Li Yao waved his hands, savouring the feeling of his hands turning into a cluster of grey mist while he pondered over his own thoughts.
With the breeze, he was no longer so drunk. The words of Boss, Zhao Kai, and Yu Xin echoed in his ears again.
It seemed that there was more than one person who was as confused as he was. Maybe, most people in the world were wandering between their dreams and reality, hoping for more.
Besides, he had always wanted to be the captain of an aircraft carrier or an ocean liner, and he had always wanted to be a gymnast or an artist. Those were all his ‘dreams’. He had only read a few novels and had nightmares about tyrannosaurs, and he had been living in confusion all day long. What kind of dream was that?
Li Yao didn’t know where he had heard the saying, “Dreams are just excuses to avoid reality.” But on second thought, it did make sense. At the very least, it was very suitable for him.
Maybe, it was because he was avoiding growing up, society, work, and a difficult and boring life that he was trapped in the world of fiction and fantasy.
Fake. Fake. Those were all fakes!
Li Yao burped loudly. He felt that his throat was on fire.
He felt like vomiting. He wanted to spit out the confusion and the weird dream that had been haunting him for the past few days and stop bothering him.
This area used to be the outskirts of Jiangnan City. Ever since some of the city’s universities had moved here, forming a university town, the surrounding area had spontaneously formed quite a lively neighborhood. A myriad of lights illuminated the city, making it quite lively.
On the other side of the broad road, a new development zone was being built. There was also a ten-lane highway leading to the downtown area. From time to time, the roaring of engines could be heard. The sports cars that were rushing past reminded Li Yao of what was real and what was not.
“Beat, beat, beat you to death!”
“I won, oh oh oh oh!”
A few children were playing by the road.
They were wearing the masks of monsters, superheroes, and robots, and they were holding guns that were emitting light. They were playing the ancient war games that they would never get tired of. Laughter was echoing nonstop.
One of the children was retreating while playing and accidentally bumped into Li Yao. He exclaimed, took off his mask, and stuck out his tongue at Li Yao.
A few women’s curses came from the restaurants, grocery stores, and stores not far away. The children were all shocked and ran to their homes.
The restaurants and small shops here were mostly managed by the residents nearby. They were both shops and their own homes. After school, their children would feel that the weather was too hot, so they would move their tables and chairs outside to let the wind blow while they did their homework. In fact, it was just convenient for them to play with their little friends. Li Yao vaguely remembered that it was the same when he was a child.
His gaze fell upon the open textbook of a child. He could not help but laugh.
The textbook had depicted an ancient poet or politician, but the child had smeared it with a ballpoint pen until it was beyond recognition and turned it into a one-eyed dragon warrior wearing a helmet and armor—not just any armor, but also a crystal cannon on his shoulder. His body was glittering, and flames of war were surging on his back. He was somewhat similar to the crystal suit in Li Yao’s dream, like a space pirate who had dominated the sea of stars.
Li Yao recalled that he seemed to have done similar things when he was a child. All the ancient celebrities in the textbooks were never let off. They were smeared all over by him, making him look neither human nor ghost.
Presumably, Yu Xin, Zhao Kai, and even Zhou Ping were the same.
It was an urge that could not be described with pen and ink. In his boredom, he would smear the ink subconsciously. Often, the textbook would turn into a picture book before he realized it.
But there was no telling whether or not the children were dreaming of… the dreams related to their past life, the sea of stars, the war against the universe, and the billions of splendid worlds.
There was no telling what the dreams of these children were at this moment. To be a scientist, to be an artist, to be an adventurer, to be the captain of an aircraft carrier, or, even more exaggerated, to be a super hero who shook the universe?
There was no telling whether or not, when these children grew to the age of Li Yao, Yu Xin, Zhao Kai, and Zhou Ping, would they still remember the joy of playing the hero today, the heroism of being a scientist and an adventurer, and the courage to realize their dreams without caring about anything?
Li Yao sighed and suddenly felt dispirited.
“It’s useless. It’s impossible to win.”
He mumbled to himself, “Face reality and give up. It is too strong. Too strong. Nobody can defeat it. Give up!”
Li Yao did not know what he was talking about, either. Maybe the drinkers were just talking nonsense.
Holding the railing, he staggered forward and took out his phone.
His finger lightly touched the icon of the reading software. He hesitated for a moment before deleting the and the entire software.
