Chapter 1723: Chapter 67: This Is Your Sixth Regret: The Unheard Lament
Outside, there were unsettling sounds—gunfire, screams.
Lu knew what was happening outside—gang retaliation, because his mother had recently "crossed the line," touching interests she shouldn’t have. His mother was besieged and hunted, and as her son, he was hunted too.
The cabinet door opened—it was his mother!
The blue-haired woman was dressed in casual clothes for easy movement, her eyes sharp as ever.
"Lu?" His mother quickly crouched down, covering Lu’s mouth with one hand, "Shh—don’t make a sound. It’s very dangerous outside. We must leave immediately."
She quickly took out a mini walkie-talkie from her waist, her voice extremely low: "Raven, status?"
There was a crackling sound from the walkie-talkie: "Boss, the dinghy is in position at the usual spot, the canal patrol has a three-minute gap. Originally planned for two people, we must leave immediately, they will soon search the riverbank."
...Two spots, enough for Lu and his mother to escape together.
"Lu, stay here, no matter what you hear, don’t come out, and don’t make a sound." His mother quickly ordered, "Wait for me to come back for you."
Then, the woman climbed out the window, leaving only the boy hugging his teddy bear.
The boy waited for a while, his mother didn’t return, the sounds of searching came closer, suddenly, he heard familiar footsteps—his mother was coming back to get him!
He opened the wardrobe, seeing his mother drawing out a silenced pistol.
She raised the gun.
The gun’s dark barrel steadily pointed at the forehead of her own son curled up in the wardrobe.
In that instant, the boy’s world completely froze. All sounds, light, smell disappeared, leaving only that black barrel.
...Why?
Weren’t there two spots on the boat, why kill him?
His mother looked at him, her lips seemed to move slightly but ultimately didn’t say a word.
The boy had overheard his mother speaking quietly with subordinates, saying he was "too smart for a child," saying he was "too calm, not like a normal person," saying he "completely understood adult power plays and schemes." His mother, half proud, half worried, laughed at the time, Lu remembers once overhearing her tell a trusted confidant: "Sometimes when I look into his eyes, I’m scared. This child is too much like his father when he was young..."
Just because of this, she wanted to kill him... In ordinary families, it would be inconceivable. Her vigilance was pathological.
She pulled the trigger.
"Bang."
The boy fell to the ground, blood spread, the woman glanced at him, sighed, and left decisively.
Inside the dark room, silence prevailed.
Thirty seconds later, the boy suddenly opened his eyes, struggled to sit up, and took out the plush bear from his arms.
His mother showed no mercy, the shot was fatal, did not miss, yet the plush bear in the boy’s chest miraculously blocked the bullet.
How could a cotton toy block a bullet?
The boy disassembled the bear, inside was a black metal device about the size of a matchbox. Even though Lu was only seven or eight years old, he recognized it at a glance—he had seen similar things among his mother’s work items.
A bug.
A bug carefully sewn inside the teddy bear.
The bullet hit the metal, causing Lu not to die, only to be knocked back and coughed up blood by the impact.
This teddy bear was a rare gift from his mother last year on his birthday, she said: "Keep it with you, like mom is with you." At that time, he was so happy, hugged the bear and slept with it for a long time, thinking it was proof of his mother’s love, one of the few warm colors in his cold world.
So that’s how it is.
So... this is "love."
In the family, even one’s own flesh and blood is not trusted, his mother never truly trusted him, she monitored whether he showed any "abnormalities," whether he heard things he shouldn’t, whether he would become like his father, ultimately becoming someone to be guarded against, a "bedside person."
——"Too smart," "frightening" son.
How ironic, her vigilance against him actually allowed him to avoid a deadly bullet and survive.
The boy said nothing, extremely calm, held his chest’s pain, climbed out the window, and disappeared into the night. He must survive.
"Search! Don’t miss any corner!"
The pursuers arrived, the boy climbed over the window, ran in the pitch-black night, the sound of gunfire echoed behind him, street blockades of hundreds of people, he used his strong memory and judgment to climb through ventilation shafts and sewers, finally under gunfire, injured, he was forced to rush to the riverbank.
"Fire! Don’t let him escape!"
The dark canal. Winter night’s river water gleamed with a dead glow, cold air rushing in, the temperature below zero causing a thin layer of ice to form at the river’s edge. Behind him were the hurried footsteps of pursuers.
