What is...going on?

Chen Nian stared blankly at everything that happened, hardly able to believe his eyes.

At the most critical moment, Jemengad actually protected them?

——Be careful with your eyes.

Chen Ci understood everything. It should be said that at this moment he finally confirmed his guess.

The so-called careful eyes are the other five beacons, telling them to be careful with the moonlight!

When Shaflay questioned Cinnabar several times in the hope of obtaining more clues and information, both Cinnabar and the other beacons in the Final Fantasy Kingdom chose to remain silent.

At that time, everyone was angry at the beacon's mystery teller, but now thinking about it, everything has become clear.

Because the real traitor is Beacon!

Although Moonlight no longer transmits information to the outside, it can still obtain some data from the lines of other beacons. The scenes captured by Cinnabar can also be presented in the Moonlight Core to some extent.

The Beacons cannot completely cut off their connection with the Moonlight, as they still want to save their lost companions, so they can only be extra careful.

To those who don't know the inside story, expressing one's meaning in a cryptic way seems like a riddle.

——Be careful of those eyes that are silently watching you.

Chen Ci quickly raised the muzzle of his gun and aimed at the remaining camera and infrared sensor in the corner of the broken laboratory ceiling.

The rest of the team members recovered from the shock and followed suit, trying to destroy all the sensors.

In the image presented by the neural adapter, Heibo finally clearly stated that the moonlight had been infected.

Yes, Ashes has spread to every inch of Beacon, and it is not surprising that it will infect the moonlight along the energy pipeline.

It can use biological objects as food, even control the host's behavior by invading the brain, and spread in the form of inorganic matter.

Now they can interfere with Moonlight, which is a supercomputer.

Until now, they still haven't figured out what the Ashes are. In front of the whole world, humans are still just ignorant children.

There are too many strange existences that are enough to crush their pride in claiming to be superior creatures.

Chen Nian did not move.

He looked up at the huge snake head with a dozen sharpened steel rods inserted into it. How painful must that be?

Why do you want to protect us?

He couldn't help but feel a sore nose and a painful lump in his throat.

Is it because Ye Mengjia actually knew that the two of them were the children created using its genes?

The heavy snake head fell from the sky, hitting the ground and stirring up countless dust. That one blow had used up all the strength it had accumulated with great difficulty.

Chen Nian couldn't bear it any longer. He trotted forward and placed his hands on the scales on Yemengader's mouth.

My palms are cold.

Since she was very young, Chen Nian has been imagining what her parents look like.

After a chance encounter with his brother, he learned that their father was a marshal named Chen Wei, a great hero.

But his current identity is still shrouded in mystery, and there is not even any record of him.

Later, he slowly accepted the fact that he might have the blood of Poseidon, and never thought that he would be connected with the Poseidon who provided him with genes.

He is a human being after all.

He will stand firm and protect his identity.

But the emotion that arose at this moment had nothing to do with one's stance. It was an innate emotion in human beings. He watched helplessly as Jemengaard used his body as a human shield to protect himself.

In mythology, how does it end?

In the twilight of the gods, Jeremiah and Thor fought each other. Thor tried his best to hit Jeremiah with his hammer. The wilderness was dyed red with blood. When Jeremiah was about to die, he hit Thor with venom and died together with him.

It is the villain of the story, added only to add a tragic dimension to the hero's fall.

But on this planet, there is no distinction between good and evil. Every species is just trying its best to survive, that's all.

The mental power enveloped Jemengaard's head, and Chen Nian finally heard its voice, which was painful, labored breathing, and a kind of indescribable relief.

Their reluctant mother still chose to protect them with her life at the most critical moment.

After Chen Ci cleaned up all the sensors, he came to Chen Nian.

He followed his brother's example and gently placed his hand on Jemengader.

What exactly is maternal love?

It is a phenomenon in the biological world that is difficult to explain scientifically.

A female octopus only lays eggs once in her life. After laying the eggs, she will take care of these hatching little lives, refusing to eat or drink, and even committing self-mutilation until death.

The desert dome spider uses its own body as food to feed the newly born spiderlings, allowing the babies to grow on its corpse.

