V2: Chapter 15: If Someone Has to Sacrifice, Why Can't It be Me?

"What's wrong?" Liang Lin, oblivious, said to herself, "Girls should wear cute pink clothes."

"....."

"Okay, miss, let me get it for you to try."

The shopkeeper brought out a pink dress that had been sitting unsold for a long time and waved it in front of Liang Lin. "Look, this is the only pink one in our shop. What do you think..."

"Oh! It's quite cute."

"..."

Never mind, whatever makes you happy, miss.

The shopkeeper shut his mouth, offering no more suggestions or resistance.

Liang Lin held the little one in her arms and rocked her a few times. She even started speaking in a high-pitched voice, "Do you like this outfit? Look, what a beautiful color!"

It's hard to imagine that a dragon-shaped emoji with an expression of extreme disgust could be seen on the face of a baby not even a month old.

"Uh, you don't like it?"

Liang Lin still hadn't doubted her own taste. She looked at the pink dress, then at the adorable child in her arms, scratched her head, and muttered, "I think it's quite pretty..."

"Miss, your child's eyes are so beautiful, how about..." This shopkeeper was really going all out to recommend it.

Liang Lin thought for a moment, and finally nodded, "Okay, let me see."

In the end, she still didn't buy the pink dress she liked.

Although she had dressed the little one in new clothes, her lower body still needed to be covered with other clothes; those tentacles were just too conspicuous.

Inside the Magic Tower.

Hilary and Octaville, who witnessed all this, were deep in thought, their faces darkening, and fell into a long silence.

"...This world is truly insane! My brother actually gave birth to a child, and the two of them seem quite loving."

"Should I tell Liang Di or not..." Octaville squatted down in distress, ruffling her hair into a mess.

If the reason she didn't tell Liang Lin the truth was because of the taboo of using forbidden magic, and also because she wanted Liang Lin to be disappointed in the Soteland Empire, then Liang Di's situation was purely one of utter confusion.

Telling Liang Di would be bad for Liang Lin, but not telling her would leave her feeling depressed ever since Liang Lin left, like she had depression.

There's just no way to make either of them happy!

If there were a clear distinction, Hillary would naturally side with her sister Liang Lin, while Octaville, as Liang Di's adoptive mother, would naturally side with her daughter. Thus, Octaville pondered deeply for the past two days, losing two kilograms in the process, and finally made a decision.

“Let's wait a little more, once the little brat's legs have fully grown, I'll tell Liang Di that Liang Lin has given birth.”

The child has been listless lately, and Octaville saw this and felt a pang of heartache.

But this wait lasted half a month.

Then, when Liang Lin returned to the border carrying a chubby, white baby, her subordinates erupted in chaos.

“My God! Boss, whose daughter did you kidnap? They couldn't have followed you all the way here, could they?”

“Boss, weren't you out seeking revenge? How come you found a… baby?”

“Marquis, why did you steal someone else's child?”

Only Robin fell into deep thought. He stared intently at the child's face in Liang Lin's arms, feeling a strong resemblance between the child's features and Liang Lin's. He gasped, suspecting that the child was indeed the Marquis's own.

But the more he thought about it, the more something seemed amiss.

Liang Lin had clearly said she was less than six months pregnant, how could she have given birth before six months? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Robin racked his brains but couldn't figure it out. It was all terrifying!

"Don't talk nonsense!" Liang Lin protested, "This is a child I picked up on the street."

"Huh?"

Blaze leaned closer to the little guy, squinted, and carefully examined him. The little guy looked uncomfortable and snuggled against Liang Lin's neck.

"Hey, what are you doing? Don't scare the child." Ulysses pulled Blaze away.

Blaze stroked his chin and said, "Why do I always feel... this child looks a bit like Boss?"

Liang Lin paused.

Could it be... these guys suddenly became incredibly clever?

The result.

Next sentence.

"Holy crap! Boss! You were secretly seeing other women behind our backs, and now they've even had a baby?"

Liang Lin: “…”

“Should the child call you Dad or Mom?”

Liang Lin: “…Never mind, you guys go play.”

“In short, this child will be my daughter from now on.”

Terrence stared at the child for a while, then suddenly interjected, “Miss, what’s her name?”

“Uh.”

Liang Lin hadn’t thought of a name yet.

“I haven’t named the child yet, I haven’t thought of one. How about… you guys help me think of one?”

