"Emergency notice, a biochemical accident occurred on Huaihua Road in Dingyi District. Citizens are requested to evacuate in an orderly manner. Repeat, Dingyi District..."
The piercing sirens passed through my ears, and the emotionless electronic synthesized sound spread in the air. The moist breath of the rainy night carried a familiar uneasiness and restlessness. Mo Yuankai suddenly woke up and found that he was standing on the street of the Sky City. Heavy rain was washing the road, and young people who were either excited or depressed were running on the street, like the prelude to a carnival night.
He thought of Situ Yi's ominous announcement and the gray fog, and the experience four years ago made him nervous. Another illusion? Similar to the psychic attack in the hell world? Mo Yuankai subconsciously clenched his hands, and the joystick responded with a familiar metallic touch. He was still in the cockpit of the Machine God, and he could send and receive freely in the heroic stance, but Orianna behind him was nowhere to be seen.
"Destroy them separately..." Mo Yuankai frowned.
Machine God spread his legs and ran wildly in the city under the rainy night. The rain surged up due to the giant's movements, like miniature waterfalls. Only the buildings and environment were affected, and the "citizens" walked through the rain like ghosts. Mo Yuankai became more and more convinced that this was probably the illusion technique that Situ Yi was good at attacking the mind, but at this time, he could not act rashly and attack casually.
The method of spirituality is the most mysterious and inexplicable. Who knows if there is a powerless Dawn Knight standing behind the wall he smashed? Who knows if the wide-area attack will affect other companions who fell into the trap? The top priority is to rendezvous with the other three people and wait for Ace and Alandia to analyze before taking action. He made a plan and acted immediately. The alert inside the Machine God was raised to the highest level to prevent the Hidden Law Lord from making a sneak attack. The heroic stance spread cautiously and explored the surrounding situation.
Mo Yuankai's detection gave him a strange feeling, as if there was going to be a fire in the distance. He controlled the machine god to jump up and fly to a tall building in the Thorn District.
Drops of raindrops shattered on the cold metal. Armored vehicles, tanks and armed helicopters completely sealed the building. Sneaky people were lurking around, whispering something. Mo Yuankai felt a sense of familiarity for no reason. It seemed that an operation was going to be carried out here. All the windows in the building were darkened, except for the light behind one window. A long-haired man sat alone in that room, his head lowered and the expression on his face unclear. The mechanical clock on the wall clicked, and the fonts marking the date glowed faintly.
August 23, 2006.
At the end of August 4 years ago, on a rainy night...the troops surrounding the building...Mo Yuankai remembered that this was the night of the melee in Cangdu, the rainy night when Ah Ce rose up again. The man who bowed his head and said nothing was his past self!
The armed helicopter stopped silently and was dragged downwards by telekinesis. The explosions of light and fire lit up around the building. At this time, Ace, who had passed by, had already entered the battlefield. The cell phone of the past "Mo Yuan Kai" rang, and the real Mo Yuan Kai suddenly became nervous. He didn't know what was going to happen, but his intuition told him that he must stop this weird "re-enactment." The golden light from the hero's position shines into the window and turns into a rope to bind his former self. But his intervention failed, and "Mo Yuan Kai" was as uninterrupted as those ghostly passers-by. He answered the phone and listened to his younger brother's excited narration. His facial muscles tensed up for a moment, as if he was about to jump up and shout again. fighting.
The man almost stood up, but the moment before he regained his determination, his expression became slack again, so limp that he had no strength at all, just like his voice was weak.
"Forget it, Ace." He whispered, "I really don't have the heart to participate anymore... You take care of yourself, I'll help you cheer up."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, and it seemed that Gongsun Ce had to force himself to say something again. He dropped his cell phone and collapsed on the sofa, lifeless. Then the last light in the building went out, and the only sound in the darkness was the sound of heavy rain falling.
The real Mo Yuankai wanted to roar and scold the "self" who had no courage, but suddenly he couldn't muster the strength, as if he had been thrown into the cold and bitter sea. Weakness and depression filled his mind, and regret seeped into his blood like poison. The gray-white puppet thread appeared without warning, passing through the protection of the cockpit and sinking into his body.
