipes that reach underground, and sometimes it is under a bridge that is completely shielded by the superstructure and cannot even let in acid rain.
In those dark corners, the Grays are no longer metal bodies riddled with holes. They have rediscovered their names and their lost dignity.
At the same time, Jon selflessly taught the methods of controlling "psionic energy" to the Grays who trusted him.
He guided them on how to feel the fire called "hope" deep in their hearts through meditation, and guide it out to warm every freezing soul around them.
Even if they don't, it doesn't matter, their devotion will become a strength for another psyker, and that person will eventually use this power to help them.
It’s more than that.
Under his call, people supported each other, healed each other, and helped other believers in need. In this large and loose group, everyone is both a supplicant and a giver, a believer and his own savior.
A mutual aid group called "Cosmic Spirit" was born in the shadow where neon lights cannot shine.
It was just a fragile flame at first, but soon it turned into a spark, illuminating the deepest part of every alley.
Once upon a time, it was the most dangerous place in the Federation, and every corner that was not covered by cameras was controlled by gangs.
But now, it has become the source of fear in the tower.
With the growth of the "Cosmic Spirit", this rising power finally aroused the vigilance of the Gray Federation, even though they initially scorned it and were full of disdain.
After all, no matter how powerful the magician is, he still needs to eat, and no matter how much they talk about those magical things, they cannot stop the company's profit growth.
Until one day, someone noticed that the death rate in slums actually dropped, and the proportion even exceeded that in neighborhoods with complete medical care.
What frightens them even more is that these bottom members who were supposed to be rotting in the gutter no longer hurt each other, but are united under the name Colin.
This is undoubtedly dangerous.
The guards of the Federation regarded this sign of "spiritual resurgence" as the resurgence of the "Merk Cult" and characterized it as the number one enemy threatening the Federation.
A great purge against spiritualists began in this silent night.
Soldiers equipped with the latest model of exoskeleton prostheses rode the most advanced aerospace vehicles and poured into slums that they usually did not go to.
The heavy alloy boots crushed the water-logged ground, and the scarlet tactical goggles on the helmet pulled out ominous strips of light in the dim alley.
They are like cold machines, without warning or questioning.
The door was savagely opened by high-frequency door hammers, and any family whose neighbors or informants reported "abnormal behavior" would be dragged out without mercy.
Occasionally encountered sporadic resistance, and were soon drowned in the rapid sound of gunfire.
· In order to curb the spread of the "virus", the highest levels of the federation have also adopted unconventional means - such as cooperating with gangs that they usually look down on the most.
They use the privilege of immunity from guilt in exchange for the intelligence in the hands of the latter, and even drive those villains to do work that is inconvenient for them, and turn a blind eye to the associated damage.
Although guards and councilors have done this before, such systematic cooperation is undoubtedly an unprecedented precedent.
Out of fear of the void, they took the lead in trampling on the rules they set before the Cosmic Spirit Sect crossed the line.
Even Kyle, who was denounced by them as "doing all evil", has never collaborated with the predators.
· A father who had just regained hope in life because his son was cured was targeted simply because he could not produce medical documents to prove his innocence. That night, he and his family were covered in black hoods and disappeared into a floating car hovering outside the alley.
The old man who witnessed this scene just questioned why they went beyond the court to arrest them, and was immediately judged as an "accomplice" and was knocked unconscious by high-voltage electricity and taken away.
Those who had been helped by Jon became the first victims, even though many of them were not followers of Colin at all.
Their existence itself is evidence of "mind over matter", and for the federation that advocates materialism, this trend of thought is almost fatal.
At least for the shareholders of the Federation.
Fear is like a plague, once again covering this land that has just seen a glimmer of light. Although this was not Jon's original intention, it was no longer his decision to reach this point.
Moreover, as he is entering old age, he gradually understands that relying on kindness can win sympathy and unity from his own people, but it cannot win the recognition and compromise of his enemies.
Only a hotter flame can punish the burning evil, and only a more thorough violence can end another violent machine.
They must launch a more thorough revolution!
Just like the Wastelanders who united to end Kyle's tyranny, now they must join forces like the great pioneers to stop this out-of-control machine!
Fortunately, his "lord" is gentle.
Him He did not let him, who had been doing good deeds all his life, play the role of the evil man, but left the power of choice to him and the people standing behind him.
Whether to die peacefully in silence with a body riddled with holes, or to burn vigorously again before the useless flesh and blood rots!
For His will——
Or, for all the Grays who can hear His voice, or for the Grays who cannot hear but can feel the heat of their souls!
Each of them is his own savior, each one is Colin!
This is what Jon realized in his fiftieth year of life.
As he aged like his father, he suddenly thought of the man who prayed before nightfall, of his original wish, and finally realized his true destiny.
He should have realized this long ago.
It turned out that the respected Lord Colin had told him the final answer before everything started, but he had never been able to understand the implication of the whisper -
"...I will die first."
Faced with the gun muzzles surrounding him and the threats of those fierce and evil men, Jon's old face had a relieved smile without any regrets.
His spirit has never deceived him from beginning to end, nor has it left him.
Him He not only graciously fulfilled the wishes of a small mortal, but also prepared a final farewell ceremony for his life before the wave of that era began vigorously.
phorous is my Lord . 』
Our meeting... must be one of the most beautiful miracles in this universe. 』
Unarmed, he opened his arms, looked at the exoskeleton soldiers who were retreating in fear, and uttered the last and most powerful sentence in his life, a spell that did not contain any "psionic power".
"Do it, my child."
“I forgive you.”
