Chapter 00098: Slaves and Shackles
# Slaves and Shackles
Chapter 98
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 98: Slaves and Shackles
The sound of waves echoed by the seaside.
Four hundred years ago and four hundred years later, it seemed like there was no difference.
Sunshine, stars, tides, and sounds of the wind remained unchanged over millions of years, never altering.
Or perhaps they had long since been different, but human life and history were too short to notice.
“Recently, I’ve actually been thinking sometimes,” said the old man with a scruffy beard while sitting on a deck chair on the speedboat, gazing at the bright moon reflected in the sea. “What if the ancestors hadn't done so many things back then? If the Tower of Heaven had been completed and order had successfully regulated the rest of the great deeds in the world, would this world be better off than it is now?”
“Are you talking nonsense again?” The slightly aging figure of the White Owl was struggling to drag a heavy iron box between the rocks and the beach.
Gritting her teeth, she climbed up. “Lend a hand! With all these years, can’t you show a bit of sense? I’ve been hauling so many packages back because of who?”
“Oh, come on, you’re working hard,” the old man replied with a grin as he pulled her and the box up, “It’s just that I see you looking so traveled, and it brings up some thoughts.”
“You’ve got the wrong idea!” White Owl took off her hat and unceremoniously took his spot. “The mighty leader of Nirvana, and all you're doing is rambling about what ifs and maybes. Every day is just daydreaming. Don’t even bother living, just find a celestial being to give you a dream and sleep forever, would you?”
“There’s nothing more bizarre than reality.” The leader leaned back against the side of the boat and casually sat on the iron box, making White Owl’s eyelids twitch.
Before she could start cursing, he continued, “Actually, among the thousands of years of rule in the Eternal Empire, there aren’t that many incompetent emperors. Compared to the politicians of today, most emperors were more relatable. Not to mention, there were many who, no matter how high the standard, could still be called wise and formidable.”
“I don’t care. I don’t know, and I’m not interested,” White Owl remained indifferent. “Why are you telling history to an illiterate?”
“Do you know that two thousand years ago, ‘ignorance’ was actually considered a disease?” The leader grew increasingly animated.
“What nonsense is this?”
White Owl glared, “Are you trying to give me a malevolent twist again?”
“No, I mean it literally, it was a disease.”
The leader replied calmly, “A plague that couldn’t be cured, a virus that spread through books and records. Once infected, all knowledge and understanding would be devoured, leading to madness, restlessness, and mechanical blind obedience. People would instinctively chase after the crowd and infect others.”
“It wasn’t just the plague of ignorance; the chaotic era had just ended. There were all kinds of bizarre situations. In an even earlier period, there were even mimickers, shapeshifters that even scholars and doctors couldn’t tell apart. They mingled among humans, all having crawled out from mirrors, eating the original hosts and then running amok in their forms, causing major disturbances.”
“There was a fruit that could make one youthful and immortal but came at the cost of another person’s life wherever in the world.”
“There were monsters that, once seen by a person’s eyes, could shatter the observer’s soul, leading to sensory overload and death. They existed in the clouds, moving with storms, and scanning the living. Because of this, all animals dared not look up to the sky.”
“In a time that makes the current era seem like myth and folklore, there were countless things that now sound like jokes. For example, a worm that could swallow an entire city, letting everyone grow old and die within its own belly in a mirage. It expanded every day, to the point it could wrap around the entire continent…”
Crack!
Flames leapt up, lighting a pipe.
White Owl glanced at the old man’s cheerful demeanor and shrugged it off. “If it was so impressive, why can’t we see any of it now?”
“Of course, it’s because they were all exterminated,” the leader chuckled, his smile icy. “All of them.”
“The plague of ignorance and all related texts were burned to ashes. The world reflected in mirrors was utterly destroyed, scattered like ash, never to return. The monsters of the storms vanished entirely from the thunderclouds. The gigantic worm was swallowed by an even bigger dragon, while the great snake turned to bones under the hunting of celestial beings. After sinking to the sea floor, it formed the mountains that encircle the world, with the old Sea State as the place it once connected, known as… the Great Snake’s Sea State.”
“All threats to humanity were crushed, erased, and left with not a trace under the orders or presence of emperors. Even in the final days of the Eternal Empire, the last emperor was still a diligent ruler. Yet, with his one strength, he couldn’t resist the tide and ultimately fell with the Tower of Heaven.”
“…”
White Owl was stunned and bewildered. “This… is it really that bizarre? Then why did the Ink Masters rebel back then?”
