1.
Huitian didn't go to the police station to pick up Xia Tian and Bai Jing'an, the dignitaries called her to the salon again and asked her to "bring a message".
Haida tried his best to avoid getting close to it, it seemed to be outside of time, a place in the void, eternally antique, with a burning fireplace, the owners were polite, and the appearance and words of speech were also eternal.
She chose an outfit, copied as usual from a fashion magazine, where it would be embarrassing to wear anything anyway.
She accesses the virtual space.
The fire was lit, and the air smelled of pine and old furniture, and the temperature was the same as when she was last here.
She stood at the door, embarrassed, like an ant going to meet an unspeakable god.
“…the end of the profit inflation is coming to an end,” someone was saying in the salon.
"It's unbelievable that the cycle is so short," said another.
When talking about money, Haida thought, the tone is always very elegant, as if it is not the bloodiest business in the world.
She walked in carefully, no one was looking at her.
"Whether it's technological development or population reproduction, it's an acceleration that gets crazier." A young man wearing glasses said, and Haida recognized the look of a market evaluator. The man continued: "The God-making marketing has entered the final stage, and it's just a matter of giving him a heroic death."
"Where's Bai Jing'an?"
"Can you keep it? I like him."
"It doesn't matter if he's alone, but he probably won't be able to keep him." Someone laughed, as if it was an amusing performance, "If Xia Tian dies, he will give us a good look."
This remark elicited a burst of laughter, and Haida felt chills all over his body, and felt nauseous.
She was standing in the corner of the salon where no one asked her to sit.
She lowered her head and glanced at the latest information on the Internet. Outside the police station, there were endless cameras, waiting for the arrival of the legendary "leader".
Since the incident of the Rebels, Uptown has been like a frantic plague outbreak. No matter which channel you turn on, it's all the same picture.
—The seventh satellite city is collapsing. Without the floating engine, the colossus is so fragile that it turns into countless tattered rubbish and falls into the darkness below.
Huge and majestic, like the doomsday.
But everything is just a toy in the hands of these people, a marketing game.
"I still think there is no need to be in such a hurry." Another person said, "As long as Xia Tian comes out and says a few words to slow down the rhythm, the cycle can be extended for another year..."
"Long time, but not necessarily earn more."
"You want to play with him again in the guest show next year."
They discussed the subject for a while, in a brisk, amusing tone, another high-society amusing game of batting.
Haitian went to look outside the arena again, Fujin 1 was broadcasting Xia Tian and Bai Jingan leaving the police station.
In the afternoon, the orange-red light enveloped the world, like the cold flames of an explosion. Xia Tian was making gestures to Bai Jing'an, the two of them walked steadily, they were both desperadoes, but they were too dazzling to be ignored.
Seeing them come out, the crowd outside burst forward screaming and roaring.
A reporter broke through the security net and shouted at them: "Excuse me, what do you think about the rebels?!"
A security guard came over to drag him away, Xia Tian made a "wait a moment" gesture, and the man backed away.
He has no authority, the buildings, security guards and even his own ownership belong to the floating city. But the security obeyed without hesitation, as if Xia Tian should control everything. Everyone takes it for granted.
On the opposite side floated the phantom airship with the logo of the rebel army, which burned every corner of the upper city within a few hours.
The burning light was also reflected in everyone's eyes for a moment, and a huge fire had accumulated in this small space, which was about to start burning.
Xia Tian spoke. When he spoke, everyone fell silent.
"I think," he said to reporters, "that anyone who resists can be called 'rebels.'"
The reporter stared blankly at his face, and it took a while to find his words. "The Resistance is a mature group, with its own history, logos and principles, huge—" he said.
"There are still goals." Xia Tian said.
He looked at the countless program groups under his feet, as well as the police and passers-by.
High-rise buildings can't be seen to the side, billboards are spread out layer upon layer, a bustling and empty paradise, people's eyes are full of obsessed longing.
The bright orange sun shone on the city, and the God of War's eyes were full of destructive flames.
