Absolute Choice 1
Page 26
Shi Xiaobai turned around in surprise, and he saw a girl with dark purple long hair sitting on the sofa beside him. The girl was as beautiful as a pixie, and was smiling cheerfully at him.
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Chapter48 Watching the meteor rain fall onto Earth with you
On the soft sofa, the girl was only a body distance away from Shi Xiaobai. Her knees were folded to her side. The black gothic-style dress covered her long and slender legs, but could not conceal her moving curves.
Her exquisite body was tilted, leaning on the sofa. One palm was gently holding up her delicate cheek, while her wrist revealed jade-like skin. A revealed blue eye squinted into the shape of a crescent, as she quietly exchanged gazes with Shi Xiaobai. An enchanting smile could be seen on her beautiful face.
If this world truly had fairies, then her smile was so beautiful that it would make fairies sigh.
Time seemed to come to a standstill at this moment. They looked at each other in silence, as black starry eyes and a blue oceanic eye reflected each other's figures in them. The girl was still smiling sweetly, while Shi Xiaobai's breathing gradually began to speed up.
Shi Xiaobai's tear-stained cheeks began to flush, as though he was enduring something. His slightly red eyes flashed a burning desire, while the hot breathing from his nose seemed to give him a strange impulse.
Suddenly, Shi Xiaobai raised his right hand. His eyes were still staring intently at the girl's eye, but his right hand was already stretching towards the girl's face. At the same time, his body was leaning slightly forward, as though he was going to press down on the girl.
That look was like an excited teenager trying to touch the face of a girl he admired.
The girl's smile stiffened slightly. There was a shimmer in her eye, but she did not say or do anything to stop him. She quietly watched as Shi Xiaobai's finger approached her face.
Slowly, Shi Xiaobai's fingers touched...the white eyepatch that covered the girl's left eye.
Shi Xiaobai's breathing stagnated as he suddenly used his strength to lift it up. His body suddenly jerked forward as the girl's face became inches away from him, but all he did was stare intently at the girl's revealed left eye.
It was an eye with a golden pupil, emitting dazzling bright light, like the dazzling charm of dawn.
Suddenly, Shi Xiaobai's expression changed drastically. He released his right hand and jumped backwards. He covered his eyes and said in pain. "Eye, eye, This King's eye!"
The white eyepatch fell back over the eye with the golden pupil. The girl's deep blue eye looked at him with a slight look of doubt.
Shi Xiaobai's right hand covered his eyes as he reached out his left hand to point at the girl. He said coldly, "To think your eye can resonate with This King's True Heretic King Eyes. Heh! This King did not guess wrongly. Your eye is a—True Demon King Eye! And you are a pixie witch with the Demon King's bloodline!"
The girl was momentarily stunned. Her face suddenly burst out with a soul-stirring smile. She wagged a finger and said with a laugh, "What an ignorant boy. Eyes that can resonate with a True Heretic King Eye is not only limited to True Demon King Eye. *Giggle* What I have is the True God King Eye!"
Shi Xiaobai was stunned, as his gaze immediately turned soft. However, just as he thought of something, his eyes turned sharp again. He said solemnly, "Don't you dare deceive This King. This King can already smell the demonic girl aura that you are deliberately concealing from your body!"
The girl said in a soft voice, "I previously fought in the Darkness with numerous demonic girls over a hundred years. Then I removed the aura from their bodies, so what you smell is the smell of time."
"Smell of time?"
Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised as he ruminated over those words. Moments later, he asked doubtfully, "Are you really not a demonic girl?"
"No." The girl shook her head.
"Then who are you?" Shi Xiaobai asked.
"Who am I? That will be a long story. Do you really want to listen?" The girl asked with a smile.
"Of course!" Shi Xiaobai answered without hesitation.
