He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 110 What is "Kindness"?

The suburban people's motives for rebelling against Gray Court were complex.

Some people are driven by fear—some of them have made grave mistakes and are afraid of being punished, afraid of being thrown into a canning machine and turned into a pile of minced meat like that "sugar daddy" in Elysium.

Burdened with serious crimes, these faction leaders who originally controlled Thunder in the suburbs could not possibly place their hopes for survival on the mercy of their enemies. They sought to save themselves by fleeing and trying every means to escape this gray area.

But the will of the ruthless king is clearly not swayed by their fears.

Therefore, no one can escape it.

No! There is! No! person!

—This is an unquestioning process without exception. Under this gray sky, everyone—whether they surrender or are captured, whether they are leaders or henchmen—must pass the selection of "soul purity." This is a resolute and uncompromising judgment based solely on the standards proposed by Ai.

In the far suburbs, in a dark alley.

Two minutes earlier, Ronan had already dealt with the "godfather" of the Mafia. Connor, who arrived a little later, led the members of the Silent Sanctuary to quickly take over the remaining survivors at the scene. Now, these remnants of the underworld faction were all under control. Perhaps because of the words the godfather said before his suicide, no one resisted, and the entire group was silent for a moment.

In the very next second.

Will we die?

'

A very soft voice sounded in Ronan's ear. He turned his head and saw the young man who had been called upon by the Godfather earlier, who was following behind the Silent Ones. He was now looking at him with eyes full of confusion and fear, and his uneasy posture was like that of livestock waiting to be slaughtered, just like the people around him.

There's nothing special about it.

Ronan tilted his head, thought for a few seconds, then a mischievous glint in his eye, and he replied playfully, "Guess?"

"—" The young man's thin body trembled violently, his two dark brown pupils quivered wildly, and a pair of ears, of some kind of canine, were pressed tightly against his hair. "I—I—"

The next instant, under Ronan's mocking gaze, he suddenly knelt down in the direction of the "Fire Demon," seemingly clinging to the man before him as his lifeline. "Your Excellency, Your Excellency, I don't want to die!"

His voice was thick with sobs, and he spoke incoherently: "Your Excellency—I've wanted to surrender for a long time, Your Excellency, I was just scared, scared to death. They said that if I followed the Godfather, I wouldn't die, so I followed them all the way to escape—Your Excellency, I'm willing to join your ranks. The Godfather said I'm willing to walk the right path. I haven't done—what bad things, Your Excellency. I was also kidnapped here in the first place. They forced me to do many disgusting things, but I didn't want to. I just wanted to survive—"

"Tsk." An impatient smacking sound.

—I don't understand.

Ronan frowned deeply, truly baffled. He didn't know why he had suddenly become this man's savior—just because he lit a cigarette for him? Or did the Godfather specifically light it for him before he died?

People from the outskirts often believe that as long as they are "special" or "more valuable" than others, they can survive anywhere. This young man's mindset is the same. Judging from certain details, such as his age, the specifications of his prosthetic body, and the words he uses when speaking, he is probably not a native of this place. He may have been abducted at some point in time, or he may be a criminal who escaped here, or just an unlucky guy.

Ronan was too lazy to investigate the life record of a nobody, so he was just a little disappointed. He put away his playful mood and answered in the most standard official tone, "Pure White will decide on your future arrangements. If you can pass the soul purity screening, your lives are still in doubt, depending on your performance later."

These words dampened Ronan's enthusiasm. He ignored the young man kneeling and kowtowing to him, frowned, and scanned his surroundings. After confirming that no one had escaped, he greeted Connor and strode deeper into the alley.

"Your Excellency—Your Excellency!" The guy was still howling, so Connor glanced at him silently and extinguished the scream in his throat.

Ronan didn't look back. He took a deep breath, the air filled with the rusty stench of blood and the pungent smell of sulfur. After leaving the Silent Ones' ranks, he stood there for a while, lit a cigarette, and silently waited for Xiao Qi to come and meet him.

According to the fox, this operation is ready to "close the net" and the grazing will be completely over the day after tomorrow.

The Godfather is dead, and the troops arriving from behind are slowly devouring the alley. As the sharpest blade to bring despair to the enemy, Ronan will now work with Xiao Qi to take out the people who need to be killed here.

—Of course, there aren't many left.

Exhaling a puff of white mist, Ronan began to daydream, feeling a bit bored. He thought about the "godfather" from earlier and didn't quite understand why he felt inexplicably irritated. Perhaps it was because of the man's words before he died, or perhaps it was because of the "young man" he pointed out who ultimately betrayed him out of fear.

