Lansi followed Wen Yu, watching him lead the elite troops through the battlefield like an unstoppable force.
The elite troops were completely different from ordinary soldiers. Every member had undergone physical enhancement, supposedly through injections administered by the Alliance.
Before entering combat, they equipped themselves with armor resembling mechs. With those enhancements alone, almost every soldier could fight a mutated jackal barehanded.
As a result, Lansi and a single ordinary reserve soldier looked terribly out of place among the heavily armed unit.
Even so, none of the elite soldiers showed the slightest impatience. Everyone did their best to protect Lansi as they advanced toward the sea.
They moved like a wolf pack, with Wen Yu at the front, fierce and unwavering.
But Wen Yu himself was even more terrifying than the rest of the elites.
He did not wear a mech at all. Instead, he stepped directly onto the battlefield with his bare body.
Occasionally, injuries would appear on him during the fight, but he never cared. The wounds healed almost immediately afterward.
Soon, the group climbed over the high wall.
But after crossing it, Lansi fell silent at the sight before him.
Outside the wall, whales and humans were tangled together in blood and torn flesh.
This was no battlefield.
It was a slaughterhouse where no one could possibly emerge victorious.
"Go, Lansi."
Wen Yu reached out and gently stroked Lansi's face.
"Go to the sea. And once you return there… remember to go home."
A sudden wave of sadness surged through Lansi.
He knew Wen Yu was only a clone, and that Wen Yu intended to abandon this body. But no matter how calmly he phrased it, abandoning the body still meant death.
And death was never something easy to accept.
"Why are you making such a sad face?"
Seeing Lansi's expression, Wen Yu's gaze softened even further.
"Go already. Don't look back."
Lansi nodded. Then, gritting his teeth, he passed Wen Yu and ran toward the shoreline.
Outside the high wall, the ground was covered in flesh and blood. As he ran, his shoes sank into the gore, making wet squelching sounds with every step.
Along the way, he spotted several mutated beasts secretly gnawing on corpses near the roadside.
Most of them were emaciated and weak, lacking the courage or strength to climb over the high wall. They could only scavenge scraps from the outskirts of the battlefield.
The moment they noticed Lansi approaching, the creatures immediately retreated in fear. Their instincts warned them that he was a natural predator they could not afford to provoke.
[I—D—A—Turtle—Turtle—]
At that moment, the turtle cautiously poked its head out from Lansi's pocket. Seeing the corpses and blood scattered across the ground, it let out a shocked exclamation.
Even after living for hundreds of years, it had clearly never witnessed a slaughter this horrific.
Lansi stepped around the corpses, crossed the rocky shoreline, and finally reached the sea.
Countless whales still crowded the water's edge. They cried mournfully in the shallows as blood poured into the ocean, dyeing the surrounding seawater crimson.
Lansi watched the scene anxiously.
There was barely any space left in the water. The whales' massive bodies almost completely filled the coastline. If he jumped in recklessly, he might be crushed to death immediately.
[Wait. Don't go down yet. I'll call my friend.]
The turtle suddenly sped up its speech to thirty-two times its normal speed. The words came out in a rapid stream of crackling sounds, leaving Lansi completely stunned.
"What?"
For a moment, Lansi thought he had misheard it.
[People always get nervous when they're nervous.]
The turtle shook its head seriously.
[If you don't understand, then stop talking.]
Lansi stared at it blankly.
Seeing how serious the turtle looked, and hearing it speak at an absurdly fast speed, he finally crouched down obediently.
After some thought, he carefully took the turtle out of his pocket, placed it on a nearby rock, and squatted beside it, silently watching what it intended to do.
The turtle climbed out of its shell and stood proudly on the rock. Then it waved its front flippers dramatically through the air before stretching out its neck, looking almost as if it were performing some ancient ritual.
About five minutes later, a seagull suddenly dropped from the sky.
[Buy—!]
Lansi: "..."
[You're still obsessing over whether to buy things or not.]
