Fang Zheng, now transformed, appeared as a bald middle-aged man with a brutish face.
Yet, his eyes, at this moment, were as helpless as a child's.
Every time he made a choice, he stood in the position of a "hero," and his actions were worthy of that name.
But why was he crying so sadly now?
The greatest reason for Fang Zheng's consciousness to gradually collapse, besides the immaturity of the technology, was something he himself was unwilling to admit.
Because he couldn't hold on anymore, he wanted to give up...
For the sake of the mission, his hands had been stained with the blood of the innocent time and time again.
No matter how he convinced himself that their sacrifice was for a greater cause.
In the quiet of the night, Fang Zheng was repeatedly awakened by nightmares.
Furthermore, after becoming a Dragon Rider General, his deeper understanding of the Nine Dragons' power truly made Fang Zheng realize that
the so-called resistance army was merely a lingering struggle.
Everything was in vain.
"Why, why did you wake me up?!"
"Why did you make me return to this hellish world!!"
"The Nine Dragons are insurmountable!!! No matter how hard we try! We can never defeat them!!!"
"I can't see any hope anymore!!!"
Looking at the collapsing Fang Zheng, Chen Luo did not step forward to comfort him. Instead, he turned and looked towards Dragon Heart City in the distance.
When restoring Fang Zheng's memories, Chen Luo had also glimpsed the secrets Fang Zheng knew.
Chen Luo finally understood why he had always felt a sense of incongruity when looking at Dragon Heart City.
A large number of ordinary people, wearing similar uniforms, entered and exited various massive factories, only to immerse themselves again in meaningless, pacifying pleasures.
They were like livestock being penned.
And indeed, that was the case!
It was only now, after understanding the reasons for Fang Zheng's resistance, that Chen Luo understood the source of the incongruity.
There were no children or elderly people in this city.
The reason for Fang Zheng and the Eastern Hua Nation's resistance was not simply the submission desired by the Nine Dragons.
It was the price of that submission!
According to the rules of the Nine Dragons, ordinary people were not allowed to form families; all humans were produced by the Nine Dragons.
After receiving a basic general education, humans would be released into various new cities to be raised freely.
And before humans reached the age of thirty, they would be artificially harvested. The elderly from the old world had long since been entirely reaped!
In this human farming system, only the Nine Dragons and the families within each new city were exceptions.
In fact, families like the Lin family were essentially peripheral organizations formed by those who had failed the Nine Dragons.
In just twenty years, this central continent, gathered by the power of the Nine Dragons, had completely transformed into a farm!
And the Nine Dragons' purpose in doing this was very simple: they needed souls!
The souls of young children were too immature; only through the baptism of time could they become better products.
However, excessive time would also cause damage to the soul itself.
Therefore, humans before the age of thirty would become the targets of harvesting.
As for those who consumed these products, they were the Soul Heart users!
...
The wailing Fang Zheng was filled with panic, bewilderment, and despair. These terrifying negative emotions had robbed him of his ability to think.
Sacrificing companions to gain the favor of the Nine Dragons time and time again, thereby obtaining greater power.
Greater power represented higher status and more information among the Nine Dragons.
Fang Zheng had thought that if this cycle continued, and as long as he could bear enough sins, the survivors of the Eastern Hua Nation might live better lives.
But when he arrived at the new cities after the Seven-Day War,
when he saw tens of thousands of humans being transported like livestock,
when he witnessed the blasphemous scenes of life in the Nine Dragons' human cultivation factories,
and finally, when he understood what the Dragon Soul Potion he had been using since joining the combat sequence truly was,
Fang Zheng's personality and consciousness were broken.
"I'm eating people!!! Every day I live!! My very existence is eating people!!!"
The "Dragon Soul Potion" was a special potion that all combatants of S-rank and above needed to take regularly.
After taking it, it could significantly enhance Soul Heart power and effectively protect one's soul.
This was a highly classified potion that Fang Zheng had not encountered before the Seven-Day War. It was only after becoming a Dragon Rider General that he understood its true nature.
Just as Chen Luo had once been surprised, the method of burning one's soul with the Soul Heart fire to exchange for powerful Soul Heart energy was too extreme.
Even if A-rank and S-rank Soul Heart users, due to their low burning rate, could not burn themselves to death in a short period.
Then what about higher-ranked Soul Heart users? Wouldn't they burn themselves to death before even fighting?
The solution to this problem was the "Dragon Soul Potion"!
If the Soul Heart fire needed to burn the soul, then let it burn!
Under the control of the Nine Dragons, there were countless mortal souls serving as fuel, allowing it to burn to its heart's content!
As for the materials and production method of the Dragon Soul Potion, those were scenes Fang Zheng was still unwilling to recall.
Everything about it only appeared in humanity's deepest nightmares.
"Ahhh! Nine Dragons! Nine Dragons!!! This hellish world!!!"
With a sigh, Chen Luo's figure flickered, and he raised his right hand, aiming a blow at Fang Zheng's head.
Fang Zheng's will had collapsed. The awakened him would rather continue wearing the personality mask of Jiang Hu and die here.
But,
A finger gently touched Fang Zheng's forehead,
and a voice as steady as the earth sounded in his ear:
"Even with such pain, you never once begged me for death!"
"You don't want to die! Even though pain and despair made you want to give up countless times!"
"But I heard you!"
"You don't want to die here! You still have a place you want to return to! You still have people you want to see!"
As Chen Luo spoke, a fluctuation of a blend of gold, red, and silver light slowly spread from the tip of his finger towards Fang Zheng's entire body.
As if Chen Luo's words had an effect, Fang Zheng's emotions calmed slightly. He looked at the youth before him, who was like a divine being, and asked in a hoarse voice, cautiously,
"Can I, can I really go back? Am I, am I really worthy of seeing them?"
Fang Zheng felt that he had already sunk into the depths of darkness, stained, evil, and disgusting in ways he himself could not accept.
How could such a self be worthy of returning to the place once called home?
Chen Luo looked calmly at the man before him who should be called a "hero."
He closed his eyes for a moment, then his dark pupils turned an eternal gold. His voice was calm, yet it thundered like lightning from the nine heavens:
"Your sins, I shall bear!"
"If this world is truly like hell, then I shall overturn this world!"