Liang Lin regretted her words as soon as she said them. Looking at the several grown men who had been seriously thinking, scratching their heads and fidgeting, she regretted it completely.

Just as she had expected.

One man raised his hand. "Alexander! What a handsome and imposing name!"

"...Blaze, she's a girl."

Another jumped in. "So cute, so tiny, let's call her Baobao."

"...Ulysses, she's a girl, not a pet dog."

A soldier's lips trembled with joy. "Boss, I love steamed buns, so I'll name her..."

"Stop! Okay, okay, Mandel, you can shut up now."

Liang Lin sighed.

She couldn't count on these guys at all. They could risk their lives for her, but they could also leave her speechless.

Liang Lin held the little one in her arms, preparing to show her uncle. Before she even reached her uncle's room, just around the corner, Liang Lin bumped into Sylvester.

"Liang Lin, you're back?" Sylvester was overjoyed. He looked his nephew up and down. "You look thinner?"

Well, sure enough, elders always seem to think their juniors have lost weight.

Immediately afterward, Sylvester's gaze fell on the child in Liang Lin's arms, and he was visibly taken aback.

"This, this is...?"

"Oh, my daughter," Liang Lin blurted out.

"Huh?" Sylvester's cerebellum seemed to shrink; he blinked several times. "You, your daughter?"

"Uh, I found her! I found her!" Liang Lin finally realized what was happening and hurriedly began to lie.

"Oh..." Sylvester leaned closer and said the same thing as Liang Lin's subordinate, "Look closely, this child really does look a bit like you."

Uh.

How could she not? She's definitely my biological daughter!

Liang Lin gave an awkward smile. "Of course! I picked her up because she looks like me. I wanted to adopt her myself; otherwise, I would have given her to someone else."

"By the way, Uncle, I haven't named this child yet. Why don't you give her a name?" She paused, then quickly added, "Oh, and by the way, I plan to raise this child as my own daughter. Uncle, please don't name her too casually."

Naming things wasn't truly Liang Lin's forte. As a military person, she wasn't particularly skilled in literature. Her uncle, on the other hand, was both a skilled warrior and a scholar.

"Before you were born, our family said that if you were a boy, we'd name you Eli, and if you were a girl, we'd name you Carol. So, let's give this child the name Carol."

Well, although it was a bit hasty, the name "Carol" actually sounded quite nice.

“Alright.”

Liang Lin gently bounced the little one in her arms, affectionately nuzzling her nose against the other's cheek. “Carol, you like this name too, right? It's as cute as you~”

Sylvester thought for a moment, his smile gradually fading, his face turning pale again.

“Then… Irene, she…”

“Dead,” Liang Lin said crisply, without offering any white lies. She announced Irene's complete death with unwavering certainty.

“Don't worry, Uncle, I made sure she died without any pain. That's a blessing in disguise for her. I've also rid the world of a villain; a good deed indeed.”

Sylvester couldn't manage a smile. After all, his niece had died, and at the hands of his nephew no less. If he were to force a smile, it would probably be more painful than tears.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Liang Lin."

Sylvester's temples throbbed. He turned around, intending to go back to his room to rest. "You've been away for so many days, you must be tired. Go back and get some rest."

"Uncle!"

Liang Lin called out to the hurried Sylvester. She took a few steps forward, straightening her back. "Uncle, these next few days are for reorganizing the army. I'll go train them. Next week, we'll go straight to the battlefield. I want to reclaim the territory that belongs to our Soteland Empire!"

"This…"

Sylvester was actually very afraid that his nephew would go to the battlefield again. He was afraid something might happen to her. Among the younger generation of their family, only the sisters Liang Lin and Hilary were still alive.

“Actually, the Heraze Empire has been relatively quiet lately. It seems they don't really want to fight us,” Sylvester said, clinging to a sliver of hope. “Perhaps we can maintain a truce for a decade or more.”

“Uncle, when did you come up with such a thought?” Liang Lin frowned. “They’ve seized so many valuable resources from our borders! Even our granaries have been looted, and they’ve taken so many beautiful women. This is a huge insult to our Soteland Empire. Are we going to be humiliated by other empires again and again? Not only will we become a laughingstock, but our civilians will suffer terribly. I can’t do that!”

“I’ve always guarded the Soteland Empire’s borders. I fought until the day I died. Now that I’m alive again, I must continue fighting—either to completely quell the war and ensure it doesn’t recur for decades, or to die on the battlefield, just like before.”

