Chapter 433: That's enough
Anno stopped running. Her friends at the small base were still sitting happily on the city wall, waiting for her to come over.
“It’s you.” Anno looked at the boy in front of her in surprise, her eyes filled with tears as she smiled, “How could I not have thought of you? How could I not know it was you? It’s you... Caesar.”
Anno stopped in front of the boy and reached out to touch his thin, sallow face. He had scars all over his face, neck, and hands. He was a mutant, but he was so young that he could only be bullied.
No wonder she later learned that there had once been a boy by her side who, despite being thin, helped her fight, and they secretly brought each other food. But at that time, she never imagined it was Caesar.
How could she connect such a scarred young boy with the spirited Caesar?
The boy watched her movements, tilted his head and touched her palm, then reached out his scarred hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eyes.
He looked at the little girl in front of him, a look of confusion in his eyes. "I feel like I've been looking for you for a long time. Did I lose you?"
After saying that, he lowered his head with deep remorse, "I'm sorry..."
Anno shook her head with tears in her eyes, "You found me, Caesar. You found me a long time ago. I lost you."
She hugged the frail boy tightly. "Caesar, you've found me. You don't have to blame yourself anymore."
Who is Caesar?
The boy was puzzled. "Did you give me this name?"
Anno's voice was slightly hoarse: "Caesar is you, you are my kin, and you will always stay by my side."
The boy hugged her back, "Okay."
In the wind and snow, two small figures embraced each other. The distant city wall and the figures on it gradually faded away, and their calls for Anno gradually dissipated in the wind.
......
"Wake up, wake up..."
Anuo knelt on the ground, embraced by Ling Jiu. She clutched his clothes, buried her face in his chest, and cried until his front was soaked.
He gently stroked the back of Anno's head, his movements much more relaxed and natural than before when he was stiff.
After a long while, Anuo finally came to her senses. She peeked out from Lingjiu's arms, looked up at him, and her eyes gradually cleared.
Seeing her eyes red from crying, Lingjiu felt a pang of pain in his heart and reached out to wipe away her tears.
Anno stared at him blankly and said, "Was it another dream?"
Ling Jiu's eyes softened. "It's not a dream, it's your memory."
Anno grabbed his hand urgently, "How do you know? You can't see my memories, so they're all fake, right? He... is he fake too?"
"It's true."
Ling Jiu looked at her calmly, with a gentle sense of acceptance. "Those are your memories, and they are also my memories. We once shared memories. The Tower saw our memories, so it wanted to create a small world that could keep you here."
He touched her head with his hand. "Those things are in the past. We all have to move on, don't we?"
"Some memories can be looked back on, but once they've been looked back on, we can move on. Those memories won't be lost; they'll always remain in our hearts, and we can take them out to look at them anytime, but we can't stop."
At this moment, Ling Jiu was gentle, unlike the mechanical and cold-blooded man he used to be.
Anno pursed her lips after hearing this, "You know how to advise me, so why don't you use these words to advise yourself?"
"Because I'm waiting for you."
Anno froze, staring intently at the face that resembled Caesar's.
Zero Nine's eyes, gleaming with a ghostly blue light, carried a mechanical coldness, but Anno felt that the way Zero Nine looked at him at this moment was so intense, reminiscent of Caesar.
“I cannot leave. This is an irreversible consciousness rooted in all the clones of the main body. Each clone must search and wait within its own time and place, because it is afraid that if we go too far, we might miss you.”
"Although I wanted to kill the main body, I still acknowledge him. He created me, and my life's mission is to find you. What I shouldn't have is to have my own independent consciousness."
Lingjiu placed her hand near Anno's cheek. "Caesar is me, but I am not Caesar. Even though I don't have his memories of his experiences or his other incarnations, our consciousnesses are still connected. The Tower can extract memories of his other incarnations from my memories and create the scene you just saw."
There seemed to be a sense of relief in Lingjiu's eyes. "He was lucky to find you so early. But can you forgive his weakness and his inability to protect you back then?"
At this moment, Anno seemed to hear many voices, the voices of many Caesars. The person in front of her was Ling Jiu, Caesar, Huo Yin, and that skinny mutated wolf, as well as many other clones she had never seen before.
Anuo's tears, which she had just managed to hold back, welled up again. She shook her head and nodded, then stood up and hugged Lingjiu's neck. "You tried your best, you did your best. I know you were there for me during the most difficult time and made me feel warmth. That's enough, really enough."
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