“…”

Shaya left the table for a while and came back with a photo. After taking a closer look, Perlis found that it was the city view with the broken antenna tower that she had seen in the morning. Even if she only saw a corner of it, she could feel the prosperity of the city in the past.

This is obviously a city that existed from the pre-civilization to the post-Judgment Day. Since Shaya grew up there as a child, it means that the city was destroyed in recent years.

What was the reason? Perlis didn’t know, and she couldn’t ask Shaya.

“Shangshu City is quite far from Yuanzhen. If we drive the [Land Turtle] at full power, two days should be enough,” Shaya said. “No one has been close to Shangshu for a long time. Even today when the passage outside the Great Wall is gradually being recaptured, it is still a restricted area for the Wave Riders.”

“Why?” Aoi asked.

“I don’t know either. Many wave riders have tried to explore, but basically there is no news. Master even made a special trip for this matter. He found the bodies of those people in the wilderness around the city. They all drowned, with seaweed tangled on their twisted limbs. But they were far away from the coastline, so it was impossible for them to drown, let alone have seaweed.”

Shaya paused, as if recalling some bad memories.

“Master did not approach the Central Hub rashly. He returned after collecting data. He kept feeling something strange during the exploration, but it was difficult to determine, so he recorded a piece of ambient sound for me. In Master’s ears, the entire wilderness was quiet, but when I turned on that ambient sound, I…”

The corners of Shaya’s mouth twitched, and Perlis could see the panic and fear in her eyes, as if a shadow was spreading across her profile.

“…I heard singing.”

For a moment, the whole room was silent. Only Lian shuddered belatedly, looking like a puppy that had fallen into the water.

“How scary…” Lian murmured.

“Any more information?” Perlis asked.

“No, no one went to Shangshu anymore after that. After all, it was a place that even [Wolf Walker] Burigede could not explore, and no normal person would want to die there…” Shaya said.

After listening to Shaya’s words, Perlis fell into deep thought. In the past, she would probably be frightened by things like “people drowning on land” and “singing that ordinary people can’t hear clearly”, but now her thoughts are as calm and clear as an ice lake, which allows her to quickly deduce some clues from Shaya’s description.

A city that was suddenly destroyed in modern times must mean some sudden and drastic changes…

Given the size of the city, it is impossible that there were not enough anti-black tide measures, and since Perlis came to Qilang, almost no one has talked about the demise of the Upper Central Office, which means that the Qilang authorities have blocked the relevant news.

The estuary… Is it something beneath the sea? A follower of [Immortalus]? Or some more ancient existence?

Drowning on land might sound strange, but it is not beyond our comprehension. If the space-time continuum of the [underworld] appears in that city, it is entirely possible that people are sucked into the underworld and thrown into the ocean, and then sucked from the ocean into the underworld and thrown onto land.

All in all, the only doubt is Shaya’s so-called “singing that ordinary people can’t hear”.

Perlis looked up and found that Shaya’s face was full of hesitation. She was hesitating, perhaps hesitating whether to return to the Central, or perhaps hesitating whether to tell her about her childhood experience.

This shouldn’t be forced on her. No one should be hurt repeatedly by childhood memories. Perlis has been hurt enough and knows that this feeling is not good.

Perhaps I should go alone and not drag them down… Thinking of this, Perlis made up her mind and said:

“This city sounds dangerous. Now that I know the approximate location, I can go there alone.”

“I’ve already told you that I will go with you. Don’t be so stubborn.” Aoi said from the side, very dissatisfied.

“If the temple is underwater, we will need corresponding exploration equipment. The strong factor shield will become fragile while resisting the pressure of the deep sea. If the shield is broken under the sea, the pressure of the deep sea will destroy us immediately.” Lian added.

“Shangshu is my hometown, I am more familiar with it. If I lead the way, it will save a lot of trouble,” Shaya said with determination, “and… it’s time to go home…”

All three of them suddenly took the stance of “We must go with you”, which inexplicably made Perlis feel helpless.

Is it necessary? It’s obviously dangerous…

But Perlis didn’t want to say anything more. Seeing that they all insisted on doing so, Perlis nodded slightly:

“So, can we set off now?”

