Good Morning

On a small path leading up to the mid-level plaza, Jinx shielded Isha with one arm while holding a flare gun in the other. Seeing that the old-fashioned flare gun stopped emitting smoke shortly after it started, Jinx shook it hard.

"Puff puff--"

Two streams of smoke spurted out. Jinx frowned and, somewhat angrily, flung the flare gun away.

"And here I thought I'd cherished this thing for so many years!"

"It's just a piece of junk!"

Isha looked up at the huffing Jinx, then shrunk her head back. Next, she looked at the group of people blocking their path ahead.

They held weapons, and two of them were tall, wearing giant hoods with pipes running from the outside into their helmets, through which purple liquid flowed. Their terrifying purple eyes were fixed on Jinx and Isha.

Isha felt scared, but Jinx shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey, what's up? Wanna take me back?"

She raised the arm shielding Isha, brought her hands together in front of her, wrists up, rolled her eyes, and said with an expressive face, "Try me?"

Someone in the crowd swallowed hard. Seeing Jinx step forward, they instinctively took a step back.

Only those who served him knew how terrifying this seemingly crazy, weak, and cute woman truly was.

"Don't scare them, Jinx. This is my doing."

As a voice spoke, followed by the sound of leather shoes on the ground, the group surrounding Jinx and Isha parted, clearing a path.

He wore a red and black trench coat over a vest, his hair meticulously combed back. The man wasn't tall and was rather thin, but his back was ramrod straight. He walked out from the crowd, Sevika following behind him.

Silco stood at the very front of the crowd, looking at Jinx. His gaze was calm, but when he saw Isha beside Jinx, Silco visibly froze for a second or two. Then, he raised his gaze from Isha and met Jinx's eyes.

"Come back with me, Jinx. You've played enough. This is the first time you've been away from me for so long," Silco said in a deep voice.

Jinx saw Silco and retracted her hands. Her imposing aura seemed to weaken slightly, but she still thrust her neck forward and said, "Go back? Dream on! You lied to me, you know? You lied to me!"

"I didn't lie to you," Silco shook his head. "I would never lie to you, Jinx."

"Marcus lied to us. I'll make him pay."

"Us?" Jinx scoffed. "Who's 'us'?"

The words were familiar. Silco had once said the same thing to Sevika in front of Jinx.

And now, Jinx was using those words against him.

But Silco didn't get angry. Instead, he reached up to his forehead, sighed, and then raised his hand, saying softly, "Your rebellious phase seems to have come a bit late, but I understand. Alright, go. Don't hurt her. Bring her back. Remember, don't hurt her."

Silco's voice rose on the last sentence.

Sevika, standing behind Silco, heard this and looked at Silco's back, frowning, but quickly returned to normal.

As Silco gave the order, two Glow Alchemical Persons moved, lunging at Jinx.

Jinx quickly pulled out her pistol and fired three shots in quick succession. The bullets burrowed into the alchemical persons' bodies, but they acted as if they felt no pain and continued to lunge at Jinx.

"Damn it!" Jinx cursed.

If only she had brought her machine gun. This little pistol couldn't even scratch these guys!

"Isha, come here, hide behind me!"

Isha quickly ran over. Seeing Jinx glance at Isha's face from time to time, Silco frowned and pointed at Isha.

Then, Jinx saw an alchemical person, following Silco's instructions, run towards Isha. The physical condition of these Glow Modified Persons far surpassed that of ordinary people, and their speed was astonishingly fast. Even though Isha was agile and small, and very smart, she was still cornered step by step by the Glow Modified Person.

Looking up at the massive figure, Isha gritted her teeth, mustered her courage, and threw the stone she had just picked up at the Glow Modified Person.

Seeing Isha cornered, Jinx instantly became anxious. She rolled on the ground, dodging the Glow Modified Person who was moving slowly because it was afraid of hurting her. Jinx shouted at Silco, "Silco, no, don't hurt her!"

Silco ignored Jinx and simply waved his hand.

The large hand of the Glow Modified Person reached out towards Isha and grabbed her.

Seeing this, Silco turned his back and said, "Take them both back."

Sevika became even more annoyed. It wasn't enough to take back the older one, now she had to take back the younger one too?

The trouble was just piling up!

If it were in the past, Silco would have just had the Glow Modified Person strangle the child directly!

Lifting his leg, Silco prepared to leave.

But he had only taken one step when "BOOM!"

Under a terrifying, explosion-like roar, a blast wave carrying dust and gravel sent Silco's body jolting, as if he had floated for a moment. When he snapped back to awareness, his ears ringing, he saw Sevika already blocking in front of him. Smoke and dust appeared, obscuring Silco's vision and preventing him from seeing the situation inside clearly.

The previous loud noise, coupled with Jinx, who had not yet been brought out, made Silco lose control in an instant.

He forcefully pushed Sevika, who was blocking him and protecting him, away with both hands. Unlike his elegant composure when he first appeared, he rushed in in a disheveled state, shouting loudly, "No, no, no, don't play this kind of joke!"

"Jinx, Jinx!"

"Can you hear me, Jinx!"

"Clang--"

The only response Silco received was the sound of metal hitting the ground.

The smoke and dust scattered. Silco looked at the metal mask that had rolled to his feet. Inside was a head. This thing, he was all too familiar with it. It belonged to a Glow Modified Person.

A cracking sound also rang out. Silco looked up, and the people behind him all looked inside.

They saw a large amount of purple blood appear on the wall. The glowing shimmer liquid flowed from the headless pipe onto the ground. At the very center, the ground was pulverized beyond recognition. The shattered marks were about two meters in radius, and spiderweb cracks had spread onto the wall.

A black-haired youth appeared before everyone, one foot stepping on the back of the Glow Modified Person. It was the headless Glow Modified Person, whose head was still at Silco's feet. The latter was holding a brown-haired Little Girl, protectively shielding her and pressing her little head down so she wouldn't look at the ground. He looked at Silco with a calm expression.

Silco's pupils contracted slightly, but he directly ignored the youth, his eyes searching for something. It wasn't until Silco saw Jinx sitting on the ground with her mouth agape, clearly startled, that he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, he looked at the youth.

Li Ke was also looking at him and smiled:

"Good morning, Silco."

--- Author's Notes