Starr Whitefield Cemetery, Superbia East.
The cold winter wind blew by, causing the gray wild grass to flutter, and the dry branches moved with the wind, like the skinny hands of an old man. The tombstones are arranged in an orderly manner under the dead trees, looking like a miniature town from a distance.
Gongsun Ce stood in front of a newly erected tombstone, holding a bouquet of violets in his hand. Tombstones are the most common style, and the epitaph is concise and to the point: "Former comrade, past best friend."
"This place is quite depressed in winter, but I have seen photos. When spring comes, the area will be full of flowers. The environment is better than where many people live." Gongsun Ce placed the flowers on Jane Diera In front of the tombstone, "Go well."
He put his hands in his pockets and turned to leave.
Naturally, he did not set up this monument. Jane's funeral arrangements were arranged by the Dawn Knight. She did not tell anyone else about it, but after studying it for more than a month, Gongsun Ce was able to deduce from the clues that Alandia was doing it. What. He also kept silent, only saying that he went out for a walk and sent a bouquet of flowers to the enemy he killed with his own hands.
It's quite hypocritical when you think about it, he's not that sad either. It was like a ritual that marked the end of the matter. What would Alandia say if she knew this idea?
"The essence of paying homage to the dead is to comfort the living..." Gongsun Ce said to himself, "That's it."
"Young? It's rare for you to say something nice!"
He looked up and saw Criqui Hyde waving not far away, holding a bouquet of purple flowers in her hand.
·
"You are now a big shot!" Criqui exclaimed, "Her Majesty the Queen personally received you and awarded you the George Cross. You have set an example of courage and courage~ Do I have to call you Sir Gongsun?"
"Don't come here. The official award will be announced by the end of August. Besides, it's only the first one." Gongsun Ce looked at her suspiciously, "How could you know all this internal information if you didn't wait for it?"
Krikki squinted and smiled: "Sister, I have been working in the system until now. You, a foreigner who has just arrived, still want to compete with me on the intelligence network?"
The green-haired girl put her hands behind her head and whistled as she walked, looking as leisurely as if she were outing in the park. She had previously thrown the bouquet in front of the grave and sang "RIP my friend!" She patted her butt and walked away as if nothing had happened. If Jane Diera was alive and saw her old friend coming to visit the grave like this, she would probably He was so angry that he turned into a ghost and talked to her.
Gongsun Ce raised his finger and bluffed: "No, I think you are up to something! Tell me honestly what you were doing on the day of the duel."
Krikki immediately raised his hands: "Sir, please forgive me! If you want to do anything, you can do it directly. Xiaomin promises to cooperate without making so many excuses..."
"Will you die if you don't make dirty jokes?"
"It's a pity to leave the little boy alone!" Crichey said confidently, "Sister, I went to escort you as soon as possible that day. When His Highness Jackson killed the longing beast in the East District, I was still in the team. Kill the monster and kill it. Is it easy for me to lie down after being seriously injured until now?"
Gongsun Ce's eyes suddenly became strange: "Why won't it be your turn to escort the second prince later? Aren't you the old fool's apprentice?"
Krikki stretched out her fingertips and poked his forehead: "It doesn't stop me from being a subordinate of the royal family. Who says one person can't work two jobs?"
Gongsun Ce pinched the prodding finger with two fingers, and said with a smile: "Okay, you are a double-faced female spy. Sow discord, fan the wind and ignite the fire!"
"Could it be that Mr. Sir, who is carrying a gun and a stick in his words, wants to torture me..." Crikey retracted her index finger and crossed her arms, "I still have some small expectations."
"Go, go, Sir, I'm not interested in tablets." Gongsun Ce waved his hand, extinguishing his doubts.
Nearly a week has passed since the day of the duel. During this time, they have been looking for the Realm Envoy who escaped that day, but to no avail. This is reasonable, after all, it is an impossible task to find an invisible world without a trace.
