The Fist King was stunned for a long time before Liu Li’s eyes that were as clear as water. Amused, he observed, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen two youngsters as interesting as you. You want to appease the conflicts and carnage in the Land of Sins? Well, come with me!”
The Fist King turned around and walked to his metal throne made of gears and chains. After he pulled a lever on the back of the throne, all the gears began to spin in squeaky noises.
The throne gradually disintegrated and was reshaped during the spinning, changing into a spiral ladder that led to the rooftop of Great Iron City.
The dome of Great Iron City blossomed slowly like petals, revealing the deep, dark night sky that was half illuminated by the blood red lights from Manjusaka.
The Fist King led the two little fellows to climb the stairs and reached the peak of Great Iron City, at an altitude of almost a hundred meters on the Bloody Plateau.
Wind was blowing like a surging tide from all directions. The two little fellows staggered and almost fell from the high fortress.
The mountains far away were like decayed corpses that were releasing black mist.
As far as their eyes could see, their own camp below their feet and Liberty City opposite them were both ablaze with lights. All the thugs and bandits were taking every second to examine their magical equipment, treat their wounds, and stuff more high-energy synthesized food into their bellies, preparing for the battle the following dawn.
Collisions of weapons, clicks of bullets when loaded, vibration noises when the chainswords and the vibration sabers were activated, the laughter and curses of the people, the screams of the wounded, and the howls of the mutated beasts… All the sounds congregated into a melody of blood that could only be heard in the abyss at the deepest level of hell.
At the center of the two battle formations, on the battlefield that witnessed a fierce battle during the day, broken stones and remnants were scattered and everywhere to be seen.
To this moment, the fuel and ammunition inside the remnants of a lot of crystal tanks were still smoldering. Glamorous fireballs burst out every once in a while, adding to the hazy atmosphere of the night.
Illuminated under the colorful fire, the stealthy will-o’-the-wisp, mixed with the broken souls of the deceased, danced creepily like the drowned before they gradually dispersed and were gone for good from the cruel world.
As they looked down at everything, it was both like an evil fairytale and an absurd joke. Han Te and Liu Li shuddered coldly at the same time beyond their control.
When they looked from such a high altitude, humans were truly no longer humans but incomplete yet aggressive pawns.
“Do you see those people?” With his hands behind his back, the Fist King stared at the two parties who were busy preparing for the war and casually said, “They are so rapacious, so desperate, and so careless about the lives of other people as well as their own. Do you really think that they want to stab chainswords into each other’s stomachs and mince the enemy’s internal organs into pieces only because they are not fed?”
Han Te and Liu Li were silent.
“Even if you truly grow the Gold Barley across the entire land and give enough food to everybody, including the crying toddlers and the strengthless old men, making sure that nobody will weep at night because of hunger, it will still be useless. There will still be as many contradictions, massacres, and wars!
“Perhaps this Land of Sins has been created for wars, and all the ‘sinners’ are born for fighting. Wars are our destiny. This is the ultimate law of this world that nobody can change or avoid. You can only choose to kill or to be killed!”
Sensing the rising aura from the Fist King’s metal shell, Han Te and Liu Li trembled even harder, but as his anxiety surpassed a certain level, Han Te somehow calmed down. There was no telling where he found the courage, but he gritted his teeth and asked, “Master Fist King, are wars so interesting? Do you really like wars so much?”
“Yes, I love wars.” The Fist King grinned. The smile condensed by metal muscle fibers was a hundred times more terrifying and violent than the laughter of regular bandits. “I love the feeling of punching somebody’s face and mixing their broken skull with their brains. I love the flying flesh and blood from a chainsword that looks like a blossoming flower. I love the smell of a burning body. I love the barrage of crystal cannons and the glow when ten thousand mystic ray launchers are activated at the same time… I love everything in a war. Hehe. Hehehe!”
Rendered speechless, Han Te was defeated.
Liu Li, however, held onto the can of the Gold Barley seeds and said softly but firmly, “But we feel that the world is not supposed to be like this. One day, we will find a way to completely stop all the wars in the Land of Sins!”
“What an audacious little girl.” The Fist King’s smile got more and more creepy. He extended his metal face to Liu Li and said, “The entire Land of Sings is a ceaseless battlefield. All the sinners are predestined to fight until their death from the moment they are born. How do you want to stop it? There is only one way if you hope to completely terminate the wars in the Land of Sins!”
Han Te and Liu Li were both stunned. They lost their calmness and exclaimed, “What is it?”
