Blue Sword

"I don't understand." Rasul said strangely, "The survival of mankind and the survival of civilization. Is there any conflict between the two?"

Mi'er and Mia were also watching. After hearing Rasul's question, Mia asked:

"Mi'er, what is civilization?"

"Uh..." Mi'er said that this thing is too complicated and I don't know how to explain it to you. She only heard the voice continue:

"To give the most understandable example: Suppose that in a few hundred years, all the technology, resources and means of production of human civilization are in the hands of a few people."

"These people used this to enslave the vast majority of the world's people. However, the enslaved people lacked resources and education, and could not even guarantee their own survival and reproduction opportunities. In the end, they decided to use violence to resist."

"If they succeed in their resistance, they will inevitably overthrow the ruling class and at the same time destroy the production order and science and technology they possess."

"Then, from the perspective of the survival of civilization, these people's resistance should be prevented to avoid any damage; however, from the perspective of human survival, this deformed social structure that oppresses the majority of people should be overturned as soon as possible. I explain it this way, can you Understand?"

"I see," Rasul said thoughtfully.

"I understand too." Mi'er murmured.

"I don't understand!" Mia almost burst into tears. Wouldn't it be nice to overthrow that oppression? Why would it cause damage to that?

"So, the purpose of the 'revolution' process is the same as the purpose of the Messiah." Natalie said seriously.

"That's right." The voice replied, "Otherwise, it won't be me who appears in front of you now, but the Templar Knights holding butcher knives."

It sounds right. If it were hostile to us, we would have no way to resist. Natalie breathed a sigh of relief and heard Rasul ask impatiently:

"So, do you know what is the inheritance that allows me to condense the laws of destiny? My ritual mission asked me to come to you..."

"Yes." Revolutionary Process replied, "The inheritance you are referring to is the Fruit of Eden, which is the sacred instrument of the law of destiny. It is designed that only the Messiah of each generation can possess it, and will actively guide the chosen one. The Messiah will find it—if it is not in the Messiah’s hand.”

"It's just that a few generations before you, the Revolutionary Army organization at that time was destroyed due to an accident, resulting in the Fruit of Eden falling into the hands of the Holy See and being contained by the Encluid project as a deterrent level R3."

"The new generation of Messiah, you need to get it back. I will do my best to assist you in this regard."

"Okay." Natalie nodded.

"In addition, I need to remind you." The revolutionary process continued, "I am just a process branch of Raphael and cannot mobilize too many computing resources."

"In fact, after frequent version iterations, my ontology has confirmed the prediction of L.J. Brutus under the long-term algorithm correction by the empire's high-level officials and the Holy See. Now it values ​​the survival of civilization more than human beings, even at the cost of the Holy See. and the interests of big business to oppress and sacrifice the majority of human subjects.”

"Even with my help, you still have to have a potential confrontation with my body. And once you are exposed to its gaze, it will choose to kill you without mercy."

"Are you ready to wake up?"

"Messiah will never be afraid of fate." Natalie said firmly, "because..."

The scene suddenly froze. Mi'er and Mia recovered and saw another Rasul standing beside them.

Not the young and competitive young man Rasul next to Natalie, but the unpredictable assassin mentor in reality.

"You see." Rasul whispered, "This is who I was back then, just like you are now, I am both curious and deeply afraid of the existence of the revolutionary army and the Messiah."

"So, the fundamental purpose of the revolutionary army's existence is to maintain the survival of mankind?" Mi'er asked.

"Yes." Rasul replied, "We are not opposed to the survival of civilization, but we value the survival of human beings more."

"After all, without civilization, we would suffer heavy losses; but without humans, we would have nothing."

"Master." Mia asked curiously, "What exactly is civilization?"

"Civilization is most of the things around you." Rasul obviously considered little Mia's IQ and explained in plain language, "The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, and the things you live in The streets and buildings we see, the stories and poems we hear, etc., all the things created by humans are part of human civilization.”

"But if someone comes out one day and tells you that only one of these things and you can exist. So in order for civilization to continue to develop, I ask you to be enslaved, exploited, or even die. Are you willing?"

"I don't want to." Mia said without hesitation, "If I can't enjoy these things, what's the point of their existence to me?"

"You're right, this is the essence of human nature." Rasul nodded approvingly, thinking that although my apprentice was a bit stupid, he was obedient after all.

Then he looked at Mi'er.

"What happened next?" Mi'er looked at Natalie, "What happened next?"

"I was too young at the time and didn't know what the choice she made actually meant." Rasul was silent for a long time before saying, "As a messiah who has lost his organization, she actually does not have any resources. Accumulation. Even the materials and formulas for the potions used to cultivate us were secretly stolen from the Holy See’s experimental projects.”