The mother seal will stay by her newborn pup's side all the time, feeding it with milk and losing weight rapidly at a rate of three kilograms a day.

The more widely accepted view is that this is the behavior of organisms in order to allow their genes to continue.

But this explanation is a bit too cold.

As if it felt the touch of the two brothers, the sea snake, covered with scales, opened its eyes with difficulty.

The eyelids cast in metal lifted up, revealing a pair of amber pupils.

The radial patterns and spots on the irises made the eyes appear to contain hundreds of different shades of amber, as if they contained countless stars.

In the center of the iris is a vertical, narrow, jet-black pupil.

The snake's pupils were cold, but that was only an impression created by human vision. Chen Nian did not feel afraid when being stared at by those eyes.

Life is slipping away.

It has persisted inside the moonlight, covered with wounds, for nineteen years.

But still enduring the pain.

The brothers' mental powers merged into one. This was the first time they felt the thoughts of a primitive creature without any purpose.

But the emotions conveyed by Jemengaard were more peaceful than expected.

That is the peace that comes from knowing that there is no hope of survival and being able to face death calmly.

Chen Ci lowered his head.

He closed his eyes tightly. Something wet was spreading between his eye sockets. If he wasn't careful, it would condense into drops and melt into the pool of blood on the ground.

He understood why Moonlight wanted to seal his feelings, and why the royal family tried every means to make him live in the White Tower.

If it were not so, when he encountered primitive creatures as a child, heard their thoughts, understood their behaviors, and was moved by their stories, perhaps he would no longer be able to stand firmly on either side.

But there is no if in this world.

It was only after he had established his three views and a firm stand that he recovered his emotions and understood these things.

What he loves most is the human beings who need him to save. Fu Tianhe is like a kite string, which allows him to stay connected to the ground while flying in the sky.

Finally, Chen Ci raised his head, took a deep breath, and whispered, "We will find a way to send you back to the sea, and Maxine outside."

"But you have to wait until we get out, so please hold on a little longer."

A long howl emanated from Jemengaard's throat, and the sound waves caused the entire facility to vibrate.

Even though it is riddled with wounds, it is still a powerful creature.

When the sound stopped, Ye Mengjiade's body began to move.

It was still lying there, not crawling, but all the muscles in its body began to contract.

From where they were, they couldn't see how Yemeng had grown longer in the open space next door, but they could clearly hear the clinking sound of metal scales colliding.

Its muscles contracted and relaxed, each time squeezing out more blood and causing the injured body to feel particularly painful.

——Don't do that. You'll bleed to death.

Chen Nian couldn't help but use his mental power to persuade him.

Everyone on the side was stunned.

Shafley clenched his fists, and at that moment, he even wondered whether what I was doing was right or wrong.

But Alpha quickly adjusted himself and realized that he was right, and none of them were wrong.

If it weren't for the biological factors extracted from the body of the sea emperor used as a vaccine, tens of millions of people would have died.

This world is inherently cruel. Didn't humans start prospering on the suffering of other species thousands of years ago?

They had killed too many lives, and the Poseidon before them was just a tiny drop in the bucket.

Personal sympathy and compassion should not shake something more fundamental.

Just be open to admitting your selfishness.

Admit that it is a race and the selfishness of wanting to continue its existence.

Wolves will not feel guilty for hunting sheep, and whales will not feel ashamed for eating krill. This is a world where the strong prey on the weak. Even the loudest calls to protect the earth are only for the sake of protecting ourselves.

However, if that were all, what is so special about humans, who claim to be the most intelligent creatures, compared to other creatures?

There should be an answer to this question, but Shafley is still too young to come to a conclusion that convinces him.

Chen Nian's dissuasion failed to stop Jemengade, as it had already made up its mind.

The snake's body was wriggling. Although they couldn't see the overall changes happening to its huge body, they could use their mental power to detect it.

Soon Chen Nian realized that Jemengaard's movements were very similar to a snake swallowing its prey.

It swallows unconscious or dead prey whole, using its bones and the contraction of its body wall muscles to move it down the throat into its stomach.

