Honestly speaking, even Halilali herself was a little surprised that she cared so much about the behavior of a man from Dust Star.

Among the civilizations she had visited, there were many who showed goodwill towards her, but she always treated them all equally with compassion.

But Edward… is a little different…

Is it love? Hallilali doesn’t know, and she can’t give a definite answer.

Her intuition as a [Daytime Star] told her that she was destined not to stay in one place for too long.

She is a shooting star that will eventually miss everything, and heading into the endless abyss is the best ending.

“…”

In silence, Hallilali stared at Edward’s dull face and nodded as if in tacit agreement.

She turned around and prepared to leave, but she heard Edward calling her from behind:

“I will think about it carefully, and then I will give you a definite answer.”

Edward’s voice was still as emotionless as usual, but it sounded serious to Halle Lari.

She turned around, looked at Edward for a moment, and nodded.

“It’s time to eat.”

Hallilali sat down at the table in the watchtower. Outside the tower, the night was already deep. The boundless darkness pushed a slightly cool breeze, which caressed the girl’s pure white hair.

Edward sat down at the table, opened his lunch box, and was about to start eating when he suddenly discovered that there was no lunch box in front of Halle and Lali.

“Where’s yours?” he asked.

“Can’t I share one with you? If it weren’t for the little animals messing around, this would be mine.”

“Oh.”

……

Interlude) Odin People (Part 3)

After dinner, Edward and Halle Lali leaned on the railing and enjoyed the night breeze.

“Remember that time? That time, you…”

“I said that the coldness of the night can be seen, and you agreed with me.”

Edward interrupted the topic started by Harley and Lali, who glanced at him in dissatisfaction and shook her head:

“Humph.”

“You’ve said it many times, so I’m impressed.” Edward said.

“Soon the nights are going to get really cold.”

Hallilali said, lowering her head, with half of her face hidden in the shadows.

Edward carefully discovered that the girl’s eyes looked a little lonely, and the divine glow that used to cover her face had dissipated a lot.

To be honest, Edward’s opinion of Harley and Lali has changed over time:

Initially, she is a powerful, threatening outsider;

Later, she was a guide who showed the way forward and enlightened the ignorant;

But now, she is just a girl who is burdened with heavy responsibilities but still has a lot on her mind.

Something in his genes drove Edward to subconsciously want to protect the girl in front of him.

He moved closer to Hallilali, and at this moment, their shoulders were only a little distance apart.

Hallilali did not resist, but said softly:

“Kors Hafgard is the best being I have ever seen. Even in the High Heavens, he is perfect.”

The young man riding a furious horse and wearing bright clothes with a dignified posture, and the star that turned into white flames.

“Right now, I will personally…”

Hallilali suddenly stopped and the two fell into a brief silence.

After a while, Edward took the initiative to break the deadlock:

“From your description, he is very powerful now.”

“But he is not without weaknesses,” Hallilali said. “He is driven by his old instincts. Under the premise of embracing authority, he will not look up at the stars, because that will only attract the attention of the outer gods, putting this dust planet that he has risked his life to protect into an even more dangerous situation.”

“So, we just need to use his instincts, use the stars as cover, and utilize the power that Grandpa Hassanka and I extracted from the [Star Fragments] to create an attack that will be enough to make him unable to move.”

“My authority fragment [Brilliant Crystal Cloud] can materialize ‘light’ and turn it into a blue crystal. And Grandpa Hassanka’s authority fragment [Ink] is a lower-level fragment of [Engraved Ink], which can break my brother’s armor to a limited extent, leaving his body defenseless.”

“So, as long as we have the perfect opportunity and support, we can defeat him. Right now, he has not become a true disaster, but according to the current growth rate of the Black Tide ecosystem, in about twenty years, when he is able to devour enough high-level bodies, he will become a being that can bring about the Second Judgment Day.”

As Hallilali spoke, her voice became smaller and smaller, even trembling a little.

In her eyes, Edward saw coldness.

Cold can be seen.

“…”

After a brief silence, Edward lowered his voice and comforted awkwardly:

“…I’m sorry, this must be hard to take.”

“But my brother…maybe he also wants this…”

Hallilali sighed, her bloodshot eyes flashing faintly in the darkness.

“Edward, can you promise me something?”

“what’s up?”

“If anything goes wrong, don’t come to me.”

“why?”

“Because it will be a battle that will lead to destruction even if I just watch it,” Halilali whispered, “If everything develops in a trend that is out of control, I will let go of all the [Anchors] and fight to the death with my brother.”

