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But precisely because of their fear, they became even more determined. It was not even the great ideal of saving the world, but they just didn't want those tragedies to happen to their relatives and friends.
Simple ideals can create the greatest warriors.
He even felt a bit of pressure from these gazes. He silently patted the other person on the shoulder and jumped directly off the helicopter.
This place happened to be an abandoned apartment area. Ryan had just solved a collapse here not long ago. Now that he came here for the second time, some things had changed. At least the academy in the distance had become much dimmer.
Because the 'terrorist attack' damaged a large number of teaching buildings, many departments chose to conduct online classes. Ryan also took this opportunity to go back to the dormitory to get some things, at least to take away his saved manuscripts.
After climbing over the wall, the school was indeed quiet. Except for a few lights occasionally, even the street lights were not turned on.
Those students who were laughing and playing have become a thing of the past, leaving only dilapidated buildings and red and white cordon lines fluttering in the night wind.
He couldn't even see stray cats and dogs, because these things would also become mobile sources of infection and were all killed by the fire moths.
Everything around became bleak. Ryan saw a twisted bench at his feet. He remembered well that this was the place where Mei and Kevin had been showing off their love before the experiment. No one knew which Honkai beast had knocked them away.
After hesitating for a moment, Ryan slowly squatted down, straightened the twisted part, and then placed it on the bare lawn. Seeing the missing wooden strips on it, he laughed at himself again, and finally patted it lightly, turned around and disappeared into the night.
Time flows forward, and the past will never come back.
A few minutes later, Ryan returned to the empty dormitory and saw that the door was ajar. He put the key back in his pocket, pushed the door open, and saw a figure sitting on the bunk bed.
"It's a miracle that you didn't starve to death in the past half month."
"I'm not stupid. If the cafeteria is closed, I won't know where to go to the commercial street to find food."
A gentle voice was heard, and a handsome man with shoulder-length hair walked to the door and turned on the light with a click.
The person waiting for Ryan was Su, who had changed into pajamas and came to visit as he often did before.
Ryan was still the same as before, just glancing at his messy quilt.
"You're sleeping in my bed again?"
"Just because Kevin has such a terrible sleeping posture, won't I sleep with you?"
"Don't say such gay things. I'm not interested in men." Ryan couldn't help laughing. He wanted to pat the other person's shoulder, but slowly put his hand down. "You must have a lot of questions."
"Of course, you three didn't answer the phone, so you sent a weird text message. I thought our friendship wasn't that fragile." Su didn't look angry at all. She turned around and took a glass of water and stuffed it into Ryan's hand. "Come back to get your things. I've packed your clothes for you. And I finally saw your fitness equipment. It's so heavy."
Ryan turned his head and saw that there were indeed several large packages in the corner. Computers, clothes, and weapons were all classified and even carefully labeled.
"Su, if you were a woman, I would probably fall in love with you."
"Come on, the whereabouts of the three of you are all confidential, right? Are you hiding it to protect me?"
Ryan took a sip of water. For some reason, the plain water tasted like nostalgia. He simply nodded and said, "How did you guess that?"
"Ever since high school, I've noticed that you three are not ordinary people. Not to mention you and Mei, and even though Kevin is a bit noisy, I have a feeling that one day, you will leave for a great cause." Su leaned against the door, her face full of tenderness and nostalgia.
"Unfortunately, I guessed it right, but it's a pity that I couldn't say goodbye to you. Don't look at me like that. I also know that you don't want me to be anxious and afraid that one day I will never see you again, so I didn't ask anything and waited for half a month. Seeing you once is enough."
Ryan held the water cup and listened to Su quietly. His voice was still gentle, and he always put himself in other people's shoes. He was not angry, and even seemed a little surprised and satisfied.
He had waited so long just to see his friends, even if Ryan was the only one who came.
"What do you want to do in the future?"
"Graduate as soon as possible and become a doctor. Although I don't know what happened, I have a feeling that our future paths will be intertwined." Su tilted her head, still with a gentle smile, "So Ryan, you should rest assured."
