"What was that crystal core for?"
"I heard it powered the angels. Smash it, and those angels would have no strength left."
Elena listened to the discussions without much expression on her face.
A child climbed onto the roof and stood beside her.
It was the child who had asked her name last time.
"Auntie, why are you here?"
Elena looked at him.
"To watch the sunset."
The child sat down as well, copying her as he looked toward the orange-red sky in the distance.
"My grandpa said we used to see sunsets like this every day. Then the angels came, and we couldn't see them anymore."
Elena said nothing.
The child turned to look at the glowing cracks on her face.
"Auntie, does it hurt?"
Elena fell silent for two seconds.
"No."
The child nodded and turned back to watch the sunset.
"That's good."
In the distance, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon.
Golden afterglow fell over them, stretching their shadows long.
Central Africa, ruins of the former Angel Core Altar.
The bulldozers had been working for a week. The platform built from angel bones and human remains had been completely leveled. The bones were sorted into bags and transported to designated sites for purification.
The vitrified ground was dug up and filled with fresh soil, then repeatedly flattened by road rollers. Workers set up temporary sheds atop the ruins, welded rebar, and poured concrete. New buildings were taking shape day by day.
Wu Heng stood at the edge of the ruins, watching the busy workers.
He had been walking through the ruins for an hour.
No one asked what he was looking for. No one dared to.
Renault followed three steps behind him. His complexion was poor—not from exhaustion, but from a vague sense of unease.