Twenty years ago, in 1999, a port in Long District.

"Are you really leaving? at this time?"

Phoenix and Xuan Yi stood side by side, the afterglow of the setting sun shone on their faces, the same black trench coat fluttered under the sea breeze, he looked at the latter worriedly, and even the fingers holding the cigarette began to tremble slightly unsteadily, "I believe that incident has nothing to do with you, stay, I will find a way to prove that you ......"

Without waiting for Phoenix to finish, Xuan Yi raised his hand and stopped the words of his sworn friend, "The matter has come to this, I have to leave." He turned his head, his clear eyes reflecting Phoenix's worried face, "Okay, there's no need to cry like this, that guy hasn't wanted to get rid of me for a day or two, and I'm just out of the way through this matter, I've never been interested in that position, and it's better to let someone who has the ability to sit down...... What's more, you're still there, aren't you?"

"I ...... How can I have that ability......" Phoenix shook his head with a bitter face, "Even if those people from the Propaganda Department list us together as the Seven Heroes, I still have a good idea of how much ability I have, which of you is not a genius who threw me out a few streets......" "Ho Ho, is that the same again?" Xuan Yi put his arms around the former's shoulders, laughed and pinched the other party's cheeks, "Your head is worth 10,000 times more than our gang of reckless men who only know how to kill people and cut people!"

Speaking of this, Xuan paused, then put away his joking face, looked directly at Phoenix in a serious tone and said: "Listen, Fei Zai, now that the war is coming to an end, all kinds of ruins are waiting to be rebuilt, the era of our group of martial artists has come to an end, and next, it is people like you who will take the stage, and you have to use your wisdom to build this ruin." After following the teacher for so long, I know very well that I have only learned a little bit of the teacher's knowledge, you are the man who inherited his will, this world can be without the killing god, but not without you, look up, you are-"

A disciple of Mr. Qi.

His eyes shone slightly, and Phoenix raised his head, the confusion and inferiority in his eyes had been replaced by an inexplicable perseverance, as if the name Xuan Yi said could provide him with the courage of mountains and seas.

"I see...... And what about you? If you don't stay, where are you going?" Phoenix turned back and looked at his friend, who had already made up his mind, "Can we meet again?"

"As long as we are alive, we will meet again one day. ”

Xuan Yi turned around and strode in a completely different direction, and in the midst of the gradually tiny back, Phoenix saw the former suddenly raise his right hand, and use his thumb to slam the missing piece of the ring sign behind him, "Do you remember its meaning?

"I know——!! until that day, I won't get drunk and go home!——!!

Sad tears swirled in his eyes, but the man's parting was only laughter, and that day was the last time Phoenix saw Xuanyi.

Soon, news of Xuanyi's death suddenly came from the front line.

The man, who had been dismissed from the military, intervened in the battlefield for unknown reasons, fought the True Ancestor of the Blood Clan, and died there. Due to the use of nuclear bombs in battle, the legendary god of killing did not even have a corpse left.

Since then, the new century has arrived.

…………

Time back to the present, 2019, Shanghai.

Kenichi sat in the center of the café hall, in front of a newspaper, a plate of scraps, and a cup of coffee still emitting wisps of hot mist.

Although he originally planned to go directly to the imperial capital to meet with Phoenix, judging from the results, he did achieve this goal. So even if it was a solitary environment now, Xuan Yi didn't plan to do anything to try to escape.

But...... Why choose here?

The fighter planes in the air roared and galloped, shaking the glass in the store with a soft buzzing sound, and his ears moved slightly, Xuan Yi heard the footsteps outside from far and near, and the neat vibration of the successive military salutes on the ground, and finally, the door was opened, and a familiar and unfamiliar figure appeared in his sight.

Phoenix.

The door closed behind him, as if the two worlds were being separated, and the director of the circle sat quietly opposite Xuanyi. Silent for a long time, both of them were silently looking at each other, twenty years can change a lot of things, and [friendship] has always been a thing that will gradually dissipate with the barrier of distance and the passage of time, leaving only a familiar empty shell.

"Xuanyi, surrender. ”

In the middle of the night, Phoenix was the first to break the silence.

"In the face of an old friend you haven't seen for more than 20 years, it's a little sad for you to start with this sentence. Xuan Yi smiled silently, and then rolled up his sleeves, revealing the arm with nematodes swimming under the skin, "Well, the young people are quite capable now, this is the shackles that your subordinates put on me, remember to give him a salary increase or something." With this thing, does it make any difference to you whether I surrender or not?"

"The difference is huge. Even though the other party kept using a playful tone, Phoenix's serious face remained businesslike and expressionless, "Juniors can only know you through written materials, and I, more than once, have witnessed your madness in battle. If necessary, you can directly rip off your skin and muscles to expel those mechanical insects, and use [Black Mist] to restore the wound in the next second. And that's just the most conservative of all the initiatives I can think of. ”

"Hey, it's not so serious, is it?" Xuan Yi shrugged exaggeratedly, and tried to leave the table to approach the former, "It's me, Xuan Yi, is there any mistake, just don't give a hug to your good brother when you meet, you see you still have a black face......"

"The Xuan Yi I know has died twenty years ago. ”

Xuan Yi's figure suddenly stiffened, and Phoenix's five fingers overlapped, reflecting Xuan's eyes with indescribable indifference, "The Xuan Yi in front of me now is the mastermind of the [Holy City Bloody Case], the [S-Class Wanted] of the Ring Executive Bureau, and the most dangerous enemy of the entire empire. Don't try to sow disdain my loyalty to the Empire with past connections, Xuanyi, since you exposed your whereabouts, you no longer have the right to speak to me on an equal footing. ”

Hearing this, the corners of Xuan Yi's eyes twitched suddenly, and after a while, he sat back in his place and said in a calm tone: "Over the years, you have changed a lot. ”

"I've never changed. Phoenix unfolded the paper used to write the archive and drew a pen with it, "Now, tell me your purpose, and try to be as concise as possible." ”

"Speaking of which, before I came here, I saw a lot of slogans on the walls of the street that I hadn't had time to remove. As if he didn't intend to reply to the other party's question, Xuan Yi turned his head and his eyes wandered on the ceiling, "Over the years in Rain City, I have been living with friends of different races, and looking at their daily appearance, I will think of what my teacher told me from time to time. ”

"Tell me your purpose. Phoenix pinched his pen and coldly repeated his interrogation.

"Remember the teacher, he should have said the same thing to you, sketching a blueprint for the future? Xuan Yi still said to himself, as if he had sunk deeply into a memory, "Everyone can live in the same world safely, warmly, and equally, no matter skin, no matter race, everyone can eat well, everyone can read and write, no one bullies anyone, and no one is bullied." Children, no longer need to pick up machine guns before they reach adulthood, they can laugh and gallop under the blue sky with impunity. ”

"Tell me your purpose. The knuckles were whitened with overexertion, and in the calm of the eve of a storm, the words of inquiry came again mechanically.

"And in the same way, adults, their hearts have been liberated, their minds have never been opened, they will no longer be bound by blood, and they will no longer bow down to another person for no reason. ”

"I said, let you answer my question, are you deaf——?!!"

The rage finally came, the plates and coffee cups on the table were swept away and smashed on the floor, Xuan Yi raised his head, looked at the angry Phoenix, and asked with a complicated look in his eyes: "Fei Zai, why did things become the way they are?"