Chapter 1167: Three Endings
The subsequent plot unfolded naturally. These clan members were suffering terribly, and to extract the concrete from their bodies, concrete superpowers had to be used.
The protagonist realized that by touching other superpowered individuals, he could copy their abilities. To save these clan members, he had to rush to Seattle and obtain Augustin’s superpower from her.
Although his brother disagreed with this plan, he ultimately couldn’t refuse his younger sibling, and the two drove to Seattle.
When they reached the outskirts of Seattle, the protagonist found the roads had been destroyed, littered with barricades, and bridges blown up. From there, they had to proceed on foot.
During the journey, the protagonist discovered he could strengthen himself by absorbing smoke, drone energy fragments, and relay cores. These provided energy, upgraded his skill tree, and unlocked new abilities, respectively.
Beyond that, the protagonist deeply recognized the rift between ordinary people and superpowered individuals. Superpowered beings were seen as terrorists and freaks, facing discrimination everywhere. Even soldiers would open fire on sight if they spotted a superpowered person.
The protagonist also saw traces of various battles left behind by superpowered individuals. It seemed the few who had escaped were still active in the city, continuously causing destruction.
After encountering combat, Lin Xue faced the same old problem: how to choose between good and evil.
When the soldiers of the Joint Security Department lost their combat capability and raised their hands to surrender, the protagonist could choose to kill them or subdue them without killing.
In the city, there were also encounters with drug dealers fighting the police. The protagonist could choose to help the drug dealers or the police.
The former increased the Infamy value, while the latter increased the Karma value, directly leading to two different branching paths.
“What the heck, so troublesome! How come even as a superpowered person, I have so many restrictions on killing someone?!”
Lin Xue found this a bit awkward. Back when she played as Alex, she had rampaged freely without ever encountering these issues...
But clearly, judging from the plot, choosing different paths would inevitably affect the ending. Lin Xue hesitated for a moment and decided to take the good path first. After all, she had already chosen the starting point; she could replay the evil path later.
As the plot progressed, the protagonist continuously absorbed energy and unlocked new skills. At first, he could only sprint, but soon he unlocked special movement abilities like jumping, hovering, wall-climbing, and various flashy attack skills, including a stylish full-screen ultimate move.
“This feeling... it’s a lot like Prototype, but not quite the same.”
Lin Xue found it hard to describe. It was indeed exhilarating, but it had clear differences from Prototype.
Prototype was pure violence, pure thrill, while this game leaned more toward technique.
The protagonist’s various cool superpowers were more skill-based. During combat, his main attack method was firing smoke projectiles from a distance, requiring different strategies for different situations. He couldn’t just charge in mindlessly.
The game’s plot objective was also very simple. The protagonist had to fight the Joint Security Department soldiers in the city, destroy mobile command centers, and along the way, continuously encounter the escaped superpowered individuals to unlock new abilities.
Besides the original flame (smoke) ability, the protagonist could also acquire a neon gas ability (which looked like neon lights), a video game ability (turning virtual electronic images into reality), and finally, the concrete ability when facing the final boss.
These abilities had different appearances and effects, but their common trait was that they were all very flashy and easy to use.
The video game ability was especially notable. Since the original superpowered individual was a homebody who loved playing video games, this ability could summon angels and demons. After acquiring it, the protagonist’s usage would differ based on his Karma value.
If he was good, the ability manifested as a blue lightsaber; if evil, as red claws for attacks. The ultimate moves would also be completely different.
After capturing these superpowered individuals, the protagonist could decide their fates, again splitting into good and evil paths.
These superpowered individuals would become the protagonist’s allies, helping him fight against Augustin.
However, as the protagonist made choices, his Karma value would constantly change, and the pattern on his back would also differ.
Initially, the pattern was a blue bird and a red bird, representing good and evil. As the plot progressed, one would devour the other, ultimately leading to either True Hero or Notorious Infamy.
Lin Xue played through both the good and evil paths and discovered the game had three endings. The most heart-wrenching plot point was the brother’s death.
During the plot progression, the protagonist found Hank, who said he would lead them to Augustin. However, Hank turned out to be a traitor, deliberately leading everyone into Augustin’s ambush, causing the brother’s death.
The enraged protagonist and Augustin fought to a stalemate, both severely injured. Augustin escaped, and the protagonist decided to take revenge on Hank.
After capturing Hank, he explained that he had betrayed them because Augustin had taken his daughter hostage. At this point, the protagonist had two choices: kill Hank in front of his daughter, or let him go to reunite with her.
Lin Xue found that whether she killed Hank or let him go, it didn’t affect the protagonist’s Karma value.
Overall, the good path was quite frustrating. Although the protagonist had the ability to slaughter civilians at will, he had to show restraint everywhere. But the final ending saw him curing all his clan members, being hailed as a hero by them and others, and allowing ordinary people and superpowered individuals to coexist peacefully.
The evil path was very satisfying. The protagonist could kill anyone freely, but it sparked unanimous condemnation from civilians. When he finally obtained the concrete ability and returned to save his clan members, they no longer accepted him and even drove him away. The protagonist ended with a single ultimate move.
In other words, the good path’s process was somewhat stifling, but the ending brought universal support; the evil path allowed reckless behavior, but the road to the throne was utterly lonely.
Beyond these, there was a third ending.
When the protagonist first acquired the video game ability, he found he couldn’t use any powers. At that moment, his brother urged him, “Since you’re no longer a superpowered person, we can go home now.”
The protagonist then had two choices: continue forward, absorb the relay core to unlock the video game ability and keep fighting, but that would mean his brother’s sacrifice; or listen to his brother, return to the village, where the clan members would welcome them back. The protagonist seemed to return to a normal life, but this ending left an open conclusion: the superpowered individuals he had recruited called him, asking him to return and help them defeat Augustin.
Whether the protagonist chose to be an ordinary person or go back to fight Augustin was not clearly resolved. But regardless, the brother survived.
What Lin Xue didn’t know was that these three endings, including the fact that the decision about Hank didn’t affect Karma value, were all products of Chen Mo’s modifications. While preserving the core spirit of the original work, he made the game’s views on good and evil and its values more aligned with domestic players.