Chapter 1867: Chapter 1865: The Choice of Power
Although they were mentally prepared, when Fang Zheng led them into the high tower and they saw the scene before them, Misaka Mikoto and Kuroko Shirai couldn’t help but change their expressions.
"This is......"
Looking at the densely packed glass jars in front of them, and the incomplete corpses within those jars, both of their faces turned pale.
"Are all of these Holy War Angels?"
"That’s right......"
Fang Zheng reached out and gently caressed the glass jar in front of him, then made a gesture.
Soon, the scene around them began to change, with time reversing, and it started to flow like a movie.
They witnessed the construction of Edil Courtyard, a haven built for humans and Holy War Angels to communicate and live peacefully together. However, amid the apocalypse, even this paradise was too weak. They couldn’t survive in the face of the creatures, so, to protect this paradise, they needed more powerful strength.
As a result, the Holy War Angels who came to Edil Courtyard made a decision.
They offered their bodies to Edil Courtyard for research.
"This, this is simply......!"
Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto was trembling all over, and Kuroko Shirai remained silent. They initially thought that Edil Courtyard had merely deceived these Holy War Angels, but unexpectedly, things weren’t as simple as they imagined. In fact, it turned out that the proposal was made by the Holy War Angels themselves!
The initial Edil Courtyard saved many Holy War Angels, but some of those had been enslaved by humans for a long time, to the point where they were neither human nor ghostlike. They thought that, rather than living in pain, it would be more valuable to fall into eternal sleep, sacrificing themselves for the future of Holy War Angels and humans———this was the belief of those Holy War Angels at the time.
"How could this happen!"
Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto angrily punched the wall. She would rather believe that Edil Courtyard deceived the Holy War Angels, pretending to save them but actually bringing them here for experiments. That way, Misaka Mikoto could unhesitatingly see Edil Courtyard as the "bad guys." Yet the reality was completely opposite to what she thought; the Holy War Angels willingly made the request, and Edil Courtyard merely accepted their proposal.
In fact, the original intention of the Holy War Angels was good. After all, Holy War Angels had always been hunted because of their powerful abilities, used as weapons by humans. If they could sacrifice themselves to help humans find a way to gain power without harming Holy War Angels, maybe humans and Holy War Angels could truly live in harmony.
The ideal is beautiful, but reality is harsh. Once Pandora’s Magic Box was opened, there was no turning back.
Of course, initially, Edil Courtyard wasn’t devoid of people with conscience, Kis was one of them. He also felt pain over what he had done, so after marrying Xia, he even showed her the secrets within Edil Courtyard. Perhaps at that time, Kis hoped Xia could refuse all of this and close the Magic Box.
If Xia thought these matters were too cruel, he might have stopped all this and found other ways to enhance the power of Edil Courtyard, and history might have ended differently.
But Xia didn’t refuse; on the contrary, she even voluntarily asked Kis to experiment on her.
They made their choices, leading down a path of no return.
Kis was completely consumed by the idea of transforming Holy War Angels to gain power, forgetting the initial purpose of Edil Courtyard and the ideal of coexistence between humans and Holy War Angels. He now only wished to gain more power. Gradually, they began to rescue Holy War Angels, then started raiding their villages, capturing one Angel after another in the name of "protection," but in reality for research and experiments.
It was during this time that Xia became pregnant.
She and Kis had a child, a child of a Holy War Angel and a human.
Xia happily informed Kis about it; she thought Kis would be as happy as she was. In fact, Kis was indeed happy, but for a different reason than Xia.
In Kis’s eyes, a child of a human and a Holy War Angel was an excellent research subject for experimentation.
So, when Xia excitedly entered Kis’s room, the warm scene of a father holding the child wasn’t what she saw. Instead, she saw Kis holding a bloodstained scalpel, and in front of him was their child......
At that moment, Xia completely broke down.
"Boom!!!"
Bursting thunder crashed down, shattering the scene in front of them.
"Crazy."
Misaka Mikoto tightly hugged her arms, bowing her head and trembling uncontrollably.
"These people are simply insane!"
"Sister Dear......"
Seeing Misaka Mikoto beside her, Kuroko Shirai hurriedly comforted her. In truth, she didn’t look well either, as this matter......had entirely exceeded human limits.
"Everyone made their choices, but the outcomes may not be what they desired."
Fang Zheng patted Misaka Mikoto on the shoulder, then lifted his head to look deeper inside.
"Don’t you agree, Mr. Kis?"
"......"
Hearing Fang Zheng speak, Misaka Mikoto and Kuroko Shirai quickly and surprisingly looked ahead. There, behind an old desk, sat a person entirely wrapped in white cloth, with only their eyes visible, staring at them motionlessly.
"Eh? Kis? But wasn’t he......"
Misaka Mikoto was inexplicably astonished; she remembered Fang Zheng showing her an image just now where Xia, unable to bear the stress of seeing her child killed by her husband, killed Kis. It was only after realizing her husband was lying in a pool of blood that she went mad.
"Because he also transformed his body, isn’t that right."
Fang Zheng chuckled, looking at Kis.