Looking at Liang Lin’s resolute eyes, Sylvester was at a loss. He had been wavering; he believed in his nephew’s abilities, yet he was also worried.

“Liang Lin… I’m truly terrified, terrified that you’ll die on the battlefield again. You know I have no children; now it’s just you and your sister left. So… you must be careful. I know I can’t dissuade you from going to the battlefield. All I can do is offer these feeble words.”

Sylvester’s arms went limp; he felt powerless. He was old, or rather, he hadn’t been very good at fighting on the battlefield even in his youth. When he was young, he had plenty of brute strength, but now that he was old, he would only be a burden on the battlefield. All he could do was stay here, offering advice; he couldn’t go to the battlefield to fight and shed blood.

"Uncle, the fact that you volunteered to come to the border already makes you seem so great in my eyes, doesn't it?" Liang Lin, feigning maturity, tiptoed and patted Sylvester's shoulder, earnestly comforting him. "Sometimes, those who command the battlefield from behind the scenes are far more capable than those fighting on the front lines. Our lives are in your hands!"

This finally made Sylvester laugh.

"You silly child, why are you so good at praising people now? Aren't most of the decisions on the battlefield made by you? I wouldn't dare to command rashly; I don't have General Liang Lin's talent for commanding battles."

Seeing Sylvester smile, Liang Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled along.

She had already noticed that Sylvester was blaming himself for not being able to help her much. She didn't know when it started, but Liang Lin's tongue wasn't so sharp anymore; she didn't always say those hurtful things.

A transformation from a sharp-tongued arrogance? (Approximately)

“While I’m away on the battlefield, I’ll have to trouble you to take good care of Carol, Uncle. If I were to have a maid look after her, I feel… I’m still a little uneasy.”

Having been betrayed by her own cousin, Liang Lin was unusually wary. “Uncle, when you’re busy, please have one of those guards who have been with you for decades take care of Carol. Don’t just entrust her to any maid.”

“I know,” Sylvester reached out and teased the little one in front of him. “Liang Lin, you’re so serious and attentive to the child you picked up. If you have a biological son or daughter in the future, you’ll definitely be a good father.”

“Uh, I mean, is it possible that I’m a mother now?” Liang Lin smiled awkwardly.

Of course I'm a mother, and the kind who could feed her child.

The situation that Liang Di had initially worried about—that she wouldn’t be able to feed Carol—didn’t happen. Liang Lin had plenty of milk, and Carol was plump and healthy.

On the battlefield, Liang Lin remained the invincible war goddess. But this war goddess never removed her black cloak, nor the mask covering the lower half of her face. All that could be seen were her pupils, as red as spurting blood.

In just six months, Liang Lin successfully reclaimed most of the borderland.

Meanwhile, within the Magic Tower, Octaville had also exposed the traitor.

"The Magic Tower treated you well. Yet you betrayed us for petty gains. Blinded by greed, you are sentenced to be burned alive."

Inside the Magic Tower, all the magicians gathered in the punishment room. Some who couldn't squeeze in stood outside, peering inside. It had been a long time since anyone had entered the punishment room, and a long time since anyone had been sentenced to death there. Most were simply locked up, given time to reflect, and released after two days, with food and drink provided during that time.

“Before you die, tell me your reasons for betraying the Magic Tower.”

The traitor knew his days were numbered, and even pleading wouldn't bring forgiveness; he was destined to die. So, he stopped pretending.

He screamed at Octaville, “You sent us to the Seaside Magic Tower to fight those terrifying monsters—wasn't that just sending us to our deaths?! You said we could come back after three years! But how many people actually returned after three years?! If you're forcing us to our deaths, then I'll find my own way out!”

Octaville nodded.

“That's your reason. Alright, I understand. You can go now.”

With that, she placed her hand on the head of the kneeling traitor, like a goddess showing mercy to all things. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly closed her eyes.

"Fire."

That single word decided the traitor's fate. Sparks flickered above his head, followed by a raging inferno that spread from Octaville's fingertips to his entire body.

"Aaaaah!"

After a series of agonizing screams, the traitor struggled violently before falling silent, turning into a pool of lifeless black ash, piled layer upon layer on the ground.

The surrounding magicians remained silent; the scene was eerily quiet. Octaville ordered people to clean up the corpse, while she herself stood in the very center. It must be said, she had the air of a cult leader, both in her sinister demeanor and the aura she exuded.

“I’m sure you all heard it just now, right? That traitor used the word 'we,' so... who among us... still harbors such thoughts?”

