"Juxi, hurry up and cook! I'm starving!"

In my mind, there's always the lingering image of that scent, Sister Youxiang.

At school, she portrays herself as a good girl, but the moment she gets home, she transforms into a carefree and scatterbrained older sister.

Although all of this slowly fades away with my pace, eventually to be forgotten.

The hovercraft spun 720 degrees in the air, steadily descending towards the deep valley.

As the energy bar of the hovercraft was completely depleted by the damaged engine, I had to quickly jump off with the new driver near the cliff before it ran out.

"Whoa—!!"

The two of us fell heavily, ending up on our backs.

The war was instigated by the Alliance Army, and when President Elena, who provided weapons for the Alliance, was interviewed by the media, her attitude was intriguing.

"Hello, as someone who has profited from the war, don't you feel guilty about the war between the Alliance Army and the Empire Army?"

"No, you are wrong!"

In every word, the man defended his legitimate rights, smiling at the camera as he explained, "Compared to those who fight fiercely for resources, Elena prefers to work diligently and honestly."

The old man spread his hands out in a flat manner, explaining kindly to the anchor.

"Everything we do now is for humanity, to wake people up from the false reality."

At this moment, the blonde anchorwoman was interviewing a balding man with a well-built physique. That man...

Uh, isn't that the old man I met before on the residential street not far from the commercial street?

At my gloomy moment...

"Ahem... cough, a long time ago, I lived here with my wife and daughter, but..."

There were some nervous wrinkles on the old man's face as he squinted and forced a smile.

"It seems like this place has been sold now?"

Speaking was a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair, clearly standing in front of a luxury car but exuding a sense of desolation.

As if this place once harbored someone who had hated him.

"I won't let go, I won't give up... If only I could go back to that moment!"

"Old man?"

"Huh?"

At that moment, he noticed my presence. The old man, like me, was someone deeply wounded in his heart.

"Young man, I once carried all the guilt by myself when I stayed abroad, but in the face of my wife's worries, I chose to run away, lying and deceiving my family, saying I had a new lover and wanted a divorce!"

In sorrow for a long time, he drank the glass of white wine filled to the brim once again with a tinge of regret.

"At that time, I was almost unable to get back up abroad, with a mountain of foreign debts. I was afraid they would come looking for my family! You know, my daughter had just turned eight years old back then... Oh!"

As he spoke, unconsciously, he drank more and more.

His speech was no longer as clear as before.

I also met the version of him at that time, when he had turned into ashes. Yes...

"He is the target of this mission!"

"What?!"

The headquarters relayed the message. The old man I met at a street corner, or somewhere, in short, someone I encountered, turned out to be the target of this assassination.

"Eduardo, huh?"

Unexpectedly, the old man I incidentally encountered that time turned out to be my target this time.

I calmly took the information form handed to me by Uncle Sandman, and the face on it once again confirmed my target for elimination. He seemed like an extraordinary guy!

It has only been over a year, and three-dimensional projection has already been applied to communication devices.

Nowadays, the old houses in every street and alley have been demolished, replaced by buildings over twenty stories tall. The only part that hasn't been torn down is a small town in the south of the South Sea.

Twenty years ago, many countries began gradually erasing their government systems. Most countries became small states and joined larger nations to form alliances.

The Alliance Army finally succeeded in eliminating over two hundred countries and establishing the Union. Only a small number of states that were reluctant to lose power continued to maintain their private governments and reached an agreement.

"We in the Alliance Army call these people the Imperial Army!" my superior, Sandman, told me. "Hmph, I think they just want to establish a dictatorship!"

"Um, does that mean anyone who doesn't join the Alliance Army is automatically considered a dictator?"

I always felt that he was being too absolute in his characterization of those people, but Sandman didn't see it that way.

"Tsk, anyone who doesn't join the Alliance Army is a dictator!"

He said this and angrily crushed a glass cup containing coffee, causing horrifying bloodstains to appear on his hand.

As I looked at his blackened face, a tear of blood slid down his cheek.

Not knowing what pierced his inner pain, I quickly tried to persuade him, "Forget what I said... let's just forget about it."

"Ah, ah, ah!"

Sandman's expression of anger immediately transformed into a pitiful one as he sobbed, "Wuwuwu... it hurts, it hurts so much! Please give me some comfort."

"..."

Sandman is an uncle who is twelve years older than me. With his crew cut and carefree attitude, he reminds me of Yuanhui. Geez, am I really that attractive to idiots?

That's just how my life is... life and death are no longer significant to me.

Living itself is meaningless and devoid of any value.

Perhaps, the experience of youth has truly passed me by, or maybe I just got a little motivated recently, only to be shot down and plunged into an abyss of despair.

Anyway, after going through an extremely painful period, I feel like a bastard child of this world!

My existence is unclear and I can't even enjoy my youth properly in this country with less than three hundred million people, where the bustling cities have lost their previous sense of urgency.

I am Tsubaki Juuji, a senior in high school. This year is an extraordinary one for me.

Wearing a silver-white hoodie, I habitually wait alone at the end of the sidewalk during this half-day break. I have a extremely lazy expression, yawning while keeping my hands in the pockets of my jeans. My two dark eyes are so exhausted that my eyelids are fighting each other.

"Achoo!"

Unable to endure the coldest season of the year, I sneezed.

With a pale face, I complained, "Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, there's really nothing else to do. It would be better to just drop out of school!"

The pedestrian traffic light across the street finally turned green, and I quickly crossed the zebra crossing.

Usually, as long as I don't encounter any unpleasant incidents, I am quite obedient to traffic rules. This café across the street is usually to my liking, so today I chose to meet my friends there.

"Hello, welcome...!"

As I walked in, the manager behind the counter just looked up and our eyes met for a second.

After I recognized her face, I furrowed my eyebrows slightly and reluctantly waved and greeted her with a smile, "Hey, how have you been... Lan!"

The counter owner, Qiu Caolan, was a woman with delicate but not particularly outstanding features, yet still reaching the level of beauty. There were no flaws except for the slightly twisted smile on her face, which gave her a unique charm.

Her graceful figure emphasized all the right places...let's just say that the parts that were supposed to be big were indeed big, and the parts that were supposed to be small were laughing.

Underneath the wild lace mini skirt, her slender legs were exposed, especially when paired with the blue ribbon bun on top of her head, giving off a sense of a tropical Amazonian warrior.

"Oh, dear, you've come to visit again, how...honored it is... Hmm, I can't help it, here! A kiss for you!"

But even though the woman's appearance couldn't be described as breathtaking, she still lunged towards me like a hungry wolf, with a sly gaze and smile on her pretty face.

"Come, come, come, remember to take responsibility for sister, okay!"

"Enough, who cares about your value as an aging woman!"

"Hmph, it hurts when little brother speaks like that."

"...Alright, I was wrong."

Although I was just working here, Yu Nai, the new helper, couldn't stand it anymore.

So she grabbed Qiu Caolan by the collar with a stern face and pulled her back from less than ten centimeters away from me.

With a straight face, she smiled apologetically at me, "The boss wasn't being hospitable, so little sister Yu Nai will apologize for her."

"Hehe, forget it, remember this, kid! If big sister doesn't have a boyfriend, I'll claim you!"

Freed from Yu Nai's grasp, Qiu Caolan pretended to be angry and arrogantly crossed her arms, deliberately accentuating her two big peaks, showing her displeasure with a kind of provocative look.

"Hey, hey, it seems like you don't understand a woman's charm, no wonder you don't have a boyfriend!"

Qiu Caolan grabbed my shoulder and continued to lean her body against my arm in a coy manner, intentionally mocking Yu Nai, who was frozen on the side.

"You shameless woman, aren't you also single?"

Facing Qiu Caolan's provocation, Yu Nai retaliated without backing down.

At that moment, I was taken aback, then I looked up and down at Lan, who was tightly holding onto me.

Finally, my gaze fell on her impressive curves, and unintentionally, I swallowed some saliva. Qiu Caolan, who had been arguing with Yu Nai, only then noticed something was off.

Seeing me drooling with my eyes wide open, she blushed and furiously said,

"Hey, where are you looking? Pervert!"

Blushing, she quickly cursed me and hurriedly ran into the kitchen behind the counter, using it as an opportunity to escape. However, Yu Nai was already accustomed to the spirited Lan.

"Shuixue, what would you like to drink during your break?"

Yu Nai cheerfully led me into a private room inside the restaurant.

But I didn't have my usual energetic feeling. I didn't even bother to be on guard against Qiu Caolan's harassment or greet Yu Nai this time.

"Alright, I have a friend who is still on the way. Can you order a whiskey and a...uh..."

Being someone who had never consumed alcohol before, I was at a loss for what to do. The atmosphere seemed somewhat awkward.

"How about a refreshing lemon juice?" Yu Nai suggested, holding a pen in her hand while sitting in the private room. Her face displayed a gentle smile, but there was a hint of strangeness to it.