Shadow of the White Moon

The elevator is ascending.

Bai Ying, wrapped in a silver functional jacket, had one hand in her loose pocket and the other clutching a photograph.

Her crimson eyes were fixed on the digital display on the wall, watching the floor numbers steadily climb.

It was late at night. Except for those on duty, most members of Xuanse Cangqiong were already asleep.

So, Bai Ying was alone in the spacious elevator.

This was her fourth month at Xuanse Cangqiong. To this day, she could count the people she had spoken to on one hand.

She ate alone, trained alone, completed all her tasks methodically alone, and then returned to her room, alone.

Bai Ying dreamt every night. She dreamt of her mother, her father, and her childhood friends.

Back then, there were no mechs or monsters. Although her father, a soldier, was very busy, Bai Ying was still proud of him.

"My dad's a soldier! No matter what danger we face, he'll protect us!"

Whenever Bai Ying proudly introduced her father to her teachers, classmates, and friends, she would receive envious glances.

Even though her father had never been present for her birthday, Bai Ying wouldn't blame him for her slight disappointment.

Steadfastness and determination were her family's motto. Bai Ying believed that as long as she could achieve these two qualities, she could become as outstanding as her father!

When Bai Ying was nine years old, her family of three was finally reunited on her birthday. Bai Ying had never felt so happy.

But the very next day, the Apocalypse arrived. Monsters that emerged from the sea attacked the nation of Haine across the ocean.

From then on, Bai Ying never spoke to her father again.

It wasn't until humanity built the first mech, Xingtian, that Bai Ying saw on television that her father had become the first pilot.

At that time, Bai Ying still regarded her father as her role model.

When Bai Ying was twelve, the monster Green Rat attacked the city where she and her mother lived.

That night, Bai Ying watched with her own eyes as her mother, in order to protect her, was crushed beneath the collapsing debris.

She didn't know how many times she had called out her father's name, but even as the entire city was leveled, she never saw Xingtian's figure.

Bai Ying hated him so much then. She hated his words, his actions, and the mech he piloted!

Ding!

"The elevator has arrived at the sixtieth floor."

Bai Ying awoke from her memories. Clutching the photo of her and her mother, she silently stepped out of the elevator and onto the top floor of Xuanse Cangqiong's observation tower.

The bright moon hung in the silent night sky, and brilliant stars twinkled in the cloudless firmament. The distant Zhenhai City was like a warm candle flame, quietly burning behind Xuanse Cangqiong.

But Bai Ying hadn't expected that someone had already arrived before her in the night wind.

Hearing the sound, General Chen turned his head and saw Bai Ying's face, etched with complex emotions.

They stood in their respective places, staring at each other.

Bai Ying noticed that General Chen was also holding a photograph—it was the family photo of the three of them on her ninth birthday.

"You..."

"No!" Bai Ying's body trembled violently. She interrupted General Chen immediately. "No, I don't want to hear you speak."

Seven years ago today was the day Bai Ying's mother left this world.

General Chen slowly closed his slightly parted lips, choosing to swallow his words.

Seeing that General Chen remained silent, Bai Ying forcefully wiped her eyes and turned away, walking to the other side of the rooftop.

The cold night wind blew through Bai Ying's loose jacket, burying the young girl's face once more beneath her white hair—Bai Ying felt that the nights at Xuanse Cangqiong were exceptionally cold for the first time.

She couldn't accept that such a person stood behind her!

Two cities attacked by monsters, one mech spread too thin, one cold-blooded, ruthless order, one eternally loyal soldier.

He had personally saved one city from disaster, and then personally pushed another city into hell!

Orders, irrefutable orders.

Obedience, absolute loyal obedience.

He was still the great soldier in Bai Ying's memory, or rather, Bai Ying should have known how he would choose.

But what Bai Ying needed wasn't a soldier, but a father who kept his word, a father who could truly protect her and her mother!

So Bai Ying poured all her resentment onto him, onto Xingtian, and even onto herself!

The desire to destroy constantly swirled in her mind. She wanted to take revenge on this high and mighty general, on that broken-down mech, on her powerless self!

Ironically, she had failed.

Under the setting sun, that old mech fulfilled the promise General Chen had never kept. It pulled her out of the cockpit and charged alone towards the aggregate beast.

In a daze, she seemed to find a weakness buried deep within her heart in Xingtian. It was the self who, beside the ruins, had cried inconsolably while clinging to her mother's arm.

"No matter what danger we face, he'll protect us."

Bai Ying murmured in the wind, warm tears streaming down her cheeks, dripping onto the photograph in her hand.

"I'm sorry." General Chen had appeared behind Bai Ying at some point.

He had tried to reach out and touch her shoulder several times, but in the end, he chose to let her cry alone.

What could Bai Ying say?

She didn't know when her father had summoned her after seven years.

She didn't know when she first piloted Xing Tian synchronously.

She didn't know when she heard the order to retreat.

Now, facing her father's apology, she still didn't know.

On countless sleepless nights, Bai Ying's thoughts would return to that night seven years ago, pondering what choice she would have made if she were in her father's position.

This question would never have an answer, because she was not that man.

She only knew that if she were the one in the Xing Tian cockpit, she would have rushed to the collapsing building without hesitation to save her mother.

This small home was her everything!

"If you could go back to that night seven years ago, would you save me and Mom?" Bai Ying asked, lowering her head, biting her lip, her voice trembling.

General Chen's weathered eyes seemed to reflect all the lights of Zhenhai City, his hand clutching the photograph turning pale.

He opened his mouth slightly, only to find himself unable to utter a word.

In the end, all Bai Ying heard was a sigh.

"You don't need to answer me." Bai Ying took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand, and looked up at the night sky.

The bright moonlight illuminated them both, with Bai Ying enveloped in General Chen's tall shadow.

Suddenly, Bai Ying put the photograph back into the pocket of her jacket and slowly walked out from under General Chen's shadow. She pressed the elevator button, preparing to leave the rooftop.

"I hated you, Father."