Tombstone

Kang De was running.

He was just running.

Carrying Cleveland on his back.

They rushed out of Glittering Sand Town and kept running.

He didn't speak, he just ran; he didn't know what to say.

It wasn't so much running as fleeing.

They weren't fleeing from Glittering Sand's pursuers.

Rather, it's an escape from a fact.

"Kang De..."

The person on his back said weakly, "Put me down, it's safe enough now."

Kang De ignored him and continued on his way.

Cleveland paused for a moment, then said softly, "If you don't put me down now, it will be too late."

These words were like slamming on the brakes, bringing Kang De to a halt. He found a sheltered spot, put the rider down, and muttered, "What nonsense are you spouting? Didn't I spray you with medicine and bandage you? Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'll find a car and some medicine; a few minutes will be enough..."

Cleveland pulled him back, saying calmly, "No need..."

"Shut the fuck up!" Kang De glared. "What do you know? I have a way, and I have a way! I have plenty of ways! Stop talking nonsense and wait here, I..."

The knight sighed, "Kang De, listen to me..."

Kang De retorted firmly, "Dream on! I will never believe you otherworldly beings again! Not a single word of your nonsense is true! I am always right!"

"Kang De! Listen to me!"

The knight roared, silencing the incessant chatter of Kang De. Then, he extended his gauntlet, pressed it against Kang De's shoulder, and whispered, "Listen to me... I beg you..."

Kang De gradually calmed down.

He gazed at Cleveland, his lips pursed, his eyes red.

Cleveland took a deep breath. "I have a question for you. You killed Glen in a way I can't understand, and then you used his Dou Qi arts techniques. Can I interpret this as you somehow stripping him of his power?"

Kang De recalled that earlier scene, and the deep pain that had pierced his heart still lingered.

He nodded slowly.

The knight then asked, "Is the power obtained from the Holy Seal Archipelago?"

Kang De nodded.

He now finally understood why the animals had laughed so wildly when he demonstrated Extraction Enchantment.

So this is what they believe to be the most correct way to use this power.

Cleveland said, "Then I need your help with something."

Kang De looked at him.

The knight stretched out his hand, and a dazzling aura of Dou Qi shone forth.

"Kang De, take my Dou Qi."

He said.

Kang De, his eyes red, hissed, "You fucking dreamer! Wait here, I'm going to get the medicine!"

The knight grabbed him and calmly said, "Kang De, I was already seriously injured when I forcefully blocked Lost's sword strike. Later, in order to repel Glen, I forcibly unleashed my Dou Qi. Compared to these two injuries, the later sword strike only triggered all the hidden dangers and consequences, and had nothing to do with the injuries themselves... Do you understand? I know my body's condition best..."

He said calmly, "I'm going to die."

Kang De shouted, "Bullshit! Bullshit!"

Cleveland ignored his words, staring directly into his eyes, and said, "Take my Dou Qi, take my sword, and protect Her Highness in my place, okay? I beg you... No, you must do it. Remember, I saved you, I saved you with my life, so you owe me. You must live well, because you must live for me. You can't act recklessly, you can't live aimlessly, you can't give up on yourself. You must think this way, promise me!"

These few words seemed to have taken a lot of his energy.

The knight whispered, "Promise me... you must promise me."

"Also, I'm sorry."

"You've seen this kind of humanity, you've seen this kind of world."

"But actually, this world is neither as good nor as bad..."

He murmured, "Don't lose faith, and don't let your guard down. Don't blindly trust Goth because of us, and don't hate the Empire because of them. In truth, we are all the same; there are good people and bad people..."

He slowly reached out his hand.

The light of Dou Qi flickered faintly.

"Take my strength, my mission, my life, and I entrust them all to you."

The knight looked at him, his eyes filled with an unprecedented weakness and pleading.

"Hurry, it's too late..." he said, "Please let me leave something behind in this world."

Kang De grasped his hand, his fingers trembling.

The knight asked, "What should I do?"

Kang De gritted his teeth, his mental energy spreading out and enveloping everything.

Extraction.

He was prepared to endure the pain, and to watch Cleveland suffer, but for some reason, the Extraction went very smoothly this time.

He held the knight's hand, feeling the Dou Qi and will flowing into his body. He seemed to see the knight's life memories: every practice, every effort, every setback, every struggle. He looked up at the sun, envying its light that cleansed the darkness, shining brightly and illuminating the world. So he awakened this Dou Qi, which contained protection, holiness, and a strong will.