He raised his hand suddenly and made a gesture. All eyes are on the fingertips of God of War, where all the light gathers.
Xia Tian pointed her finger downwards, for a second Haitian thought it was an action to hold a gun, then she realized that Xia Tian drew a falling curve.
Her breathing stopped. God of War laughed as if the world was ending and no power could stop it.
"Destroy Upper City," he said.
Haida shivered, and exited the screen, it's not a good idea to get distracted here, these people need full attention.
She stood alone again in the ancient and godless abode, and what she had seen had something burning in her throat, she couldn't tell what it was.
The Rebel Army does not exist... It should not exist, it is impossible.
It's just selling something, everyone's feverishly trying to believe something... believing that rage, mutilation, injustice and pain aren't pointless just screaming in vain day in and day out. There is always a way, and there will be retribution.
Haida stood there alone, half an hour later someone finally spoke to her, smiled at her, and said "Miss Haida is here", as if she wasn't the one they called long ago.
She knew they weren't trying to punish her, they were just getting used to someone else's service.
"Miss Haida, I invite you here this time because I want you to bring a message." A gentleman-like man said, wearing a dress as if he had traveled from the eighteenth century, "We hope to invite two 'rebel leaders' to participate A recent banquet—”
Seeing Haida's pale face, he laughed.
"No other meaning, it's just a banquet." He said, "We are going to admit the 'rebel leaders' into the small circle at the top of the floating city."
"The 'rebel leader' dined with the dignitaries. Only the floating city can have such a feast." Another person said.
"Everything is just a devouring game of capital."
"I believe it will be a stylish dinner."
"I should invite them to my party next week—"
They chatted again, and Haida knew he should leave. She bowed her lower body, turned and left. Those people still act like she doesn't exist.
It was too inelegant to exit the procedure on the spot here, so she walked out into the hallway. Here were carved panels, endless, that seemed to have existed for thousands of years.
At this moment, she heard a voice saying: "Miss Haida."
Startled, she turned her head.
At some point a boy was standing next to her. He was wearing a black formal suit with a stand-up collar, and his shoulder-length hair was light. He was about thirteen or fourteen years old. The moment she saw him, she knew that he was one of the group of Nihility Salon, with the same attributes: cold, empty, and alien.
It took Haida a few seconds to recognize him.
She stood up quickly and said, "Mr. Minkov."
"Leave Dee Dee with me first," said Little Minkoff.
Haida froze there, she parted her lips twice before finding her own voice: "What? I don't understand..."
Little Minkov approached her, his hair was particularly eye-catching against the black dress, like frantic sunlight shining on the barren land.
"At this point, you can't take care of it anymore." He said.
He took a step back, nodded politely to her, and returned to the empty salon.
Didi is no longer in the company, he doesn't answer the phone calls, and the surveillance video is all black, saying that it happened to be a hacker attack.
No one saw how she disappeared, it was done quickly, professionally, and well planned, and the rich and powerful had no shortage of people who could do it.
Dee Dee never fired a gun—Fast Eagle gave her a custom gun, which she took without hesitation. Xia Tian wouldn't like it, but Haitian thought he wouldn't say anything, the kid in the lower city already had a gun in his hand, and the same in the upper city.
And she was very similar to Xia Tian, she was going to fire a shot when she was cornered.
Haida stood in the empty room for a while, feeling that something important was happening. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was pretty sure.
She took a breath, checked the time, and walked outside.
Xia Tian and Bai Jing'an's schedule was packed, they had to go to a live reality show sponsored by a game company, and they had to stop at the third anniversary party of Fujin live-action shooting game city on the way.
She had to go to the game city to meet them... After that incident, she hadn't seen them, and she left messages through the air. She dare not.
She nervously applied her makeup again, and the outside of the car was covered with billboards of the Rebel Army, like a huge river that submerged the upper city. On the Temple of War, the inscription has become "on call at any time", as if it were an army website.