The blue-haired boy turned back to look at the heavy shadows chasing him, no trace of childlike fear or despair on his face, only the freezing cold in his bones, and the grim desire to survive and ambition.
Survive. At all costs.
The seven- or eight-year-old child leapt into the rushing canal.
The river water like thousands of steel needles instantly engulfed him. The massive impact and biting cold made him nearly suffocate, the injured leg sent tearing pain. The river water heavy as lead, dragged him downward.
Winter clothes soaked, unimaginably heavy, like a giant stone tied to his body. Blood from his wounds spreading in the water.
Darkness. Cold. Suffocation. Pain.
He must survive, claim the name "Likalpos," live at all costs...
...
Lu Likalpos lit a cigarette, smiling as he looked at the figure gradually appearing.
——His mother, trusted confidant, subordinates, and all pursuers and helpers.
The lead woman wore a neat black suit, blue hair meticulously tied up, facial features cold, eyes sharp as knives—she was his mother, the former mistress of the Likalpos family, the woman who pulled the trigger on him that winter night. Her posture still upright.
Behind her were familiar faces—the gang enforcers who chased him back then, his mother’s trusted subordinates, family members... They all quietly stood there, each carrying traces of deadly wounds, silently gazing at him, their expressions complex and hard to read.
Lu’s lips curled into a faint smile, he understood why this round of the "Return Road" game made him relive that night.
——Because everyone appearing in that bloody escape memory was already dead.
Killed by his own hands when he grew up.
"Although my friends have this hobby, to be honest, I don’t like drowning people," Lu Likalpos spoke, the cigarette flickering between his fingers, "It’s too slow. The cold river water rushing into the mouth and nose, squeezing out the last breath of air, the lungs burning, almost exploding, but taking in more icy water. The body uncontrollably convulses, the consciousness in the extreme cold and suffocation becomes vaguely peeled away... The process is long and painful. It’s ungraceful."
"Compared to that, I prefer shooting. ’Bang’—one shot, clean and neat, ends everything. Simple, fast, brief."
"Mom," he called out, sounding full of irony, "I know why you tried to kill me back then. Deep down, you couldn’t allow anyone to climb over your head, not even your own son. Your greed for power surpassed everything, including blood and kinship. In your eyes, I was first a future threat to you and only secondly your son."
Mother’s face was cold, with no expression shifting.
Lu spread his hands: "But I survived, and you died. I inherited everything from the Likalpos family— the business on the surface, the deals in secret, all the connections and resources. I’ve reached a position you never dared dream of before— the whole world sees ’Lu’ and the power holder of the Likalpos family."
He leaned forward slightly, his voice lowered to an almost intimate cruelty:
"So, Mom, do you want to kill me now? Use that button in front of you to kill your most proud son? To kill the only power holder of the Likalpos family now?"
The hall was deathly silent. Only the faint "hiss" of burning cigarette could be heard.
Mother finally moved her lips, her voice icy: "Lu, you were never my pride. You are the biggest mistake of my life."
"You weren’t like other children when you were little. Other kids would cry, would be noisy, would cling, would fear. You were too quiet, too smart, too aware of seizing the right moment. You never acted cute, and never cried. Your gaze could instill fear even in adults."
"I didn’t try to kill you because I feared you’d backstab me in the future. I was afraid that if someone like you kept living, you’d become an even more terrifying monster. You would use everything, devour everything, including those who showed you goodwill. Just like now, aren’t you wagging your tail pathetically to that so-called Savior Su Ming’an, trying to extract more benefits from him? Once he’s of no value or hinders you, a person like you would definitely stab him without hesitation, just like how you treated me back then."
She paused, her eyes showing disgust:
"No one else sees you clearly because you’re too good at hiding. What’s flowing in your veins isn’t blood, it’s ambition. You will never genuinely sacrifice for anyone, nor for the world. You will only take, only plunder, only climb over the corpses of others to reach the highest place you can, then stay there alone until you’re torn apart by younger, more ferocious beasts."
Lu’s smile only became more pronounced, the smoke blurring his expression.
"Maybe, Mom. Maybe I am like what you say, a beast. But even beasts long for warmth, even if it’s fake."
"Maybe I’m just too lacking in someone who truly loves me? Or someone who can make my cold blood boil slightly. I was deprived of love since I was young, so whenever I see those full of love, bright and warm people... I always can’t help but approach. Maybe one day, I’ll make an irrational decision that I can’t understand for a lifetime?"
Mother looked at him as if looking at an incomprehensible madman, coldly saying: "Impossible. You are a complete madman."