"Because after that, I will go to His kingdom."
…...
"Bang——!"
A crisp gunshot tore through the silence of the confrontation, and also frightened one of the "gods" who had just returned from the dinner party.
That was a teaching assistant working in Corinta.
As one of the on-duty personnel staying at Corin Tower, his task is to restart the virtual realm after its energy is restored to prevent the loss of important data.
However, he never expected that when the lens of the void opened again, what he saw was a corpse lying in a pool of blood!
That person is none other than the Jon chosen by His Highness Colin!
Those stupid materialists actually shot him!
They had just taught him the skills to use extraordinary power, and he died just like that! ?
But the soldiers in armor did not end well either. They were quickly burned to ashes by the flames falling from the sky.
The furious psykers regarded the death of the "God Envoy" as the trigger for the breakdown of negotiations, and launched a Jedi counterattack!
While Jon was still alive, he was still able to restrain them and let them use their extraordinary power to save their suffering compatriots. But now, I am afraid that only the gods in the void can persuade them to stop the war against the Federation and the company!
And since the mysterious Colin did not stop them -
It means that everything is the will of the gods!
In a sense, they were indeed right. From the first day Jon and "Colin" met, their respected His Highness Colin had already foreseen this day.
However, this bloody scene still frightened the observers behind the virtual realm.
After all, he is not the unfathomable His Highness Colin. He has no time to think carefully about where the flames come from, let alone where these madmen will end up causing trouble!
——
They will destroy their own world!
After all, they did master the power to destroy the world, just as Mentor Merck once saw in the virtual realm No. 178, they once used methods other than magic to make the light of stars bloom on the ground!
"Saint Sis is above..."
The assistant teacher murmured to himself and took a step back. Suddenly awakened, he hurried downstairs and called out to Miller who was about to leave after giving instructions.
After learning what was going on behind Virtual Realm No. 178, Miller rushed to the scene almost immediately, and as expected, was shocked by the scene in front of him.
"What happened over there?!"
"No, I don't know! It became like this as soon as I came back..." The assistant teacher said with a pale face, his eyes full of fear.
He is not as free and easy as His Highness Colin.
Even if Colin may not blame him, he does not want this virtual world to be in his own hands!
Miller's expression was equally solemn at first, but soon, he saw a clue from the corpse, and the shocked expression was gradually replaced by a touch of ecstasy.
He was shocked to find that judging from the appearance of this divine envoy, just as they were drinking and chatting, the world behind the virtual realm had actually advanced by more than twenty years!
About the differences in the appearance of the Grays at different ages, it was recorded in the observation notes of Mentor Merck, and was published in the form of a paper in a second-rate journal published by the Tower of the Great Sage.
"The Sage" is not interested in such inconsequential matters. After all, only researchers of No. 178 Void Realm can use such details.
Miller happened to have read this paper, so he immediately realized the problem.
"Time...is speeding up?!"
The teaching assistant also realized the problem.
This Jon did not die shortly after "Colin" came into contact with him, but died more than twenty years after the first encounter!
"It seems that the connection to the virtual realm was completely disconnected when we didn't notice it. Now it is after re-establishing the connection..."
After realizing this, the expression on the assistant's face changed from horror to surprise.
The seeds they sow were not strangled in the cradle, but on the contrary, they withered in the dawn after they blossomed and bore fruit!
It seemed to confirm the two people's suspicions. As Jon's body cooled, the gray lens gradually gave off a stronger light!
Just like that, under the horrified eyes of all the researchers, the diameter of the virtual lens began to expand rapidly, from one meter to three meters, and finally stabilized at a full five meters!
It’s more than that.
It is not only the size of the passage that has expanded, but also the ever-splitting perspectives!
At first, they could only use the "holy object" on Jon's chest to glimpse a blurry world as wide as a palm. But now, that single perspective is like a split soap bubble, spreading into thousands of different perspectives at a speed visible to the naked eye!
After Jon's death, all the Grays who followed his footsteps became Jon, and they all became the apostles or eyes of "Colin"!
"Saint Sis, above!"
Even Miller couldn't help but exclaimed this time.
Because he soon discovered that the changes behind the virtual realm were far more than what he saw at the moment, and there were even more astonishing changes hidden behind the ever-expanding perspective——
Shortly after Jon fell, those angry Grays seemed to have evolved a new power that had never been seen before!
They no longer need to communicate through language, and they no longer need rituals to synchronize each other's spirits.
Catalyzed by strong anger and sadness, each of their souls was like a plucked string, resonating with the souls of all their compatriots as never before!
Miller can "hear" it.
Because that is the basis for the magicians of Xuebang to establish spiritual resonance and information exchange with the creatures behind the virtual realm!
That is not any kind of language, but it transcends all sounds or tangible words in the universe. It's just that this is the first time he has seen it. It turns out that this kind of resonance does not necessarily have to cross the virtual realm, but can also be established in the same universe!
They can not only hear the soul resonance from the void.
You can also hear the voices of each other’s hearts!
"Incredible..."
Miller muttered to himself, then suddenly looked at the assistant teacher aside and shouted in an excited voice.
"Quick! Go find His Highness Colin! Also! Slow down the flow of time behind the virtual realm!"
"Yes!" The assistant teacher responded hurriedly, and then called to other researchers on duty downstairs.
Miller stared intently at the virtual realm, staring at the cluster of unbroken fields of vision, his pupils flashing with excitement.
He had a strong premonition!
From behind Virtual Realm No. 178, they might have discovered something quite extraordinary!
(End of this chapter)