The fighting was still going on inside Mobis City between the guards, the police, the workers, and the gangs.
During this time, no terrifying monsters like before showed up, nor did any enemies stronger than the Gang Baron appear.
Against all odds, the workers and the gangs fought tooth and nail and actually managed to take over most of Mobis City. But this was already their limit.
If they tried to expand any further, the territories they had fought so hard to capture would be left dangerously vulnerable.
Over these two days, the gang members generously shared their know-how, and the workers never backed down. They kept fighting, and their combat skills grew sharper with every real battle.
One thing worth mentioning: because they successfully held onto the Boran Gun Factory, most of the workers were now equipped with firearms. Even though these guns had more or less some issues, they definitely helped close the gap in fighting strength between the two sides.
Vista grew up incredibly fast during this time.
He started learning how to shape public opinion and guide the people’s hearts. He also picked up the basics of deploying troops and making strategic plans.
As for charging into battle himself, though…
That grenade-throwing incident last time left a pretty big shadow on his psyche. He figured it was better if he stayed off the battlefield so he wouldn’t end up dragging everyone down.
Unlike Vista, Andina had managed to overcome her fear of shooting and killing people to achieve her goal. By now, she was already leading teams into battle, earning the respect of everyone around her as a true heroine.
Two wireless telegraphs, seized from the government office, were transported to the gang headquarters. A gang member skilled in modifications made some improvements to them.
Now, they could be tuned to the gang’s telegraph channels, making two-way communication possible.
These two telegraphs were handed over to Vista, along with a codebook the gangs had made themselves.
But here’s the thing—even though they had all the gear, not a single person among Vista’s group knew how to use a telegraph, nor could anyone quickly monitor or decode the messages coming in.
So Andina volunteered to go learn how to use the telegraph from the gangs. And just like that, Vista naturally became the leader of the remaining workers.
Vista looked around at the massive crowd in front of him. After two days of fierce fighting, although many had been wounded or killed, the number of workers kept growing. Now, the two sides were surprisingly close to being evenly matched.
Meanwhile, Renith was staying at the law firm, carefully studying those crystal powders.
But no matter how she looked at them, they just seemed to be ordinary crystal shards. The only thing special about them was that they had carried the power of a god-like being, which left a faint trace of its presence behind.
“This stuff is pretty much useless now.”
Renith sighed softly and used her magic to completely crush and incinerate the crystal powder. That lingering presence vanished completely, as if it had never existed at all.
She glanced out the window at the slowly rising sun—morning had come. So she spread her wings and flew straight to the library at Bland University, planning to ask Shequan a few questions.
As for Shequan, he had only woken up yesterday.
His mind was still hazy, a bit lost, and he felt drowsy. He had no idea what he was doing and had completely lost all awareness of the world around him.
But oddly enough, this state was perfect for Renith to ask questions. She walked up to him and asked softly:
“What is your ‘Divine Gift’?”
To verify the truth of what Demihov had said, Renith specially asked Shequan the same questions again.
Shequan answered truthfully, and his responses were more or less the same as Demihov’s.
So it seemed Demihov hadn’t lied about these things.
“Do you know a person named Colk?”
Renith continued asking.
“Yes, I know him.”
Shequan nodded slightly, with a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
Renith’s questioning went very smoothly. Maybe Shequan realized his situation, or maybe it was because of his physical condition—either way, he didn’t put up any resistance at all.
He slowly began:
“Colk is one of the more respected people among us ‘God’s Chosen.’ He’s known as ‘Blind Faith’ Colk, and that’s common knowledge in our circles.”
“He basically came to this world around the same time I did, so his experience is pretty similar to mine. But he managed to rise meteorically—within just five years, he became one of the seven leaders above us. The Emperor of the Empire granted him the title of Marquis. He commands tens of thousands of troops and has endless wealth…”
“Me, though? I’m just an ordinary low-level employee, no different from my original world. Busy every day, yet barely scraping by.”
Shequan couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.
Renith shook her head, a trace of disdain in her eyes:
“You were able to get by just fine, yet you still swindled innocent people out of their money just to get richer. You drove them to bankruptcy and even suicide. Don’t you think that’s cruel?”
“Survival of the fittest… that’s just how society works. No matter what methods I use, if I’ve got the skills, I deserve to get more, don’t I?”
Shequan answered without a care, as if all of this was perfectly natural.
Renith sighed to herself. This guy seemed to have a twisted understanding of the world, somewhat similar to those students she had encountered.
She recalled her memories and spoke slowly:
“Well, at least I don’t think that’s the way it should be.”
Back during the Empire’s war against the demons, and even earlier, many people firmly believed in the whole “survival of the fittest” idea.