The knight smiled. "I thought it would be very painful, but I feel very at peace, as if life is being extended, as if I am doing the most sacred and important thing in my life. It's a strange feeling..."

Kang De stared into his eyes.

He saw Cleveland's figure slowly blurring.

"Kang De!"

The knight seemed to realize something and said urgently, "Don't seek revenge against the Good Family! They are very powerful and have powerful figures backing them. You can't defeat them; you will definitely die!"

After saying this, he gave Kang De a calm smile.

"Will saying this help you in some way?"

Kang De stared at him, unable to utter a single word.

The knight glanced at him, then looked up at the sky, at the stars. His expression was calm and gentle; even the face of death did not frighten him.

But in the end, he was afraid.

Kang De saw a fleeting look of fear and confusion on the knight's face.

"Kang De, am I going to die...?"

A tear slid down his cheek.

"... Mother."

Then, the knight transformed into scattered specks of light, drifting into the sky, until he was very, very high.

In the valleys of the Holy Seal Archipelago, animals gathered together, gazing idly at the sky.

They saw starlight falling on the ground.

The entire Holy Seal Archipelago was visible.

The animals sealed inside raised their heads.

A look of human realization and sadness flashed in their eyes.

Then he let out a long howl.

Countless powerful auras soared into the sky, crashing against the seal of the heavens. The forms of these animals began to change slightly, and continued to change.

They understood one thing.

The last shackle has disappeared.

Because of the new Fire Thief, a sacred yet sorrowful new cycle has begun...

Though they were animals, tears welled in their eyes, for them, for an old friend, and for the inheritor who bore the weight of sorrow...

What they didn't know was that the successor had already gone to another world.

Earth.

Kang De descended the stairs.

He stood in front of that stone wall.

The facade facing the main entrance of the residential complex originally bore the inscription of a famous poem by a Song Dynasty poet.

It is now covered by a thick canvas, with many tools placed beside it.

Kang De did something here a few months ago.

At this moment, he stood silently facing the stone wall.

Holding the knight's sword in his right hand and the diary between his left, which contained his daily observations and experiences over the past three hundred days, all his memories, and his longing for his loved ones.

He said calmly, "Look, this is my home, another planet, another world."

"I am not from Cathayan, I am China. We have a history of thousands of years, and we have been at war the whole time, with only occasional periods of development. It is only in the last one or two hundred years that our Civilization has made rapid progress, until now."

"I'm trapped here."

"The surrounding area was shrouded in White Mist, the first sign of the Veil Invasion from the Crimson Scroll."

It's been a year.

There is no way to contact the outside world.

"I've remained optimistic and persevered because my country is strong, and I believe we can break through this White Mist. I think one day I'll be able to get out and reunite with my family."

"That's how I see it, so I try my best to live each day, to live well."

"But it's been a year."

Sometimes, I think...

Kang De lowered his head and laughed, "I'm wondering, are there really people outside this neighborhood? Does Earth's Civilization still exist? I dare not think about it too much, dare not think about what the all-encompassing White Mist, the inability of any plane to fly in, really means. I can only pretend I don't know, but I can't fool myself."

He laughed and laughed.

"I sometimes think about it too..."

"Was it because I passed through when the White Mist descended that I escaped this calamity?"

"Or was it my... transmigration that caused the appearance of the White Mist?"

"Especially after seeing the Crimson Scroll..."

He laughed and laughed.

"I've almost given up. I had a premonition that this was going to happen. Only false comfort was keeping me going. The longer it went on, the less I could bear it. I wanted to find something new to do."

"And then you came."

"Time travel, going to another world to start a new life—that's how it is in novels, there's nothing wrong with it, that's what I think too. The so-called going to the mainland to learn about the Veil Invasion and find a way to break the White Mist is just me comforting myself. Besides doing that, I have other plans."

"I plan to live well in this other world, find some fun, find something to rely on, so that later, when I break through the White Mist and find human Civilization destroyed, I won't collapse on the spot—if I have my own life and something to rely on in this other world before that happens, it will probably be much better, that's what I think."

"A beautiful and wonderful new world, life in another world, conquering the world, and having beauties on both sides—that's the plan."

"But... how did it turn out like this?"

