Chapter 169

Aim was somewhat disbelieving of his auditory sensors, "...What?"

"Do you really think that after wasting so much of my time, energy, and spiritual power, I'll just accept your sincere and humble surrender, and happily send you back to the real world?"

Li Ang frowned slightly and said, "Wouldn't you?"

"..."

Aim's words faltered, not knowing what to say for a moment. "Isn't surrendering enough?"

"Of course not."

Li Ang said, "Without you, I could have just released the one-click hacking system I bought on the black market to paralyze a large number of missile defense systems in various countries around the world.

Then, I'd slowly and leisurely erode cities with [Pale World], minimizing losses.

But you, precisely because of your existence, I have incurred the following additional losses:

A large amount of spiritual power spent on ultra-long-range teleportation technology;

Damage to heavy mecha that needs to be disassembled and repaired;

Three bottles of potions that increase the efficiency of spiritual power recovery;

And the exposure of my weapon of mass destruction called [Angra Mainyu] (This World's Evil)."

This... there's no such logic in the world!

Luckily, the reconnaissance drone didn't have a projection function, or Aim's expression would definitely be very ugly.

"Ahem,"

He coughed, calming his emotions, "Mr. Li, isn't there some misunderstanding here?

I also invested energy, material resources, and financial resources in this battle, and used consumable props and scrolls.

Besides, the rules of the Sky Arena are that both parties are responsible for their actions..."

Li Ang interrupted, "The defeated party pays compensation to the victorious party and signs unequal treaties. Isn't that what you Americans are best at? What's the problem?"

"..."

Aim paused upon hearing this, quickly calculating the gains and losses in his mind, and said softly, "If you want me to pay all the compensation after the war, I'm afraid I can't comply.

I personally cannot represent the Special Incidents Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and,

In fact, I can directly surrender to the Sky Arena and teleport out of here..."

"If you dare to teleport away directly, I will return to the real world and conduct beyond-visual-range strikes on the United States of real Earth."

Li Ang said calmly, "I have many methods of beyond-visual-range attacks, enough to destroy one or several city buildings before the U.S. military in the real world can react.

Even annihilate 1/3 of the population.

The U.S. military's saturated nuclear bombing, or the desperate attacks of organized high-level transcendents, may be able to force me back, but will never be able to catch up with or kill me.

And as long as I don't die, I will have ample energy and time to erase the name of the United States from the map, bit by bit.

In this case, the only option for the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to actively help me capture you.

Weighing the pros and cons, isn't it?"

"..."

The expression on Aim's face disappeared, and he said softly, "Are you threatening me, threatening the entire United States of America?"

"Yes."

Li Ang said lightly, "As many people on the game forum acknowledge, destruction is always easier than construction.

I've discovered that as perhaps one of the most powerful players on this planet, you still lack awe towards me.

Maybe I've been too gentle, too kind in the past,

So you've overlooked that I can eradicate species counted in the 'tens of thousands' at any time."

He paused, looking down at the occasional glimpses of insectoid settlements in the rolling volcanic smoke and dust below.

"I used to not want to destroy the human society I was familiar with."

Li Ang's eyes were calm, and his tone was peaceful, "When the arena game advanced step by step, I felt annoyed,

When the familiar peaceful life was gradually disrupted by abnormal events, I felt bored,

When my identity was revealed, and I could no longer return to everyday trivialities, I felt... anger and hatred.

I don't like order being derailed, I hate destroying things that I consider beautiful, and sometimes, I won't even think about destroying things I can't stand—

It's like when you've stayed in your hometown for a long time, you develop a sense of nostalgia and remembrance for the black stain on the kitchen counter that you can't get rid of.

But.

The world has changed."

Li Ang snapped his fingers, and an invisible force radiated out, tearing a corner of the volcanic cloud layer, revealing the distant, prosperous, and silent city street scene.

"The universe is vast and infinite.

What difference does the insectoid civilization on this planet have from the real world, except that their essence is mind-eating bugs?

They build skyscrapers, develop technology, explore alien planets, and seek the truth of the universe. In the future, they may conquer the moon, build colonial outposts on Mars, build space warships several kilometers long, and plant the flag of the insectoid civilization in every corner of the solar system.

Writing a magnificent epic of civilization.