That was the Empire’s way of existing—only by being stronger than everyone else could it take root in this world. But that mindset spread all the way down to the Empire’s lower classes, leading to countless tragedies and destruction.
A boy named Anrud, who had lost his family and his home, was wandering the streets. Every day, he searched for scraps of food, fighting with the rats in the gutters just to eat. Other kids his age would often whisper in his ear:
He had to get strong, strong enough to crush everyone who looked down on him.
Even the adults passing by would say that they wished they had the ability to climb higher up the social ladder. So Anrud, soaking in this kind of talk day after day, began to believe the same thing—this survival-of-the-fittest mindset.
He thought that only the strong could avoid being bullied, only the strong could make a place for themselves in this world.
That was the tragedy of the era.
So when a teacher recognized his talent, Anrud showed incredible promise.
He quickly surpassed his senior fellow apprentices and became a top-tier mage, steadily advancing toward becoming a grand mage.
But then came the slander and backstabbing. Even though he could fend them off for a while, he couldn’t keep it up forever.
In the end, his senior apprentices teamed up to kick him out of the mage tower, and he found himself wandering again.
At first, Anrud thought it was because he wasn’t strong enough. But then he witnessed the Empire’s rise, its decline, its collapse. He saw the mage tower falling apart. He saw one person after another climb to high positions, only to be dragged back down by others. He saw old friends hanged on the gallows…
All of it made him waver. He felt lost, unsure of where he was supposed to go.
Then one day, he saw a beam of light fall from the sky in broad daylight. A single figure slowly descended into the Empire’s central square. He wasn’t a warrior, wasn’t a mage. He was just an ordinary person in strange clothes.
Hearing the cheers from the crowd, Renith realized—this was the third hero. A hero from another world. Hethis.
If he’s a hero from another world, surely he must have the answer, right?
So when the hero put out a call for talented people to join him, Anrud didn’t hesitate to sign up for the demon lord subjugation team. Luckily, Hethis chose him.
Together with Hethis and Alegya, he set out on the journey to defeat the demon lord.
One day, Anrud asked Hethis the question that had troubled him for so long. And Hethis, having grown up under a different kind of system, gave him a very insightful answer:
“This so-called ‘survival of the fittest’ of yours is just a crude application of jungle law to human society. But the fundamental difference between humans and animals is that we have the ability to create fairer ways of living through rules and empathy.”
“When a society accepts the rule of the jungle as the norm, ordinary people gradually lose their compassion and become accomplices to violence. History has proven that civilizations that rely on violence are doomed to self-destruct. A truly strong society is one that allows every individual to live with dignity.”
Hethis seemed to be reminiscing about something as he began describing his own country—a system completely different from the Empire’s:
“In my country, we respect everyone’s rights and dignity. We use laws and rules to maintain justice and peace in society.”
“I see… So survival of the fittest only traps people in endless internal conflict. The strong kill the weak, the stronger kill the strong, and the cycle keeps going… Eventually, society inevitably slides toward decline.”
That was exactly it. Precisely it.
Anrud thought to himself.
The Empire was constantly replaying the same cycle of rising to power and falling from grace.
This way of thinking was stuck on a loop, destroying this massive empire that had stood for nearly two thousand years. In the endless struggle of the fittest, the Empire grew weaker and weaker, heading straight for ruin.
“To be honest, that kind of thinking still exists in my society too, but it’s the minority. It’s hard to completely kill an idea. It just keeps hanging around.”
Hethis paused briefly, then continued.
“You’re like that too, aren’t you? Living in this kind of environment, it’s impossible not to believe that survival of the fittest is the truth. You want to become strong, to stand above everyone else.”
Hethis was right. This society forced people to believe in survival of the fittest. Anrud’s way of thinking was deeply rooted—getting stronger was the only way out. But after hearing Hethis’s words, he began to waver.
“I don’t want to be like them,”
Anrud said quietly.
“Then why not change?”
“Survival of the fittest isn’t the only goal worth striving for, is it? I’m still young too, and I can’t preach big philosophies. But maybe you should think about this—why did you set out on this journey in the first place? And why have so many others?”
For what?
A strange surge of emotion welled up inside Anrud. He started rethinking the very meaning of his existence.
By now, Renith had also found her own answer.
She was pursuing the truth, following in her companions’ footsteps, all for the survival and flourishing of human civilization.
“We are different from other races.”
“The demons and beastmen worship strength—survival of the fittest.”
“The elves and fairies serve the spirits—bloodline is everything.”
“Monsters and wild beasts lack intelligence—they still eat raw meat and drink blood.”
“But we are human. We should be able to unite more, to be more diverse, more social, more humane.”
At this point, Shequan laughed. He looked at Renith with a twisted, mocking gaze.
Renith fell silent for a moment, then spoke with unwavering determination:
“And so am I.”
