One-way traffic

—?!

The sound of others speaking roused Rick from the abyss.

In that instant, his eyes snapped open, and the voice pulled his soul, which was on the verge of falling, back completely.

"who…?"

"It doesn't matter who it is."

The figure stood outdoors.

Following the light, Rick saw an incredible figure.

His clothes were gray and white striped clothing that didn't belong to this era; he wore gray and white pants, and his skin, hair, and everything on his body were almost white.

Only those eyes were blood-red.

"Who are you…"

He recalled the man's identity.

Once upon a time, he appeared in a human settlement and saved them all.

"I already said it doesn't matter who it is."

The white-haired, red-eyed man continued speaking.

"But you, before you confirm that hope has really been lost, at least make sure you've already lost all hope before you start this stunt."

"What…"

"Even annoying brats understand this, and you still don't get it?"

Accelerator raised his hand, pointing it at the empty floor in front of him.

—Bang!

Inside the space, a figure appeared.

The mechanical girl whose time was stopped, even her expression was frozen in that moment.

"No matter what it is, it can only be called a fact after you have personally confirmed it. Otherwise, it can only be considered a conjecture. Even a kid should understand such a simple thing. What have you been doing with all your wisdom all this time?"

—Shubi's body appeared before Rick just like that.

The young man stood there stunned, then knelt down.

Then, those eyes gradually shifted towards the figure.

"...Who exactly are you?"

Realizing that this was a question the other person genuinely wanted to ask.

So, the first one spoke softly.

"Just an overly self-conscious bastard who finds all of this disagreeable and takes the opportunity to interfere."

Chapter 572 The Declaration of War

The current situation has been confirmed.

Hughie is not dead yet; she still retains the last breath of life... like the last gasp of a person before death.

But—what difference is there between this and dying?

“If I couldn’t have saved her, I wouldn’t have brought her here.”

"If that's the case...why not immediately—?!"

Rick stopped himself halfway through his shout.

He almost forgot the most important thing.

The person in front of me, this being who looks like a human—he has absolutely no reason to help me.

Whether it was rescuing Shubi, helping Shubi, or the settlement that previously helped them, these things should have nothing to do with him.

In other words, the other party did this simply out of interest.

You have no right to accuse the other party of 'If you had a way, why didn't you save Huggie?' or 'Why didn't you save Huggie before she was injured like this?'

The other party had no obligation to do so from the beginning.

Moreover, if you accidentally offend him on some point, causing him to become displeased—

In the worst-case scenario, the entire human settlement will be reduced to ashes.

Since he was able to save Shubi from that kind of battlefield, he must also have the ability to turn everything here into a battlefield.

Rick was practically biting his tongue, relying on the excruciating pain to keep himself awake.

When it came to Hugh's safety, he didn't even care about his reason.

"I don't know what kind of tragedies you have experienced in this world."

Accelerator stood to the side and spoke slowly, word by word.

"But if you give up at this point, saying you can't do it, aren't you just slapping yourselves in the face?"

"—!!"

What do you know, you idiot?!

His eyes were wide open, his bloodshot eyeballs fixed on Accelerator.

He was about to lose control—in Rick's heart, the thread of reason was taut, and Accelerator's words were like a constant challenge to his bottom line.

To this day, Rick's companions, and Rick himself, have paid a heavy price for the sake of people's small peace and safety—a price this guy could never possibly understand.

If he truly understands, if he truly is of the same race as us humans—then why has he never appeared even once in all these years?

If you had come, things wouldn't have been so difficult! If you had appeared sooner, so many people wouldn't have died! I—there was absolutely no need for me to personally send so many people to their deaths in vain!!

If you truly consider yourself human, then why, despite possessing the power to reverse everything, have you refused to save humanity even once?!

—He roared in despair in his heart.

Rick knew he was just taking his anger out on others.

Even if the other party is truly human, there is actually no compelling reason for them to help everyone. Power resides in the hands of individuals, and how they choose to use that power is their own right.

Neither Rick nor all of humanity has the right to order one side to pass; they must go and save them.

But...

