On July 7, 2423, the "Retrospective" plan officially began. In the central control center of the headquarters of the "black body" countermeasure bureau, more than 1,000 executive members passed through the stress field "black hole" of the time machine in batches.

The Nan Qiyun group was the last executive member to enter the "black hole". Due to the uncertainty of where the time machine will arrive after going back in time, it is very likely that the more than 1,000 members will be scattered in all corners of the world, so it is very important to communicate with each other.

Nan Qiyun said goodbye to his parents the day before leaving. He didn't tell them where he was going, only that he was on a government-mandated mission and that he might need to be away for a long time.

Before entering the black hole, in order to prevent the four of them from getting lost in the backtracking process and eventually scattering to different locations, each person was tied to each other with a leash.

The moment he entered the black hole, Nan Qiyun felt that the vision around him suddenly distorted, and then the vision fell into endless darkness. He tried to shout the names of the team members around him, but there was no sound, under the action of such a large gravitational field, all matter would be absorbed and then turned into nothingness. He grabbed the leash he was tied to his body and stomped slowly. Nothing can be seen here, and light cannot escape the powerful attraction of a black hole. All he could do was keep walking until the moment he came out of the exit. Although he couldn't see the group members around him, and he couldn't transmit information to each other, as long as the leash was still there, the four people would not be separated, and Nan Qiyun knew that the other three people were not far from him.

Here, the concept of time is chaotic and disorderly, and for this space, the four of Nan Qiyun do not belong to the rules of this world.

Although there is no concept of stability in time, Nan Qiyun still feels that this journey is long. It was as if I had been groping in the dark for a long time.

There was a light blue light and shadow flickering in front of him, and the dark space around him gradually faded like a black mist, as if a blind man had regained his light, and Nan Qiyun felt the comfort of the light reflecting into his eyes. He saw three other people not far from him, equally greedily enjoying the light after a long time in the dark.

The space around them seemed to suddenly turn into a long corridor, and the pale blue lights and shadows on both sides flickered, like the projectors they had touched before. They saw in this pale blue light that many things had happened, not just about themselves, but all about the world. They watched this scene and sighed with emotion about the passage of time and the vicissitudes of life.

Walking further, he gradually reached the end of the long corridor path, and the bright and clear light was shining in from there, and Nan Qiyun guessed that he was about to reach the exit.

The four of them cautiously moved forward. As you enter the exit, the bright sunlight shines on everyone's body, and the faint fragrance of the sea breeze blows around.

The four of Nan Qiyun looked around, and they seemed to be on a small island in the ocean.

The various devices on his body began to gradually return to normal, and Chu Han turned on the positioning function of the bracelet he was wearing on his wrist, and switched to the existing time year.

January 7, 2102, 3:15:06 PM. Guam.

More than a hundred years later, this is the headquarters of the coalition's strongest fleet. Now, here, it is a small island with a pleasant environment. Full of life and greenery.

Nan Qiyun used the communicator to start calling the other members of the thousand-person detachment. More than 1,000 people, full of people, all planned to arrive at the destination time, but in the arrival place, it is not uniform. According to the information sent by the other members to Nan Qiyun, the distribution of the arrival areas of the various groups appeared to be relatively scattered, almost all over the world. Given Guam's proximity to the Mariana Islands, Nan decided to choose the current location of his group as the meeting point for all members. He sent his geolocation information to the members of the other groups and gave the order to assemble.

A day later, a huge contingent of more than 1,000 people assembled on the west coast of Guam. In order not to disturb the fishermen living on the island and avoid unnecessary trouble, Nan Qiyun set up a stereoscopic projection device around the island, and disguised the 1,000 members of the operation here with the projection of scenes such as the sea and cliffs.

Another day, when the human explorer Chen Tian arrived at the abyss under the sea and discovered the ruins of prehistoric civilization, the time node was more consistent with the original plan. According to the next plan, the 1,000-person detachment will each take the miniature submersible they carry, lurk at the bottom of the sea on the 9th, and secretly follow Chen Tian to understand what happened.

On January 8, at 11 p.m., the countdown to the planned execution was 9 hours.

Nan Qiyun woke up from his sleep, most people felt a deep sense of tiredness due to the relatively long time they had stayed in the gravitational field, and in order to carry out the operation smoothly the next day, Nan Qiyun had already let everyone rest three hours earlier. He looked at the three sleeping people around him and stepped out of the tent.

He looked at the patchwork of tents on the beach, and the three-dimensional shape of the cone showed its unique beauty, which had been purchased by a group of a thousand people at the site where they had arrived, and had heard that the history of such things went all the way back to the beginning of human civilization. But in their time, tents had disappeared from people's daily lives because they were no longer useful.

He walked out onto the beach and listened to the sound of the waves crashing on the sand. The sea breeze was gently blowing, and he took a deep breath, in this era, the air in this world was much fresher than the one he came from more than three hundred years later, and it was the first time he looked at a full moon hanging high in the sky on the surface of the earth. The brightness of the moonlight is also incomparable to that progressive era.

Nan Qiyun saw a figure standing on the beach not far away.

It's so late, and there are still people who have such leisure and leisure like themselves.

He walked over and said hello.

The man smiled politely at Nan Qiyun. Under the reflection of the night, the blonde hair of the Caucasian was particularly dazzling, and Nan Qiyun recalled the list of members and information of the thousand-person detachment he had seen.

His name is Wright, Caucasian, he was originally an officer under the B-level countermeasures bureau, with the rank of major, and he has many years of experience in the army, so in terms of seniority, he is above Nan Qiyun.