The turtle sighed helplessly before turning toward the small seagull.
[Alright, I need your help with something now.]
The seagull itself was not particularly large. If anything, it was simply rounder than an ordinary seagull, making it look unexpectedly cute.
However, the seagull carried the unmistakable aura of a powerful boss.
Lansi stared at it for a long time but ultimately did not dare touch it.
He was afraid of getting pecked.
The seagull glanced at Lansi arrogantly before landing directly on top of his communicator.
[Buy—]
Lansi instinctively touched the communicator, then turned to the turtle in confusion.
[Oh, it wants your communication device.]
The turtle explained seriously.
[My friend likes making trades and especially likes shiny things.]
"Then… can it really send me to the sea?"
Lansi looked hesitantly at the seagull in front of him.
If he gave away his communicator and still failed to reach the ocean, that would be an enormous loss.
After hearing Lansi's question, the seagull looked at him with utter contempt before suddenly crying out toward the sky.
Five minutes later, two giant seagulls as large as Lansi himself descended behind him.
And they were not alone.
The giant seagulls had brought an entire flock with them.
In an instant, seagulls surrounded Lansi from every direction, their overlapping cries of [Buy! Buy! Buy!] echoing noisily across the beach.
Lansi: "..."
[Standing behind you is my friend's family.]
The turtle explained dutifully.
[They like humans, so they didn't attack people this time.]
The seagull perched on the rock was clearly the leader of the flock.
After summoning the giant seagulls, the boss seagull raised its head proudly and stared at Lansi.
[Buy?]
Lansi glanced at the enormous seagulls behind him, then lowered his eyes to the communicator in his hand.
Finally, gritting his teeth, he removed it and handed it over.
"Deal."
The boss seagull immediately looked satisfied and cried toward the giant seagulls behind it:
[Buy—!]
The next second, the entire flock launched into the air at once.
Amid the storm of white feathers, Lansi was grabbed under the arms by one of the giant seagulls and lifted straight into the sky—
"AHHHHHHHHH—!"
Lansi screamed as he was carried into the air.
Meanwhile, the turtle was picked up by a group of smaller seagulls and flown along beside him.
Once the flock had departed, the boss seagull standing on the rock looked down at the communicator in satisfaction.
Using its claws, it proudly grabbed the shiny device before flying back toward its nest with the swagger of a true gang leader.
A successful trade.
The boss seagull was very pleased.
[How—Can—Birds—Love—How—They—Can—Fall—In—Love—With—The—Fish—In—The—Water]
The turtle happily sang nonsense in midair.
Then, with a loud splash, the flock of seagulls threw both Lansi and the turtle directly into the sea.
"Gurgle—!"
Lansi had still been screaming when he hit the water, causing him to swallow several mouthfuls of seawater on impact.
When he finally surfaced again, all he could see were the retreating seagulls flying away in the distance while shouting their endless cries of [Buy! Buy! Buy!], leaving only flashes of their white tails behind.
As expected of hooligans among birds.
Lansi wiped the seawater from his face and sighed.
[Ha—ha—ha—back—home—ha—]
The little turtle seemed extremely happy as well. It circled around Lansi excitedly, even its speaking speed becoming noticeably faster.
Lansi smiled briefly at the turtle, but quickly remembered the task at hand.
Without wasting another second, he removed the rest of his clothes. His legs transformed into a long white fishtail beneath the water.
He had returned to his true form as a mermaid.
[Wow—So—Pretty—So—Bright—]
The dazzling white fishtail shimmered beneath the sea like a diamond, leaving the little turtle utterly amazed at Lansi's complete mermaid form.
Lansi removed everything unnecessary from his body before surfacing again. He placed the little turtle carefully on top of his head, then turned toward the distant whales and began to sing.
The mermaid's song drifted across the ocean.
It was ethereal and lingering, rising slowly from beneath the surface like sea mist—soft enough to scatter with the wind, yet somehow everywhere at once.
There seemed to be a soothing magic hidden within the melody.
