Chapter 1: Cruel Fate of Heroes
The soft hum of the restaurant's lights barely disturbed the silence. Meticulously set with fine china and polished silverware, the table stood between an unusually quiet young lady and the empty chair across from her.
Her once-gentle smile had long faded, and her dark eyes looked vacant and dim, harboring deep and hidden dangers. Naturally, her face was etched with nothing but frustration.
Bai Xiaotong drummed her fingers against the surface of the exquisite wooden table, each tap echoing faintly in the cavernous space. To distract herself, she shifted her gaze, looking past the sleek elegance of the marble floors and polished wood panels, through the enormous glass windows that framed the city's breathtaking skyline.
Yet, none of it seemed to matter. Her mood didn't improve, and the thought of going home, leaving this place, and jumping into her soft bed once and for all made her numbed butt cheeks tingle!
What a shame.
The grandeur, the twinkling lights of the city below, the luxurious surroundings—all of these felt so distant.
"Where is he? I can't believe I'm doing this just to meet one person. I didn't even meet the President when I was abruptly called," Bai Xiaotong said through gritted teeth. "If it wasn't for Grandpa's request, why would I even bother with a second-gen spoiled brat?"
A flicker of annoyance passed through her eyes as she checked the time again. But even then, she didn't get up and storm out of the place like she normally would if someone had been late for even a second.
She thought of her grandpa's pleading gaze and the conflicted look etched on his aging face when he asked her to come out of the house at least once and meet the grandson of his old friend in the military.
"Tong Tong, it's not healthy to stay on the outskirts all by yourself. Even if the government has mitigated the surge of mutated beasts and cleared the borders, it's not good for a single person to be living in that area," Bai Xiong had said in a worried tone.
"Grandpa, if it were about my safety, I already set up formations around the area." She had glanced into the distance and pointed at the sky. In an instant, a mutated flying beetle turned to dust upon making contact with her array.
Old Bai had looked at the barrier for a brief moment and sighed in his heart.
Sigh, how could he forget such a simple fact?
Go to the Capital for her safety?
It was this granddaughter who had set up the barrier for the entire city. So, how could her own home's defenses be any weaker?
Still, how could he not worry when his only family member was living alone near the borders where so many ferocious beasts lurked?
"Grandpa is aware, but Tong Tong—"
Bai Xiaotong sensed his troubled heart and clung to her anxious grandfather's side to comfort him.
"If someone has to be worried, shouldn't it be me? Grandpa, you're not getting any younger, but you're still serving in the military."
She knew how dedicated he was to the country and its people, but no matter how badly he wanted to save lives, there had to be an end.
Heroes are revered when they're alive, but once they're dead, no one remembers their sacrifices. Instead of receiving the praise they deserve, they are labeled useless for dying prematurely and carelessly abandoning their duties.
Bai Xiaotong thought of her deceased parents, and a glint of grimness and malice quickly flashed in her dark irises as she recalled an unpleasant memory from her last days in the military.
"Those shameless people only know how to whine and morally coerce others to save their sorry asses!"
"Who do they think they are, huh? How dare they talk badly about the dead and then ask for help?"
"Xiao, Xiaotong! Oh god, you brat, what are you doing?" An older female soldier who shared a room with her quickly pulled her to the side with shaky hands and said in a worried voice, "Quickly apologize now and do as she says. Do you want to be severely punished for insubordination? Sigh, just hold it in for now and say you're sorry before Captain Lu snaps—"
Bai Xiaotong pulled her hands back and replied in a stern voice, "No. If you guys want to save those fuckers, then do it on your own."
She glanced at the swirling red dungeon gate and spat coldly. "Those dirty scumbags, since they like standing out so much while insulting others, let them stand on their own feet inside that irregular dungeon. If those C-rank bastards survive an A-rank dungeon gate, I'll let them off for mocking the first-generation awakeners and those who perished while saving their sorry asses. But if not..."
Heh!
"Bai Xiaotong, how can you be so heartless and not save them when you're an S-rank! What if a dungeon break occurs and monsters start swarming the city? Can you take responsibility—"
She stared at the raging Captain Lu disdainfully, "Don't talk nonsense, no one's too dumb to buy your crap. Did I tell them to enter? If not then, am I the one who made an error and gave them the wrong information about the dungeon's level?"
Though no one could really foresee such sudden changes when it comes to irregular dungeons, someone will still have to be accountable for today's accident.
"Fine, if that damn gate breaks out while I'm here, I'll obliterate all the monsters without anyone's help. But as for those people inside, I don't care if they die tomorrow or today. To me, they're dead. They're better off dead!"
"It's not my responsibility to save them. So don't force my hand and tell me what I should and shouldn't do, Captain Lu. Or else I'll throw you into the monster's nest or kill you along with them myself."
Everyone stood in silence, barely daring to move or breathe loudly. Those who had seen Bai Xiaotong's cold and murderous expression were paralyzed with fear. Is this still the quiet lady they had lived with for the past 18 months?
How can she act so savage?
Bai Xiaotong didn't need to guess what they were thinking. Even so, she wasn't kind enough to assure them that she wouldn't commit unnecessary murder. Because she might just have if they pulled any tricks against her.
During her time on the front line, she had overlooked their past behaviors and forgiven the disrespect of placing her in the lowest rank and making her an unawakened person's subordinate despite being an S-Rank Awakener.
For the sake of Bai Xiong, who held military men in high regard, she didn't make a fuss about it. Who knows how many times she had restrained herself from punching her officer's face, to give Bai Xiong peace of mind.
However, that never meant she had to force herself to do their bidding just because they said so when she was already this furious!
She could be maligned, but doing so to her family and the brave soldiers who saved everyone at the start by sacrificing their lives was a death wish!
And those scumbags trapped inside the dungeon, not only had they mocked the deaths of her heroes but even dragged her A-rank parents who died on duty while people like them are running away.
"Kill me? How arrogant! Bai Xiaotong, do you think you'll get away unscathed after threatening me just because you're an Awakener? Even your grandpa still has to give me face and dare not to be pompous in front of other officers. I'll make sure to get you properly disciplined! Since your parents failed to—argh!"
On that sweltering summer day, she departed from the front line with her heart cold and lifeless. Only a handful of high-ranking military officials and the people who witnessed the event with their own eyes knew that the reason she was dismissed was that she severed her superior's hand and shattered all his left ribs without remorse.
For Bai Xiaotong, she couldn't care less. She had lost the will to protect the people whom her grandpa and parents cherished deeply, only for them to turn their backs when the least they could do was pray for her parents' departing souls.
She thought that if the same mockery ever happened to her kind and honest grandfather, those people had just severed the last string holding her sanity from rampaging.
"It's only natural for the world to go down with him and accompany him wherever he goes."
Bai Xiaotong smiled coldly without Old Bai noticing. Completely unaware of the brewing storm swirling through her mind.