ABST Chapter 43

After the triumph ceremony ended, the four from Algiers deliberated for a long time and finally made a decision.

 

They placed everything they knew—the complete story between Elansno, Lan Nuo, and Lan Xia—in the Human Alliance’s most solemn announcement.

 

Without mixing in any personal feelings, narrated in the most ordinary tone. Between the lines was extreme plainness, yet every line wrote of ‘irreversible’ and ‘regret.’

 

[…I’m stunned. The officials aren’t making up stories, right?]

 

[Wasn’t Elansno that day…]

 

[In the storm deep within the aurora, there’s absolutely no chance of survival.]

 

[Damn that bastard Rosh!]

 

[…]

 

After things settled, the four from Algiers returned to Dawn and erected a new monument.

 

Because Teacher Lan Xia’s ashes had been taken away, this place had always remained empty. Rebuilding was convenient. The place they’d originally chosen seemed too large. This time they switched to a smaller clearing.

 

The soil was good, suitable for planting flowers and grass—very fitting with Teacher’s wish from when he was alive to mark out a plot here and leave it for planting violets.

 

They went to the Southern Domain to search. They only found the comm device Elansno left behind, but couldn’t find that seed left along with it.

 

It had clearly been so treasured by two people, yet just disappeared into the vast snowfield, never to be found again. Perhaps it slept together in the aurora.

 

Actually, whether to erect this monument or not—now it seemed aside from remembrance, there was no particular meaning anymore. Because that person had long ago chosen where he and Brother would rest.

 

On the newly erected monument were carved only these simple words:

 

[Tomb of Lan Xia, Lan Nuo, Elansno]

 

Nothing more was needed. Just this simple way was very good. These three names were originally weighty enough, enough to make people stop and stand in quiet respect.

 

Before the monument stood a thick stone book. On it was written a very long story. Wind couldn’t blow it away, rain couldn’t erase it. Perhaps after a long time, passed down through oral tradition, when some elders told it to children, it would become a not-so-sorrowful fairy tale.

 

“We searched for a long time but still couldn’t find violets.” Algiers said softly.

 

Around the tomb grew lush vegetation—many wisteria planted. However, the Northwest Sector’s temperature was cold. The wisteria hadn’t bloomed, appearing somewhat lonely.

 

Shou Bing said: “Sorry, Teacher. As students, did we disappoint you?”

 

Lian Yao thought—if only he could have gotten news earlier…

 

If only.

 

If Teacher hadn’t died but recognized Elansno, none of what followed would have happened.

 

After the war ended, the two brothers would leave here, tour the continent, search every corner for that dreamlike purple. Perhaps they’d be disappointed, but the journey would always be joyful.

 

But no one would answer them anymore.

 

Jin Daike silently placed a bouquet of flowers, looking toward the sky.

 

She always felt—perhaps Teacher had already met the younger brother who came to see him. Might be angry and heartbroken, but also part… happy?

 

The four of them stayed in Dawn City for a long time.

 

The Human Alliance was now brand new. Everything was good. Government affairs could be handled anywhere.

 

Until several days later.

 

An uninvited guest came to Dawn City.

 

Long-absent artillery fire directly blew off Dawn’s inner city gate. No one knew where this shell came from. They only heard a sharp whistle—a gray small spacecraft crashed toward where Algiers’s group of four lived in a self-destructive manner!

 

But just before impact, the spacecraft swerved like it was having a seizure, made an emergency stop, and crashed into the wall with a boom. Thick smoke rose, knocking down a large section.

 

Alarms instantly sounded. Soldiers, thinking it was a terrorist attack, immediately surrounded the area.

 

Algiers came out with people to look, frowning tightly. He found this tiny spacecraft very familiar. He lowered his hand, signaling everyone to remain calm.

 

From that pile of ruins soon came a commotion. A man with disheveled hair and terrifyingly red eyes jumped out, dragging a two-person-tall Starry Night Bomb that could level this place. Voice hoarse, he said: “…Where is the Admiral?”

 

It was Nie Liang.

 

He’d lost whatever damn refinement he had, unscrupulously displaying this crazed appearance to its fullest.

 

Who could know—he’d just come out of the Far North Sector to a populated area, found a shop wanting to buy a new comm device to understand the current Federation situation, only to be told—

 

No more Federation?!

 

That shop’s old codger looked down on his ragged appearance and gave him the worst comm device: “Yeah, there’s long been no Federation or anti-Federation elements. Only the Human Alliance! The Zerg are our enemies!”

 

Zerg? Human Alliance?

 

Unfamiliar terms one after another stunned Nie Liang. He vaguely wondered if he’d remembered the time wrong—had he stayed in the Far North Sector for many years?

