People's joys and sorrows were never shared.
At this stage, as the situation turned, Wang Peilie was in excellent shape, Lang Jin was grave and cautious, while Tao Basong... Tao Ju struggled against waking from his current "dream."
But when Tang Li no longer displayed that absurd, reckless destructiveness and instead adopted an attitude of having everything under control—and when even the Great District High-Energy Center seemed prepared to accept it—the even more absurd and ugly reality pressed face-to-face against him, baring a vicious smile.
Tao Ju felt like a dog with a rope around its neck. He had thought someone was holding it, that he had someone to rely on, and he had barked furiously at whatever lay ahead. But when he looked back, that person had long since let go—or perhaps had never held the rope at all. Or if they had, they were simply standing there, smiling as they watched.
Why had he believed that lunatic?
This itself was a nightmare!
Then perhaps it was best to let the nightmare continue. All absurdity could dissolve within a dream.
Yet ugly, vicious reality pressed right up against his face and told him: Stop dreaming!
Tao Ju still refused to face that reality. In a daze, he drifted through a state that was neither dream nor wakefulness. He watched Tang Li and his group make their unhurried way to the yacht's bridge, officially liaise with the authorized representatives of the Great District Center, and completely clear their names. He watched them carry out the Great District Center's conservative strategy, conducting over ten minutes of meaningless attempts at communication. He watched the support personnel arrive; Tang Li readily handed over command, and after further communication with Wu Executive's side, another ten-plus minutes passed before a plan was finally settled upon: