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墨書 Inktalez
New Era of Humanity in the Apocalypse
If the situation was truly as he described, without any deceit involved, then his past had indeed been quite miserable. He never expected to find himself in a cell, yet there were still many things left unspoken; his story was far from complete.
After a moment of silence, Ross continued with his eyes closed, "I remember one night when I joined the old team after going through seven different groups. It was the Eighth Squad, Hunter Team. The name of the Commander was Fengye. She was an unfortunate and wicked Commander who recruited me and made me the Vice Captain of the team. The fates of those people would later change as well."
Ross carried on, slowly unfolding his story. Some parts were clearly edited by him, intentionally vague, but it was evident that he wasn't withholding information out of malice; rather, he struggled to articulate certain details. If he were to recount everything precisely, it would feel like coercing a confession. He likely had no intention of getting trapped in such a situation.
Indeed, if he clarified everything so explicitly, it would resemble an interrogation about past events. One could only wonder why he had the courage to bring these matters up now; perhaps he truly regarded them as comrades. This team had been one where he experienced great joy and never thought about leaving.
As the story progressed, it quickly approached its conclusion. Those painful memories were recounted bit by bit. Observers could see clearly while listeners absorbed the gravity of the tale. Although the plot was filled with ups and downs and was quite thrilling, listening to a story was far simpler than experiencing such dire situations firsthand. The characters involved were not merely figures in a tale; for instance, during that Survey Mission involving mushrooms, the Eighth Hunter Team had faced similar challenges even earlier. Thanks to that grim experience, Ross concluded that their later formation of the 116th Hunter Team resulted in zero casualties. That earlier mission seemed to have claimed many lives—over half of those involved perished.
It was truly chilling to hear; the victory from that mission came at the cost of what could only be described as a failure. No wonder Ross felt burdened by guilt upon revisiting those places; back then, he likely never considered how dire things were—he must have been terrified by the climate at the treetops and the unusual changes occurring around them.
The anomalies they encountered were things that should never have existed in a rational mind's thinking. As they delved deeper, even more terrifying phenomena remained unexposed. They might have taken shortcuts that spared them from some horrors; however, the Eighth Hunter Team genuinely faced all sorts of terrors—unimaginable natural occurrences and bizarre Plant Legions—any one of which could annihilate an ordinary team.
At that time, the association's structure was quite chaotic. Even with Hilbert holding the position of President, his advancing age saw increasing opposition from below. Coupled with the aging Golden and Silver Elders, even strict rule enforcement seemed increasingly futile.
Now, this temporary stability felt precious; yet no one could have imagined encountering scenarios as terrifying as those found in movie scripts—it truly seemed surreal.
Once Ross finished his tale, he took a deep breath. "The story is over. What are your thoughts? If you don't want to be wiped out because of me, you can issue an eviction order now. My fate is like that of a cursed star; anyone who shows me kindness ends up suffering for it. That's why I've always acted alone. There have been a few teams I could lead, but their good fortune has always been stripped away. How many can truly end well?" Ross scoffed disdainfully.
Those listening instinctively fell silent after hearing his entire story. Xiong Tai remained quiet, his gaze distant as if lost in thought. Although he had listened to some parts of Ross's tale earlier, it seemed he had his own concerns weighing on him. What on earth was happening in this world? If bears could ponder such things, could sows also climb trees?
“Xiong Tai, you seemed lost in thought just now. Were you thinking about something?” Freyr noticed something was off with Xiong Tai and immediately turned the conversation over to him.
Xiong Tai snapped out of his daze and began to stutter, “Uh, um, I haven't really figured things out yet. But after hearing your story, my perception of you has changed. You’re quite the person with a story to tell. Your flamboyance seems to be directed at others rather than yourself. Well, I really don’t know what to say. The situation is far from what we imagined, but now it’s better. You have me—no, you have all of us! Your bad luck should end here.”
“Exactly! Shouldn’t we face our challenges together? I don’t think it’s just your bad luck; all that talk about being a cursed star is just other people’s opinions. As long as you do your best in your own matters, that’s what truly counts. You shouldn’t worry about what others think,” Freyr replied.
“Yeah, listening to you all makes me feel much better. I was actually thinking that if I really wasn’t suited for this job, I might consider retiring. But I’ve decided to postpone that thought. We need to analyze the current situation before us. The road ahead will surely be winding and difficult; I wonder if everyone is prepared for that.” Ross felt a warmth inside as he spoke, and his words were particularly uplifting.
There were no other thoughts; the atmosphere felt warm and encouraging.
“It seems like the mission is clear now. After listening for so long, I feel like clarity equals being led to the execution ground,” Nosty chimed in after waking from his silence. “If I don’t put in the effort, it feels like someone could replace me at any moment. It’s truly unexpected.” He had been listening to the stories but hadn’t realized tears had begun to form in his eyes. He rarely cried, but those stories were too real—so many lives lost, so many warriors fallen.
Nosty, who was inherently kind-hearted, felt a strong sense of guilt for the first time. Although he hadn’t caused those deaths—after all, he hadn’t even been born yet at that time—he couldn’t shake off the intense dissatisfaction stemming from the age difference. He wished he could be assigned a mission sooner rather than later.
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