Chapter 21: The Night of Destiny

　　The door to the bar was suddenly and violently broken open, and a squad of loaded guards fishtailed in and immediately spread out from both sides. Bright guns were pointed at the two groups in the bar, forcing them apart. Only then did a man in a tuxedo, with a waxy face, trimmed delicate eight-pointed beard, and white gloves walk in with his hands in the air. He looked around and said in a deep voice, "What's going on here."

　　"Mr. Smith, it's obvious that Fat Lucien is causing trouble." Lucy said with a wink, then whispered in Alan's ear, "This is Smith, the building's head of security, a man of severe cleanliness. Fat, stupid guys like Lucien are just the type he hates."

　　Alan said, "Oh," and waited to see what would happen.

　　Smith looked toward the two of them, his gaze first landing on the blonde girl and said, "Ms. Lucy, haven't we been seeing a bit more of each other lately."

　　Only then did he land on Allen and nod, "Mr. Allen, you guys go ahead, I'll take care of it here."

　　Alan was a little surprised that they took Lucy's word for it without even asking. Luci tugged on his sleeve and the two left the bar in a huff. The bar resounded with Lucien's pig-killing grunts, and Luci's turquoise eyes almost narrowed into a pair of crescent moons, overflowing with laughter.

　　"They trust you." Alan said.

　　Lucy laughed and slapped Allen on the back, "Don't be silly, all corners of this building are under their surveillance. Do you think they won't know Lucien's tricks?"

　　"If that's the case, why ..." Allen frowned, thinking that these people in Smith were deliberately letting this happen.

　　"You're so naive, those people in Smith know exactly what's going on in the building. They don't care at all about competition or even friction between the players, as long as no one gets killed. On the contrary, they can record all these performances of ours as some sort of reference point."

　　Alan then remembered that when he finished his reaction training, there were indeed a few people outside the training area recording something with their Think Tanks.

　　"Hey, leave that fat pig alone." Lucy bumped him and said, "You owe me a favor, how about reconsidering being my subordinate."

　　Alan, being the kid that he is, bravadoed, "Even if you hadn't shown up, I would have been able to take care of that guy. As for the ministry and all that ..."

　　Looking at him with a smirk, Lucy's expression crossed, "Don't, you're that answer again."

　　"Like I said, don't like being someone's minion. But we can be friends ... My name is Allen."

　　Watching Ellen hold out her hand, Lucy sighed, "Well, friends will be friends."

　　"Lucy!" The young girl took Ellen in one hand and gave her name. Her eyes fell on Ellen's injured arm as she undid the ribbon that bound her hair in a ponytail. As the blonde hair loosened and cascaded down. As if a golden wave rolled over, that moment was like the rising of the sun, and the light carried by the young girl was so brilliant that it was beyond compare.

　　For a moment, Alan looked dumbfounded.

　　He didn't look back until his hand was wrapped around the ribbon. Lucy tied a cute bow around his arm and then waved her hand, "I'm off, remember to wash it and give it back to me. Friend."

　　"Where do I find you?"

　　"Here, or, meet me on the 17th floor." Leaving Alan with a sunny smile, the young girl faded away.

　　The ray of sunlight penetrated straight into the heart, as if the cold dimness of the mind had been dispelled by the light.

　　In the bar, Lucien and a couple of teenagers were taken away. Cooder, who was more seriously injured, was taken directly to treatment, and Smith was standing in a corner of the bar, a few drops of blood fishy and bright on the floor at his feet. Smith crouched down and slipped a test tube in his sleeve. He drew a handkerchief from his blouse and wiped it across the floor before stuffing the whole blood-stained handkerchief into the test tube.

　　With a shake of his hand, the test tube slipped back into his sleeve, and the head of security stood up like nothing had happened, not moving to leave.

　　Upon returning to his office, Smith called for a minder. Taking the test tube out, he gently placed it on the table and said, "Go and give this to Mr. Hessing, the butler of the Beskolds, and tell him that this is what he needs."

　　The minders nodded, put the test tubes in their pockets, and left quietly.

　　It was night when Smith's confidant went into a hotel, got a room, and put the test tubes in the room's private secret box. Having done this he left immediately, and ten minutes later the room was opened. A man wearing a felt hat and a long black coat walked in. As if he knew the combination to the safe, he quickly opened it and took out the test tubes and put them into a suitcase.

　　Carrying the box to the lobby, he handed the box to the lobby manager and lowered his voice, "Immediately use the samples inside to send it for a genetic comparison, and the object of the comparison, is Master Horn."

　　"Got it, sir." The manager nodded.

