Meng Chao sighed softly.
Honestly, he understood Lin Chuan very well, and he did not think that his thoughts were extreme.
After all, in his previous life, he was set up by his rich class rep. His mother was injured badly, and his father was tricked by Shen Rongfa, the general manager of Prosperous Resource Recovery Company. He was also at the risk of losing his life, but the law did not protect them. When he could not reclaim his insurance money and the compensation money, his heart had been filled with darkness.
When his increasingly corrupted sister said that the law existed to protect the rich and the poor could only rely on themselves, he had actually agreed in his heart. He was certain that the poor and rich were two completely different beings.
However, when the apocalypse arrived and millions of lightning bolts crackled above Dragon City, the rich and the poor alike were reduced to ashes. It did not matter whether they were dozens of people squashed in a dark and humid shack or a luxurious mansion; it did not matter whether they could jump forward like kangaroos after they put on their 3D mobile gear or sat in elongated, luxurious cars; it did not matter whether they were powerless or were at Deity Realm. All of them died without a burial.
After returning to the past, all Meng Chao could think about was saving Dragon City and his family.
Naturally, there was something wrong with the inner structure of Dragon City, but it was only if he survived that he could change it slowly and solve the problem once and for all.
Perhaps it was because he had an empathazing look on his face because Lin Chuan smiled.
“I just knew that you would understand me. Our backgrounds and experiences are too similar. You and I are the same,” he said. “From that day on, a small seed took root in my mind, and it started growing slowly. While I stayed beside Lu Siya and her rich friends, I observed how the rich and noble children chosen by God lived. During that time, I tried to search for similarities between us. I wanted to prove that there is no difference between us, and we are all humans.
“But I couldn’t find them. Are we the same just because our appearances are similar?
“But our appearances are different. At the very least, the clothes they were are fighting suits made of superbeast leather and shells. We can’t afford to buy those. No one from Blessed Heavenly Garden and Joyous Heavenly Garden can buy them.
“Besides, every time after they finish training, they nourish themselves with secret medicine. They take supreme-grade gene medicine, use the most modern cultivation machines, enjoy the most scientific cultivation methods, and occasionally have peerless fighters personally teaching them.
“Spirit energy can promote the activity in cells and metabolism, so they grow tall, handsome, and beautiful. Their skin is fair, their vitality magnetic fields are crystalline, and they look as if they don’t belong to this world.
“But what about us?
“My father had to take care of a family of six, and he worked hard in a dark and endless mine. He wanted to mine minerals and he practiced some martial arts, but he had never obtained any guidance from famous teachers or had modern tech to help him. He could only let the residue left from his super high metabolism to continue accumulating in his body, so his arms would become deformed and swollen up. In time, his arms became thicker than his thighs, and he… looked like a gorilla.
“When I was younger, whenever my father came home, the children in the neighborhood would imitate the way my father walks because of their immaturity, and I always fought them.
“But as my father’s arms became even more deformed, I could not help but mumble about it in my heart. If he continued training like this, how would he look? In the end, will he only have a brain left that is connected to two incredibly large arms?
“Oh, even his brain was unnecessary, because when my father worked, he didn’t need to think. Thinking was Lu Siya’s father’s job. My father only needed to act according to instructions and mine.
“That was my father’s job, and the adults living in Blessed Heavenly Garden, Joyous Heavenly Garden, and the shacks did that as well in their various jobs. Due to the infection from the virus, the bites from the monsters, and the mutation of our genes, many of the Dragon Citizens were born with defects.
“Even so, they had to be tormented by all sorts of occupational diseases while they worked day and night. They couldn’t catch their breath all year long. Gradually, they turned into something that no longer resembled humans, but they didn’t look like monsters either.”
Meng Chao nodded.
The problem Lin Chuan mentioned did exist.
The Other World was an incredibly unstable world.
Since the spirit energy magnetic fields could affect the atomic electron shell and completely change the nature of a substance, it naturally meant that it could also break the genetic chain of carbon-based life, which resulted in all sorts of strange, mutated shapes.
This was something that happened to both humans and monsters. All of them had to face the problem of evolution and mutation.
Humans, though, attempted to control the direction of their evolution and mutation through cultivation.
The children from powerful families had a lot of cultivation resources as well as guidance from peerless elites to aid them, so they had a higher chance of controlling their mutation.
“If outer appearances are not the key that decides whether we are the same type of people, what about language? No matter how we look like, at the very least, we can still talk to each other, and that’s good, right?”
A strange smile rose on Lin Chuan’s face again. He shook his head slowly and said, “If that’s what you think, you’re gravely mistaken. When I was in the same school with Lu Siya, I noticed a very strange phenomenon. The rich children did not even look at the janitors and handymen in school.
“They sometimes ordered the handymen to do certain things and even politely said please and thank you to them, but there was no warmth in their eyes. They acted like this was the nature of the world and they were just inserting a bunch of code into a machine.
“As for the children of the janitors and handymen, they didn’t even have the right to enter the school, because it was designed for rich children. Sometimes, when they came over because they had some matters with their parents, they had to wait outside the fence.
“The rich children often never speak once to the children of the handymen, so even if they speak the same language, is there any meaning to it?
