Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 151
“Casper!”
Alois couldn’t believe what had just happened. Casper had destroyed the field generator, released the Yasha, and then killed himself? Was that really Casper? The same Casper who had been his closest friend since their student days? The one who had written to him constantly during his two years in prison? The one who was more loyal than anyone?
Casper’s body lay on the ground like a discarded rag doll, blood flowing from the wound in his head, forming a dark red, winding river. Alois noticed that Casper’s lips still held a faint smile, like a warrior who had fulfilled his duty and embraced death with a sense of freedom.
Alois suddenly realized that he had never truly known Casper Shannon. Though they had appeared to be close, they were, in fact, complete strangers.
The ground beneath them began to shake, accompanied by a deep rumbling, as if some giant beast was roaring in anger underground. Joshua grabbed Alois from behind, pulling him back several steps just as a light fixture crashed down where he had been standing. If not for Joshua’s timely intervention, Alois would already be joining Casper in the afterlife.
“We have to go!” Joshua shouted, trying to drown out the ominous noise coming from deep below. “The underground supports are destroyed! This place is going to collapse any moment! We need to move now, or it’ll be too late!”
“But… Casper…”
Joshua grabbed a handful of Alois’s hair and yelled in his face, “He’s dead! He was a traitor! Why do you care? Damn it, we need to move!”
With that, he dragged Alois toward the escape route from the central control room. Thankfully, the passage was still clear. More lights fell from above, like a rain of glass, as two thousand years of rust and decay finally took their toll. Some of the shards landed on Casper’s lifeless body, but he would feel no pain now. He was already dead, buried in the place he had loved most—Old Earth.
The lower levels of the research facility had already begun to collapse. The massive computer, “Babel”, had lost its support columns in the explosion and was slowly sinking into the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. The scene was like something out of a myth: a tower to the heavens crumbling under divine wrath, its glory and pride buried in the dirt, never to rise again.
The escape tunnel wasn’t entirely safe either. The increasingly violent tremors made the passageway sway like a bridge in a storm. Joshua hauled Alois upward, and though he stumbled several times, Joshua pulled him to his feet each time, forcing him to keep moving.
The facility’s power had been cut, and the emergency lights in the escape tunnel could only last for an hour, casting an eerie green glow. The stairs seemed endless, and the exit remained far away. The passage was narrow and dark, but Joshua felt no fear. He had always walked such a dark path throughout his life, and he knew that hesitation would only result in being consumed by the collapsing ruins behind him. The only option was to keep moving forward. By his side was a ray of light that illuminated his bleak future, reminding him that if he kept moving, he would eventually leave this dark tunnel and return to the light.
A misstep caused Joshua to fall to his knees, but this time, Alois caught him.
“Are you okay?” Alois gripped his hand tightly, pulling him up. “I see light ahead—the exit is close!”
The scene felt familiar to Joshua. Holding his hand, escaping together from chaos… It reminded him of the time on Hecate, except back then, it was he who had reached out to Alois. Now, the roles were reversed.
He had saved him, and now, he was being saved.
The assassin couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s go,” he said.
They continued to climb for about a minute before finally reaching the first auxiliary control room. Unlike the lower levels, this area was merely shaking, like an earthquake. They exited through the same passage they had used to enter and soon reached the surface. Two thousand years ago, Kester had shown young Joshua this escape route. Now, it had finally served its purpose.
Once they left the facility, the two men plunged into the dense jungle. The underground portion of the research facility was much larger than what was visible above ground. The white building had only been the tip of the iceberg. Though they were now treading on the forest floor, there was a vast underground cavern beneath them, ready to collapse at any moment. They found the shuttle they had used to travel to Earth, still lying quietly beneath a large broadleaf plant. Joshua opened the hatch, letting Alois climb in first. The latter instinctively took the pilot’s seat.
“So you don’t mind it being a paramecium now?” Joshua said as he climbed in and took the co-pilot’s seat.
“It’s a damn good paramecium!” Alois said, starting the engine.
The shuttle lifted off.
The blue ocean, green forests, and white research facility quickly receded into the distance. The acceleration caused Joshua to feel dizzy, but as he looked out the window, he saw that the forest around the research facility had caved in entirely. Dust rose from the trees like smoke, and flocks of unknown birds, startled by the sudden collapse, took to the sky in panic, circling above the forest. Amid their wings, Joshua caught a glimpse of the Yasha.
For some reason, Joshua felt that the Yasha wouldn’t attack them. Kester had once said that the Yasha prioritized attacking things that posed the greatest threat to it, and this primitive spacecraft was beneath its notice. Its target lay millions of light-years away.
Bathed in golden sunlight, the Yasha’s steel bones and muscles gleamed brilliantly, while the red veins that wrapped around its body looked like intricate patterns. Transparent feathers fluttered behind it, resembling delicate wings. The Yasha took flight alongside the shuttle but didn’t attack. It quickly sped past and disappeared into the white clouds.
It had left Old Earth and was heading for the cosmos.
As the shuttle exited the atmosphere, Joshua took one last look back at Earth. It had already shrunk to a small dot. The blue ocean dotted with islands, home to countless new life forms, was all that remained of his birthplace, his homeland, where his best and worst memories of youth resided. He had left once before, and now he was leaving again—this time, for good. Joshua silently vowed never to return. Children grow up and eventually leave the cradle. He, too, would learn to say goodbye to the past and continue moving forward.
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