 

He took out his card to buy the most sensitive comm device, quickly browsing StarNet for information he wanted. The first thing he searched was Elansno’s name. He searched excitedly and happily, but the content that appeared was—

 

Elansno’s death.

 

Elansno and Lan Nuo.

 

Elansno died in an aurora storm.

 

Elansno’s medical examination report.

 

Whether Elansno was forcibly imprisoned by Dawn.

 

Information on StarNet was complex and false. He didn’t believe these things. But someone showed him a video.

 

A video of the Admiral walking into the aurora.

 

…

 

Nie Liang bought information from Lan Zhouhe and learned Algiers was now in Dawn. Part of him felt very calm, while another part strapped himself and a Starry Night Bomb together, preparing a meticulous plan to blow up Dawn City.

 

He’d lived in Dawn City for a while and knew its defense system well. Infiltrating was easy.

 

But just as he was about to crash into Dawn’s inner city, he suddenly remembered the Admiral had once stayed here and clearly stated he liked this city.

 

Nie Liang was torn into two parts—one still the refined, composed Adjutant, the other completely mad, screaming and clamoring to tear apart everyone connected to the Admiral.

 

But in the end, he still controlled the spacecraft to swerve and crash into the wall, forming the current standoff.

 

No one answered his earlier question, so he calmly asked again: “Where is the Admiral?”

 

Algiers remained silent for a long while. “I’ll take you to him.”

 

Nie Liang dragged the ammunition and followed him.

 

He arrived at a newly built tomb and suddenly stopped, not daring to walk forward.

 

Algiers looked back at him: “This is a solemn place. Don’t bring weapons.”

 

Nie Liang threw down the Starry Night Bomb, removed all the flying blades and guns he’d hidden on himself, even threw away his spatial button. He even picked off every iron and hard object from his clothes.

 

He finally went in and saw clearly the words on the tombstone:

 

[Tomb of Lan Xia, Lan Nuo, Elansno]

 

The Admiral’s name.

 

Nie Liang didn’t know how long he stood there. He heard his own voice ask: “Is the Admiral’s body here?”

 

Algiers shook his head: “No.”

 

“Oh.” Nie Liang asked again: “Are the Admiral’s ashes here?”

 

Algiers: “No.”

 

Nie Liang: “Then what right do you have to say he’s dead?”

 

Algiers: “He entered the aurora.”

 

Nie Liang: “Then did you find the Admiral’s body?”

 

Algiers: “…No.”

 

Nie Liang: “Did you find his ashes?”

 

He didn’t care if anyone answered, asking on his own: “Then what right do you have to say he’s dead?”

 

“…”

 

The wind blew more gently. Complex emotions surged in Algiers’s eyes. He sighed softly: “Then why don’t you leave? Why do you keep standing here?”

 

Nie Liang’s lips moved. He said nothing and walked to the tombstone, seeing that stone book.

 

He wanted to look at it. One second before stepping onto the stairs, he paused, took out several handkerchiefs, and carefully wiped all the dust from his shoes before stepping up.

 

He knelt before it, opened the stone book, and read each word very seriously.

 

The Admiral… killed Lan Xia?

 

Wasn’t Lan Xia the Admiral’s brother?

 

Nie Liang clearly remembered—when mentioning Lan Xia, the expression in the Admiral’s eyes was unprecedentedly careful and gentle. He treasured his brother, just as Nie Liang treasured the Admiral.

 

Putting himself in those shoes.

 

Nie Liang thought—if he had personally killed the Admiral he followed…

 

Deep terror surfaced in his eyes. His hand trembled. Suddenly he didn’t dare think further.

 

Then the Admiral…

 

After a long while.

 

Algiers heard him say hoarsely: “After I leave, I want all materials, news, recordings, and videos about the Admiral. Don’t let me discover you lied, or I’ll blow up your Alliance headquarters.”

 

Algiers: “You can see what’s already published on StarNet. The rest, no.”

 

Nie Liang said nothing.

 

He watched every video of Elansno’s battles with the Zerg, spending a long time. He specially edited a version with only Elansno’s appearances, extracted images according to his usual habit, and added BGM that suited the Admiral.

 

As for the rest—it wasn’t important to him.

 

From the first battle video to the last, the Admiral had gotten thinner. What idiots and fools were those caring for the Admiral that they couldn’t see?

 

He uploaded all the edited videos to StarNet, posting them from his mercenary account.

 

This account had never hidden his worship of Elansno. Just that before, materials were too scarce. No matter how he extracted, there was only so much.