“Because an emperor is still an emperor.” The leader said matter-of-factly. “No matter how good an emperor is, he’s still an emperor. The moment anyone kind-hearted or compassionate steps into that position, everything in this world is destined to suffer. For instance, the things that have vanished from this world include not only the ones I've mentioned but also the third gender of beings, a second diamond moon in the sky, all green-haired and red-skinned races, springs that could cure most diseases including cancer, and a certain complex yet elusive technique called ‘liangzi’… These things were lost due to reasons as trivial as chaotic harem politics, being too dazzling, being an eyesore, or simply not being able to stand out before the rulers. Compared to all that, the hundreds of thousands who died for being taller than the emperor don’t even come close in importance. By the way, the lucky short ones who made it to now had it real nice, as that emperor was the tallest of all emperors, standing at a whopping three meters four.”
“And now, do you understand? When one person is capable of bearing the world’s blessings, all the pains of the world become their original sin. When one person can wield all choices, it means everyone else has no choice.”
Even though the moonlight and starlight were so clear, a shadow loomed over the leader's eyes, dark as night: “As long as you understand that there are gods who control everything in this world, you will start to yearn for a world where those gods do not exist…”
The Tower of Heaven took a hundred and sixty years to build.
In the first three hundred years, everyone worked together, yearning for the birth of a peaceful, eternal world.
By the seventh hundred years, some began to question whether the world under the emperor’s rule and control was really that lovely.
And by the tenth hundred years, more people began asking themselves—why gamble their future, along with everyone else’s, on a so-called wise ruler?
Why tie themselves down with chains, supporting the deities onto the altar with their own backs?
Thus, the former demigods killed the gods, and the emperors, after slaying the demigods, were then killed by mortals—when people realized that no one was born destined to be a slave, they began to wonder: why are there so many shackles in this world?
As long as there are shackles, there will be rebels.
We're not all that different.
The only difference is that some rebels are called Ink, some are called Nirvana… some rebels are you, and some are me.”Under the silver moonlight, the world’s greatest terrorist opened his arms and smiled:“And we have become just that.”Crack. Crack, crack, crack. The crisp sound of an apple being bitten echoed. White Owl turned her head and spat out the core into the sea, casually nodding,“Oh.”“...
Look at you! Look at you!”The leader sighed helplessly.“Whenever everyone else is fired up, you’re just as cold as ice, pouring cold water nonstop.”“Then stop with the act.
Save your sweet words for when you’re trying to fool children!”White Owl rolled her eyes.“If I didn’t know you were crazy, I might have actually believed you.”“Ah, being crazy is a part of it,”the leader took it in stride as if used to it, fumbling to grab a torn map piece that White Owl tossed over, raising an eyebrow.“Is it that bad? It shouldn’t be, right? The internal simulation persona has been completely shattered… You’re not using it to vent your anger, are you?”“Do you believe if I told you that Mercury yanked this thing over and then tossed it to you?”White Owl rolled her eyes again, slumping in her chair, hesitating on what to say, lightly massaging her brow,“This time entering the fracture realm, I ran into a little ghost.”“Hmm?”The leader looked puzzled.“Xiao Ye asked me to take care of her child, and I thought, since I’m here, I might as well take a look.
In the end… I was taken by surprise.
I should say, I got quite a shock.”She recalled the scene she had witnessed, her palm trembling slightly:“The Blade of Reformation was actually summoned by him.”“…”In the silence, the leader widened his eyes, as though shocked by the empire suddenly landing on the moon.“Is this true? Can the Blade of Reformation respond?”While speaking, he stood up in disbelief, wanting to open the box. Yet at the moment of contact, countless runes and symbols appeared on the iron box, layer upon layer, grand like the universe. Just a light touch of his hand, and he heard a sizzling sound. When his hand lifted again, it was already burnt to the point of exposing the white bone. Even with all efforts, he couldn’t restore it. In the charred wound, flickers of red-gray ash sparkled, akin to an eternal flame. So bold and fierce. Therefore, he finally realized.“...
The Chosen of Destiny.”The leader mused:“She really is the type who never expresses herself, hardly speaks, silently gets into big trouble—it’s always like this.
Who knows, she might be a formidable opponent in the future.”“If it were decades ago, I would have rooted it out without a second thought, but after getting old, I’ve grown soft-hearted and suddenly find it hard to carry out.”White Owl puffed her pipe, pondering with a sigh.“Moreover, Xiao Ye has a tough time finding a student.