"Why don't you rest?"

"That's the question I want to ask Mr. Nan." Wright put his hands on his waist, looking extremely relaxed. "It turns out that this is the earth hundreds of years ago, there are no mansions, no prehistoric civilizations, only ordinary people enjoying the beauty of the present."

"But the war, poverty and hunger of this era are also always with people."

"Aren't we in the midst of a war now, and it's a war of life and death for mankind." Wright looked at the sea level in the distance, and the waves shone brightly under the cover of night.

Nan Qiyun noticed the shield armband on his left arm. Embedded in the armband is a circle, and in the center of the circle, an eagle flies, and clutches a golden trident in its talons.

Underneath the circle are written several English letters - "America seals".

"Navy SEALs?" Nan Qiyun remembered the meaning of this logo. It was a world-famous amphibious special operations force that was part of the former United States of America Marine Corps. After the establishment of the coalition government, the armies of various countries were greatly reduced, and then they were placed under the military department of the coalition government, and the Navy SEALs were integrated with several equally famous special forces in the world at that time in the process of adjusting their subordination. Nan Qiyun had previously been arranged to learn about the history of this powerful special forces unit while studying at the Central Military Academy.

"Is that what you're talking about?" Wright touched the armband on his left arm with the tip of his right finger.

"It was given to me by a retired special operations member," Wright said, "and I happened to be in Washington-Sheaton on the East Coast of the United States when I came here, and I met an old man on the plane and we had a good conversation." ”

His expression sank into memory. "I was born in Area 19 on the F floor, and I have had an unusually nostalgic feeling for this place since I was a child, but I didn't expect to be so lucky this time to return to the place three hundred years ago."

"When I told him I was a soldier, the old man told me that he had served in the U.S. Navy SEALs for a long time and had been through many wars."

"He said that after every war, there are many comrades he knows who die in the fire," Wright said here, sighing deeply, "The old man said that he couldn't bear to do this again and again, so he simply chose to retire with a few comrades who thought the same thing." ”

"He told me that his intention in joining the army was not to go to war, but rather that he did not like or even hate the existence of war. He chose to become a warrior in the hope that he could protect the people around him. ”

He said that the mission and duty of a soldier is to protect. But what happened later made him realize that all this was contrary to his original purpose, and after one war after another, he learned very painfully about the fragility of human beings. He thought he could protect everyone, but in the end, he couldn't even protect his closest comrades, and could only watch them die. ”

The waves in the distance, crashing against the reef in the shallows, rattling.

The waves rolled up the beach and slowly receded. In the puddle on the beach, there are a few more stranded small fish. Wright bent down and carefully picked up the fish from the puddle and gently released them back into the sea.

"I've participated in the Sector 13 Execution Program, Mr. Nan, you know that." There was a deep sadness in Wright's eyes.

Nan Qiyun lowered his head and watched as the sea water gradually flooded his heels. "I know that this plan was planned and implemented by the group I led." He tried to keep his tone flat, as if it were all as it should be.

"Actually, I never understood the justification for doing this." Wright shook his head. "They're just innocent people."

"But if they don't, they won't be sooner or later. The government is for more people, for all mankind. This is a sacrifice that must be made. ”

"I don't see the benefits of such sacrifices." Wright disagrees with Nan Qiyun's statement. "For months, the problem of infected people has not been resolved. But those people, those who died, were really dead. They died without an explanation from the government, and they didn't even know why they died. For them, their own death seemed meaningless. ”

"On that day, I led my troops and guarded the south exit."

"Countless crowds rushed up to us. From such a close distance, I could clearly see the deep fear and endless despair in their eyes. ”

"Then we shot, and one by one they fell and died at our guns. Then, there were groups of people who rushed up. ”

"There were so many that I remember a couple of people even rushed up to me. The blood that spilled from them as they fell, sprinkled on my body. At that time I felt like a heinous executioner. Wright's voice was choked up.

"Every night after that, I could dream of these people, these people who fell under my guns, those who died before my eyes. I couldn't speak every time in my dreams, and looking at these people, I didn't even have a chance to apologize, not even in my dreams. ”

"I always think, if I were one of these people, what would I feel when I fell? The feeling that the trust that was so deep that it could not be changed was betrayed all of a sudden. The feeling that the justice that was originally advocated was suddenly on the evil side should be so desperate. ”

Nan Qiyun listened quietly to what Wright said, every word he spoke.

"I don't think that's the right way to do it, for whatever reason, for them, for the majority, for humanity as a whole. The moment I was shot, I didn't even feel worthy of being a soldier. ”

"If that's justice, it's irresponsible."

Wright's eyes filled with tears.

Nan Qiyun took a step forward, leaned down, and touched the rushing waves with his hand.

"Sometimes it's just that we just make a decision that is theoretically safest. In order to survive, we must be responsible for more people, even if we are burdened with such a heavy sense of guilt. This is our responsibility that cannot be shirked. ”

"I feel guilty about these people," Nan Qiyun added, "Mr. Wright, not only you, but I believe that every soldier and commander who participated in the operation of District 13 must have a great sense of guilt in their hearts. That's what we have to do. Since you and I, and all those people, have finally chosen to obey orders, even against the will of our hearts, and carry out the plan without resistance. ”

A few seabirds flew up on the distant island, and their cries could be heard in the distance.

"It's time to rest, Mr. Wright. This time, you won't have the same guilt as before, this time, we are really going to save all mankind," Nan Qiyun said, "no longer abandoning a small number of people, this time, we are fighting for all mankind." ”