novelraw Chapter 405: A Wager Concerning the Nation's Fate
Chapter 405: A Wager Concerning the Nation's Fate
However, the big shots seated around the circular table would not be so easily led astray by him.
A general seated beside the table suddenly slammed his palm on the surface, his voice booming like a great bell: "Su Zhan! Stop beating around the bush here! I have no interest in those vague, flowery experiences! I ask you one question, and you will answer me truthfully..."
The entire hall quieted at his sudden, stern shout.
All eyes once again locked fiercely onto Su Zhan.
The general enunciated each word slowly, asking the question that everyone present knew deep down, yet no one had dared, or was willing, to state so bluntly:
"You, tell me, are you, or are you not, both an Awakened individual, and an Aberrant?"
This question tore through all the veiled probes and concealments, pointing directly at the most central secret on Su Zhan's person.
Even Mo Yuan raised his eyelids slightly, looking at Su Zhan.
Faced with this plainspoken, almost judgmental interrogation.
Su Zhan's face showed no trace of being offended or panicked.On the contrary, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
He had been waiting for this question to be formally asked.
Su Zhan met the general's gaze, his voice clear as it reached the ears of every person present:
"Yes."
A one-word answer.
Brief, yet weighty as a thousand pounds.
Although everyone present had already reached this highly probable conclusion through various intelligence and analyses, when Su Zhan so calmly admitted it here with his own mouth, the impact was still world-shaking.
The expressions of the high-ranking officials at the circular table changed drastically.
The hundreds of important figures in the tiered seating found it even harder to maintain their previous composure, a wave of hushed whispers rising among them.
"He... he actually admitted it..."
"Dual identity! Unprecedented in all of history!"
"An SSS-grade Awakened Life Soul, and simultaneously an... Aberrant? How can these two coexist?"
"No wonder his strength progression is so incomprehensible..."
"Is this a miracle... or the beginning of a disaster?"
Low discussions spread through the hall.
These titans, accustomed to weathering storms, now also had faces etched with profound shock.
Su Zhan did not offer any further verbal explanations. Instead, he used action to push this shock to an unprecedented peak.
The aura around him abruptly shifted.
The vast Spiritual Energy belonging to a human Ocean Realm, first-stage Awakened did not recede. Instead, it acted like a catalyst, igniting another, completely different power latent within his body.
A violent, ash-white Mist energy erupted from within him.
Under the gaze of hundreds of horrified, despairing eyes.
Su Zhan's body underwent a visible, drastic transformation.
Dense, hard black scales rapidly covered his exposed skin like a tide.
On his forehead, a pair of curved, dark black dragon horns pierced through the skin, slowly growing out.
His eyes transformed into inhuman golden vertical pupils, devoid of any emotion.
A ferocious, long tail extended from the base of his spine, swaying slightly in the air.
Behind him, enormous Fleshy Wings unfurled, casting a large shadow.
The complete Aberrant Form!
And the energy fluctuations it emitted were unmistakably Catastrophe, first-stage!
Human Awakened system — Ocean Realm, first-stage!
Aberrant system — Catastrophe, first-stage!
Two completely different power systems.
Two terrifying auras representing different life forms. Yet now, they appeared perfectly on a single individual, and both had reached heights that commanded awe.
And this individual was only twenty-five years old!
"Boom—!"
If his earlier admission had only caused an uproar, then at this moment, Su Zhan's unreserved display of this dual-peak form was like overturning the worldview within everyone's understanding.
The entire Lingxiao Pavilion hall fell into a deathly silence.
The general at the circular table stood up abruptly, his mouth agape, staring at that figure that was neither human nor beast, unable to utter a single word.
That high-ranking official from the Aberrant Purge Division turned deathly pale, his fingers trembling slightly. He had devoted his life to eliminating Aberrants and maintaining human purity. The existence before him now completely overturned the very foundation of his beliefs.
In the tiered seating, the hundreds of important figures lost all decorum.
Mo Yuan looked at Su Zhan, who had fully revealed his form, with an appreciative gaze in his eyes.
He was the first Aberrant to sit beside the circular table, and he believed Su Zhan would be the next.
Twenty-five years old!
Ocean Realm first-stage plus Catastrophe first-stage.
This could no longer be described with the word 'genius.' This was... a divine miracle!
Su Zhan hovered an inch off the ground, his dragon wings flapping slightly, his golden vertical pupils calmly sweeping over the countless faces in the hall, all etched with extreme astonishment:
"Esteemed sirs must have seen clearly. I, Su Zhan, indeed possess two types of power, two forms, simultaneously.
But this power is not my original sin, nor is it proof of my betrayal of our race!
My consciousness, my soul, have always belonged to humanity. I grew up at the Vermilion Bird Academy, taught by Teacher Wang Mingyuan. My roots are in Daxia.
The Mist is our common enemy. Whether human or Aberrants who retain their reason, all should understand the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold.
Like City Lord Mo Yuan here, guarding Black City, sheltering a region, fighting side by side with Daxia — that is the wise course.
Those like the Transcendence Society, who seek to destroy everything, are the true fools."
He directly used Mo Yuan as an example, clearly and unequivocally stating his own stance: standing with Daxia, against the Mist and the Transcendence Society.
This statement caused many of the high-ranking officials who had been extremely wary due to his form to relax their expressions slightly.
At the very least, his stance was clear.
However, the old man from the Aberrant Purge Division snorted coldly, his voice icy: "Su Zhan, you make it sound easy. Do you know what kind of monumental waves your dual identity, especially the fact that you, a deceased hero, are simultaneously an Aberrant, would cause among the populace once made public?
The people's faith would crumble. Their trust in the authorities would disintegrate.
This would trigger an unprecedented credibility crisis, and could even shake the very foundations of Daxia.
Can you bear this responsibility?"
This question struck at the heart of the matter.
Personal stance was important, but the social upheaval it could trigger was something the high-ranking officials in charge of order absolutely did not wish to see.
Su Zhan met his gaze: "Upheaval, crisis... this depends on the choice of you esteemed sirs.
Will you choose to remain stuck in the past, stifling an unprecedented possibility to maintain superficial stability? Or will you choose... to believe in my, Su Zhan's, potential, transforming this possible upheaval into an opportunity to open a brand new era?
Will you choose immediate stability, or are you willing... to stake the future of Daxia on me, Su Zhan?"
He threw a wager concerning the nation's fate, naked and raw, back to all the power-holders present.
Fear the risks brought by change, or dare to invest in a future that transcends understanding?
The hall once again fell into a deathly silence, but this time, the stillness was filled with the weight of deliberation and choice.