December 31st, the last day of 1688.

Ash tapped the door twice and unlocked it. He then skillfully pulled out a bottle of spray paint and a piece of cardboard from his backpack. Inside the cardboard was a group of silhouettes: Ash's double swords, Harvey's coffin, Igula's eyes, Vichy's halberd, Fili's rapier, Nya's straight blade, and Rose's six-pointed star snowflake.

According to Vichy, they needed to spread Ash's soul mark all over the country, but they didn't have a professional sorcerer to draw soul marks, so they had to make do with Ash's weapons.

In order to strengthen the effect of the soul mark, Vichy put all the weapons of everyone in it. To put it in a nice way, "the power of unity can even surpass light", but to put it bluntly, "it might be effective."

There is a serious shortage of internal magic spirits, external mysterious chains are a constant threat, and the goal is to instantly materialize the soul's paradise, an "unheard of" project. If Vichy says she is sure, then she must be trying to trick Ash into bed.

Whether it is the Temple or the Kingdom of Heaven, they are the core of the core for magicians, and it is no exaggeration to say that their lives depend on them. You should know that Vichy would never want to become an angel because he did not want to give up the Temple and be controlled by the Lord God for his whole life.

Trying to use the Temple or Heaven to hit people is like a country dropping arsenals and Congress directly into the middle of the enemy camp - who would study how to kill themselves better, faster and stronger! ?

Even Vichy only relied on the intuition of her demigod-level soul faction to judge that it was theoretically feasible to materialize the soul paradise. As for how to achieve it specifically, she could only take it one step at a time.

Not to mention other people's soul marks, even Ash's own soul mark might not be effective, but now they can only try everything. Moreover, spreading the soul marks requires everyone to work together to run all over the city. They need to race against time and have no time to worry.

Ash even suspected that the soul mark might really be useless, and was simply given by Vichy to give everyone something to do.

At this time, even if it is in vain, it is better than waiting for death.

It is worth mentioning that, since Rose had never entered the battle sequence, everyone originally wanted to use tools such as "mobile phones" to replace Rose's soul mark. However, after Rose knew about this, she drew a simple six-pointed star snowflake pattern for them.

But, will it snow in the Kingdom of Stars?

Yaxiu laid the cardboard on the wall and sprayed it with paint, and seven patterns were naturally graffitied on the wall. He opened his phone to check his business scope and found that everything was completed. It was already ten o'clock in the evening, and it was time to take a bus to the clock tower square to count down.

Although Vichy's words were exaggerated, such as "unforgettable memories", as if Ash needed to leave unforgettable memories in every city, but in fact there are many shortcuts - such as doing things that you would never do under normal circumstances.

They had already visited four cities before, and Ash participated in various activities such as diving, eating contest, tide watching, rock climbing, etc.

Of course, he wasn't the only one going to play, everyone went together, so Ash still had a vivid memory of it. After all, Harvey hit his lungs when he was floundering in the water, Igula suddenly vomited all over him while eating in the eating contest, and Vichy held him in front of him when the tide came and got him soaked. These things are really hard to forget...

Now they have come to Linguang City, which happens to be New Year's Eve, and the scheduled group activity is a New Year countdown in the largest clock tower square.

It’s Chinese New Year…

Ash looked at the neon lights in the city, lost in thought.

After a while, he packed up and went to a nearby subway station to take the subway.

Although you can also hail a taxi, Vichy said that taking public transportation can help you remember the city more deeply. After all, you may forget the scenery you saw while riding in a taxi, but the experience of being squeezed like a sardine in the crowds on public transportation is hard to forget.

When you stand on a high place, you can only admire the appearance of the city. Only when you step into the crowd can you feel the heartbeat of the city.

When leaving the station to change trains, Ash noticed Rose in front of him and suddenly became playful. He walked behind her, patted her right shoulder, and then hid to the left.

He had never tried to play a trick on Rose and was a little curious about how this perfect assistant would react.

Then Ash saw Rose stop and look to the right, as if she was wondering who tapped her shoulder. She stood there quietly, as indifferent as a lily in the crowd, as if waiting for an invisible person to suddenly appear.

After more than ten seconds, Ash had no choice but to say, "Rose."

"Yeah." Rose turned her head and looked at him, then asked, "Did you see anyone else? Someone tapped me on the right shoulder just now."

“…I’m sorry, I took the photo.”

"Why do you have to apologize?" Rose tilted her head, but she didn't seem interested. She pulled his sleeve and walked into the subway car.