“Of course. Lianbao and I will be there soon after we get ready. We have to tell everyone in Yuanzhen to increase their defenses. They can’t slack off if I’m not here.” Kui said.

“Don’t worry, I will remove the nearby black tide ecosystem when I leave Yuan Town,” Perlis said softly, “I won’t cause any trouble to you.”

“I’ve already told you not to use words like ’cause trouble’,” Aoi rubbed Perlis’s head, “Let’s go, Lianbao. Oh, by the way, don’t forget to send a letter to Grissom. The one I mentioned last night was about…”

Aoi didn’t say the second half of the sentence: she was worried that the word “ice storm” would poke the hole in Perlis’ heart again.

Perlis didn’t say anything. After Aoi and Lian left, she looked at Shaya, her bloodshot eyes behind the mist quietly sizing up the girl in front of her. Shaya was staring at the picture on the table in a daze.

There is no doubt that the picture of the ruins of Shangshu was taken by Buriged during that expedition and brought to her. That was Shaya’s lost hometown, a scar that was forever engraved deep in her soul, but why did she hang this photo on the wall of her bedroom?

Perhaps, every homeless child still wants to return to his hometown.

Like Kosaya and Perlis, their home no longer exists. It’s not because of the destroyed Upper Hub City and Wilkin, whom they can never return to, but because the people who once formed a family with them are no longer there.

In the quiet living room, the two of them just sat at the table, not saying a word.

……

2) Battle of Aston Plains (Part 3)

“Blue Reef” – Dila Fleet – East Ocean

“【Ice Storm】… Mei, have you heard of this thing?”

As Grissom spoke, he pushed the door open and walked into Mei’s room without hesitation.

This room was almost identical to the civil servant’s office on the old Blue Reef. Mei was sitting behind a table piled with strange instruments, fiddling with something. When she heard Grissom’s voice, she responded without even looking up:

“Knock before you come in, idiot. What should I do while I’m changing my clothes?”

“It’s not like I haven’t seen it before,” Grissom walked over to Meiyi, pulled up a chair and sat down, “What are you doing?”

“I’m modifying the [Redstone Module] that Ms. Perlis gave me. If I can make it into a factor energy generator for the Hidden Gun, I’ll be able to help more if there’s a boarding battle later.”

“There won’t be a boarding battle. We’re no longer fighting three-masted sailing ships. The next ones to bomb us will be the Federation’s skyships and the Tower of Babel,” Grissom whispered. “You might as well study how to better protect yourself. If that happens, I might not be able to recover.”

“Who asked you to protect me? I was the one who protected you with the Redstone Module last time,” Mei stuck out her tongue at Grissom in dissatisfaction, and her expression quickly turned cold. “So, our lives were given by Miss Perlis.”

“Yes,” Gleason sighed, “My sister doesn’t like anyone, but she likes Miss Pollis so much. She is a very special girl.”

“Let’s get down to business,” Mei threw the redstone module onto the table. “Ice Storm… I seem to have heard of it. It seems to be some kind of virus created by Miss Carly? I don’t know the specific details…”

“Did my sister do it? It really sounds like her style!” Grissom’s eyes lit up. “Sister Kui just sent me a message saying that this Ice Storm is currently lurking in the Wisel network. It is probably controlled by the people from the Academy. This virus can destroy the Federation’s power supply system and network when it breaks out. If we can use it, we will have a great advantage when attacking Wisel!”

“Did Sister Aoi tell me the triggering mechanism of this [Ice Storm]?” Mei asked.

“No, in fact, she didn’t tell me anything except the existence of this thing. I guess she doesn’t know either,” Gleason shook his head. “I asked her why she didn’t ask her sister for details, and she said that her sister has been very busy recently. Maybe my sister has forgotten it herself… She is always rash. Maybe she will call us tonight to tell us how to trigger the [Ice Storm]…”

Grissom murmured, but Mei saw a hint of worry in his eyes. They both knew that Carly was not a forgetful person at all. She was the kind of smart person who would arrange everything properly and then tell you what you should do. It was impossible for her to forget things at the critical moment.

“It’s okay. I’ll call the Newsboys,” Mei immediately changed the subject, “They should be able to find out.”

