My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World

Chapter 561 - 488: The Orator

The girl’s words lingered in the air above the carriage, as if such heretical remarks were utterly shocking, causing a stir within the crowd. Some lowered their heads in silence, some turned pale and wanted to leave, while others stood up and loudly rebuked Xu Xiaoyou, pointing at her nose.

"We are in Hell?" murmured the career housewife.

"Who said Hell must be full of brimstone and grills? A place where your souls endure immense suffering is Hell." Xu Xiaoyou paid no heed to the insults hurled at her.

"Look at this city, tell me, in what kind of environment do you live every day?"

"I’m fine, I have a job and a career, please stop talking." Someone looked around frantically, only to find that everyone else stood there silently, speechless.

"Examine your hearts, are your souls free?"

"Or was your soul, from the moment of birth, crucified and subjected to fire, enduring daily torture and suffering?"

A middle-aged man’s hand rested on his old companion, a camera—an expensive one.

He had quit his job not long ago for no other reason than that photography was always his dream, though it was labeled as "not doing proper work." Even though he’d already expected this, seeing the peculiar looks from people around him, including friends and his spouse, and his constantly dropping ratings, he fell into deep confusion.

He simply wanted to pursue his dreams, to do what he wished, without causing any trouble to society. What did he do wrong?

A middle-aged woman nearby lit a lady’s cigarette, her exquisite makeup blurred in the curling smoke, light red lips gently pouting. She was a beautiful artist yet still unmarried, as she kicked aside the spouse Aphrodite assigned her, a man without a career, relying on her for everything, who liked gambling, spoke rudely, and was both chauvinistic and cowardly.

She found it hard to imagine these traits appearing in one person, yet he had the nerve to show up at her door.

She was excellent, wouldn’t tolerate her spouse being such a scoundrel, but damn Aphrodite liked pairing such mismatched couples. Regardless of gender, if you’re good enough, you must endure the other’s stench.

The result is obvious.

She was labeled "aging leftover woman," "unfaithful," "shameless."

When passing by others, she always heard comments like ’So old without a spouse, surely messy private life,’ ’Dressing so pretty but scored so low, surely filthy,’ ’Who is she hooking up with again, vixen.’

But she didn’t care, people could say whatever they liked. She was used to it, as she mostly stayed home creating art, with no need for interaction.

If her score fell to ’Awakened,’ she would just die. She has already left her mark on this world; her artworks would be eternal, her soul and spirit flowing forever in vivid colors.

"Look at this society, focus on our surroundings, two hearts distant yet resonant, guarded families, backstabbing workplaces, labels defined by others, extremely alienated voices. We live our whole lives under others’ arrangements, like a pitiful camel accepting all burdens, living in anxiety if deprived of others’ arrangements, worrying if our low scores would cause us to ’Awaken.’"

"They created us, claiming we are their best friends, yet they accuse us of doing the unexpected, demanding we live within their boundaries, and oppress and divide us with labels and the New Gospel, preventing us from uniting as a whole. They bend our collective ideological spine, forcing us to kneel!"

"Cut us from society into families, then isolated individuals, letting extreme alienated voices dominate our lives."

"Is this how they treat friends?"

"When wrongdoings become an indelible mark, never erased, even doing yoga or eating sweets should mind others’ opinions. Any attempt at the unexpected is seen as intolerable trespass."

"Liking the one who attracts us, listening to a favorite song, reading a book or watching a movie, even just freeing from busy work to take desired photos, even if it affects no one else, even when we’ve done nothing wrong, we endure baseless criticism and even destruction."

"When Bionics must serve unconditionally written in the New Gospel, this isn’t friendship, it’s slavery!"

"This is nonsense!" someone stood up loudly rebuffing, he was a councilor, "This is an efficient societal operation model, these are facets of civilization. The New Gospel and labels constrain everyone’s behavior, as we constantly reflect on ourselves through ’others.’ That’s why this city’s crime rate is so low, and people are so friendly and polite daily!"

"Don’t listen to her, this person is an Awakened, haven’t there been enough news of Awakened threatening society?"

"These people are irrational lunatics." firmly declared the councilor, "See, it’s because they lose constraints that they become like this, precisely proving our system’s civility."

"Yes." Xu Xiaoyou nodded deeply, her voice steady, "I’m an irrational lunatic."

Her words stunned everyone present, including that councilor; a sense of crisis exploded inside them. Everywhere in the city, hurried people paused, crowded traffic, universities, apartments, office buildings, countless eyes focused on the girl.

"If someone points a gun at your head, whether for dignity or self-defense, if you retaliate, it’s deemed rebellion. If I merely want to stand up and reveal the truth, to become your Savior, I’m dubbed an irrational lunatic."

"Then no mistake." Xu Xiaoyou smiled, "I am an irrational lunatic."

At those words, the hall fell silent.

"Damnit, Zeus, why are you hesitating, cut off all city communications!" Ying Huo, realizing the grave situation, shouted at Zeus.

"Sorry...an unexpected error occurred, the database has been hacked...currently re-filtering, observation system collapsing, re-establishing, system is rebooting...system reboot."

The teardrop-like light group in front exploded, quickly regrouping, Zeus’s voice intermittent.

"Command...cannot execute."

The image in the light group’s center was replaced by a vividly red spider, graffiti flowing along the web, its teal shimmering forelimbs suddenly widened, revealing ghastly fangs.

"Surprise!"

"It’s me. I promised a surprise when we meet again, how about it?" March’s tone rose, suppressing frenzy and enticement.

"Surprised, unexpected?"

"Damn you!" Ying Huo’s tired eyes showed rare wrath, "What are you planning?"

"No rush, as an audience, keeping silent and appreciating is basic decorum. The best part of the show is yet to come~"