On the other hand, the investigation of the mole has also fallen into an embarrassing situation: the existence of the Invisible Man Creation has been confirmed, how can we find the mole? As long as the World Creation Envoy exists, the information will be one-way transparent to the enemy. Even if there is no inner ghost, Invisible Creation can rely on its own advantages to create a situation where enemies are on all sides. This was nothing more than another case of "armor eucalyptus". The battlefield was a chaotic mess that day. Each senior officer could not provide conclusive evidence to prove whether what they did was true, and the investigation reached a deadlock.
If you cannot consider means, you can only consider motives. Who benefits from this mess...
Gongsun Ce was thinking endlessly when he heard the person next to him say: "Don't be too sad. You are the one who will die if you don't kill her. You are right."
Gongsun Ce habitually retorted: "Why am I sad? I just think she's quite... how should I put it, shouldn't be? Maybe I found out earlier that she can still be saved."
"I don't think so." Crikey turned around and looked at the tombstone in the distance.
They stood on a high ground near the exit and looked around at the cemetery, which was gray and lifeless like exquisite ruins. She was smiling as she spoke, but her tone seemed cold and inhumane.
"Some things are doomed from the beginning. Some people are born strong and kind, while others are born weak and evil. They are as incompatible as day and night. Some people can overcome the influence of the environment and induce others to implement their own will because they are born with it. Just standing on the 'white' side, they know how they should live.
But other people can only survive on the 'black' side. They look at the people in the daylight and feel so dazzling and beautiful, and they have the illusion that they can pass by, but once they cross the line, they find themselves out of place. When they saw Bai's purity, they were ashamed of themselves, and they felt hatred and wanted to make it dirty. The more they hold on like that, the more they hurt themselves. In the end, they will turn back and crawl back into the black quagmire and secretly degenerate..."
"Those people are born with no cure."
Crikey turned back, her face calm. She was obviously talking about Jane Diela, but her tone seemed to be talking about herself. Gongsun Ce shrank for no reason and frowned: "Why is such a good girl so pessimistic? Can you be positive?"
"Hey, after you see too many bad things in society, you will naturally become depressed!" Krikki grinned, "So when I see a little boy like you, I want to talk more, feel the innocence of feeling, and still believe in love and justice. Time. Cherish the good times now! It will be difficult to be optimistic when you grow up~"
She whistled and ran away, her back looking relaxed and happy. The pessimism she had inadvertently revealed before seemed like an illusion, but also like a rare expression of true feelings from an actor. Gongsun Ce watched her walk away, feeling that his newly active state of mind gradually became heavier.
They separated at the fork in the road, Gongsun Ce went out from the main entrance, and Kriji walked towards the side door.
She left the cemetery, wandered aimlessly in a random direction, and unknowingly came to an old brick house. The red brick building built in the middle of the last century is located on the backlit side of the street. Through the second-story windows, you can see the doors next to each other. The mottled walls are covered with red or black stains and are damaged. The light tubes were erected on the ground against the wall.
"Long time no see, Mom and Dad." Krikki said to herself.
She twirled the folding knife between her fingers and pushed her free hand toward the door, as if planning to enter the house and take a look. But Krikki suddenly changed her mind. She quickly walked into the alleyway next to the building, and her body dissipated like mist. After a breath she appeared on the top of the red brick building, wearing a dirty cloak. Ten seconds later, another 'acquaintance' came around the corner, a handsome man with long hair and superpowers, accompanied by two gangsters dressed in weird costumes.
"You two really got the wrong person. I'm just an ordinary tourist, how could I be a person with super powers..."
Mo Yuankai was deeply embarrassed. He had nothing to do today and wanted to walk around the street to see the scenic spots, but unexpectedly he turned on the disguise and was guessed by the impression of these two people.
"Bullshit! You're talking nonsense!" Tyros lowered his voice, "Look at your hair!" Capullo rubbed the green hair on his head in cooperation: "Hair!"