Octaville’s words were resounding, and the faces of those around her tensed, their lips pressed tightly together, afraid to utter a sound.

Octaville opened her hand, extending her thumb and forefinger to indicate a number.

“Eight years. I spent a full eight years in the Seaside Magic Tower. During that time, I was injured countless times, and several times I nearly died at the hands and mouths of monsters, but I never complained once.”

“I know that some of you will think I’m using moral blackmail when I say these things. Whether you think I’m using moral blackmail or trying to motivate you, I stayed for a full eight years, persevered to the end, and that’s why the position of Tower Master passed to me.”

Octaville’s peripheral vision fell on several older magicians by the wall. She chuckled and then looked away. She raised her arms, and at this moment, a hint of madness finally appeared in her.  Her golden pupils gleamed with an unusual light.

Eight years of battling monsters in the seaside tower, wounded, wounds healed, wounded again, wounds healed again, companions died, new companions arrived, new companions died again—how could this not drive someone mad? Octaville was fortunate that she had a strong ability to withstand pressure and hadn't developed any major mental illness yet.

Octaville wasn't immune to madness; rather, she had been suppressing the madness within her. How could she, one of these people be normal?

"What we have to deal with isn't just the monsters across the sea, but also the current king of the Soteland Empire and his monster wife, Doris. If the king was a foolish leader before, then after marrying Doris, he's now both foolish and wicked."

At the end, Octaville resorted to a moral blackmail.

"I know that most people in the Magic Tower were born in the Soteland Empire. So, can you really just stand by and watch your birthplace be so ravaged by the current king?"

"Whether it's the monsters from across the sea or the Soteland Empire, we must exterminate one and completely overthrow the other! Only through rebellion, and by installing the wise Third Prince on the throne (the Third Prince is an illegitimate child; theoretically, no matter how the throne is passed down, it won't reach him unless all the other princes die), will all the common people of this country find happiness! We can't let the nobles become increasingly audacious!"

Upon hearing these words, Octaville's loyal followers shed tears of admiration. They clasped their hands together, holding them to their chins or chests, looking at Octaville with the eyes of devout believers gazing at a statue in a church.

"Lady Octaville... is the most wise Tower Master!"

"We will follow you to the death, Tower Master!"

"The Tower Master is right!"

Octaville nodded in satisfaction.

The expressions of the older magicians near the wall, however, were not good.

"Let's get to the exciting stuff," Octaville smirked.

"Moreover, I heard that some nobles have even submitted applications to demolish the Seaside Wall."

These words were like a depth charge, instantly causing an uproar among the magicians.

"What?!"

"Have these nobles gone mad?"

"Is it because things are peaceful now, without monsters bothering them, that they've become so bored and started courting death?"

The shouts grew louder and louder.

"Hahaha, good riddance! Good riddance! Let those nobles all go to their deaths then!"

"If we hadn't been guarding the Seaside Magic Tower, would they have such a peaceful life? We haven't even complained, yet they're the ones causing trouble."

Octaville was pleased with the magicians' reaction. She clapped her hands, gesturing for silence.

"Everyone, quiet down. The King still has some sense; these requests have been rejected. But... with Queen Doris here, I think these requests will be put into practice in a few years."

"Then what should we do, Tower Master!"

Octaville proudly puffed out her chest.

“It’s alright. Good news has come from my adopted daughter. In another year at most, those corrupt nobles will start killing each other over money. We don’t even need to lift a finger…”

Hilary stood in the shadows, listening to Octaville’s words, a sentence Octaville had said to her before flashed through her mind.

"On this path of rebellion, many will always sacrifice themselves. Of course, their sacrifice will ultimately bring happiness to many more."

"My dear, if someone has to sacrifice, why can't it be me? But I know I must be the last one to fall. It's not that I'm afraid of death, but I want to see all my dreams come true. I want to see those weak commoners, like me in the past, living the life I dreamed of!"

"Seeing their happiness, I can die with a smile on my face."

Octaville, a woman both extreme and kind.

Inside the Langwendi mansion.

Liang Di looked at Liang Lin's portrait on her bedside table. She held the portrait close to her chest, gently rubbing Liang Lin's face with her fingertips, murmuring to herself.

"Sister Liang Lin, soon, very soon, in just over six months, I will complete the mission I must fulfill at this stage, and then I can come to find you."

"I miss you so much, sister."

"I want to see you right now."