Slaves and Shackles

The sound of the ocean tide echoed along the shore. Between four hundred years ago and four hundred years later, there seemed to be little difference. Sunlight, stars, tides, the sound of the wind—all remained as they had been for countless millennia, never changing. Or perhaps they had long since diverged from the beginning, and human lives and histories were simply too fleeting to perceive it. "Lately, I sometimes find myself wondering," said the bearded old man sitting on a folding chair on the speedboat's deck. Looking at the bright moon reflected in the sea, he spoke up abruptly. "If our predecessors back then hadn't interfered so much, if the Tower of Tianyuan had been completed, and the grand feat of using Order as a cage to rein in the other Sovereign Virtues had actually struck lucky and succeeded... would this world be a little better than it is now?" "Off your rocker again, are you?" Between the reefs and the sandy beach, a slightly aged White Owl struggled to haul a heavy iron chest. Gritting her teeth, she climbed up onto the boat. "Lend a hand! Pull! After all these years, haven't you learned an ounce of initiative? Who do you think I worked myself half to death hauling all these packages back for?" "Ah, good work, good work." The old man grinned and hauled her up along with the chest. "I just saw you looking so travel-worn and felt a bit nostalgic, that's all." "Nostalgic my ass!" White Owl took off her hat and unceremoniously claimed his seat. "The dignified commander of Nirvana, yet all you ever babble about are what-ifs, maybes, and possibilities! Delusion time every single day. If you don't want to live in the real world, go find a Celestial-Human of Mirror to weave you a dream and sleep yourself to death!" "Dreams could never be as bizarre as reality." The commander leaned against the gunwale and casually plopped down on the iron chest. White Owl's eyelids twitched violently at the sight. Before she could curse, he spoke again: "Actually, throughout the several thousand years of the Eternal Empire's rule, truly incompetent and foolish emperors were relatively rare. Compared to today's politicians, most of them at least resembled human beings. Not to mention, quite a few could be called wise and valiant by any standard." "Don't know, don't care, not interested," White Owl replied coldly. "Why are you talking history to an illiterate?" "Did you know that two thousand years ago, 'ignorance' was actually an illness?" The commander grew more animated. "What kind of nonsense is that?" White Owl glared at him. "Are you taking passive-aggressive jabs at me again?" "No, in the literal sense. An illness," the commander replied placidly. "An incurable plague, a virus spread through books and written records. Once infected, a person's knowledge and cognition were completely devoured. They became manic, frantic, yet mechanically conformist, instinctively pursuing crowds to infect even more people. "It wasn't just the Plague of Ignorance. Back then, the Age of Chaos had only recently ended, and all sorts of bizarre phenomena existed. "In an even earlier era, there were mimics that not even scholars or doctors could identify—shapeshifters mingling among humanity. They were reflections that crawled out from mirrors; after devouring the original person, they ran loose in the human world wearing their faces, causing no end of havoc. "There was a kind of fruit that granted eternal youth and immortality to whoever ate it, but at the cost of having their lifespan borne by a random stranger somewhere in the world. "And there were monsters whose mere sight would shatter an observer's soul, causing sensory overload and instant death. Back then, they lived within the clouds, migrating with storms and casting their gaze over living creatures. It was so bad that no animal dared look up at the sky. "In an era that feels like myth and ghost stories compared to now, there were countless things that would sound exaggerated even as jokes today. For instance, a worm capable of swallowing an entire city, leaving everyone to grow old and die inside an illusion within its belly. Or a giant serpent that doubled in size every day until it could encircle an entire continent..." Snap! A spark jumped, lighting the pipe. White Owl glanced at his animated expression, unimpressed. "If they were so formidable, why don't we see any of them today?" "Because they were all wiped out, of course," the commander chuckled, his smile turning cold. "Every single one. "The Plague of Ignorance and all books related to it were burned to ash. The mirror world and its reflections were utterly crushed, their ashes scattered, never