Chapter 108: A Dangerous World |
First the Star Child Order tried to destroy the world, and now the Alliance and the Management Bureau were going to destroy the world because they couldn't handle the anomalies.
Why was the world so fragile?
Weren't complex systems supposed to be better at absorbing external interference?
Why did he have to run into all of this? Couldn't this have waited a few decades?
At least let him grow old with Ying Shang first.
"Then... where do anomalies actually come from?"
"No one knows, but they are a kind of 'error'."
Jing Zi picked up an empty glass dish from the coffee table.
"Take this dish, for example. Under normal circumstances, if you put a few candies in, you can take a few candies out. But once an error occurs, you might pull out even more candies, or a cup of coffee. Or perhaps, when you try to take the third candy, your hand gets severed. It might even show you an entirely different version of the world."
He also thought of Ring Worm, who could throw stones at supersonic speeds and even send him crashing straight into the ceiling.
'Did the objects Ring Worm threw undergo some sort of error, gaining force they shouldn't possess?'
'Are Divine Entities also objects with errors?'
"Do 'errors' only happen to people and objects?" Shi Rang asked.
"Not necessarily. There are even instances where an entire area exhibits an Anomalous Effect... Oh right, there are also combination types. Two individual elements in a combination are perfectly normal as long as they don't interact, but the moment they meet, it triggers an anomaly. Person and person, person and object, object and object—anything is possible." In the field of anomalies, Jing Zi's knowledge was far more extensive than Shi Rang's. "There are countless bizarre 'errors', and I only know the basics. In short, anything that defies 'common sense' is an anomaly."
Shi Rang wasn't sure if he and the Management Bureau Main Station formed a combination anomaly. There was absolutely no correlation between the two, but since it was called an 'anomaly', defying common sense was actually perfectly logical.
Like an inquisitive student, he pressed further, "But who defines 'common sense'?"
Jing Zi stared blankly at the glass dish in his palm for a moment before placing it back. He gave a bitter smile. "You've stumped me."
"So anomalies keep appearing, and even if the Management Bureau locks them up to stop them from causing havoc, there's no way to prevent their numbers from increasing?"
"Cages cannot multiply infinitely. The Management Bureau is already overwhelmed, making countless mistakes under the immense pressure. One day, it will completely collapse, and when that happens, all the contained anomalies will break loose. That will be the apocalypse."
Shi Rang nodded, thinking to himself, 'Then perhaps the Alliance's approach is more suitable. At least they can thin out the numbers.'
Even though he had nearly taken a bomb to the face, he didn't consider himself part of the group that needed to be culled. Shi Rang had a blurry line in his mind distinguishing good anomalies from bad ones. He couldn't articulate the exact criteria, but he knew for certain that he didn't belong to the latter.
He was like a babbling toddler, trying to sketch the shape of this world using his pitifully limited knowledge.
"Is The Head the leader of the society?"
"That's right." Unmistakable reverence surfaced on Jing Zi's face. "Three Heads, three great leaders. I was rescued back then by a team led by one of The Heads."
Their cooperation that morning and sharing breakfast had closed the distance between them. Shi Rang could clearly sense that Jing Zi was much more relaxed and talkative.
Surrounded by enemies on all sides, Jing Zi was beginning to open his heart to him.
"Then what does The Head think we should do?"
"Education, screening, and utilization." Jing Zi pointed at Shi Rang. "Many Ascenders cannot control their powers. When the society finds them, it helps them adapt to their abilities and use them in the right places. Moreover, many anomalies are beneficial to humanity. If a certain anomaly could make people immune to diseases, spreading it would help countless lives. And then there's..."
Once he started on this topic, Jing Zi simply couldn't stop.
Shedding his indifference from the previous night, he talked endlessly about what he had seen and heard in the organization, as well as the other Ascenders he knew.
Shi Rang listened intently, as if he were being told a series of wondrous adventure tales.
As a lower-ranking member, Jing Zi's understanding of anomalous entities was limited, but for someone like Shi Rang who was essentially at a kindergarten level, this introduction was profoundly enlightening.
It wasn't until both of their stomachs rumbled with hunger that they were forced to face their bleak reality once again.
Shi Rang offered, "How about I write down all the intel from memory, and then I'll head downstairs to buy some supplies?"
"No, that's too risky. You'd be throwing your life away."
"Then should I order delivery?"
"That might leak our location."
Jing Zi refused to yield no matter what. He wasn't willing to let his companion risk his life, preferring to go out himself.
But after eyeing Jing Zi's highly conspicuous brown skin, Shi Rang had no choice but to persuade him to drop the idea.
The locals of the Tenth District were mostly pale-skinned. If Jing Zi went out, the chances of him being interrogated and arrested by someone looking to claim credit were far higher than if Shi Rang went.
Today was not a suitable window for making contact.
Shi Rang retreated to his room. Jing Zi, unable to sit still, felt that he hadn't mopped the floor cleanly enough earlier, so he picked up the mop and bucket and started pacing around again.
In Jing Zi's eyes, this apartment was cozy enough, but it lacked a sense of life, much like the dull and withered plants on the balcony.
Holding the mop, he passed by the refrigerator, stared thoughtfully at the scattered, plain fridge magnets for a moment, and then returned to the living room. Standing at the doorway of the other bedroom, he peered inside through the ajar door.
This was Shi Rang's wife's room. A drawing tablet, an electronic stylus, and some incomprehensible equipment scattered across the desk hinted at the owner's profession. But apart from that, the room was remarkably bare. Although the bed and all the other furnishings were neat and clean, ready to be lived in at any moment, there were no traces of daily life or use. It was just an empty room, little different from a hotel suite or a photography set.
Even though Shi Rang had clearly maintained it with care, the room was shrouded in a persistent desolation that even sunlight couldn't dispel.
Jing Zi couldn't help but feel that the empty space next to the bed could hold a few more things, and some pictures could be hung on the walls to soften the silent loneliness exuding from the decor.
But this wasn't his home, after all.
He treated the Ascension Society's strongholds as his home, running all over the place alongside Deacons who needed his abilities for transportation. He had long forgotten what it felt like to live in one place for an extended period.
Shi Rang, who had a little home like this to protect, wasn't suited to be in the Ascension Society.
After all, it was an organization hostile to the Management Bureau. Many members systematically cut ties with their families after joining the Ascension Society to prevent implicating them or causing unnecessary trouble. Perhaps one day they would perish while fighting the Management Bureau or the Alliance, or die at the hands of some out-of-control anomaly. That would only bring sorrow to their relatives.
Meanwhile, Shi Rang surely yearned for peace and harmony from the bottom of his heart.
Jing Zi could roughly sense that it would be impossible to persuade Shi Rang to give up his search for his missing person or to quit the Ascension Society. As a companion who had only shared a few conversations with him, the least he could do was help clean the apartment he was borrowing for the night.
He called out to Shi Rang through the door before stepping inside with his mop. Wiping a patch of the floor until it gleamed with water, he did his part to help Shi Rang preserve this sliver of peace in such a dangerous world.
As Jing Zi carried the mop back to the living room, he had no idea that just a single door away, the man he imagined to be enduring humiliation for love and being 'humble and weak' was currently fabricating intelligence to deceive the largest public military organization in the world—the Pan-Continent Alliance.