"So, that's the situation. Now I'd like to hear your opinions."
After Neo finished speaking, he lowered his head and began eating his noodles. All the few ingredients left had gone into his bowl.
Vernon and Helen exchanged a glance, then he said, "This is really too sudden for us. Please allow us some more-"
"Phew..." Neo took a sip of the tomato-flavored noodle broth and set down his spoon. "You seem to have misunderstood something. I only wanted to hear your opinions, not ask for your consent."
Helen looked at Neo and said, "Do we not even have the right to choose?"
Neo nodded. "You can choose whether you want tomatoes in tonight's noodle soup. As for choosing your path in life, believe me, not many people in this world have truly free choices."
Vernon said, "So, can we consider this coercion?"
"No shit. I'm coercing you. Haven't you figured that out yet?"
Vernon shook his head. "I find it hard to accept being led by someone like you."
Neo said bluntly, "Yes, the last friendly leader is already dead."
Vernon: "..."
Neo said, "To cover your escape from the Order God Church's manhunt, he went so far as to raise a Tower of Light before he died to draw their attention. I thought you would have shed some unnecessary naivety after that, but unfortunately, you haven't.
"Besides, I think that as subordinates and students, letting your leader or teacher die to cover for you was a failure on your part. It indirectly proves that you two are useless."
"I won't allow you to speak about our mentor like that!"
Smack!
Neo threw all the remaining broth in his bowl into Vernon's face. Although Vernon secretly used light to heal patients from time to time, he had essentially gone