"Svarog, you're free."
Standing on the giant robot's shoulder, Chu Mu spoke softly.
"From now on, I will protect you." Svarog looked toward the distant town. "Those who hurt you in the past must all pay the price."
At those words, Chu Mu fell silent for a moment, then sighed.
"Svarog, promise me something."
"You don't need to ask for my agreement." Svarog's voice was gentle. "You only need to tell me what you want."
"Mm." Chu Mu nodded. "I want you to forget me."
The boy spoke so softly that his emotions were impossible to discern.
But Kafka knew he must be suppressing the sorrow in his heart.
She didn't understand why Chu Mu insisted that Svarog forget him. Was it simply because he wouldn't be able to keep their future promises?
Or was there some other reason?
Svarog remained silent for a long time before asking:
"Why?"
"I'm leaving. I won't be able to keep my promise to you anymore," Chu Mu said softly. "Next weekend, I won't be here. The weekend after that, I still won't be here."
"I can keep waiting, my friend." Svarog's voice wavered. "If 604,800 seconds aren't enough, I can wait 6,040,000 seconds. If 6,040,000 seconds aren't enough, I can wait another 60,480,000 seconds. Chu Mu, I will always be here, waiting for you."
"Waiting is painful. The longer it lasts, the more it hurts." Chu Mu sighed. "Svarog, forget me."
The red light in Svarog's eyes flickered faintly at his words.
He recalled something the boy had said half a month ago:
"Svarog, I'm going to die soon."
Svarog understood everything in an instant.
"You... won't be coming back?"
Chu Mu said softly:
"If the day comes when I return, let's get to know each other all over again."
He paused, then spoke once more:
"Forget me, Svarog. This is my final request."
"I cannot refuse your request." Svarog lowered Chu Mu from his shoulder.
He quietly looked at his dearest friend.
"I cannot delete my memories of you, but I will lock them away. My friend, if we meet again someday, please reactivate these memories. Then I will be able to remember you."
Chu Mu nodded and sighed.
"Svarog, goodbye."
He felt a twinge of regret. Even at this moment of parting, he couldn't open his eyes and see what his dearest friend looked like standing up.
The boy turned away. A clear teardrop fell to the ground, turning into an ice crystal on the snow.
The two figures, one tall and one small, gradually receded into the distance.
The red light in Svarog's eyes slowly went out.
When it lit up again, he rose from the snow and surveyed the ruins.
"My name is Svarog. I have come here for the preservation of Belobog's Underworld!"
Svarog proclaimed his mission aloud.
He had already forgotten that a year earlier, a boy had accidentally awakened him and heard those same words.
Afterward, the boy had always teased him about it:
"Svarog, when are you going to protect the Underworld? Or you could protect me instead."
Back then, Svarog had answered in his heart:
When I protect the Underworld, I am protecting you.
Now, Svarog had forgotten all of it.
He headed toward the mine to carry out his mission.
It wasn't until several years later that a little girl named Clara accidentally reactivated his long-sealed memories.
Only then did Svarog understand that although he had protected the entire Underworld, he had been unable to protect that friend.
The dearest friend he had forgotten for so long had already left this place.
"Why did you insist on making him forget you?"
On the way back, Kafka couldn't help asking.
"Because Svarog is different from us humans," Chu Mu said quietly. "He's a robot. That means his memories are perfectly clear and will never fade. He would stay there counting every minute and every second, waiting for me to return."
"Then just come back." Kafka tapped Chu Mu on the head. "We have a spaceship, after all. A spaceship that can warp! Isn't it easy to come back every few years?"
"I thought traveling by spaceship meant being frozen for decades, or even centuries. So it can warp?" Chu Mu sighed. "Then we'll see him again in a few years. His memories are still there. They can be restored."
"Good thing his memories are still preserved." Kafka smiled. "This outcome isn't bad either. He's only forgotten temporarily. It's just like with humans: faded memories no longer come to mind, but they aren't truly forgotten. Then, one day, old friends reunite, and those memories come flooding back. How wonderful. Like a beautiful opera."
"Yes." Chu Mu nodded slightly, seemingly moved.
Once he left, the chances of his returning were slim.
His illness could flare up at any moment and take his life!
He held no hope of returning, so as he prepared to leave, he wanted to leave as few regrets as possible.
Now, he had fulfilled three wishes: arranging Xiao Bu's adoption, dealing with the danger hanging over Seele, and repairing Svarog.
As Chu Mu was lost in thought, a tremendous explosion suddenly rang out in the distance!
It came from the Core Furnace Hub!
At that moment, billowing smoke poured from the towering furnace. Streams of fire tore through the darkness like meteors, crashing into the surrounding towns!
It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse!
Half an hour earlier.
At the Core Furnace Hub, Oleg was accompanying Gepard's troops as they carried out the blockade.
The Supreme Guardian had already taken the last cable car up. From then on, the line would be abandoned, and no more cable cars would descend.
But at the Core Furnace Hub, there was also a stone stairway spiraling up along the furnace.
For some reason, the original Architects had left behind this technologically primitive stairway. Residents of both the upper and lower levels never used it, because the route was far too long and the climb too exhausting.
Now, however, it would be the only passage between the upper and lower levels.
The Silvermane Guards were sealing it off.
By then, some people had already noticed something wrong at the cable car station. It had closed! And there was no notice saying when it would reopen.
Coupled with the Silvermane Guards' movements at the Core Furnace, this suddenly reminded the Underworld's residents of a rumor they had heard earlier.
The Supreme Guardian was going to seal the passages between the upper and lower levels!
The people underground would forever lose their chance to bask in sunlight!
The news spread from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred.
People surged toward the Core Furnace as though they had gone mad, instantly placing immense pressure on the Silvermane Guards defending it!
Gepard and a group of tall soldiers stood at the front with their massive shields raised, but even they struggled to hold the crowd back and were forced to retreat again and again.
Standing behind them, Oleg spotted many familiar faces in the surging crowd.
Some were street vendors from Boulder Town, some were fighters from the Fight Club, and others were miners from the Great Mine.
He had once maintained order in the Underworld alongside them. Now, he stood on the opposing side.
He couldn't help murmuring:
"Supreme Guardian, why would you give such an order?"
Before you continue