Little Sophia took the pendant box handed over by Pace, played with it blankly for a while, then raised her head:

“But I don’t know how to hunt…I’ll be hungry…”

“It’s okay. I promised him that I would take care of you. Come with me.”

Pace stretched out his hand cautiously. He was a little hesitant and didn’t dare to touch the little girl.

“From now on, your public name will be Sofia Monarch, my adopted daughter, but you don’t have to call me father. You will only have one father.”

Seeing Pace’s outstretched hand, Sophia was stunned for a moment. She turned her head to look at the burning fireplace, and then looked at the blizzard behind Pace:

“…Okay…Uncle Pace…Dad said you are a good man, I will listen to you…”

Hearing Sofia calling him uncle for the second time, Pace touched his stubble dully and suddenly realized that he hadn’t groomed it for several months.

I’ve already been called uncle… How long has it been…

Seeing Pace stunned, Sophia hurriedly grabbed the hand that Pace extended, fearing that Pace would change his mind and no longer want her.

Pace chuckled and rubbed the little girl’s head, then walked into the room and helped her pack her luggage.

Half an hour later, Sophia and Pace, fully armed with big woolen coats, stood together at the door of their home. Behind her, the fireplace had gone out and the room left by her father was pitch black.

Before leaving, Sophia poked Pace’s waist tentatively. After getting Pace’s attention, she whispered:

“Uncle Pace, will the blizzard continue to blow? It’s so cold…”

This was a rare opportunity for this little flower to walk out of her home. She stood at the door, her little hands in leather gloves tightly grasping her collar, for fear that the knife-like cold wind would scratch her tender skin.

Pace was stunned for a moment, then smiled shyly like a teenager:

“I don’t know either. I guess it will just keep blowing.”

“But don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Pace took Sofia’s hand and nodded at her encouragingly.

Afterwards, the two of them walked into the wind and snow of Wanren Mountain together. Their figures gradually became fainter and fainter, until the world was submerged in a vast expanse of white.

……

“Old things are shadows, sinking into the black depths, following you like a shadow.”

“…”

In Huayu Port, Ayane looked at the distant horizon, where a black fleet was wandering.

Beside her, Admiral Fujita Hideo was gazing at the three-masted sailing ship made of snake bones through a telescope with a solemn expression.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally opened up:

“Are they really going to leave? As the highest commander of the navy, I can totally accept them as part of the Dila fleet.”

It took all of Fujita Hideo’s courage to say this. After all, the new navy represented by him has always had great opinions about the old fleet headed by Furukawa Wataru, and there is naturally competition between them.

And now that his opponent was leaving, he felt lost.

Hearing Fujita Hideo’s words, Ayane chuckled, and the waves of the East China Sea rippled in her cherry-colored eyes:

“They are going on an expedition.”

“Expedition?” Fujita Hideo frowned. “Across the Storm Sea is the East Continent. Where is he going on this expedition?”

“Go under the world,” Ayane pointed to the shadow at her feet, “The world in the shadow is another great dimension, an ocean of memory, and a completely unknown area for us.”

At this time, the color of the sea horizon turned pitch black, and the black fleet began to sink. The roar of the power of the underworld came with the sea breeze.

Looking at the fleet gradually sinking into the sea, Fujita Hideo was stunned for a moment, then he sighed softly:

“The old guys…are scouting for us again…”

In the port not far away, the “Blue Reef” was anchored. Grissom Tran and Mei Xinghui stood on the bridge together, looking at the black fleet sinking into the sea.

“Captain Furukawa To is leaving again…” Mei said in a low voice.

“There’s no storm he can’t get through,” Gleason said calmly, “He will be back. Before that, we still need to grow up.”

Soon, the black fleet sank into the dark abyss, the sea turned back to azure blue, the shadow from Dila’s old fleet finally disappeared, and the sunlight once again enveloped the entire Donglin Island.

“By the way, Grissom, about Miss Pearlis and your sister…” Mei probed in a low voice.

Gleason was stunned for a moment, and the oncoming sea breeze blew up his bangs, making him look messy.

But soon, he smoothed his hair with his hands, and looked into the distance with his ice-blue eyes:

“They must be fine. We will find them.”

……

“The rain won’t stop, but the people holding umbrellas will never leave.”

“…”

On the deserted island of I-Tran, the stranded sea dwellers were fishing on the beach in hunger and cold. Their clothes were already worn out. Months of displacement had gradually stripped away the cloak of civilization, leaving only the instinct to survive.

After the destruction of Fort Aslan, the Federation garrison occupied the North Sea Islands. Not long ago, those empty ships left one by one. It was said that they were defeated in Aston Plains and had surrendered to the Alliance.

The world is being reshuffled, but what does this have to do with the stranded sea people?

The deserted island protected them, but also kept them on the brink of hunger and cold every day.

On the beach, an elderly mother was cutting the marinated fish into small pieces and distributing them to the four or five children beside her. From time to time, she glanced at her husband who was fishing on the sea not far away, her sea-blue eyes full of worry.

After taking care of the children, she quickly swallowed the two small pieces of fish that belonged to her, and then turned on the radio on the beach as usual – it was a treasure she brought hidden in her skirt. Every day she looked forward to receiving some signal frequency bands in the federal occupied area, sometimes some old songs, sometimes some news.

This is one of the few spiritual foods she has.

As she had done countless times before, the woman turned on the radio and prepared to try each frequency band.

But this time, the moment she pressed the button, a disembodied voice came from the radio:

“Drifting survivors…Hold your faith firmly…This is the [Holy Temple]…We are your [Consul]…Our duty is to protect you…We are the fire that protects the sea people…”

The woman’s eyes were stunned, and the children looked at the radio in amazement. The voice kept repeating the same sentence, turning into an ethereal vortex on the beach.

