Parting Ways
Beneath the dim clouds.
Yang Xiao slowly opened his eyes...
Continuous drizzle beat against his cheeks, cold and damp. He lay in a corner of so stone ruins, looking at the sky above his head in bewildernt for a full dozen seconds before finally snapping back to his senses.
Coughing, he sat up and looked around.
"You're awake?" Su Zhiwei's voice ca from the side. "How do you feel?"
"Where... am I?"
Yang Xiao recalled the events before he fell unconscious and anxiously asked again, "How did the nuclear strike go? Was it deflected? Did it not cause too many casualties?"
Su Zhiwei sat on the shattered stairs nearby. Looking at the half a branch in her hand, she fell into silence.
Just as she opened her mouth to say sothing, Lu Xun's voice rang out from the distance:
"If you hadn't deflected the trajectory of the nuclear weapon, there wouldn't be any survivors here today... You saved almost everyone."
Hearing this, a smile finally appeared on the corners of Yang Xiao's pale mouth, and he relaxed, leaning against the stone wall.
Lu Xun walked between the two of them. Glancing at the desolate Su Zhiwei, he let out a long sigh.
"Su Zhiwei... What happened to Chu Changqing can't be blad on you. That monster was truly too strong; we simply didn't have the ti to react."
"What monster? What happened to Chu Changqing?"
Lu Xun briefly told Yang Xiao what had happened afterwards. The latter was instantly stunned on the spot.
"Chu Changqing was captured and taken to another world?" Yang Xiao was in disbelief. "Then we have to think of a way to rescue him!"
"It's almost impossible."
Chen Ling, draped in a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe, slowly walked to the side of the three of them. "The two realms haven't officially begun their intersection yet. To enter the Gray World, it's only possible by finding another special nuclear weapon and entering it during the brief ti the lingering wave lasts... Moreover, the Gray World is too big. Even if we truly opened another breach, it would very likely lead to the territory of another World-Ending entity.
With our current strength, entering any World-Ending territory is just seeking our own destruction."
"...Then are we just going to leave him be?"
"We can't just leave him be... but at the very least, not now." Chen Ling looked at the three Monarchs before him who had not yet grown up. Until they stepped into Rank 9, none of them had the qualifications to face a World-Ending entity head-on.
The group fell into silence.
Hum—
Above the dead silent ruins, the roar of fighter jets rapidly streaked across.
At the end of the long dragged-out tails, several dark shadows were rapidly sweeping across the sky above Wushan Town, as if assessing the casualty situation of the town after experiencing the nuclear strike. This sound pulled everyone's thoughts back to reality once more.
Although they had survived two nuclear strikes, the disaster had only just begun...
Besides Wushan Town, other military bases and important cities must have also suffered attacks. No one knew what kind of state the world beyond these mountains had been destroyed into, nor did they know when the war would end.
The mont the nuclear weapons flew into the sky, the fate of humanity was already like willow catkins, drifting uncertainly in the fierce winds of the apocalypse.
Yang Xiao stared blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly stood up from the corner.
"No... I need to make a trip back."
"Back? Where to?"
"My Research Institute." Yang Xiao's expression was sowhat anxious. "My fiancée is still there, waiting for to return..."
As if recalling sothing, Lu Xun's gaze looking at Yang Xiao was sowhat complex... He almost forgot, Yang Xiao also had a fiancée.
Yang Xiao had escaped a calamity by hiding in Wushan Town, but the life or death of his fiancée was currently unknown. Right now, most of the signal base stations had been destroyed, and Communication Devices couldn't be used either. He didn't even know where his fiancée was hiding now; trying to contact her would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
But given Yang Xiao's personality, it was absolutely impossible for him to just leave her be.
"But unless sothing unexpected happens, planes and rail transit probably can't be used anymore. Your Research Institute is hundreds of kiloters away from here, how are you going to get back?" Lu Xun asked.
"There will always be a way," Yang Xiao answered without hesitation.
Lu Xun knew that nothing he said could stop Yang Xiao from taking the risk. He was just this kind of person... Just at this mont, Su Zhiwei on the side also suddenly spoke up.
"I... might also need to leave for a bit."
"Where are you going?"
"I still have a... younger brother. I'm a bit worried about him." Su Zhiwei hesitated to speak.
"Are you talking about Yao Qing?" Chen Ling nodded slightly. "Yao Qing is currently in the 7012 Underground Project... Moreover, he might indeed need you right now."
Yao Qing watched helplessly as Xiao Chunping rushed to the battlefield. Now that Xiao Chunping had died in battle, Yao Qing had completely beco a person with no one to rely on. Chen Ling didn't dare to imagine how broken down and self-blaming he was right now. The only one who could give him so comfort at this ti was Su Zhiwei.
Lu Xun remained silent for a long ti.
"Alright... Then I'll make a trip to the United States."
"You? Going to the United States now?? Are you crazy??" Yang Xiao looked at him in astonishnt.
"Wu Tongyuan is still there." A trace of self-bla flashed in Lu Xun's eyes. "At that ti, Bureau 749 was searching for the nine of us everywhere. I personally pushed him onto the plane heading to the United States. Originally, I thought of letting him avoid the heat. I didn't expect the situation to actually beco like this now... He should be trapped there now. Everything started because of , I have to take responsibility for bringing him back."
"But it's a world war now. Even dostic flights are probably gone, let alone international ones... How are you going to get to the United States?"
"The stars will take there."
Looking at the three people before him, Chen Ling let out a long sigh in his heart.
For Chen Ling, gathering all the Nine Monarchs by his side was the best choice. But the Nine Monarchs weren't tools; they were living people. If it were before, it would have been fine, but now that a world war had broken out, the people they each cared for were deeply caught in crisis. Making them disregard the life and death of the people they cherished to forcibly tie them by his side was impossible...
Now, it was ti for them to Part Ways.
"No matter what happens, you must definitely protect yourselves first." Chen Ling exhorted one last ti. In particular, he emphasized to Yang Xiao and Lu Xun,
"Once you encounter any trouble you can't resolve, try your best to pass a ssage to . Whether it's through Communication Devices or the stars, as long as I receive it, I will imdiately go help you."
"Thank you, Director Chen," the three said from the bottom of their hearts.
"Rember, we are forever entities on the sa front." As if recalling sothing, Chen Ling turned to look at Su Zhiwei again. "Dr. Su, do you still rember our secret code?"
Previously, Chen Ling had agreed on a secret code with Su Zhiwei. No matter which era they were in, they would use this secret code to make contact. Actually, he could also set secret codes with Lu Xun and Yang Xiao, but the problem was that in Chen Ling's era, both of these people were...
Therefore, the only person who could verify Chen Ling's speculations was Su Zhiwei.
Su Zhiwei was startled, then imdiately nodded. "I rember."
"eting in the Red Dust."
"A shallow smile for the long years."
Chen Ling nodded. Just as he was about to say sothing else, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a figure flash past a street corner in the distance.
A trace of doubt flashed in his eyes, and then he looked back at the three people before him.
"...Everyone, take care of yourselves."
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