The whales that had been relentlessly crashing against the high wall gradually calmed down. Their agonized cries slowly faded away.
Even the marine creatures battling the army appeared to receive some silent command as they began retreating like the tide itself.
"Woooo—"
The whales began to sing in response.
And this time, their song no longer sounded filled with pain.
The whales answered the ethereal song in their own language.
One by one, the whales stranded near the shore slowly turned around, preparing to return to the sea.
Lansi did not dare relax for even a moment.
He feared that the sound of his singing would be drowned out by the crashing waves, so he climbed onto the nearest rock with the little turtle perched on his head. Flicking his tail, he continued singing without pause.
He used the mermaid's song to guide the whales back toward the ocean.
…
"Oh my God… did you see that?"
Inside a small black control room somewhere atop the high wall, Matt shouted in disbelief. He stared at the surveillance screen as though his entire worldview had just been shattered and rebuilt.
"So mermaids really do exist?!"
The others in the maintenance team stared at the footage with equally complicated expressions, silently nodding.
Thinking about it carefully, it almost made sense. After all, the apocalypse was already full of bizarre mutated creatures. The existence of a mermaid no longer seemed impossible.
One of them watched the figure on the screen for a long while before speaking softly:
"He saved us."
The others nodded again.
None of them were fools. It was obvious that the moment the mermaid began singing, the marine creatures attacking humanity abandoned the assault and retreated back into the sea.
"Stop staring and get down here to help!"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cramped control room, Michael was buried beneath a mess of cables.
Ever since arriving, he had not spared even a second to watch the surveillance footage. Instead, he rushed straight to the underground wiring system, desperately trying to restart the power grid as quickly as possible.
While checking the computer beside him, he wiped the sweat from his face.
"Since there's no immediate danger, stop watching and help me already! Hurry!"
Lines of data flashed rapidly across the monitor while the progress bar advanced steadily.
The people inside the small black room were Michael and the repair team assigned to restore the high wall's electrical grid.
Michael had always been someone who acted quickly.
After confessing everything to Li Si, he immediately went to the marshal and proposed his plan.
The marshal had been genuinely surprised.
The army desperately needed engineers willing to reach the high wall and restart the power grid, but they had still been struggling to find volunteers. They never expected someone to step forward on his own.
Because of the mission's extreme danger, the marshal personally approved Michael's request and assigned a team to escort him to the control room on the high wall.
The whale attack had destroyed the grid system, and someone needed to manually reactivate it.
Michael, who had volunteered himself, was the most suitable candidate.
"Whether you succeed or not, all of you are heroes."
The marshal looked at Michael, who was organizing his equipment, his expression filled with both relief and admiration.
"I'm proud of you."
But Michael paid little attention to the marshal's words.
He was not doing this for humanity's future.
Nor did he care about becoming some so-called "hero."
In the end, he was still selfish.
He was only doing this for himself.
Michael's team had been divided into two groups.
One group followed him into the control room to repair the system, while the other went to clear away the whales' corpses near the wall.
According to Michael's calculations, once the whale carcasses were removed, the power grid could be restarted successfully.
And his calculations had been brutally cold.
The two groups split apart at a crossroads. Michael headed toward the control room while the soldiers marched off to clear the whale corpses.
Just before leaving, Michael turned back to glance at the soldiers walking toward the carcasses.
According to his estimates, their survival rate was less than one percent.
It was practically a suicide mission.
Yet every soldier remained calm and indifferent, as though they were merely carrying out an ordinary assignment.
Even though the entire operation was built upon human sacrifice.
Knowing they would likely never return, the soldiers still advanced without hesitation toward the whale corpses.
Michael and the others silently watched the fierce battle unfolding in the distance around the carcasses.
Everyone understood one thing—
They had to succeed.
Too many mutated creatures and plants had already entered through the breach in the high wall. They prowled recklessly across the structure like predators searching for prey.
Fortunately, Michael's group reached the control room quickly. Before the marine creatures could attack them, they rushed inside and slammed the heavy door shut.
