"What are we going to do, if you want us to find Mr. Castor and Mr. Keigo Masaki and help you get the word across, what do we need to do!"

Munakata looked up at the sky of the ruins, and as the vice-captain and commander of the victory team, he knew he had to step up.

"You don't have to do anything, as long as Casto is alive, this place will be able to lead to his world." The old voice said, "But, before that, you have to go through some choices, some . . . Painful choices. ”

"Why, if you're really in such a hurry, why do these things!"

"Because that's not what I decided, that's the way to become the Light, Casto helped you get the Light by some tricks, and you do deserve the Light, but you're still a little bit close"

"What are we missing?!" Xincheng shouted discontentedly at the sky, "What are we missing?" ”

The people of the victory team waited for a long time, but the old voice did not appear again.

Everyone stood there a little overwhelmed, no one knew what was waiting for them next, but the people of the victory team did not know that this was this relic, and every person of the fit never knew in advance, what they would face,

The wind blew from nowhere, the rustle of leaves could be heard all around, and no one knew at what second everything had changed, but when the rustling of the wind in their ears stopped, everyone knew why the old voice had to use the word choice to describe everything that followed.

Xincheng didn't know what he was missing, but he knew that he had to find his friends, but the problem now was that he didn't know where this place was in front of him, taking a deep breath, the rationality of being an elite finally calmed him down, he looked around, and suddenly found that this place seemed to be somewhat familiar.

Even the 'big boss' in the victory team of Xincheng recognized that this is a certain laboratory, and it seems to be a laboratory in the university, although this laboratory is definitely not backward, but compared with the equipment in TPC, the laboratory here obviously has a 'naïve' feeling,

This is not a gap in level, but a gap in some kind of temperament.

Looking around, suddenly, Xincheng was stunned, because he found something that made him feel very absurd, it was a duty schedule, to be precise, more similar to the schedule of the students on duty, there were not many people on the schedule, but there were three people who were always divided together. Ryosuke Sanada, Sayaka and Horii.

These names were not unfamiliar to the minds of Metro Town, it seemed that it was a long time ago, but in fact it was just over a year ago, when the Victory Team had dealt with these people, and it was about an event called the Epon Cell, which was the eve of the Great Change, and that was one of the first few actions of the Victory Team.

Xincheng stepped forward and flipped through the list of duty shifts, there were still a lot of blank pages behind it, just counting the time, he knew that Horii was still a long, long time away from graduation, with this kind of thinking, he began to look at the things on the test bench again, and now, he found a lot of things that he didn't find when he just observed,

There are three chairs in the laboratory that are different, they are placed in a row against the wall, and behind the chairs, there are three white coats, which are the only three white coats in the entire laboratory that are eligible to hang directly on the wall, Xincheng does not know what this represents, and he has never heard of this tradition in the scientific community, but he can see that among the three white coats, the middle one is Horii's

Xincheng's face unconsciously showed a smile, it was a white coat that was one size or even more than the others, and the same proof of this was that the chair under the white coat was obviously more than the two chairs around. The back of this chair seems to have been leaned on a little too much,

In the victory team, he and Horii are the people with the highest rate of chair damage, Shinjo silently walked to the side of the chair, and smiled with inexplicable memories, although they are both the people with the highest chair damage rate, but he is different from Horii, he is because his movements are too big, and he will hit the chair from time to time, and Horii is different. That guy is just plain fat.

"How about it, I said that when I was studying, I had a very high status, right?" A familiar voice rang in Shinjo's ears, and he turned his head to see no one from his student days, but Horii in his victory uniform.

Horii shrugged his shoulders and looked at Shinjo with a hint of curiosity, then suddenly pointed proudly at himself, then pointed to the chair and white coat in the C position, and then said, "When I was a student, I was already the elite of the elite. ”

"I can see that this is your consciousness world, the question is, you actually have your own consciousness?" Xincheng was a little surprised, "I thought it would be like those third-rate, like some kind of test, you will be attracted by everything in the dream and fall into it, and I am the hero to save you." ”

"Maybe it's like that's for everyone else, like the old man said, what we're going to go through. The choice is right, right? Horii walked to Shinjo's side and thought about it, but instead of sitting in his chair, he sat on Ryosuke Sanada's, "But Ryosuke is dead. Maybe because of Casto, that guy is still alive in other universes, but for this world, Ryosuke is dead. ”

"Horii." Shinjo looked at Horii, and he knew what Ryosuke meant to Horii.

Just as Feng Ma said in the face of Dagu's anger before, it is possible for human beings to have a major change on the road of life because of some major blows, this change can be good or bad, it can be choosing to continue to keep everything about humanity, or it can be completely abandoning everything of humanity.

No one knows what all this will bring, even the people involved in it.

