Chapter 043: The Final Struggle

Lin Yan sensed Li Gang’s confusion and explained, “Actually, after that mission, my right leg was amputated high up on the thigh. After months of rehabilitation, I gradually learned to move using a prosthetic. All these years, have you ever seen me wear a short skirt?”

Li Gang shook his head, indicating he hadn’t, but his gaze drifted toward Lin Yan’s right leg.

Now, Lin Yan was dressed in a pale yellow combat uniform, and it wasn’t hard to see her legs appeared perfectly normal, without any sign of injury.

But that was no surprise. He himself had experienced the miraculous effects of comprehensive restoration therapy; regenerating a severed limb was no longer an impossibility.

Only now did Li Gang understand what Lin Yan had meant earlier—when the game began, due to her condition, she immediately used the comprehensive restoration treatment, likely to see if her right leg could be restored to its original state.

Lin Yan looked up at the sky, her gaze lingering on the half-moon above, and suddenly said softly, “Li Gang, I understand how you feel tonight, unable to sleep after your first kill. I went through the same thing during my first mission, after firing my first live round at an enemy.

I remember that for five days straight, every time I closed my eyes, the scene of that man’s head exploding from my shot would flash through my mind—even though I had killed a villain.

Sometimes, I wonder, why must people hurt each other? Why is there a distinction between good and evil? And why does someone have the power to decide life and death over another person, whom they have no connection to?”

Li Gang turned his head, surprised, looking at Lin Yan and seeing an unfathomable depth in her eyes.

He glanced at her, then looked up at the sky as well, saying, “I don’t know. Maybe inequality is inherent in humanity. Not just humans, but all living creatures—even among their own kind—will fight and kill. Perhaps that is the instinct for survival.”

Lin Yan found his words meaningful but didn’t dwell on them. She continued, “Afterwards, I carried out many different missions, and the number of people who died by my hand grew one after another. In the military’s eyes, those people were the scum of society, all deserving of death.

Maybe it was the frequent killing, maybe it was the sheer number, but in the end, I simply got used to it, became numb, felt nothing.”

Li Gang responded, “Yes, once you’ve done something for the first time, there’ll be countless times after, and once there are countless times, you get used to it—it just becomes a part of life.”

A brief silence fell between them.

Li Gang cursed himself inwardly for lacking emotional intelligence. Here he was, discussing murder with the girl he liked, and not only that, he’d made the conversation so somber and melancholic.

He tried to change the subject, asking, “You said you were a soldier in the Southern China Military District, so why did you spend the next four years in WH City, going to the internet café every night to play games?”

Lin Yan’s expression suddenly grew silent, as if she’d recalled something painful.

When she spoke of her injury and retirement, and the amputation of her right leg, she was calm and composed—but now, at Li Gang’s question, she fell silent and looked sad, which puzzled him.

Lin Yan was a hardened, fearless special forces soldier, with a mind as tough as steel—rarely would anything shake her so deeply. What could be behind this sadness?

Li Gang realized he must have touched upon something very painful for her. Not wanting to see Lin Yan upset, he quickly said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. Suddenly, I notice how beautiful the night is. Don’t you think even the moon seems especially bright tonight?”

Lin Yan snapped out of her melancholy, smiled, and replied, “WH City is my adoptive father’s hometown. It’s the only thing he left me to remember him by. When my right leg was amputated, I couldn’t be a soldier anymore. Disheartened, I took my compensation and returned to my adoptive father’s home, resigned to a life of quiet survival.

As for gaming every night, FPS games are one of my few hobbies. I have a natural talent for sniping and shooting, and as for the overnight package, just like you, it’s cheap.”

Li Gang was speechless, but gleaned from her words that what truly saddened her was thinking of her adoptive father.

Earlier, Lin Yan had mentioned her adoptive father, Lin Hua, former commander of the Cobra Special Forces in the Southern China Military District. Clearly, something must have happened to him.

“It’s definitely cheap, and that internet café has free hot water,” Li Gang said, laughing along with Lin Yan, not probing further.

