“I’ve killed many people. I was very young then, and seeing blood and organs made me want to vomit, but I had to hold steady with my knife and spear, not letting others see my weakness. I needed to establish my authority so that Meng Qinghuan and the others, still naive, would have time to grow.”
“While you were spacing out, I was training. While you were snacking, I was studying. While you were watching anime, I was fighting.” Bai Cha took a deep breath and looked at the sky. He was very tired. “They are my subordinates, so I have to maintain a distance from them. Being too close would cause problems with Shadow’s management. Kings are aloof, do you think that’s just talk?”
“I… I’m sorry, I didn’t think that much about it.” Gu Mingze lowered his head even further, mumbling dejectedly.
“Don’t be so down, Gu Mingze. I’m not blaming you. It’s just… I think you’re wonderful just the way you are.” Seeing Gu Mingze’s surprised gaze, Bai Cha smiled. “Even setting aside your family, you can space out, you can stand on the balcony and feel the breeze, and when you’re bored, you can imagine yourself saving the world.”
“But I don’t have any of that.” Gu Mingze rubbed his neck, unhappy. “What you’re saying, it’s no big deal.”
Not glamorous, not valuable, just common and ordinary.
“Didn’t you just ask why I was fighting so hard? What you have might seem insignificant, but it’s everything to you. The balcony, the anime, even the breeze from the windowsill makes you linger.” Bai Cha chuckled lightly. “If someone tried to take even that away from you, wouldn’t you fight with all your might? It’s these trivial reasons that make us stronger.”
Gu Mingze stared blankly at Bai Cha, surprised that such platitudes were coming from his mouth.
He had always thought Bai Cha was just indifferent to the world, cold to everyone, but a good boss. He hadn’t expected Bai Cha to patiently guide him after Cang Liu’s departure.
“The sea of lights is monotonous, with lights and night markets every day. The waterfall rushes down every day, and the high mountains stand tall as always.” Bai Cha patted Gu Mingze’s messy hair, put away the food box, and stood up. “You do what you must at your position. Since I’m in the position of a protector, I accept all the consequences.”
“Gu Mingze, I truly love this world.”
Even if this world had forgotten her, even if this world had overlooked her, despite betrayal and sorrow, how could she let innocent people who loved life perish because of a few stains?
“I want everyone to feel happy when they return home at night and lie on their beds. I want everyone to light up at the sight of a feast. So, Gu Mingze, leave Shadow and go back.”
Gu Mingze: "?"
Gu Mingze was startled and immediately jumped up, looking at Bai Cha with disbelief. Just as he was about to speak, Bai Cha interrupted him.
“I’m not abandoning you, Gu Mingze. It’s just that I can no longer protect you.” Bai Cha sighed apologetically. “I can barely protect myself. In Z country, I’m almost overwhelmed. Even Xiang Nan is seriously injured. They’re targeting me, and I can’t let you take any more risks.”
“I’m sorry, I broke my promise. I can’t be your pillar of support, and I can’t protect you.”
At the same time, in the Bright faction’s Zhi family.
“Get out! Are you trying to die? Get lost, all of you! Scram!”
“Are you taking liberties?”
Sharp female voices continuously erupted from the Zhi family mansion, accompanied by the sound of explosions. The luxurious mansion was in disarray, as if it had undergone a fire and a massive explosion, and the explosions continued.
Inside the room, most of the previously luxurious furnishings had turned to ash. A woman in a fiery red dress, her anger boiling, smashed the last table in front of Zhi Lintao to pieces.
“What! You’re ashamed to see me? And you had people block me? Are you all crazy! Where’s the explanation you owe me!” Zhi Yue’s eyes were bloodshot, her chest heaving violently. She looked down at her father. “You said you wouldn’t touch them! You said we’d work together through the apocalypse! You knew I liked Cang Liu, and you killed him!”
“Xiao Yue, how can you speak to your father like that?” A beautiful woman quickly came out to persuade her. “It was just an accident.”
“Accident, my ass! You can fool others with that, but not me? Do you really think I’m stupid?” Zhi Yue sneered. “I’m a member of the Bright faction, after all. I’ve used these tactics myself. Are you sick, or am I?”
It was laughable. She had been an unruly, arrogant little devil herself. She had that much self-awareness. What underhanded methods hadn’t she teamed up with others to carry out? Looking back, she would have called herself a vicious supporting character.
To speak of an accident in front of her? Did they really think she was an uncultured, innocent little white lotus?
Zhi Lintao’s expression turned somewhat grim. His daughter was hot-tempered, straightforward, and extremely capable. She had always been his useful tool, but now this capable daughter showed signs of losing control.
“Before, I was hostile towards Shadow. You told me how righteous our Bright faction was, how they were in the dark, and how justice would ultimately triumph over evil. Is this how you triumphed?” Zhi Yue was furious. “Shameless! The apocalypse is almost here, and you’re playing these games?”
Shameless? What kind of words were these? This daughter had truly learned bad habits.
Zhi Lintao’s face darkened. He glanced at his phone, seemingly contemplating something.
Although Zhi Yue was angry, she restrained herself considerably in front of her parents. At least the area around Zhi Lintao and Liu Yue was safe. Even though the servants she had blown away were injured, they were not dead.
However, Zhi Lintao remained silent, frowning, lost in thought.
“I’ll swear to your mother! Do you really think I dare not curse you? I didn’t even bother with your beatings and scoldings when I was a child. What is this now!”
