Love Code At the End of The World

He chuckled with his weather-worn temperament, saying, “You are quite mature. You understand why we surrendered, but our children don’t...” He sighed and smiled helplessly. “Sigh. The children are growing up. We can’t stop them if they want to fly.”

“They’ll understand when they have their own kids,” I said. I had seen an old grandma killing an innocent girl just because she didn’t want to cause more deaths. So what if they had surrendered? It was unfair to themselves, but it wouldn’t hurt the people around them.

Humanity was unsteady in this ghoulish world. What was morality?

He let out puffs of smoke that formed rings in the air.

“How was this place built?” I looked at the rare skylake in front of me, asking.

He smoked quietly for a long time before replying, “We were once the Ghost Eclipsers’ captives.”

Captives? So, they had actually been caught by the Ghost Eclipsers. That was why they had surrendered. 

“Actually, we were abandoned by our own people. We were fighting for them, but we never thought that they had left us behind to distract the Ghost Eclipsers.” He chuckled bitterly and breathed out a long puff smoke again.

I was surprised to find out that they had this kind of backstory.

“Well, that’s how this world works. People abandon and betray their families just to survive,” he said calmly, as though he were accustomed to it, as though he were talking about someone else’s story. 

I looked at him. The calmer he was on the outside, the more pained he seemed.

The truth seemed to be that they had fought for their family, but they had been used to hold back the Ghost Eclipsers, to buy others time to escape. In other words, they had been sacrificed and abandoned by their family. Unexpectedly, they had survived and became Ghost Eclipsers, at least in name.

“We have women among us. Two of them were pregnant at that time. That was part of the reason we surrendered. Thankfully, we were all powerful metahumans, so, the Ghost Eclipsers kept us alive. We slowly won their trust and earned the right to go on an expedition. We found this place and settled down here. Then, we started figuring out ways to take in people who faced similar situations. We took them in and lived together. Who would be willing to surrender to the Ghost Eclipsers, if not for their children? Heh...” He chuckled, revealing teeth tinted black with nicotine stains. He continued, “You live up to your reputation of the strongest warrior in Silver Moon City. You took down my son with just one hit. He’s still not awake yet.”

I smiled, saying, “Many people have fallen to this fist, including His Highness Xing Chuan.”

“Oh?!” The uncle looked at me in surprise.

I looked in front of me coldly, saying, “Please stop calling me the strongest warrior of Silver Moon City, because I won’t be going back there. I’m going to…” I narrowed my eyes and continued, “...attack Silver Moon City!”

The uncle choked on his smoke and started coughing vigorously.

I turned and looked at him. “It’s time for you to make a decision now. You’re Ghost Eclipsers now; Silver Moon City will attack you, and they won’t accept your surrender. I know them too well; they’ll kill all of you.”

The uncle's expression turned sullen.

“The Ghost Eclipsers will attack you if you’re not on their side. It is only a matter of time until you’ll have to make a choice, because your location is right next to the battlefront. You can choose to follow me if you want to follow neither of them. I’m going to attack both sides!” My face grew grim. Silver Moon City had led those on the ground to kill each other, before showing up and pretending to be the harbingers of justice to destroy the Ghost Eclipsers. In the end, they were all being used by one person.

He gasped in shock. He blinked, saying, “You, you, you… How many people do you have now?”

I glanced at him and looked ahead, tucking my hair behind my ears. I replied, “Ghostie and I.” I looked at Ghostie and Lucifer then continued, “Now, we have our new addition, Lucifer. Also, we have two spirits with us, Zong Ben and Jun.” I took the heart box out.

He started counting with his fingers, “One, two, three, four, five. There are only five of you! How are you going to fight both Silver Moon City and the Ghost Eclipsers?!”

“Slowly.” I looked ahead grimly. The mountain breeze blew against my long dark hair. I looked at him coldly, saying, “But I will kill you tonight if you choose the Ghost Eclipsers. Still, I will keep the women and children alive. I’m slightly better than Silver Moon City.” 

He gulped, looking at me with a stiff expression.

I walked to the skylake and turned to stare at him grimly. “I have no need to fear your betrayal. I have my spirits with me.”

He gulped again.

I smirked coldly, saying, “You should have killed me when you caught me. Once the devil has awoken, no one can kill her anymore.”

The sky turned gloomy as the bearded uncle’s face turned pale.

The bearded uncle gulped and quickly put out the cigarette butt. He grabbed his beard and walked away stiffly. He was terrified, which was my goal.

I just got here. Why bother with trust?

Intimidation works better.

Not to mention that I have such a terrifying reputation, as the North Star that slaughters cities.

I didn’t take another look at him as I walked toward the skylake. The women who had been washing clothes stood up with guarded expressions and left. The skylake suddenly became quiet. Only Ghostie was left in the water, rehydrating and enjoying himself.

I sat next to Lucifer and Ghostie swam to us. Lucifer looked at me happily, saying, “Sister Luo Bing.”

I looked around; there was no one left. My cold expression lifted and I looked at the flying corpse prince happily. He had already turned into a young prince in just a blink of an eye. It seemed a generation had passed since we last met.

He was only a chubby, cute baby back then, but he had already grown into a silver-haired teenager who was only a head shorter than me. 

His beautiful silver eyes looked as bright and clear as they did when he was young. Although his soft lips were the same color as those of the flying corpses, they looked glossy and moist, as if they had silver lip gloss on.

He was a teenager, but he seemed to carry the experience of a war veteran alongside his boyishness. 

“This is Brother Ghostie,” I said as I introduced him to Ghostie. Lucifer looked at him curiously, complimenting him. “Brother Ghostie is so powerful! He evolved to be different from the other water ghosts!”

I laughed, “Ghostie, this is Lucifer, Second Sis’s son.” I hesitated, because I knew that Ghostie shouldn’t know who Second Sister was.

And yet, he smiled widely, reaching out to stroke the little prince’s silver hair. He looked as though he knew Lucifer… or could it just be him showing friendliness?

Flying corpses and water ghosts are both mutants. I wonder if Lucifer and Ghostie got along easily because of that. They hugged each other as if they were a family.

Lucifer sniffed Ghostie’s face, not bothered by his fishy smell. Then, he lifted his face and smiled proudly, saying, “I remember Brother Ghostie’s scent now! I will be able to find him no matter where he goes!”

I stroked his messy silver hair, asking, “Why did you come looking for me?” 

He looked at me, replying, “Because there was nothing left to learn. Mommy said that there was a really powerful brother in Noah City who could continue to teach me. So, I came looking for you.”

“Shhhhhhh!” Suddenly, Ghostie raised his index finger. Then, he slammed his left palm onto the ground and picked up a tiny spider robot.