The limousine stopped, and Haida walked down.
The game city party was also temporarily changed to a rebel-themed feast. On the main advertising space, the God of War overlooked the burning city, a religious-style scene of annihilation.
Haida walked into the banquet, looking for those two people.
She found them instantly, and no one could ignore them.
Xia Tian and Bai Jing'an stood at the corner of the banquet, surrounded by a bunch of people, the host introduced the details of the game to them, and the two exchanged a few words from time to time.
Xia Tian was making gestures with Bai Jing'an, for a moment, Haitian was sure that Xia Tian wanted to hug Bai Jing'an's shoulders, they always did this kind of movements naturally, nothing more natural than this.
But Xia Tian stopped, and just made a raise gesture, Bai Jingan didn't notice it while looking at the screen, Xia Tian just looked at him for a few seconds, then suddenly lowered his head, clenched his right hand tightly.
But he was very skillful in covering up, he raised his hand to split the other screen, and made a joke, Bai Jingan raised his head and smiled at him.
In Haida's imagination, he should have been shattered, and he could only freeze himself heavily to maintain a little dignity, but when he looked at Xia Tian, the warmth came out from his bones, and everything would be revived in that warmth.
Xia Tian also looked at him tenderly, clenched his right hand all the time, and never tried to touch him again.
It should have been abysmal, the ruins of what the rich and powerful have played with in the most disgusting ways. But Haida felt an inexplicable warmth.
Not broken, with each other, they are complete.
After staying at the banquet in the game city for 20 minutes, the two killing show stars rushed to another show without stopping.
Haida got into the car, she had done this many times and knew how to keep the rhythm.
"Those folks have a party—" she said to them both.
The moment she said it, Xia Tian froze, he subconsciously wanted to grab Bai Jing'an's arm, but he still controlled it.
Bai Jing'an's fingertips moved, but he didn't touch Xia Tian. The latter's whole body was tense. He was a powerful person, but his breathing was messed up at this moment.
"A normal banquet." Haida said hastily.
—she didn't know if that was normal, but at least... at least it wasn't that.
"Because you're now... 'rebel top', they like it, it's just... too dramatic," she said, "that's why you get invited."
She took out the invitation letter, and Xia Tian took it over, half covering his face with loose hair.
Bai Jing'an looked at him sideways for a while, then gently reached out to take the letter and put it in his pocket, not letting him read it again.
His movements were gentle, and he didn't touch Xia Tian.
The atmosphere between the two was oppressive, yet gentle.
The car drove into the shadow of the huge floating gold shooting game city, and the two killing show stars fell into the darkness. They looked calm, cold, and crazy.
Haida blurted out, "Now you can immediately gather an army from the upper city."
The person opposite looked up at her.
The sun came down again, lighting up the carriage, and bathing all that was dark, mutilated, and sad in its radiance.
"Seriously, you two really..." she said, trying to swallow the stupid question, "Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask."
The hollowness felt in the salon is gone. Some things are undeniably true, and no matter what the powerful say, they are true.
On the car screen, the Temple of War God is also full of sunshine.
The dead of this attack all entered the temple, as if they had found their belongings. The temple no longer looks like ruins, but an endless battlefield with waters, ruins, and plains.
A war that has existed since ancient times stands in illusion, but it seems extremely real.
A few people soon arrived at another show scene.
This was originally a small show, but it has temporarily become a huge show. With a celebrity like God of War, of course, he needs to find more presence, hurry up and do the show, and earn as much as he can before he dies.
But they opened the door, and the hall was empty, having just completed a clearing.
Thousands of spotlights illuminated the scene brilliantly, and the seats reflected the lights as if they were burning.
Little Minkov was sitting on the sofa, wearing a black T-shirt with a skull printed on it, his hair pinned up in a mess, holding a glass of juice, and when he saw them coming in, he looked up and smiled.
He said, "Do you want to play a big game?"
2.
Sitting under the bright light, the nobleman had cold and dark pupils, wearing a black skull T-shirt, like a young god of death.
