Tonight, the stars in the night sky are sparse, and the pale moon hides in the clouds.
"Why?" Chu Ran looked at Aunt Huang, who had directly refused, unable to understand. "They just want an empty, uninhabited place, so give it to them! Before the Zerg Beasts and Zerg get forcibly teleported here, we can leave. There's hardly anyone around here; even if the Zerg Beasts come, as long as the military follows closely, they won't cause much damage."
Aunt Huang was silent. Aunt Wang looked up at the sky, refusing to meet Chu Ran's eyes.
The pressure fell on the old man.
He looked left and right, no one to bail him out, so he could only scratch his head and try to lighten the mood. "You can't just abandon a home..."
"If you stay, you'll lose your home too!" Chu Ran coolly punctured the false excuse. "I know you were formidable in the past, but now you're just a bunch of elders whose Spiritual Power is weaker than mine."
"When you were geniuses, you enjoyed the best resources, but you've already repaid the privileges you received to society. The former Legion Commander of the Seventh Sub-Star, after Spiritual Power Destruction, ended up running a noodle shop on Old Street where no one but old comrades comes to eat." Chu Ran stared intently at Aunt Huang. "Was it worth it?"
"There are many geniuses who enjoyed the same privileges as you, like my biological grandfather. He eats ingredients worth tens of thousands of carats every day and enjoys the privilege of suppressing any unfavorable news with just one phone call. He's probably still sleeping soundly in the Chu Family's old mansion right now, while you can't even keep your own house, and might even lose your lives for the crimes committed by some idiots."
"You know they're exploiting your sense of duty and kindness, yet you still choose to stay?"
Chu Ran paused, as if finding it utterly absurd, she couldn't help covering her eyes.
"The main issue is insufficient combat power. There are suicide attacks everywhere, and the commercial center will need many people to stay and kill the Zerg Beasts," the old man weakly defended.
"What does that have to do with you?" Chu Ran interrupted. "You're no longer strong. According to this society's hierarchical principle from birth, you are like me, like Chang He, like those people with weak Spiritual Power considered garbage, even like the useless son of Old Master Chu's niece—existences that can be ignored."
"The weak often have no choice. For example, when I faced the Chu Family, when I faced those spying rats, when Chang He faces the future, when those without Spiritual Power face this damn privilege for the strong. But now, we have a choice. We can choose to save our own lives."
A deathly silence fell around them.
Aunt Wang never expected that the usually polite and gentle little Comrade Chu would say such sharp words. She opened her mouth, then closed it. She wasn't good with words, so she wouldn't embarrass herself further.
"You're right," Aunt Huang spoke slowly. "Chu Ran, everything you said is correct. But this is our choice."
"Just like the comrade who saved me on my first battlefield. He lost his life; I survived that battle and then rose swiftly to the position of Legion Commander."
Chu Ran was momentarily speechless. After a moment of silence, her gaze swept over the elders who had become like family. "Are you all choosing to stay as well?"
The elders looked at the sky and ground, unusually quiet.
"Alright," Chu Ran stepped back, her tone calm. "We should respect each other's choices."
She stood downstairs, watching them go home and come back out. Those who usually didn't care about their appearance were now wearing combat suits that had been idle for over a decade.
If not for the streaks of white hair, perhaps this was how they once boarded starships time and again, on expeditions to kill enemies.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Strange-looking Zerg Beasts crashed down from the sky.
The old buildings couldn't withstand the heavy pressure and collapsed. Rubble fell, dust rose.
"Kill!" A steady command.
One by one, the old men and women charged forward with agility defying their age.
Aunt Huang led the charge.
Her right hand gripped a crimson long blade. When she was less than three meters from the White Worm, she leaped, twisted her wrist, and rapidly infused Spiritual Power into the blade. With a boom, the blade's surface erupted in raging flames, instantly vaporizing the toxic mucus sprayed by the White Worm.
The blade fell, slicing through the White Worm's head as easily as cutting a watermelon.
Aunt Huang stepped over the White Worm's head, leaped again, and swung the blade, leaving countless afterimages. The White Worm's body was cut into pieces, the mucus inside solidifying on the surface and roasting together with the white flesh into a dark yellow.
The White Worm, known for its formidable regenerative ability, was now completely dead.
The elders behind her refused to be outdone. Clutching their old companions of many years, they bravely charged into the swarm of Zerg Beasts.
Those with weaker Spiritual Power conserved it or relied on special artifacts to fight guerrilla-style. Those without Spiritual Power donned exoskeleton armor, gripped high-energy laser blades, and engaged in close-quarters combat with the Zerg Beasts.
Aunt Huang stood out the most. She directly drove a light mecha out.
The humanoid mecha leaped, and the ultra-photon orbital cannons mounted on its shoulders flared up. After charging, the shells shot like flying fire meteors toward the farthest Zerg Beasts about to land.
The distant artillery fire never ceased, and now the cannons here roared to life.
Scorching flames, fierce winds, freezing ice, accompanied by the fragments of exploding shells and deafening sounds, brought the silent Old Street back to life after more than a decade.
Chu Ran watched as the number of Zerg Beasts grew, swamping those figures.
Why bother?
If the world bullies and humiliates me, and I still repay it with virtue and tolerance, then where is justice in this world?!
Weakness is the original sin!
But the weak refuse to accept it!
When the gods descend, the gods have no mercy for me.
The shadow in her heart began to pulse.
Pfft!
The limb of a giant beetle pierced through the old man's body.
"Ha, I'm the first one," the old man grinned, his eyes unwilling.
His right hand gripped the sharp limb tightly and pulled hard. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His left hand pressed the bomb button. He shouted loudly, "I'll go ahead and scout the way for you down below!"
A massive explosion erupted, a huge wave of fire sweeping the area.