Vol·24 [A Stranger I Remain I Finally Know Myself]

The train at Zero Platform has already entered the deep, dark underground cavern.

It started from London United Kingdom, and began to descend at a depth of 3,400 meters. When it reached a depth of about 6,600 meters, it began to slow down and traveled 241 kilometers westward into the wilderness. It passed through the satellite town of Golden Township, left the hidden abandoned mine tunnels, and entered the railway system of the Abyssal Railway Administration.

These zombie trains, disguised as Abyss Special Train trains and departing from Zero Platform, are the means of transportation used by the Madness Butterfly Sect to evade security checks in the underground world.

The vast railway network is like the blood vessels of the human body, with countless switches but very few platforms and monitoring systems.

For Mary Stuart --

Losing London is a regrettable thing.

--Losing only London is a fortunate thing.

--She would probably only feel pain and regret if she lost her life.

"History is not cyclical, but rather spirals upwards."

She sat by the train window, leaning against it, and saw birds nesting in clusters under the warm power lines beside the railway.

"I went from the surface to the underground, and then back to the surface. In my 483 years of life, I have experienced countless near-death experiences, hanging by a thread."

Holding her journal, she mimicked the passengers' postures and diligently took notes on this driverless train.

"I have witnessed the decline of dynasties, the development of technology, and the aging and decay of great and magnificent leaders—these things have gradually become blurred in my mind over time, but there is only one thing I dare not forget."

Compared to the VIP carriages at the station, she had a very nice living room—the large bookcase in the living room was filled with Mary Stuart's personal diaries.

"I dare not forget, I cannot forget—I must live on, I must live on, no matter what."

Mary spoke as she wrote.

"I couldn't get along with Wilson, this pseudo-essayist, partly because he kept quoting David Victor and his old friend's wise saying, 'Life shouldn't be a journey from passion to coldness'—I don't understand."

She chuckled lightly, a chuckle that contained not only incomprehension but also disdain.

"The idea of immortality made me realize how absurd that statement is. Humans, relying on Homo sapiens, evolved from apes into Homo sapiens, losing the innocence and kindness of apes, losing their curiosity and passion—from climbing trees to pick fruit to eating raw meat and drinking blood on the ground. This is natural evolution."

"As I grow older, I repeatedly examine myself and find that I no longer have the youthful passion of a young girl, the maternal love and filial piety of a mother, or the peaceful enjoyment of old age—I doubt I can find a single true word in my mouth."

"To cognize, learn, and master, and to formalize, symbolize, and process all of this. To transform the complex into the simple, and the chaotic into the regular."

"Turning humans into edible resources, and me into a apex predator."

"I talked to Wilson about these things—but he said, 'This isn't a story people like to hear.'"

I countered Wilson's question by asking, "So what do people like to hear?"

"He then told me that people like romance and fantasy, especially unrealistic imitations, which must contain a tiny bit of reality, even if that bit of reality is negligible. People will still find corresponding prototypes in life based on experience, and such stories are the best templates."

"I couldn't understand his creative techniques, so I asked him to speak in plain language."

"So Wilson changed his tune—he talked about the writing style of forgeries and counterfeits."

"People like all sorts of characters, but they usually have one very strong thing in common—luck."

"Whether male or female, human or dog, these characters' lives never seem to lack theatrical performances and arrangements; their lives are colorful, and everything becomes taken for granted because of luck."

"From the earliest game of throwing stones to the ever-changing gambling industry of today, there is one disease that cannot be cured: the intellect deep within the Homo sapiens mind."

"Wilson told me—gambling is an expression of intelligence, irrefutable proof of what it means to be human."

"If apes hadn't evolved to gamble, they wouldn't have come down from the trees."

"If life cannot learn to gamble on evolution, then it will forever remain an organic broth."

"If we can't learn how gambling evolves, then this world should belong to the Madness Butterfly."

"In this era, the elderly play Texas Hold'em, young adults go to the sports field, entrusting the outcome of competition to this random spherical sport, and teenagers bury themselves in mobile games, trying to draw ten times in a row. Toddlers will try to turn Rubik's Cube randomly, attempting to find its patterns in this ritual of luck."

"I've moved forward with the times, and in my opinion, the essence of life is a journey from passion to coldness."

"When we are young, we believe that the world is a good place and that doing good deeds will be rewarded."

"We realized at a young age that work and family are the most important things."

"We still have passion in our prime, but we can already sense where the limits of what we can achieve in our lives are. The ceiling we can reach in our lifetime seems to be just around the corner."

"When we grow old, in addition to maintaining bloodlines and family ties, we must also pass on our genes and memes, our physical and spiritual essence, to our children, transforming these natural and pure lives into our own shadows."