Kang De laughed, his whole body trembling. "Damn it, how could something like this happen? How could you all lie to me? How could a perfectly healthy person just die like that? Really, really, I was planning to live a good life in this other world. I had many plans. I wanted to export the best things from our Civilization to you. I wanted to do some things, to make some small contributions while ensuring my own comfortable life..."

"When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven. This is our philosophy."

"I thought so..."

"But I was wrong."

He whispered, "I know nothing, I can't do anything, I can't protect you, I can't see through their schemes, and I've suffered such a great loss. Now I understand that I'm just an ordinary person, without such great abilities, nor should I have such lofty ambitions... I know I was wrong. From now on, I won't think so far ahead, I won't be so ambitious, I'll only do what I want to do."

He held up the diary in his hand.

It records his spiritual sustenance, and his false sustenance, during those three hundred-plus days and nights.

"From today onwards, I will no longer lie to myself."

He said softly, "I don't need this anymore."

Kang De ignited this diary.

The spreading Flame completely consumed the papers.

He released his grip, letting the ashes fall.

Then he grabbed onto the canvas on the stone wall in front of him.

-- Lift it up forcefully.

The outline of the stone wall was revealed.

That Song Dynasty poem has been razed to the ground.

New lines of text were newly engraved on it.

It includes Chinese, English, French, and all the major modern languages used by humans, which can be found in translators and bilingual books.

These are the words Kang De inscribed on it.

"The beings who deciphered this text, perhaps you are visitors from outer space, perhaps you are intelligent beings of the next generation. What you see is the tombstone of a Civilization and its last survivor. The last human being on Earth inscribed these words to bid farewell to the entire universe. Our world was once as vibrant as a flower, but it vanished in an instant. I, Kang De, a China, am a survivor who escaped this catastrophe by chance. In the hopeless waiting and loneliness, I, along with my Civilization, gaze at the starry sky and sleep forever."

The so-called mysterious attack on the neighborhood, the global attention it has attracted, the national effort to rescue him, and the anxious hopes of his family—all of these are ultimately just idealistic scenarios. He has no way of contacting the outside world, and he has no idea what is happening on Earth outside his neighborhood.

What might happen is the worst-case scenario.

On that day, White Mist descended, and a mysterious force swept across the globe, causing all living things to vanish without a trace. Earth may have become a new home for alien invaders, or it may have become a lifeless planet.

Perhaps he is the last human being on Earth.

Stones weather, steel rusts, and he swindles the gold he finds in jewelry stores and banks to infuse these words... even though he doesn't know what the point of doing this is.

That's all we can do.

He stroked the lines of text on the tombstone.

"Sorry..."

He said this, and then laughed.

"I originally thought that after being transported to another world, I could do something, but now I realize that I can't do anything. My abilities are too limited; I can only solve my own problems."

"... My shoulders are too small to bear the weight of a Civilization."

"This is all I can do, I'm sorry."

"Now, I need to go do my own thing."

He gazed intently at the tombstone he had carved himself.

Then he planted the sword in front of the tombstone.

"If I never return, you will lie here in my place and guard this tombstone."

He raised his head and looked at this small patch of land.

"Bye now."

Then he turned around and walked towards the main gate of the residential area.

This is his home, the place where he lives.

Tall buildings, lush green grass and trees, and a blue sky.

Abundant resources, advanced technology, and stable life are all achievements of the high development of human Civilization. People are well-fed, medical care is advanced, transportation is convenient, and entertainment is diverse. Everything presents a prosperous and thriving trend. The country is strong, society is developing, and everything is getting better.

Such prosperity and stability create a false sense of security for the people living within it.

This made them forget something.

It makes them forget what humanity on this planet is truly good at, the one who created this wonderful, stable, prosperous, and peaceful environment.

It was actually destruction, war, slaughter, and devastation.

Kang De walked through this steel jungle.

His gaze was cold, like the history forged in blood and fire, the world forged in steel.

He wants to do what he wants to do.

--You will all die.

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PS1: This is the third update, and it will be available for purchase soon. There will be a launch message shortly.

PS2: The death of the knight was decided half a year ago when the outline was finalized. I hesitated before making the decision, but this is the story I want to write. If I hesitated here, it would be an insult to all the pressure, distress, criticism and anger I have endured for choosing this difficult subject. So I made this decision... This is one of the most important events in Kang De's life.

PS3: Of course, I also left a little loose end. For creators, a little trick is understandable, especially since there will be another chance to evoke tears in the future.