My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 389 - 262 The Cost of Plagiarism

Chapter 389: Chapter 262 The Cost of Plagiarism

"Sunda Strait, Karakato..."

Meng Lang entered these two keywords into the search box, and a pile of information popped up.

The Karakato Volcano, a famous active volcano in Asia, is located on Lakata Island in the Sunda Strait between Indonesia Sumatra Island and Java Island, with an elevation of 813 meters.

The area of the Karakato Volcano is not large, but it has a strong level of activity. The most famous eruption was in 1883, which directly shook the world.

The explosive force was equivalent to one million times the bomb dropped on Hiroshima; the roaring sound from the eruption could be heard as far away as Australia, 3,000 kilometers distant.

The massive eruption also caused severe earthquakes and tsunamis, affecting the interiors of Java and Sumatra Island, destroying 295 towns and villages.

The tsunami waves generated by the earthquake swept out from Karakato and reached the west coast of Europe in just 32 hours.

With such speed and intensity, the tsunami sank up to 6,500 ships along its path and claimed the lives of about 50,000 people...

"Hmm..."

His smile twitched as he really didn’t know how to evaluate this life experience.

Speaking of which, with the increase in his strength and power, how long had it been since he last encountered a situation where he died directly due to an accidental disaster?

Recently, his deaths had been either due to being taken out by the Night Demon Clan ahead of time, or as a result of the Day of Judgement.

So much so that he almost forgot that the bad luck targeted by destiny didn’t only come from the Night Demon Clan...

"I was careless..." Meng Lang sighed leisurely.

His recent attention was all focused on dealing with the Night Demon Clan, and deep down, he admittedly had become somewhat negligent in guarding against his omnipresent misfortune.

But he’d never imagined that the old man Fate would take advantage of his lowered guard, not even bothering with a precision strike anymore, but going straight for an AOE...

Too despicable! Have the guts to just let me squat directly on the rim of a volcano...

Meng Lang couldn’t help but complain.

But something seemed strange. Why, when he had no problem traveling around the world according to the "Revelations," did something go wrong just by visiting Southeast Asia?

Could it be that dying of old age and dementia fits more with the old guy Destiny’s perverse taste, so it had a higher priority?

Or maybe I, the little butterfly, have struggled too fiercely recently... Has the backlash from Fate upgraded again?

From the bits and pieces of the conversation in the book, it seemed that he had some resistance to traveling abroad this time.

Even if he were negligent in protection, he wouldn’t just embark on a yacht, a dangerous mode of transport, without any preparation.

Even if there weren’t rescue helicopters or lifeboats on standby 24 hours a day, lifeboats and life jackets would definitely be in abundance, and the escape route would certainly be well planned.

Under normal circumstances like yacht leaks, mechanical failures, ship collisions, running aground, or being hit by torpedoes, the chances of survival should still be fairly high.

But to say that these ordinary safety measures could handle a super volcanic eruption, especially to have a close-up experience of an AOE splash damage...

Please, they straight-up set off an active volcano!

That’s comparable to the explosive yield of N nuclear bombs!

I’m at most just visiting the neighbor’s house. Even if my emergency plans are thorough, there’s no need to reach the disaster response level of a super nuclear explosion, right?

My lowered vigilance is one thing, but this outrageously dishonorable luck is even more preposterous!

Aside from lamenting his unfulfilled ambitions and the senseless sacrifice of a brother, Meng Lang could only briefly mourn for his beleaguered fate...

[December 22, 2018, Sundra Strait, Karakato Volcanic Eruption, triggers an undetermined scale super tsunami...]

He noted this information in his notebook.

He sighed with some frustration.

In the past, at least, it was only the transportation tools that failed, but now it had escalated to the point of being targeted by natural disaster level weapons...

Everything has a first time, and often that’s followed by countless more.

With his luck already in complete despair, Meng Lang had no choice but to speculate about Fate’s intentions with the worst of malice.

Could it be that from now on, I’ll not only have to guard against all sorts of life’s assassins but also specifically make a "Disaster Avoidance Guide" for such wide-ranging natural disasters?

"Accidents at home, plane crashes when heading to Beijing, and encountering a volcanic eruption during a stroll in Southeast Asia...

Am I somehow jinxed against long-distance travel?

This is practically forcing me to become a shut-in..."

At least, Su City and Meng Family Village—two places where I often stay—should be free from any natural disaster level large-scale natural disasters for the next 25 years.

Otherwise, for the sake of my own life, I would certainly provide myself with at least a little warning.

As for the entire Country Hua... or even the whole world, it’s not like super natural disasters happen every day, but their frequency is also very high, and listing them all for my own encyclopedia isn’t exactly practical.

