From the Abyss of Stars Part 1

Vol-2: 030. The Outsider

030. The Outsider

Li Aozi glanced at him.

Barnum, busy driving, couldn't make any gestures, so he vaguely said, "I mean, isn't it a man's job to protect a woman..."

"Women of the old era had far more courage and pride than today's decadent youth."

Li Aozi criticized:

"Besides, she is an independent and strong woman. I believe she can pull herself out of this darkness on her own. And you too, don't look down on someone just because of their gender."

Barnum wanted to argue against this point of view, but when he thought about Li Aozi's background, he decided not to.

After all, this man had been cast out by the women of the Frost-Plated Republic, yet still maintained a normal sense of gender equality. Li Aozi's perspective and level of thinking were far beyond his own.

Li Aozi didn't press the issue further. Barnum was the late-blooming type, and as an 【Architect】 in the 【Craft】 branch, 'Magic Biomechanics' required deep philosophical understanding as one of its core knowledge areas. Without sufficient enlightenment, there's no way to become an 【Architect】.

No one can help with that; Barnum could only rely on his own accumulation and experience to broaden his horizons, then continually reflect and understand.

That said, when Li Aozi saw the 'bride' in the back seat staring out the window, trying to find traces of her era, he couldn't help but think of Qiu Ran.

He had never understood why Qiu Ran chose to die. She clearly could have been rescued if she had just waited a little longer, yet she resolutely set herself on fire and stepped into the fake man's battlefield.

But now, Li Aozi understood a bit more.

For Qiu Ran, perhaps something was indeed more terrifying than death, just like how Miss Alexia seemed so lost and desolate at this moment.

Li Aozi knew her home, her beliefs had been destroyed.

She could no longer find the meaning of her existence.

In a sense, Alexia was already a dead person, but Li Aozi believed that she wasn't someone who would stay down. He believed this girl from 500 years ago could stand back up through her own will.

However, all the way back to the abandoned factory, 【Inquisitor】 Alexia didn't utter a single word.

The hover car drove into the factory and came to a slow stop. Li Aozi and Barnum got out, but Alexia remained in the back seat, as if she were a rigid corpse, lifeless, with empty eyes that made it hard for anyone to meet her gaze.

She was tall, only half a head shorter than Li Aozi, but now she seemed terrified of being caught by reality. When Li Aozi opened the car door, she turned her head away and curled up into a ball, smaller than a newborn baby or an elderly person on the verge of death.

For a moment, Li Aozi even began to doubt whether what he had read in that post in his past life was true or if it was just sensational content made up by a marketing account to gain attention.

Could this weak woman really be the strong, fierce Inquisitor they had known?

"David Lian, are you crazy?! We're allies now, and you're trying to incite infighting!"

Li Aozi and Barnum turned their heads to see people inside the factory gathered in their respective groups, armed and facing off with their leaders.

The woman questioning was a fierce member of the civilian militia named Amanda Williams, with curly hair braided like a Gypsy. She was accusing David Lian, the leader of the Children of Fire, a grumpy old fanatic who kept his eyes closed, with orange fluorescent paint on his eyelids, making it look like he had burning eyes.