When Shinjo saw Horii appear here, he understood that the fat man in front of him, who joked with himself every day, was far stronger than he looked, and unlike him, although Horii also had a lot of friends like him, he could really be regarded as like-minded friends, friends who grew up all the way, friends who competed with each other and improved each other, and Horii may no longer be there.

Looking at everything around Xincheng, he understands that the pride of the two schools that walked out of this laboratory has only one left at the moment, and the other has become a 'burden' that everyone is unwilling to mention.

Shinjo pulled out the chair that belonged to Horii, and then sat down opposite Horii, facing Horii and the three white coats behind Horii, and Shinjo understood that although Horii didn't show that sadness, the appearance of this world showed that this was the place he couldn't let go of the most.

"What the hell, don't look at me like that, I'm not going to stay here." With a smile on his fat face, he patted the chair under his ass and took a deep breath, as if he had already made a choice, but suddenly there was a trace of exhaustion on his face, as if he had just made a choice that exhausted his physical strength,

"I know that deep down in my heart, not saving Ryosuke is the pain of my life, and I think that this is my dereliction of duty as a friend, if I could have noticed the changes in him earlier, if I could have cared more about him, then everything would have been different."

Horii raised his head and looked at Shinjo, as if he was looking at his 'lost friend' in the victory team, but as if he was looking at his 'opponent' when he was a student.

"Even, I mean, even if this place can really change history, even if staying here can change everything for Ryosuke, I can't stay, people can't stay in the past, and without me, an idiot like you is not dead."

"I have made the choice a long time ago, but not between new friends and old friends, but between the past and the future! Other. Don't look at me with that kind of look, I didn't give up on Ryosuke and chose you, I chose the future. And even if it's a choice, I also chose Dagu, I chose Lina, you must not be sentimental"

Shinjo looked at Horii, he half-raised his head, as if he was looking at the wall, but only he knew that he was enduring it, enduring himself not to rush up, holding back his tears not to fall.

After a moment of silence, Horii suddenly laughed and said, "No, shouldn't you rush up and hug me now?" Didn't what I said move you? That old guy is talking about this thing very seriously, I made the choice so easily, don't I deserve a hug? ”

Xincheng gritted his teeth and laughed, and then he walked in front of Horii and opened his arms, and under Horii's smug eyes, he gave Horii a cold punch, "Dead fatty, don't be too proud, isn't it"

Xincheng's words were not finished, suddenly, silently, everything around him changed, wild sand appeared in the sky, and there was some kind of special metal on the ground, as if it was just a moment, he came to a strange world, this is not a metaphor, because in Xincheng's gaze, the earth appeared.

"This is the moon? No, at this distance, this is Mars??? Who has a Martian base in their memory??? ”

Xincheng looked around, and finally, he understood what this place was, he had seen a similar introduction in the internal documents of the victory team, "Mars. Plant cultivation base? Is it here?"

Xincheng vaguely remembered that this place belonged to the Space Development Agency in the internal planning of TPC, and thinking of his identity as an astronaut, Xincheng suddenly became a little excited, he felt that this was his own 'choice', and he had to choose between the Mars base and something else.

He seems to have seen that while he is on Mars, representing mankind to expand its territory, and on the other hand, as the best astronaut of mankind, he is constantly exploring the universe.

Xincheng has fantasized about the future, maybe in a few years, human beings will become a cosmic-level civilization under his leadership, and then not only astronauts or scientific researchers can go to space, ordinary people can also come to the universe, and even, human beings can reproduce in the universe, and children will grow up in the universe, which will be a very ordinary thing.

"Mom! Uncle Xincheng is here! A child's voice sounded, the corners of Xincheng's mouth twitched, then he turned his head and subconsciously said, "Xincheng. Uncle?! ”

A little girl appeared in front of Xincheng, Xincheng was stunned for a moment, because he saw two familiar figures from this little girl's body, and just when he wanted to ask, two figures suddenly appeared in front of him.

With a smile and a hint of embarrassment on Dagu's face, Lina's face was full of excitement and excitement, seeing that Xincheng's face was full of complicated expressions of 'sure enough', 'unbelievable' and 'is there no mistake', Lina shrugged her shoulders, and then said to Xincheng, "Don't think about it, here is the story of me and Dagu." ”

"You and Dagu? Are the two of you together? Shinjo asked, then saw Dagu and Lina with puzzled expressions, and added, "I've seen Horii, that guy went back to his college days." ”

"Tsk, that fat guy really is. There's nothing creative about it. Lina said as she half-squatted and patted her daughter's head, "Xiaoguang, go play by yourself, Mom and Dad and Uncle Xincheng have something to say." ”

After saying that, in Xincheng's somewhat absurd gaze, the little girl called Xiaoguang by Lina kissed Lina on the forehead, and then ran out with a smile.

