"This is my past. You can laugh at me all you want, or make all of this public. Let everyone know that I'm a bastard, a liar who deceived them and let one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six worlds burn because of a lie..."
The world of memories faded, yet Zhou Shangqing's expression was less pained than before.
Was this a case of having nothing left to lose?
Or... once someone else knew the truth, the fear he had kept buried in his heart because of his deception no longer meant as much.
Zhou Shangqing, a man crushed by expectations.
He had never been able to make peace with his past self.
If he really had been as powerful as he claimed, he could have gladly accepted those expectations.
But he wasn't.
He was a liar.
Someone with his own moral boundaries, who constantly struggled inside, who wanted to tell people the truth yet found himself unable to speak beneath all those expectant gazes...
A liar.
So he had run.
With the system's help, he had used the authority of the [Escapist] to fake his death and escape.
He had abandoned the Train, abandoned the system, abandoned his past, hidden his identity, and become an old beggar in this world.
Ye Qiyan looked at his wretched state without mockery, much less any intention of making any of this public.
In the end.
He really was just curious.
What Zhou Shangqing had done had nothing to do with him. Even if this man really had destroyed one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six worlds, it didn't matter.
Ye Qiyan simply wanted to know the truth. That was all.
"So the Wasteland really has no end."
He spoke softly.
Zhou Shangqing, lying on the ground, let out a loud laugh.
"The Wasteland? What