Plague Doctor

Chapter 457: Choice

Do not be blinded and shackled by emotions.

Inside the altar, when Gu Jun heard the Yith said that, he was reminded of the intermittent mysterious signal, something about their brains being shackled. At the time, Yu Chi and he thought the thing shackling them was their bodies but turns out it was their emotions? So did this mean that the Yith was behind the mysterious signal?

They had 5 minutes left. Gu Jun’s emotions were complicated. They could see everything, the detailed situation of all 50000 individuals being selected. The selected were also connected by an invisible mental bond. Floating in the sea of emotions, most of them were tied down by familial connections. However, there were some elderly individuals, those without families as well as scientists who yearned for the ultimate scientific truth who chose to leave with the Yith. The moment their choice was made, their consciousness would be sucked out immediately and transported to the far future. They were not given the chance to even say farewell to their families, kiss their children, hug their parents, call their friends... there was no time.

To become the Yith, one had to overcome these emotions and this was the perfect way to start. With regards to those who chose to leave, there were voices of understanding and condemnation. Humanity was a creature of choice, some would go and some would say. That was human diversity. Gu Jun studied the panorama and a fury burned within him. Suddenly a voice seemed to be asking, “And you... what would you guys choose?”

They too had their own choices to make...

“Captain Yu, did you hear that?” He asked.

“I did.” Yu Chi looked around nervously. But there was nothing they could do but wait. For both Phecda and Mysterium, 90 percent of the chosen ones decided to stay. Those who left were mostly side-liners who worked the charts and research. The frontliners and commanders chose to fight to the end.

“If you intend to leave, then hurry up!” At the command central, Elder Tong slammed against the table, “If not, we still have plenty of things to do!”

“No one is leaving. If we choose to run every time human beings face tragedy, can we survive until today?” At the frontline, Lou Xiaoning cursed. Of course, not everyone in the One shared her opinion. In fact, 3 of their members left, 2 from FBM and 1 from Russia.

“Maintain the life circle!” Elder Tong ordered. “Keep control over the desert wasteland and try to connect with Mysterium. While we have this mental connection, we should try to initiate the cleansing net again. We need to try every weapon and spell to find the weakness of these flying polypus hydroids. Move, move, move!” The various departments never stopped working. The vehicles which were retreating earlier, now reared around to head into the danger zone.

“Why don’t you people get it?” Teacher Fan’s voice colored with helplessness. “It’s pointless, you won’t win this. This is a war you can’t possibly win.”

“It is not that we don’t get it.” Wang Ruoxiang said as she hurried away towards the dressing room. “It’s that we know we can’t give up.” She told the command central that she would be of greater use outside the quarantine base. She wanted to go to the frontline. At least she knew how to cast spells. At the Spell Department, other than Gu Jun, Wu Siyu and Deng Ximei, the strongest spellcaster was Wang Ruoxiang. At this point, there was nothing to lose to try to summon Byakee.

“Behind Mo Bei is the whole world. Our families are behind us, we will not give up the defence of Mo Bei.”

“Families... you are still shackled by emotions...” Teacher Fan sighed. “The essence of biological nature is selfishness, please do not surrender to meaningless pressure of morality...”

“Yes, you’re right. Biological nature is selfishness.” Wang Ruoxiang countered, “But we believe the combination of emotion and rationality can overcome that selfishness.”

“Overcome selfishness? Doctor Wang, we have studied humanity for a long time. Humanity has a precious naivete about the world, that is a reason why we wanted humanity to join the Yith. Your ideas can help expand our mental frame...”

“Then, be silent and watch.” Wang Ruoxiang removed the suit and tossed it away. She put on her white coat, pulled up a ponytail and hurried away. Cai Zixuan and the rest followed her. They would join the frontline as spellcasters. Death was coming no matter where they were, in that case they might as well take down some locusts before they died.

Time... 1 final minute left.

Inside the altar, the voice clarified, “You want to do something but you can’t. Everything here is beyond your comprehension... You believe since there is a 1, there will be a 2, there is a sequence to everything. Since there is yesterday, there will be today and then tomorrow. There is a start, a process and an ending. There are questions and corresponding answers. There is chaos and order. There is rise and fall, strength and weakness, life and death.

“Duality in everything, cause and effect. You are used to seeing things this way, this is the lens you utilize to understand the universe.

“But... is that really correct? Is there really a logical sequence to everything or is that just your wishful thinking?

“If there is no duality, no cause and effect, no time, no order, no meaning, then does that mean everything is nothing but a ball of chaos?”

The voice echoed inside Gu Jun’s heart. It reverberated in Yu Chi, Keziah Mason and Wu Siyu’s minds as well. Wu Siyu had stopped moving her paws. The scrolls gradually overlapped over each other. The different worlds, different locales were contorting.

“Why? Why did a poster you drew in high school would appear in a different world? Why did your painting suddenly possess such power?” Wu Siyu wagged her tail as if saying, ‘o well, who cares?’

“There is no reason, it merely is. Keziah Mason, why did your family have such horrible death? Why was you sent into prison? It is not because you are a prisoner of time, it merely is. Yu Chi, why do you suffer from abnormal PTSD? Why the split cross? There is no reason no matter how hard you research, it merely is.

“It merely is, a simple concept that humanity cannot comprehend. In fact, the more you try to comprehend it, the more confused you’ll become. That is the flaw of the human thinking process... You need a reason, a logic, a truth...”

The voice continued to bounce around as the panorama churned like a whirlpool. Gu Jun’s head throbbed. It felt like the altar was spinning. The chanting raised in volume. Around their group, light exploded. Crimson glow interweaved everywhere. It took on a confusing and menacing hue.

Locust God was about to descend. The voice, it belonged to the Locust God.