Collapse Iron: I just transmigrated! You want me to save the Black Tower?!

That is an erasure more thorough than death.

The little girl was still looking at him.

Her figure grew fainter and fainter, more and more blurred, as if it would disappear completely in the next second.

Seeing his stunned expression, she thought for a moment, then smiled earnestly.

“It’s okay,” she said again, her voice so soft it was as if she were coaxing him. “You don’t need to be afraid.”

Jiang Jiu's fingers clenched involuntarily.

"......Fear?"

Is she saying he's afraid?

She was about to disappear because of him. He stood there, doing nothing, just standing there, killing her.

But she was comforting him.

You're saying there's nothing to be afraid of...?

Jiang Jiu opened his mouth, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"......May I have your name?"

The girl paused for a moment.

Then she looked down at the crystal in her arms, then looked up at him, her expression suggesting she was trying to think of something.

"A name?" she repeated. "Does a gravedigger... need a name?"

She frowned, as if trying to recall something.

"Dad seems to be calling me...calling me..."

After thinking for a long time, she stopped and blinked blankly.

"...Huh, Dad?"

She looked around, her confusion deepening.

"Where is Dad? He told me to wait... wait for what?"

Jiang Jiu paused for a moment, then didn't move.

The girl lowered her head and looked at the crystal in her arms. The gray had spread to the very last bit, completely covering the icy blue.

"I..." she said softly, her voice trailing off, "What was I about to say?"

She looked at her hands, which were now almost transparent.

"It seems there's something very important... I need to tell someone..."

She looked at Jiang Jiu; his icy blue eyes were now devoid of light.

"You are so quiet."

She seemed to want to say something, but no sound came out.

Her figure grew fainter and fainter.

It gradually becomes transparent, starting from the edge, as if it has been gently wiped away by something.

In the very end...

A grayish-white cloak drifted down, covering a small pile of grayish-white dust on the ground.

The crystal, now completely dulled and indistinguishable from an ordinary stone, had fallen onto the cloak.

The room fell completely silent.

Jiang Jiu stood still, motionless.

He looked at the spot where she had just stood, at the gray-white cloak, at the crystal that had turned to stone, and then hesitated before slowly raising his hand and looking at his palm.

He clearly did nothing.

He didn't use any power, didn't attack intentionally, and didn't touch her once from beginning to end.

But she still died.

He died, leaving nothing behind.

Jiang Jiu blinked, feeling a little unsure of her own emotions for the first time.

Sadness? Self-blame? Grief?

...But there was nothing, nothing at all, no emotions whatsoever.

For the first time, he truly felt that he shouldn't be so calm at this moment.

Is that correct?

This is wrong, this shouldn't be wrong.

"It's okay, you don't need to be afraid."

She's comforting him? A person he's about to kill is comforting him?

Jiang Jiu's finger twitched.

Scared?

Is he afraid?

He lowered his head and placed his hand on his chest, where a heart should be beating, where there should be warmth, and where something called "emotion" should be surging.

But it seems... there's nothing there.

He remembered what Zandal had said when he stood in front of him.

"You shouldn't care; you have to make a choice."

What did he care about? What did he have to give up? He didn't ask then, and he still doesn't know now.

He remembered what Polka Kaka had said to him when he looked at him.

"You are too kind."

Is he merciful? To whom is he merciful? And to whom can he be merciful?

He can take a life without doing anything; who can he be merciful to?

Jiang Jiu's hand, which was pressed against his chest, unconsciously tightened slowly.

Fingers sank into the fabric, into the skin, into the flesh...

His expression remained unchanged.

Until he crushed that heart.

Without hesitation... without struggle... he didn't even think about why he was doing it.

The excruciating pain should explode in his chest, it should make him bend over, it should make him scream, it should make his vision go black.

But there was nothing there.

He only felt something shatter in his chest, then his consciousness began to blur, began to fade, began...

Timeline rollback.

......

Jiang Jiu lowered his eyes, looking at the desolate planet where no life could be detected, and did not set foot in that place again.

He searched unconsciously for a long time, finally stopping at a broken asteroid.

Standing on the gray-white rock surface, he paused for two seconds before pulling Jixing out of the void.

The sword gleamed coldly, clearly reflecting his face, but his face remained expressionless.

He lowered his eyes to look at his own eyes on the sword, but could see nothing.

He stared at it for a long time, then suddenly raised his hand and gripped the sword's edge tightly.

Blood seeped from between his fingers, dripping onto the grayish-white rock.

It doesn't hurt.

He froze for a moment.

He gripped the sword tighter, cutting deeper and drawing more blood.

Even after the bright red color started to fade, it still didn't hurt.

He released his grip and looked at the deep wound on his palm. The flesh was torn open, and blood was still dripping down. It must have hurt a lot.

But he doesn't seem to... feel it?

He looked down at his hands, at the wounds, and suddenly began to seriously consider a question.

Is he even human?

Chapter 207 Jiang Jiu, Who Am I?

Humans should have emotions, humans should be able to feel sadness, and humans should feel pain and guilt for killing someone, right?

But he doesn't seem to have.

He didn't even know why he had just crushed that heart. Was it guilt? Self-blame? Or was it just... simple thoughts?

Seeing that scene, he suddenly thought of his younger sister.

I remember her rushing over and hugging him, I remember her looking up at him and calling him "brother," I remember how she always liked to hold his hand and whisper sweet nothings before going to sleep...

What did I say?

Many images gradually became blurry, unclear, and chaotic in his mind.

Until I can't remember anymore.

As he was thinking, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

If one day, he goes home.

He was standing at the door when his sister saw him, ran over with a smile, and hugged him.