"What would you like to drink after taking a break?"

Yu Nai smiled and invited me into the private room of the restaurant.

However, I didn't feel as energetic as usual, and I didn't do any precautions against the owner's harassment or greet Yu Nai this time.

"Alright, I have a friend still on the way. Please order a whiskey for me and a... um..."

As someone who has never drunk alcohol before, I was at a loss for words. The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

"How about a fresh lemon juice?"

Yu Nai recommended, holding a pen in his hand at the entrance of the private room.

As childhood friends, he knew my preferences very well.

I like lemon juice because it is not extraordinary, just ordinary-looking with a few freckles on its face, which adds a touch of playfulness.

"Well, okay, that's it." I gave Yu Nai a forced smile and said, "Please."

Yu Nai happily returned the smile, turned around and drew the door curtain, leaving me alone to leisurely rest my arm on the soft red sofa, lazily gazing at the ceiling, recalling my first encounter with the owner four years ago.

If the me four years ago was enough to make the current me feel gratified... then the transformation that happened in my life two months later was already shocking!

Several months later...

"Captain, are we...?"

Just after getting off the plane and facing the biting cold wind, the new recruit immediately became timid!

The snow was as thick as two centimeters, and as soon as he stepped on the ground, he sank deep into it.

Trembling, he approached me, making my already unstable body even more unsteady.

"Can't go back?"

"Could you calm down?!"

Slap! Slap!

I slapped him on both cheeks, appearing fierce and ferocious, and said sternly, "Ouch, it hurts, I'm scared..."

"If you don't want to die right away, then keep your mouth shut!"

With that, I picked up the only gun I had and loaded two white bullets into the magazine.

Gun analysis: 5.7mm caliber, with a trapezoidal barrel.

The bullet is relatively slim and equipped with a propellant engine. The time difference within a range of one kilometer is only 0.01 seconds. The bullet is also more suitable for silently killing the target!

Skill analysis, perhaps this is the skill I have obtained?

"Be careful, let's find a way out of this snowy mountain next."

I took out my communication phone and contacted the rescue team at headquarters: "Hey, Sleepyhead... Sleepyhead?"

"Damn it!!"

The walkie-talkie didn't have a single signal, so I had no choice but to observe the surrounding terrain first.

We were in the middle of the snowy mountain, and it was not logical to keep climbing upwards or go back the same way, especially with this realistic treasure by my side!

"Captain, what should we do...?"

"Come on, prepare your parachute, and then follow my footsteps, can you do it?"

But before we set off, I had to make sure...

I turned to the new driver behind me and asked with a serious tone, "If I say that what we are about to do might result in us dying on this snowy mountain, such as suffocating due to lack of oxygen..."

I made it clear, after all, I didn't want anyone to hold me back.

"Will you still follow me?"

It seems that we must first cross this towering snow mountain, but I cannot find any caves or other passageways around.

"It's already not easy to escape back here. By the way, what happened to the new driver?"

The Sleep Wizard was concerned about the newcomer, and I could only tell him the truth.

"I'm sorry, but that guy didn't make it."

"I see."

The Sleep Wizard picked up the steaming coffee on the table and handed it to me casually. "Don't blame yourself too much. This is how the world works..."

The sadness of losing a comrade did not shake the Sleep Wizard's mentality. I know that this pain is useless to his heart, which is as hard as a stone!

"Sleep Wizard, I know that life means nothing to you, and you've never cared about other people's lives either."

"Well," the Sleep Wizard was pleased with my understanding, "to have such awareness is a quality that a good alliance soldier should possess, and I appreciate that from you."

This understanding did not come from the Sleep Wizard's training. It was the form I possessed from the beginning.

"Of course, I am no longer the hollow shell I used to be. I am an independent entity with my own thoughts!"

I patted my chest, where the pocket watch was stored, and fervently shouted from the depths of my heart.

Because of it, I slowly regained the lost memories, so it became even harder for me to let go.

Since the moment I got the pocket watch, endless thoughts flooded my mind during the final moments of my life. The past was vivid, as if...

"My past was just a dream, a very long dream."

At least that's what I believe. But when it comes to my future, our future, and even the future of everyone, I caught only a glimpse.

Although that glimpse was extremely short, so short that I couldn't see the end result of that tragedy.

The whole world became dark, and it seemed as if the earth was covered in white. The dark sky and the vast white land brought an end to all life and destruction to everything!

