"Alright, we are spending money at your place, so your service should be top-notch, right?" I spoke up on behalf of Yuanhui, trying to wrap things up for him.

"Of course, may I ask what the two of you would like?"

Upon hearing that the two of us wanted to eat something here, she immediately put on a dazzling smile, looking as though she wouldn't give up until she had squeezed us dry.

But just as I reached into my pocket, the ambient lighting around us started gradually dimming, like in a movie theater...

"What's going on with you two?"

Yuanhui and Qiu Caolan suddenly froze in place, no matter how much I tried to call out to them, it was no use.

"Why aren't you guys talking, this isn't fun!"

...

What on earth is happening?

Strange runes suddenly appeared all over my arm, exactly like the ones I saw on the sword back then, but much more intricate this time.

"What is this...?"

From my shoulder down to my wrist were blurry runes, and I couldn't make out what they said, but I knew it had something to do with Vicorc.

Vicorc, whom I had once personally taken out, yet now here he was, perfectly alive right in front of me.

I thought this would bring an end to everything, but who knew that old guy would pull a stunt like this, at least I could still hold onto myself, preventing the same thing from happening again.

Yes, if it were the versions of us from another dimension, I believe by now I would have already rid myself of that barrier known as Vicorc.

But looking at it now, the enemy's intelligence far surpassed what I had thought, and my Tsubaki Juxi had probably become their pawn by now.

"Vicorc... hmph!" I snorted disdainfully, "You died too early."

This time I could see clearly Edward's true face, and I realized he had intentionally allowed himself to be captured by Vicorc.

"War takes away from us far more than it gives."

That's just how the world is, it never gives us a chance to set conditions, missing out would only bring its punishment.

His death didn't solve my questions, instead, it only added to my confusion!

"Immortality, Edward, he seeks immortality!"

"What?"

I shouted into the empty air in front of me, "Do you think I will compromise with you like this? Do you think I will beg for your mercy?!"

Anger surged through my brain, burning away my reason.

I had forgotten about my current situation and that of the younger ones, rushing past the mercenary in the underground lab, but what awaited me was not the mercenaries.

"Calm down!"

A girl clad in azure battle robes came up to me, softly telling me.

"Don't worry, I can help you to leave this place... and remember, don't ever come back or speak of anything that happened here to others, remember!"

Who was talking to me? How many secrets are still hidden here that require such madness?

Though I had passed out on the ground, I still had some slight consciousness.

"We can't even talk about it ourselves?" Her words struck me as truly amusing.

I had to stop Edward myself, he was the cause of all this, no... perhaps calling him Satan would be more appropriate.

Getting back to business, this is why I brought the younger ones back here, after all, staying outside the safe zone would make one particularly uneasy.

"Hey, what should we do now, cough... Should we go back?" The junior struggled to get up from the snow, and I knew that when he said "go back," he was unsure where to return. However, I knew that the nature of this mission made it impossible for him to return alive.

"You!" Since I didn't know his name, I just called out to him.

"I'm not sure if I should go back, but at least I need to return to serve the Alliance army."

I knew this must be quite perplexing for him, as he had just recently joined the Alliance. Over the past 45 days, I hadn't trusted anyone, not even my superior—Sleeper!

"What are you talking about?" He was taken aback by what I said, "I don't quite understand why I can't go back to the Alliance army."

"It's not that I find you a burden by my side, it's just that returning to the Alliance army will only lead to a dead end for you. I believe those treacherous beasts won't spare you."

I was truly surprised that such words could come so naturally from my mouth.

Despite my series of cold actions, the junior didn't appreciate them, and seemed to be somewhat repulsed by me, perhaps due to not fully understanding me.

"I was just saying..."

"What gives you the right to stop me from going back? I came to serve in the Alliance, I have rights..."

This young man actually started lecturing me on the nonsensical laws of that chaotic period. Since he interrupted me and tried to reason with me, I figured I could do the same to him.

"What gives you the right?"

I turned around and adopted a stern expression, telling him firmly, "I can easily leave you here to die right now!"

I exerted some authority over him, and he immediately became more subdued.

"Fine."

"Now that you've agreed, we'll have to help each other more in the future!" I patted his shoulder and gave him a genuine smile for the first time.

