The White Tiger's Bedtime Story

He didn't care whether this ship would sink or not, nor did he care if the passengers were comfortable. That was not something he needed to consider.

Before speaking, he deliberately altered his voice to ensure Long Ao wouldn't recognize it.

Chen Guan's question was like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil, causing the briefly frozen atmosphere to boil over once again.

The light and shadow on Long Ao's side flickered violently, clearly provoked by Chen Guan's calm "What do I need to do?"

He couldn't understand how this newcomer, who was just like him, could have absolutely no emotional fluctuation after hearing such an appalling truth, and instead jump straight to the execution phase.

"How can you..." Long Ao's voice could not be suppressed, carrying the unique, unpolished anger of a young man. "What gives us the right to decide the life and death of others? What gives us the right to excise a city? There are living, breathing people in there!"

The swaying light and shadow of Santai moved again. "We aren't playing a role-playing game of gods. We can't be everyone's savior."

"Diseased tissue should be cleaned out." The person speaking this time was Southern Dipper. "Emotion is the most high-risk factor affecting judgment. Based on your reaction, you are not competent for tasks that require excision operations."

"Southern Dipper." Beidou's voice rang out, not heavy, but it made Southern Dipper shut his mouth.

Beidou shifted his gaze to Long Ao. "Vermilion Bird, your doubts are perfectly normal. Every newcomer goes through this stage. But the ship is sinking, and we do not have the time to argue over the ownership of every passenger's luggage."

He paused, a trace of indescribable meaning in his tone. "Your grandfather asked the exact same question back then. But in the end, he made a choice."

At the mention of his grandfather, Long Ao's light and shadow froze.

These people actually knew his grandfather?

"White Tiger." Beidou turned in another direction. "You are their guide. Going forward, I leave these two newcomers to you. As members of the Four Symbols, they are meant to be your subordinates."

"Received," White Tiger replied frivolously. He stretched lazily; the great Lord White Tiger was finally no longer a commander without an army.

"I..." Long Ao wanted to say something else.

"Data supplement." Southern Dipper's flat, uninflected voice sounded again.

"Vermilion Bird, based on your emotional fluctuations and conversational logic just now, I have built a preliminary behavioral prediction model for you. The model shows that when faced with the classic moral dilemma of sacrificing the minority to save the majority, you have a ninety-two percent probability of abandoning the mission objective and turning to save the minority instead."

"This behavioral pattern is defined as high-risk emotional decision-making."

"Conclusion: Before you complete your psychological adjustment, it is not recommended that you execute any missions. Please supervise this, White Tiger."

Every word of this statement pierced Long Ao's self-esteem like a needle.

He was a warrior, yet he was evaluated as high-risk and in need of supervision.

The light and shadow representing Long Ao seemed to dim a few shades. Long Ao also closed his mouth and said no more.

Silence lasted for a moment.

"Alright." This time it was Beidou who spoke. "Since there are no further questions, this orientation meeting is adjourned. Remember your identities, and remember your goals."

As soon as his voice fell, the scene before Chen Guan's eyes began to distort. The pitch-black stone round table and those blurry lights and shadows rapidly receded.

In the next second, he was already back in his single room.

The token in his hand returned to its quaint appearance, the faint blue light on its surface completely withdrawn, though its temperature was slightly higher than before.

Chen Guan placed the token on the table.

They said it was to meet his colleagues, but he hadn't even seen a single colleague's face.

White Tiger's mouth was full of deceitful lies.

Although he hadn't been assigned any tasks and hadn't seen any faces, at least this time he knew the purpose of the group.

What he was most curious about was the leader, Zero Sum. To be able to gather such a group of people with vastly different personalities, both personal charisma and individual strength were indispensable.

It was just a pity that he didn't get to see him this time either.

Chen Guan sat on the edge of the bed, his fingers unconsciously tapping the token on the table.

The object had completely cooled down, its touch no different from before. If tossed on the street, probably no one would even bother to pick it up.

Survive.

Beidou's voice still echoed in his ears. It was a goal so heavy it left one breathless.

But for him, this goal was dismantled into more specific things: popularity points, soul-nourishing wood, natural heavenly treasures, and the slumbering true body inside the coffin.

The survival of the world had nothing to do with him.

He only wanted to make his own world wake up again.

...

Inside the VIP hospital ward, the atmosphere was oppressive.

Long Ao sat on the edge of the bed, his fists clenched tight, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

The world was a sinking ship? They were the surgeons responsible for excising diseased tissue?

That excised tissue consisted of living, breathing people, cities, everything he had sworn to protect.

"This isn't right..." he muttered softly. He thought again of his grandfather, whom Beidou had mentioned.

Could his grandfather also be connected to these people?

An Changqing was not in the room; he had already returned to his own ward. For a moment, Long Ao didn't even know who to turn to if he wanted to confide in someone.

Beidou's steady voice, White Tiger's seemingly joking but actually serious analogy, Santai's understated agreement, and Southern Dipper's cold data—every single word transformed into sharp thorns piercing into his brain.

The education he had received since childhood was about protection, about the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak.

The Great Wall was a shield. They stood in the light, fending off all darkness.

But now, someone was telling him that their so-called protection was merely feeding placebos to a terminally ill patient.

And true treatment required personally slicing off flesh and blood, even if there were countless vibrant lives within that chunk of flesh.

What was this?

He couldn't figure it out.

Long Ao's breathing grew heavy. He leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to sit on the floor, burying his face in his arms.

The conviction that had supported him all along, that black-and-white world, cracked open to reveal a bottomless abyss.

"Yo, not asleep yet."

White Tiger casually grabbed another spirit fruit and unceremoniously sat on the edge of his bed.

Long Ao's head snapped up, looking at White Tiger beside him as if he had seen a ghost.

How was this guy so elusive?

"Don't look at me like that." White Tiger waved his hand dismissively. "As your superior, it's necessary for me to pay attention to my subordinate's mental health. As for why I suddenly appeared, ha, is that weird? It would be weird if you could actually detect me, rookie."

Finishing it in a few bites, he casually tossed the fruit core. It drew an arc in the air and landed perfectly in the trash can in the corner.

"How's the mental preparation going? Is your worldview shattered all over the floor, unable to be picked back up?" White Tiger's tone carried obvious teasing, but there was no smile in his eyes.

Making your Brother Tiger work overtime again. What a troublesome brat.