Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

"Hai, do you know that the night before last, Captain Zhou sent a battalion of armed police officers over to donate blood for you?" Pan Zhuangzhuang asked while peeling an apple for An Xiaohai.

"Yes, I know. I heard it from the nurses. They said there were a lot of people lining up to donate blood for me, and I guessed it was them."

"Captain Zhou actually cares about you a lot. When you were being resuscitated in the operating room, he stayed outside the operating room all night without closing his eyes."

"You saw it?"

"No, someone else told me."

"Oh, is there any news from home?"

"No, I don't think he's coming."

"Yes, that's possible, but it's precisely at times like these that we need to be even more vigilant."

"I know, 073 said the same thing. Come on, open your mouth," Pan Zhuangzhuang stuffed a small piece of apple into An Xiaohai's mouth: "Why did you make things so dangerous this time? You always told me that if you can solve a problem with your brain, don't use your hands."

"Because this time, you can't solve it with your brain alone..." An Xiaohai tried to smile, but accidentally aggravated his wound, causing him to gasp in pain.

"Can you tell me why you risked your life to save him?"

"Because the world needs people like them. I can't be like them myself, but if I encounter someone like that, I can't just stand by and watch."

"I think Captain Wang and his team are sometimes... pretty silly."

"Yeah, pretty silly!" An Xiaohai nodded slightly. "They do seem pretty silly. They stick to their principles, they don't take shortcuts, and they keep moving forward in shackles."

However, they are risking their lives to protect ordinary people, to protect ordinary people like you and me. Some people may say they are foolish, but we cannot, we have no right to.

Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I'm a little tired. Let's watch some TV.

"Okay," Pan Zhuangzhuang said, turning on the TV and changing a few channels. He discovered that there were still TV stations broadcasting Journey to the West.

"Let's watch Journey to the West."

"You're still watching this?! How many times have you watched it already?!"

"Yes, I've watched it many times, but every time I watch it, it's a completely new story."

"Alright then, let's look at this one."

Pan Zhuangzhuang nodded helplessly. The TV was showing the episode of "The Three Battles with the White Bone Demon," which Pan Zhuangzhuang particularly disliked watching.

Sun Wukong was wrongly accused by Tang Sanzang, and no matter how he explained, he was still driven away. Pan Zhuangzhuang felt particularly humiliated and frustrated; he preferred the part about Sun Wukong causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace.

"Hai, tell me, what kind of story did you witness this time?"

An Xiaohai didn't speak, he just smiled, and the two fell into a long silence.

"I feel a little lost," Pan Zhuangzhuang suddenly whispered after a long while.

"What's wrong?"

"This time, you led your men and killed so many people at the Royal Water Club. I think that's a bit too much. I just can't understand why everyone is pretending not to see it and no one is holding you accountable."

They even let Xu Tianyou go...

Xu Tianyou is a drug lord! I just can't understand it!

Also, you just told me that you want Alai and his group to take over the illegal industries in Shenhai City to some extent. I don't quite understand that.

Why? Why are you doing these things? Aren't these all illegal? Aren't these things that we used to hate?

Is it truly unavoidable that the dragon-slaying hero will eventually become the dragon himself?

An Xiaohai looked at Pan Zhuangzhuang, whose eyes were red and tears were welling up in them. An Xiaohai knew that he was really confused. If he hadn't been the one doing all this, Pan Zhuangzhuang would probably have broken up with him long ago.

An Xiaohai stared at Pan Zhuangzhuang for a long while before finally smiling helplessly:

"Zhuang, didn't you just ask me what kind of story I saw in Journey to the West this time? Let me tell you."

When I watched Journey to the West before, I saw a down-to-earth hero who was not afraid of violence, rose up in resistance, and finally achieved enlightenment and became a Buddha.

After some time, when I reread Journey to the West, I saw that all the disasters in the world were ultimately caused by the gods and Buddhas. In order to build their prestige and promote their doctrines, they did not hesitate to create one disaster after another.

In their eyes, all living things are nothing but ants!

After some time, I saw a mythological world with a strict hierarchy and officials protecting each other. The little monsters without backers were all killed by the Great Sage, while those with powerful backers were taken away.

Despite enduring countless hardships and cultivating in the mortal world for thousands of years, the little monster still couldn't compare to someone with a powerful backer.

