The Truth

The island was on the verge of being submerged, like a world approaching its end. The heavy rain ceased at this moment, and looking up, one would see a magnificent sight: a cyclone layer thousands of meters thick spun rapidly, yet the sky directly above the island was a vast, pristine blue.

The eye of the hurricane had arrived at the island. This was merely a moment of tranquility before the plunge into the abyss; the instant the eye moved on, everything on the island would be swallowed by the howling winds, torrential rain, and the rising tide. The siren song echoed between heaven and earth, no longer high-pitched and angry as before, but tragic and peaceful, like a bard plucking at a lute, humming the arrival of a world's end.

Rainwater washed over the steel armor, the logo of Life Daybreak standing out vividly against the gray curtain of the sky. A helicopter whistled through the air, facing a barrier of clouds ten thousand miles wide; compared to the uncanny workmanship of nature, it was as tiny as a grain of cloud-dust.

"We... failed to protect the dawn."

Inside the helicopter, everyone's expressions were heavy. The rotors hummed incessantly at high speed, but their hearts could not find peace.

In the corner, a gray-haired girl clutching a recording scroll in her arms wore an excited smile on her lips, whispering a name as if possessed—only by listening closely could one hear it: Dark Gold Rose.

Within a coffin-shaped life-support device, a blue-haired girl kept her eyes closed, her body covered in severe burns. A bullet hole was clearly visible on her neck. Her white dress floated in the transparent, warm liquid, her body connected to a mess of tubes. Deep in a coma, she sang softly, though it was unclear for whom; at a certain moment, the singing quietly stopped, and the girl's expression shifted into one of faint worry.

Someone sighed in sorrow. The helicopter retreated, escorted away by armed helicopters surrounding it, leaving the azure sky vast and lonely.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a black figure was walking through the world below. His face, already weathered, seemed to have endured ages of wind and frost. On his chiseled, resolute face, only heaviness remained, his wrinkles deepening as if he were an earl who had lost all his fiefdoms.

Heifeng walked up to the youth. Bai Zhou had used the Blood Monarch in his hand to pierce his own chest, his face etched with profound despair. Heifeng knelt down with practiced ease, his fingertips expertly probing Bai Zhou's temple to extract a small chip from within.

He stood up with somewhat less practice and slowly walked forward, slicing the pouncing Siren King in half with a single stroke. Ignoring the monster's wails, he walked toward a girl crouching on the ground, her face covered in scarlet engravings. She held her head, her lips stretched into an eerie curve:

"I will be 'Mother's' good child. I will make everyone look at me with new eyes. I will make the section head and everyone else like me."

A strange red light glowed in Yun Yao's eyes. Upon seeing the familiar figure arrive, she tilted her head:

"Elder Hei?"

Heifeng's hand reached out to smooth the girl's messy long hair, acting just like the kind and gentle elder of the past, before he snapped Yun Yao's neck.

He sighed softly, his gait showing his age. No matter how many times it happened, it was always the same; once these flawed children entered an out-of-control state, they were beyond saving, no different from an empty, hollow shell that had lost its soul.

He similarly inserted his index finger into Yun Yao's temple. The girl's eyes were hollow and dim, seemingly unable to understand why the usually kind and reliable Elder Hei would suddenly kill her. Weren't they family?

After removing the blood-stained chip, Heifeng walked toward the last person. Amidst the Siren King's bisected flesh, a girl with dark red short hair realized something as she saw the black figure approaching. Chihong touched her face, which was covered in scarlet engravings.

She gave a bitter laugh and said,

"Section 6... wiped out again, right?"

"I felt like I had only just started getting along with those kids, and now it's time to part again so soon."

"You will reunite with your memories," Heifeng said expressionlessly.

Chihong sat back amidst the blood-red flesh of the Siren King, her messy short hair obscuring her face. She said, "You and I both know that this kind of reunion is no different from a lie told to comfort a child playing house."

Chihong looked up, her expression fractured and lonely, yet tinged with a sliver of hope. "They are just hollow shells endowed with memories. The real them died long ago. No matter how many times it happens, it's the same. I can't convince my heart to accept different versions of them over and over again. I'm being driven mad by this torture."

Chihong's long-suppressed emotions suddenly erupted. She stood up abruptly, a furious beast hiding in her eyes. Like a mother who had lost her children, she roared almost irrationally, "Why can't you let them know the truth!?"

"Their flaws are far more severe than yours. We have tested it; even if they are reborn, the moment all their memories are transplanted, they inevitably fall into an out-of-control state."

"Only you can accept the truth and lead Section 6 forward."

"I can suppress that out-of-control state on my own." The last glimmer of hope in Chihong's eyes died.

"No, you cannot." Heifeng raised his long blade toward her. "Haven't you noticed? You are currently in a severe out-of-control state, unable to think rationally or correctly, Miss Hong."

"Let me be free..." Chihong lost all her strength and whispered. "I don't want to face this anymore..."

"No, you alone cannot," Heifeng repeated without emotion. "This is just a negative thought born from your out-of-control state.

When you wake up, you will pull yourself together again. You will still be that Red Rose of the Battlefield leading Section 6 to be invincible."

Chihong swung her battle flag with all her might and charged at Heifeng: "Specter!!"

The long blade pierced through Chihong's heart.

...................

Atop a certain high tower, a deep blue floating light flickered. Crystal patterns were etched into illusory shadows, all shadows imprisoned beneath a tall crystal pedestal. A blue prismatic crystal floated in the air, projecting countless images of the hive city worlds.

Dressed in platinum clerical robes, the face of a noble and holy woman was hidden beneath a hood. Her eyes were slightly closed, radiating a solemn and grave light.

"Hive city world No. 23, Kowloon ship, small-to-medium scale resistance war broke out. No anomalies."

The woman's voice was mechanical and cold, echoing etherially above the room.

This was the Light-Chaser Tower, the headquarters of the Fixer Association. The woman was the super-artificial intelligence representing the peak of computing power, the Miserere. She was the hope that chased the light, the first fire lit on the dark plains, the first tower established by humanity in this world, and a navigation beacon and spiritual anchor for countless people.

The amount of information she processed daily was so immense that if a microscopic speck of it were loaded into the brain of a death row prisoner, it would be enough to make their head explode. She monitored the data of millions of hive cities; once a high-risk urban eldritch creature was born, the Miserere was responsible for warning the association's top brass immediately and providing a resolution plan.

The Miserere was a super-artificial intelligence without any flaws or program loopholes. The design of her underlying framework was not subject to any restrictions; from her inception, people had placed all their hopes on her. If she calculated that destruction was the only destination for humanity, then humanity would welcome its end.

A civilization that lacked even the courage to face its own extinction calmly, yet chose to hand its destiny over to another.

Longing to be saved, yet imposing rules and restrictions upon the savior; hypocritical and cowardly people are destined to be abandoned by their savior.