to revive. The fruits of immortality had their very existence erased, rendering them impossible to manifest in reality. The monsters in the storms were vaporized by lightning alongside the storms themselves. "The colossal worm was devoured by an even vaster dragon. The giant serpent was hunted down by Celestial-Humans and reduced to dry bones, sinking to the seabed to form the mountain range that encircles the world. The old Haizhou was where its tail connected; its full name was actually... the Province of the Serpent Entering the Sea. "Everything that posed a threat to humanity was crushed, erased, left without even bones behind—all under the emperors' orders, sanction, or personal campaigns. "Even in the twilight of the Eternal Empire, the final emperor was still an ambitious ruler who strove vigorously to govern well. It was just that one man's strength could not contend with the greater tide, and in the end, he plummeted alongside the Tower of Tianyuan." "..." White Owl stared blankly, bewildered. "That... was really that bizarre? Then why did the Mohists rebel in the first place?" "Because an emperor is an emperor," the commander said calmly. "No matter how good an emperor is, he remains an emperor. The moment anyone—no matter how kind or compassionate—sits upon that throne, everything in this world is doomed to suffer devastation. "For example, what vanished from this world wasn't just the things I mentioned. There was also a third biological sex, a second diamond-shaped moon in the sky, an entire race of green-haired and red-skinned people, springs that were ubiquitous and could cure most diseases including cancer, the fledgling buds of a bafflingly complex science known as 'quantum' technology... All erased for trivial reasons like corrupting the imperial harem, being too dazzling, offending the imperial eye, or simply failing to highlight the supreme ruler's uniqueness. "Compared to those, the seventeen thousand unfortunates whose cause of death was 'being taller than the emperor' don't even warrant comparison. By the way, the short folks around today are really lucky, because that emperor was the tallest of them all—a full three meters forty-one. "Do you understand now? When one person is entitled to claim all the glory in the world, then all the suffering in the world becomes his original sin. "When one person can possess every choice, it means everyone else is left with none." Though the moonlight and stars were clear and bright, the commander's eyes were shrouded in the shadow beneath his brow, pitch-black. "The moment you realize gods exist who control everything, you begin longing for a world without them... "The Tower of Tianyuan took sixteen centuries to build. "During the first three centuries, everyone pulled together, yearning for the birth of a beautiful world of eternal peace. "By the seventh century, people had begun to ponder whether a world ruled and dominated by an emperor was truly so wonderful. And by the time the tenth century arrived, even more people began asking themselves: why should they gamble their own future and everyone else's on a so-called wise ruler for all eternity? "Why clasp shackles on themselves with their own hands and use their own spines to lift a god onto the altar? "Thus, the demigods of old slew the gods; after the emperor slew the demigods, he in turn was slain by mortals. When people realize that no one is born destined to be a slave to anything, they begin to wonder: why are there so many shackles in this world? "As long as shackles remain, rebels will arise. None of us are truly different. "The only distinction is that some rebels are called Mo, and some are called Nirvana... Some rebels are you, and some are me." Beneath the silvery-white moonlight, the world's greatest terrorist spread his arms and smiled. "And it is for this very reason that we came to be." Crunch. Crunch, crunch, crunch. The crisp sound of someone biting into an apple echoed. White Owl turned her head, spat the core into the sea, and gave an offhand nod. "Oh." "...Look at you, just look at you!" The commander sighed in exasperation. "Every time things get stirring and passionate, you're the only one completely unmoved, pouring cold water on everything." "Then spare me the routine! Save the pretty speeches for tricking kids!" White Owl rolled her eyes. "If I didn't already know you're an old coot with a screw loose, I might have actually bought it." "Well, being out of my mind is another matter entirely." Unbothered, as if accustomed to it or simply indifferent, the commander scrambled slightly to catch the map fragment White Owl tossed his way. His brows arched. "Damaged to this