"Look at your face!" Capullo rubbed his face in cooperation: "Face!"
"I've seen it with my own eyes, can I still admit it?!" Tyros clapped his hands and concluded, "You were the one who didn't run away that day!"
Mo Yuankai quickly pulled them into the alley and whispered: "Keep your voice down, it's so embarrassing to be recognized by everyone. What's the matter?"
The two gangsters looked at each other and said with deep emotion: "Thank you hero for saving our lives!
"
"No, it's just a matter of helping others..." Mo Yuankai was really not good at dealing with this kind of situation. Everyone in Cangdu kept a distance, but it was rare for someone to come up to him directly like this. He tried his best to speak in a dry and casual manner. It creates an atmosphere of "I still have something to do and I have to leave quickly", but the effect is not very good.
"I almost thought I was dead." Tyros burst into tears with gratitude, and ended up gossiping again: "How many people did you save that day? That big shiny thing was also yours? It was you in the sky with that... that monster Fight?"
Mo Yuankai moved his hand to his mouth and said seriously: "This is a secret message, no comment!"
"Oh, oh! Understand, understand... did they award you a medal? Did the Queen put that medal on you personally?" The gangsters' gossip souls were burning. "Is there an interview? Will it be on the headlines of the newspaper?"
Mo Yuankai immediately looked at the sky: "No, I heard the call of mission. Take care, you two, I'm going to uphold justice!"
"You are busy, you are busy!" The gangsters hurriedly stepped aside and saw the great hero swooping up to the sky, then hanging upside down under the eaves like a bat and looking back, with his long hair flowing down and almost touching the ground.
"By the way, it's fate that we met each other. I just want to tell you something." Mo Yuankai scratched his face, "Recently... try not to stay in the capital. If possible, go for a vacation, or go outside first. Any odd job is good.”
"Is there anything else going to happen?" Tyros asked warily.
"It's hard to tell..." Mo Yuankai shook his head, "Anyway, if you can go out, go out and live for a while. It's best to wait until September or October to come back. Hey, I'm only telling you if I'm destined. I don't want to publicize it everywhere."
"Definitely, definitely." The orange-haired gangster nodded repeatedly, "Thanks, buddy!"
Mo Yuankai disappeared like a beam of light, and the flattering smile on Tyros's face faded into a sad look.
Capullo said worriedly: "Brother, are we leaving?"
"Let's go? Where are we going?" Tyros slapped his little brother's head hard, "Do you have money? Do you have a job? Can you afford food after leaving the capital? Who do you want to go to if you don't even have any relatives? Go? Why do you have a room to live here, and can enjoy the royal capital’s subsistence allowance and the royal capital’s welfare? How can you live without Superbia? I don’t even want you to be a laborer!”
Capullo held his head and said with a grimace, "Don't hit me, you."
"Damn..." The gangster trampled the ground back and forth with his toes. His mind turned several times and he said anxiously: "Let's take a look... and look at the situation. If it doesn't look right in two weeks, we will run away."
Tyros also knew that the situation was not good. Such a big thing happened on the day of the duel. Even if it was handled properly, everyone would not feel safe. Not to mention the drama that gradually spread...King Morton killed people and took the sword...Everyone kept silent on the surface, but they were thinking in the inside. Not everyone believed in the dragon phenomenon.
But the problem is how to escape? Where to run? What to do next? have no idea. No money, no connections, no such long-term considerations, and no such distant future. Just deal with it casually, push the problem aside first, and see what happens. Anyway, it was like this before, and it will be like this in the future. Strikes, unemployment, cuts in welfare benefits, noble lords causing trouble... Bad things happen every once in a while, but life always goes on like this day by day, in a muddle...
While he was thinking, he heard Capullo whisper: "Brother, I think what he is doing is unreasonable. Shouldn't everyone know about this?"
Tyros was speechless for a moment to retort, but he subconsciously wanted to speak for the man: "What do you know! This is because... because..."
