Chapter 192 Final Farewell
No matter how violent the fighting outside was, there was always peace inside the End Village.
This is because when Li Qi and No. 5 were fighting, both of them consciously and tacitly avoided this opened up virtual space.
Li Qi didn't want to hurt Ger and Chris who stayed here.
Number Five didn't want the [battery] here to be damaged.
You must know that before the crystal returns, most of the systems in the Ark still need these [batteries] to maintain operation.
Therefore, in the virtual world, only this place seems quite peaceful.
People are doing their own things, maintaining their daily lives in the End Village.
Li Qi strolled along the streets of the End Village, looking around at the people around him, confirming the number of people here and their life status.
For many people here, their lives in the incubator are approaching the limit.
The more 'ancient' the fog explorer is, the more this is true.
Once they leave the incubator, they will probably die on the spot.
Therefore, these people cannot leave the End Village. Li Qi will find a way to convert their consciousness into digital signals and record them into the Ark's system to maintain their existence.
And the rest, those who entered here at a very young age, have the opportunity to leave here.
Including Geer and Chris who came in a while ago, and Weiner whom Li Qi had never met.
But Li Qi was thinking, is it really a good idea to let them leave here?
Converting everyone's consciousness into digital signals and recording them into the Ark system, would this be a way for the humans in this world to continue? This is what Li Qi was hesitating about.
In fact, he shouldn't have hesitated, but since the matter involved Ger and Chris, he had to hesitate.
After all, they are his parents in this life.
"Ah, Kiri, you're back?"
When he arrived at the street where Gel and Chris lived, Li Qi saw Gel, who seemed to have just returned home.
He was holding the vegetables he bought from the commercial street and greeted Li Qi with a smile.
Li Qi looked at him quietly for two seconds before nodding and saying:
"Yeah, I'm back."
"Would you like to eat together tonight?"
Ger made an invitation.
Li Qi did not hesitate this time and responded quickly:
"Okay, sorry to bother you then."
"You're welcome. We're all neighbors."
Ger smiled.
He seemed to have a good temper, at least not as harsh as Li Qi remembered.
Li Qi followed him into the house, but did not see Chris.
After looking around the room, perhaps sensing Li Qi's confusion, Geer explained, "Chris is a person who can't sit still. She probably went to look for Weiner, or to visit those Tanwu family elders. She will be back later. Don't worry about her."
Compared to the more calm and quiet Gel, Chris is much more energetic and lively.
She is already a mother, but her personality has not changed at all.
But this is also good. At least Chris's attitude makes Li Qi feel a lot more relaxed. He feels like he is not facing his parents, but facing people of the same age as him.
Sitting in the living room, Li Qi could easily see the kitchen and see Ger busy inside.
While cooking, Geer was also chatting with Li Qi, mostly about whether he was used to living here and whether he had made other friends.
Li Qi answered Gel's questions as usual.
It was peaceful until Li Qi asked a question.
"If you could leave the End Village, leave the Sea of Fog, and return to the safe zone, what would you do?"
"Leave..."
Without the influence of No. 5, even Gel, who was assimilated by this village, could think about this problem rationally.
He stopped cooking, thought for a moment, then continued with his work, smiling and saying, "Maybe he will give up being a mist explorer and go live in seclusion somewhere in the kingdom with Chris and Li Qi."
"Isn't it a shame to give up the Tanwu family? I heard that you will soon reach the Black Mist level."
"I heard...? Did Mr. Kiri know us before?"
"…I've only heard people mention it occasionally."
Li Qi said casually.
He had heard about Gel and Chris from Carol and knew that Gel was a being close to the Black Mist level.
This means that Gel has at least completed the "memory" of one relic. As long as he finds a suitable relic and makes a second contract, he can be promoted to the Black Mist level.
In the entire kingdom, there are less than ten Black Mist-level people in total. Once Gel reaches the Black Mist-level, he will be able to leap to the top of the kingdom's power hierarchy.
Its status is not much inferior to that of the four great nobles.
Even without mentioning Gel, Chris is one of the strongest in the Mist level, and she has the possibility of completing the Legacy and ascending to the Black Mist at any time.
The two of them may become Black Mist-level explorers in the future. Even if they want to live in seclusion, the kingdom may not agree.
"The future of the Tanwu family lies in the Wuhai, and Chris and I have already been to the Wuhai, so... it is not important to us whether we are the Tanwu family or not. What is important is... being with our family."
