I Really Didn’t Mean To Be The Saviour Of The World

Chapter 656: Chapter 413: Logical Dilemma

“It’s not that you’re useless, it’s just that they’re too outstanding. You are always chasing after fame, and you like to compare yourself to others; it’s your strength but also your weakness.”

Ward admitted, “That’s true.”

“But you can’t be blamed fully; perhaps it’s because you’ve lived in your father’s shadow since childhood, making you feel an exceptional need to prove yourself, right?”

“Yes. As far back as I remember, I’ve always been labeled as Chris Owen’s son. During kindergarten, every time I would raise my hand to answer a question, no matter how well I responded, the teacher would only pat my shoulder and say, ‘A true son of Mr. Owen.’ The same thing happened in elementary school… high school… and even when I went abroad. I deliberately let myself gain weight and became overweight because I didn’t want people to constantly praise me as Mr. Owen’s brilliant son. But even then, those who looked up to me in the international students’ association would say, ‘Little Mr. Owen is cute with his chubbiness, and he even carries Mr. Owen’s charisma despite his weight.’ It… It just makes me feel sick!”

As he spoke, his teeth were clenched in agitation.

Harrison Clark sported a relaxed smile throughout the conversation.

If it were before, he would have cursed Ward for being melodramatic.

But he wouldn’t do that now.

Even though Harrison himself was an orphan and couldn’t truly understand Ward’s situation, when he thought about it, the feeling of constant comparison was indeed quite bothersome.

It might be bearable if it happened once or twice, but if it occurred throughout one’s life, it would feel like living in a Skinner box that keeps giving negative feedback.

Who could withstand that?

Instead of ending up arrogant in that Skinner box, poor Ward went to the other extreme; appearing confident while being extremely self-conscious.

“Master, do you think I’m being dramatic?”

“It’s not too bad, it’s not a big deal.”

“Alas, I’m well aware. I want to change, but it’s difficult.”

Harrison waved his hand dismissively, “No worries, nobody is perfect. It seems I’ve been too lax with you in the past, perhaps I should assign you a task in the future.”

“No, no, Master please don’t, I… I don’t want to jeopardize your grand plan.” Ward hurriedly said: “Master, do you know what was on my mind just now when I felt like my heart was about to stop?”

“What was it?”

Ward’s face flushed slightly. “Actually, I feel that death is not so frightening — really. It might be a form of liberation for me.”

Harrison widened his eyes in surprise, “What?”

Ward confessed, “I’m always worried that I won’t be able to resist intervening in things, messing everything up and becoming a burden to you. If I’m really that useless, other than singing songs that you write for me, and if I’m the only heir to the Whale Group, maybe it would be better if I were to die, and let my father pass the company directly to my eldest son. I don’t want to hinder civilization’s progress and become a person who would be blamed for all eternity. Every time I read historical records, I just feel sorry for figures like King You of Zhou, Emperor Chongzhen, and Liu Adou. Rather than becoming a laughingstock after death, I’d rather die early.”

Harrison was furious, “What nonsense are you talking about? Have you gone mad? Weren’t you doing well before this?”

Ward defended himself with a wronged look on his face, “That’s because I did not do anything before this.”

Harrison: “Emmm…”

The conversation was driving Harrison insane, but it truly surprised him to find out that Ward was harboring suicidal thoughts.

“Master, you must be worried about whether the Owen family can continue to flourish, right? You don’t need to worry about that. These days, I’ve been busy… collecting. My deposit is stored in the underground freezer; in the future, we can use a surrogate to have an entire soccer team if you want.”

Harrison widened his eyes, thinking to himself: no wonder Samantha is already pregnant, but the last time they had a phone conference a few days ago, this guy still looked as if he had overindulged in physical pleasure.

He nearly dropped dead on the spot after overexercising. Turns out this is related to his nightly escapades from before.

So, this is where your story ends, preparing to ambush me unknowingly?