But if it were really—even if it were just wishful thinking… if a human as powerful as him had actually appeared in this world even a little earlier, and fought for our safety…!!

So many people wouldn't have died...

Of course, the other party could never understand any of this.

"Understandable."

"…ah?"

Rick was stunned by the unexpected answer.

He stared in disbelief at Accelerator.

"you…?"

"If I could have made a certain decision sooner, if I could have realized something sooner... I could have saved countless lives, made unnecessary sacrifices, and even personally caused the deaths of countless people. I have done such things myself."

That was Accelerator speaking with a calm expression.

Just now, Rick's intense emotional vector was perceptible even without relying on his abilities.

He simply read Rick's inner monologue at that moment... and indeed understood what the young man standing in front of him had done.

To this day, he has been in charge of leading the human race.

Not only must we settle the settlement of more than two thousand people, but we must also do our best to ensure that no one dies, and at the same time, we must ensure that everyone's life can be as comfortable as possible in the future.

In this situation, it's impossible to avoid making sacrifices... Rick has to make others sacrifice themselves, and he has to personally order them to die.

Rick believed that his act of taking someone's life was unforgivable.

But compared to Accelerator's actions—that's too naive.

There's no need to show that expression.

Unlike Rick, Accelerator's past sacrifices were not made to ensure the survival of others.

He personally slaughtered more than 10,000 clones, doing this solely to obtain the mere title of "invincible".

Although both of them were leading others to their deaths, Accelerator believed that Riku was nothing compared to him.

One's own sins are the real sins, while Rick... was able to keep so many people alive under such circumstances. Even if it is a so-called sin, it is by no means unforgivable.

Only Accelerator truly understands that the sins he has committed are truly irreparable.

"Your lives up to this point have been accompanied by suffering, haven't they?"

He spoke without hesitation.

“I’m not going to lecture you on grand principles, and that’s not my personality at all. But you know… if a plan that’s come this far is going to end like this at the last minute with the thought of ‘whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore,’ then what do you think all the suffering you’ve endured so far will amount to?”

If we fail now, no—if we give up now.

So far, those people I've made die without hesitation... what do their lives even mean?

What kind of person would I be if, after bearing the will entrusted to me by these people, I still did not choose to persevere—but instead tried to degenerate as if to extricate myself from this depravity?

It doesn't count as anything at all.

Even if I fail, it's okay. At least I tried.

Rick's current thought is completely that 'Shuby is dead, so it doesn't matter to me anymore.'

Such thoughts... do they even respect those who chose to sacrifice themselves because of his orders?

"It's okay to fail, but... you can't just give up without even trying."

Moreover, there is still hope.

Rick looked at Shubi beside him; her time was frozen at the moment she was about to die—but she was still alive.

Shubi's life signs are still present, if we can find an opportunity to restore her—

"—Rick, the 'Will-Bearer'."

Another sound came from outside.

Rick frowned and looked towards the door along with Accelerator.

There was a figure standing there.

Clad in a dark gray robe, much taller... a non-human being.

"who are you?"

"I don't have a name; if you must refer to me, then call me 'Fully Linked Command Entity (Einzshi)'."

After the other person entered the room, he took off his hood in front of the two of them.

A mechanical body.

That was a member of the Machine Race, who called himself Einzshi, and was probably a male Machine Race.

"Tests showed that the 'last will' body of Shubi had zero vital signs—but the duration of its life was also zero, which is illogical."

"It's none of your business. This is not something you should be concerned about."

After Accelerator spoke, Einzsøe looked at him with some shock.

They're probably doing some kind of testing, but I'm too lazy to care.

He allowed Einzsch to observe him with all sorts of data, and after revealing an even greater expression of shock, he looked at the other person.

"First, explain to me why you came here."

"...Although this question also applies to you as an individual, I will first address the current matters."

So Einzsch began to make a statement.

"Originally, the 'Last Will' of Shubi seemed prepared to self-destruct, but for some unusual reason, she was unable to do so. Therefore, I will proceed directly to the explanation at hand."

"—So far, the number of 'traffic control' measures implemented by the 'Willful Body' of Shubi is twenty-four."