“Yes, exactly! That’s why I went there—the price was right, free hot water, good equipment and internet speed. That’s why I went every day,” Lin Yan perked up at the mention. “My years in the military weren’t enough, and though I retired due to injuries and was awarded second-class merit, the compensation and severance weren’t much—especially living in a big city. I was burning through my savings, so I had to be frugal.”

Li Gang asked, “Didn’t the military arrange a job for you? I thought our country treated veterans pretty well.”

Lin Yan replied, “They did, but I didn’t take it. If I spent my money carefully, it would last me these final four years.

Actually, if you’d had the courage to confess earlier, maybe I would have been your girlfriend. I wanted to experience love in my last stretch of life. You were a bit of a coward back then, timid and all, but I liked you enough—not annoyed, enjoyed sitting with you and playing games.”

“Is that a confession?” Li Gang felt his head buzzing.

He wanted to say, “It’s not too late now,” but the words stuck in his throat—he was just too timid and weak when it came to such matters.

Then he noticed the first part of Lin Yan’s sentence—the mention of “the last four years,” which made him suddenly realize something. He quickly asked, “What do you mean, the last four years?”

Lin Yan looked at him, surprised, and said, “I mean, there are only four years left before God wipes out humanity. Didn’t you know? I thought you were gaming every night because you knew, trying to make the most of your final days.”

“I was going just to see you!” Li Gang screamed inwardly.

But that wasn’t the point now. The real question was, why did Lin Yan firmly believe God’s decree was true—and that in exactly four years, God would wipe out humanity?

He felt he had stumbled upon something momentous.

Li Gang sat up. “Ten years ago, I heard about God’s decree. I know this is the tenth year. But nobody took it seriously. Why did you—?”

He stopped, not finishing the question, having already guessed much, needing only someone to confirm it for him.

He was a clever man, but his greatest pursuit in life was to have none—no dreams, no goals, just coasting along, living as a slacker. Life was exhausting enough; why bother?

Lin Yan glanced at him and finished his thought, coldly, “You want to know why I take it seriously? Why I believe it? Because, ten years ago, regarding God’s decree, the country took it seriously. They knew humanity had only ten years left to struggle.”

Li Gang immediately asked, “Struggle? How?”

Lin Yan replied calmly, “What do you think?”

Indeed, how could humanity struggle against the true intervention of God? No matter how they tried, it would be futile.

Yet, why did every country in the world collectively define the event as a terrorist plot by an anti-human organization, gradually downplaying and erasing its significance in daily life?

What was the benefit of that? Was it simply to let humanity pass its final ten years in peace? Or was there a deeper meaning?

Li Gang’s mind raced. He’d thoroughly researched the great event of ten years ago during the ten days before humanity’s erasure by God, before the game officially began. But all he could find was that hour-long decree, just a few dozen words.

Li Gang could only shake his head at Lin Yan.

Seeing this, Lin Yan’s eyes shifted. “Do you remember the exact wording of God’s decree from ten years ago?”

Li Gang nodded, recalling he’d just looked it up recently. “Yes, the original text was:

‘I am the God of this world. Ten years from now, I will randomly select ten thousand humans on Earth, aged fourteen to forty-four, as the Chosen. The rest of humanity on Earth will be erased by me.’

Is the so-called final struggle hidden in these words?”

Lin Yan had specifically mentioned this, so Li Gang naturally thought the chance for humanity to save itself must lie within.

Lin Yan nodded, her tone tinged with irony. “Exactly. The secret lies within, and it’s simple—a trick of wording.

God’s decree appeared in every country, in each local language, and it specifically stated ‘humans on Earth.’ Think about it—if someone wasn’t on Earth, wouldn’t they escape God’s erasure?”

A single sentence, awakening him from a dream.

Li Gang suddenly understood. “So that’s it. Now that I think about it, it really is. Could it be that all nations joined together to suppress the impact of this event in order to—?”

He paused, looking up at the half-moon in the sky, his meaning perfectly clear.