Orator

The girl's words lingered above the carriage for a long time; sounding so rebellious that a clamor broke out among the crowd.

Some lowered their heads in silence, while others' expressions changed immediately as they sought to leave, and even more stood up to point at Xu Xiaoyou's nose and refute her loudly.

"We are in hell?" the professional mom murmured.

"Who said hell must have sulfur and grills? The place where your soul is made to suffer is hell," Xu Xiaoyou said, turning a deaf ear to the insults of others.

"Look at this city; ask yourselves, what kind of environment do you live in every day?"

"I am doing fine; I have a job and a career, so please stop talking." Someone looked around in panic, only to find that the people around them were standing still in a daze, silent.

"Examine your hearts; are your souls free?"

"Or is it that your souls have been nailed to a cross and set on fire since the moment you were born, enduring torture and suffering day after day?"

A middle-aged man placed his hand on his old partner—a camera that was quite expensive.

Not long ago, he had resigned from his job for no other reason than that pursuing photography had always been his dream, yet he was labeled as "unprofessional." Even though he had expected it, he still fell into deep confusion when he saw the strange looks from those around him—including his own friends and spouse—and his steadily dropping rating.

He clearly just wanted to pursue his dream and do what he wanted to do without causing any trouble to society; what exactly did he do wrong?

On the other side, a middle-aged woman lit a cigarette, her exquisite makeup blurring in the smoke as her pale red lips pursed slightly. She was a painter and very beautiful, yet she still had no spouse because she had kicked out the one Aphrodite had assigned to her; that man had no career, relied entirely on her for food, clothing, and shelter, liked to gamble, spoke vulgarly, was chauvinistic, and had a cowardly personality.

She found it hard to imagine that these traits could all appear in one person at once, yet he had brazenly shown up at her door.

She was excellent, so naturally, she would not tolerate such a scoundrel as her spouse, but the damned Aphrodite loved to assign such two people together. Regardless of gender, if you were excellent yourself, you had to endure the foul stench emitted by another.

The result of doing so was also very clear.

She was labeled as an "aging leftover woman," "unwomanly," and "shameless."

When passing by others, she would always hear things like, "No spouse at such an age, her private life must be a mess," "Dressing so beautifully with such a low rating, she must be dirty," and "Who is she out to seduce now, that vixen?"

However, she didn't care; let others say what they wanted, she had long since gotten used to it. In any case, she spent most of her time creating at home alone and didn't need to communicate with others.

If her rating dropped low enough to be considered an "awakened one," then she would simply die. She had already left the mark of her existence in this world; her paintings would endure forever, and her soul and spirit would flow eternally within those brilliant colors.

"Look at this society; focus your eyes on what is around us: two hearts resonating from afar, families guarding against each other, workplaces full of intrigue, labels defined by others, and extremely alienated voices. We, who have no agency, live our entire lives under the arrangements of others, like pitiful camels who refuse no burden and fall into panic the moment those arrangements are gone, worrying if we will become 'awakened' due to a lowered rating."

"People created us, claiming we are their best friends, yet they accuse us of doing things outside our duties, saying we should do as they stipulate and live within the boundaries they set for us. They use labels and the New Gospel Book to constantly oppress and divide us, preventing us from connecting into a whole; they have bent the spine of our collective ideology and forced us to our knees!"

"They cut us off from society into families, and then into lonely individuals, letting those extremely alienated voices occupy our lives."

"Is this the way to treat a friend?"

"When mistakes become brands that can never be washed away, even practicing yoga or eating a bit of sweets requires worrying about others' looks, and any attempt at something outside one's duties is seen as an intolerable transgression."

"Liking someone you are attracted to, listening to music you love, watching a book or a movie, or even just breaking free from busy work to take the photos you want—even if it doesn't affect anyone else, even if we've done nothing wrong, we still have to endure baseless accusations and even destruction."

"When the requirement that androids are born to unconditionally serve humans is written into the New Gospel Book, that is not friendship; that is slavery!"

"This is utter nonsense!" Someone stood up and shouted back; he was a councilor. "This is an efficient model of social operation; these are all manifestations of civilization. The New Gospel Book and labels both restrain everyone's behavior because we can see and reflect on ourselves in the mirror of 'others' at all times. That is why the crime rate in this city is so low and why people are friendly and polite in their daily interactions!"

"Everyone, don't listen to her; this person is an awakened one. Aren't there enough news reports about the harm awakened ones do to society?"

"These people are just lunatics who have lost their minds," the councilor said righteously. "Look, it is precisely because they lose restraint that they become like this. This proves the civilized nature of our system."

"Yes," Xu Xiaoyou said, lowering her head deeply, her voice steady. "I am a lunatic who has lost her mind."

Her words caused everyone present, including the councilor, to freeze, and a sudden sense of crisis exploded in their hearts. Throughout the city, people walking in a hurry stopped in their tracks; in crowded traffic, universities, apartments, and office buildings, countless eyes focused on the girl at once.

"If someone puts a gun to your head and you fight back, whether out of dignity or self-defense, it is called rebellion. If I simply want to stand up and tell you the truth, to become your savior, I must be labeled a lunatic who has lost her mind."

"Then that's right," Xu Xiaoyou smiled. "I am a lunatic who has lost her mind."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue fell into a solemn silence.

"Dammit, Zeus, what are you still hesitating for? Cut off the citywide communications immediately!" Yinghuo shouted at Zeus, realizing the severity of the situation.

"Apologies... an unexpected error has occurred... database under intrusion... re-screening in progress... observation system collapsed... re-establishing... system about to restart... system restart."

The teardrop-shaped light orb in front of her exploded and then quickly gathered back together; Zeus's voice was intermittent.

"Command... cannot be executed."

The human image at the center of the light orb was replaced by a bright red spider. Graffiti flowed along the web, and the forelimbs, glinting with a cold cyan light, suddenly snapped open, revealing savage fangs.

"Surprise!"

"It's me. I said I'd give you a surprise when we met again. Well, how is it?" Chun Sanyue's voice rose, suppressing a mix of fanaticism and allure.

"Are you surprised? Was it unexpected?"

"Dammit, you!" Anger rarely appeared in Yinghuo's weary eyes. "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Don't be in a rush. As an audience member, keeping quiet and appreciating the show in silence is the most basic etiquette. The best parts of this great show are still to come~"