 

Now there was more, but he didn’t want to use it.

 

The long-vanished account suddenly came back to life. Many people contacted him, asking if he still took jobs. Nie Liang ignored them. After three minutes, he blocked everyone who hadn’t liked his video during that time.

 

After doing these customary things, he suddenly didn’t know what to do.

 

He’d originally planned to hire people to hack StarNet and the Human Alliance’s official website, hang these videos in a loop for a year. But thinking about it, the Admiral probably wouldn’t like that, so he reluctantly gave up.

 

Lan Zhouhe sent a message, cursing him as a brainless fanatic.

 

Nie Liang said thank you and transferred him a large sum, asking Lan Zhouhe to collect all materials about Elansno.

 

They chatted for a long time. At some point, Lan Zhouhe’s tone became cautious, asking: Are you okay? If you’ve gone mad, say so and transfer your money to me.

 

Nie Liang said he was fine.

 

He smiled. How could anything be wrong with him?

 

After doing all this, he—

 

Still needed to find the Admiral.

 

Then personally hand the gemstone to the Admiral.

 

Nie Liang kept vigil here for three days without moving. Lan Zhouhe sent him some well-hidden videos—

 

Videos of Elansno once trapped in dreams, constantly self-destructing.

 

Lan Zhouhe thought Nie Liang would go mad or be disappointed seeing Elansno also had such a weak side. But no.

 

Nie Liang cried.

 

He just thought, very simply and with much heartache—

 

His god had suffered so much where he couldn’t see.

 

But gods were also human. They felt pain.

 

He was clearly suffering so much, yet still protected so many people. Why couldn’t anyone see?

 

He kept vigil day after day, nearly dying here.

 

Until in his dazed state, he saw the comm device recording Elansno had left for Algiers’s group of four.

 

Even at this moment, Nie Liang was extremely sensitive to Elansno’s voice. Almost the instant he heard it, he opened his eyes and precisely captured the image on the device: “…Admiral?”

 

The Admiral’s comm device?

 

He hadn’t spoken in so long, his voice was barely a whisper.

 

A familiar figure appeared in the hologram. The Admiral stood in a snowfield, fiddling with the device for a while—seemingly adjusting it—before speaking to the recording: [Hello. I’m leaving now.]

 

Nie Liang reached out to touch it. His stiff body tumbled to the ground. Still, he watched without blinking, listening.

 

[Very sorry for making you care for me so long…]

 

[Really so tired. I never knew I could be this tired one day. Walking here, seems I can’t walk anymore.]

 

[I want to say one more thing…]

 

The Admiral’s tone and manner were relaxed. Nie Liang could tell—that was joy, genuine happiness. The Admiral was happy, so he smiled too.

 

[And Nie Liang—when he returns, tell him to be well and stop casually blowing things up with explosives.]

 

Nie Liang heard his own name and froze. Then he frantically replayed it, repeating it many times, listening over and over.

 

He clipped out that less-than-one-second sound of the Admiral calling him ‘Nie Liang,’ imported it to his own device, and frantically set over a dozen passwords.

 

The Admiral saying this—did it mean he’d known his identity all along?

 

Nie Liang was dazed for a while.

 

He continued listening to the Admiral’s voice and heard the final sentence:

 

[I should go now.]

 

Nie Liang watched the Admiral walk into the aurora.

 

After that day, Nie Liang disappeared. For a very long time, no one saw him again.

 

…

 

Seven years later.

 

Another half cycle.

 

The children who’d been young in Dawn City had all grown up. The kids playing with paper airplanes on the streets had changed generations.

 

White, red, blue… paper airplanes flew freely under the sunlight.

 

Algiers casually picked one up and opened it. Three identical chibi figures were drawn on it. The first figure looked gently and helplessly at the other two fighting figures beside him, worrying as he tried to mediate.

 

Next to the gentle figure was written: World War triggered by ‘Today is A-Nuo’s birthday.’

 

Masked figure: Brother is calling me!

 

Cute annoyed figure: Brother is clearly calling me!

 

Algiers looked for a while and smiled.

 

After a moment, a child came running over, looking up: “Grand Commander’s here again? This is my paper airplane. Can you give it back?”

 

This scene infinitely overlapped with one from seven or eight years ago.

 

Algiers asked: “What’s drawn here? The masked figure and cute figure—they’re clearly the same person.”

 

The child stuck out their tongue: “It’s a picture book! Of course I know they’re the same person, but that doesn’t stop me from separating them.”

 

Algiers crouched down, smiling: “You like them very much? Who do you like most?”

