Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'-Chapter 1291 - 275: Empire Line: Toward the [Spiritual Deer] Ending (69)

"Lai Anding, is he a tyrant?" Severston asked.

Oshen shook his head:

"Not quite, he's merely a power-broker. Ultimately, we don't oppose some of Lai Anding's plans, but we refuse to waste our lives on his projects like cannon fodder. We want to control our own Fate, not be treated as disposable pawns—even if we are destined to die, it should be by our own Will."

"So, you seek Freedom by overthrowing him."

Severston looked at Li Aozi:

"What about you, Lord Leoz?"

"Lai Anding being a tyrant has no relation to me."

Li Aozi offered a completely different view:

"Honestly, my conflict with Lai Anding isn't significant, but our ideas couldn't be more different. I don't hate Lai Anding personally, but I deeply despise his weakness and appeasement. I abhor injustice and prejudice—and more importantly, only I know how terrifying our enemies are, and know that Lai Anding would inevitably doom us. I don't crave Freedom and happiness; power to me is merely a tool and means to prevent the Annihilation of the Starry Abyss."

"So, you wish to save the world?"

"No."

Li Aozi shook his head:

"It is that I can save this world, so I intend to do so. If everyone did what could be done, this world would be much more efficient."

Severston halted, turned, and asked Li Aozi:

"Leoz, I've always wondered, what would you do with such high efficiency?"

"With high efficiency, one can do more."

"But we are Deities, our Lives are infinite. What is the meaning of doing more things?"

"I don't know."

Li Aozi straightforwardly replied:

"However, I feel that doing more is meaningful. Meaningful things involve doing more. This world doesn't solely belong to the Divine Clan but also to the common masses. Mortals, Dragon Race, mayflies, paramecium, silicate ore, Stellar, horseflies, luminous mutants, factories, computers, film art..."

"I am different from you all, I'm a Cannon Fodder Deity, born to be cannon fodder on the battlefield. I have no sense of mission, no sense of glory, not even emotions. It was only from being a Mortal that I gradually comprehended these things."

"I am a Cannon Fodder Deity, a security guard at a bank in a remote city of the Frost Plated Republic, a vocational school graduate. Later, I managed to reincarnate as a Crown Prince, yet had no Talent. Without some accumulation from my past life, I wouldn't have survived past age 14, let alone tread the path to becoming an Emperor."

"I'm nothing; I am all things. What I've Witnessed isn't a legend, nor have I realized any grand Truth. Those who accompany me—all that remains in the end—is only myself."

"So, I cannot articulate what I'm living for; I have no Desire. Yet somehow, I've lived a lifetime, reincarnated to live again, and feel I can continue living until the Cosmic end."

Li Aozi hadn't talked about his past for many years.

Facing Severston and these trusted Spiritual Warrior subordinates, he had no need to hide, speaking frankly.

"I have little ambition; I truly just want to reclaim what belongs to me."

"Name, Mandate, identity—all that others inherently have, yet I don't. I want to reclaim it, want the Starry Abyss to give me a fair and corresponding treatment. But the Starry Abyss often, for various reasons, owes and denies me what should be mine."

"Why am I at odds with the Secret? Because it keeps taking what little I have, taking every piece of junk I've picked up along the way."

"I don't understand, I truly don't understand why. From Cannon Fodder Deity to bank Security Guard, why have I met layer upon layer of obstruction from both my own kind and the enemy despite doing nothing, simply seeking fair treatment?"

"I don't understand. I've chosen full resistance, fought the Destroyer to protect more Lives, yet Morphederia chose to abandon us, using resources meant for the battlefield to raise a beast called [Society]."

"But what I comprehend even less is, when I chose to be a tyrant, employing brutal means to oppress, enslave, and slaughter—even sacrificing over a hundred million lives of our citizens, conducting racial genocide like Earthlings—no one questioned the treatment I received."

Li Aozi earnestly asked Severston:

"In the past, I had no awareness, no thought. Now, I do."

"Your Excellency Severston Chief God, can you tell me why everything that should be mine is no longer?"

"Is seeking fairness and speaking out so difficult?"

"Is the problem with me, or is the very rule of the Starry Abyss unjust, indoctrinating us into class Slaves and demanding we humbly surrender everything?"

"I don't understand, Severston, I truly don't. Is it Lai Anding's fault, my fault, Morphederia's fault, the Earthlings' fault—or is this entire Starry Abyss fundamentally wrong?"

......

Severston didn't answer.

In fact, he was extremely calm, as if he already knew Li Aozi would say these words. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I'm glad, Lord Leoz, as a friend, to see you finally have your own independent personality and consciousness. This is truly worth celebrating. I am delighted from the heart, truly."