"Because the royal capital has a population of 20 million, and one-tenth of the entire kingdom's population is in this city. It is simply impossible to evacuate all the people within a few months, and it is so rash to put such vague information into the city. Releasing the intelligence will only cause riots. Traffic arteries will be blocked, air tickets and train tickets will soar, and daily necessities will be purchased, not to mention the chain effects on the economy and politics..."
The green-haired woman leaned against the alley, playing with a folding knife in her hand, and smiled back at the gangsters who looked at her: "The attack on the day of the duel has just ended. If the wind blows now, the crumbling old building may be destroyed." It’s about to collapse!”
"Hyde?!" Tyros suddenly became nervous and took two steps back while protecting Capullo. He stared at the blade in Crikey's hand, "Why did you, a rich man like you, come back to the East District?"
"Why are you nervous? I won't kill you." Krikki said with a smile, "Come over and have a look if you happen to be passing by. I miss the good times of my childhood."
Capullo had already begun to show off, and Tyros's face turned a little green: "If you don't have any good news to share, please come back, okay? I'm really scared."
"Yes." Criqui whistled, "Remember Jane?"
"Jie hahaha! Another rich old man!" Tyros said harshly, "You were fired for stealing, right? This little bitch is disgraced, she deserves it!"
"She died. I just came back from visiting her grave."
Tyros' sarcastic laughter suddenly stopped, looking as funny as a goose stuck in its neck.
"Why?" Capullo said blankly.
"You can't see yourself clearly." Krikki shrugged, "I must have taken the wrong path, I don't know when."
"...You deserve it, you asked for it." Tyros was silent for a long time, and once again spoke coldly, with jealousy, sarcasm and sympathy. "If you insist on crawling under the sun, always thinking about going to places you shouldn't go, you will end up killing yourself... If you keep living here, you will never die."
"Who says it isn't? People always have their place where they should be."
Criqui put away her pocketknife and left leisurely. She walked from the backlit alley into the avenue, and it seemed as if she had never left.
·
Gongsun Ce walked silently among the tombstones, thinking about the words he heard when they parted.
Criqui felt that people's positions were determined at birth, so whose side was he on? Gongsun Ce asked himself, is he white? Still black?
He thought he should be on the white side, but wasn't he, who once stayed in the dead zone, also a formidable presence in the eyes of others? It's just that the elder brother pulled him under the sun, and the place that really belongs to him may still be...
Thoughts are like walking in a quagmire, sinking deeper and deeper as you go. Unknowingly, his steps became heavy, and all the bad things he had encountered since arriving in the kingdom echoed in his mind, making him even more unhappy and depressed.
"..."
Gongsun Ce walked out of the cemetery and felt at a loss for a moment. At this time, he heard a soft "click" sound, like the sound of a pocket watch being opened.
He turned his head and saw his beautiful figure wrapped in a blue jacket, with the medal on his chest shining brightly. He stared at the medal for a few seconds, then raised his head and found that the silver-haired knight had just put away his pocket watch and was looking at him.
"No, I really didn't mean it!" Gongsun Ce suddenly realized how rude he had just been, and hurriedly explained, "You know that I am shorter than you, so my eyes will naturally look that way..."
"I know." Alandia nodded, "What I want to ask is, do you have time to go to the East District with me?"
"Of course." Gongsun Ce said without hesitation, "What else is wrong?"
·
Law and order violations occur every day in Superbia's East District, but today the Dawn Knight did not come here to investigate. She drove Gongsun Ce through the increasingly familiar roads in her car and stopped in front of an old residential building.
The building has six floors and is made of brown bricks. The windows are closely spaced together, like matchboxes. The exterior walls of the residential building are mottled, and most of the green window frames are rusty. There used to be a small shop on the first floor but it has been closed long ago. Various small advertisements are pasted on the dirty glass, which can be seen through the overlapping paper gaps. The dusty clearing inside was gray.
"This is?"
"My childhood home," Airandia said.
