Chapter 145: Kite

Gu Yuan didn't seem surprised by Han Meng's answer.

He placed a cup of coffee in front of Han Meng, his eyes fixed on the kites flying in the sky, and spoke slowly:

"Kites from Aurora City have always been the best-selling in the nine domains. Do you know why?"

Without waiting for Han Meng to speak, he continued to himself:

"The Aurora Domain is too cold. It's in the dead of winter for most of the year, and children spend most of their childhood at home... Only during the one month of summer do they have the chance to go outside and play freely. That is the happiest time of their year.

Because this happiness is hard-won, parents try their best to satisfy their children's needs. During this month, tens of thousands of kites fly into the sky in Aurora City every day, carrying the children's expectations and hopes for the entire year.

When summer passes, parents hang the kites in the most prominent place in the children's rooms so that they know...

Even if the winter is hard to endure, summer will eventually come."

"...What are you trying to say?"

"No one wants to abandon the Seven Districts, but we have no choice." Gu Yuan looked at him calmly. "Look at this city. It is the future and hope of the Aurora Domain. As long as it remains, the winter will eventually pass... Perhaps one day, we can rebuild the Seven Districts."

Han Meng replied hoarsely,

"But the children in the Seven Districts haven't even seen a kite... This isn't fair."

Gu Yuan was slightly stunned.

He was silent for a long time before speaking again:

"Maximizing resource integration and utilization is a decision Aurora City made to rapidly advance its own development... I am not qualified to judge whether this decision is correct, but from the standpoint of the entire human race, what we are doing now is undoubtedly correct."

"What does your 'correct' have to do with me?" Han Meng looked at him. "My people and my subordinates are waiting for me to go back... I don't have time to listen to your grand theories here!"

"It's been so long; the Third District has long since fallen. Even if you go back now, you'll only be facing endless calamity."

Han Meng's body trembled slightly.

"Except for Aurora City, the aurora in other parts of the domain has long since disappeared; it's just hidden by the thick fog, so it's not immediately obvious...

Within an hour of the aurora disappearing, at least a thousand convergence points will be born; within three hours, the convergence points will be enough for calamities above the Third Stage to pass through; in ten hours, the Seven Districts will theoretically be completely destroyed; within twenty hours, the Gray World will completely shroud every inch of land outside the city, and no one will survive."

Gu Yuan glanced at his wristwatch, the silver hands moving silently on the star-and-moon dial.

"And it has already been fifteen hours since the aurora disappeared."

"If you leave Aurora City now, who can you save? You won't be able to save the Third District, and you will pointlessly throw your own life away... Han Meng, you are a smart man; you should know what you need to do."

Han Meng's hands on his knees clenched involuntarily, veins bulging. He sat beneath the flock of flying kites, struggling against the silent punishment, like a stone statue.

……

On the frozen, frigid earth, several figures were walking slowly along the tracks.

"Dad... I'm hungry." The boy looked up, the wind and snow turning his eyelashes white. His eyes were filled with grievance and pleading.

Seeing this, Boss Xu felt his heart twisting with pain. He turned to his wife:

"Do we have anything left to eat?"

"Where would we have anything? You dragged us out in such a hurry, I didn't even have time to pack anything." The woman sighed. "If it weren't for the two pieces of clothing I grabbed on the way out, we'd probably have frozen to death by now..."

A few hours ago, Boss Xu had heard about what happened in the Second and Fourth Districts and felt things were going south, so he immediately took his family and ran, preparing to head to Aurora City overnight to seek refuge.

He knew Aurora City might not accept them, but what if? Now, they had nowhere else to go but Aurora City.

They left early and didn't hear the news about the Enforcers going to the station, so they had to choose to walk. Many people had chosen to flee to Aurora City during that time; there were many families just on Frost Street. Their speeds were about the same, moving in twos and threes along the tracks. By now, they hadn't even covered a fifth of the journey.

Seeing this, Boss Xu was silent for a long time before gritting his teeth and quickening his pace, running toward the figures walking ahead of them.

"Boss Li, Boss Li! Do you have anything left to eat? Can... can you spare me some?"

Boss Li ran a cake shop, after all; the last thing he lacked was food. In this situation, he might be the only one with supplies left.

Boss Li was also dragging his family along. He originally wanted to refuse, but seeing the child behind him struggling to walk, he took a cup-cake out of his bag and handed it to him.

"Take it. Aurora City is still far... tell the child to eat it sparingly."

Boss Xu was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly in thanks.

The child took the cake and bit off more than half in one go. Before he could take a second bite, Boss Xu snatched it away and put it aside. "Be good, we'll eat the rest later."

The child was obedient and didn't fuss, instead asking in a low voice:

"Dad... when will we reach Aurora City?"

"...It's still a long way." Boss Xu sighed. "If there were a train, we could reach it in a few hours..."

"Even if there were a train, there would definitely be many people crowding it; we might not be able to get on." Boss Li in front suddenly spoke up.

"That's true..."

"Wait, is it my imagination? Why do I feel the tracks shaking?"

Just as they were speaking, a sound like low, rumbling thunder came from behind.

Boss Xu froze for a long time, as if thinking of something.

"A train? Is it a train?!"

The many figures walking along the tracks stopped at the same time. They looked back in shock, only to see two blinding beams of light dispelling the mist. In the haze, a massive steel beast came roaring toward them!

"It really is a train!!" The woman's eyes lit up. She stood by the tracks and waved frantically. "Save us!!"

"It's a train to Aurora City!"

"Wait... why does this train only have an engine??"

Whoosh—!!

Before anyone could react, the lone locomotive roared past them, the wild wind whipping up their clothes. They stood there, dazed and empty-handed.