She must treasure him like a gem, and if he dies by my hand, I’d be utterly hated.
Just thinking about being detested by a few friends makes me hesitate… do you think this is also her destiny?”She turned to the leader.“Due to various reasons, it’s predestined that I can’t interfere with what’s happening?”The leader countered,“What do you think destiny is?”“Ah?”White Owl was puzzled, her eyes reflecting the purity of a college student, showing a glow of ignorance and confusion. Mostly, this question was too abrupt and peculiar that she found herself unable to explain it thoroughly. But soon, she heard the leader's answer.“Destiny is an outcome, destiny is a prophecy, and at the same time, destiny is nonsense—the biggest nonsense in the world.”The leader raised a hand and pointed at White Owl:“If you’re a child with nothing, and someone tells you that you're destined to become the emperor who will rule the world, then quickly rise and rebel, what would you do?”“Believe you? That’s a joke! Dirty old man, you’re just wicked!”“And what if you were the emperor of the world, and someone came to tell you that your rise to power was due to my prophecies? That’s destiny!”White Owl’s eyes widened immediately.“Dare to talk to me like that? Are my nine clans in wholesale?”“See? You already understand the essence of destiny.”The leader spread his hands, smiling brightly:“Destiny is just an illusion that later generations perceive when looking back at the outcome.
Maybe your life’s serendipity has pushed you to a high position you never expected.
Or perhaps you've always had great ambitions, and you refuse to give up even after countless failures…
When countless variables meet countless variables, after self-observation and collapse, the unique solution that results is mistaken by fools for fate, and they attempt to encompass everything with such a massive proposition.
But ultimately, what governs everything is neither the highest virtue nor the destiny bestowed by heaven.
The origin of everything lies within you.
Perhaps you can’t govern the world, but your destiny at this very moment is in your hands.
For example—”The leader pointed to himself:“What if you suddenly took a gun, killed me here, and dissolved Nirvana, cutting off this legacy…
Would that then be seen by future generations as destiny granted to you by the highest virtue?”“…”White Owl rested her chin on her hand, calmly pondering, seriously analyzing, considering seriously, her eyes lighting up with eagerness:“It sounds quite appealing.”“Let’s drop it.”The leader raised a hand in surrender:“I’m an old bone anyway; let's avoid torturing each other, spare me.”“So are you implying that man can conquer heaven?”“No.”The leader shook his head firmly,“Most likely, you won’t win.
Just thinking about it, it’s hard to win—most people will fail, and even those who accidentally win once may not be able to continue winning.
However…”He paused, unable to contain his smile and joy.“The feeling of going against the so-called ‘predestined fate’ is truly satisfying.”Whatever the person was like, once they dared to try, they couldn’t stop. Such is ambition, such is idealism, such is foolish rebellion. That is more intoxicating than wealth or beauty, forever beguiling, and once swallowed, there’s no antidote. Even after enduring hardship and suffering, it still makes one embrace it willingly. Ding, ding, ding— A crisp ringing sounded, it was the alarm on his phone.“Oh, oh, oh—it’s starting!”The leader grew excited, ignoring conversation, pointing to the sky:“Look!”“What is it?”White Owl looked up, following his gaze, the night sky was filled with stars, deep and distant, the silver light of the moon transformed into myriad things, and the river of stars surged, as if it would never cease. But just as she looked up, the moonlight seemed to flicker for an instant. On the edge of the moon, something brushed past, a moment’s flaw, so tiny and fleeting.“A lunar eclipse?”White Owl was puzzled.“Is it something rare?”“Originally, not at all.”The leader stared dumbfounded at that pristine moonlight, his smile bright, and after a long while, slowly withdrew his gaze:“Two hours before you returned, I received word: the Southern Land Observatory discovered that the predicted partial lunar eclipse was delayed by a minute.
