Chapter 743: Crescendo of the Sword Bearer

The collapse of the Sword Bearer; one of the eyes in the sky has vanished.

It was as if a seismic shock on a mental level had instantly sent tremors through all of Qinggang, shaking every heart.

Everyone in Qinggang and its surrounding areas suddenly felt an unprecedented shock.

Though nothing was there, an overwhelming terror suddenly enveloped them—as if a scorching summer had abruptly turned into winter, like waking from a stifling nightmare drenched in sweat…

Panic still lingered, but the gentle night breeze brought a soothing relief.

Swish…

Teacher Xiao Lu, who had been dozing on the sofa, abruptly opened her eyes.

She turned her head to see Number Eight standing by the window, his expression vacant as he gazed toward the wasteland.

He hung his head low, as if in tears.

“What’s wrong?”

Teacher Xiao Lu looked at Number Eight and asked curiously, her voice now free of any earlier hesitation or guilt.

“I…”

Number Eight murmured softly, then after a pause added, “I can’t find my heart…”

“But I’m not sure if it’s confusion or if I’ve finally been set free…”

“…”

Residents of Qinggang City—some lying in underground shelters, others hiding under their beds—felt it all.

They had no idea what kind of battle Qinggang had just endured, nor were they aware of the lurking threat of Mental Pollution.

Yet in that moment, they all experienced a sudden, overwhelming jolt to their minds.

It was as if someone had shoved them.

Their drowsy brains snapped back to clear awareness in an instant.

Looking down, they saw their arms covered in goosebumps.

“Has it gotten colder?”

They thought to themselves that they’d need an extra layer when they later went out for groceries.

“Ha ha…”

In Second Satellite City, Gecko sat in the safety of a shelter, his eyes fixed on the detection device. When the numbers spiked into frenzy and then plummeted just as quickly, he excitedly slapped his thigh.

Aged Gao burst out laughing, “I knew it! As long as you stick with the Captain, no mission is impossible…”

“So, what mission did we just pull off?”

The Bear Child, who had been fixated on his laptop, lazily snapped it shut just as a ‘KO’ sound echoed from within.

“We cleared an S-level contamination at the Midnight Tribunal…”

Gecko continued, “We just handled a world-class contamination under the leadership of the Single Soldier Captain.”

The Bear Child looked confused, “But we haven’t even left the city…”

Gecko shot him a stern look, “No, our assignments are just different.”

“It may seem like we did nothing, but in fact, we’ve accomplished something remarkable…”

“Of course, it still requires a bit of finishing touches…”

“…”

After a moment of stunned silence, the Bear Child’s eyes lit up, and he hurried over to Gecko, saying, “Tiger Bro, tell me more about this…”

Atop an uncompleted high-rise in the Main City.

Doll sat on the edge of the building, her chin propped up, while a faint white chain danced lightly by her side.

She sensed a change beyond the city and felt a spark of curiosity.

Stretching her neck to look, she noticed Lu Xin hadn’t returned yet, so she resumed waiting patiently, chin in hand.

In the distance on the wasteland, the Queen of Happy Town, surrounded by a throng of the dead, bit hard into a chocolate bar before mustering her strength. After a while, she lightly tapped on the glass window behind the driver’s cab.

This was a signal: “Return!”

“…”

“…”

“Is the war on the wasteland truly over?”

At the same moment in Qinggang, in the Command Center, everyone tensed up. After firing a shot into the sky, they couldn’t help but worry about potential repercussions or a counterattack.

But nothing happened.

Those eyes in the sky had threatened Qinggang for far too long.

Yet after Qinggang mustered the courage to fire at them, the eyes surprisingly turned docile.

One eye went blind while the other grew dim.

Earlier, the fragments of Mental Monsters that had fallen from the sky had mysteriously vanished.

But then, nothing else happened.

“Have we actually won this battle?”

After a pause, Minister Shen’s voice, tinged with uncertainty, echoed, “The threats came from the sky and from the wasteland. The aerial menace led to a massive incursion of Mental Monsters into Qinggang, while the wasteland’s danger primarily targeted Second Satellite City.”

“On the wasteland battleground, the mental radiation is dissipating, and the eyes in the sky have grown obedient…”

“Are… we victorious?”

“…”

Professor Bai, with a hint of doubt, added, “It seems so…”

“Is it truly over?”