The safest method is to read more books and travel less.

If I absolutely must take risks, I need to send someone first to investigate the local cultural characteristics, geological features, and even various natural and man-made disasters for the next few decades to make sure I don’t step in dog poop again...

Living... is damn exhausting!

Meng Lang turned his gaze back to the photo in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas."

This time it wasn’t him in the wheelchair; it was Yan Weiwei.

Her right leg was in a cast, and her neck was fitted with a brace to stabilize it. She looked kind of ridiculous.

Her expression towards the camera seemed somewhat chagrined, with her right hand raised as if to throw something, becoming somewhat blurred in the frozen image.

In her hand... appeared to be an ashtray?

Hey, are you serious?

"She looks spirited enough..." Meng Lang curled his lips.

Even if he weren’t at the scene, he could probably write a 300-word essay based on this photo, thanks to his imagination and associative thinking.

It was no more than a confident Yan Weiwei returning in disarray from a mountaineering defeat, and an oblivious him snapping away, preserving this rare "shedding armor" moment...

"Mountaineering meeting, huh..."

Meng Lang felt somewhat helpless inside.

The so-called mountains and seas, the sea being the Sunda Strait, and the mountain, Zhongnan Mountain...

They seemed worlds apart, unrelated, yet somehow bound together by some nonsensical "mountaineering meeting" into a causal relationship.

The general sequence of events should go something like this...

On the surface, she led the enviable life of a landlady, but in reality, she carried the burden of her family’s martial arts legacy.

The girl, unwilling to have her life mapped out for her, fought tirelessly and rebelly to secure three years of freedom for herself, but the deadline was the end of this year.

In order to extend her delightful free time, she agreed to attend this mountaineering meeting as a bet with her old man, hoping to turn three years into another three...

But the outcome was that there are always bigger mountains and better people out there, and she was eliminated without even reaching the summit!

That led to her last farewell trip, only because this guy liked watching the sea, and she, due to her loose tongue, owed him a sunrise...

If he were to unfold the entire chain of causality, his own fate was actually sealed on the day Yan Weiwei returned from her defeat.

Yet, when faced with such a crucial juncture of destiny, he was completely unaware, even taking pleasure in Yan Weiwei’s embarrassments as he photographed them for posterity.

Ignorance truly is bliss!

However, this is just a higher dimensional perspective belittling a lower-dimensional world.

Without the advantage of information from this book, wouldn’t the ’me’ in the story still be at the mercy of fate, only realizing the causality before death?

Speaking of which, doesn’t this count as a "downward strike"?

An insignificant "cause" led to the tragic "effect" of death, but low-dimensional beings caught up in their reality cannot fathom the mystery.

Whereas I could predict the future and continuously adjust the key "causes" to create the "effects" I desire to see.

From this angle, could this book be considered a kind of "Causality Weapon"?

Looking at his autobiography lying unassumingly on the desk, Meng Lang couldn’t help but be amazed...

Such prestige, so terrifying!

But...

Meng Lang was puzzled.

The book was right about one thing, partings in adulthood are always hushed, no explanation needed.

Indeed, his life trajectory up until today should have followed suit.

Yan Weiwei hadn’t gone to climb Zhongnan Mountain or joined them to the Sunda Strait.

Why, then, did things suddenly become different this time?

Could it be the butterfly effect from helping Fan Shigang out at the bar?

That effect should have manifested earlier and not waited until today.

So what exactly caused Yan Weiwei to decide against a quiet departure, opting instead for a nearly tragic method to launch her final assault on the mountain that fate represented?

Meng Lang started to carefully recall his recent actions.

What could have significantly influenced Yan Weiwei’s thoughts to the point of altering her life’s plan?

Although somewhat vain to admit, as fate’s only butterfly, he was likely responsible for any inexplicable changes in others’ life trajectories.

No need for deduction... any problems are definitely on me!

But as of late, I’ve mostly been diligently holed up at home coding, gathering intel, and planning my life.

Apart from the usual visiting and freeloading for meals with brief contacts, I don’t recall doing anything particularly outrageous, right?

emm...

Except for singing a song to Yan Weiwei...

Meng Lang: "..."

It’s just an illusion! There’s no way the mostly muscle-brained Yan Weiwei could be so lovestruck!

Despite wanting to deny it vigorously, the memory of her sparkling eyes under the starry sky that night on the beach kept haunting him...

Meng Lang started feeling uneasy.

What is this supposed to mean?

Words may be carelessly spoken, but songs must not be sung recklessly?

The price of plagiarism... is it really this severe?

And besides... it’s the first offense, why not even a chance to make amends?!