Dragon Pride in Doubt of Life

Long Ao's fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"I don't understand. What gives you the right? What gives you the right to use such cold data to decide the survival of a city?"

"Because we want this world to hold on for a few more years."

White Tiger propped his legs on the hospital bed in a relaxed posture. "But when a ship has ten leaks and you only have three wooden planks in your hand, tell me, which ones do you patch?"

Long Ao was struck speechless.

The education he had received since childhood was to patch every hole, to save every person.

"Why can't we save them all?" he asked stubbornly.

"Because there aren't enough planks," White Tiger answered simply and bluntly. "Because there isn't enough time, and more importantly, because behind some holes are even larger chasms. If we don't plug them, the ship sinks even faster."

He looked at Long Ao's face, which was written all over with indignation, and let out a scoffing laugh. "Kid, do you think the question you're pondering is profound? Is it great? Back in the day, your grandfather asked the exact same thing."

Long Ao's body went stiff.

"My grandfather..."

"Long Ye." White Tiger uttered the name. Although he had joined relatively late and unfortunately hadn't witnessed it himself, he had long heard about these things from Beidou.

"Hua Xia's once hardest shield, and also its sharpest blade. He stood on the Great Wall, declaring to everyone that he would protect everything. But he also once, in the dark, personally cut away a city in order to keep more people from being corrupted."

These words carried more impact than Beidou's star maps and Southern Dipper's data from the previous meeting.

"You can go ask him. Though he might not say it, I can tell you for sure that the city was Yue City in La Continent. You can go and investigate it all you want."

"You're thinking too much right now, and it's meaningless because you lack strength. The world is still a fog to you. In the past, Beidou didn't interfere with your growth, and now, neither will I."

"Become stronger, understand this world, and when you reach the crossroads of destiny, then make a choice. Letting the current you think about it won't yield any results anyway. Your hands are your own; I can't force you to do anything, so there's no need to resist me. It won't do much good."

White Tiger suddenly flashed a wicked smile. "You can hate me if you want. I love seeing you look like you hate me but can't beat me."

Before Long Ao could lash out, White Tiger stopped his provocation, walked to the window, and opened it.

"Alright, good night, little Long Ao. I'll give you three years. If you still can't figure it out in three years, I'll erase your memory and replace you with a much more lovable subordinate."

With that, he flipped out the window and left the room.

...

Inside the VIP ward.

Long Ao slumped against the wall and sat on the floor, his eyes vacant.

White Tiger was gone, but his every word lingered like demonic whispers piercing his ears, echoing endlessly in the room.

Long Ao's fingers tapped on the keyboard.

[La Continent] [Yue City].

The search results quickly popped up.

[Yue City: A border city in La Continent. Thirty-five years ago, due to a massive spatial rift causing a geological disaster, the main body of the city sank underground. Out of humanitarianism, the Hua Xia Great Wall intervened to rescue and successfully relocated the surviving citizens. The area was later classified as a high-level restricted zone, governed by local armed forces.]

The official notice was flawless.

That made sense. If White Tiger was right, it would be strange if there were obvious flaws on the surface.

The mirror reflected a pale face.

...

On the rooftop of the hospital, the night breeze was slightly cool.

White Tiger leaned against the railing, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, leisurely taking in the night view of this snow-white world.

The reason he didn't light it was that this was a hospital. Although he, White Tiger, was a man of murder and arson, he still had high standards of public etiquette.

His terminal vibrated slightly, popping up a message.

Sender: Beidou.

[Has the seed been planted on Vermilion Bird's side?]

White Tiger tapped the screen with his fingertip and replied.

[It's planted, but whether this seed sprouts or rots depends on him. That kid is too stubborn, a carbon copy of Long Ye. I'm not confident. Look around for some new blood on your end.]

The message was sent. He waited for a moment, but Beidou didn't reply again.

White Tiger put away his terminal and looked toward the direction of Chen Guan's ward, a playful curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

Compared to that problematic rookie who needed guidance, he was clearly more interested in his other subordinate, that model employee.

Southern Dipper said he couldn't be modeled and was extremely dangerous, but fortunately, extremely efficient.

White Tiger felt that this assessment was still too conservative.

That kid was so calm he didn't seem like a living person, as if there was nothing in this world that he truly cared about.

This kind of person was either a saint without desires or someone harboring an ambition larger than the heavens.

He leaned more toward the latter.

"Black Tortoise..."

White Tiger muttered this codename under his breath, jumped down from the railing, and faded into the night.

It was comforting that, besides him, that Hong Yuan and Yin Chen were also quite good.

...

Three days passed in a flash.

During this period, apart from his daily physical training, Chen Guan spent his time in his room researching how to most efficiently harvest popularity points.

Three million popularity points. This number weighed heavily on his mind, making him feel that even eating was a waste of time.

As for the aftermath of the Origin Return Group's meeting, White Tiger hadn't shown up again, as if he had completely forgotten about his model employee.

Chen Guan was happy to see this.

Being left to his own devices was his favorite management style.

...

Early morning, First Academy, Central Martial Arena.

With the reconstruction complete, the new students were once again gathered here, though there were fewer people than before.

An Changqing stood beside Chen Guan, lowering his voice with a hint of concern. "Chen Guan, look at Long Ao. Hasn't he been pushing himself too hard these past few days?"

Chen Guan followed his gaze.

Long Ao stood at the front of the formation, his posture ramrod straight. His whole person was like a bow drawn to its absolute limit; his previous soaring arrogance had been replaced by a brooding intensity.

Chen Guan retracted his gaze, his face expressionless.

He had spent the last few days pondering how to prolong his main body's life; he had no time to care about the mental health of a troubled teenager.

Seeing Chen Guan remain silent, An Changqing completed his own loop of logic. "I understand. You think so too. True comrades need no words; they only need actions to inspire each other. Long Ao will definitely feel your will."

Chen Guan's eyelids twitched.

Look at you, overthinking again.

His biggest fear was An Changqing having a sudden stroke of genius. He didn't know when it started, but An Changqing had grown increasingly fond of wild mental gymnastics.

Just then, a tall and lean figure stepped onto the high platform.

The newcomer wore a pure black tactical uniform that outlined his sharp and capable physique.

His eyes were as sharp as a falcon's. As his gaze swept across the crowd, all the chatter among the new students came to an abrupt halt.

Instructor Jing wasn't there; he was probably slacking off again. Taking his place was this familiar face.

The one who had initially escorted Chen Guan and the others from Huaqing was none other than this Black Crow.

They hadn't seen each other in a while, and he hadn't expected them to meet again in this manner.