After the two departnt heads left, Mo Wen imdiately told his cheap teammates not to cause trouble, and they agreed during the communication.
But when Mo Wen was notified to board the manned spacecraft heading to the fortress, he still encountered three teammates who were neither familiar nor complete strangers.
"Why did you still co? I made it clear this might be a trap targeting . You're just walking to your deaths."
Ren Sisi laughed: "Relax, we have Senior Qi Shiming's guarantee. Before he personally verifies your situation, no one dares touch you. And Senior Qi Shiming is an absolute saint - if your issue stems from congenital factors, he'll definitely help you achieve coexistence."
"Besides, if you're truly proven problematic, we won't hold back either!"
"In that scenario, we'd be allies with [the Corporation] against an external enemy like you. Why would they eliminate us?"
Mo Wen speculated: "What if Qi Shiming is already dead, and the fortress is controlled by ambitious extremists conducting inhumane experints?"
The Dragonblade Ninja shrugged: "Then it's even more reason for us to go together."
"[The Corporation] might fall into corruption, but the fortress must never be lost. Especially not to allow certain extre technologies to develop unchecked. That's everyone's responsibility."
Phantom added: "Actually, I'm pretty good at escaping. Doubt I'd be easily killed."
Mo Wen still tried to dissuade them: "My first rcenary job for a company - four-man team, three died."
That was the first ti comrades died because of him. Their relationship hadn't been close, and they'd received their promised paynt, so Mo Wen accepted their deaths. Yet the thought of people dying for him, an immortal being, gave him complex feelings.
Was the life of soone who could resurrect endlessly truly worth others exchanging their one-and-only lives for?
At best, it would only delay his death. He would still eventually die and depart.
Yet he would also keep living, savoring each death, growing stronger with every revival.
Mortal lives cast into an immortal's eternity were but a drop in the ocean. The ti and possibilities they bought might be aningless compared to him overcoming misfortune through his own power.
Still... without those two and the gang leader's support, could he really have killed that augnted soldier and held out until Dream Corporation's reinforcents arrived?
...Perhaps sacrifices did have aning. But given enough ti, even that aning would inevitably dilute.
Ren Sisi seed unconcerned: "The survival rate isn't bad - at least one person lives... So who survived?"
Mo Wen rolled his eyes: "Do I look dead to you?"
Ren Sisi nodded: "Understood, Mr. Deadman. So the gang leader survived."
Mo Wen stared silently at the smirking Ren Sisi until her smile began faltering under his gaze.
Seeing words couldn't change Mo Wen's mind, she decided to prove her determination through action, pushing against him while squeezing toward the crew cabin: "Move aside, stop blocking the way. We're joining the fortress sightseeing tour."
"Nothing you say will stop . We'd need four people dying five tis to prove teaming with you is certain death."
Mo Wen exhaled deeply: "I warned you. You'll die."
He stopped resisting and took his seat.
In Mo Wen's original world, manned spacecraft required astronauts to lie supine. For so reason, this world's crew cabin had seated positions.
The Dragonblade Ninja followed Ren Sisi inside and sat down, telling Mo Wen cheerfully: "You probably haven't adapted to new humans' resilience and social traits."
"Our genes retain fear of death to ensure we still recognize danger. But compared to ideals, principles, camaraderie... that fear can't sway us."
"We laugh together yesterday, kill today, then toast together tomorrow - advancing along our chosen faction's path, proving our way's righteousness through force, wielding violence with both pity and pain."
"Every one of us believes: Life's length ans nothing. Eternity itself is blank. Life has no inherent aning - it simply exists."
"But we can create aning through choices, painting freely on blank canvases."
Suddenly, Mo Wen rembered that augnted soldier who nearly killed him once.
The Dragonblade Ninja now seed to share Vanessa's sa determination from that mont.
All psychics possess precognition. Mo Wen didn't know if everyone could foresee their death, but the Dragonblade Ninja appeared to have seen his.
Idiot!
If you see death coming, you should avoid it.
To Mo Wen, he and these cheap teammates were far from friends, let alone willing to die for each other. He just found it baffling... though admittedly sowhat moved too.
He said seriously: "I'm an immortal dinsion-hopper. If I truly die in this world, I'll revive in another."
This was his greatest secret. So might capture him for it, making him wish for death while extracting his power.
But having mastered psychic self-destruction and currently sensing impending doom, he cared little about such risks now.
The Dragonblade Ninja calmly replied: "Perhaps you won't die, but this world would lose you."
Ren Sisi, busy adjusting equipnt nearby, gave Mo Wen an exasperated look: "Don't casually reveal important secrets. The rocket has surveillance. I deleted it for you - next ti choose better timing and audience for your confessions."
"Also, you self-absorbed idiot - if you're so scared of the danger and worried about teammates dying, why not just run?"
Because countless deaths proved he couldn't escape.
And he never wanted to run.
He wanted to win, to crush those inexplicable misfortunes rather than wait for them to catch him off-guard soday.
Moreover, he'd already achieved victory against thousand-to-one odds. Perhaps he wasn't entirely hopeless.
Mo Wen fell silent, and the others quieted too.
He sat waiting as the rocket initiated launch procedures, locked onto its target, and ascended.
The crew cabin's external monitors displayed the view outside.
As they pierced the clouds, Mo Wen observed the planet's appearance.
Little greenery remained, nor much blue. Forests and oceans had been devastated during the company wars. Instead, human cities stood proudly amidst yellow sands, boldly declaring humanity's determination and power to survive.
How strange - with so much forest and ocean lost, how had the planet avoided catastrophic climate change?
Briefly, Mo Wen wanted to truly understand this world, to learn how people lived beyond just growing stronger. What else could he do?
If... he still had ti...
"It's coming!"
Mo Wen sensed death approaching - faster than anticipated.
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