I Will Teach You How to Hunt Gods-Chapter 534 - 132: Heroes Emerge from the Common People

"Now I call it 'hero's disease.'"

Old Jin shook his head, muttering, "As long as you're fast enough and strong enough, you can cut through the chains."

"Thirty years ago, during the Ninth Corporate War, I brought my students—the first batch—onto the battlefield."

"We went under the name of Doctors Without Borders, but in reality, under my arrangement, what we did went beyond treating the sick and saving lives. It was also about resisting the corporations and causing trouble for the giant companies."

"But war is never a simple matter. It's far more complicated than we ever imagined, and the most troublesome part is the resettlement of civilians."

"When our team set out, there were 378 of us. But within just two weeks, the number skyrocketed to over 50,000 due to the addition of civilians."

"'The troops don't need to expend so much energy on logistics,' that's what I said at the time. It's okay for civilians to go hungry for a few days, they can even be self-sufficient by farming. As long as we can take down the enemy's base in time, more civilians can be liberated."

"I thought my plan was flawless, without a hitch, but what I didn't consider back then was this—why would the people help you? Just because of a few words from you?"

"Equality, fraternity, freedom... Anyone can talk big, and the people of this era have heard countless people say similar words, only for it all to end in failure and broken trust."

"It's only natural they wouldn't believe it."

As he said this, Old Jin smiled bitterly.

"In the end, the people abandoned us, and our carefully laid plans were declared a failure, a painful lesson learned."

"The loss of money, territory, and treasures wasn't necessary to tally... but it was a hardship for those students who followed me, my... students..."

Saying this, Old Jin fell silent for a long time.

This man, as strong as steel, who wouldn't even frown at the greatest injury and setback, now fell into silence because of his mistake thirty years ago, because of his students.

He would probably never forgive himself for his failure...

Yun You noticed that Old Jin's chest actually always carried a white jade pendant, shaped like a scalpel, but with a name engraved on the hilt.

Erin Fangstellar.

Yun You knew the name; Jiang Wuji had mentioned her before.

Erin was one of the earliest students Old Jin recruited, only a little over ten years younger than him, barely considered a peer.

She seldom smiled, her appearance that of a standard ice-cold beauty, but she was more humane and caring towards the civilians than Old Jin was at the time, serving as the team's chief physician and logistics officer.

She was the only one who could refute Old Jin, even questioning his decisions publicly. Her scalpel performed surgery on everyone in the team at the time.

Jiang Wuji greatly admired her, even saying that if Erin were still around, he would willingly follow her.

But sometimes fate plays tricks, when the people abandoned Old Jin's team, they were bombed by the corporate army. To protect those ignorant children, this girl, with a face like frost, finally perished in the flames of war.

This was also the reason why the once fiery Old Jin suddenly became reticent and withdrawn.

He shaped Erin's ashes into a scalpel, hanging it around his neck, the blade facing inward, to constantly remind himself not to forget the lessons of the past.

"Heroes are the shroud woven by the wounds of the people."

Old Jin sighed deeply, his voice somewhat heavy: "Thirty years ago, we thought we were breaking the cage, but we were actually carving deeper scars into the people. We once thought we were the sharp blade tearing through the darkness, yet failed to see the wounds bleeding on the civilians."

"From then on, I understood that heroes might be able to save the people, but before becoming a hero, you must first be a person, an ordinary person, understand what the people need, and treat them with your heart."

"So I no longer aspired to lofty goals, focusing on those lords of Upper City, but came to the slums, becoming an ordinary teacher, teaching those kids how to survive, letting them understand the injustice in this world, awakening their numb hearts."

"Sometimes, only when people know they should be saved, can they save themselves."

"Coming from the crowd, and returning to the crowd."

Saying this, Old Jin gently patted Yun You on the shoulder, softly saying, "Perhaps you don't understand what I mean now, but that's okay. I believe Ah You is a good child. Your parents are great people, they gave you a diamond-like spirit, you will understand these things sooner or later."

Yun You somewhat understood and didn't, but still nodded sincerely.

However, the little girl understood one thing.

Heroes are certainly important, but if you want to help those oppressed by giant corporations, you can't only focus on heroes, but pay attention to the more bottom-tier civilians.

They seem like mayflies, so insignificant that there's no trace of them in history books.

But their strength and life force cannot be underestimated.

Yun You thought of Mokaka's mayoral campaign.

In fact, Mokaka's campaign funds were far less than those of other candidates, but her approval ratings were high, even reaching the sum of the second to tenth places at one point.

Why did this happen? It's simple, most other candidates spent their campaign funds on declarations, throwing piles of money to those well-renowned media outlets.

Those media boast high ratings, as long as there's a TV or computer, their ads will appear when turned on.

However, how many households in Lower City can afford computers and TVs? 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Maybe some, but most are cobbled-together electronic scrap.

Those who can assemble TVs mostly won't bother with those high-and-mighty media, skipping them directly when they see them.

In this way, those money funds naturally went down the drain.

And Mokaka? What she did was quite simple—live broadcasting, along with ongoing charity work and policy commitments.

Compared to candidates with a "highbrow" style appearing only on upscale media platforms, Mokaka's campaign leaned more toward the "common folk," as live streams were accessible to everyone, charity was practical, and policy commitments were clearly written to reduce excessive taxes and fees, relating to the interests of every civilian.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange if her approval ratings weren't high.

Thus, it also shows the power of those people.

Although seemingly inconspicuous, they often achieve unexpected effects.

It seems that the reason Old Jin laid down all his airs and became an ordinary teacher was probably to better integrate into the community, research what exactly they wanted, what they needed, so that in potential future conflicts, he could earn the genuine support of the people.

This version of Old Jin might be more terrifying to those high-ranking officials and big shots than the mere "Lawless Gold."

Seeing Yun You deep in thought, Old Jin understood; the little girl certainly grasped his meaning, which made him smile.

Taking Yun You as a student, in Old Jin's view, was the most correct decision he had made recently.

It's just a pity...

Speaking of Yun You, Old Jin's mind involuntarily conjured up other figures, prompting a sigh.

"Eh? What's wrong, Master?"

Yun You was a bit puzzled, not quite understanding why the teacher sighed.

But this time, Old Jin didn't answer directly. Instead, he shook his head and asked back, "Girl, do you know how many students I have now? Have you gotten to know their personalities?"

Yun You furrowed her brows slightly and shook her head.

Old Jin's students were really unknown to her.

Though the information of the "Hero of Calamity" was well-known in the circle of Death God, currently only the names of the eldest Jiang Wuji and the second Chen Zaikun were known.

The third, Tang Jin, left only a name, but aside from the name, there was no information.

As for the others... there was no record at all, only the title of Hero.

"I took on a total of seven students after turning 40, and you rank as the seventh."

"But... the six besides you all have various issues."

Old Jin sighed, leaning back gently in the chair, as if recalling the past.

"Today there's nothing else going on, so I'll just tell you about... your senior brothers and sisters."