degree? That shouldn't be. The simulated persona inside has been completely dispersed... You didn't take your temper out on it and tear it to shreds, did you?" "If I told you Quicksilver came to life, snatched this thing, and ripped it up with a flick of her hand, would you believe me?" White Owl rolled her eyes and slumped into her chair. She opened her mouth, stopped, unsure where to begin, and rubbed her temples in vexation. "I ran into a kid on this trip into the Border Realm." "Hm?" The commander was puzzled. "Xiao Ye asked me to look after her kid. I figured since I was in the neighborhood, I might as well check in on him. And the result... was terrifying. Rather, I got the shock of my life." Recalling the scene she had witnessed with her own eyes, her hands trembled faintly. "The Edge of Revolution was actually awakened by him." "..." In the dead silence, the commander's eyes went wide, shocked as if he'd just heard the Empire had landed on the moon. "Seriously? Revolution would actually respond?" Refusing to believe it, he stood and moved to open the chest. Yet the moment he touched it, countless runes and sigils surfaced from the iron box, layered upon layer, as vast and magnificent as a cosmos. A mere brush against the handle was instantly met with a sizzling hiss. When he pulled his hand back, the flesh had already burned away to bare white bone. What was worse, no matter how he channeled his power, it could not undergo Restoration. Within the charred, festering wound, specks of ash glowed with shifting red embers, as though burning eternally. Unruly, fierce, and unyielding. With that, realization finally dawned on him. "...A Mandate Conscript." The commander murmured with feeling: "She really is something. Never expressing anything, never fond of talking, yet pulling off monumental feats without a sound. She was always like that. "Who knows, he might turn out to be a formidable opponent in the future." "A few decades earlier, I definitely would have pulled him up by the roots. But now that I'm old, I've gone soft-hearted. I suddenly couldn't bring myself to do it." White Owl puffed on her pipe and sighed wistfully. "Besides, Xiao Ye had a hell of a time recruiting a student; she must treasure him like the world. If he died by my hand, she'd hate me to death. The thought of being despised by one of my few friends made me hesitate... Tell me, could that be considered part of his Heaven's Mandate?" She turned back to look at the commander. "That because of all those prior factors, I was destined to be unable to interfere with any of this?" The commander countered, "What do you think Heaven's Mandate is?" "Huh?" White Owl stared blankly, a glimmer of pure, clueless bewilderment shining in eyes as innocent as a college student's. Mainly, the question was so abrupt and strange that she realized she couldn't explain it properly. But soon, she heard the commander's answer. "Heaven's Mandate is a result, Heaven's Mandate is a prophecy, and at the same time, Heaven's Mandate is bullshit—the biggest pile of bullshit in the world." The commander raised a hand and pointed at White Owl. "If you were a kid with nothing to your name, and someone told you that you were destined to become an emperor ruling the world, so hurry up, set out, and raise a rebellion, what would you do?" "I'd be damned if I believed you! Bad old coot full of wicked tricks!" "And what if you were already the emperor ruling the world, and someone came up to you and said, 'The reason you became emperor was all thanks to the prophecy I made back then; this is Heaven's Mandate!' What would you do then?" White Owl's eyes flashed. "Dare talk to me like that? Do you buy nine generations of your family at wholesale?!" "See? You already understand the essence of Heaven's Mandate." The commander spread his hands and grinned. "Heaven's Mandate is merely a phantom perceived by later generations looking back at results. "Perhaps a series of coincidences throughout your life pushed you into an unforeseen height. Or perhaps from the very beginning you possessed grand ambitions, refusing to quit no matter how many times you were defeated... "When countless variables collide with countless variables, the singular solution observed and collapsed from them is deemed 'fate' by fools, who use such a grandiose premise in a vain attempt to encompass everything. "Yet when it comes down to it, what governs all is neither Sovereign Virtue nor a destiny bestowed by the heavens. "The point of origin for everything is yourself. "Perhaps you cannot govern the world, but your destiny at this moment lies in your own hands. "Take this for example—" The commander pointed