"While we're talking, Ninetowns has another floating engine that's gone. It's just a private garden, but it's turned into a paradise for the gods. It's just 'hunting mortals'." Xiao Minkov said, "Floating The Jin Group has strengthened the defenses of the floating engines in various places to ensure that there will be no major incidents before the end of the god-making marketing, and it can create an atmosphere of confrontation."
He smiled coldly and said, "They think they know what they're playing."
Xia Tian and Bai Jing'an went to sit across from the sofa, orange-red light enveloped them, Xia Tian said: "How to play?"
Minkov turned his head sideways to look at the corner of the seat.
If he hadn't glanced at it, he wouldn't have noticed that there was someone sitting there. The girl was curled up in the shadows at the far corner of the hall, with two braids, a sweet look artificially created in the upper city, and the rows of empty seats seemed to swallow her up.
War-like light was burning in her pupils far away, and the countless flickering light spots around her were the shrunken display screens. She was adjusting the floating screen while communicating with the process, her fingers kept on calling the data as if she was breathing.
"Miss Tian Xiaoluo," Xiao Minkov said, "the administrator of the Temple of War God."
The administrator sat in the dark, not looking directly at others, but listening to something. Then she took a quick look at the sofa and said, "Tylane said 'thanks.'"
Bai Jing'an immediately realized who she was talking about—the real murderer in He Dingliu's case.
When he was at the police station, he found out that Miss Tilan is one of the top hackers in the world. She came from the Ministry of Defense and was a member of the program development department of Xingtian Group.
About three years ago, a virus called Ghost Song III leaked out of the Xingtian Group headquarters office building.
It was a patched zombie-like virus. Not to mention that the infected person turned into a zombie, it would also make a ghost-like cry. It was miserable and shrill, like a nightmare. Fujin TV took the opportunity to have a carnival.
The death toll was more than two hundred, including several programmers who accidentally appeared in the area. They are all members of Tilan's team, the number one expert in program viruses in Uptown, she picked them by herself.
Xingtian Group claimed that the cause was a commercial theft case, and it also blamed several dead programmers, and refused to pay compensation.
After the media at that time carried out some horrifying reports, hype and crying, all the pages gave way to the 197th Killing Show, and this incident also faded out of people's sight.
Looking at it now, everyone has a happy ending: the ghost song III of Xingtian Group's genetic department was favored by Fujin TV station, and it was purchased at a high price, and it was put into use in the 198th Killing Show. In the second round of the 199th session, Bai Jing'an had seen the shadow of this virus.
Everyone has made money, and Xingtian Group has no major losses except for the accidental death of a few programmers-no compensation has been paid.
Of course, more than 200 lower-level security guards died. For such a large group, this matter is not worth mentioning.
Bai Jing'an can see this set of tricks at a glance—demonstrating the effect of the product, increasing the pressure on the other party's lawyers to achieve the desired transaction price, and pouring dirty water on the dead to save money.
Commonplace in Uptown, textbook routines.
Bai Jing'an saw that imposing woman wearing silicon bar earrings in the video at the bottom of the sinking. She was haggard and yelled at the CEO of Xingtian Group with no image: "You will pay the price!"
The man laughed, and walked into the lobby with the client in a well-dressed manner. This kind of threat should not be taken seriously.
Miss Tilan stood on the street and looked at the building. She was small in comparison, but she was not joking.
Most people just let it go, immerse themselves in alcohol and LSD, and pretend that their will doesn't matter. But there are always people who don't.
In the end, Tilan not only finds out the murderer, but also finds out all the people involved in the massacre.
Before killing He Dingliu, the police believe she killed at least five people, including the smiling CEO. However, her professional skills are top-notch, and she is equally terrifying when killing people. The police couldn't find any evidence, so they detained her for a while, and then released her again.
So far, all the crimes have been attributed to the rebels "all over the upper city".