Hearing Zhi Yue’s increasingly vulgar curses, Zhi Lintao could no longer help but frown. He glanced at his phone, as if he had finally made a decision.
“Do you really want to know the truth?” Zhi Lintao leaned back in his chair, still appearing hesitant.
“Obviously. If you don’t explain it to me clearly, believe it or not, I’ll blow up this house today!”
“……”
The exclusive hospital of Shadow. The already somber atmosphere became even more oppressive due to the deathly silence.
Bai Cha had suffered a great disaster. Leviathan and Mammon were taken away and executed. Xiang Nan was seriously injured. They had received false information and were lured away. By the time they realized they had been tricked, it was too late.
No one spoke. Hundreds of thousands of people in Shadow had fallen into different ambushes. Although there were no casualties, everyone had sustained some injuries. They sat silently on their hospital beds, facing each other, heads bowed, no one speaking.
Xiang Nan sat in a wheelchair, his entire body wrapped in bandages, making him appear emaciated. His left eye was also bandaged, and his hair was messy due to the bandages on his head.
Hearing footsteps, Xiang Nan turned his wheelchair. Upon seeing Bai Cha, Xiang Nan exerted himself to break free from the wheelchair and wanted to kneel before Bai Cha. However, Bai Cha anticipated his move and stepped forward to catch him.
“It’s my fault for not being strong enough to protect them. I am willing to accept the heaviest punishment.” Xiang Nan was weak and couldn’t kneel properly. He could only lower his head with trembling legs, his frail voice echoing throughout the hospital. “If I had protected them, they wouldn’t have died. Miss wouldn’t have been captured, and Cang Liu wouldn’t have…”
He couldn’t continue speaking.
Bai Cha knelt on one knee and embraced the fragile Xiang Nan.
Xiang Nan was so thin, reminding Bai Cha of the frantic Heavenly Official from that night.
“Xiang Nan, it’s not time for despair yet.”
Bai Cha’s phone slipped from his shallow pocket and fell to the ground, its screen lighting up. The name of the savior group was still as chuunibyo as ever, displaying their conversation.
【Bai Cha: Sorry, we had an accident here. Jiaolong needs to find new people.】
【Jupiter: Thanks to Athena, my brother is alive. Do we… really still have to save the world?】
【Jupiter: Human nature has made these villains forget the world and the cities, and forget us. What do we have left?】
【Bai Cha: We have the chance to take it all back.】
The screen was lit. Lucifer, unusually, was not by Bai Cha’s side. Bai Cha pressed his forehead against Xiang Nan’s, still seeing the familiar resolute and calm gaze of Xiang Nan.
“There is still a chance.” Bai Cha gritted his teeth, facing the gazes of everyone around him within Shadow, and swore to them all, “I am still standing here.”
Even if you have lost your fighting spirit, even if everyone has lost the will to fight, even if everyone is accustomed to the unchanged stability, there is still a chance. Everyone can crawl out of the wolf pack, so why can’t they stand up again?
“I believe in you.”
Everything felt like a dream, and soon everything returned to the starting point.
The next day, an announcement shook Z country.
Shadow announced the restoration of its normal 996 work system, resisting 24-hour non-stop work.
Bai Cha announced that except for the World Championship period, Shadow would no longer undertake any missions. Everything would be the responsibility of the Bright faction and the Neutral faction. He also released the timelines and details of some of the missions carried out by himself and the Shadow faction over the years.
Among them, some of the causes and effects were particularly worth savoring.
In response, the Neutral faction and the Bright faction urgently blocked online information and removed all related news. However, in the era of high-speed information, most people had already received the news. Blocking the internet couldn’t silence people, which caused a huge uproar. The more they blocked, the greater the backlash. Some even meticulously listed the doubts.
The Shadow faction immediately shed two-thirds of its tasks the next day. The Neutral faction was almost thrown into chaos, and the handover was a complete mess. They had to deploy two to three times more personnel than usual from the Bright faction to barely quell the tsunami of reports and complaints.
A cornered rabbit will bite. A desperate dog will jump over the wall. The Shadow faction, which had always treated missions as their lives and commands as sacred decrees, refused to work and left. The Neutral faction could only be angry and helpless.
Bai Cha’s phone screen lit up again, the call notifications flashing madly, but Bai Cha had set his phone to silent. With a gentle swipe, he moved it to the background.
【Gong Yuechen: Bai Cha, are you crazy? Z country is in internal chaos!]
【Gong Yuechen: Bai Cha, the big boss said everyone will give you an explanation and an apology together. They’ll give you the best treatment and compensation. Please don’t be angry."]
【Gong Yuechen: My dearest ancestor, my sister! Pay attention to me! If you do this, innocent people will suffer. Z country is on the verge of chaos. How many countries are watching?】
【Bai Cha: You actually have the nerve to say that.】
【Gong Yuechen: This time we truly know we were wrong. I swear, if they dare to do this again, I’ll shoot them myself!]
【Message failed to send. You are not the recipient’s friend.】
Gong Yuechen: “……”
Had he been deleted?
Gong Yuechen sighed heavily, slammed his phone onto the conference table, and with a wave of his hand, smashed the water glass again.
“You’re so capable, aren’t you? Keep being capable. You’re really amazing.”
Still not satisfied, and disregarding the presence of the big boss, Gong Yuechen fiercely kicked the conference table, tilting the massive conference table: “Keep being capable! Now you’re begging them? You’re all so spoiled you’ve got your tails in the air. You live so comfortably, don’t you even remember who fed you?”