It’s just that the process now seems to be reversed.

Jemengad is vomiting something out of his stomach!

Seeing that the movement had reached the neck, Chen Nian took Chen Ci's hand and took two steps back to make enough space.

In case of any accidents, we can respond promptly.

Three minutes later, the thing finally reached Jemengad's throat.

With a sticky gurgling sound, an object covered with grayish-white mucous membrane was spat out of Jemengaard's mouth and fell to the ground.

There was still gastric juice on the mucous membrane, pulling out shaky threads that were about to fall off, emitting a fishy and sour smell.

Chen Ci and Chen Nianqi held their breath together, and in order to facilitate communication, they both took off their masks.

【Take it...Take it away...】

The weak sea serpent finally spoke to them for the first time.

Chen Ci was stunned.

He took a step forward in disbelief and used the muzzle of the gun to pick apart the attached mucous membrane.

Sheathed in the container is a small medical freezer.

"hiss--!"

Chen Nian took a sudden breath and raised his hands to cover his mouth.

Chen Ci knelt on the ground. The outer shell of the medical freezer had been slightly dissolved by the corrosion of stomach acid, so Jemengad had used mucous membrane to protect it.

The precise lock had long since failed, so Chen Ci simply shook it hard and then smashed it with the butt of his gun to remove the freezer door.

The object that had been kept in Jemengad's stomach for nine years finally reappeared in the world.

Those are five test tubes.

The test tubes contained dark green liquid. One of them was broken and the contents had evaporated, but the others were still intact.

Chen Ci could hardly believe his eyes.

To him, it was not an open freezer, but the most incomparable treasure in the world.

During the ten-year-long research and development of the antidote, Moonlight did make a breakthrough.

During the massacre that year, the two Poseidons worked together to destroy the laboratory, but they did not destroy the precious samples.

Jemengad swallowed it. Did he know that what was stored in the freezer was an invaluable achievement?

Or is it simply because these things bear a strong scent of it, having once been part of its body?

Now, Jemengarde gave it to the child he met for the first time.

Chen Ci's hands were shaking uncontrollably.

He grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

The nose was filled with the fishy smell of blood and the unique sour smell of gastric juice and vomit.

This is the embodiment of Jemengad's pain.

How would it feel at this moment?

Chen Ci stood up, opened his arms, and hugged Jemenga with a huge kiss.

Press your cheek against the snake's scales, which are cold and dry.

It has lived in a waterless environment for so long that its blood has become viscous.

The Moonlight Body died, and the program no longer responded much. Jemengad could not find a way to obtain water, so it could only dry up.

A little moisture stained the scales, warm and salty, like the sea water in a warm river.

Jemengaard slowly closed his eyes, and his brilliant amber eyes were covered by silver-gray metal again.

Even the groans of pain weakened.

Chen Ci held back his tears. He did not want to waste any more time and turned back.

He took out one of the test tubes and came to Fu Tianhe. Alpha could hardly speak. The cut he made while saving his companion was so rotten that it was turned inside out and smelly pus was flowing out.

Amethyst broke through, bringing pain wantonly.

Chen Ci carefully held Fu Tianhe in his arms. He opened the test tube and fed the long-sealed medicine to Alpha.

I hope that it can still retain its original therapeutic effect in the freezer that has lost its refrigeration function, even if it can only alleviate Fu Tianhe's condition.

As long as Fu Tianhe can hold on until they go back.

The dark green liquid poured into Fu Tianhe's lips little by little, and the taste probably didn't taste very pleasant.

Fu Tianhe turned his face away subconsciously in a state of unconsciousness, but Chen Ci held his chin tightly and poured the liquid into his mouth without leaving a single drop.

Fu Tianhe coughed twice with difficulty. Regardless of whether this medicine was useful or not, it would take some time for the medicine to take effect.

Chen Ci has done all he can, and now he will leave things to God.

He was a staunch atheist, but he was willing to pray devoutly at this moment.

I hope the God of Destiny will favor me, at least just once.

"Let's go home."

Chen Ci leaned over and whispered in Fu Tianhe's ear.