 

The child wrinkled their nose, seriously counting on fingers: “I want a gentle big brother like Mr. Lan Xia, a powerful protective second brother like the Admiral, and a cute, easily bullied younger brother like Lan Nuo!”

 

Algiers: “Greedy.”

 

“Such good people—having even one would be very satisfying.”

 

The child said: “The Grand Commander’s teacher is Mr. Lan Xia. Is the Grand Commander very satisfied?”

 

Algiers thought about it and answered honestly: “No, I’m full of regret.”

 

The child didn’t understand what regret meant but mimicked him: “Greedy.”

 

So Algiers patted their head, returned the paper airplane, and carefully pushed them away: “Run slowly. Go play.”

 

A teacher passing by from afar led a neat line of children: “Everyone hold hands and stay close to Teacher~ Today we’re taking you to the chaotic magnetic zone.”

 

“Does anyone know what that place is?”

 

The children drew out their syllables: “(No) we— don’t— know—”

 

“Some know, some don’t. Teacher will tell you—that’s where the Battle of Dawn ended. Seven years ago, the Human Alliance was invaded by Zerg. One person used the Sword of Dawn to kill the king-worm. Otherwise, you might still be in the flames of war!”

 

Someone protested, asking: “Is he more powerful than Commander Shou Bing?”

 

The teacher smiled mysteriously: “Do you know why the Alliance no longer has the ‘Admiral’ rank?”

 

Above Major General wasn’t Admiral but Commander—equivalent to the original Admiral position.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because in the Human Alliance, Admiral refers specifically to one person—that’s Elansno! He’s Teacher’s idol!”

 

The children chattered, affirming: “He’s a hero!”

 

The teacher said: “Yes, he’s a hero. But more—he’s an extraordinary hero.”

 

The teacher looked down at the children gathered around, patting each of their heads: “That’s a very long story. Everyone line up properly—don’t get lost~”

 

“Okay~”

 

Golden sunlight scattered down, landing on them and spreading warmth—soft and fuzzy.

 

Joyful laughter gradually faded. Algiers watched them walk away.

 

That child hadn’t asked what his regret was.

 

Actually, even if asked, he couldn’t answer.

 

Just that his heart was always missing a piece.

 

These years, watching as the pain brought by war was gradually soothed by time and hope, memories of Teacher and Elansno only grew clearer.

 

Such pure people—in all these years, he’d never seen anyone like them again.

 

Intense, simple emotions—though never possessed, merely having felt them was enough for many to remember for life.

 

Jin Daike called: “Brother, heard there’s aurora in the far west tonight. There’s a chance to see violets.”

 

Algiers: “Alright, I understand.”

 

Violets were still revered as the Human Alliance’s sacred flower.

 

They never found the pebble that had been used as a seed. Elansno and Lan Xia vanished into the aurora.

 

Perhaps it was a divine gift. Starting three years ago, someone discovered that under extremely rare circumstances, in places simultaneously bathed by purple auroras and brilliant starlight, vast fields of violets would bloom.

 

Some tried to transplant them, but unfortunately, once the aurora disappeared, the violets would vanish without a trace, as if they had never existed.

 

Just like a dream—upon waking, nothing remains.

 

Even if it’s just a dream, one can grasp a sliver of hope from it.

 

Algiers thought of Nie Liang again, the person who used to threaten to blow up the Human Federation at the drop of a hat. He was Elansno’s last adjutant. Later, Algiers learned that he was actually the top-ranked mercenary.

 

Since seven years ago, after watching those videos and disappearing before the tombstone, they had received no definite news of Nie Liang.

 

…

 

The moment the aurora spread, a storm arose simultaneously.

 

The violent energy hurricane could almost instantly annihilate a person into ash.

 

A tiny silver gleam appeared—a very crude aircraft, like a fearless bird flying against the turbulence.

 

Nie Liang held an energy capture device in his hand, his eyes bright and resolute, circling countless times at the edge of the aurora storm.

 

They say the aurora transforms human bodies into energy particles. Would souls be the same? He could recognize the Admiral, even shattered into particles—

 

As long as he could find them, as long as he could find all of them.

 

Nie Liang never felt he had gone mad. He wanted to say:

 

Admiral, when you existed, I pursued you. When you embraced the aurora, I pursued the aurora.

 

A devotee will forever follow their deity.

 

Author’s Note:

 

As for extras or IF routes, dragging them out takes too long. I’ll write them when I finish—when I reach the end, I should write them. It won’t take too long. I only conceived three worlds for this novel, hehe.

 

50 red envelopes for this chapter~

 

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T/N: World 1 has come to an end. I want Nie Liang in every world line now!!

 

PS: Do comment about your favourite character(s)!

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