The girl paused and moved her body to close the gap between them. She said in a mysterious manner, "Ten thousand years ago, I was a pixie that guarded the World Tree, leading a carefree life. Then because of the first apocalypse, the World Tree lost its life, and before it withered, it chose me to be the inheritor of its power. Back then, I was a pixie, as well as a World Tree."
"9300 years ago, I traversed the world, killing numerous villains, and destroyed quite a number of righteous people. I was sick of the human world, so I went to the Light. There I saw so-called God Kings and leader of gods. I kicked a God King off his throne and took over the God King's eye. I was a God Queen then."
"9000 years ago, I got sick of the worship received by gods, so I left the Light and headed to the Darkness. There I met a Demon King and the demonic girls he bred. I spent a hundred years to convert all the demonic girls in the Darkness into pixies. I then banished the Demon King to an endless abyss. Back then, I was the Queen of the dark pixies."
"8500 years ago, I realized that there were numerous civilizations other than the Darkness and the Light, hence I left the Darkness and wandered the thousands of worlds. Back then, I was a lonely traveler."
"8000 years ago, I got tired. In a world called 'Heaven', I settled down. 'Bird people’ with white wings on their backs lived in Heaven. They called themselves angels, so back then, I was a hermitic angel."
"7000 years ago..."
...
...
More than ten minutes later, the girl finally finished describing her numerous identities. It was unknown if she had fabricated them or was just speaking nonsense, but finally she sighed and said, "A thousand years ago, I returned to the world of the humans. I slept deep underground for a thousand years before waking up ten years ago. So now, I'm a human, my name is Kali."
Shi Xiaobai was listening with his eyes glistening. He said, having enjoyed the entire process, "It's so interesting!"
Kali quietly looked at Shi Xiaobai and could not help but giggle. "Youth, you truly believed that?"
Shi Xiaobai was stunned and pointed to himself and said, "Intuition tells This King that you are not lying. This King doesn't believe you, but believes in his intuition."
Kali burst into laughter as she could not help but reach out to touch Shi Xiaobai's head. She said gently, "If I met you earlier, maybe I wouldn't have been bored for 10,000 years."
Shi Xiaobai, who had his head touched, suddenly felt a strange feeling. He hastily retreated backwards, evading Kali's "demonic talons". He reached out to smoothen his hair that Kali had messed up and sneered, "Don't you think of stealing This King's invisible crown!
*Giggle*
Kali laughed heartily once again. Her bell-like voice was pleasant to the ears, like the chimes from Heaven.
Shi Xiaobai's gaze slowly turned soft as the corners of his mouth suffused a smile.
Why was she laughing so happily?
Shi Xiaobai found it strange. Could her laughter have some magic in them?
Kali laughed for a long while before she gradually stopped. Her expression gradually calmed down as she looked at Shi Xiaobai and said in all seriousness, "Your Light makes people feel fondness, your Darkness makes people cherish tenderly. You are a true and pure, a flawless existence."
"You believed my every word, and even truly believe in every word you say. You are different from those tragic people who have the power of fantasy, but doubt their fantasies. You believe that you are a weak King, you believe that weakness is temporary. You believe you possess the True Heretic King Eyes and believe that you wear an invisible crown. You firmly believe your every imagination."
"You are the most interesting human I have ever met, so I am willing to fulfill your greatest desire."
Shi Xiaobai was stunned. He looked at the pixieish girl with pu
rple hair and was momentarily unsure as to what to say.
Kali stood up from the sofa and walked in front of Shi Xiaobai. She looked down into Shi Xiaobai's eyes and asked softly, "Then, let's go back to the original question. Youth, do you desire power?"
Shi Xiaobai looked up and stared into the blue eye. From the beginning, the question he had been evading came at him again, forcing him into deep thought.
Did he desire power?
Probably?
But..what he desired, was it truly power?
The realistic feeling he desired during the rookie training, was that truly power?
Shi Xiaobai wanted to answer, "Yes, it is power!"
But his intuition told him, "No, not necessarily." What he desired was not necessarily power, what he desired was not only power!
