Chapter 15: The Last Survivor (Thanks to the Alliance Leader 'Tesela')

Late at night, Security Bureau North Mountain District Office.

Just after slamming the office door, Wen Wen's phone rang.

Su Zi calling.

"Hello? Sister Wen, the file you wanted has been found." As soon as the call connected, a voice with lingering fear came from the other side, carrying a fatigue of overwork.

"Any discoveries?"

"Yes, very much so, too much!"

Su Zi's tone became resentful: "It's just too scary, okay! Where did you dig out such two ghost things with one shovel? Each has its own strengths, each has its own unique skills... Can you not give me such surprises next time, please?"

"Talk about Lu Feng first."

Wen Wen leaned on the chair, legs propped on the table, swaying: "He shouldn't be the law-abiding common citizen he claims to be, right?"

"... Law-abiding is barely enough to reach the edge, but whether he is a common citizen depends on how you look at it."

On Su Zi's side came the sound of turning pages: "He has two files in total. One is from Yacheng, looking completely normal, just that kind of very ordinary normal.

Adopted family, the adopter is the owner of a car repair shop. He fought and caused trouble since he was a child, never letting people worry less. He lied about his age to join the army before he was an adult, and then after retiring, he came back and helped in the family car repair shop. Because his service awareness was not in place and he cursed people at every turn, he got a bunch of bad reviews... anyway, just living an ordinary life."

"And the other one that isn't ordinary?"

"The other one is scary. Red seal, very high confidentiality level, directly under the Central City Military Department, stamped with six confidentiality seals, six, damn it!"

Su Zi couldn't help but curse: "I've been in the Investigation Department for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen confidentiality seals stamped like stamp collecting. Just applying to visit it, I received a warning email from the Military Department."

"Normal."

Wen Wen understood. In fact, the first time she looked at Lu Feng, she already knew—the tattoo on his arm, besides some decorations common in the army, also had a mark of half a lion and half a skull.

According to her knowledge, there was only one place that claimed to be an airborne battalion that had been to the Middle Earth and had such tattoos, and among the federal high-level, its existence was no secret at all.

Inside were all people who did dirty work for the Federation.

Including but not limited to assassination, kidnapping, inhumane weapon testing that violated international human rights charters, and even terrorist attacks...

Precisely because of this, it felt bizarre.

How did you retire alive?

You know, in that mud pit of Middle Earth, besides the security forces watching oil fields, other legions participating in wars and operations, it's not easy for ordinary people to survive until retirement, let alone being able to walk away unscathed from the airborne battalion.

Not dying on the battlefield, not dying in a classified mission, and not committing suicide by shooting oneself thirty times in the back... This kind of person, either has immense luck where whoever touches him dies, or there must be a thigh behind him that is incredibly thick.

No matter which one it is, the running dogs of the Long Jihui provoking such a person can be considered as poking a hornet's nest of the Military Department.

"Being able to find out that he has a relationship with the Military Department is enough. Anyway, the Security Bureau's job is to prevent abnormal criminal events. Even if he is idle and killing people or setting fires, it's the Military Department's headache. What does it have to do with me."

Wen Wen asked directly:

"What about the other one?"

"The other one is even scarier."

Su Zi rubbed her eyebrows: "Sister Wen, you only came back in the last two years, you should have heard about the big event that happened in Haizhou ten years ago, right?"

Wen Wen was silent for a moment, thinking for a long time, and couldn't help but straighten her body from the chair: "You mean... the Sea Burning Day? Could it be that he is related to the Tide Flame Disaster?"

"Yes, he is a survivor."

Su Zi sighed, "To be exact, Ji Jue is the only survivor of the Tide Flame Disaster."

In the overly long dream, Ji Jue heard the sound of the train hitting the tracks again, so familiar.

He opened his eyes, leaning against the window, gazing at the scene speeding past in the distant wilderness outside, mountains, wilderness, sparsely desolate villages, and the burning red sunset in the sky.

The sunset light shone into the child's eyes, the crimson color dancing above the sky.

This was his childhood.

"Awake? Rest a little longer, we'll be in Yacheng soon."

Someone touched his head, the movement gentle: "After we arrive, how about Mom takes you to see the sea?"

"..."

Ji Jue was silent, for a long time, whispering: "Actually, I don't like the sea. Seeing it too much is actually annoying."

"Clearly, when you heard we were moving to Yacheng, you secretly saved money to buy a swimsuit."

The person beside him laughed, pulling him into her arms, rubbing his hair, gentle and light: "Don't worry, there will be new friends and classmates in the new school, everyone will play with you."

She said: "You will adapt, the past will become very far away, you will embrace a new life."

"But the new life is so hard, Mom, too hard, much harder than I imagined."

Ji Jue leaned on her shoulder, lowering his head: "The things in Haizhou taste very bland, I'm always not used to eating them, the dialect is also very complicated, I can't understand it at all.

The hospital medicine tastes terrible, the nurses are very fierce, the old house is easy to get damp, and during the return-to-south season, there is water everywhere in the house, if you don't deal with it quickly, it will get moldy. Some classmates in school also like to bully me, and the teachers are always making things difficult..."

"So hard." She sighed softly.

"Don't worry, I've handled it all, Mom, they can't stump me, I've already been admitted to university, just like you, both are Tianmen University, the scenery there is as good as you said, it's just that the braised pork rice in the cafeteria is very hard to buy."

