Defying Heaven and Changing Fate

The unrest in New York finally subsided. Once it was confirmed that the attack had not been a nuclear strike, the public’s emotions eased, making it much easier to restore order.

But the aftermath of the incident was far from over.

Ordinary people had no idea how the accident had happened, and the authorities could spin it however they wanted. The higher-ups, however, were not so easy to fool.

They quickly learned the truth, as well as the causes and consequences of the incident, from those "Human Stick" Warriors. Then all the higher-ups nearly went crazy.

This was another mess caused by the military!

If the military had dealt with Zhan Liu, they would naturally have been happy to see it. After all, they were also unhappy with Zhan Liu’s existence.

But the military had failed, and had nearly been wiped out.

What else was there to say?

The military would obviously take all the blame!

It wasn’t that there were no fanatical politicians and generals clamoring to kill Zhan Liu, but rational people made up the majority of the higher-ups.

When they did things, they looked at the benefits first and the risks second.

Killing Zhan Liu offered few benefits but carried enormous risks. It wasn’t worth it.

Especially since this Zhan Liu was practically insane. He had actually started fighting inside the Martial Arts School.

According to the expert analysis provided by the intelligence department’s analysts, Zhan Liu clearly understood the damage caused by battles between Magnetic Field Warriors. He also cared deeply about the inheritance of the Ultimate Limit Sect and would never fight within the Martial Arts School’s grounds.

But the facts proved that the so-called expert analysis was complete bullshit!

Zhan Liu had brazenly started a massacre inside the Martial Arts School, killing all the disciples without even blinking.

After killing them, he had actually acted as if nothing had happened and taken the two surviving disciples to rest at a five-star hotel.

Did he not take killing people seriously?

Or was he planning to take the guests at the five-star hotel hostage?

Moreover, one of those two disciples was the mutant wanted criminal Mystique.

What was his relationship with Mystique? What was his relationship with the Mutants?

The politicians had to take all these things into consideration.

Until they understood Zhan Liu’s true personality, no one was willing to rashly test him.

In the end, after everyone pushed the responsibility around, the job still fell into the hands of professionals.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was specifically meant for this sort of thing. It was the perfect job for them.

Nick’s face darkened as he cursed the military viciously in his heart.

When he had dealt with the various organizations, he had already warned them never to violate the rules of the Ultimate Limit Sect, or the consequences would be unimaginable. In the end, no one had believed him.

And now look what had happened. They had caused the trouble, then expected him to clean up after them.

Nick had previously obtained some information from Carol. He knew that the previous battle between the two sides had also been caused by the sect’s rules, and this time was no different.

In front of the members of the Security Council, he once again emphasized the issue of the Ultimate Limit Sect’s rules. He demanded that all organizations be warned that if anyone caused trouble because of the sect’s rules again, S.H.I.E.L.D. would not intervene.

Whoever caused the trouble would have to resolve it themselves.

In fact, because Nick had lost his memories of the previous incident, his judgment of Zhan Liu’s personality was seriously inaccurate.

Zhan Liu was actually quite easy to deal with when he wasn’t having a fit.

Besides, the so-called sect rules were not that important to Zhan Liu.

The rules had been established by the system, not by Zhan Liu.

When enforcing them, Zhan Liu was very flexible.

The specific standard for enforcement was simple—he did whatever he felt like.

The same punishment could count as a severe punishment whether he killed them, crippled them, or sent them to cultivate The Way of Erik.

He knew the Ultimate Heart Lock, but he had not taught it to anyone, nor had he ever used it on anyone.

But he wasn’t going to tell Nick. There was no harm in letting him misunderstand. Perhaps it would save him a lot of trouble.

"Sit down. Try the specialty steak here. It tastes quite good." Zhan Liu gestured for the chef beside him to prepare a portion for Nick as well.

Nick was not polite. He sat down beside the three of them, poured himself a glass of red wine, and took a sip to moisten his throat.

He had deliberately come during mealtime. Psychological experts believed that people were generally in a better mood while enjoying delicious food, making them slightly less likely to resort to violence.

Nick raised his glass toward Zhan Liu. The two clinked glasses, and he took a sip. Feeling a little more at ease, he set down his glass and asked tentatively:

"Your Martial Arts School has already been razed to the ground by you. What are you planning to do next?"

"Build another one." Zhan Liu calmly enjoyed his food without even looking up.

"What about those disciples who died?" Nick slowly rotated his wineglass while watching Zhan Liu’s expression.

"Recruit more."

Zhan Liu’s expression did not change in the slightest.

"I heard this conflict happened because of the Mutants?" Nick continued probing.

"The military warned me not to interfere in matters between humans and Mutants and to keep my head down and protect myself." Zhan Liu looked at Nick with a half-smile. "A group of rabbits teaching lions and tigers how to behave. Isn’t that hilarious?"

Nick took a long breath and asked, "So, because you felt your dignity had been damaged, you killed them all?"

"Why keep traitors who betray their master and ancestors?"

"What about the innocent disciples who were implicated?"

"Collateral damage. At least they were my disciples once. What’s wrong with giving them a few burial offerings?"

"They were your disciples too. Wasn’t it terribly unjust for them to die?"

"Weakness is the original sin!" Zhan Liu set down his chopsticks, gently wiped his mouth, and began a lengthy speech.

"There has never been any such thing as fairness in this world."

"Some people are born destined to be this hero or that hero, destined to be protagonists. Others are born destined to be villains."

"Why?"

"Worse still, some people cannot even become villains. They are destined to be extras for their entire lives, nameless passersby A."

"That is fate!"

"Destiny! Is! Preordained!"

"And I gave them the chance to change their fate."

"But if fate could be changed so easily, it would no longer be fate."

"During the process of defying Heaven and changing their fate, they are bound to encounter all kinds of dangers. At best, they will be crippled or killed. At worst, their entire families will be wiped out!"

"That is the price!"

"The price of defying Heaven and changing fate!"

Zhan Liu pointed at Wang Yunxiang, who was quietly eating beside him, and said, "Look at him."

"Old Wang was originally destined to be a homeless man, an insignificant nobody all his life. He might even have died on some street corner one day."

"But the day he entered the Ultimate Limit Hall, his fate began to be rewritten."

"Not just him. Many other ordinary people also gained the opportunity to defy Heaven and change their fate."

"They could finally go from nameless passerby A to named extra A."

"But merely embarking on the path of defying Heaven and changing fate did not guarantee that they could transform into supporting characters or protagonists."

"They would face all kinds of choices. If they chose correctly, they could continue playing extras or advance to become supporting characters. Those who chose wrongly would remain nothing more than nameless cannon fodder."

"The previous choice was one such example. Old Wang chose correctly, so he is still alive and continues playing his role as an extra. But those who chose wrongly have already become a pool of minced flesh beneath the Martial Arts School!"

Thanks to book friend XingjieFSCkamui for the reward!