Chapter 19 Scorched Earth
"An Ming."
"Anming, Anming, Anming."
The late summer night was still warm. Liuying lay on the bed, facing An Ming. Her bright eyes stared at An Ming like fireflies, and she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
“Why do you have to read it so many times?”
"I don't know..." Liuying pouted cutely, but soon came up with an answer, "Because I like Anming."
If you like someone three times as much, of course you should say his name three times.
An Ming hesitated for a moment and nodded seriously. He then began to chant at a very high speed: "Firefly, Firefly, Firefly, Firefly, Firefly! This means I like it five times as much."
Liuying's cheeks flushed as she raised her little fist and punched An Ming's chest, "You're just an elementary school student!" She couldn't be as childish as An Ming and repeat the lesson ten times.
"In Sister Liuying's eyes, I will always be a boy."
"Humph, they're all taller than me!"
Liuying puffed her lips and rubbed against An Ming, then smiled faintly.
"You know? Before I met you, I always felt that life was painful. Would it be a relief if I died soon?" Liuying placed her head on An Ming's chest, listening to his heart beating.
"But after meeting you, I started to fear death. If I die, we won't be able to eat cake together anymore."
"If I really die one day, will An Ming cry?"
Liuying reached out and touched An Ming's cheek, murmuring.
An Ming shook his head, his eyes sincere and passionate, "We must live together."
"Well, together..."
Liuying yawned softly, and curled up her soft body in An Ming's arms, holding him tightly with both hands.
I always like to watch An Ming's sleeping face as he falls asleep, but today, it's rare that he fell asleep first.
The soft hair spread out as beautifully as flowers. An Ming couldn't help but hug the firefly, feeling each other's warmth in the darkness.
Since the age of fifteen, the two began to sleep in each other's arms. Only by feeling each other's warmth and breath could they fall into a peaceful dream.
Even without saying it, they have long been each other's only family.
...
...
An Ming was awakened by the alarm, but Liuying beside him opened his eyes earlier than him.
"Emergency invasion alarm..." Liuying tidied up her slightly messy hair, got out of bed barefoot and adjusted her nightgown, "Could it be a swarm of insects?"
"Calm down. If the Zerg had invaded to this extent, the Empire would have issued a warning long ago."
An Ming also put on his equipment at a very fast speed, and possible situations flashed through his mind, "Maybe it's a human invasion."
Liuying's eyes were obviously a little surprised, but then she nodded in approval, "It's possible, but in any case, don't let your guard down and prepare to transform."
Blazing flames streaked across her cheeks, and her nightgown fluttering in the wind was covered by the hard iron cavalry. "Keep in touch."
The terrain in the mountains is complex, and even if they intend to act together, they can easily be separated.
"You too."
An Ming nodded slightly, and the Molten Knight instantly appeared before him. When he flew over the base, he found that there were blazing flames everywhere.
The alarm rang out in the empty mountain base, but only Liuying and he were in sight. This strange situation made An Ming instantly become extremely alert.
"Where are the other cavalry?"
Liuying had a bad premonition in her heart. She saw from the corner of her eye that all the modified humans in charge of the sentry posts had fallen silent, and the light in their eyes seemed to be covered by something.
Almost instantly she realized something and murmured, "There is something wrong with the hive..."
There were only 100 Type A cyborgs initially, but after that a much larger number of Type B cyborgs were produced, which also make up the vast majority of Molten Knight pilots.
The connection between Model B cyborgs and the hive is much closer, and there is absolutely no possibility of them rebelling against the will of the hive.
Liuying suddenly felt a trance in front of her eyes, and her consciousness was instantly pulled into the familiar honeycomb dream.
On the green lawn, Titania, wearing a snow-white and pure long dress, turned her back to Firefly and whispered, "I dreamed of a scorched earth."
The core of the hive, the queen of the empire, and the origin of all cyborgs——
She turned to look at Liuying and smiled gently: "I want to thank you."
"I?"
Liuying had many questions that she wanted answers to, but the most important question at the moment was why it was her.
Many images flashed through Titania's eyes, finally freezing at a certain moment.
The boy shouted to the dying cyborg girl: "Don't die!" The voice seemed to contain magic, penetrating emotions and beehives, and awakening the sleeping Titania.
[Titania] is a tool for the Empire to control cyborgs, and is also a machine without self. Like a sophisticated main program in a beehive, it only needs to execute orders and be loyal to the Empire.
After that day, Titania possessed a "soul".
She dreamed of flowers blooming in the scorched earth under the scorching sun, and that new bud.
"You are my people, not 'they'."
Titania's voice suddenly became cold, and the green grass under her feet began to burn, and after the embers, there was scorched earth.
The anger was like a last ember, igniting the field and flowing to the entire hive.
Liuying only felt unspeakable sadness, but also understood everything.
"Liuying!"
A familiar warmth enveloped her whole body. After Liuying opened her eyes, she realized that she had gotten rid of her iron cavalry without knowing when. In her mind, she appeared a scene where she was falling straight down from the sky and was caught in mid-air by An Ming who was rushing towards her with all his strength.
The darkness disappeared like a flash of an illusion, and the mountain base was once again filled with bright lights. The modified people on duty seemed to have been distracted for just a moment.
"An Ming... don't leave me."
Liuying knew that it was definitely not a dream, and the happy future had turned into a bubble at this moment. She hugged Anming tightly with her hands.
The feeling of loss is stronger than ever. Anming is clearly right in front of me, but why does he become so blurry? I can't touch him anymore if I let go of his hand.
The blazing flames turned into scattered fireflies. An Ming put off his iron cavalry and embraced Liu Ying in front of the gray Dead Sea. "No matter what happens, I will be with you."
"You are everything to me."
An Ming hugged Liuying and fell from the sky. Before reaching the end, he once again put on his iron horse and hugged the girl and landed on the ground.
Liuying held An Ming's hand, then raised her head and said seriously: "Lady Titania has escaped from the control of the empire. From now on, the Hive and all the cyborgs will be controlled by her."
The familiar sadness of An Ming reappeared in her beautiful eyes. Liuying said softly, "I have thought about escaping from Grammer with An Ming, leaving everything behind and going to a farther place, where there would be a small house for you and me, away from all the pain and sorrow..."
"It doesn't matter where I go, as long as An Ming is here, it's home."
"But where can we go?"
The star field where the empire is located was covered by the debris of dead species decades ago. The endless swarms of insects are like a nightmare that cannot be awakened. No matter how sturdy the ships are, they cannot pass through the tide of insects and reach the other end of the star field.
Firefly is determined to rush towards the candle even if it means death. Is this going to be their end?