—Will those people die?

Ronan genuinely didn't know, because this part wasn't under his jurisdiction.

What determines whether these losers will survive is that pure white in the sky—or rather, the fox that's probably fast asleep right now.

The boundary between "life and death" is determined by only one indicator: "the purity of the soul."

This is not some "concept" that needs to be memorized from the general text of mysticism. It is a standard set by Ai, and it is also the only scale for Grey Court to select members: there are three levels in total. Those who fail to pass will be executed or demoted to D-level personnel, those who pass will be incorporated into subordinate organizations, and those who meet the standards will be promoted to full-fledged personnel depending on the situation.

Ronan had asked Aye where this so-called "purity" measurement came from, and the events of that day still send chills down his spine when he recalls them.

"Of course it's me."

At that time, Ai Yi seemed a little off, as if he were a completely different person—his eyes held a terrifying coldness that Ronan had never seen before—a gaze completely different from that of the harmless fox.

Just a brief glance felt like his soul was being frozen to pieces—even as an apprentice of fire, he felt his blood freeze in the biting cold, and the flame in his eyes flickered and was about to go out.

"I don't need them all to understand what's right, at least not yet."

The King of Ruthlessness smiled like this, his voice so gentle yet chilling: "The standards I set are very clear and simple—they only need to stand within my field of vision, so as not to pierce my eyes."

He said, "If just appearing in front of me makes me uncomfortable, such a person who spoils my pleasure and ruins my mood, then there's no point in following the light; the darkness of death will accept them."

Ai slowly and methodically set the scale, completely disregarding the devastating purge that her "screening criteria" would bring—preliminary statistics showed that under such a severe "disaster," nearly 40% of the active population in the suburbs disappeared in that month.

In other words, more than 30,000 people died as a result of the Gray Court's takeover. About a third died from the chaos of the turbulent period, a third from the lack of supplies, and a third from the Gray Court's violent takeover. "It's less than I thought," Ai said.

In a general sense, there is no "common people" in the suburbs. After all, they are abandoned places without even basic industries. They are like nomadic tribes that have exhausted their reserves in winter and rely solely on "plundering" from outside to support themselves. Therefore, the "simple and honest" people in the suburbs are not allowed to work in bars unless they have a few lives on their hands.

To use such a territory as the base of power—to be honest, it is indeed a challenge.

He toyed with the cigar in his hand, seemingly casually stating: "What is soul purity? It is a standard simplified to the extreme—it has nothing to do with how many sins a person has committed, but is only connected to the essence of their soul, following my definition, and personally verified by Pure White."

—What a standard of dictatorship!

The life-or-death decision of nearly 100,000 people was an unbearable burden, even for a fire apprentice.

He couldn't understand how this fox could so casually separate the lives of tens of thousands of people with a single scale.

When Ronan trembled as he voiced such doubts, the King of Injustice squinted and chuckled: "This is not cruel at all, at least compared to the atrocities committed by these people."

—To get rid of a tree that's rotten to the core, the only way is to thoroughly clean up the soil and remove the rotten roots that have spread deep into the earth. Burn them to ashes, and clean up every seed and every vein. Only in this way can the land become fertile under the nourishment of blood, and only then will a healthy tree grow from the dark earth.

"I can't be bothered to care about those people's positions. They may have had good intentions, or they may have always been evil; whether they choose to be law-abiding or rebellious, it doesn't matter to me—to put it bluntly, how many of these people in the suburbs can be of any use to me right now?"

The Unmerciful King snorted coldly, "I am not some mediocre or foolish person. I know I cannot demand alignment of hearts, nor can I unify their thoughts for the time being. So all I can do is one thing: permanently remove from the ranks those who are utterly rotten, those who cannot even imagine a slightly less terrible future, those who have lost all sense of morality."

"I might understand, but I can't be bothered to care about their past. Whether their initial evil deeds were forced or coerced, or their later evil deeds were due to coercion or numbness, it's all the same. You can try to explain it to me with that so-called 'being in darkness means you can only adapt to darkness,' or 'it's all for survival' nonsense, which might evoke empathy from a large group of people—but unfortunately, I won't listen, nor do I need to."

"Ronan————"

Ai walked up to the young man, noticing his pupils contracting with inner turmoil, and softly asked, "Guess why?"

Ronan remained silent, so the Ruthless King murmured to himself, "Because I have a more transparent medium."