Ger said with a chuckle.
He and Chris had already made preparations beforehand that after that exploration, they would give up being explorers and be with their own children.
After all, the children are about to grow up, and they want to be with their children during the most critical period.
But no one expected that in the end they would be tricked by the Light Chasing Society, forcing them to enter the sea of fog.
But Gel had no regrets about entering the sea of fog.
It is true that Li Qi is an important person to Gel, but the same is true for Chris. Gel cannot abandon either of them.
Since Li Qi is in a safe area and is being taken care of by someone, choosing to enter the sea of fog with Chris is the best solution for him.
Geer has no regrets, but he feels a little bit sad that he couldn't see his children grow up.
"What a simple wish..."
This is Li Qi's comment.
Ger smiled but didn't respond.
The room suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of Ger cooking.
This silence lasted for a while before it was broken by Chris's energetic voice.
"I'm back!"
Chris returned home carrying a big fish that was longer than her arm and thicker than her thigh.
Apparently she went fishing with Mr. Weiner.
Li Qi recalled briefly and found that there was indeed a small river that could be touched next to the village, but was it really possible to catch such a big fish from that small river?
Li Qi really wanted to ask this, but then he changed his mind and thought that everything here was just an illusion, so he stopped thinking about it.
Just like in some games, a giant octopus can be caught in a square pool of water, it is also normal to catch such a big fish in a small river.
"Hey, Kiri is back."
When Chris came back, she saw Li Qi in the room and waved to him.
Li Qi nodded to her and looked at the fish in her hand:
"It looks like we've had a good harvest today?"
"Yeah, actually, Weiner and I were well prepared for today's air force, but who knew that suddenly several big fish jumped out of the river..."
Well... that was probably the impact of the data fluctuations caused by the battle with No. 5.
Listening to Chris's description, Li Qi roughly guessed the reason.
Unexpectedly, the byproduct of the battle with No. 5 has brought Chris, who is now free to fish every day, a lot of harvest...
After talking with Li Qi, Chris ran to discuss with Ger excitedly how to deal with the fish.
Li Qi was sitting in the living room watching the two people being affectionate, and a smile appeared on his face that he hadn't even noticed.
Chris's return brought a different kind of vitality to the family.
To be more precise, it became more lively.
In such a lively atmosphere, Li Qi ended the dinner with Chris and Ger.
"Thank you for the treat. It's getting late. I'll go back first."
The last dinner was not very satisfying, but it was the last thing Li Qi wanted to do in this world, which made Li Qi feel it was not bad.
Feeling a growing sense of rejection, Li Qi decided it was time for him to leave.
He stood up, said goodbye to Ger and Chris, and was about to leave the room.
But when he was about to leave, Chris suddenly grabbed him:
"Wait a moment!"
"…Anything else?"
Looking back at Chris in surprise, Li Qi looked puzzled.
Chris stared at Li Qi for a while, and finally, perhaps because she felt that it was not a good idea to grab Li Qi suddenly, she quickly let him go and explained: "No... It's okay, it's just..."
She hesitated for a long time but couldn't make out what she meant.
Finally, Ger helped her out:
"Chris is probably worried about you. After all, you look a lot like our son."
"Yes, that's it!"
Chris nodded repeatedly, then looked at Li Qi carefully.
She seemed to want to engrave Li Qi's appearance in her mind forever, and her gaze lingered on Li Qi's face.
After a long while, she finally asked Li Qi:
"Can we meet again tomorrow?"
"certainly."
Li Qi answered without hesitation. He smiled and said, "You will see me in another place, don't worry."
"Really? That's good..."
Chris patted her chest as if she was relieved. Then her eyes softened a little and she looked at Li Qi and said, "Just now I felt like you were going to a very far place. It must have been my illusion."
"Well, it's an illusion."
“…But if you really have to go somewhere far away, remember to take good care of yourself.”
Chris gave another final instruction.
She didn't realize at all that these words seemed inappropriate to be said to a stranger whom she had only known for a few days.
But Chris didn't think there was anything wrong, and neither did Ger.
Although Li Qi himself felt that there was a problem, when he thought about the identities of the two people opposite him, he also didn't think there was anything wrong with Chris's instructions.
Only after patiently listening to Chris's last nagging did Li Qi walk out of the room.
Outside the room, looking at the two people standing at the door, Li Qi bowed slightly to them before turning and leaving.
The figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.
(End of this chapter)
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