Ah Mo

Chu Ling looked around, but many of the documents had already blurred to the point of being unreadable. However, she could vaguely make out that they were all linked to the Gu family. GS—so that airline also belonged to the Gu family.

Did the Gu family already possess a certain level of power before the Empire?

The novel had very little description of the Empire's creation. It was only known that in the early days of its founding, the Empire had been established by three major families together.

The current royal family, the Chu family, held supreme power.

The Gu family controlled the Empire's technology.

And the Xiao family commanded the military.

The royal family had always held the highest authority. However, the current political situation had changed. The present emperor was the second-generation ruler. Though only in his fifties, he had been frail and sickly for a long time. He had only one daughter, who had lived in the palace all her life, and no one had ever seen her true appearance.

By now, she should be in her twenties. But no one knew what kind of person this princess was. The emperor had protected her too well, to the point that no one knew anything about her at all.

It was precisely because this emperor was far softer than the previous one that the situation had become so chaotic.

These corpses had been burned completely. Even if Chu Ling wanted to investigate, it was impossible. This had happened sixty years ago—how could it be easily traced? Chu Ling didn't know why these people had come here in the first place, but in the end, they had all died in this lightless underground, leaving not even their bones behind.

"May you rest in peace."

Chu Ling grabbed a handful of dirt and sprinkled it over their remains.

Mu Lin had been watching Chu Ling the entire time. Working for the Gu family, working for the Empire—one rarely saw anyone show such compassion. Chu Ling seemed to be someone who acted purely for personal gain, yet she still sympathized with the dead. A person like this must be kind deep down.

People from the lower city only wanted to survive. That was why they had no choice but to live like dogs. But if they could both survive and retain their dignity, who wouldn't want that? Mu Lin actually envied Ah Hu and the others. At least their relationship with Chu Ling wasn't that of master and dog.

In Chu Ling's eyes, both upper-city and lower-city people were the same. She treated them equally.

Mu Lin had never seen such a gaze before. Lower-city people either resented the upper-city people or sought to flatter them. But Chu Ling had neither of these emotions—she was simply looking at another human being.

It was as if she didn't belong to this world.

A ridiculous thought suddenly flashed through Mu Lin's mind—God.

The god preached by the Church, the one who would bring hope and salvation at the end of the world. Mu Lin had never believed the Church's words before. But now, he started to believe. So there really was a god. Chu Ling must be a messenger of the gods, sent to save them. No wonder she had all those strange foods—those must be divine food.

While Mu Lin was lost in his wild thoughts, Chu Ling had already discussed the route with Gu Jingbo. Gu Jingbo hadn't forgotten their main objective this time—to find the crystal stone. But they hadn't even gotten anywhere yet. Forget the crystal, they hadn't even seen an ordinary mineral deposit.

The group followed the tunnel forward. These tunnels stretched endlessly into the distance, and the space was much wider than before, reaching a width of over ten meters. Who knew how they had been carved out?

Chu Ling looked up at the marks on the tunnel walls. It looked as if these tunnels had been dug out long ago. How strange. Had these tunnels already existed decades ago?

Wouldn't that mean the creatures that dug these tunnels had been alive for decades? The tunnels outside hadn't been this large before, but here, she could clearly tell that tunnels had been carved by creatures of varying sizes.

Had they grown this large over decades?

The deeper Ah Mo walked, the more uncomfortable he felt. His arms began to twist involuntarily. In the end, he felt something writhing inside his head, and even breathing became more difficult. Finally, he had no choice but to crouch down, gasping for air.

Ah Hu saw him crouch and immediately ran over to support him, asking what was wrong.

The nearby Gu family squad members noticed his abnormal state. With a shout, they raised their guns at Ah Mo.

"He's been parasitized!"

Ah Hu, who was holding Ah Mo up, froze. In disbelief, he snapped back, "Screw you! You're the one who have a parasite!"

Everyone stopped moving at the commotion. Only then did Chu Ling notice this man who had barely any presence. Was it because he always stayed silent that she hadn't paid attention to him?

Ah Mo's eyes flashed with a streak of red. The Crimson parasite had already taken root—there was no cure. Ah Hu naturally saw it too, but he still refused to give up on Ah Mo. The three of them had survived together as brothers through countless dangers—so why did they have to part ways this time?

Gu Jingbo didn't even consider Ah Mo worth his attention. "Since he's been parasitized, deal with him quickly. Otherwise, he'll drag all of us down."

Gu Jingbo's men immediately raised their guns at Ah Mo. Ah Hu and Ah Yi stood up furiously and drew their own weapons. Qian Li remained silent, but she was also ready for a fight. In an instant, the two sides were locked in a tense standoff—only Liang Liang and her group continued to watch the scene as if it were a drama show.

"Wait!" Chu Ling suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention to her.

Gu Jingbo assumed she was going to get sentimental, just like those other fools.

"Since he's my man, even if he has to die, it should be on my terms."

Gu Jingbo was curious to see how Chu Ling would handle the situation, so he signaled his people to lower their guns.

Chu Ling walked up to Ah Hu and Ah Yi. They were unwilling to lower their weapons, but she grasped their arms firmly, signaling them to stand down.

