Chapter 89

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

When Bright reached an accord with the AI, Statistician personally came for Bright and Hopkin with a flying vehicle, sending them out to Outer City to regroup with the werewolves and apes.

Bright logs onto his own webpage and then posts an update.

“Why Inner City residents are Inner City residents is because they are pure humans.” He stores the smart chip away afterwards, looking up to meet the disagreeing gaze of Statistician.

Bright is assertive, “I didn’t promise to keep the secret.”

Statistician, “the AI has deleted it immediately.”

“You forgot how quickly the Internet can screenshot.”

Bright is going all ‘I’m human so I can do this without shame.’

Statistician’s brows are furrowed, only speaking after a while, “live data suggests while the news is widespread, those who believe it are less than one in ten thousand.”

“Oh?”

Not only did the Internet not believe it, but many anti-fans have also appeared to mock and attack Bright to no end.

“The bright and brilliant star is actually offering himself for unspeakable deals!” It tried to imply Bright had his patron help him engage in unfair competition, and he’s actually really weak, hypocritical and sly. All his glorious image is edited after the fact.

“An anonymous source has confirmed that a certain contestant whose number end in 9 already has a child before marriage, deceiving his way to one night stands without shame,” with some screenshots of messaging software attached.

“Fact! The show has announced that number 199 has been disqualified!”

Inner City residents have now already received an order from the Citadel to chase number 199 out of the City, so naturally Bright is no longer in the Killing Gauntlet. Yet people are quick to relate the two unrelated events that happened following the other as a cause and effect relationship. The two messages from before are treated as the ’cause,’ and disqualification is treated as the ‘effect,’ what an infallible logic.

Threads that are smearing Bright suddenly bloom all over.

“Number 199’s terrible deeds! Killing Gauntlet Reality Show may be cancelled?” Attached is the video of an orgy where the faces are blurry. The hair style and physique of one of them is similar to Bright.

The four steps of the smearing sonata online – an eye-catching title → imply political incorrectness → distorted factual description → fearmongering (thanks to the Internet for the summary). They’re a professional industry.

The AI is going all I’m an AI, I don’t have any sense of shame anyway.

The truth is buried beneath the waves of information.

In the past, the upper echelons have a monopoly on knowledge. The common man had no choice but to be raised ignorant; now, all information is at the tip of our hands, yet have we become wiser?

Save our pitiable average IQ! A small step from you is a great step for civilisation!

Bright was not hoping his one message, one rebellion would be able to change the world. For one, you can’t wake up someone pretending to be sleeping. For two, society has its own trends of evolution. The City developed into this model after hundreds, thousands of years. Restructuring society and the birth of new ideologies take a very long time, it is not done in a single step.

He only gave people a choice. A reason to think. An opportunity for “oh, so that was a possibility”?

When faced with it, some are silent, some are deep in thought, some come to realisations.

This is a start. An insignificant beginning. It may not be obvious, but it will be like a little spark, that will eventually burn over the grasslands.

Bright leads two Inner City residents to appear on the most intense battlefield in Outer City. One among them has cruelly betrayed him, and Alpha’s furry face has no expression to speak of. He is continuously in his wolf form. Having just been through an intense battle, there are wounds and burns all over his body. The unmitigated killing intent from him makes him highly imposing.

Statistician only took one look at him before lowering his head, standing besides Gentleman in silence.

Compared to their reunion, Bright’s side is much more passionate. Besides the wolves and the apes, there are several contestants here as well. There’s Harry, Big Retard and Old Veteran. The werewolves have helped remove their bracelets as well, and now they’re officially part of the rebellion.

“Dad!” Hope happily leaps into Bright’s embrace. Leading up to the moment of this reunion, since the kidnapping, he has never seen his father anymore. While the dog and his new friends were there with him, and he’s not lonely, but he did really miss his father.

“This is your other father.” Bright hugs him, letting him wrap his hands around his neck, and introduces Hopkin to him.

The little guy looks over Hopkin, seeing him look at him with an indifferent gaze. Not to mention affection or familiarity, there’s not even the kindness one would give to strangers. He feels a bit wronged, so the normally obedient he didn’t listen even to Bright, “I only have one dad.” He has a lot he wants to say to his dad, but Hopkin stops him emotionlessly.

Currently, they are still hostile to the armed forces of Inner and Outer City. This is not the time for family affairs. Bright could only let go of the chilliness between father and son, and arrange for an evacuation.

“Let’s build our own home.” He tells everyone present.

“Yes, my liege.” The apes have already mastered human language. Their tones are low as thunder, with a quirkiness to their accent. They act quickly and decisively.

Those who are wounded or exhausted among the team are riding on flying vehicles. Bright leads others in the rebellion on the ground. Werewolves and apes are naturals at surviving in the wild. They follow behind that tall, agile figure closely. The group is disciplined and no one drops off during the march.

Powers on the Outside, groups of beasts and monsters, none of them dare to cross them, and all of them avoid them, including even factions that are powerful or numerous, because the leader of them has too strong an aura, as if he is not even human. While they might be worried he’d be fighting with them for territory and resources in the future, but after considering the current situation, they decide to wait and see.

