Hint: There is no certain order of succession between the interludes, and there is no clear logical relationship between them, they are just things that happened in the past two years.

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"You can disguise, you can ignore, you can pretend that nothing happened, but in fact, you know better than anyone else that no matter how you escape, the scars in your heart will not heal on their own, they will only be drenched in blood, and your ignorance and disguise will be exposed all the time."

***

Ling Yu was woken up by a burst of laughter.

The young man opened his eyes, and under the dim light, his vision seemed to be a little trance.

The young man raised his hand, and a sharp pain came from his right upper arm, probably the wound from yesterday afternoon, hasn't it healed yet?

But...... At least I came back safely.

Because laughter has proven a qiē.

With a deep sigh, Ling Yu sat up from the bench with some difficulty, the black-clothed young man was covered in clumps of muddy water and dried bloodstains, and he couldn't tell whether it was himself or his opponent's.

After only sleeping five hours a week and maintaining a high-intensity fight, TF's body is also about to reach its limit.

Keep killing, questioning, keep killing, keep asking, except for the smell of blood that is getting stronger and thicker on your hands, and you can't wash it off, you can't get anything.

Suddenly, a heavy bell rang, and the young man subconsciously jumped up from the stool, his right hand resting on the already somewhat torn holster on his thigh, the cold handle of the mystery pistol stung his fingers, but it seemed to be his last comfort.

But the young man did not pull out his gun.

Because his somewhat vague gaze had already seen it, it was the bell from the huge clock tower behind him.

yes, have you forgotten...... It was the familiar sound of the clock tower on Rimria.

Ling Yu removed his hand from the holster. Raising his hand to cover his eyes, the clock tower projected huge holographic text into the black sky, red, as dazzling as blood.

The snow began to fall again.

Ling Yu slowly sat back on the park bench, as if he couldn't hear the cheers coming from afar, he stretched out his hand. Covering his face, the calendar on his watch had jumped to 0:01 on January 1, 2179.

That thing...... Has it been half a year?

It's another Christmas, and it's been six days?

Ling Yu suddenly felt a headache, and he struggled to recall, recalling what he was doing on that special day.

But I can't remember it anymore.

Is it infiltrating the ACA's base? Or smuggled across the border in a stuffy tanker? Or beating him half to death at the home of an informant who was celebrating Christmas?

I don't know why, he just can't remember.

Time and date no longer make sense, when the whole of life is overshadowed by the smell of blood and gunpowder. Even the memories became so blurry.

Why did you want to come back?

Ling Yu raised his head slightly, the scenery in front of him was familiar and unfamiliar, even if he had lived in this city for more than ten years, he rarely came to this street park, and the clock tower in the distance was only looking at it from afar.

Countless times, Ling Yu thought that this familiar and unfamiliar steel city on the sea would be the end of his life. Like countless people who were born here and were unwilling or unable to leave. Spent his life here and ended up buried in a chapel not far from his home.

Although your life may be much longer than that of the average person, what difference does it make?

The young man once thought that his life was in the hands that were gradually losing their temperature, and he let go of his wrists. It's over.

If struggling to get from the broken lifeboat to the rescue was to keep the efforts of that back in vain, then what was the purpose of surviving later?

He didn't know, just as he didn't know why he had taken the knight's maiden's word that morning to accept the job to South Africa.

Is it just because of that money. Or is it because the house that was blown up was not his own at all?

Or, that girl, from the very beginning, saw the unwillingness to roll in her blood?

They want revenge, they want to become stronger, they want to make the people who killed their parents and take away their happiness pay......

I want to save, I want to protect, and I want to let the people behind me show a happy smile that will not be deprived......

When did your purpose change?

From an ordinary person, to the son of God, to an ordinary person.

"It's too cunning...... It was ...... from the beginning You've been using me......"

Ling Yu lowered his head, and white snowflakes silently fell on the young man's hair and shoulders, covering his tattered black jacket little by little, along with the muddy water and blood.

"But why...... Obviously you're gone...... But I still can't stop...... What remains to be proven......"

Is it that fake smile? If that smile is really fake, why is it so irresistible?

Or, that smile wasn't fake at all, and from the very beginning, the little girl from Reykjavik had been telling herself what she was thinking.

It was like a starlight in the darkness, making the exhausted youth who had fallen to the ground get up again, take steps, and chase the direction he had wanted to go.

"It turns out that you have already seen me through?"

"But why...... I didn't understand it so late ......"

