The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

When was the last time you saw a night sky that looked like grains of salt sprinkled on a black cloth?

Mikael tilted his head and recalled for a long time, but he might be really old. Even if he racked his brains to think, he couldn't find the correct answer from his memory.

But this may not be a problem with memory itself, but rather due to some kind of subjective bias.

Such a bright night sky full of stars, at least he must have seen it when he was in Siberia, he must have seen it on the cross on the back of the moon, and he must have seen it in the more distant era of doing nothing.

He just didn't want to admit these memories related to the starry sky.

People often rely on association for memory. The result of reading a book while listening to songs is that when you hear the songs, you will think of the book, and when you see the book, you will think of the songs. This is not true. No, the memory will become tougher, and there is the possibility of suddenly retrieving a certain memory.

But sometimes that's not a good thing.

After all, touching the scene triggers feelings.

For Mikael, the gorgeous and dazzling starry sky has been completely bound to that day and that person's end, unable to be separated, and unwilling to be separated.

Therefore, even if the night sky is always so dark and heavy, it is best for him.

There were footsteps behind him, and Mikael lowered his head and shook it, as if to relieve the sore feeling in his neck caused by raising his head for a long time.

"Did you see it?"

"Um."

Meiyi walked back to him softly, making almost no other noise except for the faint reply.

There was nothing special in the alley. There was only a dirty white cat standing upright in front of her. Seeing her arrival, he turned around to lead the way without saying a word. He walked around to the depths of the alley and let out a shrill scream. The cat's meowing woke up the dull voice-activated light, and then I saw three gangsters holding kitchen knives, bricks, and wine bottles, fainting on the ground next to the trash can.

What do these people want to do? According to Mikael's hint, could it be that the targets are two strange outsiders? Or, according to the location directly opposite the alley entrance, isn't it just the rough house they entered earlier? It seems reasonable to say that the target is the homeless man.

In fact, it doesn't matter. It seems that they were subdued without realizing it at all. Maybe they didn't have time to do anything. Unless they can read minds, they should not be able to imagine their specific goals. Just assume that Mikael is right, and there is no need for him to lie about this kind of thing.

However, that place didn't seem to be the first scene. There were drag marks on the ground. When Mei noticed this, the white cat suddenly turned somersaults in mid-air, and then jumped onto the chest of one of the bodies.

It seemed that the cat had dragged these three people to this location.

"So, you're telling me that it's not as bad as I thought it is, and at the same time you're telling me that it's just that bad, what do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

The white cat also followed Mei Yi out of the alley, but then passed her directly, ran up and burrowed under Mikael's crotch, and purposely raised its butt towards him. Although the light was dim, Mei Yi still saw the white cat in the snow. a little yellow.

"Well……"

"Well……"

Mikael and Mei covered their foreheads at the same time.

"I swear, her behavior has nothing to do with me."

While excusing himself, Mikael kicked the white cat aside without leaving a trace, and then resumed the previous topic.

"This is not a good place to begin with, otherwise the child's mother would not have let him come. And what I want to tell you is not that 'this place is not as bad as you think', but 'this place is not as bad as you think'. Not the worst, you know what I mean?"

Mei Yi shook her head decisively, but nodded again after a brief hesitation, and after a while, shook her head again.

There was certainly no way she wouldn't understand, literally.

Moreover, Mikael has made it very clear. In her eyes, the people here are already living in unimaginable dire straits, but in fact there are many, many worse places than here.

But she didn't see the point of telling her this.

The corners of Mikael's mouth curled up slightly, revealing an "unexpected" smile.

He didn't seem to intend to answer Mei Yi's questions, but continued to talk to himself.

"As I said before, after the Sky Dome protective shield is the suburb of Sky Dome City. Unfortunately, it does not refer to this place. This can only be regarded as the transition between the urban area and the suburbs, referred to as the urban-rural fringe. In the urban area, you have also I've seen it before. Even if we compare Changkong City before the collapse, it can be said to be prosperous and peaceful.

"The place we are in now is dilapidated and desolate, but at least it maintains a certain order. Don't look at how quiet it seems here. If you continue walking about two hundred meters, there is a dilapidated apartment building. When the building enters the basement, it is a large bar party. It seems to have been renovated from an underground parking lot. It is 40,000 to 50,000 square meters and is divided into two floors. The door is two meters thick, and the sound insulation effect is quite good, considering that. Many underground parking lots in China are converted into air-raid shelters, so it’s not surprising. If you don’t believe it, you can go take a look.”

"That's not necessary."

Obviously, for Mei, she doesn't care about what she sees along the way. She prefers to get the so-called answer, the so-called "meaning" directly from Mikael's mouth.

But before that, she still had questions.

"So, how do you know this? If the understanding of the upper levels of China comes from the spying of the World Serpent, the homeless man just now is a coincidence, and the three guys in the alley earlier can be explained by the fact that you have better observation skills than me. Keen. But what bar party are you talking about now? It’s not just the distance, it’s almost like you saw it with your own eyes… How on earth is this done?”

"Huh? Do you think I made those up casually? If you don't believe it, you can go and see it."