"I don't know."
Shi Xiaobai gave his answer. His voice sounded a bit dry and hoarse, and seemed to have a touch of fear.
"I know you do not know. You do not know what you truly desire. You don't even know what is power."
Kali chuckled and suddenly stretched her hand out towards Shi Xiaobai and said, "Then, I'll help you seek out the answer."
Seek out the answer?
Shi Xiaobai's breathing stagnated as he looked at the hand Kali stretched out.
That white, slender hand looked like it was so soft that there were no bones in them.
Shi Xiaobai fell silent for a moment before stretching out his right hand to grab Kali’s hand. He experienced a sense of warmth and softness, but suddenly the Light and Darkness appeared at the spot their hands touched. A black hole filled with light devoured them from their contact point.
Shi Xiaobai was alarmed and hurriedly wanted to release his right hand, but realized that his hand was being held tightly. He had no way of retracting his hand. He looked up to see Kali's eye. That eye was as soft as the morning sunlight.
His intuition told him that this girl would not harm him, so Shi Xiaobai stopped struggling.
The black hole that was filled with light slowly expanded and soon engulfed half their bodies.
"It just happens that there's a meteor shower tonight. I'll accompany you stargazing." Kali said as the black hole's light engulfed them completely.
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Chapter49 The Kind Dan Liang
In the western zone of Southern Gold City, on a road dimpled with potholes, there was a file of people hurrying down it in fear. Not far from them were the roars and howlings from Astral Calamity Beasts, occasionally mixed with the tragic screams of humans.
Occasionally, a meteor would streak across the dark night sky and explode along the horizons. Every time it happened, the escaping people would begin to tremble in fear, worried that a meteor would, at any second, crash into their location.
This group of people numbered about twenty. Other than the first three people—who wore normal attires—the remaining were jostling forward, shoulder to shoulder, wearing prisoner clothes.
"Brother Dan, you are too kind. These people are death row convicts, even those self-proclaimed righteous prison wardens have abandoned them. Why should we waste our time saving them? We might as well find some F Class astral beasts to earn some Hero points," grumbled a man. The person took the left spot amongst the trio and was a youth with blond hair. He deliberately chose not to suppress his voice, as such, his heartless words could be clearly heard by the convicts towards the front. The expressions on those convicts immediately turned ugly. They were not angry, but were terrified and worried.
"Death row convicts are still people. Before their executions, their lives are to be respected in a similar fashion. We are Heroes. Saving people in danger is our responsibility. Delain, let's not touch on this matter any further." The stocky man walking in the middle said with a face of righteousness.
"Hehe, Dan Liang is right. The three of us are Heroes, so how can we be compared to those prison wardens who perennially abuse convicts." A girl on the right, who wore heavy makeup, said as she clung closely to Dan Liang. Her well developed chest would occasionally rub against Dan Liang's arm.
Delain curled his mouth and had an unpleasant expression, but he did not speak again.
Due to the meteor bombardment, the surroundings had been heated to an extremely high temperature. Everywhere in the vicinity of a few hundred meters of the hit zone was affected. As such, no plane dared to circle around in mid air. Most Southern Gold City residents had successfully evacuated during the three hour notice they were given, hence, the number of search and rescue operators were few. However, there were always a number of people who could not evacuate in time, for example, these convicts who had been abandoned by prison wardens. Typically, these unlucky people were saved by Heroes.
The trio had formed a team to kill weaker Astral Calamity Beasts to earn Hero points because a meteor shower was the best opportunity to increase their Hero rankings. As long as they were not down on their luck, where high level meteors landed around them, they wouldn't be in any danger. This was because although Astral Calamity Beasts were brutal, they would not chase after distant targets. Typically, they would only destroy their surroundings.
The C Class Hero that the Chimera burned to death was unlucky to be at where the Chimera landed and had failed to escape in time.
