Chapter 383 A Turn of Luck
Why do you want to escape?
This is a very intuitive question.
The opponent is too strong and there is no hope of winning, so of course you have to run away!
If I don’t escape, am I just waiting to die?
Andrew looked bitter, shook his head, and said, "Sir, you are so powerful, of course you don't care about these things. How can a small person like me compare with you?"
Su Xia said: "I used to be a nobody."
"But you are a big shot now."
"I climbed up slowly." Su Xia said seriously, "Escape is not the solution to the problem. Even if you can't beat them now, it doesn't mean you won't be a match in the future. You can't hide forever."
"Sir, you really should apply for the position of motivational lecturer," Andrew said sincerely.
"Words are lies, actions are what count."
“This is difficult…”
"What's so difficult about that?"
Su Xia said calmly: "To put it simply, there are only three steps: 'get beaten', 'become stronger', and 'fight back'. One day, you will no longer need to go through the step of 'getting beaten' because no one can bully you anymore."
"Your Excellency, you are right..."
Andrew agreed verbally, but of course his complicated expression betrayed him.
From a normal person's perspective, many people simply cannot reach the stage of "fighting back".
They had already fallen heavily at the step of "being beaten" and had no chance to get up again, let alone "become stronger".
If one wants to reach Su Xia’s current position, one must go through countless “beatings”. Who can guarantee that one will not be completely defeated one day?
"It seems you still haven't figured it out."
Seeing his expression, Su Xia suddenly remembered a classic line from the movie "Rocky" - the meaning of life is not how hard you can punch, but how hard you can withstand.
This sounds a bit strange.
Simply put, if you live you get beaten.
"Over the past decade, you have the blood of many innocent people on your hands." Su Xia suddenly spoke and changed the subject.
"I……"
Andrew's face changed slightly. Why did Su Xia suddenly bring up this matter?
During the years he worked for the group, his hands were stained with a lot of blood. Apart from anything else, the number of innocent lives he sent to various torture bases was countless.
In his early years, he was indeed influenced by the brainwashing education of the group. He did not have normal values and could not distinguish right from wrong.
In the group’s education, killing people from outside is not a crime, but betraying the group is a crime.
Later he understood a lot, and realized that the bad things he did were just to save his life and give himself a chance to leave the group.
Andrew often thought that if he was born into an ordinary family, he would definitely have a normal life.
but……
No matter how many reasons he has, they can't wash away his sins.
After all, he killed someone and had a lot of blood on his body. He was an out-and-out executioner.
If hell really exists, he will be dragged there by countless wronged souls after his death.
Su Xia suddenly brought this up, is she planning to deal with him?
“Sir, I…” Andrew felt uneasy.
"I told you that as long as you cooperate with me, I will give you freedom." Su Xia added, "I am a man of my word and I usually won't break my promise. After all, it's about personal reputation. To survive in the outside world, you rely on reputation. But... I also told you that freedom has a price."
"Your Excellency, I am willing to bear any price you say."
Andrew gritted his teeth and decided that he would give up everything except his life as long as he could gain his freedom.
In fact, he had nothing else to give up now.
"Really?" Su Xia asked.
"yes!"
"Well, I'll give you a chance."
Su Xia said to Andrew in the same tone, "From now on, give up escaping and confront this group head-on. Remember, as long as you can disintegrate this group and make it completely disappear from the world, I will give you freedom."
"this……"
“Is it difficult?”
"My Lord, this may take a long time."
"It doesn't matter, one or two years, or ten or twenty years, I have plenty of time." Su Xia looked at Andrew with a calm gaze, "No matter how much time it takes, the moment this group disappears, that will be the moment you are free!"
"I, I... am free..."
Andrew's expression changed, and he nodded vigorously and replied, "Okay, sir, I will definitely do it!"
"Well, remember your words, I'll wait for your good news."
After saying that, a task prompt suddenly popped up in front of Su Xia.
[Mission: Buried Deep in Hell]
[Phase 2 has been activated]
[Current stage content: With the help of the information provided by Andrew, destroy the headquarters of the Left Eye Group and destroy all branches of the group across the mainland as much as possible]
[Since the group's headquarters is located on another continent, this mission has no time limit]
[Task requirement 1: Rescue the kidnapped persons. The overall survival rate must not be less than 30%...]
[Task requirement 2: …]
【……】
[Mission Reward: Good Person Medal]
【……】
"Good guy medal?"
Su Xia's eyes froze as she stared at the line in the rewards column.
What is this?
