Chapter 58: Meteor, I Will Return

As his words fell, a fiercer wave of agony crashed over him.

Yet Ren Zhong’s spirits soared to their peak.

His body showed not a hint of trembling; instead, he stood firmer than ever.

“You’re almost dead! Are you still trying to deceive me?” Ju Qingmeng, shocked and furious by Ren Zhong’s “excuses,” shook her head repeatedly. Her jaw was clenched so tightly that the veins at her temples bulged visibly.

Ren Zhong knew he was misunderstood.

It was only natural.

He felt no grievance at all.

On the contrary, he was gratified.

Ju Qingmeng’s renewed questioning had interrupted Lin Wang’s actions, and Ren Zhong keenly seized the opportunity.

Lin Wang wanted him to die kneeling, but he chose to die standing.

Now, he had gained the power to choose his own manner of death.

“I understand. You must think I’m still lying to you. You might even suspect I’m deliberately trying to get close to you, hoping you’ll spare my life.”

Ren Zhong smiled. “But please believe me, I have never thought that. I am more sincere than anyone you’ve ever met. Finally, I have a few words to say.”

In the next instant, Ren Zhong, standing atop the roof of the second floor, suddenly widened his eyes and shouted loudly to the thousands gathered below.

“Someone once told me that in ancient times, the people of Source Star ate raw meat and drank blood, used their willpower to conquer sleep, fought nature and beasts for survival, and thus flourished to this day! As if Source Star were the cradle of humanity!”

“But I tell you now, that is an utter lie!”

“Humanity’s origin is not here, on Source Star with its blue sun and two moons! Humanity comes from the Milky Way! From the Solar System! From the third planet in the Solar System—Earth!”

“There are no beasts on Earth!”

“Earth spent forty-five hundred million years nurturing mankind! That is our birthplace!”

“I don’t know how humanity came to Source Star! Sometimes, gazing at the stars, I even doubt whether Source Star still lies within the Milky Way!”

“And I want to tell you—human sleep can be interrupted!”

“And I want to tell you, humans, as the longest-lived primates, should normally live seventy to eighty years! Some even live to a hundred!”

“You grow old too soon!”

“This era is far too harsh for the outcasts of Spark Town! They live lives that are hardly human!”

“This world is filled with conspiracies and lies! Whether it’s the hunters chasing our brains, or the sixteen-year-olds forced out to hunt—these are nothing but schemes!”

“With the technology we have today, everyone should live more dignified lives! And longer ones!”

Beyond the distant skyline, a black dot suddenly soared up, racing straight toward them.

Ren Zhong saw it, grinned.

It had come.

He spread his arms and shouted once more.

“I have seen such an era—

Where there is no distinction between outcasts and citizens,

Where citizens are not ranked by status,

Where private transactions require no tax,

Where most people can live as human beings,

Though there is injustice there too,

And social classes,

Yet between classes, enough gaps remain for the talented and determined to climb upward—”

Of course, there were wars,

Lives were once as cheap as grass,

But once, a group of people fought for decades for the happiness of hundreds of millions,

The causes of tragedy may differ,

Yet humanity’s bitter fate is always the same,

Someday,

I will be like those I once admired,

Sowing the seeds of fire on this land,

With my lifelong conviction

To ignite a struggle spanning generations,

I will show you how people should live,

I have found my mission,

I carry memories alien to this world,

Bearing the will of the ancients,

I see too much darkness that is strange to me,

But you see as natural,

I will

Liberate this era!”

Finally, the hunter arrived with a gale, sending the crowd reeling.

An orange beam shot from hundreds of meters away, striking Ren Zhong squarely in the chest.

The familiar wound, the familiar white smoke.

Ren Zhong did not bow his head.

He didn’t even glance at the hunter; he only gazed upward at the sky.

He still wanted to speak, but his throat could no longer produce sound.

In his heart, he silently thought,

“The rice flowers at the head of Orange Isle will always bloom in fury.”

Under the gaze of thousands, Ren Zhong died, head held high and arms spread wide, a death as brilliant and fierce as a meteor.

He finally succumbed to the soul-rending pain.

The agony lasted only 0.2 seconds.

Death.

Ren Zhong regained clarity; his “perspective” drew back several meters, quietly observing the hunter, the rush of wind, and Lin Wang and others leaping hastily from the rooftop in panic.

He looked down at the crowd.

He sighed inwardly.

Many people laughed heartily.

Some wore mocking smiles.

Others curled their lips in disdain, thinking him mad.

Just another lunatic dead man.

Since he started claiming Source Star was not humanity’s origin, everyone saw his mind wasn’t right.

Besides, hasn’t humanity always had this lifespan?

Eighty years?

A hundred years?

Why not immortality!

A fairy tale, utterly absurd.

It was as unbelievable as saying there was only one moon in the sky.

Madness!

It seemed everyone mocked Ren Zhong, just like the crowd once jeered at the dead youth.

But Ren Zhong noticed something different.

Three people behaved oddly.

Sun Miao’s face was full of terror; her eyes flicked warily at the hunter, then she shrank her neck, trying to hide in the crowd.

Ju Qingmeng’s eyes were wide, mouth agape, half uncertain, half horrified.

The one who should have been first to publicly refute his “nonsense,” the mayor, Ma Dafuo, said nothing; instead, his eyes darted nervously, his tension palpable.

Something incredible happened—the hunter didn’t immediately take Ren Zhong’s brain, but suddenly turned, its beam brightening again.

Sun Miao was pierced through the back.

Ju Qingmeng and Ma Dafuo, almost simultaneously, had holes blasted through their chests.

Because the crowd was too dense in their direction, the hunter’s straight beam struck several others after passing through the three.

The scene erupted in wails and chaos.

What happened next, Ren Zhong could not see.

His consciousness sank; when he opened his eyes again, he was staring through the transparent cover of the cryo-chamber.

Ren Zhong did not hurry to leave; instead, he burst out laughing inside.

Good!

Excellent!

Sun Miao and Ma Dafuo, those seasoned actors, hid themselves well, but in the end, his dying speech stirred their emotions and exposed them.

As for Ju Qingmeng, after being affected twice by him last night and this morning, and harboring her own dissatisfaction with reality, she must have lost control of her emotions.

They all wavered, and they caught the hunter’s attention.

He realized that by deliberately ranting, saying whatever came to mind, he had provoked the hunter, and the terrifying, intense surveillance had descended upon the town.

Everyone present had been tagged as high risk.

Every heartbeat, micro-expression, gesture—every detail was recorded by the “Eye of Sauron” at the town’s center.

So as soon as the hunter arrived, it followed the principle of rather killing by mistake than letting anyone slip, and slaughtered three.

But this was a good thing—it proved that those whom he implicated were, at their core, his kindred spirits worth hoping for!

All right, time to move!

By the creek, while picking red berries, Ren Zhong checked his brain’s reaction index.

A little disappointed, but expected.

His brain reaction index had fallen to 52.9.

The stimulant’s effects on neural response were physical, not carried over by memory.

…

“Hello, my name is Ren Zhong. I’m pleased to meet you. You must be scavengers from Spark Town, right?”

Ren Zhong smiled at Zheng Tian and the others, their faces full of shock.