The night before the promotion

Chapter 86 Decision
Huo Daochuan has always been looking forward to the moment of death. After all, people often say that at the moment of death, humans will clearly review their lives.

Huo Daochuan thought that he might be able to use this method to "travel through time" and return to the Gulf of Mexico again, returning to the best time of his life.

Unfortunately, Huo Daochuan did not return to the past.

Huo Daochuan opened his eyes. Iron curtain-like dark clouds piled up above the sky, like a gray wall, blocking his pursuit of the past.

It seemed as if a miracle had happened to Huo Daochuan. He did not drown in the sea, but was swept back to the shore by the waves.

Without having time to look around, Huo Daochuan felt cold all over, as if he was trapped in an ice brick. Then he felt hungry, painful, and sore... Almost all the negative feelings of human beings swept over him at this moment.

He was tortured to the point of wanting to scream, but his throat seemed to be blocked by cement, and he couldn't open his mouth or make a sound.

It was unknown how long this state of extreme pain lasted, until Huo Daochuan recovered some strength and climbed up with difficulty.

Every time Huo Daochuan moved, he felt a piercing pain in his abdomen. The bullet shot by the tiger pierced his stomach. Even if Huo Daochuan did not drown in the deep sea, he would soon fall down due to blood loss.

Actually...there's nothing wrong with dying.

Huo Daochuan suddenly thought, he was already so exhausted, why should he continue to move forward? Wouldn't it be better to just fall here and wait for the coming of death?
In the end, everything Huo Daochuan once believed in has been destroyed, and his once stubborn opinions have become meaningless and ridiculous.

Just thinking about all these things made Huo Daochuan feel upset, and his heart beat irregularly as if it was about to jump out of his chest.

Stop it.

Huo Daochuan thought to himself and kept persuading himself.

But no matter how Huo Daochuan fantasized, his body never stopped moving. That was the desire for survival that was engraved into his genes and soul.

Huo Daochuan cried helplessly, he thought he was a complete waste.

Unable to live healthily, and unable to die peacefully.

Everything in the world became so confused, like a turbulent chaos. Huo Daochuan moved forward almost relying on his body's instinct until he slowly recognized the things around him.

Hidden alley.

The raging waves washed Huo Daochuan back to the shore near the hidden alley, and he returned to this familiar place.

The rumbling sound swept in from overhead. It was a series of heavy transport planes flying low. Further below them was a temporary sentry tower erected in a hidden alley.

Ever since the armed incarnation of Ucchusmo appeared in the Hidden Alley, the Supervisory Bureau has carried out a major cleansing of the Hidden Alley. Those gray industries that had been rooted for a long time were destroyed overnight, just like a big dream.

Huo Daochuan staggered into a low building. The owner seemed to have left for a long time. The room was dark and damp, and the windows were broken and open.

This should be a repair shop. The shelves are piled high with various mechanical parts, and the workbench is covered with tools stained with engine oil. Sewage mixed with rainwater that spilled in flowed across the ground, gathering into a large pool of turbid water.

A lingering sleepiness gripped Huo Daochuan's mind. He felt the time had come, so he slowly sat down against the wall, his eyes drooping, and he made his last struggle, refusing to close them.

Huo Daochuan felt that his mother came to pick him up. Even though he had almost forgotten her face, Huo Daochuan understood that An Ning was waving at him.

Just when his mind was about to sink into the abyss, suddenly, a flash of light flickered at the edge of Huo Daochuan's vision.

Huo Daochuan raised his head with his last bit of strength. The light came from the pile of parts right in front of him, where there was a humanoid avatar with only half of it left.

It was like a severely weathered corpse, with most of its metal shell removed, exposing its complex internal structure and cables. The gaps were filled with reddish-brown rust or accumulated dust, giving it a horrifying beauty.

The humanoid avatar slowly moved its head, its eyes flickering as it stared at the dying person in front of it.

"Huo Daochuan, are you willing to die like this?"

A mechanical voice sounded coldly, piercing Huo Daochuan's body like a sharp knife, making his confused consciousness clearer.

