360: 70 Chapters: The Light That Pierces Through the Shadows 360: 70 Chapters: The Light That Pierces Through the Shadows The rain kept pouring down, showing no signs of stopping as water quickly pooled in the alleyways.
Pitter-patter, the raindrops smacked into puddles, drenching the clothing and hair of a child who sat motionless deep within the alley, allowing himself to be imrsed in the water.
A new visitor strolled alone in the rain, umbrella-free, yet the rain failed to touch him.
There was no sound of his footsteps entering puddles, for both the rain from the sky and the pooled water on the ground seed to actively glide past him, as if paving the way for this visitor.
Shiyu Ling knew who this new guest was.
She had t him once on a ship…
he was the gentle Yuankai from years ago, an intelligence dealer.
“Good morning, Gongsun Ce,” the shadowy figure approached the child cheerfully waving his hand, “Long ti no see.”
“Yuankai…” the child looked up at him, “It has been a while.”
Crouching down, the shadowy figure pulled out a packet of cookies from his pocket.
Before he could even offer them, the child said with a bitter smile, “Your kindness is appreciated.
Do you still carry food with you?”
“I’m really scared of being hungry!” the man sighed as he tore open the packet and stuffed two cookies into his mouth, “Who knew the food supplies on the ship were actually pretty good?
Wow, the first thing I did in the city was scramble for food, which I never saw coming.”
“Heh.”
After finishing the cookies and pocketing the wrapper, he said, “Gongsun Ce, do you think our city is completely rotten?”
Standing up and counting on his fingers, he complained, “Every day there are gang conflicts, every other week there’s a biochemical accident, it’s either turf wars or superpowers going haywire.
We don’t need to wait until 2077, I can declare right now that I live in the worst city in the world.”
“It’s completely rotten,” the child murmured in agreent, “Are you thinking of starting an organization?
Or running away?”
“What good would that do?” the man retorted, “I’ve been observing for these three years.
At first, I thought it was an issue of incompetent officials, but then I saw that the officials are incredibly dedicated.
Everyone is desperately trying to maintain order, policies gradually beca more lenient; then I thought it was a minority causing trouble, but looking further, it wasn’t just a few people, everyone was involved in this process to so extent.
Without Aorus and John, there would be others to lead.”
“I thought about it for a long ti and finally understood.
It’s everyone’s hearts that are the issue.”
“…Hearts?”
“Everyone is feeling desperate.
Unsettled, numb, sad, angry, resigned to fate.
With everyone like this, how could the city get better?
You used to be so decisive, criticized Aorus using underhanded thods, and now here you are, imprisoning yourself.
You are a representation of Cangshou City, Gongsun Ce.”
The man spoke with concern, clearly also an inmate in this prison, yet he showed no signs of the suffocation that cos with being confined.
“After I figured it out, I knew what everyone really needed.
They need the motivation to get through the days, symbols that there is still hope in life, a pioneer that can break through all this—”
Clutching his fist firmly, the man declared, “What Cangshou City truly needs is a hero who brings hope!”
“…Haha,” Little Gongsun Ce laughed, “Heroics…
Fighting them in the streets?
Stopping the lab accidents by those in white?”
“Yes, to rescue the people caught in difficulties, to tell them that soone will stop this from happening!”
The child covered his head, sneering coldly as he couldn’t help but lash out with cutting and hurtful words, “Are you dreaming, Yuankai?
Do you think such laughable actions, beyond self-satisfaction, have any aning?
Do you think reality is a hero comic?
You alone can’t stop the city’s decay, you can’t change anything!”
The man wasn’t angry at all.
“I told you I’m prepared.
I’ve made contacts with the big shots in Cangshou District, we hit it off, so this hero movent has solid backing…”
“What good is that?!” Little Gongsun Ce bellowed, “Cangshou City is the prison that confines us, we are the pariahs rejected by the world!
No one can change this!
We are superpower users…
other than hurting each other, we can’t do anything else.
Unless you can make superpowers disappear, can you do that?
No, nobody has that power!”
The man wiped his nose.
“Your thinking is so strange.
Why throw away superpowers?
We can use this power to do good acts, to change the hearts of people.”
The child laughed out of anger, “You think you can change millions in this city?
With what?!”
The man patted his chest, “With my will and courage!”
His words were resolute and spirited, not only leaving the child staggered but also making the observing Shiyu Ling exclaim that he was out of his mind.
Was this guy daydreaming?
Where did he get the confidence to say such absurd things?
But Gongsun Ce smiled nostalgically.
He saw the man raise his thumb, “See!
I’ve already succeeded.
Your excitent to argue with shows that you think there’s a chance, you think I have hope!”
The child, infuriated, shot up, “You’re just making fallacious argunts, you’re just wasting your effort!”
The man spoke leisurely, “Then what counts as not wasting effort?
Staying here, cut off from the world, doing nothing, is that really so satisfying?”
The child was at a loss for words.
“I know what you’re going to say.
Failure, of course, will be t with setbacks.
But even so, I want to do everything in my power.
Even if I end up accomplishing nothing and everyone points and laughs, I won’t regret it.
Because I tried my hardest, I tried to make a change in my own way!”
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