Interlude: The Nameless XXX

Foreword:

His hope and confidence had never faded. Now they were as fresh as the first gentle breeze.

--Ernest Miller Hemingway

December 31, 1982--

--Shinto City ·Kyoto.

The long coastline is covered with red sand, and the dark waves rise and fall. The seaside streets Dragonman.

A new year is about to begin a new chapter, and everything is wonderful for everyone in this city.

Young students rode their bicycles at breakneck speed down the low hill of Nishino Ichigocho, rushing towards the light rail line to the Galahad Magic Academy.

The Fujimoto family, from North Chuan County, crossed the ocean and traveled more than 600 kilometers of mountain and water roads to open a small restaurant by the sea in Capital City. In front of the restaurant was a temporary warehouse of the Fēngfēng Battle Group. Soldiers responsible for maintaining local security often gathered here. Like the owner, they came from the far north and were strong warriors forged by the north wind.

Next to the Little Earth God's shrine in front of the gate, there is a cat god's shrine with flowers in full bloom. It was originally used to worship Ming De, but the dark god did not want to live in this luxurious little shrine and did not want people to worship. So it became the only vacant property in Fujimoto Eiji's family. Until one day, a stray cat came to take shelter from the rain. The condensate from the industrial park fell from the sky and also brought this little cutie.

It lay beside the terracotta statue of Ming De, and every morning when it opened its eyes, it shook off the dust on its body, cleaning away the mud and grime brought by passing vehicles. In its bright yellow, amber-like eyes, two intimate figures were reflected.

That was Fen Feng and Xiao Tao--

They sat side by side on a bench along the seaside road, draped in their combat-grade waterproof plastic sheeting, always fully armed and never slacking off, seemingly forever young and full of vigor.

Even this little cat knows that good days have arrived in the Capital City. It can run to the market to catch fish gills and scraps without worry, and it can play in the streets and alleys like other ordinary children. It no longer has to worry about cultists or Human Meat Factory.

It listened to the sound of the waves, as if the dome and the earth were urging it to return to its dream.

Along the coast, a large green belt has grown that can thrive without sunlight. The ever-terrifying yet ever-friendly crystal orchid has a very peculiar flower shape, resembling a stiff corpse. Lacking chlorophyll, it lives in symbiosis with fungi. In this dark and damp human society, it grows vigorously, is non-toxic and harmless, and can even be used as a precious medicinal herb.

The men and women on the beach benches were standing very close together. The division commander of the Fen Feng Army and his comrade-in-arms had their arms around each other's shoulders and their heads were touching. No passersby needed to point it out—even this little cat knew that they were a match made in heaven.

Xiao Tao's face was full of curiosity as she looked at the novelties her comrades had brought from the Nine Realms Platform.

She had captivating eyes and a breathtaking smile, but her two buck teeth were uncorrected, and her upper lip protruded slightly, unlike the beauty she possessed in the Extreme Bliss Space of the Shinto City.

She has a large frame and broad shoulders, more like the figure of a European or American woman, and is 179 centimeters tall. Her short hair is neat and tidy, trimmed at the sideburns, and will not obstruct her vision.

"What is this? Fen Feng?" She pointed to the thin white thread on her shoulder and a small in-ear earphone.

Sitting next to her was the leader of the Fēngfēng Battle Group. He had integrated sixteen large and small squad battle groups, and his name was known to everyone in the Shinto City. But now that the war was over, he had abandoned his real name and was going to start a new life under the name of the division.

"Walkman! It's a Walkman!" Fen Feng enthusiastically introduced the new gadget he had acquired from the Nine Realms Station to Xiao Tao. In 1982, the Walkman was the trendiest luxury item, a combination of technology and humanism.

His eyebrows and eyes were clear and sharp, and there was a deep scar on the bridge of his nose. His half-finger glove only revealed the knuckles, and many wounds could be seen. Some had completely healed, leaving marks that looked like vitiligo, while others were not completely healed and were pitted and uneven.

He held a cassette tape and shared his headphones with Xiao Tao, wanting his lover to hear sounds from the other side of the world.

He was elated, shouting out broken English words in Japanese.

U2! You Too! Ireland's new band!

He picked up the Walkman with one hand and busied himself stuffing cassette tapes with the other. Just as he was about to pull his arm away from his lover's neck, Xiao Tao immediately grabbed it tightly.

Xiao Tao said with a smile, "No, you can't!"

Fen Feng said pitifully, "I can't do something like stuffing a cassette tape in with one hand!"

