Chapter 10: The Choice of Resistance
The park fell into a heavy silence after Elena finished speaking.
The morning wind moved gently through the trees, rustling the leaves above them, yet the atmosphere between the three of them felt sharp and tense.
Lin Zhou looked directly at Elena.
Her expression remained calm, almost indifferent, as if the conversation they were having was nothing more than a routine negotiation.
But to Lin Zhou, it felt like standing at the edge of a cliff.
Join them.
Or die.
It was a simple choice.
Too simple.
Lin Zhou slowly shook his head.
"I already told you my answer."
Elena did not look surprised.
"You refuse."
"Yes."
Her gaze remained steady.
"Even though you know the future we have already confirmed?"
Lin Zhou's voice hardened.
"A future you might be creating."
For the first time, Elena's smile faded slightly.
"You assume we manipulate everything."
"You just admitted you let people die because it fits your 'patterns.'"
Elena did not deny it.
Instead, she calmly folded her arms.
"The world is more complex than you believe, Lin Zhou."
"People die every day. Accidents, illness, violence."
She gestured toward the city skyline.
"Fate is already cruel."
"We simply understand it."
Lin Zhou felt anger rising in his chest.
"That doesn't give you the right to control it."
Elena tilted her head slightly.
"And what gives you the right to interfere?"
The question caught him off guard.
Lin Zhou hesitated for a moment.
Then he answered quietly.
"Because they're human."
Elena studied him carefully.
"Emotion."
She turned toward the man with the compass.
"You always choose idealists."
The man remained silent.
Lin Zhou frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Elena sighed softly.
"It means this isn't the first time someone like you has appeared."
Lin Zhou felt a chill.
"There were others?"
"Yes."
Her voice was calm.
"People who could see the threads of fate."
"And what happened to them?"
Elena looked at him without emotion.
"They eventually learned the same truth."
"What truth?"
"That saving everyone is impossible."
The words hung heavily in the air.
Lin Zhou clenched his fists.
"Maybe."
"But that doesn't mean I should stop trying."
Elena looked almost disappointed.
"You are predictable."
She turned slightly toward the man with the compass.
"You see? This is exactly what happens every time."
For the first time since Elena appeared, the man with the compass finally spoke.
"Elena."
His voice was quiet but firm.
"That's enough."
She smiled faintly.
"Protecting him already?"
"I'm protecting balance."
Elena laughed softly.
"You always say that."
Lin Zhou looked between them.
"You two know each other."
The man with the compass didn't answer.
Elena did.
"Oh yes."
"We've known each other for a very long time."
Lin Zhou felt the tension deepen.
"So what exactly are you?" he asked the man.
"Another organization?"
"Another watcher?"
The man finally looked at him.
"No."
"Then what?"
Before he could answer—
Elena's phone vibrated softly in her coat pocket.
She glanced down at it.
Her expression changed slightly.
Then she looked back up at Lin Zhou.
"Well."
"That didn't take long."
Lin Zhou frowned.
"What?"
Elena turned the phone screen toward him.
On it was a photo.
A rooftop.
A man standing near the edge.
Lin Zhou's blood ran cold.
It was him.
The exact location from the vision.
"The thread is accelerating," Elena said calmly.
Lin Zhou looked at the man with the compass.
"You said that was only a possible future."
"It was."
Elena slipped her phone back into her pocket.
"But now someone has begun moving the pieces."
Lin Zhou's mind raced.
"Someone?"
Elena nodded.
"And this time…"
She looked at the man with the compass.
"…it wasn't us."
Silence fell again.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in the man's eyes.
Lin Zhou noticed immediately.
"You didn't expect that," Lin Zhou said.
"No."
Elena sighed.
"This complicates things."
Lin Zhou felt the tension rising.
"If it wasn't your organization…"
"Then who's trying to kill me?"
Elena looked toward the city skyline.
"There are other groups who study fate."
Her voice became more serious.
"Groups far older than ours."
The wind moved through the park again.
Lin Zhou suddenly realized something disturbing.
He was no longer dealing with just one hidden power.
There were multiple.
Each one studying the same invisible web.
Each one trying to control it in different ways.
And now—
He was caught in the middle.
Elena looked back at him.
"Our offer still stands."
Lin Zhou shook his head.
"No."
She nodded slowly.
"I expected that."
She began walking toward the park exit.
Before leaving, she paused and spoke one last time.
"If another group is moving against you…"
She looked over her shoulder.
"Then your death may arrive much sooner than you think."
Then she disappeared into the morning crowd.
Lin Zhou stood silently.
The city felt larger now.
Darker.
More complicated.
He turned toward the man with the compass.
"You've been hiding something."
The man didn't deny it.
"Yes."
Lin Zhou took a deep breath.
"Then start talking."
The man looked toward the rising sun.
"There are three major forces that study the web of fate."
"Elena's organization is only one of them."
Lin Zhou felt a quiet dread building.
"What about the others?"
The man's voice grew serious.
"One tries to control fate."
"One tries to preserve balance."
"And the last one…"
He paused.
"Tries to destroy the entire system."
Lin Zhou's heart sank.
"And which one wants me dead?"
The man looked directly into his eyes.
"That," he said quietly,
"is what we must discover before the vision becomes real."