Sea of Plundered Kisses

An Yu‍‌‍​​​​‌‍​⁠‍⁠‌​​⁠​‍​‌‍‌‌ recovered from the morning’s madness. Zhao Ran was scrutinizing him with a faint smile, then snorted lightly. “Even ordinary companies forbid employee romance. I really don’t know how Black Tower tolerates you two.”

He was joking, but there was no mirth in his tone. Those bright, moving eyes gazed at the heavy snow outside the window. After a long while, he let out a soft sigh.

“An Yu.” Zhao Ran curled his legs up on the sofa and asked in a low voice, “With such heavy snow, can black roses still grow in the swamp?”

“I don’t know.” An Yu pressed his lips together. “You can go see for yourself. Otherwise, how long do you plan to stay in the Spire?”

“Until the day the calamity ends, I suppose. Didn’t he say Protectors prove the Dao with their bodies? I have to prove the Dao for him before leaving.” Zhao Ran turned back. “If Qin Zhilu dies, you will definitely leave the Spire, right?”

An Yu nodded.

He would leave immediately. The valuable things had already been packed and hidden in advance.

“Then what will you do? Continue running your bakery?”

An Yu shook his head. “Probably find a quiet place to sleep.”

“Sleep?” Zhao Ran raised an eyebrow in surprise. “And after waking up?”

An Yu thought for a moment. “Eat bread.”

“And then?”

“Sleep again.”

“…..” Zhao Ran took a deep breath. “Leaving the Spire to be managed by someone like you… I see humanity will never wait for the day the calamity ends.”

Speaking of this, An Yu clicked open the chat box with Codex again. Although relying on a “charlatan” in the face of calamity seemed unreliable, he firmly believed Codex wasn’t an ordinary charlatan.

Unfortunately, he had sent countless messages in the past few days, and Codex hadn’t replied to a single one.

“No one knows where he went.” Zhao Ran said helplessly, “When Sienna’s incident first happened, Tang Feng wanted to find him to help control the situation, but he was just about to leave the Spire, saying some existence was stirring and he felt his latent ability was about to awaken.”

An Yu asked immediately, “What ability?”

“Is that what you should focus on? You actually believe it?” Zhao Ran was astonished. “Forget it. He’s just a whimsical booklet. He hasn’t awakened any useful ability for so long. Suppressed by the high command for too long… oh right, isn’t that bird assistant of yours in the Spire the same? Old as he is, fantasizing about awakening new abilities every day.”

An Yu was speechless. It took him a while to say, “Codex and Billy are different.”

“Different how?” Zhao Ran laughed, his eyes curving slightly, exuding charm. “Oh right, Codex is gentle and cute, a likable booklet, unlike that chattering old bird.”

An Yu fell silent, knowing he couldn’t out-talk Zhao Ran, and buried his head in reading the battle reports sent back from all over the world.

The latest communication came from the Sea of Plundered Kisses.

The Chaos Reaction on the sea was becoming increasingly magnificent. The neighboring Bait City had been completely absorbed. More than one-third of the sea surface had turned into a solidified chaos vortex.

Half of the Ocean-type Protectors were dead or injured. Deep Reverence wrote in the communication that she had asked everyone to return.

“The Chaos Reaction in the ocean is different from the Swamp and the Sky. To tell the truth, Chao Wu and I tried to enter the center of the reaction vortex, but we couldn’t be absorbed successfully. This chaos reaction already has a stable core and won’t be easily seized by Protectors. We suspect its controller is the underwater temple.

“But the temple cannot be touched, nor does it show signs of life. It is like a triggered compass, crazy but directionless, as if waiting, but no one knows what exactly it is waiting for.

“The Spire can no longer tolerate meaningless sacrifices. Other Protectors are about to withdraw. Chao Wu and I will stay in the deep sea, quietly watching for the end of this Chaos Reaction.

“I’m sorry. Chao Wu and I tried our best to sacrifice ourselves to it, but it had no interest in us.”

An Yu read the message word by word, then couldn’t help but click open the video sent back from the Sea of Plundered Kisses not long ago.

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The aberrant genes were fully expressed. Sharp dorsal fins protruded from between the woman’s shoulder blades. Her lower body had completely sharkified, sinking slowly.

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The suffocating feeling of death surged through the lens. Until the drone could go no deeper, that beautiful face shrank bit by bit, completely disappearing into the dark seabed.

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The last part of the video was all Chao Wu’s crying. Rose-red long hair covered the entire beach. She sat on her knees in the middle, holding the barely breathing Deep Reverence, wailing loudly.

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A few minutes later, Qin Zhilu replied with a simple “Mhm,” without adding any instructions.

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“Don’t wait for An Yu. It’s not him being called here.”

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Codex was still holding that old manuscript. He squatted down and placed the manuscript on the beach, then gently placed a hand on Deep Reverence’s shoulder, smiling at her.

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The Commander’s original name was Celia. Almost no one in the Spire called her that, so much so that even she almost forgot this name.

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“Why?” Chao Wu asked in a daze.

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Endless cognition and secrets were flipped through chaotically by the wind on those pages. Codex’s gentle voice was also carried somewhat ethereally, sounding as if it came into Chao Wu’s ears from far away.

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“The Main City is waiting for your return.” Codex smiled comfortingly. “Especially Bo. He will be very happy if you return safe and sound.”

Chao Wu asked in astonishment, “What happened to Bo? What happened in the Sky?”

Codex didn’t answer, turning to continue walking towards the coastline.

The book on the beach disappeared after a gust of wind, and soon appeared in his hand far away. Chao Wu stared blankly for a long time before suddenly remembering hearing that the manuscript was Codex’s fate. He couldn’t break free, nor did he want to break free anymore.

He and that manuscript had become one, unable to be separated too far or too long.

Only before the manuscript disappeared, the wind turned the book to the last page. She vaguely saw a few words written in a wild, hurried cursive in the corner.

—This book contains all things.

Author’s Note:

Snowflake fragments
[Deep Reverence (2/2)]
[Sleep deep in the seabed]

I have knelt by the beach in the sunset many times, kissing the ocean.

The high-fin shark cannot embrace the deep sea; this is a great regret.

But in the Sea of Plundered Kisses, I touched it.

Chao Wu rooted herself in the seabed, binding me, or my corpse.

Binding me tightly, tightly downwards.

Although fate ultimately saved me.

But I remember the last image before my consciousness faded.

So the seabed is such pure darkness, never seeing the light of day.

In that moment, I had no fear, because such an ending isn’t bad either.

Let humanity return to the light, let me sleep deep in the seabed.

Snowflake fragments
[Chao Wu (3/3)]
[Come into My Arms]

In the Sea of Plundered Kisses, I exploded all my spores.

Rose-red algae spread on the seabed, rooting deeply, growing madly.

I used myself to bind the person whose life was flowing away rapidly, inch by inch.

My Commander, my sister.

You decided to leave for humanity, so let me hold you and leave together.

It has always been Sister holding me for comfort; this time, it’s your turn to come into my arms.

A long time later, Zhao Ran asked if there would be regrets dying on the seabed.

I don’t remember clearly.

But if there were any regrets, when my body was freezing cold, I did think—

The days of drinking cola with Bo on the top floor of the Spire, I want to experience that one more time.

M1zushi: I’ll change shen yang’s name to deep reverence in other chapters since this snowflake fragment adds context to it