"You're going to . Stay here? Xincheng asked with some unacceptability.

"How could that be?" Lina and Dagu glanced at each other, then shook their heads with a smile, "This is probably some kind of future, just like the old voice said, this is the result of a certain choice, but I don't have to make a choice, the future is such a thing, anyway, I'm still young and can create it myself." ”

"It's as simple as that? "Xincheng was stunned for a moment, although it was Mars, but this is too beautiful, right? What's the good thing about that?

Then, as if to confirm some of Xincheng's thoughts, Dagu suddenly walked to Xincheng's side, hugged him hard, and then turned his head to Lina a little helplessly and said, "The time is almost up, the triennial vacation is over, and I should go to the home planet of the Naga people next."

"Triennial vacation? How long is a vacation? ”

"Take a vacation once every three years. One week at a time. Lina's face showed helplessness, and Dagu just shook his head, "Xiaoguang. They don't even know me anymore. ”

"I seem to understand you two," Xincheng looked at Lina and Dagu's eyes wide, and he understood what Lina and Dagu were going through.

Da Gu is an orphan, his parents have died due to an accident, of course, when his parents died, Da Gu was no longer young, but Xincheng believed that if Da Gu had a choice, he would not let his children become so lonely, but he still chose so.

And Lina.

Lina's father's matter, the whole victory team knows, her father chose work and chose a greater career in work and family, but this really hurt Lina, which even made Lina a little cold and irritable for a long, long time, which even made Lina choose to change and hide her surname.

Xincheng looked at Lina and Dagu, he didn't expect that these two people would eventually go to such a future, in a sense, this is to present the most painful things in the depths of their memories to this future, and everything they have suffered has also been imposed on their children by this future.

Xincheng turned his head, he didn't know what to say, he knew that in such a future, Dagu must have a very heavy responsibility, he wouldn't say anything to persuade Dagu to make any changes, because he knew that all this could be changed, so Dagu and Lina must also know.

It's just that they also know that if the future comes to this point, they still won't make changes, because there are some things that need to be borne by people.

"We know what you're thinking, but Xincheng, Xiaoguang is different from us." Da Gu, who seemed to have not spoken because of his 'family status', shook his head, and then looked at Xincheng seriously and said,

"I know that Lina and I both had some not-so-good childhoods when we were young, and in this future, when we make our choices, it seems that we are imposing some kind of childhood on our children."

Da Gu looked around, and then looked at the child who was in this future, and said slowly,

"Everything seems to be the same, as if we are going down an old path that we don't want to admit, but everything is different because . We know how to show love. ”

"My parents loved me, even after they had an accident, I was sure of it, but we missed the opportunity to show our love."

"Lina and her father are also in love with each other, but they have never expressed love before, obviously, it is such a simple thing."

"We're going to be different, and even if my family and I have to be separated in a future like this, I'll tell them in my way that I love them, even if, we're separated by countless light years, even if, we'll see each other very little."

Lina turned her head and kept wiping her tears, in fact, just like Xincheng thought, when Lina saw such a future, she instinctively resisted and feared, she didn't want the childhood that happened to her to appear in her own children,

For a moment, she even had that thought, if she had to bear such a future after being with Da Gu, then she would rather never be together with Da Gu,

However, Dagu changed her with sincerity and love, and Lina understood for the first time that what she lacked in her childhood was not actually her father's love, her father loved her, and what she lacked was evidence that her father loved her.

Dagu looked at Xincheng while patting Lina, and suddenly there was a hint of curiosity in his tone, "Speaking of which, Xincheng, don't you have a world of your own?" ”

"Nope. No, exploring the universe and exploring the solar system, shouldn't such work be assigned to me! Xincheng looked at Dagu with some yin and yang weirdness, "Why are you, I have a wife and children, and I have the job of my dreams, I am so envious!" ”

Dagu and Lina looked at Xincheng's strange appearance, and laughed in unison, and after a while, Dagu took the lead in calming down and looked at Xincheng,

"I probably understand what the ruins mean, as Masaki and Mr. Castor have shown, if we are to take on the responsibility of the light, we have to make some trade-offs, obviously they are the most important things to us, but we have to give them up"

"By the way, where do you think the conductor will be?" Lina suddenly interjected, "If the guy digging the well is involved in the past, and Dagu and I are confused by the future, then what about the command?" Where is he? It can't be at the captain's wedding, right? ”

Xincheng was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, he felt that what Lina said was really possible, if it was interesting, and then smiled and smiled, his eyes changed again, but in the blink of an eye, everything changed again.

Looking at everything around him, Xincheng was stunned for a moment, and then said with a wry smile, "It seems that the commander's love for the captain is not as deep as he imagined."

As soon as Xincheng opened his eyes, he saw countless tombstones, and on these tombstones, there were uniforms and logos belonging to their victory team.