“If it’s not our outer appearances and language, could it be our genes? That would be even more hilarious if that’s the case. We live in an era where biochemical tech is used by the general public. Humans can easily use spirit energy to break the chains of their genes and put in brand new gene segments. Genes are no longer the key that decides the essence of a species.
“I get it, then, it’s our hearts, yes? Regardless of the differences in our appearances, genes, and standard of living, our hearts will still understand each other… But I don’t! Up to this day, I don’t understand why someone could deliberately build a swimming pool for their dogs to bathe nor why would they feed their dogs the best tenderloins!
“Even if I’ve earned a lot of money now and could dig a hole for a swimming pool, rear two dogs, use the best tenderloins to feed them until they are fat, then toss them into the swimming pools to digest the expensive rhinoceroses, I wouldn’t do that!
“Even if there comes a day when I reach Deity Realm and have money that I can never finish spending, I won’t understand those actions, and I don’t want to understand them either!”
His eyes shone fiercely, and he swung his arms viciously.
The wounds that had just been repaired tore open again.
“Big Brother Lin, your wounds reopened.” Meng Chao had tourniquets and bandages in the harvesting pack he brought with him. He quickly treated Lin Chuan.
“I’m sorry, I got too worked up.” Lin Chuan sucked in a deep breath and gradually calmed down. “Honestly, there’s no need for me to say this. These words only paint me in an ugly light, and I sound like an ungrateful brat. I destroyed the perfect image of the Weeping Reaper, right?”
“Of course not.” Meng Chao smiled. “I think you’re even more of a real person right now. You have flesh and blood, and every person fighting to survive has definitely lived a tough life!”
“If you think that way, then I didn’t waste my breath. I just want you to understand within the shortest amount of time possible that school and society is different. In school, everyone enjoys cultivation resources that are more or less the same, and they are also bound by the same rules. The children of Demonic Halberd Pigs and Crystalline Nine-headed Dragons are about the same, but when you step into society, the difference iw instantly clear.”
Then, with extreme seriousness, Lin Chuan used his bleeding right hand to hold Meng Chao’s hand tightly. “You must understand your status as soon as possible and find those of your kind. It’ll be good for you. Trust me, we’re the same kind of people. No matter what, I will absolutely not hurt you. I swear on my heart.”
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and stared at Lin Chuan for a long time.
“I trust you, Big Brother Lin.” He nodded slowly.
“That’s good.” Lin Chuan smiled and stuffed the Blood Jade Essence into Meng Chao’s hands. He whispered, “I want you to have this. Put it away in a secretive spot. Don’t let Lu Siya know about it.”
Meng Chao cocked his eyebrows.
“I’m mostly healed now. The rest is just superficial wounds. They won’t bother me. Besides, I’m already in Heaven Realm. My healing abilities are better than yours. You need it more than I do,” Lin Chuan explained. “But this is something Lu Siya gave to me. If she knows that I gave it to you, it won’t be proper. That’s why, when you use it, try your best not to let her learn of it.”
“… Thanks, Big Brother Lin.” Meng Chao took the Blood Jade Essence and asked in a seemingly casual manner, “Do you think I’ll need to use it?”
Lin Chuan was stunned, then said quickly, “It’s better to be prepared. Who knows what sort of dangers we’ll run into later. Besides, even if we locate the Red Radiance Jade with ease, when we come back, we will still have to face that undead with the fungus on its back and Lion Dragon Fish!”
He massaged his temples and seemed to realize that he had said too many things that he should not have under the influence of the crystal mine’s spirit energy magnetic field. He turned around and left toward the camp.
“Wait, Big Brother Lin.” Meng Chao stared at his back and thought over his words before he said, “What you said just now makes great sense, and I thought about many things. Indeed, transmigration, the Other World, spirit energy, supernatural abilities, and these new creatures are all things that Earthlings have never encountered in their millions of years of history.
“Dragon City is a lone army here, and we transmigrated here, which caught us off guard. We faced an unknown world to us, and we fought against zombies, monsters around our city, and the death of order. Things haven’t been easy for us, and there definitely are some complications that we haven’t been able to deal with perfectly.
“There are plenty of things in Dragon City that we should work hard to change, but I think that there are two things that are still pretty good.
“First, you said that those rich families have a lot of resources and can live lavish lives. This is something I believe that the powerful have risked their lives to obtain with every slash and bullet they fired to contribute to society. They didn’t exactly seize it by force, right?
“Let’s talk about the Lu family. Lu Siyaa’s grandfather is Lu Zhongqi, the creator of Sky Pillar Corporation. He was formerly the strongest mine explorer in Dragon City and discovered nearly one hundred spirit energy ley lines. He built a solid foundation for Dragon City’s crystal technology system, which is why the Lu family can enjoy their lavish lifestyle today.
“If Lu Siya’s father could become the general supervisor of the mining company, he must have some skills as well. It’s impossible for him to get it just because he values his relationships. After he mines and refines the crystals in the crystal mines he discovered, he always gifts them to schools, the military, and the other factions of power. He sent them to various superhumans and helped people like us to cultivate and protect civilization.
“The stronger you are, the more responsibility you have, but after you carry out those duties, you get more resources and enjoy an even better lifestyle. It doesn’t seem like much of a problem, does it?”