"No...it's not that I don't believe it, I'm just...curious. Curious about how many other abilities you have that I haven't seen before."

"whee!"

Mikael laughed like a lunatic. If this laughter were placed on another person, especially a girl, Mei would not think there was any problem, but if mixed with Heiye and Mikael, it would be difficult not to give people a creepy illusion. .

"Mei Yi, you still seem to believe what I say!"

"..."

Mei wanted to say, "I knew it was like this," and unconsciously wanted to cover her forehead with her hands, but when she thought about it carefully, she realized that she had repeated the same words and actions many times in just half a day. Out of some kind of compulsive neurological movement, she bit her lower lip hard, passed her hand across her forehead, and instead pushed the hair that was hanging down from her temples behind her ears.

But the change only stopped there. She didn't plan to say anything, lest she come across any "keywords" that would make Mikael even weirder.

When she didn't respond, Mikael shook his head in displeasure. But he quickly spread his hands and pointed at the white cat that jumped under the telephone pole and licked its paws after being kicked away by him.

"Well, haven't you seen the ability you just used? Cats, owls, and initially pigeons. The name of this ability, you can call it domination. Of course, the name is not important. You can understand it as, I can see these animals as avatars of myself and see what they can see."

Okay, he made it up. The control of the power of domination has nothing to do with the object of domination or the form of expression. All he did was to use the power of consciousness to temporarily connect the brains of these animals.

The reason why it is called "dominance" is just out of some evil taste that only he understands.

Of course, Meiyi didn't know the situation. She just curled her lips and teased in a low voice:

"You never hesitate to show off your abilities, Mikael. Do you want to teach me how to kill you?"

"Oh? Okay, I won't tell you next time."

Meiyi's face turned bitter, and she swore that she would never have a verbal argument with a lunatic like Mikael again.

"Okay, let's get back to the original topic. When you came here from the city, did you feel that there was a big difference? It was as if you just took one step forward and entered a completely unfamiliar world. It might even create some kind of illusion. ——Have you been attacked by a spiritual system? Only by constantly turning around to compare the world before and after can you realize that what you are facing is the real reality. "

Meiyi lowered her head and looked at the road. It was obvious that what Mikael was talking about was her previous mental journey.

"But you may be disappointed. There is not such a big change from here to the suburbs. If you continue forward, you will see almost the same buildings, almost the same narrow streets and smelly alleys, and you will not realize that you have arrived in the suburbs. "

"Then why bother to distinguish them?"

"Because it's really different!"

As if realizing that she had asked nonsense, Mei Yi quickly shook her head.

"If you had to find an area in Skydome City that corresponds to your idea of ​​a slum, it wouldn't be here. But most places in the suburbs will definitely satisfy your fantasy. There are only eight main roads radiating outwards along the city center. The industrial areas scattered along the road are still under the jurisdiction of the city government. The remaining large suburbs look similar to this at first glance, but the biggest difference is order.

"Although it is dangerous here, it is still in an area where hidden rules and explicit laws alternate side by side. And further out in the suburbs, there is no longer the scope of application of the law, replaced by each gang's own 'rules'. Maybe you will say that the unspoken rules of gangs can be regarded as a kind of order, but compared with the civilized order that has developed for 50,000 years, it is still too primitive and simple after all. It obliterates sensibility when sensibility is needed, and when sensibility is not needed, it is still too primitive and simple. It’s time to amplify your sensibility... That’s pretty much it.”

"Then...in that case, why don't gangs in the suburbs expand into the inner cities? Are there no official attempts to bring the suburbs under control?"

"Of course...of course both parties have tried this. The result..."

Mikael stamped his foot vigorously, Mei thought for a moment and understood what she meant.

Of course, both parties have made such efforts, but the official will soon find that the cost of direct control of the suburbs is far lower than the benefits, and some "evil forces" in the suburbs also understand that they cannot replace the official. Of. Moreover, neither side should be willing to directly border the other's forces, so the area they are stepping on, which Mikael calls the "urban-rural fringe", appears as a buffer zone.

Mikael suddenly took a deep breath. Not sure if it was an illusion, Mei actually felt a shiver from the flow of air.

"Meiyi, even the suburbs cannot be considered the worst place. Even if the order in the suburbs collapses, at least it is still under the protection of Tianqiong City's triple defense line. What about outside? Before the second collapse, the total population of Tianqiong City It has exceeded 30 million. Now there are more than 13 million people under the protection of the sky shield. Among the remaining people, excluding those who fled to neighboring cities, there are still a few million people living outside the shield. In the villages. These places have almost lost contact with the government. The electrified wire fence parts outside Tianqiong City were always stolen before. Guess who did it? Yes, it was the people living outside Tianqiong City. No one cared about them. Life and death, facing the Honkai Beast, they don’t even have the simplest electrified wire fence. Even if they are lucky enough to be saved by Taixu’s rangers once or twice, in the end..."

"Can't you come to Tianqiong City?"

Mei thought it was better to remain silent. After asking, she realized that she had asked unnecessary questions.

Why stay outside if you can come to the city?

