Apocalypse: I Build A Doomsday Train-Chapter 1001 - 392: Great Wall

The ant didn’t know where it was; to it, the breeze was like a world-upending torrent, carrying it from one foreign world to another.

Now, the world before it was a plain covered with bristles, so hard they were like thorns. It had to climb carefully, and quickly, four mounds appeared on the plain. It didn’t know they were the knuckles of Lin Xian’s fingers. It climbed the peaks and moved toward the valleys. Suddenly, the mounds seemed to quake, which clearly startled it, and it began to speed up. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The four mounds were not the same. After continuously climbing over two mounds, the ant found the latter two were significantly shorter, which was good news, indicating it had safely passed through the vibrating mound area.

Lin Xian watched the little black ant crawling on the back of his hand, seeming a bit absent-minded. He extended his other hand and placed it alongside, trying to let the ant crawl onto it.

This action caused immense confusion and unease for the ant, because those four mounds were completely ’unplanned’; its original hopes were dashed. But the black ant merely shook its head to test, then continued onto the new four mounds, preparing to climb over them. What it didn’t know was that Lin Xian alternated his hands again. In the eyes of the black ant, the mounds, which had been from high to low, suddenly became low to high and seemingly endless.

It wasn’t aware that the world beneath it kept retracting and alternating, with new mound mountains constantly appearing before its eyes. It attempted to change direction, but strangely, the underground world seemed aware of its intent, always presenting new mounds just as it was about to reach the edge.

Lin Xian was observing the ant on his hand when he noticed a figure appearing at his side. He reacted, turning to see that head of grayish-white hair.

Lin Xian had a feeling that Ye Lan could always see him. This perception was not just physical; it was like the first time he conversed with Ye Lan through Chu Yan’s spirit link. Ye Lan couldn’t see him in person, but while speaking with him, it was as if, like now, her gaze completely illuminated him.

"Professor Ye, it was too hot in the conference room, so I came out for some air."

Ye Lan calmly said, "It’s okay. I know you are under a lot of pressure. It’s unfair for someone as young as you to stand among our Phoenix Society leadership to face and bear these burdens."

Lin Xian heard this and inexplicably smiled, "What’s fair or unfair? The apocalypse has nothing to do with age. Darkness won’t respect women and children, and ironically, this is the group that suffers the most casualties."

"Respecting and protecting women and children is a duty and civilized mission that humanity has evolved to protect society because we need to protect our next generation. You know, species like humans, who cry with the loudest voices upon birth, are quite rare in nature because it’s detrimental to survival, just like we need to remain silent in the dark. But our children cry because, genetically, humanity has developed a group self-protection. In Blue Star’s nature, there are no natural enemies of humans, so under natural evolution, our genes have changed in this way."

"Yes, just like this ant," Lin Xian looked at the ant in his hand, not wanting to toy with it but finding this interaction with life interesting, a way to dispel his chaotic thoughts.

Ye Lan gave him a cool glance, without speaking.

Lin Xian felt the atmosphere was somewhat parched. With such an important meeting going on aboard the Heavenly Calming Ship, he wasn’t sure if he should return, as if Ye Lan was the teacher bringing him back to class, making Lin Xian inexplicably nervous.

"Professor Ye, I didn’t even see you just now..."

"I just got in touch with the Emperor Action Group at Yongcheng Port, preparing to mobilize the Emperor-level Mecha into Dawn City," Ye Lan stated calmly.

Lin Xian looked at her in surprise, "The meeting’s results are already out?"

"Actually, there’s no need for debate; everyone knows it in their hearts," Ye Lan gazed at the vast Dawn City, "Abandoning 3 million people and abandoning 30 million people makes no fundamental difference."

"Do you think we have no choice but to fight to the death?" Lin Xian was shocked at heart. Not surprised at the result, but surprised that Ye Lan, as the Phoenix Society Commander, would make such a decisive and unwavering choice and judgment!

Ye Lan said, "We’ve always been in a situation of information and power asymmetry with the darkness, just like the ant in your hand. You can manipulate its actions and life or death at will, but you have no intention of doing so, purely because you don’t want to or find it uninteresting. This is because you understand it’s just an ant, not something else."

"But for the ant, it sees mountains, sees abysses, sees a world where the future is utterly uncontrollable. But the problem is, when you don’t understand this creature, you might not have this feeling because you don’t know if it might bite you next. According to common human logic, killing a creature doesn’t necessarily relate to its size."

Ye Lan looked at Lin Xian, "If this ant were to bite you, would you still tease it?"

Lin Xian smiled, "I would immediately slap it dead or blow it away."