Now, when I read Journey to the West, besides what I mentioned above, I see a completely different Sun Wukong.

"What's wrong? What happened to Sun Wukong?"

Pan Zhuangzhuang was finally intrigued. The Monkey King was the person he admired most, without exception. He didn't know how many times he had watched Journey to the West, and he could remember almost every line the Monkey King said.

"Sun Wukong...do you still remember what you were like when you were just an ordinary monkey?"

He was very polite and had a big smile on his face!

On his journey to learn from a master, he would drink mountain spring water when he was thirsty, pick wild fruits to eat when he was hungry, and bow to an old man chopping wood, calling him an old immortal.

Passersby were afraid of him, laughed at him, and even cursed, hit, and chased him away, but he always smiled and apologized.

Upon meeting the truly powerful Patriarch Bodhi, he immediately prostrated himself and kowtowed countless times, just to become his disciple.

After joining the sect, he swept the floor for so many years without complaint; when his fellow disciples bullied and mocked him, he always responded with a smile!

However, when he mastered a skill and gained the power to overturn the world, he completely became a different person, a completely different person.

Upon returning to Flower Fruit Mountain, the first thing he did was to cut his former neighbor, the Mischievous Demon King, in two. Then, he led a group of monkeys and their offspring to wipe out all the powerful figures in the vicinity, and even exterminated the Mischievous Demon King's entire clan.

From then on, when he saw the old man, he would no longer call him "Old Immortal," but "Old Man."

When he wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he didn't cherish the peaches of immortality and golden pills that ordinary people could never eat in thousands or tens of thousands of lifetimes; instead, he recklessly squandered them.

On his journey west, when he encountered other deities, he would first assess their abilities. If they were weaker than him, he would address them as "Old Official"; if they were much stronger, he would bow respectfully and call them "Disciple."

"..."

"It's not just the Monkey King; when I watch Journey to the West again now, many people's faces have changed."

The Jade Emperor, the head of all immortals, caused a three-year drought in Fengxian County because the county magistrate accidentally knocked over the offering table. More than half of the people in the county starved to death, and corpses littered the fields!

Why? Because the people of Fengxian County were the weak, and they could only be slaughtered at the mercy of others!

Sun Wukong fought against the heavenly soldiers and generals, killed countless immortals, wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, knocked down the South Heavenly Gate, destroyed the Peach Garden, smashed the alchemy furnace, and made all the immortals flee in terror. But in the end? The Jade Emperor chose to forgive him.

Why? Because Sun Wukong is strong, he deserves to be forgiven and pardoned!

Tang Sanzang was outwardly compassionate but inwardly wicked, because he possessed only one power: the Tightening-Headband Mantra. This power was ineffective against demons, but it could defeat Sun Wukong.

With such great compassion, did he ever hesitate when reciting the Tightening-Headband Mantra?

Compared to the demons, Tang Sanzang was weak, so he could only choose compassion; compared to Wukong, he was strong, so compassion was useless, and the headband was still the only effective thing!

Therefore, in Journey to the West, morality and law are merely tools, used to restrain the weak and serve the strong.

If a wolf spares a sheep, it is considered merciful; sheep, besides eating grass, live a peaceful life and never harm anyone, yet everyone sees sheep as a symbol of weakness and vulnerability.

Journey to the West taught me that when you are not a true strongman, you shouldn't talk about benevolence; when you are in shackles, you shouldn't try to protect those shackles.

This is precisely why I am determined to save Ah Huo.

Ah Huo is not weak!

He, Captain Wang, Branch Captain Zhou, Director Zhou, Yan Hong, Section Chief Xu, and 073—none of them were weak, yet they were all desperately protecting the weak.

Especially Captain Wang and Ah Huo, they were even willing to give up everything, including their lives, to protect the weak.

They are truly kind people, truly noble people, with pure and great souls.

True powerhouses don't care what methods you use; they only care about your purpose and the result.

This is why I dare to be so reckless, this is why they turn a blind eye to what I do, and this is why they let Xu Tianyou go without any hindrance.

The stronger a person is, the more they focus on results; the stronger a person is, the less they care about right or wrong, they only make choices.

Recklessness is acceptable, but not mindlessness.

Zhuang, do you understand now?