More and more sea dwellers noticed this sound and gathered around. They listened to the voice of the Holy Temple, and some of them were already in tears.

At the same time, the sound of air explosion came from above her head. The woman raised her head and saw a figure dragging a steam trail quickly cutting through the sky and passing over the islands.

That is the [Steam Military Police], the kingdom’s guard has returned.

……

“Even in the darkest night, humans always have their own piece of starry sky.”

“…”

The nights in Qingcheng are often cold, but today it is exceptionally lively.

[Fox Guard Pavilion] In the square in front, the people of Qingcheng gathered together, lit up the fireworks lanterns, and then sent them into the sky.

“Sweetheart! Look, look!”

Su Yao pointed to the sky excitedly. At this moment, groups of fireworks lights poured out from every corner of Qingcheng, and under the dark night, it looked like a scene of shining stars.

Tian Shi pushed Su Yao’s wheelchair and looked up at the stars with her, her black eyes dotted with starlight.

“Very beautiful.” The writer replied softly.

“It’s so beautiful… I haven’t seen people setting off fireworks for a long time…” Su Yao’s cheeks were rosy, like ripe apples.

“The black tide has disappeared, and no matter how many flame lanterns there are, they will not attract unnecessary attention,” Tian Shi murmured in a low voice, “This is the first time I have seen a flame lantern…”

“I’ve only seen it when I was a kid. The Kuroshio tide back then wasn’t as turbulent as it has been in recent years, so it would occasionally break out.”

Su Yao excitedly stretched out her hand towards the sky, as if to measure the proportions of the stars.

Seeing her so excited, Tianshi smiled softly and rubbed her head:

“You’ll see it often in the future.”

“Of course they will! This is the starry sky of the Qilang people!”

As the two were looking up at the stars, a familiar voice came from the side:

“Xiaotian! Xiaoyao! I finally found you…”

Tianshi and Su Yao turned their heads at the same time, and saw Shaya carrying several flame lanterns and looking out of breath.

“Shaya? You’re back?” Su Yao was full of surprise.

“I’m going to Wulan with two friends, so I came to see you on the way.”

As Saya spoke, she pointed to a corner of the square not far away, where Aoi and Lian were squatting and studying the flame lantern, looking very serious.

“Come on! Light a lamp! I heard that making a wish is very effective!” Saya extended her hand forward.

Tianshi reached out, took the flame lamp from Shaya’s hand, and then handed it to Su Yao.

The two of them carefully lit the flame lamp. The bright flame lamp was like a little sun, struggling to fly into the sky.

Su Yao loosened her hand, and the little sun escaped from her arms, flew higher and higher, and merged into the starry sky.

The girls put their hands together and made wishes to the starry sky. They bathed in the light of the stars, as quiet as sleeping angels.

May the stars always be gentle to everyone.

“…”

Not far away, Lian finally lit the flame lamp without damaging the outer shell. This was her third attempt.

She loosened her grip, letting the flame lantern fly out, then she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

“Do you have any other wishes to make?” Aoi looked at her stupid sister with amusement.

“You didn’t?” Lian asked back without opening her eyes.

“Now that you mention it, it seems that there is.”

The two sisters made a wish to the stars together, but what they didn’t know was that the moment they closed their eyes, a pure white star among the stars in the sky quietly lit up.

The Morning Star will always watch over everyone on Ursa.

……

“When we come back here, we are all the same as we were at the beginning.”

“…”

“Your Highness! Bye!”

“You called me the wrong name! Sister Eshilia is now the Queen.”

“Oh, Her Majesty, pay your respects!”

“Bye~”

Ashilia smiled and waved to the children in the orphanage. She walked through the gate, and the warm evening breeze from Lake Shiplanda blew against her face with twinkling stars.

Looking at the quiet black lake, Ashlia suddenly remembered that sunny day – that day, she and Perlis walked out of the orphanage together and faced the sparkling lake together.

Today, La Vatino has restored the name of the holy city, the children in the big cage have moved beyond the edge of the cage, and she personally planted the flag of the kingdom once again on the wasteland of Aston Plain.

I should have proved to her that… the walls of Pershpurns weren’t just another prison, right?

Looking at the moonlight, Ashlia was a little dazed.

She took a deep breath, picked a green-skinned banana from the side of the road, and ate it while walking towards the two kingdom guards in silver armor not far away.

She rode in a carriage through the Pershipens Wall, through the busy and quiet streets of the atrium, and arrived at the Kingdom National University in the upper city.

This university was called the Lion’s Den when Leon Kelaster ruled the Holy City as the leader of the Sword Lion family. The bright red carpet witnessed countless luxurious banquets and bloody activities.

But now, it is just a university with a slightly classical atmosphere.

Eshilia was escorted to the auditorium of the Kingdom National University. This auditorium still retained some of the splendor of the Sharp Knife Lion family’s rule, but it had become much more restrained. At this moment, a banquet was being held here. The huge conference hall was filled with people from the Kingdom, Thebites, and some Wilkins. When they saw Eshilia walk into the conference hall, they all stood up and signaled.

“Please sit down. You are all guests today. There is no need to be restrained.” Ashlia smiled elegantly.

She cast her eyes towards the table at the end of the auditorium – there was a single table with only two people sitting next to it, one was Pace Monarch, and the other was a little girl with black hair and lake blue eyes.

Ashilia walked to the table with a smile and sat down next to Pace:

“Sorry for the long wait. The children from the orphanage have been pestering me for a long time.”

“It doesn’t matter. The timing is perfect. The meat is ready.”

Pace carried the little girl who was sitting on him down to the ground and patted her shoulder gently: