Chapter 1795: Remember My Name!
In his younger years, the Rabid Dog had once imagined his death, too.
Like thousands of common hotblooded young men in the Star Glory Federation, he was not scared of death, but he was scared of leaving the world in an unknown and unremarkable way.
It was the most dangerous moment of the Old Federation. Toughness was highly valued by society. War games and hero movies were very popular. The teenage boys whose spiritual roots had not been developed yet, having nowhere to vent their hot blood, mostly imagined dying like a hero in the games or the movies. It would be best if they went on a killing spree with a saber in one hand and a sword in the other, leaving a mountain of dead bodies of demon beasts before they dropped a few gallant words that would be duly quoted in the history books and marched into the overwhelming beast tide, carrying a burningly hot crystal cannon on their shoulder.
It was the perfect death.
At that time, the Rabid Dog could in no way have predicted his actual way of death, that he would die like a fart that was neither smelly nor loud.
It was the golden years of his life. He had once been a rare prodigy that always grabbed everyone's attention.
He had thought that his fate was preordained, that there was nothing but brightness and splendor in front of them. He would be the hero of the small world around him, if not the entire universe.
However, the arrival of 'that man' completely shattered his dream and blocked the path of his fate before it was even opened!
Everything changed overnight. His father was sent to prison, his family's property was confiscated, and even a lot of additional debts were owed. He also suffered both physical and mental strikes and lost his reputation in his circle. Eventually, none of the elite universities were willing to admit him, and he could only earn his degree in a mediocre college.
The world and the fate that he had believed in collapsed.
He had spent the next twenty years in devastation after the strike.
He did not give up trying, but whenever he was prepared to reexamine his life and work hard again, news about 'that man' would come at him like a haunting ghost.
If it was just a common 'opponent' or 'enemy', maybe he could have trained himself hard to catch up and seek revenge.
But 'that man' was an out-and-out monster. News about him was too appalling to be believed every time. He was cast into desperation and lost all the determination of rivalry.
Distressed, he did not have the nerve to compete with 'that man', but it did not mean that the storms raised by 'that man' would spare him.
As the capabilities and fame of 'that man' soared unstoppably, his grudge and conflicts with 'that man' were dug out and elaborated as gossip. Of course, most of the articles were meant to highlight how magnificent 'that man' was. He was nothing but an insignificant stepping stone at a corner of the picture. Even in some of the paragraphs where he was described more, his ugliness and aggression were always emphasized to contrast the glorious image of 'that man'.
He lived such a life for twenty years. In the world around him, he seemed to be in a bundle with 'that man'. Whenever the name of 'that man' was mentioned, his own name would be mentioned, too. Verbal abuse was highly unnecessary. The mocking eyes of those people were enough to contort the nerves made of iron!
Twenty years later, his classmates who had far lower aptitude than him had already made their own accomplishments and distinguished themselves. Even the most unremarkable classmates had established their own happy families. Yet, he still brooded on self-pity and self-abandonment, unable to free himself, degenerating into a hopeless drunkard and mobster.
The slap from his father, who was on probation because of an illness, changed his fate again.
"I... I don't have a son like you!"
Those were his father's last words on the sickbed before death.
His hands trembled when he tried to cover the old man's eyes, but he failed however hard he tried. Ever since then, wherever he went, he had always seen the eyes of his father staring at him from high above in anger and disappointment!
He thought that he understood what his father meant.
Honestly speaking, when he revisited a lot of things in his teenage years as an adult in his thirties, he was to blame for most of it. It was his own fault.
Therefore, he had quite complicated feelings toward 'that man'. Instead of 'hatred', it was more like intense 'jealousy' and 'discontent'.
He wanted to get revenge on 'that man', on his ridiculous fate, and on the wretched heavens! He wanted revenge not because he loathed that man but because he planned to tell the entire world that he would take back what belonged to him and that he was the real hero of the world!
During the three days of his father's wake, he was reborn with an epiphany.
Seven days after his father's death, he said goodbye to his old life and went to the cruelest underground arenas in the federation.
With the body that he had earned through crazy training in his younger years, he began fighting from the matches of the lowest level until he reached the annual finals held by the arenas of a hundred and twenty cities. The name of 'Rabid Dog' was then born.
The moment he put on a mask before the game was the easiest and most comfortable moment for him, because nobody knew who he was in the cruel world of the underground arenas. He was—the Rabid Dog!
He broke into the Building Foundation Stage from the Refinement Stage after only five years. Considering his past, it was almost a notable miracle.
Between the games, he sometimes looked at the starry sky with his swollen eyes, imagining if he could ever be on par with 'that man' one day.
After all, 'that man' had been gone for a long time and was said to be in hibernation. It was a great opportunity for him to overtake him.
But the cruel reality shattered his hope time and time again. In a match when he was closest to the Core Formation Stage, he was beaten black and blue, and his capability plummeted after resting for half a year.
Later, he rose and fell for many years in the underground arenas, never making any greater achievements. After that, when he explored the resource planets as a 'bounty hunter' or when he joined the federal army to fight various sorts of enemies, no matter how he tortured himself with the mad, cruel, and perverted methods, his cultivation advanced as slowly as a snail.
Peak of the Core Formation Stage. Hehe. After a hundred years, he had only reached the peak of the Core Formation Stage. It might be extraordinary enough for common people, but compared to 'that man', he was even more worthless than a piece of cr*p rolled over by a wheel.
There was no telling when, but he suddenly realized at some point that he would never, ever, ever catch up with that man in his entire life.
It did not matter. Capability was not important. Accomplishments came as the top priority.
He would make accomplishments that were far greater than that man's. Even if he had to die, he would die the most splendid death!
With such a belief, he always led the charge in the most dangerous missions when he served in the army.
But fate pulled yet another great joke on him.
He did not have a good time. Except for the Uranian Ring War, the federation had merely experienced occasional bandit-clearing battles in the past hundred years. Even if he could sweep across the demon beasts or the bandits on an entire planet, was it really something worth being proud of?
At this moment, the counterattack against the Imperium was supposed to be his greatest opportunity.
But he did not expect that the main force of the Black Wind Fleet would assault the Heaven's Origin Sector unexpectedly. Although he was personally involved in the war, he was among the first troops to resist the enemy. He was out-and-out cannon fodder that was destined to be killed, just like so many common soldiers around them had already been.
Yes. Common...
At the last moment of his life, looking back at his hundred years of monotonous life in hindsight, the Rabid Dog finally took off his mask of hysteria and madness.
"So, I've always been just a common person, just like the thousands of common soldiers around me. We die as meaninglessly as we live. We have always been so.
"Wretched heavens, f*ck you. So, Li Yao is your favorite that you have chosen, and I am really just a stepping stone.
"I can never catch up to him. It is useless however I torture myself. The gap between us will only grow greater and greater.
"Is... is this my fate?
"I am just a common person. How can a common person fight a superhero? Just die commonly and silently in this damn war, like all the common soldiers nearby, like mud and sh*t. Is there anything to struggle for? The more I struggle, the more I'm like a joke!
"Die now. No need to think about anything. Sorry, old man. In my next life... In my next life..."
The Rabid Dog's self-awareness gradually dispersed, and his soul fell into feeble darkness.
But he failed to embrace the long-expected relief. Bulging his eyes, he noticed that a blue point was jumping merrily on his retina.
The medical system of his crystal suit was miraculously auto-repaired and was injecting synthesized living cells into his liver. Perhaps certain tiny meteoroids hit the critical points of a certain medical unit.
The most unbelievable things could happen on a battlefield even when the odds were one in a billion!
"What's the meaning of this? You don't want me to die again?"
In a trance, the Rabid Dog saw his father's eyes of fury and disappointment gazing at him.
"What do you want, wretched heavens? If you do not want me to die, if there is really a slim chance for me to compete with Li Yao again, give me a sign!
"I do not wish to defeat him. I only want to stand in front of him and show him what I am right now. I want to tell him who I am!
"Wretched heavens, help me. Even—even if Li Yao is really the hero of the entire world, let me be the hero of this tiny battlefield for one second. One second is enough!"
The Rabid Dog was met with silence, with tears dropping down.
Hardly had he finished when a series of flashes appeared nearby.
"Is—is this your sign, wretched heavens?"
The Rabid Dog was slightly dazed. Then he was given hope again. Not caring about the pain in his abdomen, he activated whatever was left of the rune arrays on his crystal suit and flew toward the flashes.
A moment later, he hit the brakes quickly, his eyes bloodshot.
They were a few crystal suits of the Imperium who were cleaning the battlefield.
They had not noticed him in the beginning, but after he activated the power rune arrays and exposed himself, the crystal suits of the Imperium all came at him.
"F*ck."
The Rabid Dog spoke to the wretched heavens.
So, that was the sign that the wretched heavens had given him—a different death, but equally unremarkable.
Ninety percent of the battlefield had been occupied by the trident lightning of the Imperium. The Rabid Dog should wait for his death in desperation now.
However...
Discontent! Discontent! Discontent! Discontent! Discontent! Discontent!
In a trance, he somehow recalled his golden years in Floating Spear City a hundred years ago and the once proud, unbending young man.
"Hehe. Hehehehe!"
The Rabid Dog vomited blood hard. Then, he raised the remaining half of his dragon-slaying saber and laughed crazily. Blood filled his helmet. Even the goggles were stained.
Through the blood, the brilliant sea of stars was as heated as fire!
"Wretched heavens and you pieces of cr*p..."
Waving the dragon-slaying saber, the Rabid Dog activated the last five power rune arrays and shot forward like a falling star. "I used to be the top expert of the Crimson Nimbus No. 2 High School of Floating Spear City of the Star Glory Federation—Helian Lie! Who do you think you are? If you want to kill me, come on, let's see if you can!"