He gently held the palm that his mother had dropped, just like holding that overly fragile dream:

"Lu Ma likes to lose her temper, but she is very good to me, treating me like her own child. Although Professor Ye has very strict requirements and always says that if I don't do well, she will kick me out, she has never looked down on me. If someone bullies me, Brother Feng will help me fight. Senior sister also takes good care of me, never making things difficult for me in the project...

They are all very good people, and they all like me very much."

"So, don't worry, Mom, I'm doing very well."

. C〇

Ji Jue laughed, promising her: "I will definitely become someone who has achieved something... no matter how hard it is."

"Then why are you so sad?" Mother stroked his cheek, so gentle, making Ji Jue's nose ache again.

"I just, miss you very much."

"Me too."

There were gentle arms hugging him, just like eternal protection and care, making this cruel world and all the suffering no longer scary.

Ji Jue closed his eyes, snuggling in her arms.

No longer looking at the scene outside the window.

Those dancing red clouds radiated the last light, and then, were swallowed by black clouds. Later, the black clouds disappeared too.

Amidst the shaking of heaven and earth, screams and shouts sounded, just like in countless nightmares before.

The black clouds were killed, and crimson rain fell.

The rain fell on the ground, planting inextinguishable flames, and the flames rose to the sky, gathering together, like a tide with no end.

Everyone called it the Tide Flame Disaster.

That was a natural disaster crowned with the name of destruction. When it appeared, even the ocean would be burned to a boil. After the invisible flames swept past like a flood, everything was burned to ashes.

Ten years ago, it appeared in Haizhou without warning, rushing toward the southeast, burning everything along the way to ashes.

Whether it was mountains, wilderness, villages, or a train that happened to be shrouded in the aftermath.

Just like that, it easily took away everything Ji Jue had.

Four hours after the disaster, the Yacheng search and rescue team arrived at the scene first, finding the only surviving child from the broken wreckage of the train.

Severely burned, on the verge of death.

He was held in the arms of his deceased mother, not crying or struggling, letting the search and rescue team take him away.

Afterward, experts gave long, detailed arguments about how lucky and coincidental this was. Everyone looked at the newspaper headlines, saying this was a miracle of life, cheering for it.

But so-called miracles, sometimes, are no different from curses.

And Ji Jue was never the lucky one.

I don't know how many times he would have this dream again, but the ending of the dream had never changed because of his actions.

Every time he reached this point, the dream should have ended.

But this time, he didn't wake up.

He lifted his head, looking at the sky that didn't belong to this dream.

Above the broken night sky, countless shining stars gradually appeared, operating, overlapping, intertwining, turning into blurred outlines, just like magnificent gods appearing in the mortal world.

One, and another.

They, them, or He/She/It, were looking at him.

Solemn and silent.

Waiting as always.

In the office, it was silent.

Only a wisp of blue smoke from the ashtray rose silently.

Even in the history of the Federation suffering from disasters, the Tide Flame Disaster ten years ago was a rare natural disaster.

The collapse and fall of a Rift Realm caused the disaster value to rise above the alarm line. The burning wind rose from the ruins of Quancheng in the south, rushing wildly, burning the West Sea to a boil.

Even though no major city was destroyed because of it, the losses brought about by it caused the economy of the entire Haizhou to be severely damaged, almost unable to recover, and the tragedies caused by it were countless.

As the only survivor of that accident...

Wen Wen didn't know whether Ji Jue's luck was good or bad.

Facing a natural disaster, even being able to survive doesn't mean luck, but the beginning of misfortune—for those who faced a natural disaster and could still survive, there is usually another name, called 'Cursed One'.

Ordinary people getting involved with natural disasters, just being a bit unlucky is good. The probability of sin-tainting is also much higher than ordinary people, almost never ending well.

For so many years, Ji Jue hadn't had a spontaneous combustion situation, which was already lucky to an outrageous degree.

"Sister Wen, why did you suddenly check this?"

After a long silence, Su Zi on the other end of the phone asked curiously: "Could it be that he got involved in some incident?"

"No, nothing."

Wen Wen shook her head decisively: "Just encountered it while repairing a motorcycle, a bit curious."

"... Eh?"

Su Zi's voice dragged out a long tone, obviously being politely deceived: "Then remember to treat me to a meal when you come back, don't use the Security Bureau cafeteria to make up the numbers."

"Okay, okay."

Wen Wen nodded, pondering for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Su Zi, you have worked in the Investigation Department for so long, and have seen so many people's files.

If, I mean, if, a Cursed One is chosen by heaven..."

"Are you serious?"

Su Zi was also surprised: "This probability? Without relying on the invocation of a higher rank, autonomous awakening cannot be said to be absolutely impossible, but it can only be said that daydreaming is more practical than buying a lottery ticket.

Ordinary people affected by sin-tainting have almost been marked by the vortex.

For example, it's like walking on a tightrope on a cliff with a hundred-pound iron ball tied to your ankle. Being able to move forward two steps is already very remarkable, let alone being able to fly into the sky."

"So that's how it is, thank you."

After Wen Wen finished listening, she didn't say anything else.

After the phone hung up, the office was once again shrouded in silence, leaving only the ticking of the clock.

And looking at the empty report document on the computer screen, she was distracted again, looking at the sky outside the window.

If, someone who should have fallen into the abyss could one day soar in the sky... then his wings must be very beautiful, right?

Wen Wen laughed.

The sky in the night was so clear, with no clouds obscuring it.

The stars were shining, and the light was gentle.

V0.0001 patch update notice: The organization name 'Dragon Worship Sect' in the previous chapter collided with many works. To avoid reader confusion, it has been renamed to 'Long Jihui'. ===== CHAPTER 16 =====