How Am I Still Alive?-Chapter 1378 - 1374: Looking into the Distance

"Our ordinary folks are truly, truly happy today, it’s about bidding the old farewell and welcoming the new during the grand celebration..."

In the icy tundra of Siberia, an Eastern touch of festivity from a few years earlier resonated back and forth; Lu Ping’an was joyfully swaying on the treetops.

"Are you very happy?"

On the other hand, Meow was about to explode with frustration.

"Indeed I am happy, after all, I’m on an uphill path... Uh, I really didn’t imply that someone else is on a downhill slope right now."

The more he tried to explain, the worse it sounded; so Lu Ping’an just shut up honestly.

It was what it was, that was the logic, but the same event meant completely different feelings for two people... After all, Lu Ping’an was only a sixth-tier, surviving against a high-stakes eighth-tier battle-profession meant a massive improvement for himself.

It meant he could now hold his ground in high-tier battlefields, it meant his "Twin Tactics" had value to be further developed in top-level combat.

It also meant that the composition of his abilities was reasonable, and continuing to develop would uncover enough potential without needing to look back... It was like he had just taken an important midterm exam, not acing it but passing, and now he just needed to spot his weaknesses instead of rebuilding from the ground up; naturally, he felt a bit happy.

What about nearly dying? Lu Ping’an really didn’t see it as a big deal; he had simply confirmed that even the current him shouldn’t carelessly strut around in front of top-tier battle-professions.

But in Big Cat’s eyes, she was being suppressed by her former subordinate, and even with two turnaround cards in hand, she didn’t have the confidence to land a decisive blow.

One had stepped onto a new staircase, while the other had fallen from the divine realm to the mortal world; the contrast in their emotions was vast.

In response to Big Cat’s anxiety, Lu Ping’an said with a smile.

"...Don’t worry, this time, we will definitely go further than the previous ’Balance Disaster Beast’."

Lu Ping’an’s words cooled down Big Cat’s anxious mood a bit, because she also knew this was not just consolation, but a clear-cut reality that Lu Ping’an was planning for the future.

Unlike the lone individual from the past who walked to the very end and drove himself mad with the constant ticking of impending doom, this time, the endpoint seen by the Balance Disaster Beast might just be their beginning.

Anxiety, irritability, and rage were transmitted to Lu Ping’an through the mental link; while confidence, desire, and calm joy were sent back to Chris.

In the end, both sides achieved a strange calm, and while words may be full of deceit, the linked souls balanced each other’s positive and negative emotions.

Lu Ping’an’s thoughts, plans, and confidence about the future diluted Chris’s anxiety and unease.

"I... I’m going to prepare. I will quickly analyze his flesh and give him a surprise the next time we meet." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Lu Ping’an just shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to say anything more... What he was most curious about was why, even up to today, he was still aligned with the Order and Good camp; as far as he knew, those not considered enemies by the "Blade of Justice" among professionals were practically Sages.

"It seems, this can be utilized..."

That matter with his brother-in-law... ahem, Brother Lei, had made Lu Ping’an seriously study the Path of the Blade of Allopos.

Allopos was a deity who truly despised evil, but in most countries of this world, he was undoubtedly an Evil God.

The reason was quite simple, he was too extreme... those who walked his path, the Blades of Allopos, had to continuously sacrifice wrongdoers to him to maintain their power, and to advance further naturally required a slaughter.

Does it sound like a good thing? But evil is a relative concept... spitting is evil, murdering a person’s entire family is evil, and one of the law’s duties is "punishment that fits the crime," not to let minor offenses carry disproportionate burdens.

"Exterminating evil at all cost" sounds good, but are there really so many evil-doers deserving of sacrifice in reality? Naturally, to maintain power, the Blades of Allopos tended to lapse into indiscriminate killing.

Fighting and brawling meant death, theft, and fraud meant death, and to them, being dishonest or two-timing in relationships mostly equated to the death-penalty.

Lu Ping’an was somewhat curious about how they determined guilt.

"They have their own judgment mechanism, the most primal and direct ’bloody revenge’. As long as they harm ’the innocent,’ they can conduct a trial."

In their judgment, merits could not offset demerits, which is why Lu Ping’an was so surprised.

"I actually haven’t harmed any innocents?"

"At least you haven’t during this time... and it seems that killing villains actually grants a kind of positive blessing."

Based on his previous understanding of Brother Lei, Lu Ping’an knew that this "scouting of evil" had a certain range limit, but recalling his own actions, it seemed he really hadn’t harmed any "innocents" and had actually killed quite a few criminals.

Since this deity was a local god of Earth, then its "database" should be limited to Earth.

".....This could be useful."

When Chris was considered part of Lu Ping’an, even the power of Allopos couldn’t activate, indicating that extraordinary powers were not perfect.

And even when borrowing the Berserker trait’s "cognitive distortion" to forcefully deceive himself, he had to pay a significant price.

"... Maybe, we can use some ’Human Armor’?" Using the innocent wisdom of the Newborn as armor should be effective, right?

"The moment you do that, you’re regarded as a super villain. Don’t take deities for fools. Do I need to say what happened to people who did that before?"

Lu Ping’an smiled and shook his head; he felt he understood that actions like "hijacking" or "driving" would immediately trigger the upper limit of the sin judgment.

But once it was confirmed that the opponent was a "believer in justice," the guiltless Lu Ping’an had many tricks he could play.

As Lu Ping’an progressed, he kept proposing "plans," and his logistics personnel processed and experimented directly, turning them into products.

As Lu Ping’an had said before, if the first encounter didn’t kill him, the difficulty would naturally increase several folds, and the next time he faced the opponent, Lu Ping’an would naturally have a few more trump cards.

In the expanse of icy and snowy land, Lu Ping’an gradually entered into the mountains. He gained a lot from this battle, most crucially validating the occupational trait "replication."

However, as its overly casual "name" suggested, it wasn’t an occupational trait but rather a power module that Lu Ping’an had schemed to acquire in advance.

With the design blueprints and the prototype machine ready, now was the time to fill the materials... at that moment, Lu Ping’an was filled with desire for the God’s Relic, hoping to use it to compensate for his own shortcomings in the "Runner (Moon God/Space)" aspect.

Even on the journey, Lu Ping’an continued to validate and grow stronger...

"Boom!"

As he passed by, there were occasional cannon fires and thunderous roars, even when using the biological invisibility coat provided by Big Cat, sparks still brushed past him.

Some truly sensed Lu Ping’an, while others relied only on luck.

This external "invisibility device" had already reached its limit.

And the closer he got to his goal, the more threats Lu Ping’an encountered... he was a bit lost, fighting three encounters in half an hour without even knowing the names of his opponents.

When the Eye of Truth became ineffective, when the "Contamination Radar" spun wildly in place, in the vastness of Snow Mountain, he also lost his tracking direction.

If it were before, Lu Ping’an might not care, but now he truly desired the Moon God’s Legacy and was unwilling to give up just like that.

"Stop searching on your own, there must be professional searchers. Capture a couple and have them lead the way."