Her gaze moved away from Lu, looking at the light screen floating in front of her, with only two buttons: [Support], [Do not support].
Her voice was resolute, without a trace of emotion: "But the honor and continuation of the Likalpos family cannot be ended. I’ve already died at your hands. But you cannot die here. You are the last bloodline of the Likalpos and currently the only power holder. You must live on, carry the family forward, no matter in what way, whom you depend on, or what monster you become."
She pressed [Support].
"Lu Likalpos— as the former family head, I command you to live on, not to disgrace this surname."
As she made her choice, all her subordinates and trusted confidants behind her also showed the same light screen, and they silently, unanimously pressed [Support].
The light from the screens lit up in sequence.
Lu laughed heartily, his eyes sparkling with tears, pinching the cigarette, the swirling smoke veiling his eyes. Only the nearly frenzied laughter could be heard.
Tears broke free from the constraints of his eyes, rolling down his violently undulating cheeks, scorching his cold skin. He laughed uncontrollably, as if trying to drain everything that had never flowed from him in this lifetime.
He laughed so hard he bent over, his shoulders shaking, like a clown driven insane in an absurd theater.
The cigarette in his fingers burned to the end, the long ashes about to fall.
... How funny, Mom, how funny...
A moment later, the madness on his face receded like the tide, replaced by a perfectly gentle demeanor, as he lightly brushed off the ashes. The last bit of ember on his fingertip extinguished. In front of him, the figure had long since disappeared.
"Likalpos..." he repeated.
Is this so-called "fire" capable of warming a beast’s heart, or will it completely consume it?
He extinguished the cigarette butt and walked toward the exit at the other end of the hall, tidying his collar, once again revealing a gentle and polite perfect smile.
...
Najasha opened her eyes.
She calmly looked at the endless crowd, villagers, low-level races, soldiers... numbering in the thousands, yet she didn’t recognize a single one. They looked at her with hatred, immediately about to pass judgment upon her— she must not be allowed to live.
"I never thought that the final obstacle in my way would be such a broken checkpoint." Najasha laughed lowly, "What a... lousy game."
After falling to become an Evil God, she had killed so many people that she had lost count. The number in front of her seemed even fewer. She didn’t care for these resentful gazes, quickly scanning the crowd, trying to find the figure of Tao’er... finally, she saw the slender girl.
"Will you support me?" Najasha walked to the girl, looking at her not fully developed face. She died so early... she hadn’t even left the ignorant mountain, only to be killed by foolish Townfolk.
The girl looked back at her.
"Tao’er, I would stop all the rain for you, send you to a place of perpetual sunshine, give you a long dress that no blade or spear can pierce..." Najasha held her hand, "Wait for me, I will find you that dress, okay?"
The girl looked at her.
"Who are you?" the girl said.
Najasha’s eyes went hollow for a moment, quickly saying, "I am the Deity of the Divine Mountain, you often brought me snacks, and I gave you a pouch to ward off the rain, I wove you that beautiful long dress..."
The girl showed a confused expression, after a moment, she slowly shook her head:
"The Good God sister isn’t like you."
"She’s a Good God, very ethereal, very beautiful, why are you so alluring, so hideous? The smell of blood on you is so heavy..."
"I don’t recognize you, go away."
...
Violet opened her eyes.
She looked in shock at the hundreds in front of her, not expecting that so many had died because of her. It seemed that on her journey as a top player, she’d been heavily involved with some lives, most of them appeared to be soldiers.
She pondered for a moment, intending to use her oratory skills to persuade them, only to see them speak:
"Don’t worry, Captain, we will press [Support]!"
"Thanks to you, our civilization was redeemed, of course it won’t get stuck here because of you!"
Violet breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, her heart was racing... her situation was so smooth, likely because these deaths weren’t directly linked to her.
But if it were Su Ming’an...
...
Su Ming’an opened his eyes.
—At this moment, he couldn’t even see the edge of the crowd.
Looking far ahead, there was no end in sight.
Packed densely, heads moving like waves.
Those who had died in the second instance, the Rebel Army and Inner City people, Ming Hui’s Revolutionary Army and the nobility, the Soul Clan Soul Hunts and Sea Monsters of Pulaya, the multiple times millions of people were involved in the Ruined World and World of Old Days large-scale wars, the whole civilization of Deity Ta Wei, the people who had died so far in Luowasha... Using units of ’hundreds of millions’ seemed insignificant.