Of course it should be the Rebels, otherwise who would be so powerful, have such patience, ruthlessness and determination to kill such a big man
And the "Rebel Army" will continue, Bai Jing'an is sure that she will not stop.
"You're welcome." Bai Jingan said to Tian Xiaoluo.
"We are very happy to make this convenient." Xia Tian said.
They sat under the light, Tian Xiaoluo, Tilan and countless others were in the darkness.
The lobby is littered with Rebel logos that have nothing to do with the Rebels—seriously, who would design a logo for a riot? Probably some reporter from Uptown.
But it doesn't matter who it comes from. Faith needs to find a bearing and know where to start burning.
"The Floating Void City is a behemoth raised by money. It has no reason, no conscience, no heart," Xiao Minkov said, "It will only grow blindly."
He was leaning on the sofa with an expression as if he was talking about a game of fighting monsters.
"It doesn't matter if you destroy any piece," Minkoff said, "but if you let it inflate quickly, like a balloon, in the end—"
His hands spread apart, growing bigger and bigger.
"Boom!"
Bai Jing'an and Xia Tian just discussed the matter of "a big game" not long ago.
The rotting corpses and ghosts carried by the upper city were piled up like a mountain, and Bai Jing'an knew that they would soon become one of them. But they will not go obediently into hell, and death will tear a piece out of that vast darkness and carry it into the incinerator.
They discussed the plan, corrected the direction, added details, and calculated the odds, but it was not a chance to live, they had no chance to live. They figured out how much damage they could do to this hell before they died.
They're going to make a big fuss about those bastards. He likes big movements.
But no matter what, he and Xia Tian will be together this time.
Bai Jing'an and Xia Tian tossed and tossed all day, and only returned to the house in the middle of the night.
He was so sleepy that he lay on the bed and couldn't get up after taking a shower. The company probably wanted to squeeze out the commercial value of the two of them in the last period of time.
Bai Jingan fell asleep in a daze and had a dream.
The dream was about the lower city. He couldn't see the surrounding scenery clearly, but he was sure.
It must have been when he was very young, with the steel sky above his head, but there was a burning fire in his chest, a fire that made him feel safe, and he was young enough to do great things at any moment.
But in the dream he was kissing someone.
In a playful kiss, the other party bit the tip of his tongue, and he bit back. They entwined, were very relaxed, and played the game slowly for a long time.
There was a sweet taste on the man's lips and tongue, and he couldn't tell what it was that made him want to taste more.
He inserted one hand into the other's long hair, tightened it, and kissed deeper. The man became short of breath, and the kiss was like a thread of fire, drawing out a bigger fire in his body, burning all self-control—
Bai Jing'an suddenly realized what that sweet smell was.
fruit candy.
summer!
Bai Jing'an suddenly woke up.
He was lying on the bed, his heart was beating fast, and the feeling of being aroused in the dream still remained on him.
He took a deep breath, and tried to get the dream out of his head, as well as the face he saw for a moment when he stepped back in panic in the dream: his comrade-in-arms had long hair, lips slightly parted, glistening with water, and pupils almost Dark and burning with desire. You'll do anything to satisfy him, whether it's destroying the world or whatever...
Enough, he said to himself, stop. He shouldn't have thought about this in his life!
It's just... He still can't recall the guest show, and he feels extremely humiliated and furious when he thinks about it. But he could never forget the feeling of Xia Tian kissing... It was sweet, like the orange fruit candy he had eaten before...
Bai Jing'an tried his best to get this thought out of his mind, he couldn't recall... this in the middle of the night.
When he saw the advertisement of the guest show last time, Xia Tian almost bombarded the big screen, and he couldn't stand even the slightest bit of this. They have to make that go away.
It's just that some part of his brain must have foolishly thought that if there was a day when Summer was relaxed and happy and really wanted to be, that's how kisses would look.
Lazy, cozy, relaxed, fond of biting, playful kissing...
Bai Jing'an sat up with a cold face, the surrounding was very dark, the sky in the upper city was overcast, only the complicated neon lights were illuminating the dark city.
