The Undying Transmigrator

Chapter 33: Takeoff

After the two department heads left, Mo Wen immediately told his cheap teammates not to cause trouble, and they agreed during the communication.

But when Mo Wen was notified to board the manned spacecraft heading to the fortress, he still encountered three teammates who were neither familiar nor complete strangers.

"Why did you still come? I made it clear this might be a trap targeting me. You're just walking to your deaths."

Ren Sisi laughed: "Relax, we have Senior Qi Shiming's guarantee. Before he personally verifies your situation, no one dares touch you. And Senior Qi Shiming is an absolute saint - if your issue stems from congenital factors, he'll definitely help you achieve coexistence."

"Besides, if you're truly proven problematic, we won't hold back either!"

"In that scenario, we'd be allies with [the Corporation] against an external enemy like you. Why would they eliminate us?"

Mo Wen speculated: "What if Qi Shiming is already dead, and the fortress is controlled by ambitious extremists conducting inhumane experiments?"

The Dragonblade Ninja shrugged: "Then it's even more reason for us to go together."

"[The Corporation] might fall into corruption, but the fortress must never be lost. Especially not to allow certain extreme technologies to develop unchecked. That's everyone's responsibility."

Phantom added: "Actually, I'm pretty good at escaping. Doubt I'd be easily killed."Mo Wen still tried to dissuade them: "My first mercenary job for a company - four-man team, three died."

That was the first time comrades died because of him. Their relationship hadn't been close, and they'd received their promised payment, so Mo Wen accepted their deaths. Yet the thought of people dying for him, an immortal being, gave him complex feelings.

Was the life of someone who could resurrect endlessly truly worth others exchanging their one-and-only lives for?

At best, it would only delay his death. He would still eventually die and depart.

Yet he would also keep living, savoring each death, growing stronger with every revival.

Mortal lives cast into an immortal's eternity were but a drop in the ocean. The time and possibilities they bought might be meaningless compared to him overcoming misfortune through his own power.

Still... without those two and the gang leader's support, could he really have killed that augmented soldier and held out until Dream Corporation's reinforcements arrived?

...Perhaps sacrifices did have meaning. But given enough time, even that meaning would inevitably dilute.

Ren Sisi seemed unconcerned: "The survival rate isn't bad - at least one person lives... So who survived?"

Mo Wen rolled his eyes: "Do I look dead to you?"

Ren Sisi nodded: "Understood, Mr. Deadman. So the gang leader survived."

Mo Wen stared silently at the smirking Ren Sisi until her smile began faltering under his gaze.

Seeing words couldn't change Mo Wen's mind, she decided to prove her determination through action, pushing against him while squeezing toward the crew cabin: "Move aside, stop blocking the way. We're joining the fortress sightseeing tour."

"Nothing you say will stop me. We'd need four people dying five times to prove teaming with you is certain death."

Mo Wen exhaled deeply: "I warned you. You'll die."

He stopped resisting and took his seat.

In Mo Wen's original world, manned spacecraft required astronauts to lie supine. For some reason, this world's crew cabin had seated positions.

The Dragonblade Ninja followed Ren Sisi inside and sat down, telling Mo Wen cheerfully: "You probably haven't adapted to new humans' resilience and social traits."

"Our genes retain fear of death to ensure we still recognize danger. But compared to ideals, principles, camaraderie... that fear can't sway us."

"We laugh together yesterday, kill today, then toast together tomorrow - advancing along our chosen faction's path, proving our way's righteousness through force, wielding violence with both pity and pain."

"Every one of us believes: Life's length means nothing. Eternity itself is blank. Life has no inherent meaning - it simply exists."

"But we can create meaning through choices, painting freely on blank canvases."

Suddenly, Mo Wen remembered that augmented soldier who nearly killed him once.

The Dragonblade Ninja now seemed to share Vanessa's same determination from that moment.

All psychics possess precognition. Mo Wen didn't know if everyone could foresee their death, but the Dragonblade Ninja appeared to have seen his.

Idiot!

If you see death coming, you should avoid it.

To Mo Wen, he and these cheap teammates were far from friends, let alone willing to die for each other. He just found it baffling... though admittedly somewhat moved too.

He said seriously: "I'm an immortal dimension-hopper. If I truly die in this world, I'll revive in another."

This was his greatest secret. Some might capture him for it, making him wish for death while extracting his power.

But having mastered psychic self-destruction and currently sensing impending doom, he cared little about such risks now.

The Dragonblade Ninja calmly replied: "Perhaps you won't die, but this world would lose you."

Ren Sisi, busy adjusting equipment nearby, gave Mo Wen an exasperated look: "Don't casually reveal important secrets. The rocket has surveillance. I deleted it for you - next time choose better timing and audience for your confessions."

"Also, you self-absorbed idiot - if you're so scared of the danger and worried about teammates dying, why not just run?"

Because countless deaths proved he couldn't escape.

And he never wanted to run.

He wanted to win, to crush those inexplicable misfortunes rather than wait for them to catch him off-guard someday.

Moreover, he'd already achieved victory against thousand-to-one odds. Perhaps he wasn't entirely hopeless.

Mo Wen fell silent, and the others quieted too.

He sat waiting as the rocket initiated launch procedures, locked onto its target, and ascended.

The crew cabin's external monitors displayed the view outside.

As they pierced the clouds, Mo Wen observed the planet's appearance.

Little greenery remained, nor much blue. Forests and oceans had been devastated during the company wars. Instead, human cities stood proudly amidst yellow sands, boldly declaring humanity's determination and power to survive.

How strange - with so much forest and ocean lost, how had the planet avoided catastrophic climate change?

Briefly, Mo Wen wanted to truly understand this world, to learn how people lived beyond just growing stronger. What else could he do?

If... he still had time...

"It's coming!"

Mo Wen sensed death approaching - faster than anticipated.