Xiao Tao stared curiously at the bright red casing, saw the circuit wires inside the plastic panels, reached out and took the cassette tape from Fen Feng Boy's lap, looked at the cover page again and again, and finally asked curiously.

"Was it put in here? Inside this box?"

Fen Feng immediately said, "That's right! Just insert it and press this button, and the headphones will play music!"

"Such a small box?" Xiao Tao asked in surprise. "Like a phonograph or radio station? Like a cassette tape inserted into a microphone? And it plays sound right away?"

Fen Feng said smugly, "How about that! Pretty impressive, huh!"

"That's really impressive!" Xiao Tao's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "But it's Sony Corporation that's impressive, not you! Fen Feng! I wasn't praising you! What are you so smug about!"

Fen Feng pursed his lips, looking unconvinced.

Xiao Tao carefully and slowly inserted the cassette tape into the WALKMAN, afraid of breaking this novel gadget.

Fen Feng pressed play, the song emanating from the headphones instantly captivated their souls.

Xiao Tao only listened for about ten seconds before immediately asking Fen Feng.

"Punk?"

Fen Feng immediately denied it. "It's Rock!"

Xiao Tao: "Such gentle rock, such simple rock!"

Fen Feng: "Rock should be simple!"

Xiao Tao: "I don't understand what you're saying. All I know is that rock music has pianos, keyboards, and guitars that are so expensive I can't even understand them."

Fen Feng: "That's only because the band has money that they buy these unnecessary things."

Xiao Tao: "Are they redundant?"

Fen Feng: "Yes! It's completely superfluous!"

Xiao Tao: "But I think it's great. At least the pop elements have become more elegant, like poetry."

Fen Feng immediately fell silent, as if he were sulking. After the second chorus, he patiently stopped being stubborn with his lover.

"You don't like rock?"

Xiao Tao: "No. I just don't like noise."

Fen Feng: "That's why I went through so much trouble to get this cassette tape!"

Xiao Tao hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Mmm."

Fen Feng: "Peach! I think music is a very important thing!"

Xiao Tao nodded vigorously. "Yes!"

Fen Feng: "If one day we encounter aliens and can't understand their language or writing, we'll definitely communicate through music!"

Xiao Tao: "What a romantic way to put it."

Fen Feng grinned, revealing two rows of bright white teeth, and winked at Xiao Tao: "Music contains mathematics, language, and countless emotions; it is the best gift that heaven has given to humankind!"

Xiao Tao: "U2U2"

Fen Feng: "These guys are just like us! About the same age!"

Xiao Tao: "Does this name have any meaning? I don't understand it."

Fen Feng pointed at his lover's nose. "U2! You too! Come on over!"

Xiao Tao asked in confusion, "But how did I come with them? How did I come with them?"

Fen Feng explained enthusiastically, "When these guys formed their band, they were all dabblers! They were all newbies! But even the sheet music written by the world's greatest guitar masters can produce pretty good results if you can find three newbies to play it together!"

Xiao Tao's cheek pressed against Fen Feng's fingertips, and she felt a warm sea breeze blowing from her throat.

"Hey-hey."

Fen Feng continued, "Then we're the same! As long as we can find like-minded partners, we can definitely find a solution to any problem, no matter how difficult! Pretty much the same, right?"

Xiao Tao nodded gently, her face turning bright red this time.

--Because this young man never grew old, whether he was in the warband or the division.

The story of the war era is coming to an end, yet he still appears energetic and always so powerful.

"So I was thinking," Fen Feng tapped the cassette case lightly with the back of his finger, "That the young brothers from Ireland must feel that we listeners are just like them—as long as we put on our headphones, we're always together! We're listening to voices from afar, we're communicating and talking all the time, transcending time and space, experiencing the same music! Experiencing the same feelings!"

Xiao Tao: "It sounds like a ghost."

"How can you say that!" Fen Feng's mouth dropped open, both frustrated and delighted. "Tao! The moment the phonograph appeared, it could record the voices of the dead. Some people even call the phonograph a coffin, saying it can preserve the voices of ghosts! But I think that's a very impolite term!"

Xiao Tao pouted and teased, "You really like to trap yourself in these strange words, getting stuck on trivial details."

"That's exactly who I am! You're right!" Fen Feng didn't care about his lover's teasing. He casually crossed his legs, looking at the tide and the dark ocean. "Otherwise, how could I have even forgotten my own name?!"

Xiao Tao hesitated, then asked, "Haven't you ever thought about continuing to live as the division leader?"