The Fist King opened his arms, as if he was hugging the entire Land of Sins. His face turned from a smile into utmost solemnity. “Conflicts have never stopped in the Land of Sins. The major forces have been killing and fighting for the Elysian Worlds for hundreds of years without any change.
“You cannot expect to make them stop killing each other with the ridiculous Gold Barley. The only solution is very simple. All that is needed is an unprecedented expert, who will gather all the forces into an invincible, indestructible army to conquer the Desolate Worlds, the Bloody Worlds, and the Elysian Worlds!
“If the entire Land of Sins obeys the iron fist of one expert, your wish will naturally be fulfilled. There will be no killing or wars!”
Han Te and Liu Li looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling coldness leaking out from the deepest parts of their bones. They eyed the Fist King as if he were a lunatic.
“No. I almost forgot. There’s still that.” The Fist King grinned and extended one of his metal fingers to point at the night sky. “Even if an expert can unite the entire Land of Sins and conquer all the gangs and Elysian Worlds, it is impossible to end all wars because Manjusaka, the City in the Sky, still exists! It will not be the last war until the high and mighty City in the Sky is conquered, will it?”
Han Te swallowed hard and panted. “Master Fist King, do you want to unite the Land of Sins?”
The Fist King laughed without a sound, baring his glittering teeth. “Probably. Liberty City will only be my start point. After I trample on Liberty City, I will march to other Elysian Worlds and swallow each and every one of them until I go to confront the City in the Sky!
“So, I’m afraid that I can provide little help if you intend to go to the City in the Sky. But maybe it will be shot down by me someday, and you can look for your answers from the debris of the City in the Sky!”
“You—You want to shoot the City in the Sky down?” Liu Li blurted out.
“Have you never thought of the idea before?” Looking at the bloody Flower of the Other Shore in the sky, the Fist King said, “Have you never felt that its light hurts your eyes, and you need to shoot it down with your cannon to drag the ‘angels’ out and check how different they are from us?”
Han Te trembled and stammered, “B-but all our assets are from the City in the Sky. I don’t think that a battle against the City in the Sky will succeed, will it?”
“What does it matter?” the Fist King replied. “Wars with a guaranteed victory are boring. Only a war that cannot be won is worthy enough for me to challenge and enjoy!”
Han Te and Liu Li fell silent again. After a moment, they asked at the same time, “Master Fist King, why are you telling us such things? W-we are just two nobodies not worth mentioning at all!”
“No reason. Perhaps I am just too excited now that I am about to embark on the quest of my destiny, and I needed to chat with some nobodies about it. Or maybe…”
Looking at the two little fellows, the Fist King’s scorching eyes surpassed their shoulders and fell on Li Yao, who was not far away. “Maybe it is because I noticed that we are the same type of person. We are all insane lunatics!”
Han Te and Liu Li felt that their faces were burning. Although they were rather flattered, they vaguely realized that the Fist King’s words were probably not meant for them but for ‘Grandpa Yao’.
The Fist King and Grandpa Yao were the same type of person. What kind of riddle were the two of them playing?
The two little fellows did not have the vaguest clue however hard they thought.
Not just them, even Li Yao was baffled by what the Fist King had tried to say. He only vaguely felt that ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie seemed to have misunderstood something…
“Today, we have found the weaknesses of Liberty City,” the Fist King said, “but my army consists of unfocused, unorganized mobsters except for the elites from the Godly Fist Union. It is impossible for us to besiege the enemy and wage a war of attrition.
“While the morale is still high, we must launch the real attack tomorrow. The fighting then will be a hundred times more gruesome than today and not suitable for two youngsters from the Desolate Worlds such as yourselves. So, you can stay inside my Great Iron City with this spiritual puppet!”
Li Yao was surprised again. Han Te and Liu Li were even more perplexed, wondering why the Fist King treated them so friendly.
“But our companions…” Han Te and Liu Li hesitated.
“I’ll naturally keep your companions by my side. They will certainly get a chance to play their part.”
Waving his hands, the Fist King said irrefutably, “After all, your team is only a temporary one. I don’t think that they will care about where you have been. After Liberty City is taken, let’s talk more about our ridiculous dreams!”
A long time after the Fist King’s back disappeared into the darkness inside Great Iron City, Han Te and Liu Li were still not back to themselves.
“Grandpa Yao…”
They looked at Li Yao with the utmost confusion.
“I do not know what is going on at all.” Li Yao smiled bitterly. “However, I somehow feel that ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie is keeping a secret, and the secret is… somehow related to me to some degree?”
