Chapter 402: It's Too Terrible Here

I need to get out of here—

Papa Rat fully suppressed his weird energy and slipped quietly away from the corner.

He couldn't tell if it was just his imagination, but right before he left, he thought he saw Yan Jing glance his way.

He kept turning it over in his mind all the way back to the Victory Court.

Piecing together the recent chain of events, a hidden truth began to surface:

This human was very likely connected to his son.

Which naturally meant he was connected to that man as well.

So that man really was at the Eighth Tier?

For some reason, Papa Rat didn't feel the slightest bit of surprise.

The strength Luo Sheng had displayed definitely belonged to that tier.

But this wasn't a good thing for him.

The stronger Luo Sheng was, the greater an unstable factor he became.

More importantly, he still hadn't figured out exactly what Luo Sheng was trying to do.

Luo Sheng had told him that his goal was also to change the status quo for the bottom tier of the Peace Heavenly Kingdom, but—

It was hard to tell truth from lies.

Should I find him for a chat...

Papa Rat sighed.

If Luo Sheng could truly change the current state of the Peace Heavenly Kingdom, there would be no problem with letting him become president.

He and Crocodile would be more than happy to enjoy a little peace and quiet.

The Heavenly Kingdom was quite open; there was no hard rule stating the president had to be a local.

But who knew if he would just turn into another Quan Dazhong after taking power?

Furthermore, who knew if Luo Sheng's goal was even to be president at all?

He picked up his Information Component, pondered for a moment, and ultimately put it back down with a look of shame.

He couldn't make this call right now.

By all rights and reason, he owed the other party a solemn apology.

The facts proved that this time, he had truly been measuring a gentleman's belly with a petty man's heart.

At this thought, he sighed again and hurried toward the Victory Court.

"Tianxuan and Kaiyang are dead."

Hearing Tianshu's words after joining the video conference, Yaoguang looked a bit dazed.

He had been tracking Luo Sheng's whereabouts recently. Having already advanced to the Fifth Tier, he wanted to reclaim the pride he had lost to Luo Sheng back then, and also get revenge for being set up by him last time.

But hearing this news so suddenly, his head spun for a moment despite his usually indifferent personality.

Besides him, Tianquan and Yuheng were also in the meeting, wearing expressions of pure shock.

Kaiyang and Tianxuan were essentially the strongest immediate combat assets of the Seven Stars, and now they were both dead.

"Who did it?"

Yuheng, who had the appearance of a small beast, asked.

Tianshu sent a picture to the shared screen.

"This is the image Tianxuan sent over before her death."

The three of them looked at the picture and gradually fell silent.

The figure in the picture had changed drastically from how he normally looked—neither his appearance nor the aura around him seemed like a creature of the Heavenly Kingdom.

But from certain details, the group still recognized him.

It was that human named Yan Jing.

"Tianxuan and Kaiyang were Sixth Tier."

Yaoguang spoke up. The implication was that the last time Yan Jing participated in the Sin Live Broadcast, he was only at the Fourth Tier.

"But it's the truth. Not only that, but looking at it now, Tianji might have died by his hands as well."

Tianshu said.

"We have to get revenge!!!"

Yuheng snarled viciously. When it came to the companions he spent day and night with, he couldn't control his emotions.

But no one echoed him.

Tianxuan and Kaiyang were dead. With just the few of them left, revenge was completely impossible.

Strictly speaking, the Seven Stars had reached a critical juncture of survival, and their situation was extremely precarious.

"We definitely must take revenge, but not now."

Tianshu finally spoke up, his voice slow. "The opponent is too strong. We have to avoid a direct confrontation for now."

"First, we need to find successors for Tianxuan, Kaiyang, and Tianji."

Hearing this, Yuheng snapped. "They just died, and now we're going to find their replacements?!?"

"Then what did their deaths mean!!!"

"Boss, I'll be honest. We've been far too conservative and too weak these past few years. How long has it been since the Seven Stars were formed? Ten years? Twenty years? What has actually changed in this country? Where is our goal? Where is the dream we had back then?!!"

No one expected Yuheng to suddenly lash out at Tianshu at a time like this.

"..."

After a few seconds of silence, Tianshu looked at Yaoguang and Tianquan. "Do you feel the same way?"

"..."

Although Yaoguang and Tianquan didn't speak, the answer was obvious from their expressions.

"I understand."

Tianshu nodded. "Then everyone get some rest for now. I will formulate a revenge plan."

"The Seven Stars will not die."

He said softly.

"The Seven Stars will not die—" the remaining three said in unison.

After the video call disconnected, Yaoguang walked blankly to the window.

He was in his own home—a house as ordinary as could be, located on the border between the Muke District and a place called the Meteorite District. A few hundred meters away from the house was a massive Anthill.

Over the years, he hadn't saved much, which was normal since the Seven Stars didn't pay salaries.

