Chapter 359 - 156: Sacrifice (Part 2)
He saw his fragmented life, the ordinary first twenty-five years, saw himself in learning, himself in struggle, himself working in a cement factory...
He saw many friends and family from the past;
The bustling traffic of big cities, the smoky atmosphere of small villages;
Toys from childhood, electronic products from growing up...
These things representing past relationships and objects were severed one night by a single slice.
Then, his life entered a new phase.
...
Experiences never had before: life and death, survival, hunger, confusion, labor.
Even fear of death, physical exhaustion, and omnipresent urgency.
The path ahead was shrouded in mist; he had to cherish every minute and second to keep his life.
He used his hands to obtain everything, using tangible strength and wisdom to create everything, to improve his life.
Days passed like this under pressure and motivation.
Up to today, he has realized many goals as desired and set more new goals, progressing steadily forward.
...
The wine in the cup is already at the bottom, and Chen Zhou squints slightly.
The past and present blend together, he is clear about the kind of change he has gained through more than two years of challenges.
He is no longer the helpless caterpillar spinning aimlessly on the path left by predecessors.
Due to this challenge, at some point, he was forced to stop the slow march towards death, using the last bit of strength to weave a hard cocoon for himself.
When the cocoon is broken open, he will draw endless courage and strength from it to soar.
...
Wine fumes spurt from his nostrils.
The sounds in the courtyard blur.
Vaguely, he can only hear the exclamations of two native youths—Duo Duo Lu spits out a shiny gold coin from his mouth, showing off to Ah Tun.
...
Late at night, stars twinkle.
Wine doesn't intoxicate; people intoxicate themselves. Chen Zhou only drank half a bottle of wine yet felt ninety percent drunk.
The two natives, having eaten their fill, did not directly return to the wooden hut to sleep after Chen Zhou announced the end of the banquet but efficiently began to tidy up the kitchenware and clean up the food waste.
They were much more diligent than the African blacks in Chen Zhou's impression, as if their tan skin contained the resilience and diligence of East Asians.
Busy until around three o'clock in the morning, after washing all the pots, bowls, and cutlery, clean the table, neatly covered the leftover dishes with clay pots laid on the table, they obediently closed the courtyard gate and returned to their wooden house to rest.
...
January 1, 1662.
The native youths had not slept for a few hours before they were awoken by Chen Zhou.
Seeing Chen Zhou's new attire, freshly cleaned face, the two just climbed out of bed, looking bewildered.
"Quickly fold your quilts, wash your face and put on your washed clothes, there's something important."
Thinking that today's worship of Wang Lingguan is an exceptionally solemn matter, even though he didn't feel much in character for acting divine, Chen Zhou still tried to perform.
Knowing the natives could understand simple words like folding quilts, wearing washed clothes, Chen Zhou coldly dropped a sentence and turned away—
Not because he was too deep into the role, pretending to be aloof to highlight the seriousness of the rituals.
But because when he spoke just now, he thought about why he got up so early today and feared he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Last night after the natives finished tidying up, he groggily returned to his bedroom to rest, had a dream about the ritual.
He dreamt suddenly inspired, found the Divine Light Stick gifted with the Ultraman suit, used as the Dharma Artifact for this ritual.
When the two natives were bowing, he stood beside the Wang Lingguan statue, wearing Iron Massacre, extravagantly raised the plastic Divine Light Stick in hand, shouted "Transform."
The top of the Divine Light Stick opens, radiating light, while familiar songs resounded in the temple—
"Just like sunlight piercing through the night, dawn quietly crosses the horizon..."
At the time, both natives were stunned by the colorful lights emitted by the Divine Light Stick, the voice that came from nowhere made them panic even more.
Though they didn't understand what the song's lyrics meant, they could feel the power of the upbeat rhythm.
Only Chen Zhou held the Divine Light Stick like a fool, listening to the hissing low-quality miracle reappearing, laughing until his face cramped.
The solemn ritual atmosphere was shattered by that shout of transformation, waking up Chen Zhou from the dream.
If not, he might have woken the natives after two or three more hours.
...
Since gradually being able to complete the tasks arranged by Chen Zhou, the two natives rarely see Chen Zhou's serious side.
After getting up, they didn't dare to slack off a bit, quickly tidied up the room, took out a freshly washed sailor uniform from the wooden box where they stored clothes, hurriedly went to wait under the platform.
Outside the courtyard gate, waiting for over half an hour, Chen Zhou fully dressed walked out with heavy steps.
He carried a gun on each shoulder, his face hidden under the helmet visor, like a cold sculpture, standing before the natives.
Behind Chen Zhou, Lai Fu followed closely, its collar also wiped clean.
...
"War!"
The moment they saw the armor, the two natives instinctively thought of this word.
Realizing someone invaded the island, they instinctively wanted to find weapons, but found that since coming to the island, they seemed to have forgotten how to use those wooden bows and wooden sabers, becoming more familiar with various kitchen and farm tools.