Chapter 35

"Humanity will never admit defeat!" Mizuki Tsujimura waved her fists like a child, practically dancing with excitement. "Right! We won't lose to those people, or to this damned heaven!"

Only after shouting did Mizuki Tsujimura freeze. Oh no. There goes my image as a cool, stylish elite agent.

"Heh." Ayatsuji Yukito sneered. "Occasionally, you do say something intelligent."

"Really?" Mizuki Tsujimura was just about to rejoice when she caught on. Wasn't he saying that everything she usually said was stupid?

"Mr. Ayatsuji!!"

Ango Sakaguchi let out a deep breath. Even an unshakable elite like him felt his heart twist tight. Just now, he had unconsciously held his breath in tension.

"Such perseverance deserves our admiration, and we would do well to learn from it." Even Santoka Taneda could not help praising him. He could not be certain that, faced with such sudden despair, he could have stepped forward as An Xinyi had and shouldered that responsibility.

That was seven million people!

Having spent years immersed in politics, Santoka Taneda knew that it was not that those senior officials lacked ability or had failed to react immediately. They had hesitated. Those were seven million lives, a responsibility heavy enough to crush a person.

And An Xinyi had been the first to step forward.

"Hahahaha!! Everyone's going to die!"

"We're all going to die. No, I don't want to die..."

"Why? Damn you, heaven, why..."

"Son! Son, where are you?"

The scene had descended into utter chaos. Some had already unfastened their safety ropes, abandoning everything for one last bout of madness and release.

Countless days of struggle, countless days of effort, countless days of torment-had it all led to this?

Everyone's efforts were like a sandcastle, collapsing at the slightest push.

Compared with the upper levels, which had suffered devastating losses, the people below were actually fortunate. Everyone had secured safety ropes and protective measures against collisions, and loose objects had been cleared away in advance. Apart from a few truly unlucky people struck by falling debris, most, including Osamu Dazai, had suffered nothing worse than bruises from being knocked about.

But their minds had already broken.

Osamu Dazai covered his mouth. He wanted to vomit.

This was sickening beyond belief. Even he could not accept it. Why? Were humans really no better than ants, denied even the chance to struggle?

No one could keep the situation under control anymore. As the chaos spiraled further-

"Beeeep-" A piercing, grating sound rang out over the speakers. The frantic crowd instinctively looked toward them, and silence fell.

"Comrades," An Xinyi seized the opportunity to speak. "I am An Xinyi, acting director of Dawn City." Simultaneous interpretation rendered his words into each nation's language.

Osamu Dazai snapped his head up.

"I know you're grieving. I know you're desperate. You want to find your loved ones, find your children, and spend your final moments with your families, even if Dawn City is destined to sink."

The words were plain and simple. Everyone fell silent.

"But I know something else-you want to live! Everyone wants to live! Not one of us wants to die! I want to live too!" An Xinyi roared it all out in one breath, his voice strained raw.

"We've already sacrificed too many people. We've already said goodbye to too many."

"But I still don't want to die."

"Not just because I'm afraid of death, but because once we die, those who fell before dawn, those who live on only in your memories, will have no one left to remember them."

"Do you want to live?"

"Yes!"

"Of course we do!"

Everyone answered.

"Then give everything you have to stay alive! We're not even afraid of death-what else is there to fear? We're still alive, so why can't we take a gamble? I'm worried about my boy too. I want to find him too, but I cannot leave! This is my responsibility. Protecting Dawn is my responsibility! As long as it hasn't sunk, I must remain here and fight alongside Dawn!"

"And if we want to live, if we want to survive with our families, then we must fight!"

"I can tell you plainly that Dawn has indeed been damaged, and the damage is considerable."

"But Dawn hasn't sunk yet. We haven't lost yet. We must use everything we have to win this battle! So that every one of us can live!"

"Comrades-in-arms! As Dawn's acting director, I am now issuing a call to everyone. All personnel with power system expertise and all Repair Bay engineers, please report to the nearest damaged area and volunteer for rescue work!"

"Flood every damaged section with rescue efforts!"

"No matter who or what it is, even a natural disaster, even the apocalypse itself, if it seeks to destroy our nations and wipe out our species, we will fight it to the bitter end!"

"Fight to the bitter end!" Yuji Itadori pumped his fist. "That's exactly right! Get everyone moving together!"

"I feel the same, my best friend!" Tears of emotion streamed down Aoi Todo's face. "I want to rush in there and help! That's what a real man should do!"

"Exactly!" For once, Yuji Itadori was in perfect agreement with Aoi Todo. "I really want to help!"

"Could you two please not make things worse?" Utahime Iori could not help saying. "Can either of you repair a power system or patch up a bay?"

They both shook their heads.

"Then what the-" Hell! Utahime Iori forcibly swallowed the last word. Right, that wasn't very ladylike.

"Well, well, Utahime, girls shouldn't swear~ But I understand. You've got the personality of a roughneck, after all." Satoru Gojo leaned over.

