Chapter 11: After Watching This… Do You Still Dare Choose "Right"?
Before the young programmer could say anything—
The video had already ended.
Every gaze was pulled toward the screen.
The entire space fell into an unnatural stillness.
Even the air—
Seemed frozen.
Only the uneven rhythm of thousands of breaths rose and fell, echoing faintly in the void.
The screen did not light up immediately.
That brief darkness—
Was more suffocating than any punishment.
The question in the void slowly faded.
People looked like they had just been dragged out of deep water—drenched, trembling, gasping.
The actress in fur leaned weakly against nothingness, her makeup long ruined by tears.
"I-Is it… over…?"
Her answer came—
In the form of a blood-red counter.
[Correct: 5014 | Wrong: 4900 | Both: 1]
That thin, almost invisible gray line—
Representing "both right and wrong"—
Cut sharply between the red and green bars.
It was grotesque.
Unnatural.
That was the mark left by the lawyer.
The screen flickered violently.
A harsh, grating static sound filled the space.
[Next, please watch the second video]
The screen split.
Five sections.
Four small.
One large.
Streams.
Forests.
Cliffs.
Clouds.
Once—
They had cleansed the human soul.
Now—
They burned.
Uniformly.
Sickeningly.
Red.
Fire.
Everywhere.
Space distorted.
Ripples spread—
And "New Su Qiang" stepped out like a silent black tower.
In his hand—
A white pointer.
Like a presenter.
Like a guide.
He stood beside the screen.
His voice—
Cold as frozen steel.
"Next… I will explain."
His expression was rigid.
But beneath it—
A trace of pain.
Almost imperceptible.
He tapped the first screen.
A forest.
No—
An inferno.
Smoke clawed at the sky like demonic hands.
The choking haze seemed to spill out of the screen itself.
Green—
Once alive—
Was gone.
Only burning orange.
And dead black.
Trees withered.
Collapsed.
Turned to ash.
"This… was once our last refuge."
His voice was heavy.
Every breath felt like swallowing embers.
"But now… everything is gone."
He looked at the camera.
Not speaking.
Accusing.
Complaining.
Condemning.
"Human ambition… lit this fire."
Behind him—
A hollow tree.
Burning from within.
Crackling.
Breaking.
The impact—
Violent.
Unavoidable.
Live Comments of Global Feed.
The barrage of messages flooded the screen.
White.
Gray.
Occasional red exclamation marks.
Like a planet-wide panic.
[How is the fire spreading this fast?!]
[Australia? Amazon?! The forest is crying…]
[Look at the tree hole! Something's inside!]
High above—
It watched.
A voice—
Soft as wind—
Reached It.
"Beast God… I've fully adapted to this body."
A clear, bright female voice cut through the stillness of the divine realm.
It carried a hint of youthful vitality, along with that subtle, eager anticipation—like someone longing to show a newly acquired treasure to a figure they deeply respect.
"Ascend the Heavenly Steps. For you, there shall be no obstruction."
The divine decree descended.
A pillar of sacred light enveloped her, pure and radiant.
Step by step, she ascended, her figure dissolving beyond the boundaries of reality—vanishing from the mortal dimension as if she had never belonged to it at all.
Back to the space—
"New Su Qiang" stared at the second screen.
His eyes—
Red.
Zoom.
Pangolins.
Forced out.
From burning trees.
From charred grass.
Their bodies—
Covered in ash.
Their scales—
Dulled by heat.
They crawled.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Desperately.
Every step—
A struggle.
Every movement—
A plea.
A close-up.
A baby pangolin.
Its claw touched the scorched ground—
And recoiled.
Burned.
Its body trembled.
Convulsed.
Its eyes—
Wide.
Confused.
Terrified.
"New Su Qiang" spoke again.
Each word—
Like blood.
"To escape the fire… we left our last shelter."
"…only to find another hell waiting."
Live Comments
[Pangolins!! They were forced out!!]
[They look so scared…]
[RUN!! Please run!!]
[Someone save them!!]
His hands trembled.
The pointer almost slipped.
He clicked the next screen.
Slow motion.
Stretched.
Cruel.
He shut his eyes.
Unable to watch.