Before that solid sky, every life and everything seemed so fragile and vulnerable, just like what my boss, the Sleep Wizard, said.

"Sheep only complain about fairness, while wolves strive for more power!"

He left me with these words and patted my shoulder, then quickly rolled up his sleeves and walked out of the camp to issue new orders.

Watching his receding figure, I couldn't help but sigh at how time flies.

Not long ago, I was desperate and had nowhere to go. Now I am mixed in with these people who run back and forth on the edge of life and death every day. The transformation was indeed too fast, so fast that I didn't even have time to react. I have been in this alliance team for two months already!

But the training only lasted for just over a week before it was forcibly ended.

Post-war reconstruction zone in North America, midnight at 7:00 pm!

"Friends, we are almost done!"

The city district of Los Angeles has been rebuilt after the disaster. The foreman in charge of this project is a burly black man named James.

He looked at his wristwatch and shouted, "Stop! That's it for today...?"

"Ah! Ah! Ah...!"

Before the foreman James could finish, someone let out a tragic scream, which sparked his displeasure after a long day of exhaustion. He angrily exclaimed, "Oh! Who is still in the mood for recreation? Show yourself! We're going to have a real fight!"

"Crash!"

James heard the sound coming from the direction of a villa on the third floor of the building.

The glass window was shattered and fragments of glass fell on the street.

Everyone present was stunned by the sudden event, and James' supervisors were scared and retreated. Only James pretended to be brave and stood up, weighing his bulky stomach with both hands.

He walked in front of the crowd and sternly said, "Hey, you've taken the joke too far, my friend. I think it's time I teach you a lesson!"

James furrowed his brow imperceptibly and crouched down in the darkness to get a clear view of the dark mass among the shards on the ground. He gently flipped over the large black object.

On the other side of the black object, James faintly saw the body of a man with a split face and open flesh.

He was paralyzed with fear by this "surprise prank", fell on his butt with a thud, his face unusually pale, and he screamed, "Oh my God, help! Call the police!"

James struggled back like a fat worm.

Ten minutes later, a police car appeared in the crowd's cleared path, and several policemen and two coroners in white coats got out of the car. The police officers pushed aside the onlookers.

One of the coroners squatted down, put on gloves, and examined the condition of the body.

The other person carefully recorded notes on the side of the body.

In a short while, the coroner examining the body stood up, ran to the captain, and reported, "Captain, the time of death of the deceased was about an hour and forty minutes ago. As for the probable cause of death, the body is too severely injured to confirm!"

No one dared to look at the completely disfigured flesh on the ground anymore.

Even the police officers present did not want to look in the direction of the coroner!

"Swish! Swish!"

He, who was diligently recording notes, did not notice at all—the bloody face was less than a foot away behind him!

"Splat!"

"Ah! Ahhh!" The "corpse" rose from the ground in front of everyone and sank its sharp teeth into his neck, spewing blood like a fountain, splattering on the dark stone floor with deep red stains!

"Good morning, this is Morning News. At around 7:30 last night, a cannibalistic incident occurred in the Los Angeles villa area of North America. This incident caused a small-scale panic, and some have speculated that the disaster from thirty years ago has returned! The Alliance has stated that these reports are purely fictitious, but to confirm the facts..."

The TV channel that was opened last night was forgotten to be turned off.

In the white light, besides the pungent smell of disinfectant, his clothes had been changed to a white shirt, and there were scattered glossy black hair on the pillow.

"My hair... is back to normal?"

"Where am I?"

Xun, who sat up on the bed, looked visibly lackluster. The tiles on the floor seemed particularly dazzling, and Xun couldn't help but rub his sleepy eyes and yawn.

"Hopefully it is, and from now on, I can only rely on these things."

It was another brand new morning, and everything came so suddenly.

As I pulled open the curtains, the cold morning covered me while I was still half asleep, almost like a rare gift in winter.

"Ugh... Ah!"

Leaving the warmth of the bed and then pulling apart the curtains, allowing the damp and cold air to dissolve a little.

Getting ready for another day, I wash my face with the clear water from the faucet.

It seems to be reminding me to stay vigilant. Without such reminders, perhaps there wouldn't be so much sadness.

As long as I keep striving forward and not dwell too much on the time that's already lost, after all... no matter how hard I try, I can't bring it back.