Huo Daochuan was stunned for a moment. He was not sure whether this was a bizarre fact that was happening or the aftermath of Li Shi's illness.

"I've been paying attention to you for a long time, Huo Daochuan, and I know what you want."

The humanoid avatar weighed his words carefully and reminded, "Don't you want to go back to the good old days in the Gulf of Mexico?"

Huo Daochuan stared at the humanoid incarnation, feeling very strange. He was obviously about to die, but at this moment, Huo Daochuan suddenly developed a strength he had never had before and forcibly continued his consciousness and life.

"What did you say?"

"I know who she is, her name, her past, her present and her future... Don't you want to see her again?"

The humanoid avatar called out to Huo Daochuan's desire, "If you die, all of this will cease to exist."

Huo Daochuan covered the wound on his abdomen, remained silent for a long time, and said doubtfully.

"Mrs. Thuy?"

Huo Daochuan seldom mentioned his past to anyone else, not even to the tiger. The people in the Paradise only knew that Huo Daochuan was chasing someone, but only Mrs. Cui, who was entrusted by him, knew the details.

"No…you are not Madam Cui."

Without waiting for the humanoid avatar to reply, Huo Daochuan himself denied this speculation.

More than ten minutes ago, Madam Cui was still in the Cloud City with himself, imagining the future of the Paradise, but with the surprise attack of the Supervisory Bureau, all their ideas about the future collapsed.

Huo Daochuan guessed that Madam Cui should be busy escaping from the Supervisory Bureau's pursuit.

"who are you?"

"Does it matter who I am? You just need to know that I can give you what you want."

The humanoid avatar continued, "The person you are chasing is called Maja, a Mexican. She is still working to pay off her personal debts..."

Huo Daochuan listened quietly until the humanoid incarnation finished telling everything.

After a moment of calm, Huo Daochuan suddenly shook his head. Due to blood loss and fatigue, he even found it difficult to look angry.

"You are deceiving me."

The humanoid avatar was surprisingly frank, "How did you know that?"

"intuition."

"Oh? But is it intuition, or... you actually already know her ending, but you're just deceiving yourself and not thinking about it?"

The words of the humanoid incarnation suddenly became sharp, like a cold arrow, piercing Huo Daochuan's heart.

Huo Daochuan remained silent, while the humanoid avatar laughed strangely. Amid the thunder and lightning outside, its laughter was particularly hateful and crazy. "Huo Daochuan, we are all adults. You and I both know that this world is not as beautiful as fairy tales."

The humanoid incarnation paused, then mercilessly tore open Huo Daochuan's wound.

"In fact, you and I both understand that she is an imprisoned incarnation laborer... For such a person, what kind of ending will she face? As a member of the Elysium, you should be very clear, right?"

Huo Daochuan tried hard not to think about those things, but crazy images kept appearing in his mind one after another.

In the dark water tank, the woman curled up, her skin was pale and wrinkled, and the joints of her limbs were slightly deformed. She looked like a specimen, a corpse soaked in formalin, or a biological battery.

death.

"Huo Daochuan, you are chasing an illusion, an illusion created by yourself!"

The humanoid avatar scolded mercilessly.

Huo Daochuan wanted to refute, but he was too tired and wounded, so he could only admit defeat, "But this phantom is my motivation to live, my spiritual support, and my backbone."

"No, you never figured it all out."

The humanoid avatar pressed, "Think about it, Huo Daochuan, what is the source of your pain? Unrequited love, or the trouble of Lishi disease?"

"You have been avoiding problems. You cannot escape the pain of illness, society, and reality. So, you hope to become an immortal. But do you think a coward like you can become an immortal?"

Huo Daochuan became a little irritable. He couldn't understand why he had to think about the essence of life when he was about to die.
"What exactly do you want to say?"

"What I want to say is that you have never faced your own pain. You don't even know the source of your pain. Think about it, Huo Daochuan, who brought you to this place? Your humble background, your unfortunate experiences, or your tragic fate?"