"Satoru Gojo, go die!"

"Shut up, you disgrace of a teacher!" Nobara Kugisaki shot him a merciless glare. "Didn't that move you at all?" Why did he have so much bullshit to say?

Satoru Gojo paused, then chuckled. "That's where you're wrong, Nobara."

The white-haired man's voice was soft. "If I heard a call like that, I'd go help, even if I had to travel thousands of miles~"

Human courage and perseverance... Would you see it, Geto? Satoru Gojo lowered his eyes.

Humans were such extraordinary beings.

An Xinyi had practically used every ounce of strength in his body to roar that final sentence, reopening the wound someone had carefully bandaged for him.

But he could not feel that little bit of pain now.

He knew his speech had not been particularly good, nothing compared with those skilled at public speaking. In fact, by the end, he had no idea what he was saying. Thinking back, some of his sentences had not even made sense.

So he was apprehensive.

He knew that if he could not ignite everyone's will to fight, they would have truly failed. Dawn would sink, and his life, Aji's life, and even the lives of seven million people would end here.

In truth, he was terrified. He was only forcing himself to hold on.

He waited.

For everyone's final response. The brief wait stretched on, long enough to suffocate him.

Until someone broke the silence.

"Fight to the bitter end!"

An Xinyi snapped his head up, his eyes brimming with delighted surprise.

"He's only a child too," Yukichi Fukuzawa could not help saying. An Xinyi always shouldered too much. He seemed so strong, so brave, so fearless that many people forgot his age. Only now did they realize that this An Xinyi, whom others called a monster, was still in his first cycle-a boy barely in his teens.

Yukichi Fukuzawa thought of Ranpo. Both possessed talents rarely seen in this world-Ranpo's was his intellect, and An Xinyi's was his perseverance.

"What a dazzling diamond. Beautiful even without polishing." This time, Mori Ougai was simply expressing his admiration. He knew perfectly well that, in his hands, An Xinyi could never have shone like this. He seemed born to turn the tide in the face of despair.

Chūya Nakahara lowered the brim of his hat, leaving his thoughts unspoken.

How beautiful. Such resolve, such willingness to shoulder responsibility, such a rallying call.

Even if he had been there, he would not have been able to resist following him. Chūya Nakahara could not help thinking that if the Sheep's leader back then had been someone like An Xinyi, things would never have ended as they had.

Even Boss Mori wasn't as upright and pure as him... Chūya Nakahara suppressed the disrespectful thought.

Satoru Gojo rubbed his chin, then suddenly said to his teacher, "I want to recruit him into Jujutsu High."

"Forget it! An'an would never go there!" Ranpo protested loudly. "Even if there were an An'an here, he'd join the Armed Detective Agency! He dotes on me the most!"

"The Decay of the Angel isn't a bad choice either. After all, I did receive a star," Fyodor chimed in with a smile.

"Heh." Ayatsuji Yukito sneered.

For once, Osamu Dazai did not compete with them. He simply could not tear his eyes away, unwilling to miss even a moment.

That was the very first An Xinyi, his big brother Yiyi.

Osamu Dazai suddenly let out a soft laugh, tender beyond measure.

So you could panic and feel apprehensive too... Of course. Because An Xinyi was nothing more than an ordinary human being.

Osamu Dazai's gaze was gentle as water. Yes, that was why he loved Yiyi so much.

With a mortal body, he performed the deeds of a god. That was all.

Dawn City was still pitching and tossing. The waves outside could overturn the tiny city at any moment, just as darkness could easily swallow that faint glimmer of light. But now, everyone had cast off their panic and despair.

"Fight it to the bitter end! Even if they chop my head off, it'll only leave a bowl-sized scar! What the hell is there to fear?"

"For my family! Charge!"

"Liu Zh Lin from Sichuan Province, requesting permission to join the operation!"

"Wang Tao from Capital City, requesting permission to join the operation!"

"From Shanghai..."

One after another, people unfastened their safety ropes and took up pliers and hammers-the weapons that belonged to them-and stepped onto their battlefield as the world shook around them.

Now, the voices of representatives from other nations also came over the speakers.

A British leader was the first to recite Churchill's famous words: "We shall go on to the end!

We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills..."

All the British people roared in unison, "We shall never surrender!"

A Russian officer leading the others shouted that famous line: "Russia is vast, but there is nowhere left to retreat-Moscow is behind us!"

"Ura-!"

All the Russian people answered with a furious roar.

"All men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The leader of Country M calmly recited the most famous passage from the Declaration of Independence. "And now, even without God's protection, we will fight for our survival! Today is another Independence Day for us!"

"Long live humanity! Long live life!"

The people of Country M raised their right hands and rushed toward the battlefield.

No one backed down. Whatever their nation, whatever their race, they were all fighting for survival, fighting to live.

This was humanity's indomitable spirit and perseverance. Even in the face of natural disaster, we would never admit defeat, never surrender!