"However, the difficulty of stealing the Fruit of Eden was far higher than she expected."

His thoughts moved slightly, and the scene changed again:

This time it was late at night in Solomon City. A large number of drones were flying in the sky, and the Templars were searching stores door to door.

Rasul carried Natalie, who was covered in blood, and roughly opened the front door of the bar. He pointed his gun at the panicked bar owner and roared:

"Take me to the cellar! Hurry!"

The bar owner raised his hands and hurriedly led him to the cellar - the one where he could avoid Raphael's surveillance.

Arriving at the cellar door, Rasul shot the bar owner twice, breaking his legs.

The hotel owner wailed miserably, but quickly shut his mouth because Rasul had already put the gun to his head:

"Stay here and shut up or die!"

"If it were me now," Rasul, standing next to Mi'er, looked at himself in memory and said, "I would definitely shoot him."

Everyone watched as Rasul carried Natalie deep into the cellar and then put her down.

The bullet pierced her lungs and chest, and blood was flowing from her wounds. Rasul hurriedly tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but Natalie grabbed his hand and stuffed a golden apple into his hand.

"This is... something for you..." the fat nun said weakly, trying to force out her usual warm smile, but failed.

"Natalie!" Rasul's face was filled with tears and he was almost choked with sobs. "Why do you have to do this for me..."

"Don't blame yourself, Rasul." Natalie, who was dying, put her hand on his head and murmured, "It's not your fault..."

"Because... each of us..."

"Everyone is destined to bear a heavy burden..."

"...fate."

Her hand dropped into a pool of blood.

Rasul knelt before her body, his head hung low.

I don't know how long he was silent before he whispered:

"Natalie...Mom..."

"I will respect your last wish and re-establish the revolutionary army."

"But I won't be the Messiah."

He slowly raised his head, and under his eyes filled with bloodshot eyes and hatred, the golden apple suddenly bloomed with dazzling light.

"Because I will be..."

“…Antichrist.”

The voice echoed in the small cellar, and he had disappeared with Natalie's body.

The scene is completely frozen.

But Mi'er had already guessed the result: he should have been transferred to a parallel world, a parallel world where the Holy See was not looking for them.

Then evacuate the scope of Solomon City and return to the original world line to avoid the pursuit of the Holy See.

"So, this is the ending of the story." Rasul, standing next to Mi'er, said quietly, "Mi'er, what's your answer?"

"I'm sorry." Mi'er was silent for a while and finally replied, "I'm very sad about the death of your adoptive mother."

"But I don't believe in fate, nor do I believe in any predestined arrangements."

"Rasul, have you ever thought about it?" she said in a deep voice, "If there really is a so-called destiny that wants you to become the next leader of the revolutionary army, then will it be the Fruit of Eden or the revolutionary process? itself?"

"In order to force you to accept the fate it arranged, this fate killed Natalie to arouse your revenge. You desperately needed power, so you were forced to walk on the path it designed for you."

"Originally you didn't want to be a savior, but Natalie's death deeply stimulated you. In the end, you chose to surrender, succumbed to the so-called fate, and became the Messiah that Natalie hoped for. Although you changed this identity Renamed the Antichrist, but it doesn’t really make any difference.”

"Honey." Mia pulled her sleeve nervously, because the expression on Rasul's face made her a little scared. However, Mier still stared at Rasul firmly, and her attitude did not loosen at all.

"Are you accusing me of lacking courage?" The smile on Rasul's face froze.

"Yes." Mi'er said calmly, "At least in my opinion, if you could have been tougher at that time..."

"For example, if you fiercely resist the path Natalie has arranged for you and make her give up handing over the inheritance of the Messiah to you, maybe she will not die later."

"After all, neither the Fruit of Eden nor the revolutionary process will let the current Messiah die easily before the next successor is found, right?"

"Yes, although I was reluctant, I always moved in the direction she arranged for me." Rasul replied softly, with a trace of sadness in his eyes, "If I had rejected her from the beginning, maybe Natalie Then you won’t steal the Fruit of Eden, and you can avoid the end of death.”

"But what you said wrong is that I have never regretted becoming the Antichrist from beginning to end."

"It was not fate that forced me to embark on this path, but the choice I made."

The scene turned again, and the three of them returned to the real tailor shop. They saw Medea sitting on the counter with her arms folded, looking over with a cold look, her expression obviously unhappy.

"Miss Cameliga, I brought your two companions back." Rasul replied.

"So she didn't promise you?" Medea sneered, and she noticed that Rasul still called Mi'er "your companion."

"Yes." Rasul said with a smile, "But..."

"It's still expected."