"Feeling lost?" Han Xiao pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and rummaged for a lighter in his pocket. He mumbled, "That's easy to solve. You take your sister back to Germinal, and I guarantee you'll never feel this bored again."
Hila glared at him irritably, paused, and continued, "I didn't take good care of my sister before, and she suffered so much. It's all my fault. To protect her, I constantly honed myself. Even now, when I think back on the killings I did, I never regret it. The more blood on my hands, the more at peace I feel. Only in this way can I wash away my guilt towards my sister and prove that I was protecting her..."
"Back when we were still in the Germinal, my sister and I would only see each other once in a long while. I knew she longed for life outside, and every time we met, I would tell her stories and share my experiences... Now she has a new life, has made new friends, and even has a pet. She doesn't need my stories anymore," Hila said softly.
Han Xiao couldn't get the cigarette going for a while, so he pulled out his pistol, fired a shot into the air, lit a cigarette with the hot barrel, took a drag, and couldn't help but say, "That bear was mine..."
"Saving her has always been my wish, and now that wish has come true..." Hila ignored him, her voice low, "She doesn't need my protection anymore."
Extending her palm, dark red energy swirled and danced around her fingers. Hila stared blankly at her hand, then whispered, "Before, I wanted to spend all my time honing my abilities to become stronger. But now, with the Germinal about to be extinguished and my sister and I safe, power seems unimportant to me anymore. So I've used all the time I used to spend training with my sister. This has always been my greatest wish..."
Hela clenched her fist suddenly, crushing the shimmering light. Hila lowered her eyes and whispered, "But why does this life I've always dreamed of make me feel lost? Even though I've achieved my wish, I feel so empty. I hate this feeling..."
Han Xiao: "Being in constant crisis, you'll feel uneasy when you suddenly relax. This is typical of war trauma. Of course, I'm more inclined to another possibility: you have warlike blood flowing in your veins, your cells crave battle, and bloodlust is your nature. A peaceful life is a slow poison that will only gradually erode your Aura."
Hila's expression was strange. "Your words sound like you're tempting me to do something bad..."
"Otherwise, what do you want me to say? Some comforting words?" Han Xiao shook his head. "I can't say that kind of nonsense. Someone like you doesn't need comforting. Your sister is your sister, and you are you. You don't need to suppress your true nature for her sake, and she doesn't want you to become someone you're not. Don't make excuses. I can see that what you truly crave is fighting and killing. The pursuit of power is your instinct. This world is bigger than you imagine. Don't think that just because I can take on ten of you with one hand, there are many people stronger than me in the entire universe."
"How come you can take on ten of me?" Hila protested.
Han Xiao's expression suddenly hardened, and killing intent erupted. The sudden change startled Hila, who hurriedly retreated, unconsciously using her superpower. The dark red light flickered erratically as she looked on warily.
"Who knows, one day I might snatch your sister like Germinal. If she doesn't have the strength to resist me then... so get stronger, or you'll regret it."
Han Xiao remained expressionless, suppressing his imposing aura, but Hila's heart continued to pound.
In that instant, her intuition told her that Han Xiao wasn't joking as usual; he was probably serious!
It was like revealing fangs beneath a disguise; in just a moment, it sent chills down Hila's spine.
"If you need, I can create some sparring robots, or you can learn from One Leaf Green and find some Inhuman to practice with. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now. I'm sleepy, and I haven't finished this cigarette yet, so I'll leave it here."
Han Xiao jumped off the roof and walked towards his house.
Hila only looked away after Han Xiao's the Sight of Father's Back disappeared from sight. She let out a long sigh, looked at the cigarette burning slowly on the eaves, hesitated, picked it up, and took a deep drag.
Slowly close your eyes, exhale wisps of smoke, and savor the taste of the cigarette.
After a long while, he opened his eyes. The swaying and confusion disappeared, leaving only indifference and detachment.
"He's a monster..." Hila muttered to herself, then suddenly shook her head and laughed, "Me too."
Han Xiao spent his days building machines, honing the skills of the four Frenzied Saber, and reaping experience from players. The experience accumulated on his panel steadily increased, making his life rich and fulfilling, and time flew by.
On December 7th, 688 of the Galaxy Calendar, the latest developments in the battle finally came from the front lines.
Germinal was left with only the territory around its headquarters; all other bases had been captured.