Useless. Give up. Nobody can defeat it.
Dreams were all false. Reality was real. Everyone had to live in reality and could never escape, right?
Human beings were just ants living on Earth. They would never be able to fly into the sea of stars, would they?
Pursuing an illusionary dream was useless except for hurting oneself and the people around them, right?
Yes.
Yes!
‘Yes?’
But…
Why did he still feel a little unwilling? He always felt that he was missing something, something very, very important that he had sworn to defend and pursue with all his strength?
His internal organs and brain were empty, as if something had withered. He was no longer his real self; he was just a walking corpse with his own body.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Right at this moment, the sound of a thunder-like engine came from behind Li Yao. It was obvious that it was a super powerful luxury sports car.
In front of him, a child was chasing a bouncing ball to the road.
Li Yao’s pupils constricted violently. The alcohol flowing inside his veins was all burning. The immense energy was flooding into every brain cell, turning them into supercomputers with amazing computational ability!
Even if he didn’t need to turn his head, he could hear over a hundred different engine sounds in an instant—it was the sound of all the cars driving on the street within a thousand meters.
He could even analyze the brand of each and every car, as well as their performance parameters and status, as well as their position in the previous second, the next second, and the next minute.
The chaos caused by the bouncing ball, the routes of the children, and even the trajectories of the falling leaves in the breeze were all within his control.
Li Yao was not thinking at all. Everything was as natural as breathing and heartbeat.
When he exerted strength in his legs and dashed out like an arrow released from a bow, he did not feel drunk at all. He only felt that every muscle and every bone in his body had turned into a component on a precise machine. It was seamless and seamless. There was nothing soul-stirring about it. It was definitely achievable.
He even lowered his head on purpose, paying attention to the angle of his entire face. At first, he didn’t realize why he was doing this, but very soon—
He was dodging the surveillance cameras near the street lights and traffic lights.
He seemed to know how many surveillance cameras there were in the area. Even when he was the most drunk, he still tried to hide his face from the cameras.
His figure was ordinary, his face was ordinary, and there was nothing special about the way he dressed. If one looked at the university campus, they would be able to find 300-500 college boys dressed like him within a minute. This was not intentional, but a natural habit.
BOOM!
When the powerful luxury sports car whizzed past him, Li Yao just happened to push the child to the ground. Fortunately,
The child was not injured, but his face was pale because of fear. He was speechless for a long time.
Li Yao, on the other hand, was scratched by the rushing air currents and fell to the ground unsteadily. His elbow was scratched hard, and he was bleeding.
The accident was so sudden that few people noticed it.
The driver of the sports car, on the other hand, should have sensed something. Although it was wrong for the child to suddenly run out, the speed limit was still higher than 50%.
However, the racing car, which was as red as fire, only slowed down for a moment. Seeing that the two of them were fine, it roared again and drove away as if nobody was watching.
The on-ramp of the overpass was not far ahead. It was a smooth road dozens of kilometers from the bridge. Since it had just been repaired, there were not many vehicles at night. Therefore, it had become a racing field for many people.
The fire in his heart suddenly exploded.
There was no telling whether he was angry or excited. Maybe it was both, but the inexplicable excitement was even more intense. The engines of the sports cars that were rushing past him were roaring like thunder and explosions. They bombarded his heart and woke up the existence that had been sleeping for a long time.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Sharp brilliance beamed out of Li Yao’s eyes as he read all the information nearby.
Within a one kilometer radius, there were a total of 47 surveillance cameras installed on street lamps and traffic lights. Other than them, there were also 132 merchants who might have installed their own personal surveillance cameras.
Over the past one minute, a total of 166 vehicles had entered the on-ramp one after another, of which 19 had been modified sports cars. It was obvious what they wanted to do by appearing in this place at this time.
The noodle restaurant 370 meters ahead of them was run by a young couple from the Shanbei Province. Most of the taxi drivers in Jiang Nan City were from the Shanbei Province. Therefore, every night, many fellow villagers would gather here. Naturally, there were always a few taxi drivers parked by the road.
Then, there was only one question left.
Li Yao looked at the child in his arms.
The little fellow was only six or seven years old. He had still lost his soul, so it was naturally impossible for him to remember his appearance.
Li Yao looked at the robot mask hanging around the little guy’s neck and laughed silently.
