Chapter 729: I Am Very Happy

I stood still, holding back my tears, then nodded heavily.

“Promise me, be a good child,” she said, hugging me and whispering in my ear. “Do whatever you want to do. Do what an eight-year-old should do. Love this world well.”

Her tears fell onto my shoulder, and I finally couldn’t hold back my sobs.

Until the very last moment, it was Sister who spoke to me… I didn’t say a single word to her…

“Yingxiong, I’m leaving. You must be happy, okay?” She stood up, her eyes red, lips tightly pressed together as if struggling to keep her tears from falling.

But I couldn’t hold back at all. It felt like all my tears were pouring out at once, forming the most heartbreaking waterfall I’d ever seen in my life.

Sister lay back on the table, and at that moment, the “Divine Dragon” slowly raised his blade.

“I can feel it—your power has faded significantly,” the “Divine Dragon” said. “After all this torment, you won’t have to suffer anymore.”

“Sorry for the trouble…” Sister said with a tearful, bitter smile. “Kill me…”

“Mm. Forgive me,” the “Divine Dragon” replied.

Amid my wailing, the “Divine Dragon” plunged the knife down.

That single strike took away the flesh from my body, the light from my heart, and the swallow by my side.

Sister Siwei’s wound showed no signs of healing. She had given up.

She left this world of endless pain and despair—finally free.

She went to a place where no one would hit her, scold her, or control her.

But I would never see her again.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed to my knees, weeping uncontrollably.

A few minutes later, the “Divine Dragon” approached me and said softly, “Crying is useless.”

My sobs gradually weakened as I lifted my head to look at her.

Her lizard-like face was covered in dark green scales, yet I felt no fear at all.

“What… did you say?”

“Do what she wanted you to do,” the “Divine Dragon” said. “Today, she brought thousands to gamble their lives in my ‘Envious Mandarin Ducks.’ I thought this city was doomed, but she left you behind. Maybe there’s still a sliver of hope.”

The “Divine Dragon” took a remote from her pocket and pressed a button. The exhaust fans around the swimming pool roared to life, and the moisture in the air vanished within minutes, revealing the true nature of the game arena before my eyes.

This was no “swimming pool.” It was an enormous, boiling “cauldron.”

A curved divider split the cauldron into two halves, like a yin-yang symbol. One side held a red liquid, the other white, both bubbling violently.

And inside… were countless corpses.

The bodies tumbled in the boiling liquid, their skin split open. If not for their ghastly wounds, I might have thought they were still alive.

“I couldn’t bear to hear her screams in the red broth, so I pulled her out to give her a quick death,” the “Divine Dragon” said, her voice tinged with sorrow. “But then you came. It seems you were truly the only one she cared about. Now that she’s let go, she can finally rest.”

So that was it. This must be the “karma” of this world.

I don’t know if “karma” really gave me those ten minutes, but I know Sister Siwei’s subconscious fought to survive. She kept using her “healing” power until I arrived.

I don’t remember how I left the “Divine Dragon’s” game arena.

All I recall is clutching the bedsheet Sister had draped over me as I returned to my tiny room and collapsed on the floor, utterly exhausted.

I hugged the sheet tightly until the blood on it no longer felt cold—only then did I realize the coldest thing was my own heart.

The people in the building were still cheering, celebrating their “ascension,” eagerly imagining their turn tomorrow. And at last, I understood Sister Siwei’s thoughts.

This was the best outcome, wasn’t it?

Those so-called “subjects” were even more dangerous than the “wanderers.” The wanderers were harmless—but these people weren’t.

The next morning, before anyone else woke, I gathered everything Sister had given me and left the building.

I mounted my bicycle and chased the wind.

I never had to worry about those people again…

The wind rushed against my face as Sister’s words echoed in my mind:

“Do whatever you want to do.”

“Do what an eight-year-old should do.”

“Be happy. Love this world.”

What I wanted to do… I wanted to ride my bike as fast as I could down the streets. I wanted to scream.

Yes, I wanted to scream.

“AHHHHHH!!!”

Tears streaming down my face, I howled into the empty streets.

“AHHHHHH!!!”

I didn’t know why I was screaming—I just needed to.

Gripping the handlebars, I yelled into the foul wind. I had nothing left. All I could do was scream.

“Sister!! I’m happy!!” I cried, lifting my head. “Do you see me, Sister?! I’m so happy!!”

I wished I could be happy. But the tears wouldn’t stop.

I braked suddenly and rushed into a nearby building, climbed onto a table, and jumped up and down with all my strength.

“AHHHHHH!!!” I screamed as I jumped, crying and shouting as if trying to smash the table beneath me. “Sister! Do you see me?! I’m doing what I want!!”

I’m happy… I’m…

My cries echoed through the abandoned city, but no one would ever hear them again.

Only now, after so long, did I realize how powerless my desires truly were.

This was just my obsession—not what I truly wanted.

What I truly wanted had been decided long ago:

I wanted to become a real “hero.”