175: Chapter 175: We Are All Humble Lives (Please Subscribe, Add to Favorites, Request Monthly Tickets) 175: Chapter 175: We Are All Humble Lives (Please Subscribe, Add to Favorites, Request Monthly Tickets) [He Ao (Joey)]
[Permission Level: Ordinary Player]
[Physical Condition: 105 (150)]
[Skills: Talent Sequences 272: Super mory (Soul Bound) (D-level), Basic Firearms Mastery (Soul Part)]
[chanical Modification: None]
[Martial Arts: Essence Refinent and Qi Transformation (D-level) (Not Usable)]
[Character Skills: Talent Sequences 56: Assassin]
His physical condition had increased to 150, which was sowhat unexpected for He Ao.
The assassin he had killed should have had a physical condition around 140, strong in burst power, but the victim probably had rely undergone a routine promotion, with no thod for utilizing strength, causing so power to be lost during the promotion.
He Ao’s increase to 150 was likely due to his use of martial arts training to guide and absorb these transcendent powers.
With 150 points, plus the extra 137 points brought about by the burst of Super mory, He Ao’s peak physical condition could reach an astonishing 287 points.
This number definitely surpassed the D-level limit, but it was unclear how far it was from the C-level.
However, judging by the assassin’s boldness in attempting to assassinate Christos, the gap between D-level and C-level didn’t seem to be that vast.
Additionally, with the active transcendent abilities ‘ntal Disturbance’ and ‘Stealth’, He Ao now should have had a fighting chance against a C-level.
If all else failed, he could always draw an Array and ask a good friend for help.
Ding——
The sound of the elevator arriving awoke He Ao from his reverie.
It was now afternoon, and after familiarizing himself with the assassin’s power, He Ao had left Roger’s clinic.
As the elevator doors slowly opened, clusters of verdant lawns and the open sunlight ca into He Ao’s view.
This place was Kwei District’s largest cetery, Kwei Cetery.
He Ao, carrying a suitcase, followed a paved stone pathway, passing through rows of solemn tombstones.
On the roadside were lush ‘plants’.
Of course, unlike Dul National Cetery’s trees and grass, the ‘plants’ here were all plastic ‘simulacra’.
The entire floor was not made with ventilated open floors like at Dul National Cetery but resembled a typical office building, with sunlight streaming in through huge floor-to-ceiling windows and ventilation relying on a fresh air system.
Of course, were there gravesites with environnts like Dul National Cetery?
Sure, for an extra fee.
The ceteries in Dawn City were not for sale but for lease, with a minimum lease of twenty years, which could be renewed upon expiration.
If a ‘person’ did not have enough money saved to renew the lease at expiration and their children didn’t pay for the renewal, their urn would be removed by the cetery managent company.
Along with other deceased who couldn’t afford a gravesite, it would be taken to the wilderness, put into a large pit, and buried.
The gravesite Joey ‘rented’ for his parents was a double burial plot, which occupied only slightly more land than a single plot but cost 1.5 tis more than a single plot.
However, double plots were not only for deceased lovers or married couples, but also for two strangers who couldn’t afford their own plots on their own.
Thus they had no choice but to pool their resources for a jointly rented double plot.
After all, relative to a single plot, the price of a double plot, when divided between two people, was equivalent to a 25% discount.
As for whether the cetery managent company allowed this…
They featured a special interface for joint gravesite shopping on their official website, with special discounts available for referrals to friends and relatives.
They even had promotions like ‘friends and relatives take a slash, stay in the graveyard for free’.
In fact, they had launched four-person, five-person, and eight-person burial plots, but the market response had not been good.
People willing to fight with so many others for a burial plot didn’t care much whether they themselves ended up in a cetery or not.
Their ashes might be scattered in a corner of Dawn City, or may simply be offered up by their children at ho.
However, in recent years, the number of people keeping ashes at ho has decreased.
It’s because nearly every year there’s a batch of supernatural films being released where there’s almost always a character who keeps a relative’s ashes at ho, and that character generally faces so kind of frightening misfortune or ill luck.
Additionally, a great deal of self-dia and tabloids disseminate articles ‘educating’ the public about the dangers of keeping ashes at ho, such as relatives being unable to ascend to Heaven and being stranded in the human world instead.
Well, these movies and dia outlets all have the ‘investnt’ of cetery managent companies behind them.
He Ao stopped in front of Joey’s parents’ tombstone, which was engraved with their nas and had a black-and-white photo inset above them.
The photo chosen was from a recent family portrait, where the parents were seated on chairs, smiling and looking forward with eyes twinkling with expectation and longing for the future.
In the original photo, Joey, who was standing beside them, had been cropped out by the cetery managent’s staff.
He Ao paused to look at the black-and-white photo and slowly placed the white carnations he was holding down.
At the sa ti, a bouquet of white roses was placed beside his carnations.
He Ao looked up to see the white-dressed girl beside him, her face dotted with freckles.
“Long ti no see,” the girl smiled at him, and then, sowhat reservedly, put her hands behind her back, “you’ve lost weight.”
“Long ti no see.”
He Ao nodded gently and, carrying his suitcase, prepared to leave.
Jessie watched the slender yet upright figure, suddenly feeling that the boy in front of her was so unfamiliar.
The Joey she rembered had felt like the warm spring breeze, bringing warmth and happiness.
But now, Joey seed more like a beast holding back its madness, filled with a violent and destructive aura.
“Joey, what are you going to do?” she called out to his retreating figure.
“Were you in the Crown District the day before yesterday?!
Violence won’t solve anything, and it won’t bring your uncle and aunt back to life.
Can’t you stop doing foolish things…”
Toward the end, her voice took on a sobbing tone, “Please co back, everyone is worried about you, everything will get better…
why…”
So cool fingertips brushed her cheek, and a broad palm gently lifted her face.
She looked up blankly, gazing at the familiar countenance.
The sunlight filtered through the boy’s tousled hair, falling on his sowhat sickly face.
“We are all insignificant lives.”
He Ao used his thumb to slowly wipe away Jesse’s tears that had started to streak down her face, “But we should have the right to choose to keep living.”
Joey’s family was just a typical, lowly family; his parents, re ordinary, humble workers.
They had no wealth, no power.
They carried a mountain of debt.
They had nothing but still lived a plain yet happy life.
All they wanted was to live peacefully.
So, why could soone use their lives as chips in a cost-benefit calculation on a gambling table?
By what right!
By what right!?
He Ao withdrew his hand from Jesse’s face, took out a small box containing a storage chip, and placed it slowly into her hands.
Then, carrying his suitcase, he turned and walked toward the deeper part of the cetery.
Those cold tombstones seed like a throng of ethereal figures, standing still, watching his lonely figure pass by.
Violence doesn’t solve any problems, but it can eliminate the people creating them.
When they made it easy for others to die, they should have been prepared to face death themselves.
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