Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 564: Non-optimal Route

'Even if it's just empty hope for now, plan C is still the most optimal.'

While not built on certainty, Leo couldn't help clinging to plan C once it reached the area of plausibility. If only just so he wouldn't end up falling back to plan B.

'I might have put the most effort into it, but…'

In theory, plan B was almost perfect. Not because it led to the best ending, but simply because it was rain-proof.

In the case of plan A, no matter how much planning is put into it, there was no salvaging the situation once the Enchroachment Rate got out of hand. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

On the other hand, being the exact opposite of plan A, plan B provided a large number of retries.

Built upon the premise of building a small nest of human civilization to sustain Aurora's survival, the possibilities were endless.

Even in the face of an otherworldly invasion, the spherical plant known as Earth was simply too complicated to encompass within a short period.

Whether it was simply relying on underground hideouts or making use of naturally obscure terrain, at least a dozen 'homes' could be used over time, and that was just the number of places that Leo had already scouted and confirmed.

Of course, the chance of being detected was still there, but with the Lord of Shadows being a part of that small nest, the whole thing could be transported to another location that had yet to be discovered.

When it came to practicality, plan B was the most reliable, at least for the short term. Yet…

'…the second route just doesn't sit right with me.'

While had many advantages, plan B was no different from a sticky swamp. There were more wrongs to it than right, especially from an ethical view.

'I can be pretty pragmatic with things that only I have to deal with, but this…'

At the very start, Aurora had to be convinced to abandon the final battle which went against the very fiber of both herself and her Ability.

As such, normal persuasion was off the table. In a practical case, Leo knew he had to forcefully take her away from the battlefield.

Of course, knowing Aurora better than most, Leo knew that the odds of her charging back as soon as she regains freedom were as high as 100%, so that would just be the first of many unethical actions that Leo would have to take.

In order to keep Aurora alive and safe, the only method that Leo could think of was guilting her into looking after the group chosen to accompany her.

In a way, by making her the only hope of humanity's functioning circle, she could still be the hero she wanted to be, but this part was exactly why Leo was reluctant to go down this dark path.

'How would they be chosen?'

In a scenario where every other human could be possibly annhiliated, choosing humanity's last survivors wasn't something that could be taken lightly…

'Even if they are properly filtered…'

Although one would be dealing with billions at the start, with proper filtration, that humongous number could be dialed down to manageable thousands, choosing the finalists was where things got really dark.

Proximity, decency, professions… The filtration categories worked well in weeding out difficulty and danger. However, even when it came to those who met all the conditions, there were at least a dozen candidates for each position of Leo's ideal group.

Even if Leo took the trouble to meet each and every one of them to filter them through direct inspections, in a situation where you have 2 or 3 identical human beings, both deserving a chance to live…

Who would be able to make a choice to save one of them and abandon the other?!

'How would I pick?'

This wasn't just a singular situation where one had to make one tough choice to save everyone else. It was something that would have to be repeated at least a hundred times.

The fact that he would have to abandon a couple hundred people that he personally defined to be humanity's finest made Leo dread even imagining that situation.

'Rather, do I even have the right to pick?'

Although he wouldn't be the one to kill the rest of humanity, Leo didn't want to deprive anyone of their one chance to live, especially not when he thought they really deserved to live.

Of course, if push came to shove, Leo was ready to do a paper raffle and let fate make the final decision, but that didn't deny his reluctance to start the whole thing.

'I know this is likely another relapse of my intensifying emotions, but for once, I feel like I agree.'

The extra emotional perspective definitely wasn't Leo's norm, but this time, the piled-up 'humanity' actually made sense. It wasn't a negative emotion that had to be suppressed.

Most importantly, unlike the other two plans, plan B didn't have a set ending. Since he wouldn't be getting rid of the actual threat to Aurora's life, Leo had no idea when the main quest would be considered complete.

Would just initiating the plan work? Would he have to sustain society for a month? A year? Did he have to wait all the way until Aurora died of old age?!

'Even for me, that would be too long.'

With no guidelines to follow, Leo couldn't give a proper estimate of the end of his journey if he followed that route. After all, even if the future could be calculated, nothing could be really guaranteed.

The plan might guarantee the group's safety for decades, but once Leo left the world, the group's shadow movement advantage would disappear with him.

In the end, while it was the most realistic one where Leo planned to do everything he could, plan B had a very loose end.

'On the other hand, plan C…'

As a route that Leo didn't even consider until very recently, it was hard to see as a thorough plan, but at the same time, it was the ending that Leo desired the most.

'It's pretty straightforward.'

After all, what could be possibly better than taking down the unbeatable invader?