Xincheng, who had already guessed something, walked down the path between the tombstones with a sense of absurdity, lowered his head, and looked at the introduction that belonged to 'them':

"Xincheng, the second pilot of the victory team, although he always likes to call himself a 'trump card', but compared to Lina, it is still a little worse, but there is no way, he is thick-skinned, and the name is left to him."

Looking at his name, Xincheng was a little weird, and after reading the introduction, his eccentricity turned into dissatisfaction, because if this is the consciousness world of Munakata's command, it means that the conductor thinks he is not as good as Lina?!

After just a few steps, Xincheng smiled again, because the fat man Horii, who was still there just now and said, 'I didn't choose you, but chose the future', was already lying next to him at the moment,

"Horii, a genius scientist, the father of the cosmic language, a science expert on the victory team, likes sweets, likes niche music (Chris Maya), is a little lacking in physical fitness, and is a fat man with a very good sense of humor"

Shinjo's face was full of curiosity, and he continued to walk down because he knew who the next tombstone would be Dagu, Reina, and Norui, and even Director Sawai, Director Yoshioka, and Staff Officer Minamihara were lying here.

Each of their biographies is written in great detail, not right, nor can it be regarded as detailed, more accurately, but more 'casual', compared to their achievements, this is more about some, hobbies and personalities.

Suddenly, at the very back of this row of tombstones, Xincheng stopped, because he saw the commander Zongfang, who was standing in front of the last tombstone, quietly telling something,

Subconsciously walked two quick steps, but I didn't know why, my pace slowed down, and Xincheng slowly walked to Zongfang's side, and the name of the tombstone was obvious - "Megumi Juma".

"Command!?"

"Don't call me a conductor, I'm a director here." Munakata turned his head to look at Shinjo, then shook his head with a smile, "In the final battle, the TPC headquarters was destroyed, Director Sawai and all of them died, and the victory team also all died, and only I survived in the command post on the front line."

Munakata patted Shinjo on the shoulder, and then whispered to Megumi Kuruma's tombstone, "It's real, everything happened very real, I remember the words of that old voice, but when everyone died in front of me, it still made me feel hopeless and painful."

How can I be called a conductor if I don't have anyone to command, at least, that's what I thought at the time. ”

"I don't have the special ability of Dagu, I don't have the same care as you, and I don't have the command of Horii, I can't tell what is true and what is false."

"I started binge drinking, even though I shouldn't have been drinking, but I started binge, and I hope to find hope in alcohol."

"But the conductor you're out now!" Xincheng whispered, "You've realized where this is. ”

"I didn't actually come out, and I don't know if it was my dream to see you," Munakata turned to look at Shinjo, "but I did become the director because I dream of you every night, like today, you will encourage me, and I will look forward to your encouragement." ”

"You gave me strength in my dreams, and I took on everything that I was supposed to bear again, as if you were here today, and you appeared in front of me again, and this gave me strength again."

Munakata looked at the tombstones around him, and then said,

"Xincheng, I don't know if this will start all over again, or if it will end here, but I'm very grateful for you to be here, whether it's real or my dream, I used to be a little numb and confused, but now I."

The new city wanted to say something, but once again everything around it changed.

He stood in front of a huge space shuttle, wearing a spacesuit with his name on it, but the battle was not over, and everyone on the Victory Team was still wearing the Victory Team uniform.

"Happy New Town! Leave the earth to us! Horii shouted loudly, and Lina also said with a smile, "You are really lucky, humanity is about to carry out the next step of space exploration, and it just needs an experienced astronaut, you kid just seized the opportunity to leave the victory team!" ”

Xincheng looked around, everyone on the victory team, everyone at TPC, and his sister, each of them looked at him with a smile without a trace of dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, Xincheng's expression changed, it became ugly, he took off his spacesuit and walked towards the people of the victory team, shouting as he went, "Old thing! I don't care who you are, this one doesn't count, do it all over again! ”

"Why is everyone's test so profound?"

"Why are they friendship, love, family, comradeship, sacrifice and responsibility!"

"It's just what I am. An astronaut's dream and real companion? ”

"What a bullshit choice! Give Lao Tzu a new start! Shinjo came to the middle of Horii and Dagu, hugged his two friends, and shouted loudly to the sky, "What is the best choice for this!" Who are you looking down on!! ”

"My relationship with Horii, me and Dagu, and my relationship with everyone, how can it be measured in this way!!"

Halfway through his words, everything around him changed, and all the people returned to the ruins, and Shinjo opened his eyes, and around him, everyone was looking at him, with a smile, and Horii ran directly to the edge of Shinjo with a smile,

"Xincheng, I can't see it, you like me so much~"

"Fuck off! You fat man!! ”

(End of chapter)