A dozen or so cars slowly drove along the flower-lined path, with the Pale God sitting atop the lead vehicle, moving forward slowly amidst the adoration of the masses, as if on a pilgrimage.
Norton was sitting in the car, his body exposed outside the car, looking calmly at the modern scenes revealed on both sides as the cars passed by, and a feeling of emotion spread from his heart.
"Now, the scene finally feels somewhat familiar."
Unfortunately, I am no longer the person I was back then.
Norton sighed slightly, deeply moved by how quickly time had passed.
Its gilded eyes were hazy, and its humanity seemed to be growing stronger.
As for the flower-lined path outside or the soldiers guarding both sides, such a familiar scene did not anger him.
His past is too long ago, and his perspective is too far-reaching. The scenes from those years have long been forgotten, or perhaps no longer remain in his heart.
After all, Norton doesn't hold grudges.
Only the boy and girl sitting with him in the car on either side of him moved him slightly.
Two small hands carefully pulled Norton's slender, pale hands together, then slowly exerted force, pulling Norton's hands to the sides and gently placing them on their respective legs.
The boy was wearing shorts, and the girl was wearing a short skirt.
Such an action naturally allowed Norton's hands, which were longer than their two calves, to touch their soft, tender skin.
Norton's delicate brows furrowed slightly.
His palms kneaded the two tender legs with the force of his two small hands, as if there was something else going on.
A powerful surge of humanity, accompanied by a frenzied return of tactile sensation, caused Norton's golden eyes, already brimming with humanity, to momentarily awaken. The humanity that had been dormant for millennia, though now somewhat conscious, remained in a hazy state. With the actions of these two children, it was as if a depth charge had been detonated, causing it to instantly collapse and awaken.
What the hell does that mean?
Norton's golden eyes widened as he looked to his sides in disbelief.
The boy and girl sitting on either side of him both had expressions of fear on their faces, but their hands continued their actions, even going deeper and deeper.
Feeling Norton's gaze, the two little figures turned deathly pale and trembled.
But he didn't stop what he was doing, and explained softly, "Your Majesty Norton, the President said that you should experience Church- like reception. You... you can indulge yourself."
Feeling the broad beans and steamed buns he could already taste, and listening to the two little ones' words, Norton's eyes widened instantly. A tingling sensation on his scalp, which he hadn't felt in ages, mixed with a profound return to his humanity, swept over him in an instant.
"Fuck you!"
Norton felt a chill run down his spine and instantly pulled his hands back.
Just moments ago, I couldn't quite recall the scenes from the old era, but now they all came flooding back to me instantly. Scenes of myself as a missionary, of being burned at the stake, and even of guarding Father Mia's room like a watchdog—all these images flashed before my eyes.
Norton felt that his humanity had never been so abundant as it was now.
He withdrew his hands, his gaze sweeping over the bustling crowd and the flower-strewn road outside, a heartfelt emotion welling up within him.
"Today's society calls itself a civilized society, advocating freedom and equality. I thought that after ten thousand years, humanity had really made progress."
Unfortunately, after tens of thousands of years, humanity has made no progress whatsoever, utterly despicable!
"Perhaps the very existence of desire limits the nobility of human nature!"
Norton muttered to himself, a hint of confusion appearing in his golden eyes.
"I am also a human being, I have a body, and I have desires. This is the foundation of my Norton mindset, and also the root of Norton baseness. So, should I ultimately merge myself into the highest realm and abandon my base humanity, or should I retain my Norton humanistic mindset and perpetuate my desire to exist?"
This shows that humanity is not yet fully developed.
Because, given Norton's Biyang character, he would never have uttered such sentiments.
Sure enough, after a short while, the dazed look in Norton's eyes dissipated like mist.
"Thoughts are the foundation of existence, desires are the source of pleasure. How could I, Norton, have such lofty ideas? How could I possess such a spirit of self-sacrifice!"
"All these years of suffering, wasn't it all for the sake of indulging my inner desires and avoiding any further crisis of destruction?"
With just a few words, Norton suddenly understood and consoled himself.
His humanity returned completely, and sitting upright in the car, he no longer had that hazy, dreamlike feeling from before.
However, with the awakening of humanity, all the memories of the past came rushing back, and some of his own moral sense also awakened.
"But if one indulges in desires, wouldn't one become a slave to those desires, trapped in the cage of bodily hormones...?"
Before Norton could finish speaking, a sudden explosion rang out beside the car.
"Boom!"
As the vehicle moved forward, a dark object was thrown out from the crowd.
"You charlatan, you claim to Pale God yet you readily harm others' lives! Give me back my son's life!"
A shrill scream rang out from the crowd as a man with bloodshot eyes, holding several homemade black bombs, tried to push his way through the throng.
Exclamations erupted from the crowd, and the live streams on various online platforms were cut off as a result.
The soldiers lining the flower path almost immediately raised their weapons, and the next moment, lasers shot out, hitting the man precisely in the chest.
The specially tuned laser gun instantly scorched the man's chest, but did not penetrate his body to avoid causing serious harm to those around him.
The man, who had just been trying to squeeze through the crowd, almost instantly lost his strength and collapsed.
Intense pain, accompanied by the exhaustion from the fatal injury, surged through the man's body, causing him to collapse limply to the ground. However, his reddened eyes remained fixed on the pale monster sitting atop the convertible.
His vision blurred and he felt extremely weak.
Even with the burning pain in his chest, even with no chance of survival, the man, slumped on the ground, still stared intently at the figure in the car with his reddened eyes, murmuring with his last ounce of strength, "You can destroy my car and house, just... please... give me... my son..."
"Give me back... my son..."
The man's body went limp on the ground, lifeless.
But his reddened eyes remained fixed on Norton, who sat upright in the car, until his death, with even a single tear sliding down his cheek silently.
It's that familiar sea of flowers again, that familiar army again, that familiar death again...
Norton sat upright in the convertible, watching the officials gathering behind him to apologize, and watching the soldiers dragging the man's corpse not far away, remaining silent as he had been all those years before.