Outside the building, the world is unusually cold. The temperature has passed, and nothing remains.

Nature has always been so cruel that poets and writers often celebrate all aspects of nature in their works, but few people mention the true cruelty of nature – it is cruel because humans are looking at it with emotion.

If you are more rational, you will discover the real reason why nature behaves cruelly.

- It doesn't care.

It has no emotion, it doesn't care what every link in this huge ecological chain thinks, it just acts according to some naturally formed rules, that's all.

Carlil slowly lowered his head so that he could look down on all of Nostramo. It had become a strange place, and the violence and darkness that he had been so accustomed to seemed to be gone completely.

He crouched at the top of the building, his cuffs whipped by the cold wind. He was waiting, waiting for a signal from the other side of the galaxy, some hint, or a voice that could be heard.

Two minutes later, he heard a rhythmic sound like a scepter falling to the ground, interspersed with barely imperceptible footsteps.

Carlil closed his eyes and let his consciousness spread through the air. The cold wind was howling, and every corner of the world was so cold, but his perception formed a huge web of fine and continuous in the wind. Then, it began to rise, all the way up to the stars.

The footsteps were finally clear, and with them came an old man in a dark green robe who looked like a clerical worker.

He was very old, and the face under the hood was almost horribly old, and his skin was like a rough parchment roll, revealing a texture that was almost air-dried, weather-beaten and withered. He clung to the two-headed eagle scepter tightly with both hands, its tip glowing with flames, and his eyes lit up with the same flames—psionic fire.

"Terra is fine today." Makado spoke in a low voice. "So I've finally found time, I'm sorry I left abruptly last time, Terra is busy with business, and every aspect of the nascent empire needs someone to take care of. And he's not in Terra. ”

"You sound like you're complaining." Carlil said noncommittally.

"I'm just complaining." Makado said. "I have so much to complain about, and he usually doesn't listen to me."

"Is he not listening, or are you just trying to complain but don't really want to complain to him?"

Machado did not answer the question.

He lifted the scepter, and a vague shock swept through, and the originally dark starry sky was transformed into a small, quaintly decorated room. Books and scrolls were piled up in a mess on all sides, and it was clear that their owners didn't want to clean them up.

In the center of the room is a woolen carpet, where two chairs and a table are placed, which look rough but are clearly used regularly.

Machado walked over and leaned his scepter down against the table, the floor creaking and the air filled with an old, distinctive aroma.

Carlil walked over as well, and his stature began to grow smaller and smaller, until he became the taller and thinner he had been.

He sat down, and Machado handed over a book.

"Some other spells." The Palm Printer spoke in a low voice that was characteristic of his hoarseness. "Maybe it will help you with what you want to do later."

Carlil reached out and took it, and the book felt strange to the touch. He rubbed the tip of his right index finger and quickly identified the raw material for the book.

"Human skin?" He shook his head. "Again, why do they always have to write this knowledge in human skin?"

"A cruel and absurd coincidence." Macardo leaned back, as if he were lying in a chair.

He was still thinking, and his eyes could prove it.

"I've been trying for a while to find out where this coincidence came from, if it's because they're behind it."

"So, do you have an answer?" Carlil asked softly, turning the first page of the book.

The crooked and distorted characters reveal the writer's level of literacy, and the excited and trembling brushstrokes reveal his or her excitement at the time.

Carlil narrowed his eyes and smelled a strong smell of blood. He ignored it and continued to flip through it as fast as he could, not like a book being read, but like a librarian checking for missing corners in the book being returned.

"Nope." Makado said. "And he wouldn't tell me."

"You won't even tell me?"

"He said he was afraid that I would lose faith in humanity." Machado snorted coldly. "As if I have a great deal of faith in humanity - tell me, Karil Lohals, you know very well how stupid our race is for the most part?"

"It depends on how you think about it."

"I used to look at it with hope, but now I'm afraid I'm a complete pessimist. I have little hope for anyone, not even his so-called sons. ”

Machado shook his head.

"Hope is simply unreliable, Karil Lohals, just like man himself. The most ridiculous thing is here, I can't completely deny that human beings, because there are always some shining people, some heroes born among us. ”

The old man's expression looked intriguing, and the expression on Carlil's smile at the moment was also intriguing.

"You're acting like a cynical old man." He closed the book and handed it back to Macardo, who reached out to take it, but his expression became disapproving.

"Am I wrong?"

"First, I'm an old man. Second, I'm also inherently cynical. Macado said. So, can you stop thinking of me as an idealist like him? ”

Carlil smiled but didn't say a word.

The Palm Sealer sighed—he reached out and gripped the heavy scepter again.

The world changed again, and the quaint rooms and piles of books disappeared in their place, replaced by a broken glacier.

The sky takes on a gloomy and ominous light blue, extremely light and thin. The glacier crumbled, and the sea sank to the extreme, rolling in pitch black. They sat on top of the glacier and let the cold wind howl.

"There's not much left of your humanity." The Palm Sealer admonished in a serious tone. "Watch your anchors, and watch out for your power, Karil Lohals."

He turned his head, his eyes shining under the hood, "I wish I could call you by that name all the time." ”

"I'll find a way." Carlil said. "But I can't do what you say, 'take good care' of them. They have made a vow to devote themselves to a mission that is almost impossible. I'm not going to interfere with their free will. ”

"Pedantic." Macado said coldly. "Sacrifices are necessary for the future of humanity as a whole, and you have sacrificed enough, so why not replace someone else? No sacrifice is unacceptable. ”

"You're talking like you already have a list of people to be sacrificed."

"I do."

"Is he up there?"

"He's number one." Machado retracted his gaze and looked up at the gloomy sky, his expression calm. "And the one who sacrifices the most—to get back to the point, Karil Lohals, there's enough small talk."

The Palm Seal holder held out his hand, and the scepter jumped up from the edge of the table and leaped into his hand. The double-headed eagle began to shine brightly, and a rough face appeared in the light. His expression was gloomy, and although he was young and handsome, there was a strange depression between his eyebrows.

"Perturabo, son of Olympia." The palm printer turned his head. "A grumpy, stubborn, longing for recognition but wanting to trample it under his feet. And this kid not only has great power, but even commands an army."

Carlil sighed.

"Tell me, you're not trying to start another conversation about 'the protogens have character flaws,' Machado, and I don't want to talk to you about these things anymore - yes, I'll admit that they all have some minor faults, but you don't have to be so angry."

In the face of his words, the palm seal holder behaved calmly, so calm that he even faintly gloated: "You still haven't realized the seriousness of the problem, Karil Lohals. You haven't seen the scene when they get together, and it's a disaster. ”

A group of powerful children glared at each other with indignation, and the tables, chairs, and benches trembled under their emotions, not to mention mortals. And their father was completely indifferent to this and even wanted them to solve the problem on their own. It's like hoping that a blind person can see again on his own. ”

"If you had been through these things as much as I did, you wouldn't have been as peaceful as you are now, and besides, the last time you saw them, they were already more normal among them, and at least they would still listen to you."

"Good, good, good." Carlil pursed his lips and nodded. "I see, I know—please have something to say, Makado, what do you want me to do when you mention this Perturabo?"

"Support him." The palm print holder said solemnly. "Support this fool who is stupid enough to seek maximum casualties to gain his father's approval."

"Your assessment is really snarky"

The Palm Seal Bearer smiled sarcastically, "I'm just using words to be sarcastic, and you'll probably do it yourself then, Karil Lohals."

The waves of the concussion swept over again, the world blurred, and Carlil calmly opened his eyes and saw Nostramo again. Macardo ended the meeting, but left him with a word—or, a reminder.

+The relevant orders have been taken out by a fleet, get ready, Karil Lohals.+

"Ready?"

Carlil sighed and shook his head.

There are two more chapters, and today there will be one more chapter on Tanabata.

(End of chapter)