"Boss?" Ah Hu looked confused, but Ah Yi, being the more rational one, was the first to put his gun away. Ah Hu hesitated but eventually followed suit.

For once, Chu Ling did not wear her usual smile. Instead, she crouched down, as she stared at the quietest of the three. Among them, he was the most reserved, the least troublesome. Precisely because of this, she had taken his presence for granted—assuming that he was fine, that he had no problems.

Now, he lay half on the ground, watching the others argue over his fate. He gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry... Boss, I made things difficult for you..."

Even now, he was worrying about others? Was he an idiot? If he had a problem, why didn't he say something? Was it really so hard to trouble others just a little?

Chu Ling had countless things she wanted to yell at this fool. But at this point, would scolding him even change anything? Would it make him act differently? Ah Mo had always been like this—silently giving, silently enduring.

Perhaps sensing Chu Ling's hesitation, Ah Mo was the first to suggest a solution. "You all go on ahead. Just leave me here."

Leaving him alone in a place like this, with his condition, was no different from sentencing him to death.

Ah Hu immediately rejected the idea. "No way, Boss! We can't leave him here—he'll die!"

Shi Tuoyi scoffed, his tone indifferent. "Even if you don't leave him behind, the Crimson will hollow him out sooner or later. You might as well kill him now while he still has some awareness left—it's more dignified that way."

"You—!" Ah Hu clenched his fists, about to punch Shi Tuoyi, but Chu Ling interrupted before he could.

"Stay here and rest first. Once you feel better, catch up with us."

Chu Ling suddenly smiled and lightly patted Ah Mo on the head, as if to comfort him.

Ah Mo, a grown man, had never been patted on the head before. Yet, strangely, it gave him a sense of peace.

Ah Hu didn't fully understand the meaning behind her words, but Ah Mo did. She was giving him hope. Not just for his sake, but for her own as well. As long as they didn't think about it, they could believe that he would catch up soon.

Was this self-deception?

So even Chu Ling could deceive herself. Even at this moment, she was still so gentle.

"Alright, Boss."

Ah Mo forced a smile, but Chu Ling's own forced smile was becoming harder to maintain. She was good at pretending, but when it came to the people she cared about, pretending was meaningless.

Half a year—after spending so much time together, she had already become a part of this world.

She had always known that parting would come eventually. But when the moment arrived, it was still impossible to accept.

"This should be fine, right, President Gu?"

Chu Ling had already made the decision to leave Ah Mo behind. Gu Jingbo had no objections and simply continued forward.

Ah Hu, however, couldn't accept it. "Boss!"

Qian Li held his arm, shaking her head. She stared at Ah Mo, but Ah Mo couldn't even bring himself to meet her gaze.

Qian Li still remembered how things had been when she first left the Empire. She had planned to survive on her own, but these three fools insisted on following her. Over time, they had become companions.

She had been through too many partings.

Perhaps it was fate that she was destined for separations.

But she didn't want to part anymore.

She couldn't bear to look at Ah Mo's face any longer, so she silently turned away and left.

Ah Hu, however, refused to go.

"I'll stay. Even if he turns into a monster, he's still my brother. I'll send him off myself. Boss, you go ahead—I'll catch up soon."

Chu Ling glanced back at him. Ah Hu's face was set with unshakable determination.

She didn't stop him. She simply said, "Don't die."

Lying on the ground, Ah Mo watched Qian Li's departing figure. The words he had never been able to say—even now, he still couldn't say them.

He took a few shallow breaths, but oxygen seemed useless to him now.

"Ah Hu… don't be so reckless in the future, alright? Stay with Boss… take care of yourself..."

Ah Mo's breathing grew weaker and weaker, his hand twitching uncontrollably. Even now, he still wanted to say a few last words. Among his brothers, the one he worried about the most was Ah Hu.

Hearing Ah Mo's fading voice, Ah Hu cursed, unable to hold back his frustration. "Even now, all you think about is others. You've been a coward your whole life, and even at the end, you don't have the guts to look Sister Li in the eye. You coward! How dare you… how dare you just die like this…?"

Ah Mo only gave a bitter smile. "Take care of Boss for me… and Sister Li."

"Take care of them yourself!" Ah Hu snapped back, his voice harsh, but he didn't dare look at Ah Mo.

Ah Mo, however, teased him. "Don't go crying now…"

"Why would I cry? I'm Ah Hu."

Boom—!

A loud explosion erupted from the direction Chu Ling had gone.

Ah Hu immediately stood up, sensing something was wrong, but then he remembered—Ah Mo was still here. He couldn't leave him behind.

Ah Mo, using the last of his strength, pushed Ah Hu forward. "Go… go help Boss!"

"But you—?"

"I'll be fine. Just go, hurry—hurry…!"

Even now, he couldn't stop worrying. He couldn't stop worrying about his friends.

Another explosion sounded from the distance. Ah Hu had no choice—he had to leave Ah Mo behind.

"Don't die."

He left Ah Mo with the same words Chu Ling had left him.

Ah Mo watched Ah Hu's figure disappear into the distance. He struggled to sit up, looking at his still-twitching hand. The parasite wriggled in his vision.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his dagger and pointed it at himself.

Then, for the first time in his life, he shouted the boldest words he had ever spoken—

"Don't underestimate humans!"