The only problem is that all of this only happens in a trivial, temporary backdrop arbitrarily constructed by the arena game."

Li Ang looked at the high-speed drone, "Infinite worlds, infinite futures,

In the extremely vast universe, so vast that even gods, long-lived species, and immortal species cannot explore it,

Everything is meaningless.

In the face of absolute vastness,

Morality has become a rope for the weak to bind the strong—I can completely destroy the United States in seven days, and then rebuild a new America on the ruins of North America, completely consistent with my memory.

Even the total population of 326,766,748 Americans, I can produce them if I want.

I can manipulate every citizen of the new America like a puppet,

Making billionaires earn one or two dollars a day playing the saxophone in the subway station,

Making a forty-year-old black woman from the slums with no acting experience instantly become a super giant sought after by all fashion magazines.

Let 326,766,748 Americans become extras in 《The Truman Show》, performing every scene I want to see, want to see.

As long as I want to.

Do you think,

Do you, do you all, still have any meaning to me now?"

"..."

Aim listened to Li Ang's words, his face becoming paler and paler. He was not terrified by Li Ang's threat to destroy the United States,

But terrified by the terrifying implications behind Li Ang's reconstruction of the United States.

In the internal assessments of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and many large organizations, "natural disaster" level powerhouses are indeed one of the most unstable and difficult-to-control factors on the planet.

Each natural disaster is an independent individual, a mobile, humanoid nuclear bomb with personal emotions, requiring all forces to do their best to deal with, or even flatter.

But in terms of threat, the rampage of a natural disaster level powerhouse is not as great as the plane war brought about by the Xingmen world.

The reason is simple.

Violence, even extreme violence, is inherently meaningless.

No one cares about the explosion of a supernova tens of millions of light-years away, even if the gamma-ray burst emitted by that supernova is enough to destroy its entire star system.

Violence only has meaning in civilization.

Natural disaster level powerhouses are also individuals with self-thinking. They need the support of human society and thousands of organizational employees,

To collect game currency, equipment, and props produced by the arena game for them.

However, what will happen if someone breaks away from human civilization and even has the ability to independently rebuild civilization?

He will no longer need seven billion humans, no longer care about the entirety of human civilization, surpassing gods—even gods need mortals to spread their stories and remember their existence.

Aim stared at Li Ang's calm eyes. At this moment, he finally believed that the possibility of destroying the United States that the other party said was real.

If he teleports away directly now, then... he will become the fuse for the destruction of the United States.

"What... what do you want?"

Aim asked with difficulty, not even trying to say the lines he had brewed in his mind before—such as "How similar are the insectoid civilization and human civilization! Don't you have any sympathy for them, can you casually destroy them?"

If the human civilization in the real world has already gradually made Li Ang lose interest,

Then trying to awaken the other party's empathy with words would only be self-inflicted humiliation.

"When you used electronic information technology to control the insectoid civilization to stop launching nuclear missiles, causing the countdown to end,

Their chances of survival were personally terminated by you."

Li Ang put down his hand, and the plant vine hourglass he constructed in mid-air also faded away, "Congratulations, you have become a civilization killer.

Now, continue your blockade of the insectoid civilization's nuclear missile launch system,

Wait here."

"Wait?"

"Wait for the volcanic ash to spread further with the wind."

Li Ang picked up the sphere called [Angra Mainyu] (This World's Evil) that was still erupting with unknown toxins,

And silently looked at the face on the sphere that was distorted by pain but was particularly familiar in his memory.

————

Since the cameras of the Sky Arena will continuously lock on both players by default,

Therefore, the audience in the stands only saw Li Ang and Aim floating silently on the volcanic cloud layer,

They didn't see the changes in the insectoid planet under the effect of [Angra Mainyu] (This World's Evil).

The only thing that could be determined was that,

Ten hours later, Aim vomited the moment he teleported away and returned to the Sky Arena.

He vomited frantically into the iron bucket he took out of the void, as if trying his best to empty the contents of his stomach.

No one knew the final fate of that insectoid planet, not even Aim himself—after vomiting, he, under Li Ang's supervision, locally formatted the hard drive in his brain, cleaning up all memories related to the insectoid civilization,

Forgetting the terrifying scenes caused by [Angra Mainyu] (This World's Evil).

"You completed the task of blocking the insectoid civilization's nuclear missile launch system very well, so we're even."

