The Heavenly Vault was bathed in this honey-wax yellow glow, countless crimson-purple dots scattered across its expanse.
The ring-shaped patterns suddenly bloomed, like delicate paper flowers unfurling, or like rouge bleeding into water, fading into nothingness circle by circle.
Below.
Countless structures floated in this yellow void, and a magnificent palace was slowly taking shape.
Inside the palace, a round table stood at the center of the grand hall, with ten chairs waiting quietly to be occupied.
Tianlang was the first to take his seat, crossing one leg over the other, looking somewhat impatient. Then others appeared from all directions, gradually settling into their seats.
“I told you, the Saintly Group wouldn’t be this slow-witted. Such a dangerous thing has to be heavily guarded,” Tianlang complained.
“That S-rank magical girl from the Saintly Group— we haven’t managed to gather much information about her, so she’s likely difficult to deal with…” Xingluo said as she took her seat last.
“Big Sister Xingluo, what exactly is that weapon? Why are they putting so much effort into targeting it?” a little girl with twin ponytails asked.
“I don’t know the specifics either. My informant told me it’s a dangerous weapon called ‘Black Light’ and it’s related to antimatter,” Xingluo answered.
“Antimatter? What’s that?” the little girl was confused.
Tianlang answered on Xingluo’s behalf: “It’s a very dangerous substance. One gram of it is as powerful as an atomic bomb.”
“That scary…”
Xingluo waved her hand.
“Forget it, it’s not important. The informant said this weapon is difficult to control and prone to going out of control, so it probably won’t threaten us anytime soon.”
“Let’s move on to the main topic and report on the progress of our sabotage missions across the provinces.”
Tianlang was the first to report:
“Zhonghe Province, basically completed. I wiped out the underground command post in Jing’an City, so capturing this city later will be much easier. I also managed to turn four A-rank magical girls to our side. Remember, they’re A-rank! Can I get some praise, Sister Xingluo~?”
“Sigh, Tianlang, it’s not that I don’t want to praise you, but could you tone down your methods and kill fewer people… Doing this will only make the people hate us.” Xingluo rubbed her forehead, helpless.
“Hmph, I’m only exterminating pests for the people. I’ll be killing even more in the future.”
Tianlang was a child filled with twisted hatred. Xingluo had no way to correct her extreme tendencies, but she was exceptionally capable… So Xingluo could only let her continue with the missions.
Then the other provincial heads reported in turn. Overall, their sabotage tasks were going well.
“That Ci Yue, Sister Xingluo, did you capture her?” Tianlang suddenly remembered her.
“Yes, she was taken back.”
“Sigh, I wanted to see her defeated and humiliate her badly, hehe~”
“That’s none of your business.”
The little girl seemed to have noticed something.
“Huh? Didn’t the news say that Huaguo’s Number One is dead? Was that our doing?”
“Yeyin, was that you?” Xingluo asked her; she was the head of Jing Province.
“No, it wasn’t me. My subordinates don’t have such a plan either,” Yeyin shook her head.
“Isn’t the answer obvious?”
Tianlang sealed it with a hammer blow: “It’s the Saintly Group. That old man recently enacted a law limiting Saintly’s monopoly, which basically cut off their lifeline. I bet they’ll frame us again soon.”
“Such despicable tactics! We must punish them properly later!” The little girl said, fists clenched in anger.
“Alright, these are trivial matters. Our mission is already half done. Now we just wait for the right moment. You all did well, good work. Go rest now,” Xingluo announced the dismissal.
Before the dream collapsed, Tianlang asked, “Sister Xingluo, what will you do next?”
“Go back. Back to Beidong.”
“To visit my homeland, and prepare for the final stage.”
***
The sun was blazing at midday.
In front of the Memorial to the Fallen in Jingbei City stood a lone girl.
There were very few passersby; she stood there all by herself.
Xingluo held a bouquet, silently paying respects for a few minutes.
Afterwards, she laid her flowers before the monument.
Since the offerings were just cleared last week, the monument was empty except for her fresh flowers.
“We Beidong People, just forgotten by you like this.”
In April 1996, the empire-class aberration Chiyou descended upon Siberia.
Within a month, the Russia Far East was completely overrun. Then it continued southward, leading an army of beasts to attack Huaguo.
The Beidong Front resisted for over two months, but even under tactical nuclear strikes and artillery fire, the beasts only slowed their advance temporarily…
Then the Beidong defensive line was breached; the vanguard beast forces penetrated deeply, even reaching Yanning, threatening Jingbei City, the Capital.
At that time, the Yanning Defensive Line was still incomplete, and if the beasts’ main force entered the interior, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So the authorities chose to launch nuclear weapons—on their own soil.
More than a dozen strategic Hydrogen Bombs targeted Chiyou and the major beast groups roaming Beidong, without considering that survivors still lived on this land…
Perhaps they had considered it, otherwise this monument would not exist. They simply made a choice, sacrificing the Beidong People.
With the nuclear blasts, most of Beidong was turned into nuclear wasteland, and the beast main forces suffered heavy damage.
The nuclear explosions delayed the enemy for an entire year, buying precious time for Huaguo’s mobilization and defense construction—at the cost of the Beidong People’s lives.
“Little miss, I see you come here to lay flowers every week. Are you from Beidong?” an old man with a cane hobbled over and asked.
“Yes.”
The old man stroked his beard and sighed:
“Oh, the Beidong People have suffered terribly. I’m from Liaobei Province in Beidong. I barely escaped twenty years ago. I’m the only one left alive in my family. My son stayed behind; he was a soldier, there was nothing he could do…”
“Grandpa, do you think there are still survivors in Beidong?”
The old man shook his head.
“Everyone’s definitely dead, it’s tragic. An atomic bomb leaves no survivors, and with the radiation and all, no one can live through it.”
Xingluo stared at the monument with only a few words carved on it, feeling uneasy.
“Maybe they really are all dead.”
The old man suddenly seemed to remember something, and angrily said, “Some people don’t have any shame, saying the Beidong People were already dead before the atomic bombs exploded, lying with their eyes open! My son called me just days before the nuclear blast. Bah! Shameless.”
“Grandpa, please calm down. Getting angry won’t help.”
“No no no, some people are just shameless and ungrateful! The other day on TV some damn expert said that us Beidong refugees were crowding out local jobs, that’s pure bullshit!”
“Without the Industrial Transfer from us Beidong People, how would those places have built their heavy industries from scratch?! Ungrateful wolves! Protecting these bastards, all my old comrades died for nothing!”
The old man grew emotional, nearly dropping his cane, and Xingluo hurried to steady him.
“My dear girl, you’re a good person. Don’t forget the sacrifices of us Beidong People. Always remember that you are a proud Beidong Person! When Japan invaded, we were the first to fall.”
“When resisting the Soviet Union, we were the vanguard. When developing industry, we led the way. Even in sacrifice, we were at the forefront. We Beidong People are worthy of Huaguo, worthy of the world!”
The old man put down his cane and grasped Xingluo’s hand fervently.
“Now us survivors haven’t had a good life…” He silently shed tears.
“Grandpa, don’t be sad. One day, all of Huaguo will remember us again… will value us again…”
“One day.”
“And when that day comes, the Beidong People will rescue all those who suffer and bring justice to the world.”
Xingluo looked out over this desolate land, snowflakes swirling, the ground covered in white.
“You think we are all dead and have forgotten us.”
“Now, we have returned. What will you feel then?”