Fen Feng's gaze also darkened, as if he had become a different person.

At this moment, he has gone from being eighteen to thirty-six years old.

"No"

Xiao Tao, following her lover's heart, whispered together, "Can't you still change?"

Fen Feng turned his head and glanced at the seaside streets of the Capital City.

"A leader cannot be a single person; it cannot be."

"The leader can only be Six Heavenly Departments."

"The people who live and thrive here have suffered greatly under human rule, having to fight not only against natural disasters and wild beasts, but also against bandits and local bullies."

"If I can't even provide fairness and justice, I might as well hand over the job of the governor to Artificial Intelligence."

"And also, Xiao Tao."

He cupped his lover's face in his hands, his expression complex.

"The Fifty-One Pillars will be completed next year, and then everyone will have an Electronic ID Card, a Virtual ID. My name will be Fen Feng. What's wrong with that?"

"I only know how to fight. Not only are the enemies afraid of me, but I am also like a raging fire that burns down the grass and Hot Wind that kills crops. Every time I start a large-scale war, I consume countless bags of grain and destroy countless buildings—people are just as afraid of me as my enemies."

"I can't even build a thatched hut; someone like me shouldn't be telling others how to live."

"Even the cats the Fujimoto family adopted hate my spiritual pressure, let alone people who are pursuing happiness? They must both miss me and resent me."

"So why not hide away in anonymity? Nameless warriors have no names either."

"I've heard their legends since I was a child, and I've always regarded them as guiding lights on my path."

"From now on, I am also an anonymous person!"

Xiao Tao: "But..."

"Let's talk about something else!" Fen Feng immediately changed the subject, transforming back into a sunny and cheerful young man.

Xiao Tao: "Then let's talk about something else."

Fen Feng squinted and nodded repeatedly, "Mmm! Mmm!"

Xiao Tao blushed, tilted her head, and leaned towards Fen Feng: "Shouldn't we get married?"

Fen Feng glanced away, looking somewhat guilty, and immediately corrected his posture, tucking his hands between his thighs.

"This."

Xiao Tao pouted, suddenly forgetting all her embarrassment. "You said we'd get married before Fifty-One Pillars are finished."

Fen Feng hurriedly explained, "That's true, but..."

Xiao Tao lost all restraint; all her hopes ultimately turned into resentment.

"Are we going to delay again? Fen Feng! You're lying again?! You told me before that as long as we recaptured the Kanto Coast, then it was Ginza, then the Outside Kanto, and now it's rebuilding the tower and creating a neural network."

Fen Feng spoke evasively, his expression complex. "I just... I just feel we should have a ceremony. How can we make a decision about something that will last a lifetime so easily?"

"The worst!" Xiao Tao pouted, tears welling in her eyes. "The worst! The worst! The worst thing is you! Fen Feng! What ritual? What ritual? You always have to perform a ritual on me."

In a flash, Fen Feng pried open the battery cover of the WALKMAN and took out a ring.

He rolled off the chair and knelt on one knee in front of Xiao Tao. The silver ring and black jade jewelry was his wedding ring.

He played a joke with his lover that was rarely seen in human society, like a prank that had succeeded—a trick by the most straight man in the universe.

"Of course, we need a proposal ceremony."

Xiao Tao paused for a moment while crying, then raised her fist and slammed it hard into Fen Feng's cheek.

As the headphone cord was pulled wildly into the air, the Walkman also floated into the air, and the ring and battery scattered in all directions, which she managed to hold onto tightly with her skillful hands.

She finally came to her senses and cried even harder, as if her heart had been cleaved by a knife and axe. She collapsed onto the crimson sand, resting her head on Fen Feng's arm, looking at the dark dome. In the far distance, the colossal tower was about to become a supporting pillar, wrestling with this cruel world.

"Ouch!" Fen Feng's jaw tilted to one side, his face expressionless as he slowly straightened his mouth. "It hurts so much, it really hurts. Super-super-super-pain!"

Xiao Tao's hands were also busy; she slowly restored the WALKMAN and put the earphones back into her lover's ears.

I don't like it.

Fen Feng: "So I deserved to get beaten up."

Xiao Tao wiped away her tears on the plastic sheeting of the raincoat, then looked up at her lover's face.

"But I accept!"

Fen Feng immediately burst out laughing, "Of course!"

Xiao Tao's eyes were unfocused, and she suddenly began to look forward to the future.

They rarely discuss their personal future; most of the time, they think about what this 378,000 square kilometers of land will become.

At this moment, Xiao Tao and Fen Feng are talking about their married life.