a finger at himself. "If you suddenly pulled a gun, shot me dead right here, disbanded Nirvana, and severed this lineage... would future generations look back and see that as the Heaven's Mandate bestowed upon you by Sovereign Virtue?" "..." White Owl propped her chin in thought, analyzing calmly, weighing carefully, and considering solemnly, an eager glint surfacing in her eyes. "Sounds pretty appealing, actually." "Never mind, forget it," the commander raised his hands in surrender. "We're both old bags of bones. Spare me the trouble, have mercy." "Then... are you saying man triumphs over heaven?" "No." The commander shook his head resolutely, without hesitation. "Most likely not. Just thinking about it, winning is absurdly difficult. The vast majority of people will fail, and those who happen to win once might not win again. "However..." He paused, unable to suppress his smile and sheer delight. "Going against so-called 'predetermined destiny' just feels so damn good." No matter what kind of person you were, once you tasted it, you could never stop. Just like ambition. Just like ideals. Just like defying odds far beyond one's strength. It was a poison far more potent than wealth or beauty, leaving people eternally entranced. Once swallowed, there was no cure. Even if one suffered every hardship and tasted endless agony, it remained sweet as honey. Beep, beep, beep— A crisp chime rang out—an alarm on a phone. "Oh, oh, oh—it's starting!" The commander grew excited, unable to keep talking as he pointed up at the sky. "Look, quick!" "At what?" White Owl raised her head, looking where he pointed. A canopy of stars sparkled against the deep night sky. The silver moonlight illuminated all creation, while the river of stars surged as if without end. Yet the moment she looked up, the moonlight seemed to flicker. At the edge of the moon, something brushed past—a momentary nick, so tiny and faint. "A lunar eclipse?" White Owl asked, puzzled. "Is that so rare?" "Originally, not at all." The commander stared transfixed at that patch of pure, spotless moonlight, a brilliant smile on his face. Only after a long while did he slowly pull back his gaze. "Two hours before you got back, I received word: the Southern Continent Observatory discovered that the predicted partial lunar eclipse was delayed by one minute. "The cause was an error in a reference value—specifically, an anomaly in historical records. Only when they went back and compiled the data did they discover that this deviation had appeared over two hundred years ago. It was just so miniscule that not even the Empire's core supercomputer could detect it... until now, when a retrospective review revealed this unexpected anomaly." He held up his phone screen. The complex data on the display made White Owl dizzy, utterly incomprehensible to her, but what stood out most was the image in the center. A brilliant, sprawling observation spectrum. After repeated calculations and thousands of magnifications, there appeared a slender, blurred black trace, like a notch... "Do you know what this means?" The commander muttered various technical terms and figures that White Owl couldn't fathom, his eyes shining with excitement like a child's. He said, "In the past, something was changed." "Huh?" White Owl stood frozen. After a long period of bewilderment, her expression slowly shifted, barely able to suppress her horror. "Wait! You mean... Quicksilver? No way." "How could that be possible?!" She flatly refuted it. "Ever since the Tower of Tianyuan broke, there's no longer..." "Yet isn't there another object that could serve as a coordinate and a beacon?" The commander interrupted her, lifting his hand to rest upon the iron chest before them. The dormant, rusted sword remained utterly motionless, not even bothering to show a hint of the miraculous. One could see no trace of the terrifying, world-shaking power it had once wielded... —The Edge of Revolution! Long ago, the former Juzi had left it behind in Quicksilver's Border Realm. As the leader of Mo, he had forcefully saddled Quicksilver with a final duty: to safeguard this Sovereign Virtue Implement that had forged her eternal agony. Or perhaps, to leave behind an infinitesimal sliver of a turning point for her... Until four hundred years later, when the kindling was rekindled from the cycle of reincarnation. The two awakenings of the Edge of Revolution had stirred an irresistible resonance across time, leaving behind matching colors and marks upon the tapestry of Sovereign Virtue, echoing outward. To a Sage lost in the past, such a flash of light was practically a beacon in the dark of night! And so, the burning soul crossed