Chapter 512: Tiantian's Choice
Li Xiangling was taken aback. "Me...?"
She smiled bitterly and shook her head. "You probably don't know... I was always a wallflower back in 'Heaven's Gate'... This kind of crucial decision will affect the direction of our team, so I'd better not participate..."
"It's not that serious." Zhang Chenze smiled and shook his head. "Xiangling, you just need to share your opinion. This isn't a 'vote,' and it won't necessarily decide everyone's direction."
"I..." Li Xiangling thought for a moment, then finally shook her head. "Sisters, in any case, I want to leave this place. I want to get out. The reason I joined 'Heaven's Gate' was to escape 'The Land of the End,' but I also know my own limits—I can only rely on my teammates. So I'll choose to trust you. Whatever decision you ultimately make, I'll stand with you."
Although Li Xiangling hadn't fully made her own choice, she had made her stance clear.
Now all eyes turned to Tiantian.
Tiantian had been wearing Yun Yao's coat, her slightly curly hair falling lazily over her shoulders. She blinked her big eyes, sitting in a corner like a motionless, speechless doll, listening to everyone talk.
When she noticed everyone's gaze on her, Tiantian first looked confused, then quickly broke into a smile and said, "I don't mind..."
"How could you not mind?" Yun Yao moved her chair closer to Tiantian and reached out to hold her cold hand. "We're together now. We want to hear what you think. From now on, we'll move forward as a team."
Tiantian silently lowered her head and pondered for a long time before saying, "I... really don't mind. Whatever becomes of this place, it's all the same to me. After all, I..."
She hesitated for a long time, then held back the words on the tip of her tongue—
She didn't want to leave.
No matter what this place turned into, it made no difference to her. Her life had ended long ago. Every second she lived now wasn't exactly torture, but it was mere survival.
Looking at the sincere gazes of the girls before her, Tiantian felt at a loss for words. They had gathered here to discuss a plan, but now the three of them held different opinions, and they couldn't reach any conclusion.
It was like four people voting, with the other three all choosing different options, leaving the final decision in her hands.
"We've known each other for a while now..." Yun Yao held Tiantian's hand and said softly, "I've never really known what's in your heart. So for you... how do you want to live from now on?"
"What's in my heart..." Tiantian felt those words were deeply troubling. "What's in my heart is probably different from all of you..."
She shook her head expressionlessly. "My life lost all drive to move forward a long time ago. My experiences in the real world weren't even as good as in 'The Land of the End'... At least here, someone genuinely cares about me, cherishes me... So if I told you my true thoughts, you probably wouldn't understand..."
These emotionless words slowly came out of Tiantian's mouth, but they made everyone's heart ache.
"I understand completely." Zhang Chenze nodded very seriously and said, "People are born different. Some people spend their whole lives striving and still can't find happiness. But that doesn't stop us from pursuing it."
"I don't quite understand..." Tiantian lowered her head and fidgeted with her hands, asking softly, "This so-called 'happiness'—can it be obtained through 'pursuit'? You said everyone is born different... Could it be that some people are simply born unable to pursue happiness?"
"This..." Hearing this question, Zhang Chenze's eyes dimmed slightly. "I can't say for sure... All I know is that in order to pursue the life I want, I would willingly descend into hell. As long as I can one day crawl back out of hell, my efforts won't have been in vain."
"Crawl out of hell..." Tiantian's eyes trembled at the corners, and her lips curved into a despairing arc as she forced a smile. "Lawyer Zhang... Do you know how difficult that path you just described really is...? Even if we really could crawl out of hell, what awaits us... is still the same world."
Zhang Chenze had wanted to convince Tiantian from her own perspective, but she hadn't expected that in just a few short sentences, she was almost convinced by Tiantian instead.
Yes, even if they really could crawl out of here... would anything change in the world they left behind?
"I'm sorry." Tiantian keenly caught the change in Zhang Chenze's expression and apologized before anyone else could speak. "I don't mean to bring negative energy to everyone. I'm just sharing my own thoughts..."
"I understand." Zhang Chenze came back to her senses and nodded. "No one will blame you for the suffering you've endured."
Tiantian listened and then looked around at the people before her once more before speaking. "If I have to choose, I want to create a 'Wen Qiaoyun.'"
Everyone's attention focused on her again.
"Tiantian, you..." Yun Yao frowned at her. "Do you support my approach?"
She was naturally somewhat puzzled. Given Tiantian's personality, she would have chosen to abstain like Li Xiangling. After all, whether someone became a god here or who could escape made no difference to her. But now she had very clearly stated her own opinion.
"I want to know—does my choice really matter that much? If I choose this path, will we all work toward it together?" Tiantian asked again.
Zhang Chenze nodded after hearing this. "From a fairness standpoint... if this path has the most support, I can accept it. The minority yields to the majority."
Li Xiangling chimed in, "I already said I'd support whatever you decide, so I have no objections."
"Even if we die or fail, that's okay?" Tiantian confirmed.
"Yes," Zhang Chenze and Li Xiangling both nodded, while Lin Qin sat beside them, observing silently.
"Alright." Tiantian nodded seriously, then turned to Yun Yao and said, "Yun Yao, because you've been so good to me, I will unconditionally support your choice. No one in this world has ever treated me this well. So what you want to do is what I want to do. This is the only way I can repay you."
Hearing this, Lin Qin let out a deep sigh.
To use Qi Xia's ability, to make him do something he didn't want to do.
Would this task be any easier than participating in an Earth-level game?