Chapter 217

"Watch your language, miss. Don't be so crass."

Qi Xing sighed.

"Also, I won't be doing █ with either of you. Not you, not that Brown-haired Girl companion of yours, and certainly not your Island Master."

After saying this, he turned his head and glanced behind him—it turned out the Brown-haired Girl had already circled around from the other end of the alley to behind Qi Xing, and was silently raising her pistol, aiming soundlessly at the back of his head.

A pistol—something that couldn't even injure a second-rate expert—how could it possibly be useful against [Master Leipu]? But perhaps her pistol was loaded with something strange.

Even though she had been discovered, the Brown-haired Girl's expression remained tense; her hand didn't shake, her gun didn't drop, and she continued to aim without saying a word.

Qi Xing didn't seem to mind; he just tilted his head and asked curiously, "Since you don't want to do █, why not just report it?"

The Brown-haired Girl didn't answer, only gritted her teeth, her brows furrowed tightly.

Yet, from the barely concealed fear deep in her eyes, Qi Xing could still discern a few clues. He couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling a bit helpless.

"Just glaring at each other won't lead to mutual understanding, little girl—or are you saying that the island's system of communication through physical contact is just too convenient, to the point where even you, having grown up outside the island, have been spoiled by it?"

Of course not.

Even if the Brown-haired Girl didn't speak, her emotions were still leaking through. Perhaps people couldn't understand each other solely through language, but at such close range, it was impossible for expressions of anger and sadness to go completely unnoticed.

"Are you just going to keep suppressing yourself like this?"

So Qi Xing asked again, carrying an unavoidable force, adding a bit more emphasis,

"Even if you hate it, do you still have to keep deceiving yourself?"

These words finally shattered her silence.

They finally made the Brown-haired Girl, who had been pursing her lips, feel—furious!

"How could I possibly like… doing █ with inexplicable people everywhere!"

She retorted sharply, her voice kept extremely low, yet it sounded more like a scream,

"But all of this is just to survive!"

"No matter how hateful or disgusting it is, I have no choice but to take this path!"

"[Master Leipu], someone as powerful as you simply doesn't know what 'having no choice' means! How could you possibly understand!"

This must have been her true feelings.

Even if she resisted in her heart, she had no choice but to suppress herself, kill her feelings, and endure everything for the sake of survival.

This was also the real reason why she hadn't immediately reported Qi Xing's location to the Island Master.

The island's native residents might not think about these problems, but she, as an outsider who had been "accepted" into the island, immediately realized one thing—

Qi Xing and the Island Master had just fought underground, and it had even triggered a nuclear explosion powerful enough to shake the entire island.

At this very moment, Qi Xing was in the island's urban area. If the Island Master were summoned here to begin a second round of battle with him… then what would be left of the entire island?

Even though she hated having █ with everyone on the island, in order to maintain this "stable life," she had no choice but to stand on the side of the maintainers.

She herself should be the one who understands this contradiction and pain the most.

As an outsider, she understood better than anyone what it was like to hate this system yet be forced to rely on it to survive.

On the contrary, the Blonde Girl, who worked with her and grew up on Labyrinth Island, wouldn't understand this pain. At this moment, she was looking at Qi Xing and the Brown-haired Girl in confusion, not understanding what was going on: "Huh? What exactly is going on right now?"

Qi Xing didn't answer her question directly, nor did he immediately respond to the Brown-haired Girl's questioning.

He just looked at them quietly for a few moments, then suddenly asked:

"The Island Master arranged for you two to be my tour guides for two days, and yet I still don't know your names. —What are your names?"

The Blonde Girl looked even more confused now: "Names? I'd have to go home and check my documents… It's been too long since I used them, I can't remember right now. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Thanks." Qi Xing couldn't help but twitch his mouth, "I'm very glad that your island at least still retains names and documents."

After saying this, he turned back to look at the Brown-haired Girl—she clearly remembered her own name, but now her face had turned a bit pale, likely having guessed the implication behind Qi Xing's words.

"After staying on this island for a long time, merging into this swarm-like grand orgy, of course there's less and less need to use your own name—obviously, when the boundaries of individuals are disappearing, where is there a need for personal names?"

Qi Xing sneered.

The fusion of individuals and the collective, where even memories, knowledge, and bodily boundaries begin to blur—this power would inevitably gradually overwhelm that thing called self and personality.

"If you think this is fine, or even feel happy, I can't really stop you. Who can say this is definitely wrong?"

"But if you clearly hate it, yet only feel 'lost,' not knowing where your bottom line is, or even feeling that 'having no bottom line' is fine… then you will only become more and more painful."

"Until one day, you are completely boiled into a pot of mashed potatoes, becoming exactly the same as everyone else."

That's why the seventh floor of the Silver Labyrinth is [The room where you cannot advance without giving up your self].

You are willing to become me, I am willing to become you, we are willing to become one, pass through the birth canal, be reborn, and become "us"—that is Xue Ning's ideal "New Humans."

In all fairness, this is still a bit better than EVA, than "Human Instrumentality," where everyone turns into orange juice. At least you still have a body, can walk, jump, eat, drink, and enjoy happiness, completely free of worries and pain.

So…

"Can destroying this island fill my stomach?! Can it wire money to my family?!"

That was why the Brown-haired Girl broke down.

Her voice trembled, her tone was near collapse, and though her eyes still maintained a stubbornness, terror had already surfaced. The gun in her hand was still pointed at Qi Xing, but the fingers on the grip were trembling slightly—the strength to even pull the trigger had been drained away.

"Why wouldn't it?"