　　The night was deep, and looking up from the floating island, the moon hanging in the firmament in the far sky appeared much more massive. On Babylon, one could even see those magnificent mountains on the moon. The light of the moon was cast upon this floating island, but was dispersed by other rays of every color. The cities of Babylon were brightly lit and filled with songs and laughter. The floating island was always so lively and bustling, and the broken and lonely surface was like two worlds.

　　As the man in black stepped out of the quiet street where the inn was located, he came face to face with two drunken men. The man in black cautiously stepped aside as the two men raised their bottles toward him and said, "Care for a sip, sir?"

　　"No, thanks." The man in black turned to leave, the noisy voices of two drunken men ringing out behind him. As for himself, he quickly blended into the busy streets where people came and went. In the distance, an unknown tavern resounded with the stirring and surging "Song of the Great Age". Many people chorused in unison in response to the tune, yet no one knew that just on this seemingly ordinary night. In the song of the world's destiny, another low melody was quietly inserted.

　　Just as Smith was making a secret remittance for a new long string of numbers to his account, Allen was in his bedroom opening one of the books that Hughton had given him. The pages were yellowed, the paper even more worn, and it looked like it had been turned over quite a few times for Hughton.

　　Turning the cover, on the title page there is only one sentence: the result is always more important than the process, and the victory is always more honorable than the failure. As long as you win, who cares if you used dishonorable means in the process. The important thing is that you can survive, and live to the end!

　　This book contains almost all those great battles that the famous generals of all generations have experienced since the establishment of the Earth Federation that are great enough to be recorded in the history books. It was with the accumulation of these battles that the present life of mankind came into being. Only a few of the battles recorded in the book had taken place on Earth, while the others had taken place in expeditions to foreign lands. The generals who presided over these battles were all wise and courageous, and there was no shortage of people who were both wise and courageous.

　　But no matter which type of famous generals, their battles can basically be summarized into four words: soldiers are not deceitful.

　　As one of the generals said, "A wise general will use every means to try to attack from the enemy's rear or flank. As for those who clamor for a decisive battle from the front there are only two kinds of people. One kind is the one who sits on an absolute advantage and intends to add one more military medal to his body. The other was the arrogant and ignorant fools. The former advantage is obvious, pretending to be generous. The latter are foolhardy, and such people have long since been crushed into dust under the wheels of the times!"

　　Needless to say, some of the battles in the book were extremely intriguing, and it sent a little chill down Allen's back to read them. At the end of some of the battles, there were also notes by Hughton, which pointed to the lower limit of meanness and shamelessness. At the end of the book, the words of Osarite, a famous general of the Federation, were used as the closing words.

　　Perhaps some of our actions will leave a legacy of scorn for generations to come. But those who revile us, please don't forget, without what we have done. Perhaps, you don't even have the chance to spit on us. There is no justice in war!

　　Looking at the words, Alan's tiny mind was once again shaken to its core.

　　As he closed the book, Tonisoff arrived. Allen arrived in the hall just as he saw the Ensign directing several soldiers to bring in boxes of stuff. Allen walked over and looked at the boxes and said, "What are these?"

　　"This is some good stuff." Tonisoff gleefully opened the seal on one of the crates, and then opened the crate again, and inside were two neatly arranged rows of fruit. They were red and plain, with water dripping from the surface of the fruit leaves, as if they had just been picked from the tree.

　　Allen's eyes lit up and hesitated, "Is this ... apple?"

　　On the surface, the environment was starting to recover, but there was still some time before vegetables and fruits could be grown. Alan had once eaten an apple that was still a smuggled item that Lanie had bought from some black merchant. He still remembered the fruit that didn't look like it had much water left, but still had so much tartness and sweetness when he bit into it, and it was a delicacy that he would still be recalling a few years later.

　　Now that he saw so many at once, Allen was a bit overwhelmed. But looking closely, these fruits and apples seem to be so different, its skin leaves are thinner, as if you can see the brightly colored flesh inside.

　　"These aren't apples." Tornisph then lifted one out of the box and shoved it at Alan, "Try one, they're absolutely delicious."

　　Allen took a bite as the rinds entered his mouth along with the pulp. They almost melted in the mouth, turning into a stream of clear and sweet pulp that flowed down the esophagus and into Alan's body. Allen suddenly felt that the source power in his body was trembling slightly, and there seemed to be some kind of resonance between them and this strange fruit.

　　"Hmph, fire berries. Tonisf, when did your boy become so generous." Hughton, who was lying drunk on the table on one side, suddenly said.

　　Tonisoff's sultry eyeshadowed face looked like it was glowing as he said with a wide-eyed grin, "Because these are the prizes of my baby Ellen!"