"This is how Homo sapiens have survived for over 30,000 years, from Cro-Magnon to the present day."

"I never thought I did anything wrong. According to the theory that justice will prevail and retribution will be swift, I, a cannibalistic monster who has killed countless people and sucked blood, should have died under the sword of some hero long ago—but reality is very different from the story."

"People worship me like a god,"

"The masses have placed me on a pedestal."

"I don't need to say or do anything; someone will naturally put a price tag on the essence and deliver it to my doorstep."

"At this moment, I deeply realized that I am no longer Homo sapiens, but a life form that is more advanced than Homo sapiens —otherwise, why would these people who come to flatter and fawn over me be so eager to Blessed Holy Blood? Why do they hold me up so high, yet never dare to bring me down so hard?"

"I too have been confused, and I have also had doubts."

Why are there so many poor and destitute people, but so few happy and wealthy people?

"Why are there so many vulgar and incompetent people, but so few outstanding and excellent people?"

"Why are there so many people risking their lives to survive, but so few giving orders?"

"Why is the world shaped like a pyramid? There are so many weak people, and the higher you go, the fewer strong ones there are."

"If we calculate the value of assets purely through the conversion of flesh and blood, in this chaotic world, it would take at least the blood and flesh of twenty slaves to fatten one slave owner, at least the blood and flesh of two thousand ministers to support an incompetent king, and at least the blood and flesh of five hundred thousand workers to create an international company that devours wealth."

"Civilization has covered it up with layer upon layer of fig leaves, giving carnivorism countless new names."

"At the same time, I am also reflecting on and observing my own original form. My starting point is humanity, so where does this servility rooted in the human heart come from?"

Is there any possibility? I mean, is there any possibility?

"Millions of years ago, before us, there was an even more cruel civilization that dragged us down from the trees, transformed us from apes into humans—and enslaved us. That's how we came to be where we are today, where lambs lay their necks before idols, where we make foolish sacrifices for love without expecting anything in return, and where we have this inexplicable self-pity in our family bloodline."

"Otherwise, where do these servile traits rooted in Homo sapiens, these base and despicable instincts, these terrifying and bizarre fantasies, these inexplicable rituals come from? Is it possible that we are merely miserable miners used by higher life forms to collect primordial matter! Slaves trapped in fragile flesh!"

Mary Stuart continued writing--

--The brushstroke paused for a fleeting moment.

Then, he became angry and hysterical.

"Thinking about it this way, I am nothing more than a slave to the Blessed Holy Blood, having changed from one pair of shackles to another, heavier and more secure pair."

"Humans eat animals in order to seize their vital essence."

"I use more efficient and advanced methods to seize the essence of lower life forms."

"As the black cat from the East often says, 'We are seeking truth and the Way, which is itself going against the will of Heaven.' In the past, I was very naive. When I talked to my followers about my deeds and beliefs, I thought I would be subjected to verbal attacks and merciless gunfire."

"But I never expected so many people to be willing to risk their lives for me. They considered me a leader with ideals, beliefs, detailed plans, and unwavering will, an idol worthy of admiration."

"I am constantly on guard, believing that sooner or later the Madness Butterfly will steal my essence and devour this hardworking believer. I will never yield, I will never accept this!"

Mary closed her journal--

--At the same time, the projector's power was turned off.

The scene had just stopped at the moment when Jiang Xueming and Xiao Qi worked together to kill Maggie.

"Now that Mary Stuart is dead, that clay idol is dead, and like Wen Bucai, I will begin a new life. I am leaving this dangerous place, Sky Station."

"Don't worry, Jiang Xueming. I've seen your abilities, so I won't be your enemy anymore. You're just a child; only children distinguish right from wrong and hate evil so fiercely. I'm all grown up now, and I won't hold grudges against you."

"Most of the messages I left with you on the phonograph were empty words and platitudes, used to intimidate you and your friends. By the time you saw through these smokescreens, I had already made my escape."

"I don't hate you at all; on the contrary, I want to thank you."

"You showed me the terrifying firearms of the 21st century, and you made me realize how fragile a vampire's body is."

"You almost made me rediscover myself. I felt so unfamiliar with my former self—your more than six hundred kills will become samples for me to study and observe."

"I won't shed a single tear for these children. I'm just like you, devoid of emotion."

"The long passage of time has transformed my emotional logic and thought patterns into those of a cold-blooded animal. When I think of Joe and Wen Bucai's experiences, I feel so envious and so puzzled—why would such a perfect life form possess a weak and incompetent brain, unable to even remember events from 150 years ago?"