Li Ang nodded towards Aim, who was lying on the edge of the ring like a dead dog, and turned to walk towards the audience.

Now that the competition had been going on for more than ten hours, a large part of the audience in the stands had already left, but Wang Congshan and others were still there.

Seeing Li Ang approaching, Liu Wudai's expression was calm, Wang Congshan's expression was subtle, and Chai Chai... Chai Chai was leaning on the back of the seat with her mouth open, snoring.

She was wearing an eye mask with red eye patterns, and had noise-canceling Bluetooth earphones in her ears. She didn't even notice Li Ang approaching, and was still snoring leisurely.

"Is it over?"

Wang Congshan asked a little nervously, "Did anything unexpected happen?"

"No, it's all good."

Li Ang smiled, his eyes moving down, noticing Wang Congshan's slightly clenched fingers.

Liu Wudai also noticed this and said, "I have something to do, I'll go first, you guys chat," and teleported away from the Sky Arena.

"That what..."

After Liu Wudai teleported away, Li Ang and Wang Congshan opened their mouths almost at the same time, interrupting each other's words.

"Ha."

The two looked at each other and smiled. Li Ang pointed to himself and Wang Congshan, "Do you want to speak first or should I?"

Wang Congshan waved her hand, "You go first."

"Okay."

Li Ang nodded, "Some of the things I said to Aim on the ring just now were true.

I realized very early on that I'm actually not a normal person with rich emotions, and as the essence of my life becomes more and more strange, my perspective on humanity is gradually shifting..."

"Your perspective on humanity wasn't very right in the past, was it?"

Wang Congshan subconsciously retorted, and then realized it, stuck out her tongue, and gestured for Li Ang to continue.

She could understand Li Ang's changes. In fact, there were also many employees within the Special Affairs Bureau whose ways of thinking gradually exceeded the scope of ordinary people after becoming transcendents.

Mid-level transcendents already have thinking speeds and reaction speeds that exceed ordinary people. They are stronger, more agile, and smarter than ordinary people. When dealing with mortals, they even need to carefully restrain their strength to prevent accidentally hurting them.

And high-level transcendents can even see the mites parasitizing in every pore on the faces of ordinary people, smell the odor in their nostrils, and see through the intestines full of filth under their skin.

The essence of life between the two sides has already had a huge gap, and the way of thinking is naturally impossible to be the same.

"Cough cough, although the longer I stay in the arena game, the more I feel that everything is small and many things are meaningless.

But some things are still different in my heart."

Li Ang said seriously, "Maybe one day, I will become a stranger to myself,

Maybe one day, I will die, and no one in the world will remember me, with no trace of my existence.

But as long as I live,

I still love the morning reading sounds of the Experimental Middle School, I love the 5 yuan pork floss rice balls at the school gate—although it increased in price to 5.5 yuan before,

I love the dilapidated Wanhe community, I love the daily life of the past—and you."

"Eh?! ! "

Wang Congshan's face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, rising from bottom to top, and her arms subconsciously posed in the shape of a cross like Ultraman. "What kind of inverted sentence is this?

Is this a confession? How cheesy?!"

"Hehe, it can be considered as a kind of promise."

Li Ang waved his hand with a smile.

"Ah, this, ah, um..."

Wang Congshan gesticulated her arms in a mess, and shamefully dropped a sentence, "I, I'll teleport home first, see you tomorrow," and teleported away.

Li Ang looked at the location where she disappeared, feeling the slight breeze stirred up by her teleportation, and smiled slightly.

The next second, Wang Congshan suddenly teleported back, hugged Li Ang with a red face, and disappeared again.

"...Um."

Li Ang scratched his head, blinked, and looked at Chai Chai, who was still sleeping soundly in her seat. He smacked his lips slightly, took off Chai Chai's earphones, and was about to wake her up and take her home when he heard the audiobook in the Bluetooth earphones.

"You can deceive yourself and say you don't like me, but the scent you are emitting at this moment, and the tiny, crystal-clear water droplets seeping out of your skin due to nervousness, cannot hide from me.

Spicy duck head, I'm going to fuck you hard now, slurrp."

The corner of Li Ang's eye twitched. He rubbed Chai Chai's hair and woke her up, "What the hell are you listening to? Let's go home."