You are a true talent!

You give the term ‘spoiled rich second-generation’ a new meaning!

But Harrison wanted to scold him, yet he found there were so many issues he didn’t even know where to start.

The key was that Ward’s behaviour, which seemed unreasonable at first, linked the cause to the effect logically, which was quite unsettling.

Ward still looked exhausted as he said, “Master, you can rest assured. No matter when I die, it will not affect the development of the Owen family. At the very least we’d end up like in your previous timeline. I just want to do even better.”

Harrison: “Uh…”

He had conceded defeat.

I truly have lost.

After a long while, Harrison let out a sigh, saying, “Alas, you’re overthinking things, you’re getting arrogant.”

Ward: “What?”

“I never really cared that much about the Owen family. Even without them in the past, technology still progressed. So your descendants are just icing on the cake. It’s great to have them, but without them, it’s not a colossal loss. I am more worried about you almost dying this month. If it had happened after my departure, there would still be a chance to rectify things. If you were to die now, I won’t be able to save you. Life offers infinite possibilities, there’s no need to rush for advancement.”

Saying that, Harrison’s expression became more serious. “Alright, let’s drop it. I’m sorry for ignoring your feelings all this while. I dragged you into this without asking for your agreement and without considering whether you were mentally prepared. For that, I should apologize.”

“Master, it’s not your fault, it’s just that I…”

“Ward, I’ve changed my mind. You should try to do something; let’s see if you can break the hold of destiny, transforming yourself from a stumbling block in history to a turbocharger. My ultimate goal is to find hope from a seemingly hopeless future. I am confident that I can do it. You should also believe in yourself then. You don’t need to worry about the future thousands of years from now. You only need to worry about whether you did better than the last time, whether in terms of being a stallion, or anything else. You should progress a little more each time till you have lived a Regretless Life.”

After a long silence, Ward suddenly choked up.

“What… what can I do? Besides singing, what else can I do?”

Harrison pondered for a moment. “You can fully oversee Summit Venture’s overseas market. Give it a try and see how far you can go with it. Mr. Meng has been dealing with a lot. You can help him alleviate some of his workload. The specifics will be figured out as we proceed.”

“What if I fail?”

Harrison shrugged. “Don’t be so self-important. Even if you do fail, whether it will have a positive or negative effect on the future is still unclear. History always manages to correct itself. Even if you fail thoroughly, all we will lose is one timeline. One chance, I’m willing to take the risk. You’re part of our team, so it’s only right that we provide you with at least one opportunity. Be it good or bad, we should at least give it a try, right?”

Ward slowly started to regain his spirit.

“Yes! Thank you, Master, I will certainly not let you down.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“Yes.”

The destiny Harrison wanted to break was that of humankind, and the destiny that Ward wanted to break was his own.

From an individual perspective, these two goals were equally important.

The elderly couple of the Owen family arrived almost at the same time as the ambulance.

Chris Owen was scolded by his wife from the entrance of the villa all the way to the gym.

The mother of the young man had shifted all the blame onto Chris Owen, accusing him of being too strict with Ward Owen.

The accident during Ward’s workout to lose weight definitely happened because Chris Owen constantly criticized him for being overweight.

“What’s wrong with being a bit chubby? So, if he’s chubby, he’s not worthy of being your son? Can’t you quit nagging all the time? What’s wrong with Ward eating a bit more and becoming stronger? Does he have to be as skinny as a lightning bolt, like you, to be considered a human being? I’m telling you, Chris Owen; you better change this terrible habit of yours…”

She only shut up when she walked into the gym and saw Harrison Clark there.

Times had changed, and Harrison Clark was now a real big shot.

Even though the mother bossed everyone around at home, she knew her boundaries in the outside world. She not only needed to save face for Chris Owen but also had to maintain the family image to reassure their important business partner, Clark, of the Owen family’s stability.

