Chapter 134: The Bell Tolls for a Shattered Nation_5
"Devil! You cruel devil!"
"Come down already!"
"Come down!"
Harvey was at a loss; he shook his head blankly, beginning to explain to the people here.
He shouted loudly—
"It's not like that, it's not like that!"
"All the joy here is fake! All this joy is just a trap that robs you of your other emotions!"
"Everything in Zone B is a lie too! That place is like hell, there's no way to survive!"
"I am saving you, and there are so many people who went to Zone B... They are living a life worse than death, and everything we enjoy here is plunder and exploitation of them!"
Harvey explained in panic, carrying the most painful moment in everyone's hearts, yet he never anticipated that he would be intercepted by the most malicious moments in their hearts.
It had no effect whatsoever.
Harvey's explanations fell on deaf ears. At this moment, Zhou Baiyu also heard the endless slew of abuses.
"Isn't it just that the people in Zone B are nourishing Zone A with their desires? What's wrong with that, who cares about that lot! Who asked you to play the hero here!"
"Hahaha, why remember such suffering? What's the point? I never want to go back to scrounging through garbage in the apocalypse again!"
The speaker was the very brother who had been saved by his older brother, who had sacrificed his life to attract the monster's fire.
He indeed took a long time to grieve for his brother.
But when he truly started integrating here, he began to experience the joy of this place.
The painful past and the cruel reality did not destroy their fraternal love.
Yet, within a short time, the allure of desire made him unable to revert to being that brother ever again.
He could never become like his elder brother.
"Future matters can be thought about in the future. Who wants to remember those who have died? Their deaths, what do they have to do with us? We didn't ask them to save us, just as we didn't ask you to meddle in our affairs!"
"We're happy, isn't that good enough?"
The child who had once been shielded by his mother had long since grown up.
In the endless indulgence, he seemed to have forgotten his mother's face.
But no matter, he didn't need the company of any elders; in such a paradise, everything was joyous for him.
Even sometimes he wondered, how perfect would life be without those memories?
Just like the man who had carried his wife all the way to the Land of Joy and had long forgotten about her, lost in the glass houses.
The tide-like curses and accusations drowned Harvey, as well as Zhou Baiyu.
On both sides of the endless bridge, black arms emerged from the dark river of desire.
These arms stretched out from the surface of the river, extending continuously until they eventually reached out for Zhou Baiyu, trying to pull him off the bridge.
The immense force caused Zhou Baiyu's body to start tilting.
In that moment, Zhou Baiyu finally understood—
That was the scenario Harvey had encountered at the final step...
Harvey wanted to save everyone, to help them reclaim their sorrow.
But what he received was endless blame and insults.
Harvey Nierbas at the end of the staircase was so alone.
The burden of his burning conviction became ludicrous all of a sudden.
Just like Zhou Baiyu at this moment.
His anguish didn't destroy him; the ideal country constructed by Boluke didn't corrode him.
He had never stopped because he truly believed that what he carried was valuable and meaningful.
Each person he saved was filling the regrets of those who had died selflessly!
He hoped that the brother who distracted the monster could know from beyond the grave that his younger brother was still alive and had never forgotten him.
He hoped that the child protected by his mother could understand the significance of humans guarding others and become a Guardian himself one day.
But he found that under the Land of Joy's distorted, unceasing indulgence, they were completely unrecognizable.
Their appearances, even more hideous than those in Zone B!
Zhou Baiyu's passion was doused in an instant.
He suddenly realized that the people he saved might not be worth saving.
The heavy memories he bore, which should have been the most important treasures in these people's lives... now seemed absurd and laughable.
He laughed quietly to himself, suddenly feeling so alone at this moment.
Vast illusions swarmed over him.
He seemed to see, many years in the future, Tianxia Wuer killing old teammates who had fought together on Nightmare Bridge.
Because the world was at peace, there was no need for pioneers anymore.
He also saw ancient monarchs, at the moment of their greatest achievements, slaughtering their once loyal subjects.
He saw how many heroes who had protected others were betrayed by short-sighted people for immediate benefits.
And he saw countless people committing all sorts of ignoble acts, inhumane deeds to stay in the Land of Joy, to please Boluke.
"The ones you save, are they the most evil, the most foolish, the most fundamentally flawed creatures in the world? Even so, do you still wish to save them?"
Harvey still had his back to Zhou Baiyu.
This man, who, like himself, had reached the top of the heavenly ladder, now faced the same choice.
When the passion cooled, the hammer used to ring the great bell had disappeared.
When the faith in bearing the grief of many was questioned, the great sphere of light became incredibly heavy, almost immobilizing him.
In the dark river, the dragging of those arms made Zhou Baiyu's slender figure start to wobble.
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