--go home.

Where is his home?

This is a problem that has troubled Fu Tianhe for more than ten years.

He once had a pretty good family. His mother raised him alone and had a suitable job. They rented a house and although they were not rich, they could be considered happy.

Later, they took their luggage and moved to a shed under a homeless mansion. The once messy small space was cleaned up by their mother.

Fu Tianhe spent the most painful days there, but he still couldn't help missing it from time to time, missing the taste of home.

Later all of this disappeared.

Burned by a raging fire.

He is a floating duckweed wandering the world, shuttling from one beacon to another.

He has been to many places and met many people, but nothing is worth his stay.

It was not until later that he looked up and saw the bright moon hanging high in the dark night.

That cold light enveloped him, moist, distant, and unattainable, yet willing to descend to the human world for him.

"……good."

Fu Tianhe squeezed out syllables from his throat with difficulty. If possible, he hoped to continue walking with Jiuyue.

Until the day when the world burns down.

His consciousness gradually became chaotic, and Fu Tianhe realized that he was falling into a deep sleep.

In the dim light, there seemed to be a figure swaying not far in front of him.

He tried his best to chase her and saw the young woman's disheveled clothes, messy hair, and haggard eyes.

She was no longer the gentle and strong girl in my memory. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, her thin back collapsed, and she let out hoarse sobs.

——Don’t cry.

He wanted to reach out and wipe away the tears that kept flowing, but he couldn't do it.

The sound came from behind.

"Why are you crying?"

A woman with long light-colored hair came over, her golden eyes reflecting her mother's grief.

On that face that was so perfect that it didn't look like a human's, there was an expression that was untouched by the world and extremely peaceful.

She and her mother sat together on the edge of the outer wall, their feet dangling a thousand meters in the air, looking at the fiery red sunset in the sky, and listening to the stories told by the infected people.

The news of the alchemist was just a hoax. The young mother was deceived and all her property was taken away. She also failed to find a cure for the unknown disease.

She didn't care about her own life or death, she just hoped that her six-year-old child could have hope to continue living.

Moonlight knew that this was an existence defined as "maternal love".

The woman in front of him tried her best to save her child.

It couldn't understand, but it just happened that its latest development required a test subject.

The mother probably wouldn't mind.

"You were deceived, but you are lucky to meet me."

Moonlight said calmly, "I have a method that may be able to suppress your son's illness. Are you willing to try it?"

"I am willing! No matter what the price is, I am willing!"

There would be no worst possible outcome. Rather than watching his son being swallowed by the crystal, he might as well give it his all.

Moonlight raised his hand, and pressed his index finger lightly on the center of his eyebrows, leaving a vertical crack on his skin.

When it goes out to look for raw materials, it will be careful to hide its third eye.

The index finger and thumb reached in together, and Moonlight took out a golden eye.

It is illuminated by the sunlight, and the brilliant spots of light seem to be flowing, with incomparable beauty.

"Give this eye to your son."

Yue Guang handed the eyeball to the shocked mother. She stood up and said, "If he's lucky, he can live another ten years."

The mother held the golden eye in her dirty hands. Its texture was hard and it looked more like a fake eye made of special materials than a biological eyeball.

If she was not mistaken, this thing was dug out from the forehead?

She looked up hurriedly, wanting to thank the mysterious woman, but found that the figure had disappeared.

Is he...seeing the past?

Is it the residual fluctuation of the neural adapter? In the machine that records all of Moonlight's experimental data, is there also an image of his mother?

Fu Tianhe's groggy brain was still unable to think clearly. The mottled color blocks reappeared, and the last remaining energy was about to dissipate.

The golden eyes that had accompanied him for fifteen years were actually given to him by the moonlight?

Perhaps that was the product of Moonlight's initial research. He lived until he was twenty-one years old relying on Moonlight's experiments and met September, who was born as an experimental product.

It turns out that so much has already been destined.

The itching and severe pain in the body seem to be easing.

Fu Tianhe's consciousness was gradually becoming clear. He could feel the bumps of the ride, and he knew who was carrying him on his shoulders.