He took another deep breath and got up from the bed.
Anyway, I can't sleep anymore, so I might as well go have a drink.
In the middle of the night, the house appears dark and sprawling, but lightning-shaped night lights are everywhere, illuminating small areas.
Bai Jing'an came to the living room, there is a wall of wine cabinets, countless psychedelic colors are burning under the lights.
At this time, he suddenly realized that there was someone else.
He turned his head, Xia Tian was leaning against a corner of the sofa, his slender legs resting on the edge of the table, holding a wine bottle, looking at him.
Bai Jing'an stayed for a few seconds, making sure that he remained calm. He walked towards Xia Tian and said, "Can't sleep?"
Xia Tian said "um", and passed the wine bottle, Bai Jing'an took it, hesitating for a moment, Xia Tian just drank with it.
But he still bite the bullet and took a sip, the wine was quite strong. He sat down next to Xia Tian, and returned the wine bottle. They passed the bottles around so often, and he would never allow the habit to go away.
Sitting next to Xia Tian, he could feel the heat emanating from his body. The man was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt that was very close-fitting, loose trousers, no shoes, and no tie in his hair. He looked like a hidden wild animal in the dark, lazy, yet sexy and deadly.
Bai Jing'an looked away, not now, he can't look at him with that kind of eyes.
Xia Tian handed back the wine bottle again, Bai Jingan took it and took a sip.
They sat at opposite ends of the sofa, passed bottles of wine, and did not speak.
This is the rhythm they are all familiar with, Bai Jing'an thought, he will control it, he can always control it.
Bai Jing'an didn't remember when he fell asleep, his body hadn't fully recovered after that incident, and he always felt tired.
When he woke up in a daze, he found himself lying on the sofa, pillowing Xia Tian's legs.
It was still dark, and his mind was blank... He guessed that when he was about halfway through drinking, he leaned on Xia Tian's shoulder, slipped on his lap again, and fell asleep just like that.
Xia Tian sat without moving, letting him lie on his lap... Bai Jing'an knew that he should sit up, say "sorry", and keep a distance from Xia Tian. He shouldn't be so close to him.
But he doesn't want to move.
He is a pessimistic person, and he knows that disaster is coming, but he stubbornly keeps a little warmth and safety. The desire from the old days burns in my heart, that he is strange and paranoid, innocent, enthusiastic and unrealistic.
At this moment, he felt that Xia Tian stretched out his hand and touched his hair lightly.
Bai Jing'an almost stopped breathing, he tried his best to maintain a steady state, so that he still seemed to be in a deep sleep. Xia Tian's movements are very gentle, carefully smoothing his hair.
All of Bai Jingan's senses were focused on the place where Xia Tian touched, he slowed down his breathing, closed his eyes, knowing that any movement would startle the warmth away.
The cold limbs and bones warmed up, as if what Xia Tian touched was not his hair, but the deepest place in his heart... This warmth is so precious, it cannot survive in the hellish world, only a little bit of fire is burned in the dark .
For a moment, Bai Jing'an wanted to reach out his hand and grab that thing that existed in his dream... Tiny perfection and safety, right now, resting on his hair.
As long as he moves fast enough to grab Xia Tian's hand—
At this moment, Xia Tian's cell phone rang.
The ringtone jumped briskly, the dream was instantly shattered, and the two fell back to reality.
Xia Tian withdrew his hand abruptly, as if he was caught doing something bad, he was not so nervous when he really did something wrong, his whole body froze. Bai Jing'an almost cursed out loud, the sudden burning anger was inexplicable, it came from his old self in the dream.
But he still controlled his emotions and pretended to just wake up.
Xia Tian raised his hand to look at the phone, it was a text message with very high authority, seeing that Bai Jingan woke up, he moved uncomfortably, and moved to the side.
Bai Jing'an stared at him, while he looked down at his phone.
"Georg," he said, frowning, "to see him at once. Something happened."