He lit a cigar, gently inhaling its creamy and vanilla-like aroma, and whispered, "I can even craft malice into a tool; those simple, easily discernible souls hold no absolute secrets for me."

He pulled back his upper eyelids, seemingly joking: "I only need to use these eyes to see, just like seeing light pass through glass and remain clear and pure. I easily understand the scale of the so-called 'purity of the soul'—whether it is pure or not, for me, is only measured by the standard of 'whether light can still pass through'—"

Those who commit evil "out of coercion," "out of numbness," "out of survival"—those who kneel before the Gray Court, weeping and wailing, those who remain silent—do they repent? Can they repent? Can they accept their fate? Can they correct their thoughts and understand correctly under the cleansing of pure white?—I can see all of this in the very form of their souls. Their potential is the answer, not a doubt, in my eyes.

Ai pointed to her eyes, the cold, pale blue reflecting in Ronan's mind: "It's like this: pure black glass is an opaque black box, while colorless glass allows all colors to pass through. This is a vessel cut from the essence of the soul. It will become worn and dim due to depravity and corruption, until it can no longer let in light—the posture it presents is the scale by which I measure the soul."

"I only have expectations for those I love and approve of. As for other outsiders, they are just different types of tools. As long as they can understand that different colors exist in this world, and that there are other ways of surviving," then they are not beyond redemption and can still be used.

Ai chuckled softly, "If they are unwilling to accept their fate as mere tools, and instead change the color of their vessels in the process of being used, transforming into 'treasures,' then that is the possibility of rebirth, and I would be happy to see such a change."

"It's just that simple." After saying this, he narrowed his eyes, slightly concealing the cold glint in them.

59

At this moment, Ronan finally regained some of his ability to think.

For the past ten minutes, he felt as if his heart in his chest was frozen and sluggish, and even the flow of his thoughts was dense and slow.

-"tyrant"

Ronan suddenly felt like he didn't recognize Ai anymore, or perhaps he didn't recognize Ai at this moment. The only words he could think of to describe the ambition of the person in front of him were beyond imagination. He was trying to use his own will as a bar to measure the mind—and he was paying the price for it.

Witnessing and trying to understand all of this, I am now feeling a chill run down my spine.

—With the mind of one person, how can one anchor and weigh the thoughts of tens of thousands of people?

It's simply—a complete and utter dictatorship, just like the deeds of saints recorded in ancient mythological scrolls, but even more tyrannical and autocratic. At least the sages who walk among men still spread the meaning of morality and correct the measure of people's hearts through teaching and guidance. But this guy in front of me—he wants to weave his own principles into the standard of human morality.

-crazy.

Ronan opened his mouth, trying to say something, but was interrupted by Ai's action the next moment.

In just a few seconds, the cold glint in the fox's half-closed blue eyes suddenly faded, and the terrifying "danger" and despairing "ruthlessness" slowly receded, finally transforming into a familiar sense of pleasure.

His ears perked up, and the oppressive feeling quickly dissipated. Taking two steps closer to Ronan, Ai's tone returned to its usual dismissive tone, "Did I scare you?"

Ignoring Ronan's increasingly heavy breathing, Ai casually whispered, "Do you think I'm cruel, or heartless?"

"As the party that sets the rules and brings about change, I am still willing to give them a chance. As long as they pass the screening, I can try to understand their past and patiently witness their potential future—if it were someone else, they would be even more demanding."

—Who is the other one?

Ronan didn't get an answer; he only heard the fox laugh.

"This is the mercy I fought for them."

—What is kindness?

Ronan still didn't understand; he only felt confused, until he heard Ai whispering in his ear.

"However, sometimes there is a second criterion for selection."

He yawned. "There are some people, even if they pass the purity test, I'll still kill them—like some guys who make me unhappy just looking at them, guys who make me feel bad, oh dear—I'm the boss, my mental and physical health is also a very important indicator~"

For example, one.

Ai leaned back in her chair and whispered to Ronan, "Think about Xiao Qi who's been by your side lately, think about those guys who turned her into this. Even if Chun Bai forgives them, I can't let them go—this part of the trial is up to you, understand?"

Back in reality, Ronan vaguely remembered that as the head of the security department, he had the fox's authorization.

Some scum, even if they manage to escape the pure white screening, cannot escape the malice from that person: Ronan himself is willing to become this executor.

—The fugitive kingpin of the lavish den of iniquity—

Ronan looked into the depths of the dark alley and narrowed his eyes.

One can only be hidden inside.