"Call..."
The heavy breathing sounded like a broken bellows, hoarse and mixed with the sticky feeling of bloody phlegm climbing up the throat.
With a snap, the mask, splattered with blood, fell to the ground, leaning against the corner of the table. Through the narrow eyepiece, one could see the room riddled with holes, a scene of carnage. Dozens of corpses lay silently on the floor, pools of blood spreading. Only the leader remained standing in the control room; all the executives had died at his hands. The expressions of terror on the faces of the high-ranking officials were still frozen; they were all lifeless.
The leader spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, took a deep breath, and the strong smell of blood in the room irritated his nasal cavity. He suddenly began to cough violently, coughing for a full two minutes before stopping.
The fierce battle aggravated his hidden injury. In the ambush battle more than a month ago, he was seriously injured by Han Xiao and had not had time to rest, which eventually turned into a hidden injury.
Every time he felt a dull pain, he couldn't help but think of Han Xiao. He was in this predicament entirely because of Han Xiao. Even now, he was still filled with hatred, but this intense emotion could no longer surge up, leaving only emptiness.
The leader arrived at the control panel, selected the nuclear launch option, then removed his gloves and verified his fingerprints, iris scans, permissions, and access password. Two keys were inserted into the holes; each only needed to be rotated 180 degrees to activate the launch. At the final step, his scarred fingers gripped the keys, but he hesitated to turn them.
The leader leaned back in his chair, tilted his head back, and stared blankly into space, seemingly lost in thought.
"Beep beep beep--"
A small image appeared in the corner of the screen—a call request—from the caller ID: "Zero".
The leader, expressionless, pressed "agree," and Han Xiao's face appeared on the large screen.
Seeing the corpses scattered on the ground, Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. He had initiated the communication to check Germinal's attitude and to see the leader one last time, but this scene made him basically understand the situation. He shook his head and said, "It seems you've already made up your mind."
The leader's eyes revealed a hint of melancholy.
"I never thought I'd lose to you in the end, you... ant! One wrong step led to another, and you've destroyed everything I had... What do you want to do now? Check out your victory? I'm right here, look all you want. My life, the destruction of my Germinal, will add a significant chapter to your story. You're the winner, and you have the right to freely admire your spoils."
"I've told you before, this starry sky is vast, and this planet is but a speck of dust. No one in the universe cares about the major events that happen here." Han Xiao shook his head. The formidable enemy was defeated, but his expression remained calm. After all, he was a man with his eyes on the stars and the sea. He slowly said, "I just feel that after doing so much, having to keep it all bottled up before I die is so painful."
"You want me to talk to my sworn enemy?" The leader grinned, his ferocious appearance became more and more ugly, he lazily leaned on the chair and relaxed, "It is indeed very interesting."
Han Xiao shrugged and went straight to the point, "What's this about the Child of Destiny?"
The leader burst into laughter, only stopping after a while. He shook his head and said, "The Child of Destiny is nothing but a pathetic wretch. He can see the future and influence fate, but he can't Dominion his own life and death. He's destined to be a tool in someone else's hands... You also have precognitive abilities; perhaps Child of Destiny will be your final fate!"
Han Xiao remained noncommittal and said, "Tell me about yourself. You seem to be from Golan?"
The leader's expression changed, and he murmured, "You found out... Yes, I used to be Golan citizen. Back then, I was a young man, full of passion and indignation. When the Minmok incident broke out in the country, I joined the resistance organization. I marched, protested, and opposed, trying to save my homeland from a corrupt government."
However, war suddenly broke out. Raylen invaded, and beset by internal and external troubles, my motherland was crushed, and everyone lost their country..." The leader's tone suddenly turned gritted with rage, "Did you hear that? We were called 'beset by internal troubles'! Did I do anything wrong? Was it wrong to resist? No! Our initial intention was simply to fight for our rightful rights! Just to make our motherland better!"
We Infinite to victory, the dawn was just around the corner, but war destroyed everything. Golan was destroyed, and all my friends were executed. Eliminating such restless people was the best way to deal with them. The surviving citizens of Golan were like castrated livestock, forced to become docile and easy to manage and use. Only a very few managed to escape, and I was one of them.
I am not a big shot, I am just an ordinary young man, all alone, not knowing where to go, like a walking corpse, until I saw the border of Golan blocked by Raylen, the national flag I was familiar with was burned, and the flag of Raylen was raised in its place. At that moment, I woke up and knew what mission I was carrying.
Although Golan is imperfect, with its flaws and darkness, it is still my homeland. The hatred of its destruction can only be overcome by...
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!
The leader exhaled a breath of stale air, his gaze drifting into the distance, as if scenes from the past were replaying before his eyes.
"But in the torrent of the times, an ordinary young man is nothing more than a drifting duckweed, his life as fragile as an ant. In order to cross the war zone, I dragged my tired body from one refugee camp to another. I was treated like a pig or a dog, numbly enduring a life without dignity. But my blood was burning. No matter how dangerous it was, I told myself to live. Hatred filled my heart, and it kept my heart beating... Finally, I successfully crossed the most intense battle zone. Without stopping or seeking shelter, I turned and headed into the wilderness."
I knew that without the power, there was no Revenge. So I survived in the wilderness, fought wild beasts, and tempered myself like a piece of unyielding iron.
Speaking of this, the leader pointed to the scars on his face and hands and said calmly, "One hundred and seventy-six scars. I traded them for power."
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, "So you really were just an ordinary person?"
The leader countered, "Why can't it be an ordinary person?"
After thinking for a moment, Han Xiao nodded, indicating that he should continue his performance.
The leader continued, "In the wilderness, I kept thinking. When I returned to the battlefield, I heard that the Minmok organization still existed. How ironic that a tool created for a reign of terror had become the purest surviving force of the Golan. So a plan emerged in my mind. I Assassination the leader of the Minmok, renamed the organization Germinal, hid it, and developed it quietly. I also put on a mask."
War is full of opportunities; countless people lose their countries and become displaced. So I set out Germinal idea, dangling a carrot in front of them, to create a so-called new world... Ideas always drive those who resonate with them. It's not that I'm using those who have lost their country, but that they are willing to be used by me. That's hatred. They don't even care whether they can achieve their goal after their sacrifice.
By elevating my personal desires to the level of a collective desire, I can gain considerable support. Germinal is how a seed sprouts, nourished by war, grows rapidly, takes root, and matures into a towering tree, a colossal entity.
The leader's tone was filled with hatred, yet also with a sense of loss. The cause he had always upheld had been destroyed, and besides anger, he felt an extremely complex mix of emotions.
Then... you appeared.
"You cut down the tree."