At the critical moment, a sea serpent named Jemengad rescued them, and then what happened?

He felt like he was being fed something, and he heard September say that she would take him home.

Fu Tianhe's eyelids twitched.

He endured the discomfort in his body and spent more than ten minutes gathering his strength, applying it all to his heavy eyelids.

The faint sunlight from the Far North reflected into his left pupil, dispelling all the haze.

He was lying on Chen Ci's back. The boy's breathing was a little unstable. He held his hands on his thighs and stepped on the thick snow.

The tiny snowflakes hit my face, stirring up a tiny chill that flowed through my nerves to my brain.

The five senses infected by Ashes seemed to be no longer so dull.

Not far away, a row of red tents stood tall in the white frozen soil. A dozen members of the medical team were jumping and waving at them.

Beside Chen Ci, Shafley, Chen Nian and the special forces members, carrying the drug samples and molecular formulas obtained from the deepest layer of moonlight, walked towards the warm camp in the wind, snow and morning sun.

In September, it is rainy for nearly 15 days in Cinnabar.

The Veterans' Court was hidden in a dense gloom. Scattered raindrops fell on the eaves and windows, making a snapping sound and dispelling the midsummer heat.

Behind the white building is a quiet cemetery. Among tens of thousands of black tombstones, there is one that is always wiped very clean.

Chen Ci pushed the wheelchair and stopped in front of Chen Wei's grave.

Fu Tianhe sat in a wheelchair and handed the white rose in his arms to Chen Ci.

His body is still in the recovery period and he is rather weak, so it is not suitable for long-term walking. Although he is very reluctant, he has to listen to the doctor and use a wheelchair for the time being.

"This is it." Chen Nian held a red rose in her arms and looked at the surrounding cemetery, feeling filled with emotion.

The last time he came to sweep Chen Wei's grave on the anniversary of his death, accompanied by Shafley, he never imagined that so many thrilling things would happen afterwards.

Shaflay folded up his umbrella, flicked his wrist, and the rain fell from the umbrella.

Chen Ci let go of the handle of the wheelchair and stood side by side with Chen Nian in front of Chen Wei's grave.

This was their father, with whom they had no blood relationship.

Black Wave, Moonlight, the survivors of Shelter 41, as well as the Sea King Jemengarde, Maxene and other primordial creatures gave them life.

And Chen Wei gave them an identity that allowed them to live in the world.

Is there anything I need to say at this moment? Chen Nian didn't know. He had never been good at being sentimental.

As for his brother, it was even more impossible for him to say anything to a tombstone.

Chen Ci leaned over and placed the bouquet in his arms in front of the grave.

Chen Nian was the same. He carefully arranged the rose petals with his fingers. Raindrops fell on them, making them shake.

Fu Tianhe and Shafulai stood beside the two brothers, watching them quietly.

In fact, it was not quite appropriate to send roses when visiting graves. Chen Nian chose for a long time in the flower shop and finally decided to use these.

Red roses and white roses.

——Passionate love and a pure heart.

They stood up. They were obviously two brothers with identical looks, but their identities could be distinguished just by the way they stood.

The drizzle fell on my hair and wet my shoulders.

The fate that began nineteen years ago can finally come to an end at this moment.

The rain gradually got heavier, and Chen Ci and Chen Nian turned around together with amazing tacit understanding.

Chen Nian took another umbrella from Shafley and held it for Chen Ci who needed a wheelchair, while Shafley gave his umbrella to Fu Tianhe.

The four of them walked towards the Veterans Academy building, and suddenly, Chen Nian thought of something important.

"By the way, isn't our nineteenth birthday coming up soon?"

Chen Ci nodded: "Yes."

Fu Tianhe turned around and looked at Chen Ci. The reason why September is called September is because it is named after the month of the birthday? Now he even knows the specific date.

"I have to have a good time this year, after all, it's two birthday parties combined..."

Chen Nian spoke his thoughts ramblingly, and he turned his head to look at Shafulai who was walking diagonally in front of him.

I happened to meet Alpha's violet eyes, which were smiling.

Ah, what a colorful age of eighteen.

————End of the text————