"Don't worry, you are still the wise man. I came back at the right time today." Ryan felt completely calm and put the cup on the table. "Do you want me to walk with you?"
"What's so great about these ruins? But you can keep this invitation for later. If you are in danger, please remember this agreement." Su nodded gently and walked outside. "I'm going home to take online classes. Remember to let Kevin know that I'm safe."
The back view was not desolate, but rather full of calmness, and even a bit of joy. He did not expect that Ryan would come back.
"Su, actually I lied to you about something." Ryan shouted and smiled at the stagnant back.
"Don't worry, you are special too."
The young man stayed for a long time, then nodded silently and disappeared into the dark corridor. Ryan kept a smile on his face until his back disappeared.
This was the first time he had revealed a spoiler in more than a decade, but if fate could really be changed, he was unwilling to let his friends jump into the abyss and would rather they live their daily lives until everything was resolved.
There are no heroes there, only blood and pain. The one who can maintain hope is the most tenacious existence.
Kevin, I have no choice, but at least the later you enter, the better. It's a pity that our ancient civilization doesn't have an easy life like Kiana and the others.
Ryan looked at the water droplets sliding down the wall of the cup and couldn't help but think of an old saying.
The friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water, but often more sincere and hotter than fire.
Putting the cup of water in his pocket as well, Ryan took one last look at the room, as if to memorize it, and then walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked down.
There was a figure hanging on the eaves with an embarrassed look on his face. It was Kevin.
Chapter 24: I want to defeat Honkai even though I'm so quiet!
A little moonlight sprinkled through the gaps in the clouds, just illuminating the man under the windowsill. Ryan propped up his head and saw Kevin hanging on the window sill on the fourth floor.
"When did you come?"
"Well, it's evening now. Can you let me go up first?"
Ryan seemed not to hear it. He thought for a moment and suddenly realized: "You came to get something, but saw Su in the dormitory. You didn't want to meet him, so you just hid outside the window and waited for him to leave?"
"Yes, yes, I've been hanging here for two hours and my hands are numb." Kevin was frowning, sure that Ryan was playing a prank on him.
"First tell me why you don't see him."
Perhaps it was because the dark clouds blocked the moonlight again, Kevin's expression was obviously dimmed a little, and he said hesitantly: "What we are doing is very dangerous. The more Su knows, the more worried he will be. This is meaningless. I joined the Fire Moth to protect them. It's best if they don't know anything, then the problem will be solved."
"Yeah, just as I guessed."
"You've already guessed it and you're still asking me on purpose?!" Kevin was furious for a moment, and then he saw a hand reaching out to him, and then pulling him into the dormitory like a piece of paper.
Kevin lay on the ground and took a few breaths. He thought that Ryan usually looked like a weak scholar, but he turned out to be very strong. But when he thought about what happened that night, he felt it was natural.
The aftermath of his battle with the Honkai Beast destroyed two teaching buildings. Is he still a human being?
As he was muttering to himself, Ryan's face suddenly came in front of him, and he was so shocked that he quickly sat on the ground.
"W-what are you doing?"
Ryan squatted on the ground and looked at Kevin's expression. After a long while, he shook his head and said, "Nothing. I just think you have changed a little. You know how to think rationally. Let me guess. Did you see some exciting information during the recruit training?"
Speaking of information, Kevin fell silent. The recruit training had lasted for more than half a month, and he roughly understood the truth of the world.
Towns were reduced to ruins, and the blood of the Fire Moth's soldiers flowed like a river. With the help of virtual reality technology, you can experience the feeling of a battlefield firsthand. Then you will see soldiers smashed into meat paste, charred corpses next to tanks, and witness the horror of the Herrscher.
Thousands of new recruits were instantly covered by the artillery fire created by the Ruler of Reason, leaving not even a trace behind.
Kevin swallowed, the nausea coming back.
"It seems that you have indeed changed." Ryan patted his shoulder and said lightly: "People always change because of the environment. This is normal. The important thing is to always stick to your heart."