It was caused by an error in a reference value, and as for the specific reasons, they appeared in past records, and when they went back to sort everything, they found this deviation had been there for over two hundred years, just too slight to have been noticed by even the empire's supercomputers… It wasn’t until now that they found the unexpected situation looking back.”He raised his phone screen, showing complicated data that left White Owl dizzy, utterly incomprehensible, but the most eye-catching was a single image in the middle. A brilliant, sprawling observation spectrum, magnified hundreds of times, showed a slender and vague black trace, just like a notch…“Do you know what this means?”The leader kept murmuring various terms and data that White Owl couldn’t understand, his eyes sparkling with excitement like a child. He said,“In the past, something was changed.”“Ah?”White Owl was dazed, bewildered for a long time, her expression gradually shifting to a growing horror:“Wait! You're not saying… Mercury? No way?”“How is that possible?!”She firmly argued:“After the Tower of Heaven fractured, there’s no….”“But isn’t there still something that can serve as a coordinate and guide?”The leader interrupted her, raising his hand to place it on the iron box before him. The silent, rusty sword remained motionless, showing no hint of the legendary power it once held… —The Blade of Reformation! Once, the powerful had left it within Mercury's fracture realm, as the leader of Ink had forced it to bear the final duty, safeguarding this device that forged her eternal pain. Or perhaps, leaving behind a tiny glimmer of hope… Until four hundred years later, the flame from the cycle reignited. The awakening of the two Blades of Reformation stirred an unstoppable resonance that echoed through the tapestry of virtue, leaving similar colors and marks, spreading ripples. Such brilliance for the sages who lost their way in the past was like a lighthouse amid the night! So, the burning soul crossed the abyss, soaring. Burning like the stars, it fell into the past. In the prolonged silence, White Owl blanked, several times wanting to speak but hesitating. Finally, she asked in confusion,“Did she succeed?”“Don’t know, no one knows.”The leader slowly shook his head:“What she holds is a one-way ticket that bets everything including her soul to the flames.
What happened, what she faced, what she experienced, what she did… whether it was a success or a failure, only she knows.”He sighed gently, imagining that light cascading back against the flow of time, and felt his heart stir:“That truly was a beautiful ‘arrow’.”No matter how intricate and captivating the tapestry of virtue may be, nor how rigid and cruel the original fate, at this moment, there appeared flaws. No matter how tiny the flaws remain. It is still a flaw. The so-called destiny seems so overpowering, as if it contains everything, yet it is so fragile… so fragile that even if you fall into a pit or an abyss, as long as you still have the courage to rise, it becomes a huge provocation. As long as you can reach out a hand and shoot an arrow of vengeance, it is enough to shake its seemingly grand authority. This is the ultimate rebellion!“Now, do you see it?”The leader smiled, gazing at the starry sky:“The so-called destiny is merely that.
Don’t worry about what fate it may hold, nor worry about what destiny’s decree is—living in this world, isn’t the fun all about doing as you please?”White Owl shook her head:“That sounds utterly nonsensical.”“No choice, things are driven by humans, and one must always strive for something.
But a life of something worthwhile is indeed too hard…”Capturing this sentiment, he untied the mooring ropes, feeling the sea breeze hitting his face, and laughed joyfully.“Let’s go.”The greatest terrorist of the present age, the leader of Nirvana, sighed lightly, gazing at the skies, seas, and everything:“Let’s make this world… have more meaning!”In the distant echo of the tides, a lone boat sailed far away. Yet upon the clear and deepening night sky, a fresh light began to emerge, swirling through the trails already traced by the stars, breaking free from shackles to release a fleeting brilliance. One streak, another. Meteors rained down, shining like teardrops. So splendid, so tender. Beneath the same night sky, green birds stood at the window, gazing upward in a daze, laughing aloud:“Big Brother, look, Mama's watching us!”“Is she?”Ji Jue leaned against the window, looking up, softly sighing:“So beautiful.”
Two days later, at one twenty-six in the morning, an explosion occurred in the Rhine Port of the Southern Land Empire.
On the same day, the newly appointed governor of the Central Land, Rukius, was assassinated.
When the ruler falls, the regime crumbles.
Within the Senate, the bill that Rukius had long pushed to promote the collaborative development of the imperial federation was abruptly aborted.
In the face of colossal resource disputes and the unpredictable situation in the Central Land, the current situation tightened once more.
Not long after, the White State, rebuilt after over ninety years, heir to the title of the sacrificial king, publicly declared blood feud against the Red State until has the remains of the ancient White King returned, and made the red-capped bow before the white-capped!
The federal military again began bidding from various partners, among them, Huanyu Heavy Industries first took on ship orders worth four hundred and forty billion…
After the sudden roar passed, the mountain of eras fell like rain.
Yet at this moment, it had no bearing on Ji Jue.
He lowered his head to look at his wristwatch; the pop-up that had been floating before him since leaving the fracture realm…
[Fracture essence filling complete, connecting system startup complete, do you wish to proceed to the central dispatch center?]
The answer was beyond question…
—NO!!!!
These damn things, having scammed so much already, still want to keep coming?
Go to hell!
He turned over and shut his eyes.
To hell with the world and future.
Time to sleep!