the abyss and soared. Burning like a star, plummeting toward the past. In the long silence, White Owl stood dazed, opening her mouth several times only to stop. Finally, she asked at a loss, "Did she succeed?" "No one knows. No one can know," the commander slowly shook his head. "What she held was a one-way ticket, gambling everything she had, even burning her soul to cinders. "What happened, what she encountered, what she experienced, what she did... whether it was a success or a failure, no one knows except her." Sighing softly, he imagined that radiance plummeting against time toward the past, his heart stirring involuntarily: "That really was... a magnificent 'arrow.'" No matter how intricate and stirring the tapestry of Sovereign Virtue, no matter how stern and cruel the original fate, a flaw had now appeared. No matter how miniscule a flaw. It was still a flaw. So-called destiny was so immense, seemingly all-encompassing, yet so fragile... fragile to the point where even if you fell into the mud and the abyss, as long as you possessed the courage to climb back up, it was already a tremendous defiance. As long as you could reach out your hand and loose an arrow of vengeance, it was enough to shake its seemingly grand and solemn authority. Such was the final rebellion launched by the Sage of the past against the predetermined Heaven's Mandate! "Now do you see?" The commander smiled, gazing out at the starry sky. "So-called fate is nothing more than this. There's no need to heed any Heaven's Mandate, nor care about some unseen predestination. In this life, isn't the fun found in doing whatever you damn well please?" White Owl shook her head. "That sounds utterly outrageous." "Can't be helped. Human effort shapes destiny, and one must always accomplish something. Yet a life of accomplishment is just far too difficult..." Amidst his sigh, he untied the mooring line, feeling the ocean breeze on his face, and chuckled. "Let's go." The greatest terrorist of the present age, the commander of Nirvana, the contemporary Juzi softly sighed, looking upon the sky, the sea, and all of creation: "Let's go make this world... accomplish a little more!" In the distant echoes of the tide, a solitary boat sailed away into the distance. Yet across the limpid, profound night sky, fresh flashes of light surged forth once more, cutting across the predetermined orbits of the stars. Breaking free of their shackles, they released a fleeting, dazzling glow. One streak, then another. Meteors fell like rain, sparkling like tears. So brilliant, so tender. Under the very same night sky, the verdant bird perched by the window, staring up in a daze, and laughed happily: "Big Brother, look, Mama is watching us!" "Is that so?" Leaning against the windowsill, Ji Jue looked up into the distance and sighed softly from the bottom of his heart: "It really is beautiful." Two days later, at 1:26 a.m., an explosion suddenly tore through Rhine Port in the Southern Continent's Empire. That same day, the Empire's newly appointed Mid-Continent Warden, Lucius, was assassinated. With the man dead, his policies died with him. Within the Senate, the bill for joint development and bipolar cooperation between the Empire and the Federation—which Lucius had championed tirelessly during his life—was aborted just like that, dying a quiet death. Amid vast resource disputes and the shifting, volatile situation of the Mid-Continent, tensions across the present world flared once more. Not long after, the White Nation—rebuilt after an absence of over ninety years—and the White King, who had inherited the title of Sacrificial King, publicly announced that they would launch a blood-feud war against the Red Nation until the remains of the previous White King were reclaimed and the Red Crown bowed before the White Crown! The Federation military once again opened bidding to various partners, among which Universal Heavy Industries took the lead by securing shipbuilding orders valued at four hundred and forty billion... Following that abrupt clap of thunder, the mountains of the era rained down. Yet none of it had anything to do with Ji Jue, who at this moment was still merely a speck of dust. He looked down at his wristwatch, at the pop-up notification that had hovered before his eyes ever since he exited the Border Realm... [Border Realm Essence filling complete. Connection system activation finished. Proceed to Central Dispatch Center?] The answer was without a shadow of a doubt... —NO!!!! Those goddamn bastards! Freeloading off him so many times, and they still wanted more? Go to hell! He rolled over and shut his eyes. To hell with the world and the future. Time to sleep!