Chapter 187: Ambition
Ten or so venomous flying dragons flew across the sky, casting a greenish glow beneath them upon the ground of the Iron and Blood Country.
Su Chen and Danba were sitting atop a particularly large dragon, which also happened to be the leader of this pack. The wind was blowing fiercely, making it hard for Su Chen to keep his eyes open.
He wanted to erect a barrier to block the wind, but unfortunately, Ravagers who had not yet undergone a baptism could not use Origin Energy to do so.
As such, he could only endure.
“I used to admire soldiers who flew on dragons, but now I know that this is much worse than flying around in a Cloud-Piercing Shuttle,” Su Chen complained.
“All it means is that your physique is much weaker than your courage,” Danba replied indifferently as he continued steering at the front.
Su Chen chuckled. “Are you making fun of me for being too weak? Or are you complimenting me on my bravery?”
“Both. No matter what, I must say that you changed my view of you just due to the fact that you were brave enough to come with me on this trip. There are many humans in this world who can play little tricks and games, but not many would dare to go to Gullan Castle with me.”
Su Chen chuckled again. “If you’re brave enough to show me your back, how could I not be brave enough to accompany you on this outing?”
“That’s different. My life is not actually that valuable, but yours is. You are the human race’s greatest hope for prospering in the future. If I traded my life for yours, the Ravager Race would benefit greatly.”
“Then why not do it?” Su Chen asked.
Danba fell silent.
Yes, why not make that trade?
At the very start, he had been badly startled by who he believed to be his mortal enemy suddenly appearing at his doorstep. As a result, he had coerced the Resurrection Door and used all the methods at his disposal to try and kill Su Chen.
The situation, however, had now been flipped on its head. In the blink of an eye, he and Su Chen were now sitting on the same flying dragon.
Danba had no idea how to react to such a sudden change.
He hadn’t been able to finish Su Chen off in the past because Su Chen had never given him the opportunity to do so in their previous encounters.
But now, an opportunity was clearly available, and yet Danba was really beginning to give up on the idea of killing Su Chen.
Why was that exactly?
Even Danba himself didn’t know.
After ruminating it over for a long time, he spoke. “If I said that I truly lacked the confidence in killing you or that you aren’t actually such an important person, those would be complete lies. But if I said that it was for myself, that wouldn’t be completely false.”
“Oh? There are still other reasons?” Su Chen asked.
“You dared come with me even though you don’t fully grasp my reasons for not killing you?”
Su Chen replied, “I wouldn’t be brave if everything was always under my control.”
Danba smiled when he heard this. “Well said! If you are always in control, that courage is not actually courage. I do have some selfish reasons for not killing you, but the larger reason is that I want to see that future you painted for me.”
“The future I painted?” Su Chen was taken aback.
“Yes! Fighting the Beasts,” Danba clarified.
Su Chen finally understood.
He had told Danba of this back at the Uhayan Pool.
He had said that the reason he didn’t consider researching a secret technique that would allow Ravagers to control Origin Energy a betrayal to the human race was because the Beasts were the true enemies.
That had originally merely been an excuse that Su Chen had thought of on the spot.
But it was this excuse that had given Danba the glimmer of hope that he had never seen before.
A hope that the Intelligent Races could one day battle and overcome the Origin Race!
Tens of thousands of years ago, the Arcanists had tried to accomplish this.
They had experienced a terrible failure.
However, those tens of thousands of years had seemingly gone by in a split second.
The Beasts had grown weaker, while the Intelligent Races were only growing stronger by the day.
Could the Intelligent Races someday recapture the glory of the Arcanists and attempt to challenge the Origin Race again?”
Danba didn’t know, but just the thought of that caused a trace of anticipation and longing to surface in his heart.
“If we could experience a glorious day like that at least once in our lifetimes, it would be worth it no matter what the price, right?” Danba calmly explained. “And in the face of a powerful enemy like that, what does the hatred between the human race and the Ravager race really count for?”
Su Chen was mildly astonished by Danba’s words.
He couldn’t help but think of what Zhu Chen had said all those years ago.
“You shouldn’t even try to pursue your dream of bringing the human race to prominence.”
“Even if you did manage to achieve it, you would only invite disaster upon the human race.”
“The human race can never defeat the Origin Race. The only reason we have been able to carve a position for ourselves amongst the Origin Race isn’t because we are powerful, but rather because we aren’t powerful enough!”
He had never forgotten these words. They were like nails eternally piercing his heart, causing him stabs of pain whenever he thought about it.
And now, Danba was saying that he wanted the Intelligent Races to challenge the Origin Races?
Su Chen froze momentarily before saying, “If that day really comes, do you know what kind of fate will befall us if we fail?”
“Of course,” Danba said with a slight smile. “Won’t we be wiped out? The Arcanists already showed us that a few tens of thousands years ago. But so what? Should we not challenge them just because we don’t think we can win? That’s not the way we Ravagers do things.”
Su Chen fell silent.
Refuse to challenge something because it was impossible to win?
Danba’s words echoed within the walls of Su Chen’s heart.
“You......” Su Chen muttered.
Danba turned around to look at Su Chen, revealing a delighted smile. “Those Beasts have been suppressing us for tens of thousands of years. Even now, they control more than half of the continent’s territory and are the dominant force in this world. They are indeed our greatest enemy and strongest opponent. The grudge between us Ravagers and you humans doesn’t count for much in comparison. Without the beasts, both of us would have vaster territory and plentiful resources; perhaps the hatred between us won’t be as intense if our very survival isn’t threatened. So why can’t we be the ones to deal with them? Should we lose all our desire to challenge their authority just because they are strong?”
Su Chen was rendered speechless.
It was impossible for him to refute what Danba had said.
Danba’s smile grew wider. “Indeed, you never thought about it like this before, right? You might have some courage, but it’s not strong enough yet. You humans are always like this — you think too much and are too sober-minded, which is why you all have no ambition or fighting spirit. How many years has it been since any of you dreamed of defeating the Beasts? Perhaps in your eyes, only the Ravagers are your enemies, right? Because you only have a chance against us...... You only consider people to be your opponents if you have a chance of beating them, right?”
Regardless of whether Danba’s statements were factually correct or not, his words had moved Su Chen, causing him to fall into a contemplative silence.
At last, he nodded. “You’re absolutely right. The human race has lost the will to fight for far too long. In this aspect, we are truly inferior to you.”
Danba’s smile grew wider. “So you see? We’ve reached a point of agreement. Su Chen, I know that you weren’t sincere regarding everything you said at the Uhayan Pool. But I hope that you can be a bit more sincere now. Your discoveries and inventions may benefit more than just the human race in the future......”
“...... You have quite the high opinion of me.”
Su Chen had been totally rendered speechless by this conversation.
The words Su Chen had used to deceive Danba had been thrown right back in his face. This foreign feeling made it so that he didn’t quite know what to say.
A suspicion arose in his heart. Was he the one who had deceived Danba, or had Danba been the one to deceive him?
“I’m just giving you a target as an incentive. We should focus on the task ahead of us for now,” Danba laughed loudly. “Green Demon, fly faster!”
“Hiss!” The venomous flying dragon king hissed in response and shot forwards even faster.