Will it be different?

Fen Feng: "What's different?"

Xiao Tao: "Will things be different after we get married?"

Fen Feng: "Definitely! Otherwise, why would you get married? You care about it so much, you'd even hit me for it."

Xiao Tao: "I suddenly can't figure it out. It seems... it seems like nothing has changed."

Fen Feng: "Of course! From the very beginning, I fought with all my might! I loved you with all my might! I loved you with all my might!"

Xiao Tao: "Then should we have a baby?"

Fen Feng embraced his lover and patted Xiao Tao's forehead, trying to wake her up.

"Where are we going to have children, Momo? Let's not even talk about the artificial bodies modified by the VENOM organization—the radiation from the nuclear power plant alone nearly killed us both. As for having children..."

Xiao Tao: "Adopt one?"

Fen Feng: "Great!"

Xiao Tao: "Boy or girl?"

Fen Feng immediately said, "Of course it's Boy!"

Xiao Tao asked in confusion, "Why?!"

Fen Feng laughed, "Because U2's first album was called <Boy> -- I like it!"

Xiao Tao exclaimed in surprise, "So casual?!"

Fen Feng: "Not only do I need <Boy>, I also need <War>! I'm going to teach this kid how to fight! A second album is also a must!"

"You're just copying other bands' work, aren't you?" Xiao Tao didn't understand and started to argue. "What if one day they name their new album 'Divorce'?"

"Then let's break up! Hahahaha!" Fen Feng laughed loudly, "And then go back to being boyfriend and girlfriend! I'll still love you with all my might!"

Xiao Tao found it utterly incomprehensible. "Are you out of your mind?!"

Fen Feng shouted, "Hold the wedding again!"

Xiao Tao: "Where can you find a wedding this casual!"

Fen Feng flipped over and pressed down on Xiao Tao, supporting his strong body with his hands.

Let's invite our children to the wedding!

"How could they be absent from such an important event?"

"The thing I regret most in my life is not being able to attend my parents' wedding!"

"You're the same, aren't you, Xiao Tao!"

Shihara Momo blinked, finding it truly difficult to comprehend this madman of the Red Stone People.

He was like a fire, a piece of scorching ember, a handful of chili peppers; if sprinkled in the eyes, he would bring tears, but if stuffed into the stomach, he would warm you up, and a few words from him could make you sweat.

She finally took off her headphones and pulled out the cassette tape.

I don't like this.

She didn't understand U2, much less Fen Feng's musical taste, but that was just a small part of life. Just as the world is often uneven, people can only seek common ground while respecting differences.

"I like what the boss gave me."

She pulled another cassette tape from her shoulder bag; it was music by Frank Sinatra.

That's <I Love You Baby>.

That's <Fly Me To The Moon>.

That's Life

That's <Can't We Be Friends?>

Every detail reflects Ming De's playfulness and sincerity, gentleness and romance.

Xiao Tao reserved her most important and favorite things for the person she admired and was most infatuated with.

"I like this, Fen Feng, come listen to this -- <My Way>."

"My methods, my path, my aspirations, my way of life, my style of doing things, my long journey through life."

"My Way."

Further and further away.

Colonel Tom and Isoragi Meiku, one fat and one thin, one tall and one short, two elders, watched this scene quietly.

The tall Tom, the elder brother of Fen Feng, whose physique of over three meters was a symbol of the descendants of giants, was holding a small handkerchief and wiping away tears. He sat next to his old comrade-in-arms, Mr. Mingkong, like a little wife, pointing at Fen Feng and Xiao Tao and sobbing.

Isoragi Meiku looked at Tom with disdain. He was short and thin, and gently patted Tom's face, telling the idiot to be strong. It was just young people finally finding happiness; there was nothing to cry about. After a few words of comfort—

--Mingkong also started sounding the air raid siren. The energy bursting from that small body was stronger than that of a giant, which frightened the cat sleeping next to the small earth god temple so much that it stood up straight on its hind legs like a bow.

Xiao Tao held the WALKMAN close to her heart, cupped Fen Feng's cheeks, and looked up at the boy who never grew up.

Fen Feng still supported himself, his broad shoulders like a large umbrella. He could support himself with just one finger, but he dared not reach out to touch his lover beneath him, for fear that if he relaxed, he would fall into the sand pit.

When the music started, they did nothing.

--Just watching, without moving an inch.

Until the New Year's Eve fireworks bloomed into ten thousand flowers in the sky.

It has always been this way; a moment has become eternity.