Ling Yu's hands trembled slightly, and the vision of the young man sitting on a bench in the empty park like a sculpture suddenly blurred.

The warm liquid slid down the young man's face, somewhat with some difficulty to wash the dust off his face, and then dripped onto the back of his hand, gently piercing through the thin layer of snow and smashing the dried blood stains into a cloud of powder soot that could barely be seen.

"Always thinking about ...... When this thing is over...... When this mission is over...... Wait for the future...... Someday...... There will come a time......"

Yes, in fact, the person who has been running away is himself.

Always thinking about the future, always thinking about tomorrow, the next mission, the next vacation...... There will come a time...... I can say that myself......

But...... You're running out of time, aren't you?

Ultimately. When the first qiē is over, when I finally realize that I can already walk forward on this road without your support-

You can't keep up anymore, can you?

Ling Yu turned his head and looked at the figure of the girl who hadn't followed. Little by little, she disappeared into the darkness, as without warning.

Ling Yu stood in place, shouting hoarsely, in the direction where the girl had been—

But what's the use of that? The girl who had kissed her lips could no longer be heard.

Even if she had rushed back to this cold and strange city anyway, there would never be a girl who knocked on the door of her room when she got up on Christmas morning.

"Ling Yu ......"

A soft, ethereal voice came from the front of the youth. The young man looked up blankly, only to find that his eyes were filled with tears, so that he could not see anything.

The young man raised his hand, and the snow on his shoulders and head was shaken off by this action, and he gently wiped his eyes, and subconsciously squeezed out a difficult smile at the girl standing in front of him.

The girl stood in front of her, panting. Her usually neatly dressed cloak looked a little messy at this time, and the cat's ear antenna on her head was also a little crooked.

But the girl didn't seem to notice. He just stood quietly in place, his little lips puffing out white gas in the cold air, but he didn't speak again.

"I'm sorry when I go back...... I had some problems and happened to be passing by here...... I ......"

Ling Yu stood up from the bench, his left hand still rubbing his face indiscriminately. He took two steps forward, got down on one knee, and looked at Helis's fair face, "I'm sorry for worrying you." We...... Go back, right? ”

Ling Yu said with a little difficulty, but in the next second, a transparent and warm liquid slipped from Herris's eyes.

"Ling Yu ......"

Helis spoke softly again, still standing a little sluggish, her voice cold and sad.

"Ling Yu...... I ......"

"...... Herris"

Ling Yu stretched out her hand, but Helis took a step back, she lowered her head and stretched out her hand, watching the tears that slipped from her face fall on the girl's small palm.

"Ling Yu...... I ......"

Helis raised her head, looked at the young man in front of her, and after repeating the other party's name three times, she finally spoke in a low voice.

“…… I miss her too......"

"Herris—"

Ling Yu sobbed, stretched out his hand, and hugged the girl in front of him, finally unable to control his tears anymore.

"I know...... I know...... I know...... I know ...... too."

"I know it all......"

Ling Yu hugged the girl in his arms and spoke softly in a trembling voice, as if something would collapse if the sound was a little louder.

"If you want to cry...... It's okay...... Didn't you say that...... Twenty-four hours...... No, twelve hours, one qiē will pass...... 一qiē...... ...... will pass"

The young man's voice sobbed with difficulty, but even so, he spoke desperately, but not so much to comfort the girl in his arms as to make excuses for his tears.

"Hmm...... Hmmm......"

The white-haired girl buried her face on Ling Yu's broad shoulders, and the black jacket still smelled of gunpowder, but even so, Helis still held Ling Yu's shoulders tightly, as if because the other party couldn't see it, the always expressionless girl nodded lightly.

Then he burst into tears.

"Hello, is this Mr. Ling Yu?"

"If there's nowhere to go, how about staying?"

The voice of the girl from Reykjavík echoed in the ears of the two of them, softly, but incomparably real, like a light piercing the darkness, making the exhausted and almost given up walker resume his footsteps.

And what illuminates together is the courage to live.

The two people who hugged each other tightly, feeling the warmth of each other's bodies, were like swimming fish in each other's mouth, desperately trying to mend the common defects in their lives.

The snow is still falling, the New Year's celebrations are still noisy in the distance, the dim street lamps still only emit a cold glow, and there is still no twinkling stars in the sky.

Only tears, in the cold wind, quickly lost their temperature.

and the snow on the ground, blending in. (To be continued......)