"To give up everything they have and start a life from scratch in a completely unfamiliar place, even under the threat of death, not many people can make this determination. Besides, it's not like no one does it, otherwise you think, How do the suburbs maintain their population over a period of more than ten years? Or do you think people from outside can jump directly into the city?”

"Uh... aren't the outermost layers of the city affiliated with the official security forces? Won't these people bring outsiders back to the city?"

Mikael lowered his head and opened his mouth, but made no sound. Perhaps because he didn't want to explain the problem, or he felt that there was no need to explain at all, he finally chose to remain silent.

Mikael was silent, and Mei Yi was also silent. The two kept moving forward amidst the crisp footsteps, until at a certain moment, Mikael suddenly pulled Mei Yi.

"What's wrong?"

“Further on, there’s the suburbs.”

"so what?"

Meiyi tilted her head, suddenly shook off Mikael's hand, and continued to take two steps into the darkness.

"Sure enough... I don't understand what you said at all, and I don't understand what you want to convey to me. Mikael, what is the purpose of our coming here? What is the meaning of what you said? What on earth do you mean? What answers do you want me to find?”

"You can't bear it anymore. But how do you know that what I am saying and doing now is the purpose of my coming here?"

Meiyi didn't answer, but continued walking forward willfully.

After talking to Mikael for a long time, she still couldn't get the purpose of her trip out of him. Of course, this is a way of embellishment afterwards. In a sense, it can also be said that she was led by Mikael from beginning to end.

Where to go, what to see, and what to say were all Mikael's decisions, and she couldn't resist.

Even now, she is somewhat doubting whether Mikael's target is really Kiana. After all, if this is used as an inference, then he has done too many meaningless things.

So who else could his target be? It can’t be you, right?

But Mei Yi didn't know what else in her body could be used as a target for Mikael. Compared to this possibility, she was more willing to believe that Mikael was looking for fun through meaningless behavior.

But no matter what, we can't go on like this.

She had to find a way to break the status quo. Mikael had enough time to waste and the power to explain everything when something went wrong, but she couldn't do it. She had nothing, not even the things she wanted to do. A vague concept...

So she could only adopt the most helpless and childish method.

Michael looked at her back as she walked away angrily. He was not in a hurry, but his smile became more and more obvious.

"The upper body is leaning forward, the stride length is 1.53 times the original, and the stepping frequency is almost the same as before. It seems that we are 'at the end of the road'..."

Mikael closed his eyes, raised his hand and patted his forehead gently.

"Mei Yi, are answers and meanings so important to you?"

“When do answers and meanings not matter?”

Mei Yi did not avoid this question, but she did not stop either.

But it makes no difference to Mikael. He can let his voice ring directly in Mei Yi's mind, and he can follow Mei Yi at any time if he wants.

"I don't deny the importance of answers, meaning, or even endings. The mere existence of them is proof enough. And I never think they aren't important. It's just like most things in this world. The more you want, the less you will get. Instead of doing this, it is better to spend your time thinking and observing.

"Of course, I also admit that I was wrong. I really want to teach you all the things that I have accumulated in my heart for a long time. But language will always be powerless when needed. I am not good at wording myself. I just think in my head. It's really my fault for trying to put my own ideas into you.

"Any idea comes from its own background, and no one's point of view can be separated from his experience. After all, you have not experienced everything I have experienced. If there is such a chance, maybe you can also understand me What exactly was it that I wanted to express?”

After saying a long series of words, but Mei Yi didn't change his mind, Mikael shook his head and could only use methods that he was unwilling to use before.

"Hey, Mei, Kiana is in the apartment building on my left!"

"?"

Mei Yi paused for a moment, then turned around quickly, and ran back to Mikael in the blink of an eye - no matter what Mikael was going to do to Kiana, only being on the scene could change anything, Mei Yi probably thought so Yes.

But all she waited for was a blunt blow to the back of her head and her gradually blurring consciousness.

"Tsk, teacher, are you too kind to this girl?"

The raven that suddenly appeared slowly retracted his fist. Looking at Raiden Meiyi who was carefully held in Mikael's arms, he felt an urge to "punch again" for some reason.

"Do you think it's unfair? That's right. I did not take good care of you at that time..."

"It doesn't matter. Now I'm just a mercenary who gets paid to do things. I call you teacher just to be polite to my employer. If you feel bad about it, just pay me a little more."

"puff--"

"why are you laughing?"

"I thought of something funny."

Raven put his hand on his forehead - indeed... he has changed a lot since then...

But that's not important.

"Okay, what are you going to do next? You've determined that the target is in this building, do you want to take action now?"

"Well?"

Mikael shook his head and laughed.

"Do you also think my target is Kiana?"

He pointed with his index finger at Mei Yi who was knocked unconscious, then raised his index finger up and shook it from side to side.

"Forget it, let's go back to Shencheng Medicine first. How are the preparations as originally planned going?"

"Of course it has been completed a long time ago. If it weren't for you, who delayed it for most of the day, the first stage would have been completed by now."

"...Where are the manners you promised?"

The raven scratched its head with its scarlet iron claws and calmly changed the subject:

"Oh, by the way, not long after you arrived, a few more heavyweights came to Tianqiong City. In this case, do you still have to stick to the original plan?"