"You want to persuade me?"
"If I were to advise you, I would have kicked you out of the Fire Moth a long time ago. Since you have talent, you have to shoulder that responsibility. I am also reminding myself by saying this."
Ryan grinned. When he saw Kevin in the present, he thought of his past self. He was very excited when he regained consciousness. Seeing the magnificent home, he had already planned how to be a prodigal son. Then one day, he saw a familiar pattern on the information his father brought home.
'I remember I was completely stupefied at the time. I tried to restart the game several times but couldn't do it. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and think of a solution. I consulted many firearms instructors and so on.'
This feeling of confusion did not get better until he was ten years old. Once, Ryan was hunting in his own manor and was attacked by infected animals. The feeling of vomiting caused by extreme fear is still vivid in his mind.
'I killed it and started my own destiny, just like a person caught by a straw. I made up my mind to leave my comfortable life and travel around the world, learning from fighters, assassins, and hunters. I frantically absorbed knowledge while hunting Honkai. When I came to my senses, I was already at the forefront.'
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Kevin waved his hand in front of Ryan's eyes, and the latter immediately came to his senses.
"Some things from the past. Seeing a rookie like you, it's inevitable that I will reminisce about the past."
"Wait, we are the same age, why are you acting like a senior?"
"Am I not a senior in the Fire Moth?" Ryan stood up slowly, with his hands on his hips, "New recruit Kevin, call me senior quickly, your instructor didn't even teach you this little etiquette!?"
Kevin's face flushed immediately, and he felt that Ryan was right. Judging from the battle that night, Ryan could beat all of them new recruits with one hand, but he also felt ashamed.
"Senior...Senior."
"I can't hear you, you want to fight Honkai even with such a low voice!?"
Kevin clenched his fists, then saw Ryan also raised his fists with a smile, so he had to grit his teeth.
"senior!"
"Okay, you're very energetic. Now, tell me all your specialties..." Ryan was halfway through his words when he saw Kevin's murderous expression. He knew that the paramecium had reached its limit, so he quickly put on a friendly expression, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. Su has packed everything. Let's go back to the Far East Branch together."
"That's better, otherwise I would have beaten you up today. Hey, are you going back to the Far East Branch too?"
"I received a troublesome mission, and I have some things to research, so I might as well stay for a few more days."
Kevin was overjoyed and quickly picked up the gift and helped Ryan carry two bags: "That's great, I can't see Mei now."
"Now that you have lost your woman, you think of your brothers, right?"
"No way, I've always cared about you, just like your junior sister."
Ryan's expression froze for a moment, and then he realized that Kevin was talking nonsense.
"You kid cheated me, didn't you?"
"Haha, I guessed it right. There really is something wrong."
"Don't talk nonsense. When I met Hua, she had just graduated from elementary school." Ryan said casually. He didn't want to talk about his travels before because Mei was too smart and it would be easy for her to be exposed, but it doesn't matter now.
"I was studying martial arts in Shenzhou at the time, and her family was a martial arts family, so I visited her and we gradually became familiar with each other."
"and then?"
Kevin took a sip of water and listened carefully. If it were in the past, he would definitely doubt why a teenager would learn fighting skills everywhere, but now he understood.
Ryan worked harder than him and started fighting earlier.
"She was honest but unlucky, and she ran into some troubles, so I helped her sort them out. Then, every once in a while over the years, I would go back to Shenzhou to see her."
Looking at the cold man, Kevin swallowed his saliva, as if he smelled blood. That incident must be a big deal for a normal person.
He found that he was too stupid before. For example, Mei had said that Ryan was not simple, but he had never taken it seriously. Only now did he realize that this guy had been preparing for this day for many years.
After staring at each other in silence for a moment, Kevin suddenly punched Ryan in the chest: "I used to think you were quite serious, but I didn't expect you would not let go of even elementary school students."
Shit, I thought you were going to break up with me.
Ryan almost couldn't hold it in and raised his fist as well: "You're looking for a fight, aren't you?"