The damp Sea Turtle Cave was divided into black and white.
Stone Mama lived in the darkness of the past, while the few bewildered turtles, yawning and utterly unable to understand complicated language, lived in the light of the present.
As for Zhang Ming himself, he lived between black and white.
He finally understood why Stone Mama was so deranged...
Because... it really had gone mad!
Stone Mama was indeed a pitiful little stone, and its past had truly been tragic enough.
Zhang Ming finally sighed and explained, "In short, those higher-ups were actually the ones most desperate to escape. I don't believe they didn't want to leave when they were selecting who would go."
"But their positions and social standing meant they couldn't escape!"
"So, as the plan was put into practice day after day, their desire to escape grew stronger. They simply never showed it in their everyday lives, because 'standing with Black Tortoise to the end' was politically correct!"
"They didn't dare reveal that they were cowards, because the moment they did, the people beneath them would tear them to pieces."
"Then someone suddenly broke ranks, cracking that political correctness. The crack kept widening, and everything flipped... it turned out everyone was a coward. Everyone wanted to escape!"
"So letting 'ten percent of the elite' leave was a mistake too."
"Without that escape plan, the Flame-Horned People could only stake their lives on one last gamble. With it, their desire to survive swelled rapidly until it crushed everything."
"Black Tortoise might not have noticed those undercurrents, but what happened wasn't an accident. It was inevitable."
Stone Mama was so crushed that it could no longer even roll. Listlessly, it repeated, "It was inevitable."
Zhang Ming chuckled. "Of course, Black Tortoise did get one other thing right."
Stone