“Okay,” Grissom nodded, “Okay, that’s settled then. I…I’ll go get busy first.”

Grissom gave Mei a gentle kiss on the side of her face, then left the room. When he left, his back was straight as if it was made of iron, as if he had grown up overnight.

After the door closed, Mei stared at the place where the door was closed for a long time. She took a deep breath, then picked up the microphone at the corner of the desk and dialed a number to Weiser using the base station between Dongyuanyang and Akihara.

“Calling the Newsboy,” Mei said softly, “This is Xinghui.”

……

Capital of Wiesel – Academi Federation

The continuous rainy days have lasted for a week. The streets of Wezel are always wet, and the neon lights are scattered on the water-stained streets like pieces of broken glass.

In the square surrounding the [College Building], the surging crowd was being blocked by the military blockade ten meters away from the building’s entrance. Soldiers holding explosion-proof shields formed a queue. The federal soldiers wore execution armor, and their long sticks flashing with energy arcs occasionally emitted a faint blue light in the drizzle.

But this did not scare the crowd of protesters. Thousands of people gathered in the square, and the front line was less than two meters away from the explosion-proof shield array. They held up signs with graffiti words such as “The executioner pays with his life”, “Stop the war”, “Close the mine” and “Laplace accepts sanctions”.

The protest marches have been going on for a week, just like the rainy days. A large number of incited people walked on the streets of Wezel, holding signs high and surrounding the major facilities of the [Academy] and [Military Headquarters]. The drizzle could not stop them.

The army has not yet used any violent measures against the crowd. Since Laplace von Valantia is not in the Federation, no one dares to take any extraordinary actions. In this situation, the protests radiated from Wezel to the surrounding cities and even to the border city of Lavis. Sporadic waves of protests emerged from all over the place.

This is certainly not without reason. In the old society under the high tower, there are naturally people who convey new messages.

“…”

On a street outside the square of the College Building, Jessica was sitting at a dining table outside a coffee shop as if nothing had happened. She was wearing a raincoat, and the translucent hood covered the newsboy cap on her head. The transparent hood reflected the neon light, and her face was hidden in the neon light.

Jessica held a newspaper in her hand and pretended to read it, occasionally glancing at the rioting crowd not far away, with no expression on her face.

“Miss, your coffee.” The proprietress came out of the store with a tray and placed a cup of coffee and a piece of tiramisu cake in front of Jessica.

“Thank you.” Jessica smiled and bowed her head.

“You are really calm and composed. A few days ago, a few thugs blocked the door of our store for a long time. If the people from the Weiser Police Department hadn’t come, there would have been no business that day.” The proprietress looked at Jessica’s calm appearance and couldn’t help but sigh, “Don’t you really need to go in and sit? It’s raining outside, there is heating in the store, and the situation is a bit chaotic now. If someone comes to make things difficult, then…”

“Thank you for your kindness, but I like rainy days.” Jessica smiled politely at the proprietress.

“Well, call me if you need anything.”

The lady boss looked at Jessica sitting at the table at the entrance of the restaurant. Not far away was the rioting crowd and the surrounded [College Building], but Jessica seemed to treat that as nothing. The calm girl reading the newspaper and the rioting crowd were stitched together, which was inconsistent but inexplicably had a strange sense of art.

Maybe this is civilization… The proprietress’s not-so-active literary cells jumped, she shook her head, turned around, pushed the door and went into the store to take care of business.

2) Battle of Aston Plains (Part 4)

In fact, there was a reason why Jessica sat here calmly—the riot was originally led by the Newsboy.

Ever since Carly Fellowes gave Jessica some “Little Birds” to build the communication band of “Newsboy”, this underground organization lurking in the shadow of the tower has been expanding its scale and gradually planting its own power at the grassroots level of all walks of life. Although the status of the upper echelons of society is still monopolized by the “College”, “Newsboy” had no plan to get a position at the top.

Those they want to unite are the majority of people – the lower class.

People standing on high places can overlook the overall situation and have a bird’s-eye view that people at the bottom cannot have, but at the same time, they will also miss the details on the ground.

Only those at the bottom of society who roll in the mud can see these details clearly.