The small black room had only one entrance.
Michael and the others hid inside, listening to the scratching and scraping sounds outside as creatures clawed against the metal door.
Everyone's heart hung in their throat.
If the door gave way, they would be exposed to the mutant creatures outside.
And what awaited them then would only be death—becoming food for the beasts and plants roaming the high wall.
At that moment, everyone believed they were going to die.
Michael believed it too.
What Michael found most difficult to understand was why his brother Matt had followed him here.
Wasn't Matt the one who feared death the most?
Michael pondered the question suspiciously.
But soon, his attention was completely occupied by the countless tangled cables on the floor, leaving him no time to think about anything else.
Then, at the crucial moment, a white-tailed mermaid appeared upon the sea and used its song to lure away the marine creatures attacking them.
The harsh scratching noises outside the control room finally disappeared.
At last, they were safe.
Michael focused all his attention on repairing the power grid.
Then, under the team's excited gaze, he pressed the activation button and restarted the entire system.
"Crack—!"
A piercing surge of electricity roared through the high wall as the entire power grid came back to life.
Mutant beasts that had stepped onto the grid before retreating were instantly charred black by the current the moment the power returned.
Mutant birds attempting to fly over the wall slammed directly into the transparent magnetic field above it, their bodies torn apart on impact.
The restored power grid dramatically reduced the pressure on the human forces and successfully blocked the creatures trying to invade.
The reserve soldiers and frontline troops finally breathed a sigh of relief and began launching a counterattack.
And the true heroes behind all of this were the people inside the small black room.
Watching the human army push back the beasts through the surveillance screens, the entire room suddenly erupted into cheers.
Matt excitedly wrapped an arm around Michael and loudly introduced him to everyone:
"From now on, he'll be the hero of the entire Alliance! Oh, right—this is my brother, Michael!"
Standing proudly beside him, Matt grinned broadly.
"My brother is a genius!"
Everyone immediately burst into applause.
To them, Michael truly was both a genius and a hero.
At first, Michael felt genuinely happy. He accepted everyone's praise with excitement.
But his suspicious nature quickly resurfaced.
The moment he realized Matt was still standing beside him, the joy in his heart instantly vanished without a trace.
His expression darkened as he subtly stepped away from Matt.
He hated hearing Matt call attention to their relationship at a moment like this.
If anyone here became curious enough to investigate the connection between him and Matt afterward, they would undoubtedly discover problems with Michael's identity.
"Let's head back quickly."
Michael's voice carried a hint of impatience.
"Oh, right, right. It's too dangerous here."
Matt seemed not to notice Michael's sudden shift in mood at all. Recovering from his excitement, he turned to the others and said:
"Let's go back."
The rest of the group did not notice anything unusual either. Since the mission had been completed successfully, everyone agreed immediately.
The team cleaned up the small control room before checking the surrounding area through the surveillance system.
After confirming that no marine creatures were hiding nearby, they cautiously opened the door.
Outside, everything appeared empty, and the stairway leading downward was completely clear.
Not daring to waste time, the group quickly began retracing their path.
As they descended halfway, excitement gradually overtook everyone.
Seeing the ground getting closer and closer caused them to relax their guard—including Michael.
Even the soldiers escorting the team let out relieved breaths. Their vigilance dropped noticeably as everyone eagerly anticipated returning to the command post and announcing their success.
And at that exact moment—
A mutated leopard suddenly lunged out from the side and tore into one of the team members.
The man did not even have time to scream.
Its claws ripped open his throat instantly, spraying blood high into the air.
Everything happened far too quickly. The soldiers carrying guns froze completely, their minds blank as they forgot even to raise their weapons.
For a brief second, everyone thought what they were seeing could not possibly be real.
But the leopard did not stop.
Its actions looked less like hunting and more like vengeance.
After tearing apart the first victim's throat, the beast used the corpse as a foothold and launched itself directly toward Michael.
