Chapter 298: Betrayal

Tan Xin looked at her deeply and didn't say anything more, walking straight toward the fourth floor. At the same time, the red-haired woman walked out of the passage toward the upper floors, their figures crossing each other.

Tan Xin arrived at the intersection of the fourth floor. He glanced at the right side, which had long been empty—that was the location of Laboratory No. 0...

Then, he turned and walked to the left.

After passing through a dark road leading underground, Tan Xin finally stood before a heavy metal door. He entered a string of secret codes and pushed the door open to enter.

Behind the door was a sealed underground space, with gray load-bearing columns standing without decoration. In this dull, unfinished room, a figure was holding a ping-pong paddle, hitting a ball against the wall repeatedly.

"Leader," Tan Xin said calmly.

"You’re here?"

The Leader glanced at him. It was this brief distraction that caused the paddle to miss the falling ping-pong ball, which landed on the ground with a clatter.

"I already know about what happened outside," the Leader said slowly while picking up the ball. "The cold disaster has caused heavy losses in Aurora City. Some souls have already drifted out of their bodies and are gradually dissipating... The number of souls available for the Aurora Lord to absorb is becoming fewer and fewer. The 'Reappearance' plan must be launched as soon as possible, otherwise the success rate will only be lower."

"I came here today to discuss this matter with you."

"Oh?"

Tan Xin took a deep breath. "I do not agree with the 'Reappearance' plan."

The Leader’s movements paused slightly. He looked at Tan Xin with slight surprise, his voice remaining peaceful. "Why?"

"A loss is a loss," Tan Xin said in a deep voice. "For these three hundred-plus years, the Aurora Base has achieved almost nothing. The 'Reappearance' plan has no possibility of success... We have failed to find a way out for humanity, and we have failed to maintain the Aurora Realm. We are failures."

"And so?"

"Failure means we should cut our losses in time. I believe the 'Reappearance' plan has no need to be implemented; it is merely a fig leaf for the Aurora Base to cover up its own failure."

The Leader watched him for a long time and sighed. "So, you still haven't given up on the 'Hand of Redemption' plan."

"At the very least, it can let the three million-plus people in Aurora City 'live,' and the Aurora Realm won't disappear completely... What we can't do, perhaps other realms can. If they find a way to undo everything, at least there is a possibility of Aurora City reappearing... But if we execute the 'Reappearance' plan now and fail, we will have nothing left."

The Leader did not answer. He walked silently to the wall of the room, looking at the snowy scenery outside the window drawn with colored chalk, and spoke slowly:

"Tan Xin, do you remember... how I taught you back then?"

"The fate of humanity always transcends all individuals."

"Among that batch of children back then, your personality was the most decisive and cold-hearted... Everyone thought you were the best seed, but I knew very well that your heart was softer than anyone else’s." The Leader turned to look at him. "I thought you would improve after growing up and becoming this Deputy Chief. Now it seems... you are still the same as when you were a child.

You are too emotional."

"I have never been emotional. I know what I am doing... It is you who cannot accept the failure of the Aurora Base; your methods have become extreme."

"You should know better than me what the Aurora Lord means. Only if he lives can the Aurora Realm have a possibility of reappearing, and only then can we continue to study him and find the hope for humanity to turn the tables from him... What he represents is the future of humanity!

Standing from the perspective of humanity, as long as he can be kept alive, it is worth sacrificing any number of people, no matter how slim the probability of success...

But you... you actually want to sacrifice the Aurora Lord?"

"We have spent three hundred years without getting any results from him. Even if we had another three hundred, three thousand years! When technology returns to the Stone Age, do you think we will have gained anything? No, we will gain nothing!" Tan Xin took a deep breath and spoke word by word.

"The Aurora Lord is not the future of humanity; all of humanity is."

The Leader looked at Tan Xin, and Tan Xin looked back at him without fear. The air suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

"It seems our philosophies have come into conflict," the Leader said slowly. "However, you should know that I am the one who represents the Aurora Base and steers the fate of humanity... As the order maintainer sent by the base to the surface, according to the Aurora Base’s initial Clause 001, you do not have the qualifications to participate in final decisions involving the fate of humanity."

"I know."

"Then... as the sole Leader of the Aurora Base, I veto the 'Hand of Redemption' plan."

Tan Xin watched him quietly, seemingly not surprised by this result... After a complex flash in the depths of his eyes, one hand slowly rose from his trench coat.

A pitch-black gun muzzle was aimed at the Leader’s forehead.

"Then... I, betray the Aurora Base."

Bang—!

Facing the Leader who had once raised him, Tan Xin pulled the trigger without the slightest hesitation. A beam of fire burst out, and the bullet instantly pierced the Leader’s forehead!

The Leader stared at him, seemingly not expecting Tan Xin to betray the Aurora Base. After stumbling into the wall behind him, he slowly slumped down... and finally fell before the window drawn in chalk.

Scarlet blood flowed on the gray-white floor, spreading to Tan Xin’s feet. At almost the same time, a soft sound came from the lightbulb!

Snap—

The Aurora Base’s circuitry failed again, and the room fell into darkness and silence.

Tan Xin looked at the Leader’s figure fallen in the darkness, closing his eyes in reluctance for a second before slowly opening them, regaining his calm and reason, and turning to walk toward the upper floors.

Half a minute after he left, a seamless door in the corner of this sealed room was slowly pushed open...

In the Aurora Base, no one knew that a secret room was hidden in the Leader’s room, along with an aged figure who had lived there for who knows how many years.

The figure was disheveled, his hair extremely messy. He looked expressionlessly in the direction Tan Xin had left, not even looking down at the "Leader’s" corpse, before turning and returning to the narrow secret room...

In the secret room, there were only three items:

A toilet, a bed, and the oldest copper speaking tube.

The figure walked to the speaking tube, uncovered the rusty lid, and a voice as calm as a still lake rang out:

"Deputy Chief Arbiter Tan Xin has violated Clause 001 and betrayed the Aurora Base. He is listed as the realm’s number one wanted target... All personnel are to hunt and kill him by any means, regardless of the cost. Retrieve the detonator for the 'Reappearance' plan explosives within three hours.

Anyone who harbors him will be guilty of the same crime."