Durin's Diary

Chapter 981 If Reborn

Upon arriving at the mountaintop, they found a large flat area perfect for resting. The children from the Candle Dragon Pavilion began a picnic there, but Dulin declined their invitation.

He flew into the air and looked south towards the capital, where the city vaguely resembled what it used to be.

He remembered that in his past life, when he was old, he climbed the mountain as before and happened to meet the first-year students from the tower who were climbing the mountain. The children had courage and perseverance. They climbed to the top of the mountain and looked down at the city with him, the old man.

Yu Xianzhe also came along.

Do you always believe in the saying that history is forged by people's lives?

Dulin still remembers asking Yu Xianzhe that question when he was older.

He smiled and nodded, the prosthetic android that looked almost like a grassland elf pointing to the pile of ruins at the foot of the mountain.

That is the site of an ancient era, preserved as a cultural relic.

That's where I was created.

He spoke very casually about the matter of machines.

My creator and father taught me a lot, including human history and his views on history. He explained everything to me.

Did he ever say where life comes from and where it goes?

At that time, Dulin had already retired and was only three years away from dying on his sickbed.

What? Has the butcher of the tower, the one who cleans up the century, the bloodless war maniac, begun to fear death?

No, I'm just curious. You know, I'm an orphan. I've never met my parents, so I don't know where I came from. And death is a purgatory for me that I can't read, write, or think about, so I don't know where I'll go after I die.

Dulin answered calmly.

However, Yu Xianzhe could not give an answer to this question either. He said that an old friend once asked him the same question, and he could not answer it at the time. He never expected that many years later, someone else would ask the same question.

He still couldn't answer, but he gave Dulin a story, a story about him and his fellow omnics.

My father died at the beginning of the Destruction Era. He was corrupted by Chaos. Before committing suicide, he told me to leave the ruins and help the people of southern Thailand who were fleeing south.

So I went out. The era of destruction lasted for a long time, so long that I forgot how many young people died in front of me. The people of southern Thailand sacrificed generation after generation, only hoping that the destruction would eventually pass and that their descendants could enjoy peace.

I was swept up by their small yet lofty ideals until the arrival of the new era, when I suddenly discovered that the enemy of all beings had transformed from the chaotic evil gods into humanity itself.

Yu Xianzhe stood on the hilltop, looking down at the old and new capital cities.

I once discussed with other cyborgs whether or not to interfere with human ambitions. The initial conclusion was not to interfere, so the cyborgs retreated to the background and let living beings find their own way.

And so, in just a century, living beings have messed everything up.

In the story told by Yu Xianzhe, Dulin heard a completely different history.

In some unofficial human histories, it is said that during that period, omnics clashed with humans, and ultimately the omnics crushed the newly established republic and began to enslave living beings as before.

According to the wise man, some of the living beings traced back to the greed and evil in their ancestral bloodline. They transformed into the vengeful ghosts of the old era. It was the greed and evil of these vengeful ghosts that summoned the evil god with the blood and lives of all living beings.

Dulin had read these histories. In the Old Age, the so-called presidents and prime ministers, along with the wealthy who colluded with them, committed far too many evils—in North America, psychics were sacrificed to evil gods in exchange for so-called immortality, leading to Nurgle's descent and poisoning of humanity; in Europe, the wealthy indulged in debauchery and ultimately suffered a bloodbath at the hands of Slaanesh's army; in the Middle East, in South Asia, and in South America, Tzeentch's schemes ran rampant. And in East Asia, Khorne finally descended, igniting a reign of conquest and resistance fueled by blood and fire.

The sages, unwilling for all living beings to repeat the same mistakes, personally led their armies to slaughter those people and their families.

For the past ten thousand years, I have been searching for the philosopher-king's theory of governance that my father spoke of, but I have sadly discovered that in these ten thousand years, there have been far too few philosopher-kings, while beasts and animals have been everywhere.

As the sage spoke these words, a trace of sorrow was revealed in his lightless eyes.

I have tried time and again to teach all living beings to walk on their own, but they are like infants in swaddling clothes, repeating the mistakes of history time and time again.

Therefore, in my opinion, your question, like my story, has no ending and is meaningless.

After finishing his speech, the wise man left dejectedly.

Just like Dulin now, he stood on the hilltop, looking at the city in the distance.

The past and the present situation continue to irritate Dulin's nerves. My question, like the sage's story, has no ending and is meaningless.

Yes, everything we pursue—the past and future of civilization, the joys and sorrows of life—is nothing more than a hundred-year illusion for a single being.

Dulin mechanically turned his head and saw a human boy with dark lead-colored hair, shirtless, wearing white trousers, smiling at Dulin.

You finally understand me, Dulin.

You are... Sasser Sinriech?
·yes.

Faced with Dulin's question, the boy laughed happily. He sat casually on the rock and looked at the city in the distance.

Look, life ebbs and flows, and the people of Changtang have guarded this illusion for a thousand years. If it weren't for people like you, they would have been devoured by our malice long ago. And would they really give you the reward you deserve after people like you defeat us? Impossible.

Then he looked at Dulin.

• You are different from the Nameless One. Compared to him, you are more like us. We are all just madmen and fanatics who are loyal to our ideals and beliefs, using divinity and divine power as tools to fulfill our selfish desires. What is the Nameless One, that kind old man? He is just a pitiful worm who does not want to get involved in cause and effect.

At this point, he stood up and pointed to the city in the distance: "The people in that city, whom we haven't even defeated, are already thinking about how to deal with their own people! Their stupidity is self-evident! Dulin, become one of us. This land needs true power and dictatorship to control those ambitious people and madmen!"

Du Lin sighed.

"To stop them, do we become them?"

Isn't that so? Every step of civilization doesn't have to be progress! Every step for living beings doesn't have to be happiness! Might makes right! Dictatorship has a future! What can endless debates by politicians bring? They can't even compare to talk show hosts; at least hosts bring joy to people!
The boy spoke loudly until Dulin disappeared.

He remained silent for a moment, then lowered his head to look at the scaly hand protruding from his chest, and the black heart in it.

You idiot, do you know what you're doing?

Dulin pulled out his hand and crushed the black heart in his hand.

Am I not simply putting into practice what you said? A true dictator doesn't need a spiritual mentor like you.

(End of this chapter)