He lacked Tianquan's electronic intelligence skills, and he couldn't rake in money like Tianxuan. He didn't have close political connections like Yuheng, and even Tianji and Kaiyang—whose roles were similar to his—had their own careers, whether manufacturing biological potions or casting machinery.

Compared to his companions, he was more like an ordinary person.

On regular days, he worked at a music store as a piano tuner and part-time salesperson.

It sounded like a pretty good job, but hardly anyone in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom liked listening to outdated classical music. They preferred trendy electronic music, so customers were sparse.

Outside his window, the night had quietly fallen. The pitch black of the evening and the orange-red of the sunset bled together, turning into a deep crimson.

It looked like a ball of fire.

Igniting the clouds.

Yaoguang stared intently at that fire.

He still remembered more than ten years ago, when he had first joined the Seven Stars.

He was just a teenager back then. His father cheated, committed domestic violence, gambled—he did everything. His mother washed her face with tears all day and eventually became addicted to Mental Potions.

Mental Potions were like a bottomless pit.

They sucked dry their family's meager savings, and they sucked away his mother.

Every afternoon, when he came home from the welfare school, he would cook for himself and then clean up the leftover packaging from the Mental Potions his mother had used.

While he did this, his mother would just lie on the sofa, eyes tightly shut with a strange smile on her face.

His father would occasionally come home, hold him, and cry bitterly, only to buy a few bottles of liquor and beat both him and his mother afterwards.

Humans were creatures who sought candy amidst the pain, a pursuit that lasted a lifetime.

He had read this line in a book and felt it was very true.

The reason Fate was called Fate was precisely because no one could fully predict it.

Because his father had run out of gambling money, he signed him up for a human mechanical experiment. During that experiment, Yaoguang was implanted with a discarded mechanical body.

Later on, he experienced a mechanical rampage and uncontrollably tore his father in two.

It was a blessing in disguise, as he thereby gained an extremely high mechanical affinity.

This caused his capacity for mechanical modification to soar, and he eventually went down the path of fighting in underground illegal boxing rings.

A few years later, he advanced to the Third Tier, caught Tianshu's eye, and finally joined the Seven Stars.

And then, it brought him to the present.

This was his life.

If written into a book, it could be summarized in under a thousand words.

He stared blankly at the clouds on the horizon outside the window, as if seeing the words Tianshu had spoken to him back then.

"This country needs a fire, and one day, we will be the ones to light it."

No one expected that now, only half of the fire-lighters remained.

Just as he was spacing out, the Information Component on his wrist suddenly vibrated.

It must be a forced push notification for some major news again—

Although he thought this, he still opened the message, because the vibration was simply too violent.

It made a terrible premonition suddenly rise in his heart.

And the moment he opened it, he knew his premonition had been right.

"Hello everyone, long time no see."

It was a niche live broadcast platform, privately established and completely unregulated.

On the screen was a person who instantly made Yaoguang's eyes go red with rage at a single glance—Yan Jing.

"I'm leaving soon."

Yan Jing smiled and said, "I probably won't return to the Peace Heavenly Kingdom after this, so treat this as a farewell before I go."

"First of all, I still need to apologize to everyone."

"Recently, I've caused everyone a lot of trouble. For example, killing two internal council members, participating in the Sin Live Broadcast, destroying some of your buildings, and of course, helping spread some pollution."

"However—"

Yan Jing changed the subject, a smile on his face.

"Actually, I feel the main problem doesn't lie with me."

"It lies with your country."

"This place is awful."

"To be honest, I've been to several regions, but this is the worst place I've ever stayed."

"Whether it's the management, the politics, or the interactions between people, it's all a pile of—cough, cough, that might be a banned word."

At this moment, the screen was already filled with a barrage of curses.

"I know you might not believe what I'm saying, and that's normal."

"But think about it. Why does factory pollution only get addressed after children die? Why does the clear victim have to rely on a lawsuit just to win such a slim chance of victory? And then there was the Happy Water incident."

"Honestly, I was involved in these matters. The games being played behind the scenes involved me, but not much. Even without me, these messed-up things would still happen—maybe even worse."

"Because no one cares about the ants of this country, understand? Those big shots exchange blows from afar, deploying endless schemes, fighting tooth and nail, but in the end, no one cares about you ants in the Anthills."

"Oh, wait, no. Sometimes they do care—like when they need to use you."

Yan Jing paused, and the corners of his mouth curled up. "I know that even if I point all this out, you still won't believe me. So I'll ask a question now, and please, answer eagerly."

"Is there anyone in the chat who has recently experienced symptoms of uncoordinated limbs and slowed thinking, very likely accompanied by sluggish electrical operation in your Smart Seeds, or bestial regression for bionic species? If so, please type 1."

At first, the chat was still filled with comments cursing Yan Jing. But a few seconds later, whether out of memeing or herd mentality, more and more 1s appeared on the screen.

"I did that."

On the broadcast, Yan Jing smiled and said, "I dropped a virus in this country."

"But days have passed, and no one noticed."

"You see, no one cares whether you live or die. Just as I said, this place is awful."