From the name it sounds like an ordinary medal.
But Su Xia is not the leader of an alliance and does not have a hobby of collecting medals.
【Check】
He clicked lightly to see the specific description of the reward.
[Good Man Medal: A Magical Medal]
[After wearing it, you will get the title of "good person"]
[Under the effect of this title, your personal luck will be greatly improved]
[From now on, the more evil forces you destroy, the more bad guys you kill, and the more good things you do... the more luck the medal will add to your luck]
luck?
Su Xia was confused. Could such a mysterious thing be increased by external force?
He remembered that the AI Hal on the other side of the spacecraft wreckage had said that in the starry sky, there were many research teams specializing in studying the concept of "luck", but after thousands of years of research, no results had been produced.
The biggest research result seems to be that lucky people love to laugh.
This is a very speechless conclusion.
Can people with bad luck still laugh?
But, Hal said at the time, just this conclusion cost tens of billions of research funds.
This made Su Xia sigh that there were also teams of scoundrels in the starry sky that defrauded research funds, and the funding agencies were too kind and were easily defrauded of billions of dollars.
At the end of the description of this "Good Man Medal", there is a line of additional explanation:
[Note: How to judge your personal luck? If you often have near-death experiences, encounter crises, constant disasters, countless enemies, etc., then your luck may not be very good and you need the help of this medal]
[Note: If you still can’t tell, you can use the simplest method to tell: Do you often pick up money? ]
After seeing this comment, Su Xia understood.
He has never picked up much money since he was a child, and the biggest coin he found was only fifty cents.
But when he was in elementary school, he had a deskmate who would pick up money every once in a while, often in large denominations of cash, and would often treat him to snacks, which made him very envious at the time.
Is this the embodiment of luck?
Su Xia thought about it.
Electronic payment is used everywhere on Earth, who still picks up money now?
"It's good to get this medal. Since I came to this world, I was almost beaten to death by the mechanical tribe several times. It's probably because I'm too unlucky." Su Xia thought about the situation in Seahorse City this time and found that his luck was indeed a bit bad.
Even if many details are taken into consideration, problems will always arise.
If Mercer hadn't been so arrogant this time and hadn't been determined to destroy Su Xia's psychological defenses, Su Xia might have been defeated in Seahorse City.
"Cash payment is still popular in this world. After getting the medal, you can also experience the joy of picking up money when you go out."
Su Xia made up her mind to get this thing as soon as possible.
This is an improvement in invisible strength, which cannot be seen or touched.
But he had a hunch that after wearing this medal, the next time he faced the mechanical race, it probably wouldn't be as difficult as this time.
"Sir, what's wrong with you?" Andrew suddenly spoke, and found that Su Xia's eyes were dull, and he couldn't help but feel worried.
"Nothing, I just thought of something from the past." Su Xia shook her head.
"You, sir, are a man with a story."
"Who doesn't have a few stories in this world?"
Su Xia shrugged and stopped talking.
He waved his hand and slowly floated forward with the two of them.
During this period, they discovered several members of the group lurking outside the villa.
The front door, back door, secret door, windows, etc. of the entire villa are all objects of close surveillance, and not even a mosquito can escape the eyes of these people.
This is just one of Andrew’s permanent villas.
There were probably ambushes around his other residences and safe houses.
Every once in a while, these people would report to the base: "Master Frank, there is no movement around Residence No. 1."
After the presentation, they will talk to each other for a while.
From their words, it can be heard that many people expressed disdain and incomprehension towards Andrew's defection.
"The group has worked so hard to train him up and invested a lot of resources in him over the years, but he actually wants to betray the group!"
"Does he feel that his current status is not enough?"
"He's probably been blown to pieces by now."
"Good death!"
"Master Frank is much better than him..."
“…”
These people have a blind emotion towards the Left Eye Group that normal people cannot understand.
Few people would think of leaving the group like Andrew.
Andrew didn't show much expression when he heard what these people said. He must have been used to it. He just said, "The happiest person at the base today is probably Frank. He has been my assistant for two years and has always wanted to be promoted. He hopes that I will be transferred or have an accident."
"How is that person?" Su Xia asked.
"A rubbish dumpster, his methods are worse than mine, and he likes and approves of all the actions of the group from the bottom of his heart." Andrew replied.
"It seems he deserves to die."
Su Xia remembered the name and decided to kill him when she had time.
The more garbage people die, the easier it will be to put order into the world.
"Let's go in and rest for a while. I'm tired too. Does your villa have an underground safe room?" Su Xia asked.