Mo Yuankai struggled hard. He should have been able to directly isolate the hero's position from the forceful erosion, but at this moment, his strength was sinking as quickly as his fighting spirit. He slammed his head against the console, letting the pain keep him awake. The surveillance module that was accidentally touched shifted the screen, and he found that lines of dark text were emerging in the night sky:
[I rejected A Ce’s invitation. I can no longer fight. Facts have proved that Mo Yuankai is useless if he cannot use his abilities. I am no longer a hero in the sky, just a helpless mortal. 】
"you……!"
The hands holding the joystick were trembling, and the body itself was telling of fear. Memories that never existed emerged from the depths of his mind, and Mo Yuankai roared in pain. He saw Gongsun Ce and his companions saving the city time and time again, while he increasingly closed himself off and became weak and obese in the small room. He did nothing, so the follow-up Mecha Plan did not appear, and he himself did not participate in this battle...
The mind is sinking in control, and the self is gradually becoming numb. This is not a simple illusion, his past is being rewritten by drama, and Situ Yi's drama is causing his life to go astray as it should not!
·
"Alandia? Big brother? Orianna?"
Heavy roars sounded one after another, and the impact of the majestic seal cleared away all the fog and buildings near the young man. Gongsun Ce called out during the attack, but he received no response.
This fog is so thick that it feels like the spirit prison world has returned. No matter how the Wrath Seal and Tribulation Flame attack, after smashing one layer of silk thread building, what you will see is another layer of exactly the same thread. He seemed to be trapped in an infinite superimposed cage. No matter how many walls he broke, he would sigh in front of the next wall.
"Life on the wrong road..."
Gongsun Ce temporarily restrained his offensive and moved forward cautiously in the fog following his induction. This technique separated the positions of the four people. Without Orianna's support, he could not exert his power as he wanted as before. He thought to himself that Situ Yi must be up to something before he showed up. Judging from the name of the technique, it was most likely a disgusting mind-attacking technique. The more it was like this, the more he had to guard against it.
Behind the gradually dissipating fog, simple and elegant blue roofs and white walls are revealed. People dressed conservatively come and go, and the early morning sunshine carries the cool taste of winter. He came to Superbia, the capital of the kingdom four years ago. Gongsun Ce tensed his nerves, wary of the crisis that would come at some unknown time.
His heart skipped a beat as the silhouette of a female knight flashed across the crossroads ahead. The morning wind blew her silver hair, her familiar profile was as clear as a sword, and her deerstalker hat flashed past before disappearing into the crowd. Gongsun Ce hurriedly ran over and reached out to grab her shoulder: "Alandia! Are you okay?"
His hand stopped him midway, and Arlandia turned around, her gray eyes as calm as ever.
"That's rude, sir," she said. "Excuse me, are you?"
Gongsun Ce retracted his hand reluctantly. He pinched the corner of his clothes uneasily and avoided the other party's eyes: "No, I'm sorry, I just... want to get to know you..."
The silver-haired woman's gaze swept across his body. "And I don't want to know you," she said. She left, and the high heels of her boots clicked on the road. Gongsun Ce reached out to her back and opened his mouth, wanting to say something but unable to speak.
"What, you are a self-righteous woman! If you strike up a conversation, your reaction will be like this. If I stay in the capital for two months, I won't have to worry about having an affair. Who cares about you!"
Finally, Gongsun Ce angrily kicked the wall on the street, turned and walked away with a grunt, like a worthless street gangster. He felt anxious as he cursed, as if he was wasting time.
He does have a mission, right? He had to hurry up and find...
"I have to find Alandia..."
Gongsun Ce, who was dressed in black and had black hair, stood on the streets of the royal capital, scratching his hair in confusion.
"Who is Alandia?"
·
[In Superbia four years ago, I didn’t form any bonds worth mentioning.
Everyone in the Knights is a good and honest person, but they cannot understand people with super powers, and I have no intention of communicating with them in depth. It is good for me and others to maintain the normal way of negotiation and carry out ordinary communication at a distance.
When I first knew that the woman was the Knight of Dawn, I had some small delusions in my mind, maybe I could use my identity to have further communication with her. However, delusions are just delusions after all. The knight Raquel was responsible for my escort mission, and I spent two months at his home talking about anime and games. This is normal development. The aloof Dawn Knight personally acts as a guard for superpowers. In reality, there is no such whimsical thing.
