Capítulo 23: Long Wei's Memories
It wasn't just Xue Lian who felt a bit restless; Long Wei also found it hard to sleep. After all, this was the first night in a strange place—more precisely, a strange world—so it felt a bit unsettling.
He opened his eyes, staring blankly at the starry sky, and murmured to himself:
"What do I really want to do?"
Although he wanted to prove that he wasn't just some useless trash, was that all there was to it?
He had a feeling that he had forgotten something, something that had been buried deep in the past for a long time.
.....
Twenty-one years ago, when he was at the prison just observing, he was only four years old. He might have been there because both his parents worked there.
Suddenly, a prisoner was escorted into the jail. Curious, he asked:
"Dad, why is that person in handcuffs?"
He didn't quite understand. He didn't know that committing a crime would lead to being arrested. He only knew that there were things called "bad deeds" that shouldn't be done.
He wasn't really a monster, and he could never become the strongest because he didn't have the heart of a true warrior.
At that time, he was just an ordinary child, no different from anyone else his age (except for Xue Lian and Lei Feng). He still studied and played like other kids.
His father patted his head and said:
"He's a bad person. He stole from others and got caught. Now, he has to face his punishment."
"Why are they punishing him?" Long Wei asked, bewildered.
He understood what punishment meant, but he didn't grasp why the people here had the right to punish someone who committed a crime.
"This is according to the law. You'll understand when you're older."
"Then I'll become a policeman and catch bad people."
"Haha, well, you better work hard for that."
Long Wei nodded. The words coming from his mouth were nothing more than the fleeting dreams of a child, easily changeable and not too special.
.....
Three years later, in the same place, he saw the same man being escorted into the prison again.
At that moment, he felt utterly confused—puzzled by the man and by the very existence of the prison itself.
He was much older now, and though not as eccentric as Xue Lian or Lei Feng, he was still a smart person.
Of course, he understood some basic concepts, but his analysis led him to find the situation quite strange. He asked his father:
"Why was that man arrested again?"
"It's because after he was released from prison, he started committing crimes again."
"Why did he continue to commit crimes?"
"Well… um…"
At that moment, his father didn't know how to properly answer. It was a difficult question for him, as he was just doing his job, not someone who understood everything in depth.
At the same time, the concept of justice slowly began to form in Long Wei's heart. It wasn't very clear, but it was different from what a regular policeman might think.
Over time, he gradually forgot those fleeting thoughts he once had as a child. But now, while gazing at the sky, he suddenly remembered.
"Justice? So, that's what it is." he murmured, his eyes gradually lighting up.
He remembered, and he understood. He understood the justice he had once accidentally pondered as a child.
Why do criminals end up back in prison after being released? Simply because they're either not afraid of the consequences or because committing crimes feels comfortable to them.
Why do prisons exist? In his eyes, prisons were merely institutions that consumed a vast amount of resources without yielding any real results. After being released, most criminals would likely reoffend.
So, what exactly was his sense of justice? His sense of justice was to change the mindset of criminals. As long as they weren't mentally ill, they were just ordinary people.
If they were people, then to him, they were all the same. All he needed to do was give a speech, enlighten their thoughts, and guide them toward finding a path more enjoyable than a life of crime.
And those mentally ill criminals? Of course, the best thing for them would be a peaceful death.
You might wonder why? Simply put, if you saw yourself becoming a miserable, insane wretch, would you be able to accept it?
Seeing yourself reduced to someone neither fully human nor capable of doing anything properly—foolish and lost—it would be truly unbearable.
Who would willingly watch themselves turn into worthless trash? Especially the most useless kind—it's something no one can accept.
I'm certain that if you were given a gun, you'd give yourself the quickest way out.
If you became such a person, living one more day would only mean one more day of torment. Not killing isn't humane; real humanity is giving someone the best possible end.
At that moment, he made his decision:
"I've decided. From now on, I'll swiftly end the lives of all mentally ill patients. I'll help them escape the boundless suffering of madness as quickly as possible. As for criminals, I'll find a way to persuade them. I refuse to believe I can't do it. After all, if we're all human, why shouldn't we be able to convince one another? If I can't, it just means I'm not good enough, and I need to improve."
His eyes were filled with determination. He decided to dedicate his life to helping humanity as much as possible.
Although he also enjoyed freedom and wanted to become stronger, for the sake of humanity, he was willing to give up his own desires.
Once his thoughts cleared, he felt at ease, and now he could finally sleep peacefully.
.....
Not long after, Lei Feng exhaled deeply after absorbing the star.
"Ah, that feels incredibly satisfying."
He looked up at the strange starry sky, so different from Earth's. He mumbled to himself:
"A special day has passed, and this is also the first night in this world. It makes me remember things from the past."
Back in the day, he had quite a unique story. Like Xue Lian, he had been an extraordinary individual from a very young age.
After all, who in this era teaches others to become emperors? Moreover, China's political system was very stable, so the emergence of an emperor was extremely unlikely.
But did that stop Lei Feng? Of course not. As long as humanity existed, he believed he could still become an emperor.
It wasn't that he was overly obsessed with becoming an emperor, but he thought that for humanity to develop in the best way, there needed to be an emperor to ensure higher levels of unity.
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