“Boss is scary.” Harry is watching from on high, and can clearly see where Bright goes, the animals are all spooked and run outwards, so he can’t help but chat with Old Veteran.

Old Veteran also nods quietly. If he’s not scary, how would he have been able to do something like leading werewolves and apes on an attack on the City, managing to take two Inner City aristocrats hostage? He knows what he’s doing, so he watches over the two in secret, so that they don’t do anything stupid.

Hostage #1 asks hostage #2, “what are your plans for the future?”

“To execute my orders and observe Bright.” Statistician’s attention is on the screen as he operates the flying vehicle.

After he says it someone makes a ‘tch’ sound full of disdain.

It’s Alpha. As he is moderately wounded and highly exhausted, he had to ride on the flying vehicle. He has started resting once on board, getting some shut-eye. He looks calm, but he’s actually tumultuous inside, for a certain human. Now that Statistician has spoken, he can’t help but react.

Statistician smacks his lips, silent. It is only his hands that are holding onto the controls trembling lightly.

Hopkin observes all of these in silence.

The group regroups with Wolfie and co. who took the machinery and disengaged before them. Then they march for about a bit over half a month to reach a secluded valley under Bright’s guidance. The landscape is beautiful, there’s birds singing and flowers blooming.

This is the starting area of the post-apocalypse mobile game world, where Bright had personally constructed his wooden house.

The landscape in the real world is not much different from the game, but it feels a bit more quiet and dark. They can see does hopping about between the trees.

“Woah! What a place! Where did you learn about this?” Wolfie makes a howl of excitement, ‘crying wolf’ to all the animals here – this place is now under my rule!

Alpha is tolerant of his transgressive act. Wolfie is the one he is the most expectant for. Having him be the one to lead the others to evacuate with the equipment is also effectively designating him the next leader of the pack. To be honest, even this leader of the werewolves who has shouldered all the responsibilities without daring to rest for a single moment is also really thrilled right now. They’re finally going to have a home, to breathe the air of freedom, to walk towards a bright future.

After Wolfie, he also leads the Wolves in a howl. Then the apes also start beating their chests and roar, and the animals and birds of the valley start scampering about in the valley. Small animals all have their hairs stand on end and all run back into their hiding holes with a ‘zwip.’

“He looks happy.” Statistician says to Hopkin. The two of them are perhaps the least excited ones here.

“Every being here appears to be so.” While Hopkin is not in a smile, he has a gentle expression on his face. As long as Bright is in his vision, he will feel happy. Of course, it’ll be better if there wasn’t any of these people here blocking them.

They settle in the valley, cutting trees and mining, building houses and buildings, quickly forming a village. Life in the valley is calm and relaxing. They’ve taken quite a bit of equipment with them out of the City, and so they’ve set up wind and solar power in the village. They can’t be said to be technologically backwards at any rate. Then labour starts to become divided and precise in the village. Besides daily management positions and professional soldiers, mom-and-pop shops, bars, clinics and schools have all begun to appear.

As the leader, Bright hands over the management positions to the apes. He decides to mainly occupy himself with being the owner of a BBQ shop. This is the most popular location in the village, all sorts of creatures dropping by by lunchtime and dinnertime. Besides the villagers, there’s also Outsiders here for trade. Thanks to the unique disposition of the apes, they are able to scavenge for food, valuable medicine and herbs, catch prey and survey for ore veins inside the mountains and woods. These are highly valuable abilities to Outsiders. They decide to take the risk to make contact after making preliminary observations. With the first time there’s a second time. With one person here there will be another to follow.

While making deals there would even be issues arising. An ‘evil merchant’ has appeared among the apes, who buy his companions’ products for low and sell them to Outsiders for high, earning the difference. After his companions found out, he is scolded by the majority of apes, covering his eyes in shame. Though he believes he hasn’t actually violated any laws or rules, so he feels wronged. His wife and kids decide to appeal to Bright.

On the one hand, this is a normal occurrence in a free market. On the other, it is a problem of cultural acceptance and morality. This is certainly a difficult problem.

So Bright asks Hopkin for advice. While advising and advising, they ended up on the bed… Not having agreed on a solution, instead having made a promise to stay with his lover more and not concern himself with trivialities like these.

So without any other way, Bright had to ask Statistician.

Statistician thought that since he is behind enemy lines, he would probably not be treated well. Unexpectedly, Bright doesn’t treat him any differently. He even lets him be involved in the construction and development of the village.

“This is a sign of civilisation progress. It’s a good thing.”

Statistician has also heard about this, and remarks positively, “the value of the product sold is higher than its marked price is the fundamental cause of this ‘resale.’ It is not the ape being sly, it is the other apes who have underestimated the demand for this product from the customers. The correct solution is to raise the price. I estimate the raise to be between 50% and 70%, or until this ‘resaling’ subsides.”

“I see.” Bright first gives a punishment to the ape for having lied when his companions asked him what he is buying these products for. Then he opted to facilitate the formation of an unofficial trade union, and made that ape its union leader, to give guidance and suggestions to commercial activities in the village. He will be allowed to tacitly take consultation fees when both sides are willing.