I couldn't tell him the truth because he was essentially a dead man now, at least in terms of safety in the secure zone.

He wouldn't believe my words, no! He wouldn't believe Vicorc's words. Only I knew I was right, but that was utterly useless.

"Hey, I think you wouldn't believe whatever I say anyway..."

Although weariness seemed eternally etched in my gaze, this time around it seemed to carry something extra, something that made me unable to stop.

With palms outstretched, being a bit willful for once, all I received in return was his disdainful gaze.

After that, we didn't say much more. I started wondering if I had developed feelings for men?

Oh well, that couldn't be possible. Besides, what's wrong with having different tastes? It's just a matter of personal preference.

We agreed that he would take the sea route back to sneak into the Alliance safe zone, while I would stay in this desolate place where even birds wouldn't come, because if the Alliance added me to the death blacklist, it would be difficult to resolve.

"I am an internal member of the Alliance, so I have sufficient access to information."

I explained my job details to him in depth, which, of course, triggered some discontent from him.

"Hmph," he pressed his head against the glass of the cabin, "if you're just bragging about your achievements, I'll responsibly tell you I'm not interested!"

Although I didn't really want to bother with this effeminate guy, I really needed someone like him who could run errands akin to an apprentice in such dire circumstances when we met.

"...Is that so, you're not interested in matters about you either?"

"What are you talking about concerning me?"

He suddenly turned around, his expression almost contorted.

"Yes!"

Facing my resolute answer, he went from initial doubt to half-belief.

"It's impossible, don't make wild guesses, how could they pay attention to me, just a tiny pawn?"

"Why is it impossible?!"

I was getting impatient, so I decided to just tell him straight up.

"After the assassination, my remaining tasks are to safely return to base camp and execute the driver!"

"……"

"Do you feel happy knowing the truth now?!"

I was getting angry; he was really annoying and irritating!

As I stood on a ship parked by the sea, facing the storm of wind and snow, I couldn't help but ponder inside.

Is this catastrophic disaster about to befall humanity?

"Ah, almost nine months of the year are winter, with only three months of warmth. I wonder how long humanity can survive on such scarce processed food."

The past experiences of the four seasons felt like a sweet dream, making me increasingly uneasy about this winter dragging on.

Goodness, anyone would be astonished; autumn and summer have been devoured by a raging mysterious force.

After enduring this prolonged blizzard, the sun finally got a chance to appear. We stepped onto the deck, and the snow that had accumulated had long melted into the sea.

"Whoosh~"

Having stayed in the somewhat musty cabin for so long, the first thing upon emerging was to take a deep breath of fresh air.

Although the air still had a hint of frost and dampness, it was an utmost pleasure for us.

"Alright, let's part ways here for now!" I handed him my military badge.

After all, if he used his own, he would easily be discovered, so using mine would have someone take care of the aftermath for me.

Once everything was explained, I casually went down to the lower deck of the ship and opened the emergency escape passage.

"Cough~ Cough~ Cough!"

I nearly couldn't catch my breath; reaching the bottom deck of the deck, the already strong scent of blood intensified even more!

"Phew, what has died down here?"

Instinctively pinching my nose, I grumbled with disgust.

"Better quickly brighten this place up to see what's happened..."

Before I could finish, my hand had already reached to open the emergency passage of the ship beside the door rail.

With a light click, followed by intense friction, the floodgate was opened!

A ray of sunlight beamed into the cabin, gradually illuminating the once pitch-black space… it was unbelievable!!

There lay a dried corpse in police gear and a bulletproof helmet beside the lifeboat, with a small pony-skin diary still on him.

Driven by curiosity, I opened the little book.

"August 4th, our special police team arrived in this lifeless epidemic area to search for missing civilians, but we did not leave empty-handed…"

Flipped to another page.

"August 6th, we found a large experimental base in this icy wasteland. Could this be related to the epidemic that has been happening for days? Excitement started brewing in me uncontrollably…"

Hmm, seems like Alliance military personnel, but how did they find this place?

With various doubts, I turned to the next page.

On August 12th, our food supply was critically low, and they were relentlessly chasing after us. Only I managed to escape from there, only me—!