"This mind makes his life like the Heng hexagram in the sixty-four hexagrams—the hexagram's text is 'Wind and thunder clashing, the universe is ever new.'"

"Jiang Xueming, you have taught me many combat and survival skills. I will slowly digest and absorb them during my journey in the underground world—gradually concealing my Gate of Death."

"Like the first sect I founded when I returned to London—it was called [The Red Queen], derived from the Red Queen doctrine."

Everything is evolving rapidly. If we are not careful, we will be left behind by our competitors. Even if we run with all our might, we can only stay in the same place.

"Modern society seems to have many, many examples of this—people work very hard, yet still cannot achieve happiness."

"--The children study very hard, but they still can't get into the schools they envision."

"Young and middle-aged people work very hard to improve themselves, but there are already people who are more outstanding and capable than them."

"No matter how well middle-aged and elderly people take care of their health, they cannot escape the sharp blade of time."

Mary had already fallen in love, and her heart and soul drifted out the window.

"You seem to be able to defy time—when I got the Steel Heart, the person who captivated me appeared. Only one sentence in that recording is true, only that one sentence."

"I mistakenly believed that this 483-year wait, this curse of immortality, was a gift from heaven to this lucky one, so that I could live to see you—your ever-vigilant heart, your mechanically precise and orderly spiritual pressure, the tranquility and peace emanating from your Steel Heart, almost completely renewed my soul."

"Through this pyroxene, I see a simpler, more three-dimensional world."

"I've dispatched the world's most powerful intelligence agencies several times to investigate your background and family history, and I even thought you were the child of some mysterious and ancient astral alien species—but the result wasn't what I expected."

"I know all about your medical records from childhood to adulthood, your schools and upbringing, your adoptive parents, and your older brother, but I can't find anything unusual about them."

"What sets you apart from ordinary people is that strange and stubborn [extreme] -- as incorrigible as the Ming De of the Abyssal Railway."

"--You two are really alike."

"But what's done is done, so I won't dwell on these useless thoughts. After all, I'll live for a long time. Perhaps you'll go through a few cycles of reincarnation, transforming into a different person, and when we meet again hundreds of years later, we can rekindle our past relationship."

Mary smiled; life's journey was long, and many surprises awaited her.

As long as we survive--

Anything can happen.

"Millions of years from now, tens of millions of years from now, even human civilization will cease to exist. For all life afterward, I will become another true god—just thinking about these things makes my brain tremble with joy. Me."

Before the words had even finished --

--A shadowy, human-shaped figure rushed in from outside the car window.

"Hi, Mary!"

Jack Martin sat on the other side of the table, his hands supporting his chin, his pupils glowing with a crimson light similar to that of vampires.

"Do you want to know what a surprise is?!"

Her pearly white teeth gleamed like a crescent moon as she smiled.

Yellowish saliva dripped from four canine teeth.

The man, like a vicious hellhound, let his saliva, a mixture of nicotine and tar from his cigar, fall onto the clean and tidy table.

"Who are you thinking about?! Are you thinking about me?!"

Mary's expression changed drastically!

She was terrified almost instantly.

Completely different from her previous composure, when she glimpsed this lingering, mysterious spirit, Our Blessed Mother felt naked and in grave danger.

It's like when you enter a safe house in a game, venture into a non-PVP area, and find that a big gray wolf has suddenly appeared in the warm and peaceful house.

Jack squinted--

His expression was more evil than any villain or vampire Mary had ever seen!

That smile came from Big Leader more than a hundred years ago who used cannibalistic sacrifices as a gang ritual and regarded the remains of saints as a lifelong goal.

"Hehehehe! Hehehehehahahahahahaha! Stuart! I've seen your portrait in the museum, and I've looked at it again in the history textbook these past few years, but no matter how many times I look at it! I still feel--"

"--How can this woman be so ugly!!! Hahahahahaha!"

His expression was bizarre, his smile grotesque—it was so strange it defied description!

Mary clutched her chest, feeling a suffocating spiritual pressure, as if a thin noose had wrapped around her neck.

"Jack the Ripper! The murderous devil!"

The Blessed Mother uttered harsh words, her expression deliberately ferocious and menacing, as if she were not at a disadvantage, like a tiger growling in the midst of a battle for territory.

Jack: "That's right! It's me!"

Mary: "How dare you call me ugly?! Even hell wouldn't accept an ugly monster like you!"

Jack: "You're right!"

Mary: "When your mom was pregnant with you, she threw up!"

Jack: "There's some medical truth to that!"

The two drew closer and closer, like two vicious dogs sparring over who had the sharpest teeth, the most ruthless heart, and the greatest skill.