Han Xiao received a notification that Bennett had invited him to meet at First Sanctuary.
"The war will end with the annihilation of its Germinal, the landscape will be reshaped, and we on the Dark Net will have to rethink our stance," Bennett said on the phone.
After waiting for so long, the war has finally come to an end. The Six Nations performed steadily and did not disappoint, successfully driving the Germinal to its doom. Han Xiao arranged the affairs of the Third Sanctuary and set off for the First Sanctuary.
Half a day later, the helicopter landed on the helipad of the First Sanctuary. Bennett, who had been waiting for a long time, laughed and said, "You're the first one here. That's not like you."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao turned and walked back to the plane, saying, "Take off, fly until we run out of fuel and then come back."
Bennett, both amused and exasperated, pulled Han Xiao off the plane and said, "The board meeting will be held after the war officially ends, which should be in the next few days."
"How many days exactly?"
"That's hard to say, the situation is a bit complicated right now." Bennett lowered his voice, "The situation is a bit tense."
Han Xiao's eyes flashed.
The two entered the conference room, and after closing the door, Han Xiao said in a deep voice, "Tell me in detail."
Bennett produced the intelligence and explained, "The current situation is this: the Germinal Wings have been clipped, all troops have retreated to headquarters area, and the forces of the Six Nations have formed an encirclement, but are very far apart and show no intention of approaching headquarters to attack."
Han Xiao pondered for a moment and said, "Since all of the Germinal bases have been eliminated, leaving only the headquarters as the target, wouldn't it be enough for the Six Nations to simply bombard it with a few hundred missiles?"
"That's certainly possible. Without all their branch bases, the anti-missile capabilities of the Germinal headquarters wouldn't be able to withstand the continuous bombing by the Six Nations. Even if their true headquarters were hidden underground, it would be bombed and collapsed. But the Six Nations didn't do that; instead, they surrounded it without attacking. The reasons are quite complex."
Bennett produced another document, saying, "Because of your intelligence, a large number of Germinal's nuclear warheads have been dismantled. The remaining warheads have been transported to headquarters. Due to their single location, they are easily intercepted by missile defense systems. Germinal has lost its bargaining chip of mutual destruction. However, the number of nuclear warheads is considerable, and even if they explode in one place, it will cause a chain reaction. Meteorologists from various countries have stated that if this number of nuclear warheads were detonated simultaneously, radioactive fallout would severely degrade the global climate over the next five to fifteen years. The Andia Continent, as the area with the highest radiation concentration, will become a true no-man's land. Out of humanitarian considerations, the Six Nations must relocate the remaining population of Andia after the war..."
"Secondly, as the Germinal forces withdrew, they captured a large number of wanderers as hostages, seemingly to make the Six Nations hesitant to act against them. If they were to bomb their headquarters, these innocent wanderers would be killed along with them..." Bennett sighed.
"Thus, a disagreement arose among the Six Nations. Raylen and Terilous suggested ignoring the climate disaster and the safety of the hostages, and directly bombing Germinal to eliminate the threat once and for all. Stardragon had not yet expressed his opinion. Red Maple suggested persuading them to surrender, Hesla suggested a ground offensive to try and Rescue the hostages, Ordifenna... cough cough, they opposed all offensive measures, citing concerns about the climate and the hostages."
Han Xiao asked in confusion, "I can understand everything else, but what does Ordifenna want to do? After fighting for so long, do they still want to retreat and make peace?"
Bennett tapped the table, saying helplessly, "This is the last term for the leader of Ordifenna. There are many political parties in their country, and many people are vying for his position. If the war can be delayed until next year, they can use wartime policy as a reason to skip the election and directly win re-election."
Han Xiao was speechless. "That's really impressive... Which measure are the Six Nations leaning towards now?"
"They're surrounding them without attacking, attempting to persuade them to surrender. The Six Nations' missile defense system is operational 24/7. If any nuclear warhead is launched from the headquarters' nuclear silo, they will immediately intercept it and directly destroy the Germinal headquarters—of course, this is the worst-case scenario. Therefore, the Six Nations are currently issuing an ultimatum to Germinal, hoping they will give up resistance, hand over hostages, and surrender. They are appealing to their emotions and reasoning, promising not to kill those who surrender."
Bennett shook his head and said, "So far, Germinal has not responded."