Statistician is a bit speechless “…”

From a pure economics angle, Statistician is correct. Yet a society is not only its economy, and there are also other factors to consider. While the direct raising of prices will result in a quantifiable gain, it is unfit for long-term development. When they are surrounded by potentially hostile elements, internal unity is more important.

This is the decision Bright comes to having considered the current environment. It may have some advantages and some disadvantages. As for how this decision will play out in the future, he can’t predict it either. At least everyone is happy for now, and people in the society are cordial to each other.

As Bright is a human, Statistician decides to ask him.

“Did you not follow my advice because you didn’t trust me?”

“Of course not. Your analysis is highly valuable but only as a reference. I personally will make my own judgement and decision. This is perhaps a difference between us and the City.”

“In reality, the price of the products have still gone up.”

“There is a difference. The raise is different among each seller. Some did, some didn’t; some more, some less. The buyer will then understand that this is not an official decision by the village to make a raise, but is a development brought about by individual sellers. Plus, with the trade union at the forefront, even if they were dissatisfied with the raise, they will place their complaints in the trade union instead of the whole village.

Statistician is quiet as he thinks about that union leader who is thankful to Bright for having discovered and put his talents to use.

“Are you not worried I will tell them this?”

Bright chuckles as he answers, “I am currently not a threat to mankind. Quite the opposite, I am a key to maintaining the balance between pure humans and two sentient intelligence species. The AI didn’t manage to kill me in the Citadel or Outer City, then it can’t here either.”

Naturally, the AI can lock onto them and throw a bomb here to take them all out in one fell swoop. Though after Bright punched through that room with the mechanism with his bare fists in front of it, the AI has had a new understanding of his capabilities – one, in the Citadel, Bright is capable of destroying it; two, with the condition that humanity must be preserved at all costs, it has no effective means that would guarantee Bright’s elimination. It’s like holding onto a basket full of fragile eggs, and it can’t act without risking those eggs. Its restraints meant that it must put its mission as the top priority; three, it is wary of Bright’s power, and warier of the unknown faction that has created Bright. Faced with the unknown, the AI chose to stay conservative and observe diligently.

The AI has enough energy to operate for a hundred thousand years. No matter how strong a human may get, they will at best live for another century. He may be a bigger ant than the rest, but he will still die, not having a grand effect on the whole fate of mankind after all.

Perhaps having made each other’s opinion clear, Statistician becomes more active. He can be seen about all sorts of places in the village.

Alpha is always watching him closely, so he can’t help but remind Bright.

Bright looks as if holding in laughter, “you two… are still not resolved yet?”

Alpha looks at him in exasperation, complaining how he has decided to bring it up again. He has worked with Bright quite often now, and has gradually learned about the things that happened between him and that Inner City aristocrat known as Gentleman. He doesn’t understand, so he can’t help but ask Bright how he put his grudges aside.

“Life is at best a few decades. Instead of wasting time on hate, why not be happy and cherish what you have right now?”

“I won’t have a few lone decades like you.”

“How long do werewolves live for anyway?”

Statistician happens to be looking for Bright right now and run into the group. Statistician hears Bright’s question and answers by reflex, “it is expected that werewolves would live for 120 years on average, up to 150 years of age.”

Bright has a chilly expression – hmph, ain’t it great you’re gonna live long?

The mood is a bit awkward, so Bright turns to Statistician, as if asking nonchalantly, “what is your feeling for Alpha?”

Statistician’s eyes go out of focus, going through about a terabyte of calculations, and then utters three words in the end, “I love him.”

Alpha shoots up from his seat, “what did you just say?!”

“I can’t lie to humans.” While Statistician’s voice is calm, only he knows how conflicted he is right now.

“He can’t lie to humans.” Bright’s voice almost overlaps with his. The whole of Alpha appears stunned. He realises he has just casually learned about what he had always wanted to know, the truth that he had always wished for but didn’t dare to believe in, completely unprepared.

Jesus Fucking Christ Bright is toxic!

A lack of communication sure is scary, Bright thinks, so he asks Statistician again, “did you intend to harm him?”

“No. The observation on him is only my mission.”

Alpha crosses his arms and laughs coldly, still struggling, “you still revealed our secret, almost making our whole operation fall apart.”

“Yes.” Statistician does not deny it.

The conversation is stopped, and Bright thinks Alpha looks like he should be more emotionally intelligent than this, why is he such a dunderhead right now? He shouldn’t be asking that question.

“Under your intention ‘not to harm him,’ what kind of actions have you undertaken?”

“I have tried many times to delete the data in me, yet the AI manages to discover and stop me every single time. Information regarding werewolves is all retrieved from my memory directly by it.”

Alpha’s body stiffens. As Bright looks at him oddly, he takes Statistician by his arm and drags him outside. He’s not going to let that man look at his embarrassing form more than this. His heart is thumping rapidly, even more excited than when he sees the full moon in his wolf form.

“What are you doing?” Statistician appears a bit dumbfounded.

“Be happy and cherish what I have!”

Author’s notes: Bright has acquired the nickname ‘the Wingman.’

Read only at Travis Translations