Feeling the God of Knowledge establish a connection with him, He Ao waited for a moment.
There was no response.
Judging by the aggro he had drawn during the novice mission, the God of Knowledge should have flown into a rage the moment it sensed his presence. But now, it seemed the God of Knowledge could not recognize that he was Yezuola, the one who had betrayed and lured its offspring to its death.
As He Ao fell silent, a realization surfaced in his mind. It contained some simple knowledge and told him that he could pray to this Great God, but he had to offer a corresponding sacrifice.
Pray?
He Ao had never considered that.
He sensed the connection between himself and the God of Knowledge and sent his prayer through it.
'Yezuola asked me to tell you that your "super-memory" is very useful.'
The instant that prayer was sent, vast divine might exploded beside He Ao's ears like thunder.
Endless twisted, frenzied spiritual power and knowledge poured into He Ao's mind like floodwaters through opened gates. Gray-white radiance descended from the heavens, indiscriminately destroying everything within the Heptagram Array.
This was the wrath of a god.
Mu Xiu hurriedly threw He Ao away, trying to escape, but was engulfed by the surging radiance that followed in an instant.
The roar of an engine drew nearer. A black motorcycle crashed through a half-collapsed wall and stopped before the area.
The Homeless Men nearby had long since been driven away by He Ao. Selina was the first to arrive at these ruins.
She leaped off the motorcycle and rushed to the very center of the wreckage.
The first thing she saw was a corroded, hole-riddled corpse. It was enormous and fiery red, and its former powerful build was still vaguely visible. One of its eyes had gone blind, while the other was stretched wide open.
Some of the corpse's muscles still twitched, but the massive body had already lost its soul.
A small, thin figure stood before the corpse's enormous head. He reached out and closed its wide-open eye.
Then he struggled to walk aside and picked up the silver Gauss Pistol from the ground.
"Ander?"
Selina called out tentatively.
The figure paused, then slowly turned around. His body had also been corroded full of holes, exposing pale bones and writhing internal organs. Those organs seemed to have minds of their own, desperately trying to escape from his body.
Aside from the corrosive light, the Divine Punishment from the God of Knowledge was even more devastating in its mental contamination and impact.
Mu Xiu's soul had been erased in the first wave of impact. He Ao had some resistance to those attacks and managed to endure them.
But Ander's body could not withstand the ensuing contamination. If it continued, this body would turn into a twisted monster.
He Ao looked at Selina and slowly raised the Gauss Gun to his own head.
Most of his cheeks remained intact, but they had become somewhat grotesque. He tried to pull at them, forcing out a smile that was not quite so terrifying.
"Sorry."
Bang--
He saved the last bullet for himself.
Task completed
Returning to original world
Task evaluation in progress...
"I'll give you a fried chicken leg, so don't cry, okay?"
The little boy held out a golden-brown fried chicken leg to the blonde woman and spoke helplessly.
"I'm not crying. My eyes are just a little dry," Selina said, wiping her eyes with a tissue and taking the chicken leg. "Maybe there's something wrong with my prosthetic body's fluid regulation."
"Oh." The little boy sat back down in confusion. He did not really understand such technical terms. He looked around. "Where's your boyfriend? Why didn't he come back with you?"
"He's not my boyfriend." Selina paused, shook her head, and looked out the window. "We're just colleagues. He went on a business trip to another city."
"Oh, he died." The little boy paused, picked up a piece of fried chicken, and said, "It's normal when you can't call an ambulance."
Then he hesitated before placing the chicken leg in front of Selina. "Eat. Eat more. Once you're full, you won't feel so bad."
Selina blankly watched the little boy, who had quickly guessed the outcome and calmly accepted it. Looking at the chicken leg he had placed before her, she did not know what to say.
Just then, a communication request came through.
Smith's bald forehead appeared in Selina's view. "The Dancer has been caught. I need to guard her until the trial is over, so there probably won't be much going on these next few days. I'll give you a few days off to rest."
Selina said nothing and fell silent.
"I know about Ander," Smith said after a moment of silence. "He was a good kid. A hero."
Selina remained silent and did not respond. The call fell into brief silence.
"I'll apply to have him buried in Dumeier National Cemetery," Smith said, breaking the silence. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation will pay compensation for him. Does he have any immediate family or heirs still alive?"
Selina instinctively looked at the little boy in front of her, who was eating his chicken leg.
But after thinking about it, she felt it was unlikely. The little boy had not been adopted by He Ao, and a stray child might not even have social security. There was no way to name him in a will, either.
"Hm?" The little boy looked back at Selina, then took out a wristband and handed it to her. "He left this for you. He said to give it to you."
"For me?"
Selina froze for a moment, then took the wristband from the boy's hand in confusion.
The wristband had no password. After opening it, Selina found a conspicuous file on the home page.
[By the time you see this file, I should already be gone. Sorry for leaving you with such a mess. You don't need to blame yourself. This was all my own choice.
I probably don't have much of an estate. I don't know whether the Federation will pay me compensation, but if it does, please leave part of it for this child as his college expenses. That's payment for saving my life.
You can also donate part of it to the Dawn Stray Children Relief Society. I may need to trouble you to look into the society for me. From what they do, I feel they seem fairly responsible, but if your investigation proves my intuition wrong, then there is no need to donate to them.
I don't know how much money there will be in the end, so I'll have to trouble you to distribute it as appropriate. Whatever remains will be payment for your hard work.
May everything go smoothly for you, and may you find better colleagues.
--Ander]
At the bottom of the file was a link. Selina tapped it and found a will notarization app containing only one will whose fees had already been paid and which had been notarized.
At the bottom, in the estate heir field, it read:
Estate heir: Selina Julia
Social security number: 037-35-4468
"Ander..."
Selina clutched the wristband and looked out the window. Flashing neon lights reflected in her eyes.
There were always people in this world who streaked across the sky like meteors—dazzling and brilliant, yet gone in an instant.
Leaving only a little melancholy and a little regret for those who had seen them.
Before you continue