After some commotion and pleasantries exchanged, medical personnel arrived and hurriedly conducted a rapid examination on the young man to make sure he was out of danger. Only then did the professionals carefully carry him onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.

Harrison Clark stayed until Ward Owen was taken into the operating room before bidding everyone farewell.

Not long after, Solution’s other members called one after the other to find out what had happened and were relieved when they found out it was a false alarm.

Harrison Clark didn’t ride in Chris Owen’s car and didn’t drive his own either. The hospital was about five to six kilometers from Chesterton Apartment. He walked the distance with his hands behind his back.

His mind was filled with thoughts of the young man’s decision, which was both comical yet vaguely touching.

He himself had wanted to take a break from all kinds of struggles and just be a couch potato.

But the young man was tired of being slothful and wanted to put up a fight. He had even planned to become a proud thoroughbred, almost at the cost of his own life.

It was both amusing and pitiful.

Harrison Clark didn’t want to admit it, but he was moved.

The young man knew that his and Samantha’s genes were good. Even though it would be embarrassing to say it out loud, he was still striving in the direction of becoming a successful progenitor.

But what about himself?

If there were anyone on this planet whose genes might bring about the greatest change to the civilization, the answer, without a doubt, was Harrison Clark.

With 38.91% of his genes awakened, he was currently the strongest human being. Even in a thousand years, he would still be among the strongest of the galactic humans.

According to the theory from an alternate timeline that those with high awakening levels are more likely to produce offspring with high awakening levels, Clark felt that even if his genes could only combine with those of a regular individual with a 25% awakening level, it wouldn’t be impossible to give birth to a new human offspring with over 30% gene awakening in the 21st century.

So, he had been wasting his talent all along.

He gave himself plenty of convincing reasons, though.

In the 31st century across multiple timelines, extensive and deep research had been conducted on his gene lineage.

The conclusions were heartbreaking.

If it hadn’t been for Nora Camp, he was essentially destined to have no descendants.

The people of the 21st century certainly couldn’t handle his level of gene awakening.

At times, Clark would fantasize, would Carrie Thomas, like Nora Camp, be an X-factor and able to carry his genes?

But his ideas could only remain as fantasies.

Because there was yet no detailed genetic testing technology in the 21st century that could accurately analyze their genes and simulate the probability of successful progeny.

As for the hopes of test-tube babies or surrogacy that the young man had, Clark definitely didn’t have the same expectation.

That was simply unfeasible.

So why hadn’t he taken the next step with Carrie?

Was it because he was truly a saint?

Of course, it wasn’t necessarily so.

Clark knew the reason.

Firstly, he was unable to drop the idea of procreating for the sake of the future. So, when something happens between them, his motivations wouldn’t be pure, which would be unfair to Carrie.

Secondly, he had always been concerned about the “Morning Wind”, and still was.

Thirdly, he had firmly believed that he wasn’t worthy of Carrie. It’s a little better now and his outlook has somewhat changed.

Lastly, he always believed that he and Carrie must not succumb to their base desires.

Now he thought otherwise.

Maybe he shouldn’t keep his distance from Carrie just to soothe his conscience.

Although it seemed responsible, it was also another form of selfishness.

In order to satisfy his personal moral views, he contradicted his usual principle of using every possible means to gamble on a possible future.

Every failure would lead to many deaths in the future.

Still, that was a crime.

So, what exactly should I do to be responsible to myself, to Carrie, and to humanity?

Can I find a perfect solution?

Is there a perfect solution?

Harrison Clark was stuck in a strange logical dilemma.

This dilemma kept troubling him until four days later.

On the evening of June 25, 2020, at his New Port Beach Villa in Carlisle, Harrison Clark sat in his room.

His hands were clasped together, sitting in front of a desk, still lost in thought.

The fingerprint lock on the main door of the villa downstairs was opened; it was Carrie Thomas.

She held a small sealed plastic bag in her hand, which contained strands of hair that she had collected over time.