People who do not live in the same world have no reason to meet each other. 】
·
Elegant handwriting emerged from the hazy mist, and the summer story belonging to a certain boy was moving along a reasonable and rigorous course. Gongsun Ce didn't know this. He walked on the streets of the royal capital and looked at the headquarters of the Knights not far away, feeling slightly at a loss.
It seems that something important has been forgotten. He should seize the time to do something, but what is it...
"Hey hey hey, what are you thinking about?"
Gongsun Ce was hit on the shoulder, and the young man stumbled to the left, causing an angry scream.
"Sir, you stepped on me!"
Jane Diela was so angry that her green eyes were about to burst into flames. Gongsun Ce smiled and waved his hands: "Sorry, sorry, the people in the capital are so blind that they really didn't notice the little village girl at their feet..."
"Who are you calling a village girl?!" Jane screamed and punched, and Gongsun Ce made a face. "The violent woman who punches people is a village girl!" "Gongsun Ce, stop!"
Gongsun Ce smirked and dodged to the right, using the tall woman who had just bumped into him as a shield. The tall woman turned half a circle as lightly as a ballerina, sandwiching him on the left and right with Jian, and returned to her original position. Her green hair fluttered, tickling the tip of Gongsun Ce's nose.
"It's all your fault, Haide!" Gongsun Ce complained first.
"It's my fault that the little boy is distracted." Krikki whistled, "What are you thinking of? You are so distracted that you are not satisfied with two beautiful girls accompanying you on a date."
"Thank you for turning delivering materials to an old fool like a date." Gongsun Ce ignored the screams from the side (Jian Zai repeatedly emphasized that this was not a date), and he sighed leisurely: "It's nothing... I always feel like I have something. I can’t remember what I should do.”
"I beg you to wake up. Is there anything you want us to do?"
Keliki turned half a circle on her toes, and sat down on a bench by the roadside in a chic manner. She extended her fingers and pointed at the three of them in turn: "I am one of the many apprentices of the Soul Resurrection Master. My daily work is nothing more than Serve tea and water; dear Miss Diera, the vase attendant of the Dawn Knight, your main task is to applaud and cheer; you, the nominal assistant of the Hero of the Sky, are mainly responsible for completing the propaganda task by lip service. Our good sisters are already in the same stinky combination. , now that you have joined us, we are even more powerful, you can be called a piece of mud that cannot be wiped off the white wall of the capital!"
Kriji spoke with great aura, and Gongsun Ce on the side curled his lips repeatedly: "Ah, I'll screw you."
Jane Diela was no longer angry at this time. She lowered her head and said in a low voice: "What Hyde said is true... We are the most meaningless guys in this city, we have no status but do unnecessary things. The big guys are so awesome, so why are there any important tasks that require us?"
Gongsun Ce also sat on the bench and remained silent for a while. He recalled everyone's gazes when his elder brother was repairing his armor, the embarrassing feeling of having nowhere to hide under the spotlight, and the embarrassing scene of being rejected by the Dawn Knight when he approached her on the first day...
Think about it, he is a clown after all, and those farces are where he belongs. The good-for-nothing girls are right, what can you do if you feel so good about yourself? What mission does he have?
"Okay, cheer up!" Krikki clapped her hands loudly, "Sister, I'll take you to see something fun tonight. Have you ever seen a play before?"
"What kind of show?" Gongsun Ce asked casually, "If nothing happens, why not go on clubbing."
"It's more interesting than a bar. It's a classical play performed in a tent." Krikki hooked her fingers, "The atmosphere is great... You will definitely like that troupe!"
As she spoke, she blew into Gongsun Ce's ear. The woman's breath was warm, with the same depressed and decadent intimacy as herself. Gongsun Ce couldn't help but squint his eyes. It was still early morning, but he felt a little tired.
"Okay, why not."
The day passed quickly, just like every other day. Useless people were running around in the capital, using their official status to eat and drink in the cafeteria, and throwing stones at the pigeons in front of the church like the most boring tourists. Gongsun Ce followed his body numbly, pretending to be enjoying it, but in fact he didn't have much fun.