Edward couldn’t understand what the girl said, but he knew she was serious.

“Then…if this really happens, please help me take good care of Pearlis.”

“Are you talking about that little girl?” Edward said, “In fact, I never understood who she was…”

“She is the real fire and witness.”

Hallilali’s voice was soft, but when she mentioned the word “spark”, it was full of power.

“It took me a long time to realize the king’s true intentions. Perhaps, she is the one who can truly end everything.”

“End everything?”

“End the chaos in this box, end those entangled and confusing concepts.”

Halle Lali said, falling towards Edward and leaning on his shoulder.

She placed all her weight on Edward’s shoulders, which made her feel particularly at ease.

The two of them were full of tacit understanding at this moment. They didn’t speak, but just sat silently in the night wind.

After a long time, Edward said:

“I promise you.”

“Thank you.” Hallilali smiled gently.

“But I would rather not keep my promise because I want you to survive.” Edward said seriously.

“Then be nervous for me, Edward,” Harilal smiled gently, “Perhaps, you can use this as a starting point to begin to find your own meaning…”

Hallilali’s words were like magic. As the beautiful girl’s voice flowed into his heart, Edward felt an unprecedented emotion –

——He suddenly felt a little uneasy about the upcoming battle.

But that was not the anxiety caused by fear, but the anxiety that the future would not develop in the direction he wanted.

In his ideal future, after everything was over, he said something to Harilalee.

In that future, he caught the tail of a shooting star.

“…”

Suddenly, Edward’s terminal made a rapid sound, and at the same time, Aleph’s voice came from Edward’s headset:

“Edward! Something’s happened! You better get here!”

“What’s the matter?” Edward straightened his expression, and Hallilali also stood up from his shoulder and looked at him.

“Someone…someone fell into the Black Lake! Just now?”

“who is it?”

“Your brother! Hermes!”

……

It all happened without warning.

When Edward and Halle Lali arrived at the blockade facility, they only saw the Black Lake, whose surface was as calm as a black diamond, and a pair of shoes neatly placed on the shore.

Aleph and a group of staff were standing anxiously beside the Black Lake. When they saw Edward coming, they immediately came over:

“The entire facility is on lockdown! There’s no way he could get in!”

“I heard you say before that he came to Black Lake alone at night many times,” Edward said, “Are there no supervision measures in place?”

“It’s in place! But I can’t see anything. All the cameras were out of order until just now!”

Aleph cursed, then turned his head to look at the Black Lake and shouted:

“Some son of a bitch must have pushed him down. This is murder!”

At this time, a voice came from the corner:

“No, the commander committed suicide.”

Everyone turned their eyes to the person who was speaking—Ivar, who was leaning against the wall alone.

“Why?” Edward asked.

“Because his shoes are neatly arranged,” Ivar pointed to the pair of shoes on the shore, “Herames von Volantia is a man with a strong sense of ceremony.”

“It’s possible that the murderer forged it!” Aleph shouted, “Knock him out, take off his shoes, and throw him into the lake, wouldn’t that lead to your wrong deduction?”

“Ivar, do you know any other clues?” Hallilali looked at Ivar beside her.

“…have no idea.”

Ivar avoided Hallilali’s gaze, lowered his head, and stared at his shoes.

“Now, none of this matters,” Edward shook his head. “What matters is that we lose the commander at this point in time…”

Soon, the general offensive against the [Lord of the Black Tide] will begin, and Hermes is the brain on the front line, responsible for the dispatch of the entire army.

Under this premise, without him, the federation’s power would inevitably be thrown into disarray.

Whether he jumped into the lake by himself or was pushed into the lake by someone, there was no time to investigate at this juncture.

“Is he alive?” Edward asked Halle and Lally.

“I don’t know,” Hali Lali’s eyes flashed with light, but her brows were furrowed, “I can’t see through the Black Lake, and this place… is not suitable to enter…”

“why?”

“Grandpa Hassanka said that there was once a forbidden entity here. Although he has stripped away the power of that thing, there may still be other remnants inside, so he asked you to seal it off with the blockade facilities.”

“The existence of taboos, do you mean…”

Although Edward asked this question, he had actually guessed it.

It is part of the Unspeakable.

Halle Lali nodded towards Edward, confirming his suspicions.

She turned around and said to the frontline base staff behind her:

“You must tell Qi Langfang this news immediately and ask them to send a commander to replace Commander Hermes.”