"You made your choices, but this is the outcome of those choices. I’m truly curious, how do you feel now?"
"..........."
Faced with Fang Zheng’s mockery, the man remained silent. Misaka Mikoto clenched her fist, glaring at him in anger.
"How can you do that? Xia is your wife. She did so much for you, even joyfully gave birth to your child. How can you do something like this?!"
"...Because we need power."
At that moment, the man finally spoke.
"To protect Edil Courtyard, to protect our home, we need power, more power. So, sacrifice is inevitable, and... I believe Xia can understand..."
"You...!"
"Everyone has their own choices."
Fang Zheng pressed Misaka Mikoto down, turning to look at Kis.
"Pursuing power requires a certain consideration, of course. At this point, no one is innocent, not you, not Xia. This outcome is the result of the choices you made."
Fang Zheng didn’t have any doubts about human experimentation itself. In fact, the Swarm was also conducting human experiments, but Fang Zheng targeted criminals and abusers. Those who cursed, beat, insulted, and tortured the Cursed Children in the Black World.
When these people wailed in agony during Swarm experiments, Fang Zheng didn’t feel any emotional ripple; in fact, he felt a bit like laughing.
However, involving someone you love is another matter entirely.
Fang Zheng also needed power, but he always understood his position clearly.
In the Pitch Black World, Fang Zheng sided with the Cursed Children, so experimenting on those who insulted and tortured the Cursed Children didn’t burden him mentally in the slightest. On the contrary, Fang Zheng thought it was too easy to just shoot them down; why not keep them like pigs for Swarm research?
And in the Transformers and Superhero world, Fang Zheng burned the entire North American Continent without any concern because he wasn’t American. What did he care about Americans’ lives? Besides... could Americans be considered human?
In the World of the Immortal Sword, Fang Zheng burned the entire expanse of Divine Buddha because he sided with the mortals. Against the Celestial Court that betrayed their traditions and the Western Paradise that sought to invade the Central Plains, Fang Zheng was naturally ruthless.
Lei Feng once said, "Be as warm as spring to comrades, but ruthless as winter to enemies," and Fang Zheng considered himself a model scout who learned from Lei Feng doing good deeds in his childhood.
Of course, Xia and those Holy War Angels who voluntarily proposed human experimentation should bear some responsibility. But in Fang Zheng’s view, the blame ultimately lay with Kis.
Because Fang Zheng also had such people under him. Little Angel’s first suggestion whenever encountering trouble was to resort to genetic weapons and mass genocide, but Fang Zheng never agreed, did he?
Little Angel’s worldview wasn’t human; even if she committed genocide, watching people die before her, Little Angel wouldn’t shed a tear, nor feel any guilt. But Fang Zheng never let her do it, did he?
If mass genocide was necessary, Fang Zheng would have Swarm do it himself!
There’s no problem dealing with enemies, but harming your own... that’s either mental illness or masochism.
"Boom!!!"
Outside came the sound of a violent explosion; obviously Lei and Xia were fighting, while the man continued sitting, unmoving.
"Your Paradise is finished. I don’t know if you regret it, but honestly, I don’t care."
Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders. He made a choice and must bear the outcome. Perhaps, for Edil Courtyard at that time, they indeed became stronger for a short while. But eventually, Edil Courtyard perished. Whether it was connected to their choice or not is uncertain.
Regardless, at this moment, Heaven was no more.
"Boom———!!"
The sound of a violent explosion resounded again. Fang Zheng glanced out the window, seeing on the other side of the plaza, Ruiko still wielding the enormous Blade of Wind fighting Xia. However, Xia no longer resembled what she was initially. Her right hand had completely burst open, revealing intestine-like things from the shoulder fracture, constantly trembling.
"Reached the limit?"
Seeing this scene, the man sighed deeply.
"Xia absorbed too many humans, too many Holy War Angel genes. Honestly, that she retained her self-awareness until now is astonishing, but... the arrival of the Tree of Seven Lights caused her significant psychological stress."
"Saten-san!?"
"Sister Dear, let’s go help!"
Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto and Shiari Kuroko couldn’t sit still, however, Fang Zheng reached out to stop them.
"No need, just watch from here."
"But... this is their fight. Don’t worry, Ruiko won’t lose."
Should be, given the protagonist Aura... Besides, Fang Zheng remembered correctly, in the novels and manga, Ruiko was targeted multiple times but never got hurt... Oh right, she was kicked by a bank robber once at the very beginning.
And then seemed to never get hurt again...
Click, click, click. Mages, Dark Side members, combined aren’t even as effective as a bank robber.
Just as Fang Zheng sighed, the battle finally approached its end.
The self-lost Xia had her chest pierced by Ruiko’s blade. Before dying, she finally regained her senses, smiled, and spoke a few words to Lei, then dissipated into flower petals, disappearing into the air.
"Xia—————!!!"
At that moment, no one spoke, just silently watched Lei kneeling on the ground, crying in silence.
After a moment, Fang Zheng sighed deeply, then raised his right hand. The Pitch Black greatsword quickly appeared in his palm.
"Now, let’s bring all this to an end."