Delain originally thought that his trip here to "help" Southern Gold City would give him the opportunity to kill some F Class astral beasts and earn Hero points, but he never expected that the kindhearted Dan Liang even wanted to rescue a group of death row convicts.
Every increment in one’s Hero ranking increased one’s nation-provided monthly salary. Delain could not tolerate wasting time saving death row convicts who deserved dying.
The Hero rankings were like a flowing stream downwards. If nothing was done, there was only flowing backwards, never forward. A few Heroes ranked beneath him might gain enough points to surpass him just by killing a few Astral Steel Giant Beetles.
Just thinking of this possibility made Delain indignant and angry, but reason told him that he could not lose all decorum and leave by himself. This was because the stocky man in the middle was a Psyker. If Delain wanted to kill astral beasts at E Class or above, he would need Dan Liang's strength.
...
Due to the roads having been destroyed and blockades caused by collapsed buildings, the group of people did not move forward at a fast pace. In order to avoid the Astral Calamity Beasts that were wreaking havoc, they often had to take detours.
The convicts had been imprisoned for too long, so most of them were malnourished. As they ran, many of them gasped for their breaths. However, in order to survive, they could only grit their teeth and run after the person in front of them.
At this moment, another meteor crashed to the ground. It streaked across the night sky with a beautiful beam of light, but that beauty meant the arrival of an ugly and evil astral beast on this piece of land.
The convicts looked up simultaneously at the sky and after confirming that the meteor landed far away, they heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, they became more nervous, afraid that the three Heroes in front of them would abandon them. They were also afraid that the next meteor would destroy their fantasies of survival.
The more they wanted to live, the more they were afraid of death.
"Don't worry, we won't leave you behind."
Dan Liang suddenly turned backwards and smiled. He said loudly to the convicts, "Because we are Heroes."
Under the night sky, his smile was as bright as the stars. His voice like a gentle wind, soothing to the heart.
The convicts lowered their heads, not because they were touched, but to hide the disdain in their eyes—Hero? Won't leave us behind? Heh heh, those are all pretentious words!
In the face of death and fear, any form of righteousness and kindness could be twisted or shattered. The evil nature of humans would overwhelm one's conscience. Rationality
and innate knowledge could be wantonly abandoned for survival. Even the lives of other people would be cheap commodities that were easily abandoned.
These convicts had long been immersed in evil. As they had done the act of murder, they knew that madness happened when death approached. They did not have any hopes regarding Dan Liang's promise. However, since they were at their mercy, they could not openly show their disdain or retort back.
At that moment, lowering their heads and staying silent was the best option.
Dan Liang sighed and no longer spoke.
After walking into an alley, Dan Liang signaled for everyone to stop. He then leaped up to a tall building nearby that had not collapsed. He looked around to get an understanding of the situation and after surveying his surroundings for a while, he found the safest route of advancement. He then led everyone forward.
"Dan Liang, these death row convicts are of bad character. They did not appreciate the words you said, and even showed looks of disdain. What's the point of working so hard to save them? Is this even worth it!?"
The girl beside Dan Liang noticed the expressions of the convicts and felt displeased. She began to doubt Dan Liang's actions, but she was not as direct as Delain. She deliberately lowered her voice, so that only the three of them could hear it.
Delain immediately echoed her words. "Brother Dan is too kind, but at times, kindness is not correct, and might not be righteous. These death row convicts have murdered before. They are not worth our efforts to save them."
Upon hearing this, Dan Liang fell silent for a moment before saying, "We are Heroes. Isn't it the most basic thing for Heroes to save people in danger?"
Dan Liang's expression looked gloomy, but his eyes were sparkling.
"Meteor!" A convict suddenly shouted loudly. "The meteor looks as though it's heading towards us!"
The three people walking in front had a drastic change in expression as they hurriedly looked up. They saw a meteor streak across the horizon towards them. The burning beam of light was blinding to the eyes, giving off the impression of extreme heat.
It was heading in their direction!