A small pangolin crawled through ash.
Reaching—
For hope.
CLICK.
A metallic snap.
Sharp.
Final.
A trap.
Rusty jaws—
Clamped onto its tiny forelimb.
Its body jerked violently.
Curled.
Shook.
A low—
Desperate—
Choking whimper escaped.
It clawed at the iron.
Useless.
The light in its eyes—
Faded.
"New Su Qiang" twitched.
His hearing—
Overlapped.
Trap snaps.
Hunter laughter.
Bones breaking.
He spoke again.
His voice—
Shattered.
"Poachers have already set their nets."
"What you call 'fresh'…"
"…is paid with our pain."
"…and our lives."
Live Comments
[NO—TRAPS!!!]
[Monsters… even during a fire…]
[My chest hurts…]
[This is disgusting…]
['Fresh'… makes me sick now…]
Something broke.
Completely.
He collapsed.
Knees hitting nothingness.
Head bowed.
Hands trembling.
And he cried.
Not quietly.
Not humanly.
A raw—
Animal grief.
The space echoed.
Pain.
Rage.
Despair.
Helplessness.
All released.
All at once.
The audience felt it.
Again.
That shared hell.
Some cried.
Some went numb.
Some grew impatient.
No one moved.
Then—
Ripples again.
"New Mad Dog" stepped forward.
Silent.
He walked to Su Qiang.
Pressed his forehead gently against his.
A simple gesture.
To some—
Warmth.
To others—
Disgust.
But no one spoke.
"This time… I'll continue."
His voice was hoarse.
Quiet.
Like a volcano before eruption.
He pointed—
To the main screen.
Music began.
Slow.
Heavy.
Like a funeral.
Smoke.
Shadows.
Human figures.
Blurry.
Cruel.
Pangolins—
Trapped.
Crying.
Silence.
Then—
A blade.
It slid—
Between scales.
CRACK.
A scale was pried off.
Flesh beneath—
Raw.
Red.
Trembling.
"New Mad Dog" stared.
Eyes bloodshot.
"For some people's twisted belief in 'nutrition'…"
"They are skinned alive."
"…while fully conscious."
"This is not hunting."
"This is torture."
He looked at the comments.
"You tell me."
Live Comments
[I can't watch…]
[Do they have no heart?!]
[Superstition killed them!]
[I'm crying…]
He didn't respond.
He clicked the final scene.
A larger pangolin.
Impaled.
A crude spear pierced through its body.
Blood seeped.
Dark.
Heavy.
It curled.
Like stone.
The camera zoomed.
Poachers surrounded it.
Kicking.
Beating.
Laughing.
CRACK.
Ribs breaking.
But it didn't move.
"New Mad Dog" turned.
Eyes blazing.
"This… is a female pangolin."
"Her organs are pierced."
"Her ribs shattered."
"She should have run."
"She should have cried."
"But she didn't."
His voice slowed.
"She is protecting something…"
"…more important than life."
He stared.
Through the screen.
Into them.
"Guess."
"What is she protecting?"
Live Comments
[What is she protecting…?]
[Stop!! Please stop!!]
[My tears…]
The poacher grew impatient.
He grabbed a flamethrower.
Flames erupted.
The mother burned.
Convulsing.
Charred.
But still—
She did not open.
Until—
She died.
Her body fell apart.
And then—
Everyone saw it.
Beneath her—
A baby.
Pink.
Tiny.
Eyes not yet open.
Still attached.
Still alive.
It moved.
Weakly.
"Chi… chi…"
Calling.
Looking—
For warmth.
For milk.
For its mother.
Who was already gone.
Silence.
Absolute.
Then—
They stepped forward together.
"New Su Qiang."
"New Mad Dog."
Their voices merged.
A resonance—
That struck the soul.
"It never saw the sunset."
"It only learned fire."
"This—"
"Is what you call 'nutrition'?"
"'Freshness'?"
No one answered.
The screen dimmed.
The final image—
The baby's face.
Then—
The lights returned.
Red.
Green.
And the question.
They pointed.
Together.
"Second question—"
"Were we… wrong?"
[Green: Yes. They were wrong.]
[Red: No. They were not wrong.]