After nightfall, they went to a lawn in the East End and watched a simple drama under the warm introduction of Crikey. He managed to raise his eyes at first, but after looking at it for a while, he was attracted by it unknowingly. The acting skills of those actors are poor, and the props on the stage are rough, but there is a mysterious magic in the lines and singing. His eyes widened unconsciously, and he was almost obsessed with concentration. Those indescribable passions - decadent, numb, and fallen beauty, pulled him tightly like invisible tentacles.
"Do you like drama?" the man asked.
A man in white clothes and a tall hat quietly appeared in the back row and spoke to his new audience. "Very interesting." Gongsun Ce said. They chatted selflessly, talking about art, life and many other topics. They were so engrossed that the audience didn't even notice that the play was over and the audience had left. This is how it should be, Gongsun Ce thought, I should have known him a long time ago. He followed the man in white into the big tent in the center of the troupe, where members of the troupe were gathering. The weak candlelight cast flickering shadows on their faces.
He shuddered, a secret and eager excitement rising somewhere deep within him. The man in white smiled and extended his hand to him. "Why don't you try acting? You will definitely become an excellent actor!"
Gongsun Ce stared at the man's pale hand. He couldn't find a reason to refuse, so he raised his hand.
His hand stopped in mid-air. The vague feeling of strangeness suddenly surged at this moment, and the voice of a certain boy in his heart was roaring furiously. He shouted frantically that this was wrong, it shouldn't be like this!
This is not my life!
Gongsun Ce suddenly withdrew his hand, pushed away the actors around him, turned around and ran out of the tent. The man in white didn't chase him. He smiled behind Gongsun Ce. The man's laughter was very high-pitched, and the actors echoed him one by one, like a ghost crying in the night. There was no light visible outside the tent, and the boundless darkness enveloped the frightened young man. He didn't know where he was going, but he couldn't stay here, this wasn't where he should be!
The dark words of the same color as the night flashed away, and the road divided into countless line-like tributaries in front of Gongsun Ce, with his figure in front of each road. He saw himself passing a black-haired girl on the street, a decadent young man who had never made a new partner; one day not long ago, he refused to go with a hunter and lived a quiet life in his house; he had countless He passed by the singing girl for the first time but never stopped. He didn't have the eyes to distinguish the true from the false...
The voice in his heart became weaker and weaker, and he instinctively felt that something wrong was happening. Gongsun Ce suddenly realized that that was his "future". His "node" in the past no longer existed, and his future changed accordingly! He is becoming another person, a cold, incompetent and mediocre young man. That is definitely not what he should be!
"Go away!" The young man shouted hoarsely, "Go away!!"
He turned his back on the blocked future and ran towards his past. He wants to find the previous "node" to protect his unchanged self in the past. The last node was seven years ago, when he wanted to return to the Capital of the Sky!
Unknowingly, the hateful sound of rain rang out, and large raindrops hit Gongsun Ce's body, falling to the ground and shattering into transparent stardust. He ran from the darkness into another darkness, a narrow and dark alley. The black-haired boy sat alone at the end of the alley, silent and lifeless.
Gongsun Ce breathed a sigh of relief. He stood against the wall and panted for a long time before saying, "It's okay. Big brother will come to save you."
"Really?" the boy whispered, "are you talking about that person?"
Gongsun Ce was stunned. He turned around and found a strange man lying at the entrance of the alley. The man had a hollow face, a bloated figure, and no sparkle in his evasive eyes. He lay in the rain and trembled weakly, like an abandoned animal.
"Ace..." the man slurred, "be careful..."
"...Brother?" Gongsun Ce couldn't believe it.
There was the sound of footsteps outside the alley, and the muddy steps splashed raindrops. A man in white clothes and a tall hat was standing not far away, holding a black umbrella with an invisible smile in his eyes.
He walked into the alley unhurriedly, passing through the weak Mo Yuankai like a ghost, and passed through Gongsun Ce's furious fists. All the roars and struggles could not touch this incorporeal existence. He came to the former boy, bowed down, and handed the umbrella into the boy's hand.
"Come with me." Situ Yi smiled.
(End of chapter)