"You braved the winds and waves, following these ungrateful freaks, traveling thousands of miles to my car, are you planning to fight me? Do you think you can defeat me?"

Mary reached for the large leather suitcase, intending to pull out her weapon.

Jack stomped hard on the weapon-wielding hand of Our Blessed Mother.

Seeing that slender, fair arm twist and deform halfway through, changing course as if it were broken or dislocated, the vampire saintess used her soul power to transform the flesh and retrieved her main weapon, an HK33 rifle.

"Oh no!" Jack covered his mouth as his body turned into dust and black smoke in the gunfire.

The bullets followed the trajectory of the black mist, shattering the furniture and objects in the VIP carriage; the washbasin was smashed to pieces.

The Blessed Mother, panting heavily, smoothly and naturally changed the magazine and fired her gun. With one hand holding her weapon, she drew a secondary weapon and fastened it to her waist with the other. She did not like fighting and would even avoid most battles, but that did not mean she was incapable of fighting or that she was afraid of it.

"Jack! Can't you just let me off the hook?"

While spraying bullets at the target, Mary still negotiated terms and discussed business.

As the smoke billowed out of the window along with the vortex of bullets, a head popped out from under the train's roof—Jack, wearing a large hood and grinning.

"I'm not here to take your life! This is a long story!"

His response was a direct hit from a rifle bullet; Mary was ruthless, only the living could negotiate.

The bullet tore apart Jack Martin's large hat, blasting half of his skull open, revealing writhing black mud that formed a horrifying and bizarre brain tissue.

"I really like that hat! You have to pay me back!"

"What kind of monster are you?!"

"This is a long story."

"Then let's get to the point!"

The magazines in the large suitcase were kicked away by Mary's slender legs, bounced and struck the car body, and her skillful control made them obediently fall into the HK33's receiver as Mary wished.

She raised her gun and fired in quick succession, following the footsteps on the roof of the train car.

You can still hear Jack Martin rambling on and on.

"I recently met a little guy named Robert Tang Ning. Like my savior, and someone I've saved, he also has a dark, gleaming gemstone."

"I know! I've heard of that little bastard! He's fallen in love with my double!" Mary fired, swallowing the shrapnel that bounced back from the steel frame, determined to kill the monster on the roof, even if the brutal, savage bullets hurt her.

"So you knew about this? That explains it!" Jack Martin ran towards the locomotive, towards the engine room. "Grandma Mary! It's embarrassing to admit! Over a hundred years ago, in front of my best friend, I dismembered his vampire wife and killed his disobedient vampire daughter. Now, this strange fate is testing me again, and I can't repeat the same mistake! You, this vampire grandma, look exactly like my young master's dream girl—I don't want to lose this new friend."

Mary dropped her gun, emptied the last magazine, and drew her sword. "That's right! One must learn to kill one's immature self! Do it!"

She leaped onto the roof of the train, gazing at Jack Martin across a carriage.

Jack grinned and yelled, "You heinous cannibal! You think you can escape from Sheriff Jack? Listen carefully! Can you hear the howling wind blowing through the valleys and caves?"

Mary, sword in hand, probed and pressed forward step by step, attempting to find a way out using the most primitive cold weapon.

"This raging wind is urging us to a decisive battle!" Jack Martin, wielding his butcher's cleaver, stepped onto the stage. "I'm going to stop this train! Get my buddies on board! Our leader of the Nameless Gang said, if we can fight as a group, we'll never fight alone."

The surging flock of birds, like warriors going to their deaths, flapped their wings, their beaks filled with sand and pebbles, their claws clutching scraps of iron, as they crashed headlong into the spinning steel wheels of the train.

Jack Martin said so.

"Before they get here, I'll shove your head inside me! Chop your limbs to pieces, let White Lady keep you alive until the very last shred of your pitiful life! Tie your hair into a bow! As the finest gift! Throw it in front of Robert Tang Ning, let him kill you with his own hands—"

"--Let him kill you, you monstrous beast who performs Blood Ceremony!"

"--It's not just the young master who needs to kill his inner demons!"

"I cannot step into the same river twice in my life, and I must also slay my inner demons!"

"--Otherwise, I'll have no face to go back to [JOERANK]!"

Mary raised her sword and bowed.

"Bring it on, you beast!"

The train engine emitted a mournful wail--

Its steel wheels cracked, turning into two blazing meteors in the darkness. The sturdy locomotive overturned, and the steel front shovel, with its immense inertia, gnawed through more than twenty sleepers before finally meeting its end behind the two bare rails.

The lights left behind by gold prospectors shine from the mines of Golden Township.

Jack Martin raised his broadsword and remained motionless.

"Only today do I realize who I am."