Huo Daochuan followed the sound and thought, trying to figure out at which point in his life problems arose.

The golden sunlight fell on his body. Huo Daochuan looked up and seemed to be back in the Gulf of Mexico again, looking at the vast sea.

Is it her? It’s number 63, the memories she brought to me, her painful experience.

Li Zhi disease, incarnation labor, collateral...

"No, those things are not the source of your pain!"

The humanoid incarnation seemed to be able to hear Huo Daochuan's thoughts, and it shouted loudly.

"What really makes you so miserable is the towering buildings and the companies that are above everyone else. You are suffering from the disease of consciousness. You could have been cured, but they are unwilling to admit the existence of the disease of consciousness, just for the damn stock price.

So, think carefully, Huo Huachuan, who is your enemy, who is causing you so much pain. "

The wind and rain knocked open another window, and Huo Daochuan looked along the window sill. Even though it was so far away, and even though there were countless high-rise buildings in between, he could still see the shining crystal tower at a glance. It was like a pillar to the sky, announcing its existence to the whole world.

The humanoid incarnation's voice became lower, like an evil whisper from the darkness.

"Huo Daochuan, think about it carefully, think seriously, think about what you should do... and what you can do for her."

The humanoid incarnation laughed hoarsely, and its head began to split into two, exposing the thought storage core inside to Huo Daochuan's eyes.

"I just implanted a virus into this thought storage core. It can bypass high walls... I mean, any high walls."

The humanoid incarnation bowed its head, like a respectful waiter, and presented it to him.

"Is it better to die in vain or to do something for you, for her, and for all the patients with dementia?

It’s up to you.”

Huo Daochuan's eyes were empty, but his breathing gradually became heavier, as if he was using all his strength to breathe, to take in the humid air, to make his almost burned out body emit a little residual warmth again.

No one knew what Huo Daochuan was thinking at that moment, but he just stood up and walked to the humanoid incarnation with difficulty.

Huo Daochuan asked again, "Who are you? Why are you helping me?"

"It's simple, because we are standing together," the humanoid avatar said, "As for who I am..."

"You can call me - Immortal."

Huo Daochuan took out the thought storage core, and the humanoid avatar lost consciousness. The indicator light went out, and the head drooped down weakly.

Thoughts were torn apart and then put back together again, like a broken rag doll with stitches all over it, its parts roughly blended together to create a grotesque and deformed appearance.

Huo Daochuan felt that there was a force pushing him. It gently pressed on his shoulders, moved his feet, and made him step into the wind and rain again.

The immortal's words lingered in Huo Daochuan's mind, repeating and replaying continuously until they were completely engraved in Huo Daochuan's heart.

What Huo Daochuan needs to do, he needs to do something for everyone.

Using his remaining strength to cross the streets, Huo Daochuan came to an iron gate and started hammering it hard.

The previous dejected desire to die was gone, replaced by an extremely strong desire to survive and a constantly rising vitality.

"Open the door!" Huo Daochuan shouted hoarsely, "Help me!"

About a minute later, there were noises coming from behind the door, and the peephole on the iron door was opened, revealing a pair of clear eyes.

Huo Daochuan pleaded, "Save me, Doctor Ji."

"Huo... Huo Daochuan?"

Ji Siling was very surprised by Huo Daochuan's appearance, but after repeated hesitation, she still opened the iron gate and let Huo Daochuan in.

Driven by a strong desire to survive, Huo Daochuan climbed onto the operating table without Ji Siling's help and gave these instructions before his consciousness completely faded.

"I was shot in the abdomen and I'm losing a lot of blood... Help me."

Sleepiness scratched Huo Daochuan's eyelids, and darkness gradually obscured his entire vision. After all the light was lost, a sentence lingered in Huo Daochuan's mind.

Those were not words from the immortal, but the sound that rang out from the bottom of Huo Daochuan's heart.

"Since reasonable demands cannot be responded to, only extreme violence can solve all this."

It was like a seed that penetrated into Huo Daochuan's heart, absorbing blood, flesh and hatred and growing vigorously.

(End of this chapter)