The dead man's body had not even collapsed yet. His eyes remained wide open, as though he still had not understood what had happened.
Michael could not react in time.
He stood frozen in place, staring helplessly as the enormous leopard lunged at him, all his attention fixed upon its blood-soaked jaws.
Michael could already imagine those bloody jaws tearing straight through his throat.
He could even smell the stench of blood on the leopard.
And just as fear rooted him to the spot, someone beside him suddenly moved—
A figure flashed past.
Someone rushed directly at the leopard without the slightest hesitation for his own life.
The beast clearly had not expected anyone to charge at it head-on. In an instant, the person and the leopard collided violently.
Accompanied by the leopard's furious roar, the two tumbled together down the staircase, smashing through the railing before plummeting from the towering height.
"Boom!"
A deafening crash echoed below.
Everyone stared helplessly as the man and the leopard hit the ground together.
The leopard twitched violently a few times before going still, blood slowly spreading beneath its body.
And the man who had thrown himself at it lay motionless atop the beast, his fate unknown.
The entire sequence lasted less than five seconds.
Too fast for anyone to process.
Michael lowered his head and looked at the blood staining the ground below.
Then, suddenly, a scream unlike anything human tore from his throat.
The rest of the team finally snapped back to reality, panic flooding their faces.
But Michael no longer cared about anyone else.
He no longer cared whether more mutant creatures were waiting along the way.
Adrenaline surged through his body as a single thought consumed him—
Get down there.
The only thing stopping him from jumping directly off the staircase was the last shred of reason he still possessed.
Shoving past everyone, Michael sprinted downward.
The broken railing was at least five stories above the ground. Falling from that height should have been impossible to survive.
When Michael finally rushed down, drenched in sweat, he saw Matt lying atop the leopard.
Matt's face had already turned pale like yellowed paper, blood slowly dripping from the corner of his mouth.
But those green eyes stubbornly refused to close.
They remained fixed on Michael the entire time.
Under Matt's gaze, Michael dropped to his knees beside him.
He wanted to touch him.
But he did not dare.
"Yo… pretty fast."
When Michael reached him, Matt struggled to roll his eyes toward him and forced out a smile uglier than crying.
"Looks like… I'm dying."
The only reason he had survived the fall at all was because the leopard's body had cushioned the impact for him.
But that protection had meant very little.
Almost every bone in Matt's body was shattered, and his internal organs were bleeding heavily.
The reason he had not yet lost consciousness was simply because he was surviving on his final breath.
"Lansi."
Matt called Michael by his real name.
His voice was weak but gentle as he motioned for Michael to lean closer.
Michael immediately grabbed his hand, crying like a child.
"Brother…"
"The account number is 15436xx… and the password is your birthday."
Matt used all his remaining strength to force out the words.
The light in his green eyes gradually dimmed.
"The money you gave me… it's all inside… Go live your life properly… Don't end up like me…"
After speaking, Matt—whose real name was Wright—looked deeply at Michael one final time.
Then he slowly closed his eyes.
There had clearly been many more things he wanted to say.
But time no longer allowed it.
"Brother…"
Michael froze for a second before screaming Wright's name in despair, crying so hard he nearly lost consciousness.
And in that moment, Michael finally understood why someone as terrified of death as Wright had still chosen to follow him here in the end.
When they were children, food had been so scarce that the brothers often fought desperately over a single piece of bread.
Michael rarely got seriously hurt because Wright always took the worst of the beatings for him.
"I don't have any talents anyway. I can only fight."
Every time afterward, Wright would return bruised and swollen like a pig's head while Michael escaped with only minor injuries.
Then Wright would split the stolen bread in half and shove part of it into Michael's hands before grumbling:
"You just need to protect that smart brain of yours."
Back then, Michael had hated hearing those words.
He had always believed that whether Wright helped him steal bread or scavenged electronic scraps for him, it was only because Wright wanted to use Michael's talent to make money.
But now—
Now he finally understood.
Michael thought bitterly that his brother really had been the most annoying person in the world.