Chapter 882: For Others? Why Should I?

"This is my past. You can laugh at me to your heart's content, or expose it all to the public, let everyone know that I'm just a bastard, a liar who deceived them all, who let one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six worlds burn because of a single lie..."

The world of memories dispersed, and the expression on Zhou Shangqing's face was, surprisingly, less agonized than before.

Was this a case of throwing caution to the wind?

Or perhaps... now that others knew the truth, the fear that had been suppressed deep in his heart all this time because of the deception, it no longer held as much meaning.

Zhou Shangqing, a man crushed by expectations.

He had never been able to reconcile with his past self.

If he had truly been as strong as he claimed, he could have gladly accepted those expectations.

But he hadn't.

He was just a liar.

One who had his own moral bottom line, who struggled endlessly within his heart, who, when he wanted to tell people the truth, found himself unable to speak under those expectant gazes...

A liar.

So he ran.

With the System's help, he used the authority of that 【Escapee】 to fake his death and break free.

Abandoning his train, abandoning the System, abandoning his past, hiding his name, becoming an old beggar in this world.

Ye Qiyan looked at his wretched appearance. There was no mockery, and even less any thought of exposing it all to the public.

After all.

He was genuinely just curious.

Zhou Shangqing's actions had nothing to do with him. Even if this guy truly had destroyed one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six worlds, it didn't matter.

Ye Qiyan simply wanted to learn the truth. Nothing more.

"In other words, the Wasteland truly has no end."

He spoke softly.

Zhou Shangqing, sprawled on the ground, let out a great laugh.

"The Wasteland, how could it have an end?! No matter when or where, no matter how powerful you become! As long as you keep pushing forward, you will always encounter worlds in the Wasteland where someone is stronger than you, faster than you, worlds that let you continue growing stronger! As long as you don't fear death, don't fear exhaustion, as long as your Spirit doesn't collapse!

No matter who you are, ahead of you, the endpoint is nowhere in sight!

Our trains can only push forward through that endless Wasteland! No end! No conclusion! Forever busy, forever in agony!

Forever... unable to stop...

Are you satisfied with this answer?"

Zhou Shangqing struggled to his feet, wanting to see even the slightest trace of negativity on Ye Qiyan's face.

A road with no endpoint, in his eyes, was such a terrifying thing.

No endpoint meant being unable to see one's own future.

Unable to see the future meant the road ahead would forever remain unknown.

He believed others would think the same way.

But...

"No endpoint, huh... then that's truly..."

Excitement and elation shone in Ye Qiyan's eyes.

"That's wonderful!"

"?"

Zhou Shangqing stood frozen in place, staring at that excitement which could not possibly be an act, and his heart, which had not beat fiercely in who knew how many years, gave a violent lurch.

"Why?"

Ye Qiyan clapped hands with Lisette, and hearing his question, glanced over quizzically.

"What do you mean, why?"

"Why aren't you afraid? Being unable to see the endpoint, not knowing the future, isn't that a terrifying thing?! Do you know what it means if the Wasteland truly has no end?!"

Ye Qiyan blinked and said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world:

"It means I can keep moving forward, that there will always be new worlds, new stations to dock at, that I can encounter new adventures and gain new companions. What's so bad about that?"

Zhou Shangqing opened his mouth, only to find he could not refute it. But he didn't know where the strength came from as he struggled to his feet and roared with a fury that came from nowhere:

"No! You're wrong! If there's no endpoint, then what meaning does our lives have?! Pushing forward blindly, yet unable to find a correct path that can reach the pinnacle, such a road should never exist at all!

Those of us walking on it are nothing more than Travelers trapped in a barren desert, forever and ever unable to find the way out!

This kind of future, don't you think it's nothing but an endless despair?!"

Crunch.

Ye Qiyan bit into the Golden Apple Lisette had brought to his lips, chewed a few times, and swallowed.

That faint smile still hung on his face.

"Despair? I don't feel that way at all. Come to think of it, I've known quite a few strange fellows, but among all the people I've met, not a single one of them yearned for an endpoint or a finish line.

Senior, so, thank you~"

"Thank me... for what?"

"Thank you for telling me the Wasteland has no endpoint. That way, I can press forward without any hesitation at all. Come to think of it, if I told those... hmm... friends of mine, if I told them this news, it should make those fellows pretty happy too.

Senior, you're a Hero."

BOOM!!!

Thunder roared.

Zhou Shangqing's heart felt as though it had been pierced through.

A Hero, a Hero... he, was a Hero?

No, that's wrong! Where exactly did things start going wrong?!

Everything was wrong, all of it was wrong!

He wasn't a Hero! He was a liar, he was a madman, he was a villain!

He... he...

"No, I don't accept this, I don't accept it! What meaning does a life without an endpoint have?! A road where you can't see the end, the moment you step onto it, it's filled with nothing but despair!

You people, you're all insane! All of you are lunatics!"

Was he mad? Or were the others mad?

Ye Qiyan didn't care about this guy's thoughts.

Because they were fundamentally not the same kind of people.

Just as many Train Conductors chose to stagnate and go no further.

Zhou Shangqing, who possessed the 【Surpass the Stars】 talent, was no different from them.

The difference was, he had told others about his talent, and his initial purpose may have simply been to show off.

But as more and more expectations appeared.

Zhou Shangqing, who deep down had never truly yearned to advance, found himself with no choice but to set foot on the path forward.

He was indeed a liar, but he had also genuinely exhausted every ounce of his strength.

In the world of memories, the whole year Zhou Shangqing spent in his locomotive section was truly to try to fulfill others' expectations.

It was just that he hadn't succeeded, and could never succeed.

"Lunatics? Hmm... I feel like I'm doing alright, but among the people I know, there really are quite a few psychos."

Ye Qiyan shrugged, thinking of those fellows in Emperor's Order.

Zhou Shangqing grew frantic.

Though he himself didn't understand why he was so agitated.

Bewitchment's whisper~ The Demon's smile~

The truest thoughts in his heart had already, without his realizing it, been completely laid bare before Ye Qiyan.

"No, you don't understand at all! You clearly saw everything! If it were you who had this damned talent, and then everyone piled their expectations onto you! And then you had no choice but to set foot on the road searching for the so-called endpoint!

If it were you! Wouldn't you have turned out just like me?!"

"No, because from the very start, I would never tell others about my talent just to show off or be acknowledged by others."

Ye Qiyan, still wearing that smile. This smile held no mockery.

Yet Zhou Shangqing, in this moment, felt the ultimate shame and indignation.

"I, I was just!"

"Even if others found out, it wouldn't matter."

Ye Qiyan cut off his excuses. "My road is mine alone to walk. Why should I let others' expectations affect me? Even if I want to seek the endpoint, that's for my own sake.

For others?

Why should I?"