"Yes, there is."
"That's good."
Su Xia took Andrew and flew over the lurking members of the group, slowly floating above the villa.
The doors and windows of the villa were all closed, and opening them rashly would attract the attention of those watching outside.
So, with a slight move, he brought Andrew to the top of the villa and slowly descended along the chimney on the top.
As they were falling, Andrew whispered in the chimney: "Sir, slow down!"
"What's wrong?"
"I'm a little fat and I'm getting stuck."
"You call this 'a little fat'?"
Su Xia was speechless. She poured some cooking oil on his head and helped him slide down slowly.
This Andrew is a clone created using gene editing technology. His genes are perfect and there is almost no risk of disease. In theory, he can have the physique of an athlete with just a little exercise.
But he has grown into his current short and fat appearance, with half of his hair bald.
It can be seen that the so-called genes are not that important.
Are artificial humans necessarily perfect?
"Don't be angry, sir. I will lose weight in the future." Andrew said.
“…”
Of course Su Xia was not angry.
He has a well-proportioned body, not fat, and without exaggerated muscles, which is just right in this dark chimney alley.
Moreover, Andrew was below, and his fat body rubbed away some of the protruding chimney soot, leaving a relatively clean passage for Su Xia.
Andrew complained bitterly, his body was blackened, and he whispered: "I should have asked someone to clean up the chimneys earlier. Anyway, those kids in the slums can't find jobs..."
"Huh? Clean the chimney now or look for a child?" Su Xia was a little surprised.
"Yes, I mostly ask children to do it because it's cheap and easy to use, and if they don't do it well, you can scold them. It's much more convenient than a machine."
"so……"
Su Xia raised her head and looked through the dark chimney to see the narrow sliver of sky above.
This world is both advanced and backward, giving people a very distorted sense of unreality, and the technology tree is quite seriously skewed.
You know, on Earth, this kind of industry has long been banned.
Going back in time, in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Empire of Daiying, many boys were bought to work as chimney sweeps.
The great poet William Blake described this kind of thing in his poem "The Chimney Sweep".
This poem is not well-known in the country.
But there is another more famous literary work that describes it, namely Dickens' "Oliver Twist".
Most of the boys were four or five years old, and some were as young as three years old. Because of their small size, they were suitable for this kind of work.
They did not have any protective clothing, and some chimneys were still hot when they were swept, and there were even flames. They were often burned and abraded, and their bones became deformed. Many died of lung disease due to the smoky working environment, while others suffocated or were burned to death. Very few survived to adulthood.
They are like tools, and after they die, they will be replaced by the next batch.
Later, they were collectively called "Chimney Boys" and were known by many people.
"This kind of thing shouldn't happen again." Su Xia said.
"Sir, there are too many things in this world. How can you handle them all by yourself?" said Andrew.
"You see things clearly."
"It's not that clear." Andrew said from below, "The whole world is like this, unless you, sir, change the rules of this world."
As he was speaking, Andrew finally landed in the fireplace at the bottom. He bent down, his whole body covered in black, and climbed out of the fireplace with difficulty.
This scene was inexplicably funny and reminded Su Xia of Santa Claus .
With Santa Claus's fat body, can he really get into the chimney and give gifts to the children?
"Huh... I finally got out. I was almost squeezed to death." Andrew patted the coal dust off his body, just like a coal miner.
Although the surface was covered with a layer of nanorobots, he still felt uncomfortable.
Just climbing a chimney once made him want to die.
I really don’t know how those children who are only a few years old can endure such long-term pain.
"Keep quiet." Su Xia reminded.
"Yes, yes... Sir, follow me to the basement."
Andrew's heart skipped a beat and he glanced at the location of the window, fearing that he might be sensed by the group's undercover agents outside.
…
At this moment, the many lurkers outside knew nothing about what was happening inside the villa.
Their life sensing instruments showed that there was still no sign of life activity in the villa, which made them quite relieved.
A lurker was lying on a big tree and said confidently: "Even if Andrew is not dead, he dare not return to this villa."
This person was also one of Andrew's former subordinates and had a better understanding of Andrew's character.
The person next to him reminded: "Don't be careless, pay attention and watch out for him sneaking into the villa and playing a trick under the lamp."
"Impossible, there's nothing on the instrument."
“Don’t trust the machine too much.”
"Don't worry, this is produced by Anluo Company!" The man said confidently, "I know his character and ability. If he can really sneak into the villa, I will eat this life sensor on the spot!"