Mr. Su couldn’t help but urge, “If we’ve truly won, it’s a golden chance for publicity…”

“Qinggang joined forces with the Single Soldier to resolve a world-class S-level Midnight Tribunal incident—and even dealt with the eyes in the sky…”

“…”

Professor Bai glanced at him and remarked, “I thought you’d say it was Qinggang leading the Single Soldier’s efforts.”

Mr. Su mused, “Well, that’s not entirely off the table…”

“What’s the point of all this?”

Minister Shen banged the table and said gravely, “What concerns me is that there’s still one eye in the sky…”

“…Should we fire another shot at it?”

“…”

“This…”

Hearing this, Professor Bai fell into a thoughtful pause.

Yet Mr. Su, one hand pressed on his heart, couldn’t help but gesture, half-apologetically, “Observe, observe, and observe some more…”

“…”

“…”

“So, have we finally settled this once and for all?”

The ominous Black Palace had vanished, and Lu Xin’s turbulent emotions finally calmed, aligning with his inner self.

He exhaled deeply as his body slowly collapsed.

But there was no fear of a fatal fall—the endless surge of Mental Power cushioned him, as if he had sunk into a soft, boundless ocean.

The boundless Mental Power swirled around him.

Countless cries, roars, guilt, and hatred buzzed around him like a swarm of insects.

Lu Xin sighed softly, feeling that he could at any moment disperse all this chaotic mental turbulence—after all, these were merely the residual, tangled thoughts left after he forcibly shattered the Sword Bearer’s mental framework…

But suddenly, a little hand reached out from beside him and grabbed onto his garment.

Startled, Lu Xin paused his efforts to disperse the stray thoughts and turned slightly to look.

He realized that the one holding onto him was a little girl lying on a grimy infirmary bed, her body not yet fully grown but her face etched with life’s hardships and painful scars, as she strained to look up at him.

Lu Xin couldn’t bear to break the little girl’s grip on his clothes, so he watched her silently.

Listening to her faint voice, she softly asked, “Is there any fairness in this world?”

Lu Xin recalled the little girl.

Number Eight had once mentioned her—a girl who had fallen into hell as a child because of a vicious criminal.

It was for her sake that Number Eight had proudly slain Xiaoyeshan General, his face beaming with pride.

Lu Xin thought for a long while before slowly crouching down.

As he drew nearer to the little girl’s eyes, he began to see even more eyes watching him.

Pairs of eyes appeared around him—some belonging to old people abandoned on the wasteland, left to wait for death.

Others belonged to travelers whose lifelong efforts had been snatched away, now held at gunpoint by ominous, dark barrels.

There were also scavengers who, after fighting for their families only to be deceived by ruthless merchants, could do nothing but kneel in despair among the ruins, awaiting death.

And there were villagers in the parched fields, hopelessly waiting to die…

“…”

“…”

They all seemed to be waiting for Lu Xin’s answer.

Is this the Sword Bearer’s final obsession?

Lu Xin sensed these subtle, chaotic changes; in truth, they held little real power.

He could easily dispel these final illusions, but he chose not to.

For, though those eyes were feeble and fragile, they pierced straight into his soul.

So he pondered deeply before slowly replying:

“There is often no fairness…”

Gazing into those eyes—even if they were mere illusions—he patiently explained, “Especially in our world.”

“But there are many who still hope to transform this world back to one of order and law. Perhaps fairness may never be absolute, but at least such tragedies would become far less frequent.”

“You don’t have to sacrifice your soul or appeal to anyone; fairness is something you’re born into.”

“It took me a long time, but only recently did I finally understand what it is I want to do.”

“For a long time, I wished to join many others in helping build a world of rules and order.”

“…”

“And for you…”

“Rather than fighting for fairness after you’re gone, I hope…”

After a slight pause, Lu Xin looked into the girl’s eyes and whispered, “You can live happily forever in that world.”

The little girl was momentarily stunned, tears glistening in her eyes.

“…”

“…”

“Did we succeed?”

Nearby, beside a Jeep, the Old Director straightened up slightly, frowning as he looked ahead.

Number Seven also stood up, his expression visibly anxious.

The Old Director’s reaction was a bit delayed, but he quickly turned around. His excited expression faded as he looked into the dark, where waist-high weeds swayed lightly under the red moonlight. In the midst of them, a shadow clad in a black trench coat slowly emerged.

He held a gun and silently pointed it at the Old Director’s face.

The Old Director calmly scrutinized the man, examining every inch of him with meticulous and cool composure.

After a long while, slowly, a smile finally appeared on his face:

“The first-generation researcher of the Red Moon Research Institute?”

“You have finally revealed yourselves…”