Qi Xing asked back indifferently, even with a hint of sarcasm,

"I will defeat the Island Master, send you home, and then make her continue to pay wages to those of you who don't want to do █ on the island. Just like that. UU Library reader-voted best derivative fan work, breaker of the inner world》 ranks among the top!"

"Isn't she an Alchemist, after all? Damn it, I guessed long ago that it was impossible for her to only rely on the island's tourism industry to make money."

He said it cleanly and decisively, as if this were a natural transaction.

—But to the Brown-haired Girl, this operation was simply too unreasonable!

Killing, destroying the heart, and robbing money too?

For a moment, the Brown-haired Girl was stunned: "This, this, how can this be considered legitimate—"

"This is where your weakness lies."

Qi Xing shook his head,

"Always thinking about finding a reason to convince yourself—that receiving money makes suffering grievances normal. Finding reasons, thinking about all sorts of meanings and logic, explaining your own behavior."

"However, the more you try to package this disgust with 'logic,' covering it up as something 'worth tolerating,' the more you will live to become like those people you hate the most."

—After all, when Demon Lords fight for the world, using their own desires to battle each other, where is there any need for so-called legitimacy?

"People are naturally unable to understand others' fetishes, and if you can't understand others' behavior, then there's simply no need to 'understand.' If you don't like it, you don't like it; if you find it disgusting, you find it disgusting. You have no obligation to cooperate and satisfy others—that is the greatest logic."

So, saying this, Qi Xing finally smiled,

It was a slightly evil smile, a smile that was looking more and more like a proper Demon Lord.

"…So, little girl, shall we make a deal?"

"On this island, there are probably more people who are as unadapted as you, right?"

Volume 5: Welcome to the █ █ █ Paradise!: 199: New Humans (NT)

The Brown-haired Girl's heart was already wavering.

The Blonde Girl was clearly at a loss—she hadn't anticipated this, nor had she ever thought that such a situation would occur before her eyes.

This might be the island's weakness—everyone's thinking patterns tended to be consistent, so when they encountered situations that were too unexpected, the islanders couldn't react well.

"[Master Leipu], what exactly… do you want to do?"

The gun was still in the Brown-haired Girl's hand, but she had long since lost the will to pull the trigger, her voice listless,

"On the island… there are indeed others like me, from the outside, who don't like to do █… but how many could there be? At most ten or so."

"Your power and [The Count]'s power are already at another level; how could we possibly intervene in your battle?!"

Good question. What use were these little girls that Qi Xing had found to help?

These islanders, at first glance, were completely useless. This was a war between gods, and the outcome depended solely on him and Island Master Xue Ning. Even if Qi Xing won over some little girls, they wouldn't be of any use.

…But was that really the case?

Qi Xing was instead thinking about this question more deeply.

Xue Ning's divine technique connected everyone on the island. That connection itself was her intricate creation, and it might not be impossible to turn it around—to become a power that Qi Xing could utilize.

Precisely because Qi Xing was currently at a disadvantage, he should grasp every card he could.

"What do you want to do?"

The Blonde Girl still looked like she didn't understand the atmosphere, shaking her head blankly,

"Rebellion? Then I would have to report it to [The Count]."

It was laughable; before the words faded, the Brown-haired Girl rushed up, grabbed the Blonde Girl's arm, and shouted anxiously: "Don't do such a thing! If a fight breaks out here, everyone will die!"

The Blonde Girl had no choice but to lower her hand and stand there at a loss.

Qi Xing watched from the side, finding it a bit funny.

"Sorry, little girl, I don't want to have █ with you, not because I dislike anything about you."

—At least, not entirely because of that.

"It's just that I don't like to do █ with women whose names I don't even know, and whose thoughts I can't fathom."

He said to the Blonde Girl.

As a result, the Blonde Girl was even more confused: "Wouldn't you know after doing it?"

"There are some things you won't know even after doing it, and besides, this is a programming issue, child."

Qi Xing shook his head,

"People on your island are all very beautiful, can do any job well, and have absolutely no flaws… but as a result, you have no names, no personalities, and no stories of your own. Isn't that very boring?"

Unfortunately, when the Blonde Girl heard this, she still showed a confused expression of "What are you talking about?"

Sigh, human nature. People are naturally unable to understand others' fetishes; this is very reasonable.

…However, just as Qi Xing was looking up at the sky in melancholy, the little evil god, who had been standing on his head without speaking, suddenly pulled hard on Qi Xing's hair:

[Good idea, kid, it's rare for you to actually come up with a good idea!]

"Huh?"

[Names and stories!]

This demon was rarely like a real demon, squinting her eyes and giggling, then tugged at Qi Xing's hair again,

[While Xue Ning is currently holed up underground, hurry up and have these two little girls take you to her office! Room! Home! Anything works!]

[As long as we can find her name and story, we have a chance to turn the tables!]

[Also, have that little Brown-haired Girl find more people like her who are dissatisfied and can't integrate into the oneness!]

It seemed this demon could occasionally come up with some devilish ideas… although Qi Xing was very worried about whether her earth-shattering wisdom was reliable.

"Are you sure she really has a 'name'? Didn't she just tell you to call her Xue Ning?"

[All things have names.]

The Loli Evil God disagreed,

[…Otherwise, the processing of the entire cosmic system would become very troublesome.]

This sounded a bit like the painful experience of a foolish creator.

[In any case, she definitely has a name, or at least had one—otherwise, think about it, why does she let so many people call her [The Count]?]

"You mean she might have been a Count somewhere before."

Qi Xing couldn't help but frown,

"Even I know there are too many Counts in Europe. Considering she has lived for hundreds of years, how do you plan to eliminate the possibilities?"

[That's why we need to find more clues.]

This demon really talks without feeling the pain.