In just a few months, [Newsboy] obtained all kinds of evidence from all walks of life – from forced labor in the crystal mines on the Lavis border to secret forced conscription in the Federation’s foreign wars. The bottom layer was like a hotbed for bloodsucking, and a behemoth continued to suck blood and become more powerful.

Of course, these were not enough to start a riot. What really expanded the riot to the entire society was the key evidence that Jessica personally investigated.

——Use of corpses of patients with cervical cancer.

After Jessica returned from the competition, she did not see her mother’s body. She was only told that Enrika was dead. In the end, she didn’t even get a box to hold her ashes, which made Jessica heartbroken.

She used the prize money from the competition to build a cenotaph for her mother in the jungle of Lavis, and then went to Wezel to establish the Newsboys.

Wezel is the center of the Federation and the intersection of information. While searching for evidence that could help to start a riot, Jessica discovered the most crucial clue – the large-scale expansion of the [Silent] army. Logically speaking, [Redstone] was originally an extremely scarce material, and in the early days of the Federation, only the [Blade of Babel] could be equipped with such a thing. According to the [Silent Project] report that Jessica obtained, she found that every [Silent] was equipped with something called a [Redstone Module].

This made her suspicious, and she continued to go further along this line.

From the manufacturing chain of Lansta Industries, to the suppliers of raw materials, and finally to the crematorium in Lavis…the most terrifying thing in Jessica’s heart is slowly awakening. She is afraid of the truth, but is constantly approaching the truth.

Finally, during an infiltration, she saw what the workers in the crematorium were doing.

They piled up the bodies of patients who died of crystal wrist inflammation in the mine and threw them into the fire pit, first filling the pit with a blue powder. After a few hours, they set the pit on fire, and when the burning was over, there were no more bodies in it, but only dots of red material debris.

The refiners collected the red debris bit by bit and put them all into the refining machine nearby. Hundreds of bodies were burned to produce only a bottle cap-sized red substance. The workers collected the red substance, locked it in a refrigerator with the High Tower logo printed on it, and then transported it to another place under armed escort.

Jessica didn’t know what the subsequent production process was like, but when she saw the red substance precipitating, her soul seemed to be torn apart, and invisible blood gushed out from her seven orifices, dripping onto the land of the Akademi Federation.

The great Academi Federation.

“…”

With this as the focus, [Newsboy] found more and more clues from funeral homes and crematoriums across the Federation. Many people with crystal wrist inflammation eventually ended up as redstone modules on [The Silent One]. This disease is very common in the marginal areas of the Federation, and it is almost certain that it was deliberately spread by the Federation.

If they didn’t have the courage to take to the streets at this time, Jessica would be completely disappointed in the Federals.

“…”

Jessica took a sip of hot coffee. The heat and bitterness spread from the tip of her tongue and flowed into her throat, making her frown slightly.

She actually didn’t like bitter coffee very much, and usually added half a spoonful of sugar to it. But on a rainy day like this with sparks flying everywhere, she felt she needed some bitterness to stay awake.

At this time, the communication in the headset was connected, and a female voice mixed with electromagnetic interference came over:

“Calling [Newsboy], this is Xinghui.”

“This is the Newsboy, please speak.” Jessica whispered.

“Do you have any relevant information or clues about the Ice Storm? We learned that this may be the key to breaking the deadlock.”

“Ice Storm?”

Jessica frowned, she recalled the night when she helped Miss Carly escape from Weiser. That day the entire Lansta Industrial Zone was covered in ice-blue light, and all the circuits in the city were destroyed, and the repair work lasted for a long time.

Jessica knew that was Carly’s method, but she didn’t know what it was specifically, and she didn’t ask Carly. However, during the process of inquiring, the members of [Newsboy] learned a name from a maintenance manager: [Ice Storm].

“Got it. I’ll have my men check it out.” Jessica murmured in a low voice.

“Okay.” The signal from Dong Yuanyang became increasingly vague.

The signal of the factor energy wave communication relying on the base station is weak. In addition, due to the fear that the federals will hijack the signal, such conversations are usually very brief.

Jessica took out a small terminal and tapped on it a few times quickly, asking the Newsboy’s spy department to mobilize the information.

A few minutes later, a message from the intelligence officer appeared in front of her: