“Captain! You’re back!”
Leng Qiongling and I returned to the Defense Department building with the siblings.
On the first floor, we ran into Omiyou and her group, who had just returned from shopping.
They sure were relaxed, even though the other side was in an uproar.
“How was it? Are you okay? Did you die?”
“Are you underestimating your captain? I came out of that fight completely unscathed.”
“Ooh! But Captain, last time you said that, you got shot in the head.”
“Cough, cough…”
Being shot in the head was nothing.
That didn’t count as an injury.
“Hmm? Who are these two?”
Omiyou crouched down and looked at the two small children.
The girl blinked her big eyes, staring straight at Omiyou with an expression far too mature for her age.
After a moment of thought, she suddenly shouted, “I know! You’re a bad woman!”
“E-Excuse me?!”
Omiyou dropped to her knees in front of the little girl, gripping her shoulders and shaking her frantically.
“Little girl, that’s not something you can just say!”
“Is that… a bad word?”
“Uh…”
Staring into the girl’s pure eyes, Omiyou froze, her mouth opening and closing silently.
So she didn’t know what the word meant?
“That word… Anyway, little girl, don’t say it anymore, okay? Oh, no—you can call that big sister over there a bad woman.”
Omiyou pointed furtively at Le Paxi, but she was clearly spotted.
Le Paxi showed little expression, but if she smiled with her eyes closed, things were probably about to go very wrong.
“Eek!”
Omiyou ducked behind the little girl, dodging Le Paxi’s nonexistent glare.
“Hey! Do you live here, big sister? It’s so tall here!”
The little girl spread her arms and ran wild through the first-floor lobby, leaving footprints on the white floor with every step.
“That’s right, that’s right. How about you come live with me?”
“Okay!”
Omiyou took the girl’s hand and led her into the elevator, waving us over.
“And just like that, she’s kidnapped her.”
“Yeah.”
Everyone filed into the elevator.
Xiste stood beside me, leaning in to whisper, “Captain, about these two children…”
“I’ll handle it. If I need your help, I’ll let you know.”
Hearing my firm response, Xiste nodded reassuringly, gazing at the two little ones playing and laughing with maternal affection.
The little boy had apparently never been this high up before.
He kept turning his head to look out the elevator window, then whipping it back, but he couldn’t resist stealing another glance.
I took his hand and pulled him in front of me, facing the ever-stretching cityscape outside.
“Ah…”
“Don’t be scared. You’re a big man, and I’ve got you.”
My encouragement seemed to work.
The boy mustered his courage and opened his eyes to look outside.
The scenery beyond the glass kept changing—tall buildings, tiny shops, pedestrians walking by—all captured within that small pane.
“Wow…”
He became completely absorbed, his grip on my hand loosening without him noticing.
He pressed his whole face against the glass, not wanting to miss a single view.
“Like looking at the city like this?”
I crouched beside him, pressed my face against the glass like he was, and looked out.
Surprisingly, the boy shook his head.
After a moment of hesitation, he said, “The view of this city isn’t that beautiful. I’m just happy that I conquered my own fear.”
“Huh?”
“Big brother, I really admire you.”
“Oh? What for?”
“You always seem fearless. Back then, so many bad guys wanted to kill you, but you weren’t scared at all… How can I be like you?”
“Like me?”
I turned to look directly at the boy.
His eyes were so clear that even the sky seemed murky in comparison—but I couldn’t meet those eyes.
I was probably the last person qualified to tell someone to be brave.
“Just follow your heart.”
But I had to put on a mask.
I could never show weakness.
I always had to be all-powerful, all-fearless.
The elevator stopped.
I told my team to take the two children to rest.
I headed for Commander Walid’s war room.
Pushing open the old wooden door, I saw Commander Walid frowning at a screen while replying to soldiers’ messages.
“Ah, Wu Yin, you’re back. I hope you’re not injured.”
Commander Walid stood up, straightened his wrinkled uniform, and shook my hand warmly.
“It looks like the battle isn’t going well?”
“Yes…”
Commander Walid fell silent.
I gestured for him to tell me the truth.
“Originally, Mora handled communication between the outside and inside of the city, but we’ve lost contact with her. That’s cost us intel on enemy troop movements, allowing them to launch surprise attacks.”
“When did you lose contact?”
“At four this afternoon.”
“I see…”
“Anyway, we need to act quickly and regain control of the Saint Assembly’s troop deployment so we can organize our defenses…”
“No need for all that trouble.”
I interrupted him and explained what I had encountered earlier.
“The Saint Assembly, and even the ‘Saint’ himself, approached you… Proposing a truce is good for us, but the fact that they’re so brazen also shows…”
“That they’re ready to break through our defenses in one fell swoop.”
“Right.”
Commander Walid paced back and forth in the small room, his brow furrowed.
“What’s the deal with those two children? Why does the Saint Assembly want something they have?”
“I don’t know either. Want to ask them?”
Commander Walid was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
“Let’s leave it for now. They’ve been through a lot today. Let them rest. I’ll look into it.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
I closed the war room door and found Xiste standing a little ways off, as if waiting for me.
“Have you decided?”
“Not yet.”
“Then… let’s go rest first. The sandstorm outside seems to be getting worse.”
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Defense Department corridor, beyond the barrier curtain shrouding Bola City, a sandstorm surged toward us like a giant wave.
Grains of sand battered the city walls, making the steel plates rattle.
“We don’t have much time.”
I muttered to myself.
***
After coming out of the bath, steam seemed to rise from my body, making me unbearably hot.
I decided to go to the balcony of the residential area to cool off.
Thanks to the barrier, I didn’t have to worry about sand getting into the city.
And that’s what I saw.
“Roar!”
Hai Shi jumped down from the glass panel on the balcony, wearing an exaggerated monster costume.
She let out a monster roar she must have learned from somewhere.
Meanwhile, the little girl and a boy (dressed as Ultra O Man, apparently) were already there.
The girl hid behind the boy, pretending to scream in fear, her smile completely unrestrained.
“Ahhh! Brother, save me!”
“Hmph! Don’t come any closer, you evil monster!”
“Grrr!”
Hai Shi let out a slightly angry roar.
The oversized costume made her look clumsy, the monster arms swinging limply.
“Ha!”
The boy charged at Hai Shi, his right fist leaving afterimages as he threw a fierce jab.
Hai Shi, the moment she saw his movement, instinctively tried to dodge and counterattack, but then seemed to remember the situation.
She froze, standing still and waiting for the boy’s little fist to land.
“Punishing Iron Fist!”
“Whoa!”
Though the boy’s punch barely made a dent in the thick costume, Hai Shi played along with a shout and grabbed him, wrestling him to the ground.
“You villain! I’ll destroy you!…”
“Gyah!”
They tangled together, rolling across the balcony from one end to the other, never letting go.
Pretty good perseverance.
“Go, brother! Oh! Big brother! Are you here to cheer for him too?”
“Of course. But how did you end up here… um, dueling?”
The little girl thought for a moment, then answered cheerfully, “Big Sister Omiyou suddenly rushed in and said a monster had invaded. She asked us for help, then shoved a costume onto my brother and pushed him out here.”
“And where is Big Sister Omiyou now?”
“Huh?”
The girl seemed to notice someone was missing.
She tilted her head in confusion.
“Oh! She said she’d exhausted her power looking for us, so she went back to rest.”
That girl.
Same as always.
“Forget about her. It’s a world crisis! Big brother, let’s lend our power to my brother!”
The little girl shouted excitedly, pulling my hand.
Her eyes sparkled with infinite light.
“Oh, I see. What do I do?”
“Like this!”
She pulled both my hands above my head, spread my fingers, and cried out as if embracing the sky: “People of justice! Lend your power to the hero!”
“People of justice! Lend your power to the hero!”
I mimicked her tone and repeated it.
As if hearing our call, the boy, who was on the losing side, flipped Hai Shi over and headbutted her right on the forehead.
“Ow… that hurts.”
Muttering softly, Hai Shi lay down on the floor, closed her eyes, and pretended to sleep.
“Wow! Brother, you’re amazing!”
The little girl ran to the boy, hugged him, and spun around him.
“Alright, alright…”
The boy’s face flushed red.
He took the girl’s hand and led her back inside.
Before they disappeared from my sight, I saw the innocent smile on his face.
Well, that was a good show.
But I still had to carry the old ancestor back to her room.
“Heave-ho.”
I grabbed Hai Shi by one arm and hoisted her over my shoulder like a sandbag.
“Hai Shi, have you gained weight?”
“No.”
After replying instantly, she fell back asleep.
“Sigh.”
I carried her to her room, helped her out of the costume, turned off the light, and left.
Walking down the silent hallway, I couldn’t help but want to look outside.
And then I saw “It.”
An nameless terror flooded my entire body, as if eager to tear me apart.
“It” was watching me.
Hidden in the sandstorm that seemed about to swallow the world, “It” stared straight at me.
I swallowed involuntarily.
My fingers began to twitch.
You can’t wait either, can you? Fine. I’ll come find you soon.
The corners of my mouth uncontrollably twisted upward into a terrifying grin.
“I’m definitely going to tear you apart.”