There was no room in the car, so Rose sat in the corner and Ash stood outside her. With a beeping warning sound, the subway door slowly closed, and an announcement sounded in the car: "The next stop is Tianhou, the door is on the right side of the direction of travel..."

Ash took out his phone to watch a video, but found Rose standing quietly with her eyes level ahead, not making any moves to kill time. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Aren't you bored?"

"No."

Ash thought for a moment, put his phone back in his pocket, and asked, "Actually, you don't have to force yourself."

"Hmm?" Rose raised her eyes and looked at him puzzledly.

"You don't have to participate in all our activities. For things like competitive eating and rock climbing, it's okay if you don't want to." Ash said, "Felli and the others didn't participate in all the events either."

In the eating contest, Ash, the glutton, finished the contest, but Rose was the fastest eater, and they were the only two winners who finished the contest. Not only Igula, the disgrace who vomited all over Ash, but also Vichy and Harvey were unable to finish the contest due to their weak mortal bodies.

"Do you want me to participate in the event?" Rose asked back.

"Of course I hope so, but I don't want you to force yourself."

"Then I understand." Rose said calmly: "I didn't force myself."

Ash's lips moved slightly, he sighed and shook his head helplessly.

He looked at Rose, his expression suddenly became tangled, hesitant for a moment, then mustered up the courage to ask: "Although it feels a bit arrogant, but... Rose, do you like me?"

Faced with this question, Rose did not answer immediately, but was a little confused: "What is love?"

"Hmm..." Ash thought for a moment, "If I don't pay you, would you still be willing to work for me?"

"Then I definitely don't like you." Rose said firmly, "I will never work for anyone for free."

"Indeed, I wouldn't either. I feel like hanging myself after saying this." Ash pondered, "Then let's ask it in a more direct way. Would you like to reproduce with me? Not through test-tube babies, but completely sexually infatuated with each other..."

Rose thought for a moment, and then her delicate doll-like face gradually revealed contempt and disgust. Ash had known her for a few months, but this was the first time he saw her with such a rich expression.

"...Then I completely understand." Ash took a deep breath. Although this result was good, Rose's expression still hit his self-esteem a little. "But if this is the case, why don't you take this time to do what you like, instead of continuing to follow us? You are not the kind of hot-blooded person who feels that you have an obligation to save the world."

“How do you ask repetitive questions?”

"repeat?"

"What exactly is love?" Rose asked, "Who is the one you like, and what is the thing you like?"

"Just the people you want to see and the things you want to do."

"The person I want to see is you, and the thing I want to do is work."

"So what do you work for?"

"Labor is the essence of man. Labor distinguishes man from animals and elevates man from nature." Rose said, "I work not for anything, but for the sake of work."

"That's what the textbook says. Did I do it wrong?" She was a little confused. "This is my first time being a human being. I don't know what to do."

Ash stared at her blankly, then suddenly smiled and changed the subject: "I'm not in good shape in the big eater competition. I will definitely eat faster than you next time."

"Impossible." Rose said seriously, "I know your appetite very well. You can't eat more than me."

Ash smiled and said, "What if I ask you to lose to me on purpose?"

Rose frowned, "Then this wouldn't be a fair match. No."

Ash reached out and smoothed Rose's bangs, thinking that this was fine. He had no intention of exploring what Rose's problem was. After all, everyone he knew had some serious illness, even himself. Rose's condition was considered mild.

And he wasn't too worried. Although Rose looked like she didn't care about anything, she actually did care, but she didn't even realize it. She was like a little monster that had just entered society and was a little overwhelmed by the awakening of human nature.

"But why do you have to work for me? Why do you want to see me?" Ash asked earnestly, "Is it because we are childhood sweethearts and I am a very important friend to you?"

"We are childhood sweethearts." Rose admitted the first half of the sentence: "But you are not my important friend."

"If it's not because of our friendship, why would you work for me?" Ash asked, "Besides me, there should be many people willing to hire you with a high salary, right?"

Rose thought about it and gave a wonderful answer: "You are special."

"Especially?" Ash blinked. "Are you talking about the impression I have on you?"

"No, the impression you leave in my mind is that of violence, cunning, laziness, and lust."

"...You're talking about the old Heath, right? It must be him, right!?" Ash's mouth curled up: "Except for laziness, I'm not good at anything else, right? If you call me cunning, Igula will cry!"

"In short, you are special." Rose said, "You are different from everyone else. After all, in my eyes, everyone looks weird."

Ash was a little flattered: "So in your eyes..."

"That's right." Rose nodded: "You look very strange."