Chapter 391: Ethan's Previous Life: Chen Ye, Lord of the Night
From Loki's answer, Ethan could more or less guess the rest.
If his previous self had been anything like him, he'd have tried everything to escape being controlled by others. Or perhaps his previous self had found a way back.
Clearly, his previous self had known the method. Regrettably, he had failed in the end.
Ethan didn't know whether his previous self had been killed by someone or had simply failed in his breakthrough.
Ethan suspected the former. With a personality as cautious as his, he'd never attempt something he wasn't sure of. The only real possibility was that someone had taken him out.
Luckily, he'd been reincarnated and become who he was now.
He hadn't awakened any memories of his previous life, but he'd kept his memories from before the transmigration. Otherwise, how would he know so much about Marvel's storylines?
But what exactly was the method, and why had it failed?
Ethan had never once imagined that he could fail. That was the so-called confidence of a transmigrator.
In the eyes of Hell's Kitchen, Ethan was always calm and composed, always in control. He was the backbone of everyone in Hell's Kitchen, and his presence gave the place its sense of security.
Ethan did have grounds for that confidence. He knew where the plot was headed, and he had the System as a cheat. Either one alone was enough to let him swagger through the Marvel Universe.
Still, Ethan had never been as arrogant as some of his transmigrator predecessors, the ones who decided they were invincible just for being transmigrators!
The ones who opened with lines like "My fate is mine to decide, not heaven's!"
Or "Never look down on a young man for being poor! Fortune's wheel always turns!"
Nor was he like those predecessors who were basically human studs, bedding every woman they met.
Or who were walking taunt machines, showing off and slapping faces wherever they went.
Nor did he have some grand ambition of conquering the universe.
Anyone who's transmigrated a lot should know how it goes in a fanfic universe.
If you don't get something going with the female characters, nobody reads it. The male characters are basically all just tools.
The male lead is usually ruthless and a man of few words. He kills everyone he sees!
Get in his way? Kill!
Show off in front of him? Kill!
Mock him? Kill!
Warped values? Kill!
Basically, anyone he doesn't like the look of, reason or no reason, gets killed!
But Ethan was none of these.
He had always held to a policy of you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone, and stayed holed up in Hell's Kitchen.
He didn't have much ambition. He just wanted to live. If he could go back to the world he'd transmigrated from and return home in glory, even better.
Deep down, though, Ethan still had a transmigrator's confidence. He believed that as long as he wanted something, he would succeed.
But what Loki had just told him meant that he, too, could fail. He, too, could be killed.
The news hit him like a bolt from a clear sky. For a moment he could hardly accept it, and his mind wandered.
Seeing this, Loki's lips curved into an amused smile. He seemed to be quite enjoying the sight of Ethan so confused and troubled.
"You look troubled. Your personality is much better than your previous life's." Loki smiled, as though remembering Ethan's previous self.
"What kind of person was my previous life? Or, what was your first impression of him?" Ethan could tell that Loki had known his previous self, and known him well.
He was desperate for an answer from Loki, not just to satisfy his curiosity, but to learn from his previous life's experience and avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Loki sank deep into memory. For him, time was like shifting sand, and all that had happened in the previous life was long gone.
A very, very long time had passed since Ethan's previous life.
Even so, Loki still remembered him.
"First impression? An arrogant, cold, obnoxious man."
That was Loki's first impression of Ethan's previous self.
Ethan was taken aback at the answer. It wasn't what he'd expected.
His previous self sounded nothing like him. He didn't sound like a good person at all.
Loki went on:
"You and your previous self look exactly alike, but your personalities are... how to put it... not quite the same. Oh, and your previous self was also named Chen Ye. Only his 'Ye' meant night."
"People generally called him the Lord of Night. Or the Lord of Silence."
"He was a cold man. Chen Ye had not a single friend and not a single lover. He was always alone. Perhaps it was because his soul wasn't of this universe, but he always gave people the feeling that he didn't belong, as if there were a wall deep inside him that no one could ever climb."
"He gave the impression that the whole world was drunk and he alone was sober."
"He was more like what your kind calls 'ruthless, a man of few words.' They called him the Lord of Silence because in any war he took part in, no one survived. All he left behind was silence and fear."
"Not like you, going around making friends everywhere." Loki glanced at Ethan as he said it.
It was as if a boulder had been dropped into Ethan's heart, sending out ripple after ripple. He'd never imagined his previous self could be so completely different. That arrogance and coldness stood in stark contrast to his own warm, friendly nature.
He stared at Loki, a tangle of emotions flashing in his eyes: a hunger to know, and his sense of self shaken.
"Lord of Night. Lord of Silence..." Ethan repeated the two titles quietly. Every word seemed to carry the weight of history and endless secrets.
He tried to piece together the outline of his previous self from Loki's words. He imagined that lonely, powerful figure wandering in endless darkness, every strike he made bringing death and leaving only dead silence behind.
Maybe that was what a real transmigrator looked like: proud, cold, decisive in killing.
Ethan couldn't help shaking his head. Compared to his previous self, he was probably a fake transmigrator.
"Still, as different as the two of you are in personality, some of the things you do are very much alike." Loki paused.
Ethan was very curious. What did he have in common with his previous self?
"The first time we met, he beat me up!"
With that, Loki looked at Ethan with a half-smile.
Ethan felt a wave of awkwardness. When his own universe's Loki first showed up, Ethan had given him a beating too.
This Loki wasn't planning to beat him up for revenge, was he?
"No, no, no, Mr. Loki! Hear me out! Let me make my excuses... I mean, explain!"
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